Erm.....yeah....? I literally have nothing to really talk about this week. Well that's not entirely true but there's nothing I care to mention at this moment in time. You'll find out eventually but for now I'm saying nothing.....literally nothing. I'm very tempted to post a mostly blank post for the week but my adoring fans (ha!) might get mad.
I did go to see the new Thor movie last week, it was pretty awesome! Definitely better than the first one, not saying that the first one was bad ('cause it was awesome) but this one was definitely better. Set up for the next Thor movie as well as the 2nd Avengers movie brilliantly.
Watching Thor: The Dark World did remind me to catch up on the whole Marvel Agents of SHIELD series on TV. At first it seemed pretty lame. I was comparing it to the movies and expecting it to be on that kind of level which it's not, don't get me wrong it's good but it's not multimillion pound blockbuster movie good and I was a little stupid to expect it to be. After you stop thinking that it has to be as good as the Avengers movies then you get to realise that it's actually a pretty cool show. The characters are great and they keep referencing things that happen in the movies which is pretty cool. Like one of the episodes is set just after the events of Thor 2 which I think is great. Yeah it's to be expected since they're referring to something so closely related to the movies but I really like that they do it. They've also managed to capture a lot of the same humour that's in the movies, I'm not sure if that's because they have the same writers or what but it's great! I'll admit the show is a little slow to get going but once it does then it really does become quite addictive. It's quite a pain really because I've got about 4 different series to be watching at the moment, not to mention Game of Thrones when that comes back and a few others. I have no doubt that I'm wasting too much of my time watching TV than I should be but hey ho! I'm not about to change my ways anytime soon!
Nice and short this week huh? Ah well. Going home this weekend for a bit which should be cool. Hopefully they haven't decorated the house yet, if they have then I'm not gunna be happy. Although to be fair when I head home for Christmas properly then it probably will be....but I think I can handle that. It's gunna be mid December by the time I get there so it better be done by then!
Catch ya later folks
Monday, 25 November 2013
Monday, 18 November 2013
Pseudo-sleep
I had my first exam of my final year at Lincoln on Friday. It's done and dusted. Let's move on.
Everyone that knows me knows that I've developed some kind of sleeping problem since getting to Uni and from what I can gather so have a lot of other people. This got me to thinking about what might be causing it...strangely enough this thought occurred to me at 2am this morning while talking to Lex.
We were talking and being awake at silly o'clock in the morning lead to both of us wondering why the other was still awake. Lex was working on his first essay in 3 years and I was totally failing at this whole sleeping thing. Anyways, Lex had recently spent the weekend off the radar, no phone or anything so that he could enjoy his weekend with his missus (understandable right?) and said that while he was there he could actually rest and sleep properly, it's only when he gets back here that sleeping becomes difficult and doesn't feel like proper sleep. This lead me to thinking, why? What is it that makes sleeping at Uni so different to sleeping at home?
So, being the scientist that I am, cooked up a theory. When you're at home, you're away from Uni, a place all students associate with work and stress. They say Uni is the best time of your life, if not one of the most stressful. It's all deadlines and hard work weighing on your mind. As much as we try to ignore it, push it to the back burner, some part of our minds is always playing with that thought. Gently whispering in our ears that we should be working, or we're not working hard enough. That if we dedicated a little more time to something then we'd make it that much better. Normally I'm pretty good at the whole ignoring stress thing, being relaxed and taking most things in my stride but this year? This is the big one right? This year can make or break a career. This year is the one that we've all been working towards. Our dissertation year, the one project where we can dedicate all the skills and understanding to achieve one thing, no matter what that one thing is. This all adds up and becomes a massive weight on every third/final year's mind.
So when you're at home or away from Uni just trying to relax, it's easier to do it, because you're not here. You're away from that load on your mind, a place of rest and peace, something we all consider home to be. We're able to not just physically distance ourselves from the stress but it seems that with that distance it becomes easier to do it mentally too. We're able to put off all those things that the Whisper is trying to tell you to do as you're not at your place of work, you're at home, your place of rest. You're able to unwind and relax and rest peacefully.
