Lots and lots of work, but no sense of urgency. A deadly combination! Already last week I've spent ages in University on Corel Draw copying my field trip maps to a silky vector format, and am now a master at that program, which is crash-tastic on the university Dells in the computer clusters. Twice I've broken that program on the PC I was sat at, and had to swap seats to access it on another machine to get it working again. High tech fix!

There's a digital picture in the works right now. Sadly it's fanart, but very happily it's Fire Emblem fanart...Yep. *sigh* I can't think of any original content that isn't some kind of Adrian helmet'd soldier, or some preposterous mech idea.

But it's looking nice. I'm like Dexter (the one with the lab) a bit with my pics; everytime I'm doing a digital piece I'm absolutely convinced it'll be "My most greatest picture ever!!" but usually when it is finished, a few days later I'll just think "Meh, looks alright" or find it very hard to look at. But this time is different I swear! Hahah, ok so maybe not. We'll see. And anyway it's a good method of putting off work- combined with some papercrafting, TV and whistling to various classical music, it lowers academic productivity levels significantly!

The mystery of the haunted security gate continues. I can confirm it makes an irritating makes-you-jump bang every day after midnight. Oh what eldritch forces of depravity manifest themselves in the alleyway below my window on a regular basis? One night it even banged three times! Or it could just be the security guard pressing the magnetic locking button too much...

Despite the "subtle" Lovecraft parodies above, I'm having a break from his writing since the style is so unique yet so repetitive. I'll probably wait until I've finsihed H.G. Wells' The Sleeper Awakes, which I'm pleased isn't some thinly veiled social commentary, but a rip roaring adventure in Hive City London (take that WH40K!) with some social commentary. Seriously it's excellent though.

Upon advice of a friend, I've bought Professor Layton and the Curious Village for the DS. It's really good but doesn't half make me feel like a moron. The tricksy puzzles always get me, and when I try to think outside the box it's always just some irrelevant tangent...Bah, I will finish you with 100%!

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Yes that's right!

It's almost 3 weeks since I moved into my new flat but feels like absolutely forever. Now that teaching has started, something seems to be missing...namely the actual teaching. My timetable is shockingly blank such that I'm only in for 3 days a week, so yeah I'm at serious risk of getting very bored. It's because semester 1 has a large chunk of marks made up by this 5000 word report. It's worth 40 credits, while regular modules/subjects are worth only 10. So while you are supposed to get a balance of credits between the two semesters, this report writing doesn't have any lectures or practical sessions behind it. Hence things being a bit empty until next year or until deadlines start to appear.

Well things are alright to good at my flat. Everyone is very friendly and as a whole, the place is far better than last year's accomodation. There's a peculiar phenomenon however at night, where this security gate for the opposite BT Building seems to clang really loud as if someone has kicked a football at it. Man, does it make me jump, yet no-one is ever there if I look. Usually when it self shuts in daytime it is very quiet. I figure it might be some other locking system, though the timing is irregular. The case of the haunted security gate continues!

Also, I'm reading a lot of H.P. Lovecraft lately. Bizzare, nebulous, eldritch and thoroughly unwholesome stuff (to quote his typical vocabulary), with some unsettling (and some downright gooey) plot revelations and twists at the end of many of the short stories. For the fear factor, a lot isn't that bad. More sinister undertones and the unknown than shock value. In fact only The Dunwich Horror (the 1st I read) really spooked me out in my reading-before-bed sessions so far . Edit: Actually The Colour Out of Space did too when I read it in one session. But other stories still give a good chill, I'm pretty hooked and will probably read most of his work before the year's up.

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Yes that's right!

I visited my new digs at Liberty Park, Leeds on Saturday and looks like I'm in for another box room! Haha, seriously though it's actually good- definitely bigger than Leodis Residences in 1st year at the expense of a small airline style bathroom, but that doesn't bother me. Nor does not really having any view from my window since I'm on the third floor opposite a B.T. building's brick wall.

