Where did my day go?

Into two whole seasons of Sex and the City that's where! I've only got two left to go until I've finished them all (and I've already watched the films), and I'll be back to looking for something else to obsessively watch. Programmes can just be so addictive I can't control myself. I watch too many at once and then I'm lost all over again. (Previous indulgences include True Blood, Ugly Betty, Glee)

I did also manage to (so far) write about 1000 more words of my new story (Mslexia says that if you write 300 words a day from the 1st of February your manuscript will be finished before the deadline for the competition I might enter it into) So far I have 1,606 words and my first chapter finished. I still haven't decided on the ending yet.

I was going to go out and start my "guide to" blog posts, but it turns out i was too lazy today. I very well may do some tomorrow before or after my seminar. I have, however, begun to create a folder of things for my accommodation guide, so that's some sort of progress. Anyway, that's my whole day in a nutshell.

Actually, on second thoughts, I did take out both the kitchen bins today and cleaned the cooker and the sideboard, but no one will notice. My flatmates will still think I'm a good for nothing lazy thing. But at least I know the truth, right?

Bringing People into the World

Of blogging, of course! No, I am way too young to be a mother yet! What I mean is I have introduced my friend into the wonderful world of ranting to the Internet. So far he only has one post, but if anyone has time they should check him out (right after they click follow on my page of course :P )

http://stopbeingsosynical.blogspot.com/

I've also made the decision to, because of the increase of future Sheffield Hallam students viewing my page (mainly because I posted this to The Student Room - if you don't advertise yourself, no one will) I am going to be posting a series of "A Guide To..." blog posts, focusing on everything you need to know about being a student in Sheffield. The first to come will be "A Guide to Sheffield City".

And finally, I have begun writing a new story, one I think I mentioned in a previous post. One and a half pages written and I think it's going well! Off into town tomorrow to start accumulating pictures for my first "Guide" post. Remember, check out my friend and give me a follow to restore my faith in the world :P Thank You and good night!

First Week Finished

I've finished my first week back at uni now and so far so good. I'm now in three days a week as opposed to two and most of my classes seem pretty good. On Tuesdays I have the "Craft and Form" seminar which I wrote about before, on Thursdays I have "Creative Language Awareness" seminar which, in short, is pretty dull. Two and a half hours dedicated to words and grammar and communication. DULL. But at least all our assessed pieces of work are group work. In our first lesson we looked at situations where you would use communication and talked about why the way we communicate might be affected by things e.g. relationships. We then went through an exercises looking at old and new "smoking kills" labels on cigarette packets and rewriting then working out what made each stronger and weaker. I can't say that at 9am that lecture was thrilling. Our final seminar of the week then is "Words and Images" which is by far the best we have. I don't really have a grasp on what exactly we do in it yet, but I think we look at how imagery has inspired pieces of work, how writers have used images to enhance their work and also how they incorporate imagery into their work. We also have a group project to complete which consists of a 20 minute presentation based on an art exhibit in the Millennium gallery Sheffield entitled "Graphic Nature". We also have to write a blog! But this one doesn't count so I am officially writing two blogs, this one and one for uni. So far though it all seems pretty good and I'm looking forward to next week.

I have also finished "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" which was so good and I would recommend it to anyone. Basically its a murder mystery crime novel, you just have to force yourself through the first hundred pages; its very business focused for alot of it. Besides that it is brilliant.

My boyfriend has been down this weekend for his birthday. I say the weekend but he came Wednesday night and is staying until tomorrow afternoon. All we have really done has been to go to the cinema; we went to see the Mechanic. It was actually pretty good, nothing that required too much thinking, but yeah. And actually, thinking about it, that's about all we have done except play computer games and go to Tescos! I also had an almost argument with my flatmates about taking the bin out. They keep writing notes to the house about keeping the kitchen clean and everyone needing to pull their weight. I know that they are partly getting at me about this, however even though I know I should do something for the house, I still stand by my argument that I rarely use the kitchen and when I do I take things back to the bin in my room and I was up in my bathroom sink. I am not the one who leaves dirty dishes out for weeks and I'm not the one who fills the bin to the point that it overflows. Anyway I am trying to stay on their good side but its easy to see that we don't really see eye to eye.

I'm also thinking about entering a poetry competition within the uni, but I'm not sure what to write yet. If I'm honest I don't really like poetry that much, but my old tutor (who is actually one of the judges) always praises it and says he's impressed by it so maybe I would be in with a chance? I'll keep you posted.

First Day Back at Uni

Today was our first lesson of our second semester in our first year as Sheffield Hallam Creative Writing students :)  We met our new tutor today (well, one of several) her name is Suzanne Batty and she's a poet. It was a pretty decent lesson, except for the painful and cheesy "get to know each other exercises" that, even though we all have known each other for half a year now, had to endure. We had to think of an animal that begun with the first letter of our name and then say an interesting fact about ourselves. Pure cheese. Except for that we mostly just did a few writing exercises.