During the day that Whispering thought isn't so much of a problem as our minds are more concerned with the day to day stuff and actually tackling that work load, so the Whisper is either drowned out or is being quiet because you're doing what it wants you to be doing. However as soon as night falls and your head hits the pillow and you're trying to empty your mind, relax into a gentle and resting sleep that the Whisper slowly creeps into your mind and begins to whisper again. This leads to a fake sleep, a pseudo-sleep, where you're not so much resting but just barely listening to the silent Whisper that tells you all the things you should be doing instead of wasting time resting. This pseudo-sleep gives the appearance of a deep and restful slumber but when you wake up you never feel all that refreshed. Instead you feel like you've barely rested at all. You wake up with a mental list of all the things you need to get done, want to get done and should get done. You get up and you start to cross things off of the list, you begin to tackle the workload. Slowly you begin to tackle the mental burden in an attempt to silence the Whisper and get a good nights sleep but somehow no matter what you get done throughout the day, that thought always comes back to pester you, prevent you from resting properly.
Maybe it's just part of being a Uni student and once this is all over then we'll be able to sleep properly. Maybe once the stress of Uni is behind us we'll be able to put that Whisper behind us. Or maybe it's not stress related at all and some people are just not meant to sleep....who knows? Give me another 6 months and I'll be able to discount at least one of those theories. Going back to the original conversation, Lex said that he keeps a notepad next to his bed so that he can write down what's got to be done tomorrow so that "future Lex" can worry about it when he wakes up. It's an idea...not sure how it's working out for him but I might have to start giving it a go!
That's pretty much all I had to say about last week really. We had a couple teams away at tournaments so there was no training on and hardly anyone about. Both my housemates had gone away for the weekend so I was sat home alone revisiting old games I hadn't played in ages in an attempt to unwind and relax before starting my new modules this week. Forensic Toxicology and Applied Forensic Analysis are both set to be a barrel of laughs, I'm sure. Ah well....
Catch ya later folks
Everyone that knows me knows that I've developed some kind of sleeping problem since getting to Uni and from what I can gather so have a lot of other people. This got me to thinking about what might be causing it...strangely enough this thought occurred to me at 2am this morning while talking to Lex.
We were talking and being awake at silly o'clock in the morning lead to both of us wondering why the other was still awake. Lex was working on his first essay in 3 years and I was totally failing at this whole sleeping thing. Anyways, Lex had recently spent the weekend off the radar, no phone or anything so that he could enjoy his weekend with his missus (understandable right?) and said that while he was there he could actually rest and sleep properly, it's only when he gets back here that sleeping becomes difficult and doesn't feel like proper sleep. This lead me to thinking, why? What is it that makes sleeping at Uni so different to sleeping at home?
So, being the scientist that I am, cooked up a theory. When you're at home, you're away from Uni, a place all students associate with work and stress. They say Uni is the best time of your life, if not one of the most stressful. It's all deadlines and hard work weighing on your mind. As much as we try to ignore it, push it to the back burner, some part of our minds is always playing with that thought. Gently whispering in our ears that we should be working, or we're not working hard enough. That if we dedicated a little more time to something then we'd make it that much better. Normally I'm pretty good at the whole ignoring stress thing, being relaxed and taking most things in my stride but this year? This is the big one right? This year can make or break a career. This year is the one that we've all been working towards. Our dissertation year, the one project where we can dedicate all the skills and understanding to achieve one thing, no matter what that one thing is. This all adds up and becomes a massive weight on every third/final year's mind.
So when you're at home or away from Uni just trying to relax, it's easier to do it, because you're not here. You're away from that load on your mind, a place of rest and peace, something we all consider home to be. We're able to not just physically distance ourselves from the stress but it seems that with that distance it becomes easier to do it mentally too. We're able to put off all those things that the Whisper is trying to tell you to do as you're not at your place of work, you're at home, your place of rest. You're able to unwind and relax and rest peacefully.
During the day that Whispering thought isn't so much of a problem as our minds are more concerned with the day to day stuff and actually tackling that work load, so the Whisper is either drowned out or is being quiet because you're doing what it wants you to be doing. However as soon as night falls and your head hits the pillow and you're trying to empty your mind, relax into a gentle and resting sleep that the Whisper slowly creeps into your mind and begins to whisper again. This leads to a fake sleep, a pseudo-sleep, where you're not so much resting but just barely listening to the silent Whisper that tells you all the things you should be doing instead of wasting time resting. This pseudo-sleep gives the appearance of a deep and restful slumber but when you wake up you never feel all that refreshed. Instead you feel like you've barely rested at all. You wake up with a mental list of all the things you need to get done, want to get done and should get done. You get up and you start to cross things off of the list, you begin to tackle the workload. Slowly you begin to tackle the mental burden in an attempt to silence the Whisper and get a good nights sleep but somehow no matter what you get done throughout the day, that thought always comes back to pester you, prevent you from resting properly.
