Special Post #38: The Beard Story

To beard or not to beard… this post aims to answer the ultimate question.

In continuation of my earlier post about hair, I thought I’d give a follow up. So since the last time we met one big thing has happened to my hair: it’s grown. Not been cut for a while not and I’ve got this fringe/mop thing going on. I don’t think I’m selling it very well so we can just move on.

The story of the beard starts with Movember. It’s an initiative to raise awareness for prostate cancer and men’s health. I’d love to say that I grew the beard for this, but this merely sparked the idea in my head. It wasn’t until the second week of “Movember” that I actually decided to take the plunge.

What sparked this phase was, in fact, terrorism. One night I was sitting down with my housemate Sophizzle, when I said I was thinking of growing a beard. Soph said that she believed all people with beards are terrorists. So I questioned if she’d think I was a terrorist if I grew a beard. The answer was inconclusive, so there was only one way to find out!

At this point I’d been in Switzerland for 1 week, and was about to head out for another 2. I thought this was the perfect time to grow a beard because I could grow it for 2 weeks and then return all like “SURPRISE!” and scare everyone. So that’s what I did.

In classic before and after fashion… above is before beard. And below is 2 weeks later…

And now 5 weeks later…

The beard even went to Scotland with me :)

In all the beard went through several phases. The first phase was caveman, all over look. After two weeks I decided that I preferred to go more “goatee and tash”, and that’s what I stayed with for some time (and what you can see above).

Since I’m being very open about this I may as well state the pitfalls. I never once found any food in my beard, which was more than disappointing as I fully expected to get a least a crumb. But by far the worst thing about the beard was the colour…. GINGER!

Now I have nothing against gingers, but I don’t want it on my face. Only kidding. I have to say though that it was surprising since my hair is ALL brown. If you couple the colour with the fact that the tash started getting in the way of my eating, which is very important, I decided to step the beard up to phase 3… stubble.

Admittedly it had to have passed through this step to get to phase on (the caveman beard), but this time it was more refined and, dare i say, sexy.

So that is the current state of the beard. No moustache, and a goatee stubble. Observe…

And this is how the beard shall remain until I get bored, which might not be too long considering how often I’ve changed my appearance recently. Upon seeing Auntie Fiona in Scotland she said “you’re different every time I see you!” and this is indeed true. With the long hair, quiff, spikey hair, up hair, beard, stubble and puffy hair of the recent months it’s all a bit too much. But maybe now is the time to experiment, after all I have looked the same for the other 20 years of my life, I think I’m due a few changes…

There’s Snow Place Like Home

Christmas is coming. Here’s a few schnowy pictures from Guildford :)

The view at the end of the street

Beth came to visit

And so did Sophie

The last week has been very cool. Monday to Thursday I was in Switzerland for work reasons, a very busy few days not helped by our return flight being cancelled at the last minute; but all was well eventually getting home only an hour or so late. But it poses a question: why is there always a massive traffic jam at the Italian border when you’re trying to get to a different airport for your flight an hour earlier than your cancelled flight that will turn out to be an hour late anyway? Answer: so you get the chance to take this photo :P

Monday was my last day at work and I’m off to my sisters tomorrow! I can not wait!

Stay tuned to this blog for a few special posts in the lead up to the end of the year. I’m going to be talking about my latest hair developments (let’s just say there’s a beard involved :P), the music of 2010, and the pièce de résistance: counting down the top 40 moments of 2010!

• Happiness. 6 out of 10
• Tiredness. 3 out of 5
• Free Time. 4 out of 5
• Last Meal. Gammon and chips
• Song of the day. Sophie Jones’s original guitar composition :)
• Thought for the day. When time sees us together... all moments fall apart.
• What I’m Doing Now. Chillaxing with Beth and the ‘rents

Double dream hands!

Good morning one and all, and merry christmas. I'm writing this from a queue. Thats right. I'm queuing for tickets to the unions last night of the year: christmas flirt!