After uni I went to the flat of the two girls I'm living with next year to decide which room we would each have in our new house. It was all done by random but I still got the room I wanted (in the attic) so yey.  I wouldn't have minded the middle room I just didn't want the one downstairs. It seems wrong to have a front door in a bedroom. The door isn't used as the main door, you're meant to use the back one to get in and out of the house, but what if people knock on your door while you're asleep or something. It just creeps me out basically.

A Long Weekend

It's been a while since I last found time to make a post, I was aiming for everyday but oh well. My boyfriend came down this weekend to visit and all we really did was watch a heck of a lot of Glee! We did, however, find time between all the singing and dancing to venture into Sheffield centre for some shopping (though I didn't actually buy anything) my boyfriend bought an iPod touch, second hand but it still cost a lot. I'm not complaining though; some of the apps are brilliant! And very obsessive! We also watched Friday the 13th which in my opinion was boring and repetitive, satisfying when the most annoying characters were killed though, and especially satisfying seeing that Dean from Gilmore Girls (or whoever from Supernatural) was the main character.

We also went to the cinema last night to watch Little Fockers, which was hilarious (and one woman in the audience obviously agreed judging by the volume of her laugh!) It was such a good film, I would definitely recommend it, if you have seen the first two films then you pretty much know what to expect, and if you haven't, why not?

Another main focus of my weekend has been Ratchet and Clank a Crack in Time on the PS3 that my boyfriend brought down for me. The game is just as good as the past ones; funny, challenging and generally great. I just need to be careful it doesn't suck all my life away!

A Not So Great Adventure

Last night the plan was to go out and have fun and dance all through the night. There is only one word to sum up the success of this plan: Fail. The start of the night was perfectly good. We went to a friends flat, played some drinking games, they smoked almost none stop and i sat next to the open window so I didn't choke, and we had fun. However, despite my constant input of what time we should have left for the club, we didn't leave until past 12. When we got outside Corporation there was still a huge queue, and it wasn't going anywhere; I'm pretty sure it had gotten to the one in one out stage of the night. So, after being stood in the queue for god knows how long with these three pretty drunken guys talking to me and my friends friend about god knows what, we realised two of our friends had disappeared. It turned out they had found people they knew further down the queue and not bothered to say anything to us. Eventually we did follow them to the front of the queue where we stood for another long while. Once we were all bored one of my friends decided we should go to the club Leadmill so we hopped in a taxi. When we pulled up we realised, surprise surprise, Leadmill was closed! We got out of the taxi and, after a long discussion, decided to walk back up to Corporation. By this point all I wanted was my bed and a good TV programme to watch (this was at 1am by the way). Whilst walking me and two of the people I was with slowed down, and the other two were further ahead. By the time we reached Corp, my two friends had gone in and the bouncers had decided that nobody else was going in. So, there we were, 1:30am stood in the cold after a rubbish night out. I took a taxi back to my flat alone (which cost a fortune! £5!) and snuggled down to watch a bit of Glee before I tried to go to sleep. That, however, also posed a problem. I couldn't fall asleep.

It got to 5am and I was just drifting off when my flatmates decided to return from whatever adventure they were having and they brought their friends with them. So, at 5am, there I was, lying awake listening to some girl screaming in my kitchen! Some people have no manners. You don't just go round to someone else's flat in the early hours and start shrieking. It is plain rude.

Another Exhausting Day

This morning I began to attempt my new routine. Admittedly, it didn't start well; I only decided to get up at 11 instead of 9:30 like I had planned. But nevertheless I still made it to the gym by one and was sweating it out on the machines for a full hour. I was surprised by how few people were there, I expected more seen as though it's January, the time where everyone decides to get fit. I suppose I am one of those people, but hopefully I will be one that sticks with it, I mean I payed enough for it! The gyms pretty good though. Smaller than I would like (especially after hearing how my friend's uni gym has a swimming pool and everything) but anything to get me back in shape is good to me.

After the gym I went around Sheffield centre looking for birthday presents for my boyfriend (He is impossible to buy for!) and a shirt for my outfit tomorrow night, and I found one £2.50 from Primark, what a bargain! I'm going to a school disco theme at the club Corporation. It mostly plays metal and rock and some pop, so my kind of music; I can't be doing with that dance and dubstep rubbish! I want bands with talent! Not annoying noises. Some songs that are created are just awful, and make no sense. Like that song that just says "Barbra Streisand" over and over again! What a load of rubbish!

