New Vlog!

So my best friend and I have decided to start up a Youtube channel. We're planning to update that a LOT more than I've updated this blog, so you're more likely to see more of me there. Please go rate, comment and subscribe if you have the time, it would mean the world!

This is our first video, go check it out:

Singles Awareness Day!

Ja ne!

2nd Year Resolutions

So I've decided to make a few promises to myself before I start this academic year, and I have every intention of following through.

1. I shall not pull any all-nighters.

How do I intend to stick to this? By actually getting into studio by 8 AM, and getting out at 6 PM every day. I shall work studiously throughout this time frame, pausing only to eat (and when I am done). This is going to require judicious application of any time-management skills I've honed over the years since the course is so demanding, but I'll do it.

It's easy to say things like this when you're safely ensconced in your blankets at home, but I truly mean to do this. I hate pulling all-nighters, necessary as they seemed last year. I absolutely hate it. I've gotten good at being able to move around and function like a reasonably civilized person after 2 nights without sleep in a row, but I don't actually like that state. My head feels like it's about to fall off any second, my skin gets all stupid and pale, and I have trouble paying attention and focusing on anything.

It would be akin to performing a miracle if I were to be properly aware of the world during a crit. I really want to be awesome this year, and it won't happen if I'm falling asleep as I point my designs out to the tutors.

2. I shall be healthy.

This comes from the fact that my friends and I climbed the Law hill a few days before I left Dundee, and I was clearly the most unfit of the lot. It was hideously unfair, of course, because I'd suggested the stupid climb and regretted it nearly 10 minutes in. A lack of any proper exercise the past year had clearly taken its toll.

So my best friend invited me to come running with him every other morning once we're back. This is a stupid idea, because although I used to run (well over a year ago now!), I always did it in short bursts (a few months at a time, I never had the willpower to continue for longer than that). I full expect to get tired of it quickly and opt out, but I'll try in the beginning anyway. Besides, I live at the top of my building now, so I'll be climbing stairs every day on top of everything else. 

I'm going to climb that stupid hill at the end of the year again, and I'm going to take a flipping flag with my face on it and plant it at the top to prove that it's been conquered.

3. I shall join a society.

Well, I did this last year, but what I mean by it is that I'll actually stick with an activity this time. I joined LIP in first year, and great fun as it was, I had to drop it in second semester because of the sheer amount of work I had. This time around, I'm going to pick a club/society/activity that I can continue even when the work is tough. And I'm going to enjoy the bloody thing so much that dropping it won't even occur to me.

4. I shall befriend people outside my course.

Of course, this has happened already, but not enough. While I love the architects, I do also want to go out and meet other people. I love meeting new people. People are fascinating, each with their own stories and histories and opinions of the world. 

The majority of my friend group are architects. I know a few people that I met in freshers, and we met for coffee and stuff throughout the year, but I don't really know them properly, the way I know the architects. This is partially due to the fact that our course puts so much stress on studio time, so we're in there with each other almost every day. And you really get to know people on a more intimate level when you spend the whole night working away next to each other, helping each other get on without sleep.

So I'm going to make more of an effort in meeting people outside the course. Don't know yet how I'm going to go about doing this, but it'll happen.

5. I shall get a job.

I need extra cash, really, because I plan to do my work almost exclusively digitally. And printing costs so much money, but I work a lot faster on the computer. And I didn't spend my summer working on learning Photoshop basics for no reason. I'm going to OWN. THIS. YEAR.

Besides which, I've never really had a job before, and I kind of want the experience. I've worked, but that was more volunteer stuff without pay because of the labor laws in Dubai. The Tier-4 Student Visa lets me work 20 hours a week. I don't know if that's a lot or a little to most working people, but considering the course (again), it's probably okay if it's too little.


So those are, off the top of my head, my academic resolutions for the year. I fully intend to stick to it, so here's to hoping.

Ciao.

The Broken Finger

So. 