Over the last week i've been working in basingstoke for a change :P however, not for long as work has fortold my return to the land of chocolate (if they have any left) this afternoon! This trip was pretty much a given, and i'll be out there for 4 days before returning to london to finish off the year :)

On tuesday evening I ventured on to campus to watch madsoc's annual christmas panto, this year called 'not another panto'. It was written by the current director of madsoc, Laurence Williams, who is a great guy and an even greater writer. I'm not a reviewer, but the panto was crazy good! The panto was not traditional in any sense, except for the inclusion of a dame, but that could be misleading. It was about fairytale characters whose storylines were merging together, and amongst it all were 3 surrey students who had got lost and caught up in the whole thing. Lots of inuendo, and lots of laughs, but also very touching and moving towards the end. And to think it was all written by someone my age was just mind-blowing :O

On wednesday was the MADTV xmas meal, the first christmas meal of the year :) MADTV is getting on so well this year, they have a very big and energetic team, which has enabled them to put out some great quality reports (just see the new summaries to see what I mean!)

On friday, the housemates put on a meal and a half at le maison. Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, an all time classic, with great company. Friends I havent seen for months came over for the meal, and a generous quantity of mulled wine was consumed in the process... Shame I had to leave early to get a train to london.

Because this weekend was the family xmas meal in Scotland! I'm running out of ways to say it was good to see everyone again :)

Only a week of work to go until christmas, and that can only mean one thing....... My sister :)

Happiness: 5 out of 10
Free time: 1 out of 5
Thought of the day: housing for nexy year...
Song of the day: One Republic - Good Life (seriously, check it out!)
What i'm doing now: still queuing for tickets.... Beth rigby better appreciate this :P xx

PS reminissing about the lesbian bouncer who told Beth and I off about laughing at her hair a couple of weeks ago :S lols

Christmas

The girls are putting up the Christmas decorations in the living room and listening to Christmas music… now it feels like Christmas!

Only a few short weeks to go before that fateful day, and this year I’m planning to spend it with my dear sister – continuing the tradition of recent years. But this time it will be slightly different since I haven’t seen my sister since July! That’s 5 months! I’m so used to seeing my sister every month or so that this has actually been quite difficult. I’m really close to my sister, if you hadn’t guessed that by now :D, and I love spending time with her and the rest of the family. That’s what this Christmas is going to be about.

After Christmas the plan is to grab a handful of friends (or 2) and have another new years party… a new tradition started last year that was so awesome that it just has to happen again. The party is also a fab opportunity to spend time with Jake, the infamous cousin. The party this year promises to take it up another notch and it’s just going to be a great end to the year, and start to the next!

Great time at my sister’s, and a quality party with my cousins. The Christmas balance is set! So dust off the decorations, throw on some Christmas tunes, and put that silly hat on…

…Christmas is H-E-R-E!

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 2 out of 5 (No thanks to a certain Miss Wilkie who set my alarm clock 10 minutes fast this morning!)
• Free Time. 0 out of 5
• Last Meal. Chicken and rice!
• Song of the day. My MP3 player has ran out of battery :(
• Thought for the day. Ciabatta banter! Cha-ba-ba-da-ba!
• What I’m Doing Now. Dreaming of a white Christmas… and getting a Christmas hug from Tamsin :) which is pretty much the same as a normal hug… but with a Santa beard :D

Choose Your Attitude

Most of us believe our attitudes are caused directly by outside influences like unpleasant experiences or negative people. But while external pressures may trigger our feelings, we are the ones wearing those feelings like a suit of clothes. We can either be subservient to external events, few of which we have any control over, or we can take charge of our own response.

“Choosing your attitude” is not always putting on a happy face or feeling pressure to adopt the outlook that’s “officially” acceptable. Sometimes angry or sad are what’s called for. That’s why choosing your attitude is about being aware of what your attitude is, and that it does affect you and others. Once you are aware of the impact, you may view your attitude differently, even if the situation or person that upset you hasn’t changed. Then you can ask yourself, “Does my attitude help me or others? Is it helping me be the way I want to be?”