Maybe it's just part of being a Uni student and once this is all over then we'll be able to sleep properly. Maybe once the stress of Uni is behind us we'll be able to put that Whisper behind us. Or maybe it's not stress related at all and some people are just not meant to sleep....who knows? Give me another 6 months and I'll be able to discount at least one of those theories. Going back to the original conversation, Lex said that he keeps a notepad next to his bed so that he can write down what's got to be done tomorrow so that "future Lex" can worry about it when he wakes up. It's an idea...not sure how it's working out for him but I might have to start giving it a go!
That's pretty much all I had to say about last week really. We had a couple teams away at tournaments so there was no training on and hardly anyone about. Both my housemates had gone away for the weekend so I was sat home alone revisiting old games I hadn't played in ages in an attempt to unwind and relax before starting my new modules this week. Forensic Toxicology and Applied Forensic Analysis are both set to be a barrel of laughs, I'm sure. Ah well....
Catch ya later folks
Monday, 11 November 2013
Glad that's over
So last week I was freaking out over my assignment that I hadn't finished and was hating completely. It had gotten to the point that it was beginning to mess with my sleeping pattern. I'm not big on anthropology, it's not that I don't understand it or anything, I just don't find it interesting in the slightest. It's done, it's over so now I can forget about it. It's not going to be my greatest piece of work by any measure but hopefully it'll pass and I can focus on other things. Oh well.
Last week had some awesome moments that took the edge off a bit and made it a little easier to relax and focus on getting the assignment done. The Wednesday night social was a great laugh as always and judging by everyone's behaviour Thursday it was quite messy later on. So lived up to tradition really. Had a really good laugh, which I needed so it's all good!
Saturday was great too! Mr. and Mrs. Spud popped up to visit, first time I'd seen them in months so that was great. We went out and got lunch, did some shopping and caught up really. What sucked was that I wasn't feeling homesick at all really, then they left and that night it hit me! Was just laying on the sofa watching TV and thinking about home and all the things I missed. Probably didn't help that every song that seemed to come on my iTunes was a bit slow and thought provoking. Good job there iTunes! However something happened later that cheered me straight up. The Advert came on.
The Coca Cola Christmas advert has been the sign that Christmas is coming since forever. As soon as it comes on then it means I can start singing Christmas songs and of course, wearing my Santa Hat. I haven't seen the advert yet but as soon as I do the hat is coming out! It's a well known fact that Christmas is my favourite time of the year, 'cause the nights get longer and the weather turns colder and everything starts to feel all cozy. Already heard that it might start snowing soon which would be awesome! Of course the weather always says that and they're more often than not wrong and it starts snowing in January right through to late February/early March. Better late than never though right?
My good mood was slightly stunted after yesterday though. Not sure if I mentioned that I injured the tendon and ligaments in my right middle finger a while ago? Well I did and got told to keep up taking anti-inflammatories to let it heal. It had almost healed as well....then I went and caught a disc badly at training Sunday and boom! Back to where we started from. Barely able to grip anything or use my right hand. I'm having to one finger type with my right hand like a 10yr old again....strange how much of a difference it makes! Going to go out and get some surgical tape and bandages and tape it up. Hopefully immobilising it and taking Ibuprofen will help it heal quicker! I probably won't be back on form for Thursday's Superleague game but can only wait and see!
Well thats it for now folks. Got an exam coming up at the end of the week which is going to be....fun....?
Catch ya later
Last week had some awesome moments that took the edge off a bit and made it a little easier to relax and focus on getting the assignment done. The Wednesday night social was a great laugh as always and judging by everyone's behaviour Thursday it was quite messy later on. So lived up to tradition really. Had a really good laugh, which I needed so it's all good!
Saturday was great too! Mr. and Mrs. Spud popped up to visit, first time I'd seen them in months so that was great. We went out and got lunch, did some shopping and caught up really. What sucked was that I wasn't feeling homesick at all really, then they left and that night it hit me! Was just laying on the sofa watching TV and thinking about home and all the things I missed. Probably didn't help that every song that seemed to come on my iTunes was a bit slow and thought provoking. Good job there iTunes! However something happened later that cheered me straight up. The Advert came on.
The Coca Cola Christmas advert has been the sign that Christmas is coming since forever. As soon as it comes on then it means I can start singing Christmas songs and of course, wearing my Santa Hat. I haven't seen the advert yet but as soon as I do the hat is coming out! It's a well known fact that Christmas is my favourite time of the year, 'cause the nights get longer and the weather turns colder and everything starts to feel all cozy. Already heard that it might start snowing soon which would be awesome! Of course the weather always says that and they're more often than not wrong and it starts snowing in January right through to late February/early March. Better late than never though right?