So Here I Am

I'm back in Sheffield now and man, it was a difficult journey. I had an insane amount of things to carry back, and that wasn't even half of my stuff! My boyfriend is bringing down the rest on the weekend! My arms ache and my legs ache, and then I have to go all the way back into town for a doctors appointment, then carry my shopping back! My arms officially hate me now.

So far I cant say I feel any better; I still wish I was at home. Things will get better though, I hope. Haven't done much else today other than watch TV programmes on my laptop (BBC iPlayer is a student's best friend!). I am exhausted. Classes don't start until next week and I'm hopefully going to start my routine properly tomorrow, I'll see how I feel though.

I've got to say, I haven't missed the constant buzz of rubbish dance music drilling into my room from other flats. Oh, the joy of student accommodation.

Getting Ready for Tomorrow

I have spent today preparing to move back down to Sheffield. Yes, I am using the word move, even though about half of my things are already down there, and have been since September. It really does feel like I am moving all over again. I've packed my things and said goodbye to my boyfriend, which was a very tearful affair. I'm now not going to see him for two weeks, not even for his birthday which breaks my heart but what can I do? I don't have to go back tomorrow, but I am because I want to start my routine; get back to the gym, eat properly and start writing regularly at set times. I think once I get down there it'll be OK and I will get back into living on my own and being independent, though I wonder how long it will take for homesickness to kick in (apart from the fact I already feel homesick).

I have to say that's about all was to my day today. A lot of tears and goodbyes and talking about how things have been "our last until..." which in hindsight probably wasn't the best move but it's done now. Anyway, this is my last post from my lovely home and my next will be coming from Sheffield, my other home.

A Quick Follow Up

OK so I didn't like Harry Brown. Although Michael Cane's acting was very good, the film itself is distressing and generally not very nice. I have to say there was not one minute that didn't make you feel upset, uncomfortable or, well, distressed. It is only one of three films that has made me feel this way; Natural Born Killers, Clockwork Orange and now this. Anyway that's all I wanted to share.

One Day Between Here and There

So, just one day to go before having to travel all the way back to Sheffield. I must say I am already sad about it, missing my family and my boyfriend already and I haven't even left! It wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't got a job back home over the Christmas period and had been traveling back home every weekend. If I hadn't then I would be still used to being down there for long period of times. However as it is I have become accustomed to being home every weekend, so it feels like moving to uni all over again. The only consolation, and possibly the only thing still making me want to go back is the fact I have friends there and don't have to go through the stress of trying to make them all over again. I am quite excited to see them again and we have got a night out planned (school fancy dress, naturally), and I am looking forward to being at uni again, although we have new tutors now so my enjoyment level completely depends upon how good they are. But I guess we'll have to wait and see about that.

I am now going to watch "Harry Brown", even though I know I probably wont enjoy it. But then I said that about Horror films, yet I enjoy all the Saw films and I watched Dawn of the Dead last night and it wasn't half bad, though not much different to any of the other zombie films in the world.

A Step Back In Time

So today I went down to my old school to pick up my old artwork I did for A level. Granted, it's not very good and I have no idea where I am going to keep it all, some pieces are huge! But I still wanted them. It took three trips to carry everything! I had done a lot more than I remembered (but still not enough to get higher than a C!) I suppose I will give bits and pieces to other people, mainly those who posed as subjects for me, if they even want them!

Going back into that school made me realise just how much I hated growing up there. It wasn't so much the place, more the people in it. Kids growing up can be heartless and cruel and I definitely experienced that. It makes me glad my sisters are home educated. They hopefully will never have to endure the pain I did. And if they do, those people who hurt them will have to deal with me! I wish I had a big sister or brother to look after me when I was young, and even now. But I didn't and I think I turned out fine without one.

A Lazy Day

Once again I spent today sat around on my bum eating rubbish and watching even worse. I have, however, decided to enter a writing competition (different to the others I have written about). You have to write a short story that is inspired by France. Now luckily my dad lives in France so it's not an uncommon ground for me, although I haven't been for a while. I am thinking about submitting my story I wrote based on what happened to the village of Oradour. If you have never been there you really should see it. Not because it's a fantastic day out, but just because it is so eerie and haunting, but it was the first time I have really seen how brutal humanity can be. And this is what happened: 

On the 10th of June 1944, around 150 German soldiers entered the village of Oradour. For no apparent reason, Hitler's elite troops destroyed every building in the village and murdered a total of 642 innocent men, women and children, an unexplained tragedy which has gone down in history as one of the worst war crimes committed by the German army in World War II.