“Choose your attitude” asks only that you make your own choice and not try to pass it off on something or someone else. Once you accept that you are the only one who is choosing your attitude at this moment, you can decide whether to keep it or shape it into an attitude that’s more satisfying. You control your attitude, not the other way around.

“You gotta choose where you’re gonna be as soon as you get out of bed. I consciously make that choice every day.”

-----------------------

That was an extract from a website called FISH!

My mum once came home from a work dinner really inspired. The after-dinner speaker had expressed how she had used the philosophy “choose your attitude” to survive an ordeal sailing across the Pacific. Ever since then I have used that phrase many times to change my attitude in situations for the better.

If you listen to sad music, you will feel sad. If you want to beat yourself up about something, you will loose confidence in yourself. If you worry about what to say, then you will never be appreciated for who you are.

Choose your attitude is about waking up every morning and feeling good about yourself. Not worrying about the mistakes you inevitably made in the past. Not concerning yourself with people who don’t appreciate your company. If you are true to yourself then you will get the most out of life. If you don’t like something, change it. If your attitude isn’t helping, change it.

Inject a bit of fun into everyone’s day:

November: The Best Moment

November can be summed up in one word: Switzerland!

It’s been such a different month to the rest of the year and now it’s over I can’t decide if I’m sad it’s finished, but I know that it’s given me another new perspective on life.

But this post is about the moments, the seconds, that will stay with me from that month for years to come.

The first has to be the first day off when we went up Mont Bré and on the funicular railway. The views were stunning and we had a great time discovering a new part of the world.

The second day off has to be another highlight, and whoever idea it was to go back up Mont Bré in the fog was inspired. Sure, the view was questionable, but for the hilarity that the snowy mountain roads brought, and the pictures of us “admiring the view”, it was totally worth it!

That evening we lugged our chocolate stash back to the hotel and lay it out on the floor. The gravity of our purchase hit me and I couldn’t control my laughter. We all ended up laughing for ages at how ridiculous the sight before us was, and that has to be my favourite moment of the month. Not only because of those few minutes, but because of the stupid conversations it started for many days after and the eventual saga involved in exporting the chocolate from the country.

Take a look at the photos if you haven’t already, they tell a great tale :)

November feels like an isolated month, and now i’m home it feels like it never happened. None of my friends were there so it won’t really come up in conversation. It’s just a thing that happened, that has so many great memories. I feel more like an adult now.

December is always a crazy month, my main concern at the moment is that I have a university report to write due in 2 weeks time that I haven’t even started :S But once that’s out of the way, this month is just going to get better and better…

I’m planning on something similar to last year where I count down the top 40 moments of the year, and a few other things to look back at another great year! While I may have lost a summer to work, I’ve gained an experience of a lifetime… and the best part is it’s only just begun!

Chocs away!

Goodbye Lugano and one of the best months of my life! Never have I worked so hard and had so much fun before. Lots of food (especially pizza) and lots of Feldschlösschen!

Due to the excessive quantities of chocolate purchased in the last week, the journey back caused a bit of a kerfuffle. Trying to ‘sneak’ 8 kilos of Swiss chocolate into my hand luggage didn’t go a miss!

On the first plane ‘hand luggage’ is put in the hold because the overhead lockers are too small. So I placed my bag on the trolley outside the plane and didn’t think anything of it. The just before take off one of the baggage handlers came onto the plane and walked straight to my seat (which was luckily right at the front) and asked if I was Mr. Gray. He then proceeded to show me a ticket with the weight of my bag printed on it… it was 18kg! Now I know my bag was heavy, but that’s incredible! Considering that the weight limit for hand baggage is 8kg, I didn’t really have a leg to stand on. The baggage man continued to explain that my bag was not only heavy, but a whole 10kg over the allowed limit. His advice was that on my second flight, i shouldn’t put my bag in the overhead bin, but put it under my seat. That sounds very reasonable, anything to avoid having to wait ages to collect my bag at the reclaim belt. So the flight continued and we landed in Zurich.