Nah I'm not putting it down, though opinions are subject to change once I'm actually living there. Now I actually have non-wobbly shelf space, 2 big desks and a wardrobe that is not at risk of falling on me. The shared kitchen is nice and modern too, with a significantly better view than my room. And at an added bonus of being directly opposite me. Hell yeah, I don't even have to change direction to get there!

As for the other people, there seems to be 4 of them. I was all hyped up and nervous about meeting any new folk, but to my surprise I never saw any of the others on moving in day, though we did turn up earlier on. There's already a girl marked as a 'returning tenant' via a note/form on the door, which was also plastered with all sorts of anime type drawings too. Now that could be a good or a bad thing...

We'll see anyhow, I'll be back for good on next Saturday, so hopefully everything will be good, and won't be a repeat of last year.

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Yes that's right!

Uh oh, not long left before university starts again. I'm going to Leeds on saturday to get my keys and move some junk into my new flat. I'll probably hardly ever see the folk I lived with last term again, which is a shame since one of them was alright, but I know I can't see her without seeing the (hated) other. But I'm not moving in fully until next week- I'd like to slob it up at home for as long as possible...

As for third year, I've got some more crappy compulsory modules to study such as Mountain Belt Processes (hell no! ) but some others of my own choice like Advanced Sedimentology (err...hell yes?). It turns out the 5000 word report is a gradual thing to work on throughout Semester 1 but I've got a good start (2000 words of gibberish so far), but I've neglected the practical work (maps, notebook, cross-sections) so will need to do them next week since they have to be in for the 23rd.

On the home front, I've accomplished a few things that will only have any significance to me. In other words when one of the teachers asks me what I've done all summer, I'm gonna tell them the biggest lie ever...
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Nerdism ahead!

I finally got a high level mage type character on Oblivion, since the game engine destines them to be weak and feeble until you can get enough magicka reserves to fry things with beefier spells.

Also I'm 80% through my second playthough of Radiant Dawn, which is needed to unlock some extra content and characters. 37 hours clocked up so far!

And also related to Radiant Dawn, I've finally managed to rip some models using the Gamecube/Wii emulator, Dolphin. Their latest versions have fixed the issues which prevented from running the ever fussy program, 3D Ripper DX over the top. So I'm going to be having a beast of a papercraft in the works over the next month or so!

Currently I'm watching a lot of fantastically quotable Futurama episodes which may explain a few extra things added to my page here. Including two great lines from the Zapper himself!

"I am the man with no name.
Zapp Brannigan at your service!"

"Can't you ask a little more...sexfully?"

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Yes that's right!

Well since the week away I'm now really into the second half of the Summer holidays, which fills me with dread since I will have to start the lengthly report soon. But I'll have to read up on it because I really don't know what it's supposed to be about! Ha 6-weeks away, now I haven't a clue...

The holiday was good, much better weather than last year. We ended up visiting more castles than you could ever need (well 4 but you get the idea). The best was Alnwick (pronounced Annick) which had a nice inner grounds and state rooms in the keep used by the Duke of Northumberland. The amount of wealth and decor was astonishing! Huge 2m paintings of obscure historic folk, a library packed with old books plus a extra balcony and wheeled ladder for a second tier. Plus a ceremonial sword in a display case with the handle encrusted with diamonds and other pricey stones- the sort of thing you'd really hurt your hand on if you tried to swing it! D:

Then there was some re-enactments of Napoleonic light infantry, which I got a ton of pictures of and am using one for a drawing of my own.

Later on I was taken on a small golf course by my aunt/uncle and seemed to do alright considering I've never played more than pitch and putt or crazy golf in the past. Could be worth getting into when I'm older.

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Also I'm nearly done with Kotor II which is turning out to be really good despite not having much sense of plot until much later. Keep on playing Pazaak in your head Atton! (obscure reference, but something that made me laugh in one of the dialogue trees.)

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Yes that's right!