I can count to 21!

The last few days have been phenomenal! In fact, the last two months have been crazy and I’m sure you can tell by the fact that I haven’t been writing on this blog much that I’ve been very busy.

Despite all the 21st Birthday celebrations last week (which I assure you I will get round to explaining, with annotations, in a later post) life has kept me busy!

I’ve felt over-whelmed recently by the sheer amount of things I have to do both at home and at work. Work is going amazingly, but sometimes I find it difficult to concentrate because of everything else that is happening. I’m hoping that once university starts everything will find a rhythm, but right now it doesn’t stop.

Anne, Will and Viv have all been staying over the house in the last 2 weeks (coming and going), and it’s been great to see them. I just find that with so many people in the house, so much to think about and so much going on that I am losing my personal space. I’m one of these people, once I arrive home, I need to just sit in my room and think. Perform some mindless task like cooking or washing or Facebook just to relax, for an hour. I don’t mind if I have to rush out somewhere or do something as long as I know about it. I think I’m just struggling with coming home and having so much happening in the house that I feel needs my attention. It’s like work again when all I need is rest.

The last few weeks I’ve found myself getting very few hours sleep and consequently using travelling time between work and home as a perfect time to get an extra 20 minutes kip. Why have I been loosing so much sleep? I’m a worrier. There’s no doubt about it. I worry about everything. And recently there’s been a lot on my mind:

• Work. I have reports to write and things to research, and I find it hard to switch off.
• MADTV. Lots of Fresher’s events and programs coming up… but MADTV has also been my saviour as I’ve started working on a new projected (titled REDRUM) that I love spending time on and I’ve been using as a big relief from everything.
• Friends. One of my friends from home recently died quite suddenly and it was a big shock to the system. It had me in quite a daze for a number of days and it’s only after his memorial last Friday that I’ve started to push it to the back of my mind.
• House. People staying over, keeping everything tidy, paying bills and fixing things. I rearranged my room at the weekend and I think it’s much better now… pictures coming soon!
• Logistics. Getting things organised for parties, going to London, a trip to Amsterdam and generally travelling places a lot. Takes a lot of planning. In this regard I got a new phone for my birthday and it’s helped me check train times on the go and keep up to date with emails while travelling so I have more time for other things.

Life is mad. I think when I found out my friend died it was like the last straw and I took a lot of things that were happening around me at the time quite personally. I still feel like I need some time to sort my life out and decide what I’m trying to do. I’ve found since I started placement that I’m a different person, but I don’t know that new person yet.

For example, every Monday I find myself having tuna pasta for dinner. It’s not a planned thing, but every Monday I get home and can’t be bothered to cook. And on more than one occasion I’ve gone straight to bed when I got home (like today).

I’ve had a brilliant time celebrating my birthday, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I really needed that to relax and enjoy life a little. But I’m also glad it’s over so I can focus on getting into a routine. I’ve been working at Sony for 12 weeks now, it’s about time I figured out how to live the life I need to with Sony at the centre, rather than still having a full life as if I was still only have 20 hours of lectures a week. I don’t get to choose when I work anymore, and I have to get used to it! Something I didn’t realise would be this challenging and certainly not something I thought I’d struggle with.

Until next time… Charles x

• Happiness. 6 out of 10
• Tiredness. 4 out of 5
• Free Time. -1 out of 5
• Last Meal. Peperoni pizza (not tuna pasta, couldn’t even be bothered to cook that today!)
• Song of the day. Newton Faulkner – Dream Catch Me
• Thought for the day. I have been a fool
• What I’m Doing Now. Really wanting to go to bed, but glad to have that off my chest :)

Special Post #38: Two Whole Years, And Counting!

Happy birthday blog! Two years on and still much to say!

I’ve been having an amazing time the last few days. Monday was my 21st Birthday, and it has been celebrated in so many ways. Six to be precise.