I've claimed for a few years now that I'm a pretty good driver. Good enough that I can avoid danger and do all the crazy shit like speed and overtake people (<-- this is sarcasm. I do not consider overtaking people very daredevil like.) and flash the lights at stupid (slow people in the fast lane) drivers.

Proof of this is that I've never been in a serious accident. 

In a car, anyway.

Yesterday, I needed to run a few errands for Mum. When I came back, I turned off the ignition and stepped out of the car with my handbag, and thought I heard a few coins drop. Since I was sincerely distracted in that moment (I heard the clink, and I'm brown), I somehow managed to slam the car door shut...

Right onto my finger.

I nearly screamed, but didn't. Instead, I had to shut my eyes and lean against the wall, cradling my injured hand, breathing deeply. I actually felt dizzy with the pain. Then, taking another deep breath, I hurried inside and called for my mother, who whisked me away to a world of bandages and painkillers.

I have to admit that, for a second during the pain-induced haze, I thought I might never get to be an architect now. My future was ruined because I heard a few coins hit the pavement, and now I'd be on the pavement begging for coins. I wouldn't be able to make models or draw or anything.

But then clarity (and my mother) hit me. I injured my left hand, not right, and I'm right-handed. And it was just one finger, that too the ring finger, which doesn't really do much in the grand scheme of things. Also, I apparently have a tendency to over-dramatize. 

Not true. 

Please pray for my swift recovery. I don't know how long I can last with this finger before someone decides it needs to be amputated or something.

Ja ne.

Summer Holidays!

Ah, three months of nothingness is in front of me, and I'm not quite sure how we'll cope. 

We've submitted our portfolios, gotten them back, and now we're just waiting on the results, which should be up by next week. Then we'll find out if any of us have to work a little more and resubmit, or maybe resit the entire year (fingers crossed I'm clear on all counts). 

We went to watch Derren Brown a few days ago, on Tuesday. The show was in Edinburgh, so four of us took the train and met up with another friend over there, and headed to the show after a very late (I'm talking 17:00-late) lunch. It was at the Edinburgh Playhouse, which is this grand ole theatre that was really lovely. 

Have you ever watched Derren Brown? Because you should. You should be able to find him on Youtube. His stuff online is amazing, but seeing him do it, live, is simply mind-boggling. No idea how he does it. I won't reveal exactly what he did (he actually asked the audience not to, since it would spoil it for the rest of the world should they go see him, and makes sense once you watch the show), but just know that I was blown away.

I've always been attracted to magic, and people who have mastered the sleight of hand. It just signals quickness, and intelligence, and witticism, and I go a bit weak at the knees. And Derren Brown - hooo boy. I was shrieking and clapping as soon as he walked onstage, and he hadn't really done anything yet but bow. 

I'm heading back home on the 23rd of this month. Looking forward to it, but kind of not at the same time. I've spent a whole year with these people, and to leave them for three months is a bit odd. And I'll miss them all for that time. I've never really been a person who texts or chats on Facebook very much. I'm good for talking (Skype, or phoning me up), but chatting online irritates me for some reason. I tend to appear offline for the majority of the time, unless I need to talk to someone specifically about something. 

Lately, I've been feeling a bit...restless in my personal relationships with people. I'm not entirely sure what's causing this, but I'm feeling like I'm pulling away from people without quite meaning to. I spend the same amount of time with them that I normally do, but I seem to feel this distance opening up at the same time. I feel kind of...disconnected. Like things are happening around me, and I'm just standing there and witnessing it all, not really a part of it. I want to break out of whatever it is, but having been unable to truly identify the problem, I can't exactly find the solution.

Hopefully this will all just sort itself out.

Stephen and I signed our lease the other day. We're officially moving in together, and I'm completely excited to be living with him. He's a lovely person, a snappy dresser, and an amazing cook, and we get on really well. We've always clicked. Early on in the course, we would work together until four in the morning, laughing and talking and working. I adore him, and I think the next year will be so much better with him being around. 