Then we got to the gate at Zurich and the lady said my baggage was too big to get on the plane! She didn’t even weigh it! Since I flew out over a month ago I’ve always used this suitcase. And I knew full well that it was slightly too big for hand baggage, but it had never been questioned until now. So they took my bag away and put it in the hold, still wheeling it along completely oblivious to it’s excessive weight. Sometimes in life you just have to laugh, and it’s certainly true that all my work colleagues enjoyed witnessing my foibles :)

So I’ve return to a snowy and cold Guildford, back with my housemates and friends. It’s going to be weird going back to Basingstoke on Monday…

Lots to look forward to in the coming weeks, next weekend it’s the Gray family Christmas dinner in Scotland, and then a week later I’m going to finally see my sister for the first time in months and months! Let the good times roll…

• Happiness. 8 out of 10
• Tiredness. 2.5 out of 5
• Free Time. 0.5 out of 5
• Last Meal. Fish and chips (back in the UK, baby!)
• Song of the day. Nelly – Just a Dream
• Thought for the day. it’s good to be home
• What I’m Doing Now. organising a new years party :D

PS pictures from Switzerland

Charlie and the Swiss chocolate factory

Work in the Alps is going very well. The project is pretty much there and it’s been a brilliant experience. Just one week to go!

On Sunday we got another opportunity to have a day off… so we woke to to find the wonderful view from our hotel room….

…had vanished and been replaced with a thick layer of snow and cloud. So what do you do when outside isn’t really an option? Well I had a good idea… chocolate factory anyone? :P

But more on that later. After the chocolate factory we went for a bit of a drive and accidentally ended up in Italy! How embarrassing :S It’s actually shockingly easy since there is a small bridge only 20 minutes drive from our hotel and it takes you straight there. We got some great snowy views from “the other side”:

After our minor excursion, we did the only other thing any salient tourist would do on a foggy day: go up the nearest mountain! Back up to the top of Mont Bré (which is the same place we went to a couple weeks before on the FUNicular railway…) however, this time the view was … different.

And for completeness here is the same photo of Xav and I “senza vista e con la barba”

So that rounded off the day nicely :) But back to the matter at hand, which is always chocolate.

We went to Alprose, a chocolate factory in Lugano which makes some pretty good Swiss chocolate it has to be said. And no chocolate visit is complete without buying a few “samples” to “take home”:

I see it as an investment in my future :D

I may have to leave behind all my clothes, but I think it’s a worthy sacrifice.

And on that Chocólately bombshell, I shall say auf wiedersehen chow grazie mille

• Happiness. 8 out of 10 (seeing my sister soon!!!!!!)
• Tiredness. 3 out of 5
• Free Time. 0.5 out of 5
• Last Meal. Piadina tonno con maionese
• Song of the day. Misheard Lyrics: Oh Four Tuna
• Thought for the day. Movember is almost over :( but I like my moustache :(
• What I’m Doing Now. Collating cultural learnings of Switzerland for make benefit glorious nation of UK

Feldschlösschen

I love working for Sony!

I’m having a great time in Switzerland after returning to England for the weekend. Got to see the parents, but also a few friends back home I’ve missed.

The project is going really well and I am having the time of my life. Swimming, working and the views make this trip incredible. I would stay here forever if I could.

Lots of long days in the office, but my colleagues are a great laugh and the work is very fun and rewarding.

Christmas is just round the corner too!

This is one of those “my god I love my life” moments :D

More coming soon.

