Where to begin...?

So last week had its ups and downs. Started the week with a couple really crappy days. My laptop is slowly dying and needs a replacement part so that I can start charging it again. I'm looking online to find the piece I need but I either have to ship it from America or pay silly amounts of money for it. The alternative is to put it in for repair which would cost around £100 so I'm going to avoid that for as long as I can, if not all together. I could always get a new laptop which I've been thinking of doing for a little while considering this one is about 3yrs old and been a bit of a problem child but we'll see what the future holds I guess.

Work has been pretty much the same thing really. Worked a late shift the other night which was....different. I think I prefer the morning times, they're easier to handle. I mostly end up dealing with the chilled and bread deliveries with a little bit of till work every now and then. It's going okay, or at least I think it is anyway. My manager hasn't said that I'm doing badly so hopefully that's good right? He seems happy with my work so I'm content with that. I got to work a chiller launch tomorrow night....taking all of the stuff out of the chilled section, re-working all the shelves and stock then putting everything back. It's going to be a long one from what everyone has said about it. Not sure if I should be looking forward to it or what...? But still, money is money and I can't really complain about that.

I went swimming for the first time in forever (somewhere close to two years? If not longer) today and stars above was it great! I'd forgotten how much I love swimming. I'm massively out of practice and it showed how unfit I am but it was definitely worth it. I'm going to try and go more often while I'm off for the summer, hopefully it'll help keep me fit for when I get back to Uni and start playing Ultimate again! Based on today I'm already dreading that first session back...going to be a breathless one no doubt.

Today is also the start of Wimbledon! One of (if not my only) favourite sporting events of the year. I'm sure I've spoken about my love of tennis once or twice on here before so I'm not going to bother with it all again. I'm really hoping the weather brightens up for the tournament though other wise it's going to be a very slow and uneventful tournament being rained off every ten minutes.

Pretty much it for now, I'm going to sit here and watch the tennis while I enjoy the rest of my day off.

Catch ya later folks

E3 2013!

I once held the belief that going to E3 was like a gamer's pilgrimage. Everyone wanted to go to experience the amazing events first hand. Now I only want to go so that I can mock them and throw things in disappointment.

E3 for those who don't know is an entertainment expo focused on the video games (something I hold close to my heart). It's the biggest gaming expo of the year, where all the big names go to unveil what they're working on and what's coming out in the upcoming year. I used to remember looking forward to the developments of E3 with excitement and optimism. It used to be great, seeing all the massive releases from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo along with some of the big developers and publishers showing what they're working on too. I remember looking forward to the week long feast of gaming deliciousness, being able to look forward to the rest of the year and all the amazing stuff that was to be released. The sense of mystery surrounding the key note speeches and the barely contained excitement of the waiting crowd to see what they had in store for us.

Nowadays though...things have changed. Don't get me wrong, the show is still as big and as extravagant (as only American's can produce) and it still runs for a good 3/4 days but the content has been lacking in previous years. I've become a cynic and a skeptic instead of the optimistic and bright-eyed gamer that looked forward to the show with quiet expectation and a whole host of my own predictions. Of course I was younger back then and things seemed alot brighter and more fun, maybe it's because I'm growing up the show doesn't have the same effect on me as it did....or the past couple incredibly disappointing years have just made me rather uncaring about the show.

Like I said the show's content had been pretty lame for the past couple years. Some pretty poor key note speeches revealing nothing all that impressive. Sure we have been in the 7th generation of consoles for a good while now and things have begun to stagnate as the technology was limited by the capabilities of the current consoles so there's only so much you can do with the limited tech and eventually it has to leap forward. But still, the displays had become lack luster, the releases had become just re-hashes of old games given a face lift. There were very few new, interesting releases that really grabbed much attention.

So this year I went into the show with skepticism and expecting it to be shit, but instead, I was delightfully surprised. This year's show was very impressive compared to the past couple years. The big reveals of the consoles may have added something to the show this year....although saying that the less said about the XboxOne the better really. It was a pretty poor display really. This generation's console war has been won by Sony's PS4 and they aren't even released yet. Microsoft were pretty poor and Sony could have torn them apart in the first 5minutes if they wanted to...but if they'd done that then no-one would have watched the rest of their show. They waited until just before the end for a small speech that completely blew Microsoft apart. The crowd's reaction to the Xbox conference was pretty tame throughout....Sony pretty much whipped them into a frenzy! I'd say they stole the show but that goes to Ubisoft once more with their Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Watch Dogs and something new called The Divison.