Friday 10th: Sophie Jones arrived in Guildford the week before. Sophie is the fifth and final girl to move in to the house. But her visit was short and sweet, only staying a couple of days before flying off to Portugal no less! Since she is going to be away for all my birthday celebrations, it seemed only appropriate to create a new one just for her! Sophie had been to an underground club in London called Shunt Vaults, I love the idea of a secret underground bar so we aimed to go there. Unfortunately, we later found out they had closed down… Never mind, on to plan B… Ministry of Sound!

It was a great night, but no thanks to Ministry of Sound. The music was rubbish Drum and Bass and it was a very small club considering all the hype! So we ended up in Farringdon (don’t ask me why, because I don’t know) and had a great time!

Lots more to say, but also lots more to do, so I’ll keep you posted and chat to you all soon!

Special Post #37: Ron Burgundy?

This post starts at the top… and stays there. This post, is about hair.

I’ve had the same haircut since I was born pretty much…

See. pretty short. Straight fringe.

I’ve been told for years that I should grow my hair and see what happens, but I never listened. I’m not great with change, it scares me. Plus, I was happy with my hair, it was easy to maintain and didn’t get in my way. I also think self-confidence played a role there in that I wasn’t sure I could pull off a “cooler” hair-style.

But back in June something clicked. University has made me a much more confident person, and as for change… you only live once. Some may say that we only regret the chances we don’t take. So my housemates at the time devised a plan which went something like “put this in your hair and see what happens…” this is what happened…

This gave me an idea… I spent the next week scruffing up my hair to see what it looked like. But it was missing something… Then I went to my sisters. Becky is great at cutting hair, and took on my mop as a mini-project. I left that week with something very special…

Nothing too radical from the norm, just more… vertical. I love this! Over the coming weeks, well 2 months, this was the new norm. Providing some great quiffs, especially as it got longer…

But today was time for a change… off to the hairdressers (not my sister this time) and this is what returned…

Hair V3.0

So far this hair experiment has been great fun and I imagine there’s more in it yet, but for now I’m really liking this look :) I think it’s because it has the quiff-like-ness of the long hair, but still maintains a short-ish look. I’m definitely a fan of short sides and vertical top, so this is a winner for me at the moment!

I’m intrigued to hear what you think of the old and new, so post a comment :o)

August: The Best Moment

The summer month has been and gone, and despite working at Sony every week, I managed to have some fantastic days in August.

The first great day was the first Wednesday of the month, when Sony’s 2009/10 placement students gave a leaving presentation. It got me excited to see how much they’d done in their short year and filled me with anticipation as to what my experience would bring!

The last 3 weekends I’ve been a busy man, travelling the length and breadth of the country to parties and celebrations with friends and new faces. The first weekend was Devon for Phil’s ‘birthday’ party. Lots of fun on the beach and a genuinely great time without much alcohol (just to prove it can still be done).

The second weekend was Orpington for Heathers even less so ‘Birthday’ but no less so ‘party’. The highlight of this trip was undoubtedly the Saturday night with all the usual Heather/Sophie/Lauren banter (mostly Nigerian sea-monster related of course)

Then last weekend was off to Southampton for Zoe’s actual birthday this time. And this one did involve alcohol! We went to the Isle of White, saw the needles and coloured sand, visited the IoW Zoo, spent some time on the beach and went out partying in Southampton!

So the real question is which was the best day? This is the hardest to decide so far, but I’ll have to go with… Devon! That day on the beach was amazing, and swimming in the sea was such a good laugh, I wish every weekend was like that!

And then there’s September. Amsterdam for my birthday (albeit on a work visit), night out in London, big 21st birthday party, fresher’s week, lots of MADTV and plenty more to boot! September WILL be an interesting month, there’s no doubt about it.

Orpington & MADTV

I had a great weekend at Heather’s house, especially meeting Heather’s friends (and brother) was really cool.

This week has so far been about MADTV.

We have several things in the pipeline for Freshers’ Week this year, which is at the end of September for the un-initiated. We’re putting together a few videos to introduce Freshers to the campus and town. It’s an interesting project that I don’t want to say to much about, but its spent the whole summer in planning and is now in the execution phase.