• Happiness. 9 out of 10
• Tiredness. 2 out of 5
• Free Time. 0.5 out of 5 (ah well…)
• Last Meal. Pasta (usually this would be pizza)
• Song of the day. Dambusters Theme Tune (Just in my head)
• Thought for the day. Trip to Germany in the New Year?
• What I’m Doing Now. About to go to bed and then wake up to enjoy another great day at work :D

Dolce

It’s been a long week of work in Switzerland. Lots of progress, lots of issues, but also lots of fun. I’m loving every minute of Lugano. Switzerland is a brilliant country with great views (see below) and great food. After work, we tend to find a restaurant somewhere and we always get brilliant food: good pizzas are easy to find, but there are also some really unique meat dishes too. Yesterday I had pork stuffed with melted cheese… ces’t incrediblé!

This week our hotel is way up a mountain and the view from my private balcony is quite something…

And the room isn’t bad either :P

But it’s not all good news, the bad news is that this weekend there is a chocolate festival happening in the town centre by the lake. OK, so that’s not bad news at all! I can’t find a single bad thing to say other than I’ve been too busy to try the hotel swimming pool, but all that will change tomorrow morning.

This weekend we should be able to steal some time to act like tourists for a while, and we’re planning on taking a trip up the mountain in a cable car…

• Happiness. 8.5 out of 10
• Tiredness. 1 out of 5
• Free Time. 0.5 out of 5 (but who needs free time?! I’m in Switzerland hehe)
• Last Meal. Calzone :P
• Song of the day. Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood
• Thought for the day. Loving MADTV’s coverage of the NUS demo!
• What I’m Doing Now. Admiring the view… it doesn’t get old…

 

PS lots more photos to come…

October: The Best Moment

Ok, so October. I managed to make a big mess of October. Between readying myself for my trip to Switzerland and working lots of overtime other aspects of life suffered.

MADTV and house things fell by the wayside and it’s purely because work required a lot of my attention. And in my spare evenings I wanted to catch up with friends or sleep. By alas, life goes on…

There were 3 big events for me in October:

The first was Freshers’ Fayre with MADTV. I took a day off work and we went out in force to get freshers interested in their Student Television station. It was great to see so many people who had heard about MADTV and even already seen older videos! And we got loads of people signed up. The first meeting had over 50 people! It’s so great to see MADTV going places…

The second was Go Karting with work mates! Pedal to the metal and all out on the track was a great stress reliever, and getting to know more people at work was a bonus. The indoor track was huge and got plenty of laps in. Our team came 7 out of 8, but it’s the taking part that counts :P Hopefully doing this again soon :)

But the best moment of October, and my a far wack it has to be said, was Fright Nights at Thorpe Park! The yearly tradition got even better this year! A small group of us went and it was great to chill out and chat in the queues. But luckily the queues weren’t as bad as we expected and we managed to go in most of the mazes. This year, the horror mazes seemed to be much better than previously. And one maze in particular scared the bejesus out of me, something of a rarity these days. The company was a brilliant laugh, as expected when Heather, Lauren, Anne, Viv and Luke are involved. And I can’t really mention fright nights without saying that the Waffles and Ice-cream was the icing on the proverbial cake :D

So there you have it! November is going to be full of Switzerland banter I’m sure :D

Love you all,

Charles xx

Swiss Musings

Note: This post is filled with random pictures, un-associated with the text.

Finally back in Guildford for the weekend after being in Switzerland since Monday. I’ve said this before and I will surely say it again: Sony is an amazing place to work. Since I started working there in July I can safely say that every day I go into work with a smile, looking forward to what it has in store.

^ Blood Brothers: James came to Guildford a couple weeks ago. It was really great to see him! This will have to happen again!

Working in a large company such as Sony means there is always something to do, and the work I’ve been doing has not only been varied, but also relevant to my degree. In week 3 of placement I was given the opportunity to work on this project that would entail a trip to Switzerland… now that’s not a standard request! While the trip has been postponed several times, it’s finally happening. For me, it’s not so much the fact that I get to go to Switzerland, or the fact that I was asked to go; it’s the realisation that in the last few weeks I have become a part of the project team, not just a tag-along. And it’s that integration and appreciation that I’m most grateful for.

^ A couple of pictures from the “goodbye” meal I had last weekend before I left for Switzerland.