Their conference was by far my favourite of the show, they got Aisha Tyler to host which was a fantastic choice as she really interacted with the crowd and was pretty funny (reminds me that Archer season four is out soon). They unveiled more of Watch Dogs, which was awesome. They also showed something new called The Division. They introduced it with a pretty impressive video sequence that has kind of become typical of Ubisoft. The gameplay looks amazing and I really can't wait for it to be released.

Needless to say with Microsoft's poor performance I'll probably be buying a PS4....meaning I'll have to leave my trusty gamertag in limbo for awhile, or at least until Microsoft get their shit together.

I'd go into more detail but I've rambled for a while and can't be bothered to. Maybe next week.

Catch ya later folks

That sucked.

Last week sucked, I don't wanna talk about it. I don't feel like writing.

Catch ya later folks

London Baby!

It's a pretty tree, deal with it.

It's been pretty quiet here at home since my birthday, no-one being around has lead to some long days, so I've decided to return to something I haven't done in years; Writing, well writing short stories at least. I stopped a couple years ago due to writer's block and I guess I never went back to it. My stories always seemed flat and lacking something so here's hoping that I've fixed that this time. I've been brain storming ideas for a little while and I've started writing something, just need to build on it. However starting the story is never the hard part, it's coming up with the ending. Once that's established then I'm hoping the bits in between will be easier to do. I'm not going to say anything about it here, I'm not sure how good it's going to turn out or if I'm even going to finish it. 

It's a little different to my usual stuff but that might be a good thing, might help me actually finish this one. I used to be pretty good at writing short stories, always aced the assessed ones in class and I once entered a short story competition, I didn't win but I got entered, that's got to count for something right? Anyways my early writings were poorly done imitations of books I'd been reading at the time, but surely that's a good thing for the author right? I mean on some level they're bound to be writing their books not just to entertain but to inspire young/novice writers to pick up a pen (or keyboard) and try their hand (pun definitely intended). 

I'm not saying my new project is going to be a full book, I'll be lucky if I manage to make it longer than a couple pages before either hitting writer's block again or getting bored writing it. I'm not making any promises but from the people who have read it I've gotten some good feedback, I need to do some refining and polishing but I can do that when I've got more to work with.

In other news Ali and I went on another one of our trips, this time to London....again. The weather was amazing, much like last time and stayed great all day long. Thanks to Ali living in London and being able to take part in various London photo walks we found a great spot up by St. Paul's Cathedral. We also hit up the Thames Barrier, Kyoto Garden in the Chelsea/Kensington area and we found an old abandoned building near the Barrier that would have been really interesting to explore but we weren't allowed inside. Luckily while we were nearby the security guard was just leaving, said we could take a couple photos from inside the fence. 

My first HDR image!

I'd upload a load of photos but I've gotta sort them all out, might take me a while but for now I've got a couple of my favourites from the day. I've been getting a bit bored around home so it made a nice change to get out and about and do something. What made it better was the fact that I got to go out and play with my camera properly again for the first time in ages. The wider exploration of London was good too, lead to us finding some awesome new locations and some great shots! I also got a crash course in how to take an HDR photo from Ali which I totally didn't abuse. Learning how to compile an HDR photo on the other hand is going to take me awhile but I've posted up one of my first attempts that I really like.

The Kyoto Garden was incredible! Who'd have thought that there would be somewhere so intensely peaceful and quiet in the centre of London? The garden had some fantastically designed Japanese features and it all worked brilliantly to create such an unavoidably tranquil location. The sound of the waterfall feature made a great background noise to just sit and relax within the beautifully kept garden sat upon some surprisingly comfortable stone seats. Even the wildlife seemed at peace, squirrels, pigeons and even a raven being surprisingly inquisitive. I sat down to just chill and take in the atmosphere of the area, when I stood up to look at something I was startled to find a squirrel sat no more than 2ft from me, staring at me. I mean the last couple of times I've tried to photograph a squirrel they ran off up a tree or into a nearby bush but in Kyoto Garden they would just sit there and stare at you. I felt kind of bad walking around the place with my camera being a typical tourist, I felt as though I was spoiling the effect of the garden but it was just stunning! There are so many beautiful things about that place, I could genuinely spend a whole day just sat there, escaping from everything and just relaxing.