Another idea for Freshers Week is called Fresher Diary. It’s my own brain-child and involves one lucky fresher having their experiences of settling into university life being shown to the world. They will be the eyes and ears of every Fresher, sharing their experiences of the various events held by the Students’ Union and the University! I’m really excited about how this is going to come together, and it should make for an interesting series!

I’ve also spent the evening creating a Freshers Group on Facebook for all the potential MADTV members to join and start being part of the team.

All in all, MADTV is starting to crank up the gear in preparation for a new academic year just around the corner. And I can’t wait until we’re back up to full speed! One of the things I find interesting is that I will be in Switzerland for the first 6 weeks after university starts, so while I’ll be around for Freshers Week, I may not get a chance to meet the new team until they’ve all got stuck in. I’m sure I’ll be watching from the wings though and that’ll be interesting in itself! Now I just need to Skype into the weekly meetings from Lugano and I’m away :)

• Happiness. 6 out of 10 (I’ll get there…)
• Tiredness. 2 out of 5 (could do with being tired…)
• Free Time. 2 out of 5 (Well, Thursday evening to be precise)
• Last Meal. Deli sandwich for lunch (now the norm…)
• Song of the day. Bruno Mars – Just The Way You Are
• Thought for the day. Get creative. Get equipped. Get involved. - MADTV’s new slogan
• What I’m Doing Now. Looking forward to seeing Scott Pilgrim tomorrow with work mates

One of those weeks…

You know when everything doesn’t go your way? That sums up this week.

At work, I’ve been somewhat frustrated because I have had lots to do, but it’s been hard to do any of it because everyone else is busy. I’m still really loving Sony, don’t get me wrong, but I’d refer to have a packed day of boring tasks than have lots of interesting tasks to do, but not be capable of doing any of them because something else has come up, or the space isn’t available.

Besides from that my home life has been very hectic setting up a new MADTV competition amongst other things. IT’s just a shame I can’t do some of the home stuff at work… would make my life much easier.

MADTV has certainly got me through this week, some very interesting developments I can’t discuss with you right now, but it has given me lots to think about in those quiet periods at work :)

Oh, Almost forgot to mention that I’m going to Amsterdam’s IBC trade show on Monday 13th September for a day for work! Sony have a stall at the show so a couple of us are going to check it out (and the competition :P) The great thing about this is that the date also happens to be my 21st birthday… couldn’t ask for more! Totally stoaked!

This weekend I’m off to sunny Orpington for a BBQ with Heather, Lauren and a few other peeps. Can’t wait :o)

• Happiness. 5 out of 10 (first time in ages)
• Tiredness. 4 out of 5 (typical Friday)
• Free Time. 0 out of 5 (forever the optimist)
• Last Meal. Deli sandwich for lunch
• Song of the day. Eliza Doolittle - Pack Up (listen to it twice, then you’ll be humming it for the rest of the day)
• Thought for the day. "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." — Charles M. Schulz
• What I’m Doing Now. About to read Questionable Content, addicted!

Best Weekend Ever?

Last weekend I went to Devon to visit Phil for his birthday. In reality, it was his birthday a couple of weeks before, but who’s counting?

Heather, Lauren and Sophie J didn’t disappoint either, it was a brilliant weekend with lots of laughs!

left to right: Sophie Jones (one of my new housemates), Heather, Lauren (first year housemate)

On Saturday we went swimming in the sea and played rounders on the beach. You know, genuine good times. Phil provided a conveyor belt of food: cookies, meringues, burgers and Phil English to name but a few.

I wish every weekend was that much fun!

This week is going to be a bit “wait and see what happens”, but this weekend I’m going to a BBQ at Heather’s house, let the good times roll.

• Happiness. 9 out of 10 (why not?)
• Tiredness. 1 out of 5
• Free Time. 1 out of 5 (so much to do it’s not even funny)
• Last Meal. Tuna pasta, again. That doesn’t look good :S
• Song of the day. Travie McCoy - Billionaire
• Thought for the day. "Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity." - Gilda Radner
• What I’m Doing Now. Disappointed that I won’t get to do what I wanted to do tomorrow, but excited that I might be going to Amsterdam on my birthday :P (a tale for another day)