My good mood was slightly stunted after yesterday though. Not sure if I mentioned that I injured the tendon and ligaments in my right middle finger a while ago? Well I did and got told to keep up taking anti-inflammatories to let it heal. It had almost healed as well....then I went and caught a disc badly at training Sunday and boom! Back to where we started from. Barely able to grip anything or use my right hand. I'm having to one finger type with my right hand like a 10yr old again....strange how much of a difference it makes! Going to go out and get some surgical tape and bandages and tape it up. Hopefully immobilising it and taking Ibuprofen will help it heal quicker! I probably won't be back on form for Thursday's Superleague game but can only wait and see!
Well thats it for now folks. Got an exam coming up at the end of the week which is going to be....fun....?
Catch ya later
Monday, 4 November 2013
Regionals 2013 and One Pitch to Rule Them All!
Last week didn't get a post. I was feeling kinda down and didn't really feel like writing. I'll explain in a few moments...
....now actually. We went to Regionals! I was originally meant to captain our second team and anyone who knows me knows I'm not much of a leader unless the time calls for it. I was however promoted to 1st team for the weekend...which I wasn't too sure how to feel about....I know I'm not the greatest player in the world but equally I'm not the worst. I'm sure I've mentioned how Lex describes me on pitch as "inconsistent" and that's probably the most accurate way to describe it. One minute I can be great and catch anything you decide to send my way, the next I'll drop the simplest discs ever thrown. So yeah, inconsistent. 1st team's usual members were a couple men down (1 being in Lativa and the other in Ireland) so to avoid iron manning it they pulled me from the ranks...must have thought I was good enough otherwise they wouldn't have picked me to go with them right? So I went to regionals on first team...really quite nervous since their level of play is...well a lot better than mine usually is...I went determined not to disappoint and hopefully I didn't...
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| Sam and Chris, the Dynamic Duo. |
Saturday we were doing really well (least I thought we were). I arrived slightly late due to a bit of a fuck up on my part booking the wrong ticket...this actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise since someone (...Lex) left Jack's bag at the train station when they left. So I had to phone the train station which if you've ever tried to phone a train station will know that it's not a straight forward process in the slightest. Managed to get them to find and store the bag for me until I got there to pick it up and hop on my train down to St. Albans. How we ended up in St. Albans for the Midlands Indoor Regional tournament I'll never understand...but hey ho! The rest of first team got there before me due to my cock up and Lex's saving grace and had to iron man the first game for about 5 minutes before I arrived thanks to Georgina picking me up from the station. From there I think we played quite well, I can't remember any of the scores but I don't remember feeling pissed off and disappointed at the end of the day...just tired and achy but that's the sign of a job well done right? That night, Lex, Jack, Lewis, Amy, Chris, Petey and I all crashed in the sports centre we'd been playing in all day....it lead to an uncomfortable nights sleep, especially since I like to sleep in near arctic conditions. We went to get dinner at a "nearby" KFC that turned out to be about 20/30mins walk away, mostly down a dark and creepy track off the college campus. It had been raining most of the day as well which meant the path was strewn with puddles which was annoying when you're wearing clean dry socks and canvas shoes....
Sunday morning we woke up groggy and bleary eyed thanks to the hard wood floor and some American bloke next to us having an intimate conversation with his missus into the early hours. We found out that we weren't playing in the same place as we woke up in and had to high tail it over to the other sports centre for our first game. We arrived well enough, except for some asshole yelling "Bus Wankers" at they drove past...southerners eh? We really needed to win our first game of the day, it was the 8th vs 15th cross over match...if we lost it we would have moved down to 15th and not had a shot at getting to Nationals. We lost. I can't help but feel more than a little responsible, I just didn't seem to be playing all that well at all. We all seemed a bit slow and off form for the first 10mins of the match allowing the Warwick Bears 2nd team to go 7-2 up...we started to bring it back in the last 10mins making it 7-5 on the final buzzer. The guys didn't say much when we walked off the pitch...what was there to say really? I admit I was the weakest member of the team there and then...and personally I felt fucking awful after that first match on the Sunday. Felt like I'd let not only the team down but also the club (cliche and melodramatic but true) since we were there to get to nationals and we didn't make it. It was a team effort and everything but that doesn't change the fact that I was the weakest player there and made more than my share of mistakes...just hope the guys don't think too badly of me for it...I did my best out there and I hope they know that. I felt honoured to be invited to join first team (along with nervous and scared for the reasons above) and I wanted to get us to Nationals as much as they did, why would I not? End of the day, we didn't make it and it's in the past now. Can only learn from my mistakes and hope not to repeat them...We went on to play 2 more matches that day and won them both, finishing 13th out of 32(?). Will said the last game of the day was the best he'd seen me play all weekend, I just replied with "Shame I couldn't do that earlier..." obviously feeling kinda down about the whole thing...