And to be honest, quite a few of us will be close by. Maybe a 5 minute walk away, 10 minutes if you're walking slowly (which I do, so let's just say everyone's a 10-minute walk away). Gavin will be, and a few more of my close friends. Some of them are ages away, I'll admit, but I'll just be seeing them in studio anyway. I'm so glad Stephen and I are in the same flat.

We're already planning our flat-warming, so that should be good. I'm quite looking forward to it.

But anyway. That's me for now.

Ciao.

Easter Hols

It's finally the holidays! 

...

It's so strange.

We have no idea what to do with ourselves. It's actually gotten to the stage where we've forgotten how to live outside our course. Gavin, one of my best friends, has been basically spending all his time with me, and we both just lie on the couches in my living room and moan about how there's nothing to do.

To pass the time, we've just been messing around with architecture stuff. I've taught myself to use Sketchup, which is a free, simple-to-use 3D drawing application released by Google. I thought that it would take longer to learn it than I did, which is why I never attempted it during this semester like I wanted to, but it's dead easy, and would have been a massive help. 

I'm going to try and learn Photoshop as well, since I'm actually pretty shit at that. I've got a few basics down so far, but I've still a long way to go. 

I'm actually finding it a bit depressing that I've nothing to do without my architecture work. It's so stressful when we're doing it, but at least we had something to do, a purpose. Right now, there's nothing to fill the days up. Or when we find something to do, it doesn't quite feel right since it isn't working toward some larger goal. So I've just retreated to the comfort of doing things like working on my skills. 

It's not like I can actually hang out with friends either. People left within days of the course ending, me included. There are a few people in Dubai at least, so there's that, although quite a few are abroad.

Have I mentioned that I'm back in Dubai for the moment? My cousins are going to be visiting mid-April, which I'm looking forward to - they're pretty fun people. 

Hmm, what else?

Ah, I've been getting more and more irritated with the silliness that people post onto their Facebook profiles. I'm generally a pretty laid-back person (lately, anyway. I was a bit of a firecracker when I was younger), but the sheer aggravation these people cause me with their posts...

I mean, the endless sayings about love and coming out strong and being able to make it through anything, it just honestly annoys the shit out of me. As soon as a person starts putting up posts like that, I block their stuff from appearing onto my Newsfeed. I don't "unfriend" them, or block them completely - I just refuse to read their words of "wisdom". It just comes off as trying too hard, in my opinion. A friend noticed me hiding notifications from someone the other day, and told me I was being mean. 

I don't really see it that way. I've been doing this for ages now, and everyone's happier for it. I don't have to read it, and you can keep on posting about your very "difficult" lives on your nice shiny computer.

Sorry, I just felt like a little mini-rant. 

Anyway, I was happy to see Bruno. He's turning 7 this year, the old dog. I really missed his smell, of all things. It was nice to walk in through the front door, call his name and have him come running down to meet me, and then just bury my nose in his fur and breathe. There's nothing like the smell of him to make me feel like I'm home. 

And that's me for now.

Ja.

Tutors, Flat-Hunts and Too Much Rice.

Argh, I know its been ages since I updated, I'm so sorry. I shall do it now!

There's just been so much going on, I haven't really had time to take a breather and do this. Again, apologies. But here goes!

Our second semester has been way, WAY faster paced than last semester... but I think we've kind of got the hang of what's going on now, so it's not really as bad as all that. It HAS reached the stage, however, of us feeling a bit useless when we're not doing...well, something.

For instance, weekends. Last semester, I adored weekends because they were periods where I didn't need to work. Our major crits happened on Fridays, so that meant you had to weekend to chill and recuperate from all the hard work. This semester, however, I've been feeling like I need to work on the weekends as well - as if I should be doing something architectural, it's not right when I'm not. 

We've had a tutor-change this semester as well. While I was very happy working with my first tutor, I was also kind of looking forward to the change for this term. Unfortunately, my current tutor is only available on Fridays, meaning that I don't really get the chance to work with him as much. To make up for this, I've started going to see this other first-year tutor, who has honestly helped me progress so much with my work. He's always available in his office to help, and while he does tell it like it is (his catchphrase seems to be "that's shite"), he also goes about telling you exactly how to fix it. And then, when you eventually get it right, he'll follow with his second catchphrase ("that's f***ing amazing"). 