I’ve realised recently that, as a person, I strive to be part of a team, and for my input to be valued and appreciated. If I can be my own psychiatrist for a minute, I think this all stems from secondary school where I often felt alone. I know, cue the violin, but it’s given me a new perspective on a few things. For example, I never fully felt part of Stage Crew, and because video was always considered an afterthought, I didn’t see my opinions being taken seriously. That’s probably why I don’t do it anymore.

^ Halloween… ‘nuf said

I don’t know whether it’s a sign of weakness that I only feel motivated when I know someone will appreciate my work, but I do know that I have immense pride in my work (such as videos, websites, reports, etc.) and while I appreciate constructive criticism, I can often take it more personally than intended.

^ Back in England. Did someone say party? (yes actually. Julie :P)

With MADTV recently, I’ve seen a divide between the committee and the team… And I know that last year’s team certainly felt that sometimes their effort wasn’t appreciated when reports were released late or not given as much promotion and care over as reports that committee were working on, even when it was. And I can see now how we could have communicated better, and I don’t want this years MADTV to go the same way. MADTV has had a brilliant start to the year, and it’s only going to get better and better. I just hope that the success of MADTV doesn’t jeopardise the team’s chance to learn through experimentation and have as much fun as we used to!

• Happiness. 6 out of 10 (I have my reasons…)
• Tiredness. 0 out of 5 (Woohoo! Enlightenment!)
• Free Time. 0 out of 5 (And I don’t care :P)
• Last Meal. Erm… Cereal :S
• Song of the day. Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand
• Thought for the day. The Earth’s equator is so big that if you laid it out flat, it would circle the Earth approximately one time.
• What I’m Doing Now. Waiting until Monday, when I can go back to Switzerland :D

The Big Village

Hello,

I don't know where to start, but Switzerland is going amazingly. Lots of work, but it's all really interesting. If there's one thing I've learnt about Switzerland so far it's that it is VERY expensive.



Here is the airplane that flies from Zurich to Switzerland. Double propeller, 50 seats. There is just enough time on the flight to get one of these...



Complimentary on all Swiss air flights. This flying stuff ain't so bad...



The Alps :o)



Dolce :)



Outside the hotel this morning

I'll get a proper update on here asap, but now it's time for sleep. Night x

Light

• Happiness. 5 out of 10
• Tiredness. 4 out of 5
• Free Time. 2 out of 5
• Last Meal. Sunday roast with Mum & Dad
• Song of the day. James Morrison – You Give Me Something
• Thought for the day. Switzerland tomorrow…
• What I’m Doing Now. Packing.

My trip details

Hello once again,

I'm writing this on the train to work ahead of another busy day in the office. However, now it's not all about the system build like it has been for the past few months...

And thats because the system is currently being shipped to Lugano ahead of our visit on monday. Since the last few days have proved very informative I thought I'd share some of what I know about this exciting adventure with you.

I'm flying out on Monday. The flight consists of 2 legs: one from london heathrow to zurich and then from zurich to Lugano. The flight to zurich is a couple of hours and the last stretch is only half an hour.

The caveat about the latter is that it's a small local 'shuttle' flight on a two propped plane. The plane is 3 seats wide and has the mission. Of flying over the alps and into lugano, which is right next to a lake. This drastic change in altitude results in a perculiar landing trejectory and often dramatic terbulance. One of the last times a work collegue travelled there the air hostess managed to drop the tannoy mic twice while she was explaining the severity of the terbulance. So I have that to look forward to.

We arrive in Lugano on Tuesday morning after an overnight stay in Zurich on Monday evening. Then I spend the week working on installing the system. That's the bit I can't really say much about on here, and just as well because I'd probably loose most of you. However, I can link you to a recent Sony press release on the subject.

I have been given a work phone while i'm out there, but I'll be using Skype to contact friends and family, so if you've got skype let me know your details!?!

