I’m not going to be writing long blog posts for a while, I don’t think. Work plus studying plus life admin is really all-encompassing, and so I’m just not going to have the time to write screeds and screeds over the next few weeks/months. I will do a short update every day to let you know how I’m getting on though!
I collected the car from the garage today and I’ve got another chunk of studying done. Tomorrow is a day for getting all of this week’s day job work done (hopefully!) and then I’ll be back to the course on Thursday and Friday. It seems to be taking a bit longer than advertised to get through all the work, but hopefully I’ll feel vaguely caught up by the weekend.
Lots to do this evening too!
Dance mural from a building in Whitley Bay when Geth and I were there a week and a half ago.
It’s been a manic week and I am so glad it’s the weekend. Studying and working at the same time is tough, especially with all the other things I need to do. I’m really enjoying the course though.
Tomorrow I’ll be parkrunning and game-creating and doing other active/productive hobby stuff, but I’m going to arrange another Shouldless Sunday for the following day. I’m really looking forward to a day on the sofa with my videogames! I just don’t have time for them otherwise at the moment…
Another of last Sunday’s cakes! I love red velvet cake and this slice was perfect.
This week’s earworm playlists:
Saturday
Tracy Chapman – ‘Fast Car’ Placebo – ‘Every You Every Me’
And a bonus track that Geth was humming that day:
The Power Station – ‘Some Like It Hot’
Sunday
Bill Withers – ‘Lovely Day’ The Running Channel – ‘Run With Me’
Monday
Japan – ‘I Second That Emotion’
Tuesday
Sacre – ‘The London Marathon’ Duran Duran – ‘Out Of My Mind’ Duran Duran – ‘Winter Marches On’
Wednesday
Elvis Presley – ‘Return To Sender’ Village People – ‘YMCA’ Bill Conti – ‘Gonna Fly Now’ Duran Duran – ‘Anniversary’
Thursday
Lady Gaga and Beyoncé – ‘Telephone’ Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – ‘Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy’ Ashbury Heights – ‘Suicide Anthem’
My course has started. It was pegged as sixteen hours a week but it actually looks like it’s going to be a bigger time commitment than that if I do everything properly! As such, I’m being strict over the next few months with my schedule so that I can fit everything in. It’s going to take a bit of work to balance everything but I’m already enjoying the course so much.
This week might mostly be illustrated by post-race pictures from yesterday. There are a lot, mostly of cake.
The fancy café where we ate all the cake also had a fancy jazz band that played in the background. Very swish!
…I spent the afternoon at the Newcastle University Postgraduate Open Day in order to find out about doing a Masters in creative writing. It was odd sitting in lecture halls and listening to talks. Other than the odd occasion when I’ve sat in on Geth’s evening lectures, I haven’t been in lecture halls since I graduated in 2008!
It was a really interesting afternoon though. I spoke to a few students who are currently doing the course, went on a tour of the facilities, and attended a couple of general talks on studying at Newcastle and funding sources. I went away with a huge amount of bumpf to read and a lot of things to look into over the next few days!
I then headed to ukulele class, which was as fab as ever. Really enjoying the songs we’re doing this term.
It’ll be another busy day tomorrow, as I need to catch up with day job work in between going to weigh-in and the gig that Geth and I are attending in the evening.
I also got a free tote bag to carry all my open day bumpf in. I don’t really need any more of these, but I always appreciate a nice goodie bag!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Vangelis – ‘Chariots Of Fire’ Stinx – ‘Why Do You Keep On Running Boy’* Del Amitri – ‘Nothing Ever Happens’
*For the uninitiated (i.e. those who weren’t living in Scotland around the turn of the millennium), this was a parody of Britney Spears’ ‘…Baby One More Time’ that featured in a legendary HEBS (Health Education Board for Scotland) advert from 2000, aimed at discouraging teenagers from smoking. The advert was renowned as being absolutely genius (I did a day of work experience at the BBC during this period and they were all raving about it), and I sang the song in the school corridors every breaktime with my pals for about three months solid.
Didn’t discourage me from smoking, though.
Worth a watch if you’ve never seen it, if only for some prime nostalgia:
