New Beginnings...

I started blogging when I started university on request of my sister, who wanted to know how I was getting on… over the years my blogging habits have gone through many stages: informal, informative, rambling, necessity, diary, reflective…

Read the rest of this post, and get all my new posts, over at the new site for this blog www.thegrayscale.co.uk

This blogger page will no longer be updated with my latest posts, but you can see all my new posts with new photographs and videos over at my new website www.thegrayscale.co.uk

Another One Bites The Dust

First exam done! Only 1 to go! After next Friday I will have completed all the university exams I will ever have to do in my life! Damn!

The last week has been great! Despite having to revise with the weather like it is can be a distraction, but going down to the lake for a spot of lunch every day is such bliss! It’s such a shame that just as the weather gets good everyone leaves university! Campus looks so beautiful this time of year!

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 0 out of 5
• Workload. 7 out of 10 (still revision to go!)
• Last Meal. I haven’t had breakfast! That’s why I'm so hungry! Damnit!
• Song of the day. Michael Kiwanuka – I’m Getting Ready
• Thought for the day. "If you're going through hell. Keep going." - Winston Churchill
• What I’m Doing Now. Watching the Monaco Grand Prix! Our weather is as good as theirs! Haha!

That was quick!

I have a house for when I start my PhD! After only a few short days of looking for houses around Guildford Will, Anna and I have found the perfect abode! Let me show you round…

It’s a 3-bedroom place, all the rooms are big enough for double beds, the kitchen is modern and it has a dishwasher! Luxury R’ Us! It’s not far away from my house with the girls last year, except a bit nearer university if anything. Same local pub though :D

I’m snatching up one of the biggest rooms, and since the place is unfurnished I can’t wait to put my stamp on the room and make it mine! Geeky posters and computer parts everywhere!

It’s so exciting to finally have a place sorted, it means I can really get my head straight about how the next few months before my PhD starts are going to play out, and it looks pretty awesome!

• 26th May. First exam
• 1st June. Last exam ever
• 11th June. Project Viva, and the end of university
• 15th June. Big party
• 17th June. Boat trip with housemates
• 25th June. Start summer job at Sony
• 8th July. Move out of my current house :(
• 17th July. Graduate
• 20th July. Graduation Ball
• 25th July. AMERICA!
• 15th August. Move in to new place :)
• 1st October. Start PhD at University of Surrey

And with producing the Fresher’s videos for the student television station and designing a new website for my local church I don’t think I’ll be bored! I can’t wait!

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 1 out of 5
• Workload. 7 out of 10 (lots of revision)
• Last Meal. Good ol’ fish and chips
• Song of the day. Lenny Kravitz – Fly Away
• Thought for the day. The meaning of life is to give life a meaning.
• What I’m Doing Now. In disbelief that I’ll have to leave this house in 7 weeks time… I might cry.

New Kindlings

As I always seem to be saying on this blog, new and exciting things are afoot. Lots is happening at the moment, and I don’t just mean revision for my final exams… although I probably should.

No, there is lots to look forward to once this university madness is over. I’m currently in the process of looking for a new abode in Guildford for the coming year, since I seem to be sticking around thanks to my new found PhD position :D I’m hoping to live with Will, my current and ex-housemate, and Anna, my current housemates girlfriend. It’s complicated, ok, but it’s going to be awesome! 3-bedroom places are not all the rage, but there are some out there and we plan to find somewhere to call our own! But we haven’t found anywhere yet, there are a few viewings going on this week though so I’ll keep you informed if anything drastic happens. I promise this time.

What else? Well we’ve been testing the limits of our housemate Mike’s stupidity…

For those of you who don’t know, the Cinnamon challenge is where one attempts to swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon. It’s as simple as that…

If you like that there’s a few more here :D

I’ve also been keeping up my involvement in the student television station, recently put in charge of producing the fresher videos for the new students starting in September. Now isn’t that a shift? Just a few years ago I was the unknowing fresher…

I’d love to go into more detail about some of these things, but it will all be eeked out of me eventually.

Lots of plans, lots of ambition, lots of revision to do…

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 1 out of 5
• Workload. 7 out of 10 (revision time!)
• Last Meal. Chilli without the chilli 
• Song of the day. Stevie Wonder – Superstition
• Thought for the day. House times are exciting!
• What I’m Doing Now. Putting off sleep…

Pause for thought

Hello again! My heart is still beating, and I have lots of news you might be interested to hear, but first an explanation.

Since I last wrote here almost 2 months (wow, I’m ashamed of myself), I have been very busy. Busy, you say? What on earth could be more important than writing in your favourite place on the internet? You better have a damn good excuse. Well…

I’ve been going to a local piano bar quite a lot with the ginger one in this photo. It’s a very civilised place with live music and cocktails.

Experimenting with banana and choc ice milkshakes.

Doing some terrible singing at the aforementioned piano bar.

 

Covering our kitchen in highlighter fluid and UV ink. The reason behind this will become clear… you just have to be patient.

Been on a treasure hunt around Weymouth.