I'm initially only out there for 1 week because we're flying back next weekend :) since the hotel we're staying at doesn't have any laundry facilities it's probably for the best :p

I'm really looking forward to this trip (as you may be able to tell) and I'll make sure to take my camera and keep you updated :D

The Moment

• Happiness. 6 out of 10
• Tiredness. 3 out of 5
• Free Time. 1 out of 5
• Last Meal. Burger and chips
• Song of the day. Bruno Mars – Just the way you are
• Thought for the day. This time next week I’ll be in Switzerland
• What I’m Doing Now. Thinking.

Bob’s not your uncle…

Wow… only a week of October left! It’s been a crazy month, and here’s why:

Work. The project I’ve been assigned to has really twisted up a notch and it’s taking all my time at work now. I’m really enjoying being hands on with the technical side of the project and I’ve learnt so much about Linux, Java, networking, databases and servers!

The project is currently undergoing the pre-build phase in Basingstoke (where I work), and the next stage is to install and test the system at the customer site. As many of you know by now that customer is situated in Switzerland. As of next weekend I will be working in Switzerland for over a month. It’s going to be fantastic and now it’s such a short time away I can start getting really excited. I will be coming back to the UK for a couple of weekends in November, but that is it.

I am going to a place called Lugano, which is south Switzerland, pretty much on the Italian border.

^ Lugano’s location

^ As you can see, it’s a bit of a dump :P

My job is to install and configure the system, and then provide technical support during testing, training and go-live.

After weeks of uncertainly as to the dates I will be flying to Lugano, I am now confident that I will be going next Sunday. While I’m out there I’m planning on having my phone connected up to receive and make calls as if I was in the UK. I’ll also be taking my laptop and stuff so Skype, email and this blog will still be done!

As for everything else, last weekend I went to Thorpe Park for my annual Fright Nights visit (now something of a tradition) and this week I went Go Karting with work (pictures to come).

I highly recommend both!

^ Left to right: Heather, Viv, Anne and Lauren at Thorpe Park :D

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 3 out of 5
• Free Time. 1 out of 5
• Last Meal. Pizza
• Song of the day. The King Blues – Taking Over
• Thought for the day. “$ ps –ef | grep java” (Linux command)
• What I’m Doing Now. Busy day tomorrow: getting ready for Switzerland, progress on the MADTV project and seeing people :o)

PS check out some pictures from recent times… be my guest

Warning: Live! (while you can…)

9 to 5. As a child, it’s what I couldn’t wait for. Getting to do something I loved, and being paid for it. It’s what everyone does. Success is having the job of your dreams, and having the time of your life.

Why do we go to university? To get a job. Life is defined by your job. As a child you are asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” when “older” isn’t the answer they’re looking for… am I making sense?

Let me put it this way. Everything I’ve done in my life so far has been to get me a job. University, A-Levels, GCSE’s, SAT’s and everything else: attendance, homework, being a geek, you get the idea.

But what is a job? Is it to get money? Is it for job satisfaction? For a career? For success? I always saw a job as the moment you become an adult. When you can provide for yourself by doing something you love. And you have to love it.

Something you do 40 hours a week, that you think about in your spare time, that sometimes has to go before other commitments such as family and friends… and means you can’t always do what you want. To do that, you have to love it.

At university you can take your course, and have a fantastic social life. At work, you can sometimes find you have to compromise.

University… stay out late. Party. Love. Listen. Live. It will be the time of your life. It’s the only chance you get without worrying about work in the morning, the deadline looming or what your boss might think of those pictures on Facebook.

Don’t make a mistake. There is no rush to grow up. Make the most of here. Now. Forget the past and live. When you find your desk for life, make sure you know who you are, so you can be that person. Once you have a job, there may be little opportunity to find yourself.

Love growing up, so you can love being grown up.

