disguised blessings

This week has been rather strange. I have written umpteen drafts of posts – some full of self pity and others up beat. The tail end of September is, in general a bumpy time for me, the juxtaposition of blissful and painful anniversaries. But, this week has really taken the biscuit. At times I felt as if I was being hounded by the furies, but on reflection have decided that instead of chasing me, they caught and knocked a bit of sense in.

In short, my tale of woe; I transfered funds to my UK bank account without checking the exchange rate and discovered that Dick Turpin was running the show, I was offered an unsolicited job which was then rescinded within the space of 12 hours and discovered that I can’t apply to NYU’s school of continuing education as I already have a degree. But, there is a silver lining as well as a pot of gold at the end of this story.

All this angst has spurred me on to contemplate leaving my current job and to re-join the real world. So I shall start looking for a part-time admin role in a marginally interesting environment forthwith. On that note, it looks as if I may be volunteering at Doctors Without Borders (as well as my current gig at Channel Thirteen), so hopefully that may lead some thing.

Now, education – do I really want to return to full time student life. Is my desire emanating from a reluctance to return to the glamourous world of admin and the vain hope that it might improve my career prospects or do I just have something ‘intellectual’ to prove to myself? I think it is the latter, so I have started investigating correspondence degrees, not the dodgy ones you get in your spam but some thing along the lines of OU but with the University of London instead.

pride

I got my first sociology assignment back from my tutor and I aced it – 93%.

I have been doing the happy dance around the living room and through into the hallway. I must admit that my experience at university severely knocked my academic confidence and my wise decision to easy myself back into to academia via correspondence courses in a few A-levels is paying off. Not only have I ruled out English Lit as a major (I am too much of a narrative junkie to peek behind the curtain) but I am exposing myself to a wide range of subjects that previously I had dismissed. I am champing at the bit to get myself back to school for fall 2005….scared but very excited about what might await me 🙂

As a footnote – this might all change come next week as I will get the results from my summer exams……

free at last

I have taken my last exam and can now watch tv/films, read books and blog without feeling guilty – hurrah! Been a busy old month in London. Despite my primary focus being the 6 eggs ‘n’ ham I did manage to fit in a concert, 3 plays, a trip to Edinburgh, 8 galleries/museums, 4 films (reviews on the way) and the odd night out with my friends….phew be glad to get home to relax.

I have celebrated my new found freedom with a trip to a bookshop and got a whole stack of ‘fun’ reading – wonder how many I will get through on my return flight 🙂

Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patrica Highsmith by Andrew Wilson
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracey Chevalier

six feet under

As I was revising for my Language Production exam (creative writing or lying to me and you) I realised that this exam turns you into your own grave digger… Confused…. You are given a piece of prose which is to act as stimulus for your own work and then you have to write a commentary on the what you have written – aarrgghhh.

So far I have sat one exam, two next week and the final three in the second week of June. The first went okay, but I am now panicking that they won’t have been able to read my writing….will take even more care in the next exam. The most I hope to get from this spell of examinations is to pass them. A rather low expectation considering how well I did in the essay I submitted *rosy glow from boasting* but a combination of nerves, dyslexia and poor pen menship throw me in the exam room. I reckon that practice is going to get me over it and so by the time I come to sit my next bunch in January (Economics and Sociology) I will be a bit more of a pro 🙂

NB. I must add that I am not fishing here but trying to subtly let Alex know that this is my warm-up round 🙂

old dog + new tricks = tired dog

This revision business is too hard – brain close to reaching its saturation point.
Temporary solution: caffeine and chocolate
Permanent solution: hook me up to a vodka & red bull drip and I’ll forget about this whole self improvement lark…

But, to give me some inspiration isn’t it wonderful that Greg on The Archers is having some luck on the job front. I was a bit worried as he was going all Wuthering Heights and turning into a Heathcliff-style persona….stomping around the countryside at the dead of night with only his dog for company 🙂

Update: Holy cow – on the Archer’s front…..going to take a while for this to sink…..

countdown

First exam in two weeks time – the words “midnight” “burning” “oil” spring to mind!

Rabbit, Hare, Bunny

Is it just me or is this year whizzing by?

It’s 1st April already and Easter is a few short weeks away. I have already received chocolate care parcels from my family in the UK and our fridge is starting to look like a corner shop. I am sure that the only reason they pandered to my desire for a Harry Potter Easter egg is because I am so far away and surely 27 isn’t that old……

The cold hard truth is starting to dawn on me that in less than 7 weeks time I will be returning to London to sit my AS exams in English Lit & Lang and Classics. The good news is that I have nearly finished the courses and should be on track to start revision next week. The bad news I was just about to start the final topic on Greek architecture and was horrified by the dryness of the set text….I had Nam geology degree flashbacks! But, I can relax I had ordered the wrong text book – phew the user friendly dummies guide to ruins is now winging it’s way to me 🙂

Let’s hope that Ian and Adam’s row in The Archers doesn’t lead to a rift…..they’re far more interesting than the self build and wedding plot line.

Snowflakes keep falling on my head

A good day all round yesterday – finished off my second unit in English, I can now give Chaucer a rest for a few weeks and can start the units in Greek Art & Architecture and English Modern Prose 🙂 I perfected my recipe for tuna pasta bake. Last night I added sweetcorn, mozzarella and baby toms to the concoction – it was scrummy!

I took a break from all the depressing literature choices I have made in the past few weeks….’Jude the Obscure’ is proving v harrowing and this months book group ‘Flowers for Algeron’ had me reaching for the tissues by the final chapter. So during my break on Sunday I nipped to the book shop and picked up the 3rd instalment of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency – ‘Morality for Beautiful Girls’. It is proving to be a v absorbing read 🙂

I nearly forgot it has just started snowing…..

And you can’t go on it’s tragedy

I finished ‘Brighton Rock’ @ the weekend – rather chilling and scary. Must read something more up lifting next….oh ‘Jude the Obscure’ is next on my list that will be a riot!!!!!! Also, in the middle of studying Oedipus The King..it’s a laugh a minute here at the moment.

On a happier note there is an intriguing new show starting this week ‘Wonderfalls’ – all about an underachieving philosophy graduate who works at a gift shop and the inanimate objects start talking to her….. The concept is a bit ‘Joan of Arcadia’ it will either be devilishly funny (like JoA) or die a tragic death like Jocasta 😮

I try to be good!

In an attempt to get ‘healthy’ this morning I opted for a skinny hazelnut latte instead of the full fat version but this seemed to confuse them and they topped it off with whipped cream and caramel.  I think they were worried I wasn’t getting enough calories!

I am stuck in Chaucer hell at the moment – the final part of my poetry module in my English Lit course has me reading The Miller’s Tale in the original middle English. The only way I can describe it is a dyslexic on acid!!!! So, I ended up procrastinating my day away yesterday and came up with this about my ipod (it’s not v good but at least short):

Shiny, white and fly,
You really caught my eye,
Glistening in the shop,
Just had to break and stop.

Lets hope I am more productive today and don’t start on an ode to TIVO!!!!!!