The soldiers rounded the men up and divided them into groups, locking them in different buildings in the village. They were shot with machine guns and then were burned alive when every building was set on fire. The women and children were herded into the church, where they were locked inside. 245 women and 207 children were inside. A gas bomb was set off inside the building before the soldiers started shooting inside, low to hit the children. Then the bodies were burnt inside the church to kill the ones still alive. Only one woman and 5 men survived the whole massacre. The village was left as it was destroyed to serve as memory to the tragedy in hopes that it would never happen again.

A Destroyed Childhood

Today I met with my friend in the village and we got a drink in a cafe on main street before heading into the park. Now this park is an iconic image of both of our childhoods; the swings we tried to go high enough to touch the trees; the old seesaw with the shapes of dog heads on each end, their paint peeling away on your hands; and most prominently the rocket!

It looked a little something like this, but dirtier and older. But that was the charm! But obviously the council, and by association the government, don't see that. Oh no! We entered the park to find a whole new modern set of equipment. And I mean everything! Not one old memory in sight. Also not a child in sight, so what does that say? Hmmm?? (well it says that they were all in school because it was one in the afternoon, but I stand for my decision that is was because of the rubbish modern slide!). How can all the children of the new generation form loving memories with all the shiny metal, none peeling paint and smooth, un-graffitied plastic?! I have no idea what this world is coming to!

Another day of very little

Once again I slept in until 12 and did very little after that! I did finally take down my christmas decorations in my bedroom (yes apparently it is bad luck to leave them up that long but hey, it happens every year and usually for longer. Usually they only come down for my birthday ones to go up, in May!) Bad luck schmad luck. I watched "Starter for 10" with my mum. I must say I do have a soft spot for Benedict Cumberpatch, but definitely more as a Sherlock Holmes character! The film was really good, funny and I would definitely recommend. Tomorrow is shaping up to be much more exciting. I'm meeting my friend on main street for lunch and discuss a project with her. She's wanting to become an illustrator and although she dropped out of uni only weeks into her course, it was all with good intention! She's hoping to go to America to study animation! So, with the bribe of it helping her portfolio, and of course the prize! It's a competition to write and illustrate a story for children. Anyway more on that when I've gotten any further with it. I wish this was a more interesting post, I haven't even got one follower yet :( but I know I know; patience.

Writer's Block

On my second day of being a blogger, my attempts to make a real adventure and post a truly exciting snippet of my life was thwarted by both the miserable day outside and the part of my brain that thinks it is OK to sleep until half 12 in the afternoon, but I am a student, so what do you expect?

I did, however, decide to enter a writing competition where I have to submit a WHOLE manuscript by September. I have sat for several hours now racking my brain for an idea, any idea but I find none. I know, September is a long time away, but I go back to uni in two weeks and I know that I will soon have very little time to do none uni related writing. So it is safe to say I'm feeling the pressure. Maybe tomorrow will hold the prize winning idea.

I also finished the first novella "1922" of Stephen King's "Full Dark, No Stars". At first I thought it might have been quite dull; the year 1922 doesn't interest me much. However it is actually really good. Gruesome, haunting and even slightly heartbreaking. I would say King never fails, but he does, sometimes. I must admit although I love him, I know he is slightly overrated. In truth I have only read "Misery" as a whole novel by him, but I have read "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" and "Just After Sunset"and I have to say that some of the stories have been very hit and miss. But so far, I have to say, "Full Dark, No Stars" is good. Just three more stories to go before I can give a final verdict.

If anyone has any suggestions for story ideas, or even ways to beat writers block that would be greatly appreciated.

The Opening Line is the Most Important

I'm not sure when I was first told this, but for some reason it has ALWAYS stuck. Of course it's true, but that isn't the point. The point is that because of this one tiny statement I sit at a blank screen for hours on end trying to come up with this perfect first line. What this person (I am presuming it was a person, however it could quite easily have been a book/film/dream) failed to mention was the fact that yes, the opening line is vastly important, but everything that comes next is the substance, it is what makes a story a story, a film a film, a life a life. A story really is like a living being. It is born: the opening line. Then it lives, and it is my "living" that I plan to divulge onto you, or no one, depending on whether anyone has any real interest at all. I wont tell you my opening line. Not yet anyway. I will leave that for a middle line, or maybe even an ending line. Either way, it is an interesting line. I think that is enough to keep you going for now. My name is Sky. Well, it's not, but it is what I will call myself for now. I think it fits; changing; unpredictable; slightly boring. But don't let that put you off. I am an adventurer. Again this is almost true; I am a writer, or at least trying to be. I am a first year student at university, and although I started a few months back, I am ready to explore what it is to be a "true student" in the form of a blog. The ups the downs, the boring days in front of the TV. My New Years resolution, that I have decided to follow 9 days into the New Year, is to have an adventure every day, be it strolling the windy moors or snuggling down with Stephen King and a heap of chocolate. Whatever it is I vow to report every detail right here. Who said Diaries were made to be secret?