Gone Ape!

So that’s what I’ve been up to! When I haven’t been doing all of those fun things I’ve been working on coursework and my final project – which I finished today! Hence the post :)

So coursework in and final report written, now is a good time to note that there’s only precious few weeks left of my university life before heading out into the world of work… or is it?

I have kind of been keeping some big news from you since the last post 2 months ago, and it’s kind of what the last post was about. When I wrote the last post I was deep in thought about what to do once I graduate, because I’d been given a choice: Work for Sony, or be sponsored by Sony to do a PhD. And I changed my mind. I’ll never know if it was the right choice, but I’m so happy that I’ve decided to do a PhD.

I don’t want to dwell on what the PhD is on right now, that will come in a future post, but needless to say that it is really exciting and I can’t wait to start! My PhD course is 3.5 years long and it’s at the University of Surrey still, starting in October. I’m being sponsored and getting paid tax-free, so it’s not going to get me into any more debt! I do want to go into depth about why I decided to do a PhD, because I found it a hard decision and I want to be able to help other people who might have to make that decision in the future.

This isn’t the end of my links with Sony, in fact it’s only just the beginning. Sony have a big input in my research during the PhD, but I’m also working there over the summer with the team I was in last year. Hopefully the ties can continue because they are amazing people!

So… life turned on it’s head and I don’t really know what to say. This blog will be getting a major overhaul in the late half of this year, to capture more of my personal and professional life as it develops… hopefully!

I feel like my life is going from strength to strength, just got to get through these exams first and then I have a long summer of work, America and a new home to look forward to! I’ll reveal all, just bear with me! And thanks for sticking round this far! As a thank you here’s the link to the rest of the Pound for Food videos I produced with my housemates recently, they are seriously funny: http://bit.ly/poundforfood.

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 1 out of 5
• Workload. 5 out of 10 (revision time!)
• Last Meal. Spaghetti Bolognaise
• Song of the day. Jason Mraz – Everything is Sound
• Thought for the day. Dissertation done! Boom! 
• What I’m Doing Now. Sleep! Then starting revision tomorrow… All will be over in only 5.5 weeks!!!

Only

Only 4 weeks until Easter, when I’ll be writing my final project report and revising for my last exams.

Only 9 weeks until my final project is due, the most important document I will have ever written.

Only 14 weeks until the end of university, after which I’ll have finished the road of education and start my road to finding the meaning of life.

Only 19 weeks until America, another adventure of a lifetime :)

Only one chance to make the right choices in life. Be who you have always wanted to be. Inspire your dreams and make a difference.

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 1 out of 5
• Workload. 7 out of 10 (come on motivation, i know there’s some of you left)
• Last Meal. Lots of chicken
• Song of the day. Earth, Wind and Fire – September
• Thought for the day. It’s no big deal. Just the future of humanity.
• What I’m Doing Now. Breathing.

Californication

Right now there are thousands of final year students thinking about what to do when they Graduate: Do I live at home or find somewhere to live? Should I take a year out to travel and explore the world or start earning money as fast as I can? Should I do a PhD or work in McDonalds?

I think the answer is to look at the opportunities you have and see which ones you’ll regret not taking 10 years down the line when you’re working 9 to 5 every week. I’m probably going to be going back to Sony once I graduate since my placement year with them was the best year of my life, but there’s still that question of when to start work?

Originally I thought I’d start straight away, after all I loved working there and I’d already been travelling in terms of InterRailling last summer. But then I got an offer. America…

San Francisco, LA, Vegas and the Grand Canyon. In 20 days. I challenge anyone to say no to that.

For the backstory, basically Charlotte is going to Florida with her dad for a couple of weeks in July, since he has a villa there. I was invited to join them but, unfortunately, that is right about the time of my graduation ceremony and all that jazz, so I couldn’t go :( But then we had a thought. I could go after… And instead of staying in Florida we could go anywhere in America.

After much debate and deliberation, including the idea of going to New York and the east coast, we settled on another plan. California. And the journey was born :)

This week I bought my flights, 25th July to 14th August. From San Francisco to Las Vegas. Can you tell I’m excited?

I have so many ideas of things to do!

• See the Golden Gate Bridge
• Go to Alcatraz
• Drive down the West coast in a convertible
• See the Hollywood sign
• Drive Sunset Boulevard
• See the view from Mulholland Drive
• Walk the walk of fame
• Go to Six Flags Magic Mountain
• Walk down the Las Vegas strip
• Ride The Big Shot at the top of the Stratosphere Tower
• Visit the Hoover Dam
• Raft through the Grand Canyon

ok, so that’s quite a bit, but I’m very excited!!! This is going to be a trip of a lifetime…

• Happiness. 9 out of 10
• Tiredness. 0 out of 5
• Workload. 6 out of 10 (lots of Computer Vision things)
• Last Meal. Bacon sandwich
• Song of the day. Phantom Planet – California
• Thought for the day. Life after university is looking pretty good from where I’m standing.
• What I’m Doing Now. Getting far to excited about California, Nevada and Arizona :)