If I'm going to give future architecture students any advice, it'll be to really go to your tutor (or a tutor, really) for advice whenever you think you need it. Don't be afraid to go and ask them questions - there's no stupid questions. Or, if there are, they'll be really nice and won't tell you.

I can't believe that it's already mid-March. I mean, we're almost done with the full academic year! I mean, yes, I know that we've technically got until the end of May for the actual end of all this, but...well, we've got the 3-week Easter break in April, so it honestly just makes it feel like there's nothing left.

Right now, we're doing a bit of flat-hunting. I'm moving in with one of my best friends here, and we're really excited to be living together - we've already started planning what the living room will look like, etc. And two-bedrooms are so ridiculously cheap for each of us when you compare to three- or four-bedrooms, for some reason. We're finding really good flats for around 200 pounds PCM, and since we're just two people, we don't need to think about an HMO license or anything. However, we're being extremely judicious about the hunt - we're very particular that we be close to the uni, since we'll be carrying models and such to and fro from the studio and we don't want to make our lives any tougher than they need be. Another thing we're looking for is a fair-sized kitchen, and a balance between the bedrooms and living room - for instance, if the bedrooms are small the living room should be larger, and vice-versa.

The main obstacle we're running into is that all the flats we arrange viewings for seem to be getting snapped up before we even make it to the actual viewing. This is frustrating, but we're not really all that disheartened. We've heard from agencies that really amazing flats turn up somewhere in July or so, which is really leaving it very late, but we want the best flat we can get. Neither of us want to "settle".

In my personal life, things are going quite well. Another of my best friends here and I cook together at least once a week, which is turning out to be quite fun. We don't actually have a set date, but we'll just decide one day to go the shops and pick up a few ingredients, and then have a meal at mine. The results generally turn out well, although we tend to criticize ourselves - but we end up making the next dish better, so I don't see the problem. And the criticisms turn out quite funny because we make such stupid mistakes - we tried cooking coconut rice the other day, and ended up making way too much - but we couldn't bring ourselves to throw the food out. So we ended up just groaning on the couch for about an hour, swearing to never cook rice again.

I promise I'll try and update more regularly. 

Ja ne.

Friends, Love and Theatre

I kind of love my friends.

I've joined LIP Theatre, which is a student-run theatre society at the university. We've had a nightly show over the past three days, consisting of several 15-minute sketches. The sketch that I'm in is on last.

I asked (cough-bullied-cough) my friends to come support me. It was 3 pounds a ticket, and to get to watch me, you had to stay through the entire 2 hours of the show. And Tuesday, yesterday, a bunch of them showed up!

I was so happy to see them. We've all been so busy with the course lately, and I really didn't think as many of them would show up as they did. As soon as it was the interval, I ran out from backstage, grinning my face off, and gave them monster hugs. One of my friends picked me right up and twirled me about, and another jokingly asked for my autograph (which I graciously gave). I felt like a complete star, which is great for a self-confessed narcissist such as myself. Later, after they had watched me perform, we headed to the bar to watch the rest of some football game that was apparently a big deal (not a big fan, but I clapped when the others were cheering).

In other news, I'm headed home in 3 weeks! I'm so excited! I seriously cannot wait to see my family, especially my dog. The other day Mum turned the webcam toward Bruno when I was Skyping her, and I felt so homesick as I watched him play around with Dad. First thing I do when I get home (after getting a burger) is hug Bruno and never let go. 

But anyway. Our last performance was tonight. The rest of the cast have gone for an after-party, but I've had to come home and work on my architecture stuff. Balancing the course and theatre is getting difficult, but I want to do both of them, and so I'm making the effort. It's only my first year, after all. If I can't do it now, I don't know how I'll cope in later years.

Ja ne.