Well I've rambled on for long enough really...I'm off to see Christina on Saturday which should be great. I'm really looking forward to seeing her, just not the stupidly early alarm and long ass train ride. Going to be a grumpy bear for a little while but I'm sure I'll cheer up when I wake up properly, probably sometime close to 6pm...

Catch ya later folks

Another year older....

As the title suggests, I'm now the ripe old age of 20....I'm not quite sure how to feel about this. They say another year older, another year wiser...but how true is it? I don't feel any different to how I used to...or at least I don't think I do. I guess you'd have to ask those that know and love me about that really.

I'm sat at home for the summer now, looking forward to the long relaxing break from all that work and stress from Uni and exams and all that. I'm just glad to be home and relaxing in what passes for the summer weather. Admittedly the past couple days have had really nice weather. It's been good to be back, there really is no place like home. Those home comforts that you miss while away somewhere else...it also helps that I'm home for my birthday this year! It's Mum's birthday the day before mine and she says she's enjoyed herself which is the main thing. My sister and the kids came round today after getting back from their weekend away. I got some awesome DC socks and Spongebob pj trousers.

I've finally gotten to wear my Windy City Wildfire jersey that I ordered from Chicago because I wanted one and they look bad-ass so I bought one. It was kinda expensive but hey ho. This shirt is the comfiest thing known to man! It's silky smooth, fits really well and has my name and number on the back. The Wildfire's are also top of the Midwestern league with 6 wins to 1 loss and a +39 goal difference! My fantasy ultimate team has quite a few of their members on it and this week placed me 10th out of 2815 other teams! Hell yeah!

Christina came down Monday morning and stayed til Tuesday afternoon. She brought cake! Marble cake! My favourite kind of cake! She got me Jaffa Cakes, some Family Guy socks and some shaving balm for irritated skin after shaving. Just goes to show how well she knows me! Stupid itchy baby smooth skin....seriously what's up with that? After shaving to stop itchy beardiness why does the skin decide to be all itchy? Make up your damned mind skin!

Anyways, we spent a lovely day out in the sun with Rich and Amy. We went for a drink in the Boar and for a walk round Lake Meadows. It was awesome! Although we may have come back a little burnt...however after slapping some after sun on the burns soothed them....I woke up this morning to find my arms pretty much healed up and Christina still with some small burnt parts to which she asked "What kind of mutant hybrid alien are you!?"....kinda offended by that. Today we braved the rough streets of Basildon, the weather I thought was rather fitting personally, it was rainy and grey. It was surprisingly not so bad down there, the hordes were tamed by the weather it would seem, less rowdy than usual. They've made some drastic changes to Gloucester park....Not sure if I like the changes or not. Still, we avoided getting stabbed and managed to get some tasty Taco Bell so that's a win in my book. Christina didn't drive off screaming and crying because of the experience so that's good right?

Well that's pretty much it for now, my love for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been rekindled due to me watching most of the first series from the 2003 reboot. Damn I love those heroes in a half-shell! I'm such a big kid it's insane....first the Jackie Chan Adventures, now TMNT? Next I'll go to Yu-Gi-Oh, but there's nothing wrong with that right?

Cowabunga dudes!

Catch ya later folks

Derp derp derp

Sorry for the lack of post last week folks, I tried to upload a post but Blogger decided it wanted to be a derp and not upload photos and well I wasn't going to upload the post without the photos. Although for some reason it's still being a derp, I'll have to play around with it later and try to sort it out.

So last week was the start of the exam period and well I think the first exam went down pretty well. I've always been reasonably good at biology so I didn't have too many problems, of course I might be over confident about it and come results day regret every word but we'll see I guess.