September: The Best Moment

September was a rollercoaster of a month. I experienced some real highs and lows: from my awesome birthday party to one of my friends from secondary school dying. The latter really has a long ripple and I still feel hit by a wave occasionally when people say things or when I hear certain songs. Needless to say i’m sure it’s something that will get better with time as my mind gets used to the idea of never seeing him again, but until then I feel there’s more “waves” to come…

As for crowning the best moment of September, it has to be the hardest month to decide so far by a donkey’s mile!

Wembley arena is up there… I went to see the live final of Must Be The Music, a Sky1 talent competition much like X-Factor to find the best up-and-coming music act in the country. It was a bleeding brilliant evening and I can’t stress enough how awesome it is to be at a live recording with over 10,000 other people, the atmosphere was just immense!

^ Just some of the crowd…

It’s weird to think that only a week later I was at Arsenal with 60,000 football fans watching West Brom kick some emirates ass 3-2.

^ Just some of the crowd :)

So yea, getting my face out there :D

September can’t go a mention without Amsterdam! The business trip to end all business trips, and on my birthday! OK, so we didn’t go into the town centre, but we got to see some pretty cool tech including glassless 3D TV’s, 3D cameras, 3D rigs, a 152” plasma TV and a 16K projector (that’s 256 times higher resolution than HDTV… it was pretty savage).

But the best moment of September was, of course, my highly anticipated 21st birthday party in Guildford. Even after dragging my 21st over 2 nights out in London, a surprise party, a lunch, Amsterdam and a night out in Guildford I can safely say the house party was the best!

^ Just some of the crowd :P

What the phrase “good times” was made for.

So there you have it folks, and not even a mention of the night out at the Guildford piano bar or seeing Spamalot at the theatre! September truly was a great month :D

So, dare I speculate as to October? I’m guessing this month will be full of MADTV, working overtime, a trip home, hopefully Thorpe Park, my sisters birthday and I feel I’m forgetting something… oh yea… going to Switzerland!

Toodles x

Mind The Gap!

Firstly, I apologise. For the long gap between posts. I will say that I have been busy, work has geared up in preparation for my imminent trip to Switzerland (only a few weeks away now!) and home life has been dominated by those familiar letters… MADTV.

Since my last post campus has been populated with this years cohort of fresh faces and naïve freshers. Moving in weekend was great fun, albeit very busy, and that’s for 2 reasons:

1. I was filming Lottie, a fresher who won a recent MADTV competition to star in a short series of videos about freshers. It’s been a joy to film so far, and the first video has had over 400 views already, which ces’t incrediblé!

^ Georges filming freshers moving in!

2. I went to Arsenal! Sony had a few tickets spare in their corporate box, so I thought why not!?!

^ The view! Shame Arsenal lost 3-2, but it was a great game!

What an experience. And my first football match too! Couldn’t have asked for more :)

After that we went out in town and things got a little messy… good times :D

That brings us to last week which really was all about MADTV. Editing pretty much every evening after work (and that’s when after work was about 8pm since I’ve started doing overtime for the project). MADTV has had some brilliant publicity this year (see the video going out on Thursday that was shown to over 2,000 freshers in 4 days…!)

I took the day off on friday to help MADTV tackle freshers fayre, and we got over 160 sign-ups!!! It’s going to be an exciting year :D

^ Katherine and I at the Fayre

So after all that excitement I still feel on top of everything. I think I’m finally in a routine with work and I’m not feeling tired anymore during the day which is a good sign.

The house is going well, although I think the girls are getting annoyed that it sometimes takes me a week to do my washing up! My priorities may not always be in the right order…

I’ve been to a few parties and making sure I get the odd spot of climbing in too :P

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 3 out of 5
• Free Time. 0.5 out of 5 (basically none, but I don’t feel stressed or pressured too much with the things I have to do)
• Last Meal. Not tuna pasta! Fish and chips :P Although I made a mean chicken katsu curry at the weekend!
• Song of the day. Nelly – Just A Dream
• Thought for the day. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams
• What I’m Doing Now. Focusing on editing the second fresher diary, and looking forward to the madtv meeting on wednesday, and my madtv project progressing, and work tomorrow…