The week after regionals was just like any other week really, can't really remember anything outstanding or amazing happening. Stuff and things and junk. Worked on my assignment. Finished the main storyline on Darksiders II, was a little disappointed by the ending of it if I'm honest. The game was great, don't get me wrong. Just the ending seemed kinda rushed and a bit lack luster to me but that's a tale for another time.
Saturday, November 2nd was the first day of Lex's tournament hosted as an effort to raise funds for his upcoming wedding, entitled "One Pitch to Rule Them All". It was hilariously fun as Lincoln tournaments always are. Lex was stressing out in the lead up to it due to a few drop outs at the last minute lead to him fearing he'd have to cancel due to lack of teams. Luckily some teams came through and made it an awesome weekend. Being a fun tournament the pressure was far less intense than the weekend before, everyone being there just to play some ultimate, have a good laugh with some great company and if they take home a prize then all the better! I was demoted back to Lincoln 2 as joint Captain with Alana. Kinda glad for it really, don't get me wrong, I loved playing with the lads from 1st team the weekend before but I felt pretty bad after we lost that crucial game on the Sunday, so being back on 2nd was a load of my mind. We had a bit of a dynamic and shifting team for the weekend, starting with Louis, Lewis (Huey), Petey, Will Elliott, Mat Shaw, Alana and myself. Then ending the weekend without Petey or Will (he injured his ankle) but the addition of Brick, who had returned from playing in Women's regionals in Norwich on the Saturday. I can't remember details of the days which is bad considering it was yesterday and the day before....ah well. We fought hard against all the teams we played, having some really close games and some not so close games, but being a relatively short team we were at a bit of a disadvantage really. Still we ran hard and gave the rest of the teams a good fight. Played some good fun calls and generally had a great laugh all weekend. We ended up taking home the Spoon for finishing 7th.
This weekend really made me think though, this is potentially my last year playing with the guys...that sucks...how the hell has the time gone so fast!? Best make the most of this year really!
That's it for now folks,
Catch ya later
Sunday morning we woke up groggy and bleary eyed thanks to the hard wood floor and some American bloke next to us having an intimate conversation with his missus into the early hours. We found out that we weren't playing in the same place as we woke up in and had to high tail it over to the other sports centre for our first game. We arrived well enough, except for some asshole yelling "Bus Wankers" at they drove past...southerners eh? We really needed to win our first game of the day, it was the 8th vs 15th cross over match...if we lost it we would have moved down to 15th and not had a shot at getting to Nationals. We lost. I can't help but feel more than a little responsible, I just didn't seem to be playing all that well at all. We all seemed a bit slow and off form for the first 10mins of the match allowing the Warwick Bears 2nd team to go 7-2 up...we started to bring it back in the last 10mins making it 7-5 on the final buzzer. The guys didn't say much when we walked off the pitch...what was there to say really? I admit I was the weakest member of the team there and then...and personally I felt fucking awful after that first match on the Sunday. Felt like I'd let not only the team down but also the club (cliche and melodramatic but true) since we were there to get to nationals and we didn't make it. It was a team effort and everything but that doesn't change the fact that I was the weakest player there and made more than my share of mistakes...just hope the guys don't think too badly of me for it...I did my best out there and I hope they know that. I felt honoured to be invited to join first team (along with nervous and scared for the reasons above) and I wanted to get us to Nationals as much as they did, why would I not? End of the day, we didn't make it and it's in the past now. Can only learn from my mistakes and hope not to repeat them...We went on to play 2 more matches that day and won them both, finishing 13th out of 32(?). Will said the last game of the day was the best he'd seen me play all weekend, I just replied with "Shame I couldn't do that earlier..." obviously feeling kinda down about the whole thing...
The week after regionals was just like any other week really, can't really remember anything outstanding or amazing happening. Stuff and things and junk. Worked on my assignment. Finished the main storyline on Darksiders II, was a little disappointed by the ending of it if I'm honest. The game was great, don't get me wrong. Just the ending seemed kinda rushed and a bit lack luster to me but that's a tale for another time.
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| Lex and future Mrs. Lex (Ally) |
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| The only members of Lincoln 2 who could make the team photo |
That's it for now folks,
Catch ya later
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