The second exam on the other hand sucked. It was horrible. I got to the end of the multiple choice section thinking "Hopefully the long answer questions will be my saving grace...." you should never, ever have to finish a multiple choice section and hope that the long answers will be better. They weren't by the way. They sucked too. It was just a terrible exam...I'm not sure if it's because I wasn't prepared enough or because the questions were really difficult, maybe it was a bit of both but hey ho, it's done now right?

The week before last week was pretty cool, went to see Sam and Ant's lacrosse match again, Sam asked me to play photographer again. It would have been great if it wasn't for the rain...I had to stop taking photos around halfway through the 3rd quarter as I was kinda worried about the camera getting water damaged (it didn't). It was a pretty good match to watch and I got a couple good photos, Sam seemed happy with them which is the main thing really. Christina came with me, I said she didn't have to but for some reason she seemed to want to stand out in the cold rain with me (crazy right?).

This week should hopefully be a bit better. Last week in Lincoln, except for one weekend when I come up here for a frisbee tournament. It's been way too long since I've played frisbee properly, what with exams taking up everyone's time and the sports hall being full of desks. They make it a bit difficult to play frisbee. Anyways, 2 exams left, first of which is tomorrow and I'm kinda prepared for it but not as confident as I could be. It'll be tough but I only need something like 12% to pass the module. Ideally I'll do a bit better than that but we'll have to wait and see.

Going out to dinner with a couple friends Wednesday to celebrate the end of our exams for the year. Also seeing The Hangover Part III with Christina on Thursday which should be pretty awesome. The first two movies were pretty good, the second one surprised me, I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. Sequels are never as good as the first and well, it wasn't quite as great but it was still pretty freaking great.

Anyways, that's pretty much it for now, my birthday in a week and Christina is coming down to visit for it which will be awesome, she's even bringing cake! It'll be good to be back home...

Catch ya later folks

Here we go again...

So it's that time again....Exam season is upon us. I could use a cliched Game of Thrones "Winter is coming" meme but I don't want to so sue me. Am I worried? Not as much as I probably should be but what else is new? It's a well known fact that I don't really get worried around exams, infuriatingly so for some people. It's this time of year that I always remember sitting outside an exam hall in sixth form, waiting to go into a Biology exam. Most others in my class had been furiously revising for a long time and even doing some last minute cramming in the common room before the exam....then there's me. I rock on up to the hall, find my seat number and wait outside with everyone else, find a nice wall to lean myself against and stand there casually flipping my drinks bottle in my hand. Tossing it up, letting it make one slow lazy rotation before it comes to rest in my hand once more only for me to repeat the process all over again, a lazy absent minded-ness to the action and yet completely focused on it. I have all the exam essentials in my pockets and it's a nice lovely summer's day so I'm wearing my trusty combat shorts and a bright t-shirt....nice and relaxed and completely chilled out before going into quite an important exam.

Then Alaina looks up at me and asks "What the hell, Spud?". Alaina works too hard as I've often told her and was one of the people who were less than at ease waiting for this exam...so seeing me stood there relaxed and looking as if I don't care about the exam must have annoyed her slightly since she was so on edge. Little did we know this exam was going to be a bitch because it was pretty much all on one topic, not the whole module...but still there wasn't anything worrying about it before the exam could achieve, or after it for that matter because at that point the exam had been and gone and our answers were effectively written in stone. Anyways I can see where she was coming from and I guess it is a little disconcerting standing there worried about your exams when you look over and see someone standing there almost uncaring about it.

I wasn't doing it to offend or annoy anyone, but maybe to try to reassure people. Maybe it doesn't always come across that way and maybe it comes across as cocky and arrogant but really I'm just hoping it'll help try to calm the nerves of some of those around me...it's gained mixed reactions, some similar to Alaina's and others have actually seemed calmed by it which is good since that was the plan.

Well exams don't start til next Tuesday and the nerves are beginning to fray in some...me on the other hand? I'm fine for now. I'm not as prepared as I'd like to be but I've still got a week to change that and hopefully that's enough time to help prepare myself for the upcoming exams. I'm still doing what I can to try and reassure those that aren't coping with the stress as well as some but I just hate being unable to do more....I did take Christina to see Iron Man 3 for a second time in order to try and help, hopefully it worked to take the edge off the stress a little bit.

Catch ya later folks