I Think it Might be Christmas

Well this feels odd. I'm not using Times New Roman,  double lines spacing or footnotes. I mean I could but I don't thing that would be much appreciated by a readership who have been starved of my words for so very long. I know you've missed me and I've missed you as well! In my absence, my browser had forgotten my log-in details and, somehow, this blog has now had more than 10,000 views. It's nice to know that it's still alive somewhere on the internet.

Anyway, I've just come off the back of getting to the point in my essay writing mission that I planned to get to before Christmas so I thought I would put down a few, slightly less formal, words for you. If I can't do it now when can I?

Life Affirming Moments

I've come to the conclusion that I can still blog and not let it affect uni work. As it stands tonight I've got 20 pages of reading for one subject and tonnes for the other but, with both seminars being tomorrow, I don't see myself getting it all done - but I'm going to have a go. The conclusion that I've come to is that I don't have to write loads every time I blog. It's stupid really that I didn't notice this before. Therefore, this is going to be a practice in concise blogging - not really what I'm known for eh?

In the last two days I've had to life affirming moments; or at least moments when I've felt happiest. Both have arisen out of making someone else happy or at least thankful that I was there for them. The first came yesterday in the last couple of hours of my shift at work. It was getting quiet but there was one group of people in the shop affecting any hopes of tranquility. They shouted their way around the shop and picked up a few dirty looks from myself and my tired colleagues. Anyway they got to the till making noise and a general nuisance of themselves - the woman of the group punched one of the 'youths' in the arm when I was serving them. I served them as quickly as my tired arms could and was happy to see the back of them - I wasn't the only one.

The couple behind were of Asian descent which wouldn't have really clocked with me unless the woman said to me what she did. Her opening line was 'what morons' - immediately we were on the same page. Then she told me that the group had been looking at her and her husband in a funny way all the way around the shop. Not expecting this, I reacted the best way I could and said I was sorry to hear that and agreed with her 'moron' comment. I decided not to dwell on it though because she was clearly upset and when I finished serving her I wished her and her husband a pleasant evening to which she smiled and gave a warm 'thank you' to me. I think (or at least hope) that I helped but they both seemed grateful to be treated the way that anyone should be - in short, it was the least I could do.

The other moment was this afternoon when I got off the train. I was feeling reasonably happy today in spite of the aforementioned workload in front of me but I was by no means chirpy. Anyway I got to the bottom of some stairs which an elderly lady was about to climb, laden with a heavy suitcase. I've seen so many people walk on past in that kind of situation so I thought I would break the mould and so I carried this lady's suitcase up the stairs for her. It was much appreciated and I got that same, warm 'thank you' that I got the night before from the lady in the shop.

The moral of the story is that the happiest I've felt recently it when I've helped someone and made them slightly happier as a result. These are small things but if everyone did something like that when the opportunity arose then we might all be happier for it.

Thanks for reading.

Martin

Offside Goals, Football Manager and Susanna Reid

I don't get to write an awful lot these days. Well, that's a lie because I write all the time - just not about stuff that most of my readers would have an interest in. I suppose that I could try it one day, writing some uni stuff here, just to see what the reaction would be. For example I'm just about to set out into the wonderful world of 'offside goals' in property law. To some that sounds interesting but only because it has footballing connotations. I can confirm it is interesting but I can also confirm that it has nothing to do with football. To put it another way: it's a rule about offiside goals that women that study law understand - the antithesis of the rule in the beautiful game you might say.

So with that in mind I feel that I should write about something that will appease the masses. The problem with that is that my life basically consists of university and taking time out to play/watch football - I've already covered those two topics in a single paragraph. My work here is done!

Liberating

So I'm sitting minding my own business, trying to get some reading done for another interesting week at university when the urge to procrastinate hits. An old tale, told by everyone in whatever life they have chosen for themselves. The only odd thing to come from this particular bout of procrastination is that it produced the a tiny spark of inspiration for writing again. I write a lot just now (5000 spilt today on the wonders of English property law) but nothing that would make people sit up and take noticed unless it was to get away from it. I'll stop going on about how life-changing this time-wasting was but the moral of this (preliminary) story is that procrasination doesn't have to be the bane of your life.

Vagina. There, I said it. Penis. Oh my goodness what is he doing? Well not very much actually apart from setting the tone for what might otherwise have been an awkward fumble through the taboo world of the names for body parts. I should let it be known that this isn't going to be a pornographic post. I don't fancy the idea of someone 'having a danger' (a term that some will be familiar with) or even the idea that someone's heart-rate will raise more than it needs to whilst reading - I'll do the writing, you just read along and we'll see if we're ready for 2nd and 3rd base when we're done...

Just Dropping In

I had to get a big stick (like a really big stick) to poke at my blog from a distance to make sure it was still alive. The signs weren't good: a few empty bottles of Scotch, a scattered box-set of 'House' and what seemed to be a half chewed packet of Haribo - it was a sorry sight and I cried profusely before arming myself with the aforementioned stick. It was surprised to see me at first and made to throw one of the scotch bottles at me but realised that it had no arms with which to do so and gave up on this futile effort. After clearing its head a little bit, it recognised me and came bounding over (after I had put in my password of course) with news that people have still been looking at my blog in my absence. Naturally it is hurt and it's going to take a lot of making up on my part but I guess that this, being my 40th post in ROATSomething, is a good place to start.

A Quick Word

A watched kettle never boils. I've not had my eyes on this blog for about 2 weeks (or at least it feels like that) and so there must be some kind of analogy to be had for the whole thing turning to steam in my absence. It's happened before as a lot of you will know but the reason why I noticed this time was because I didn't notice - yes, I'm running in circles tonight. I didn't really notice that I hadn't been blogging until a good friend of mine posted on his but I have my reasons.

The first is that I was working a lot last week: working, sleeping, drinking, working etc. Then there is the small matter of my honours years starting at university. It seems like the new academic year has come out of nowhere and here I sit after only two days with summer but a distant memory. I can't say I'm not happy to be back but I've read more in the last two days that I have in the whole summer - and I was reading a fair amount to pass the time!

So this was just a brief note to say that I am still alive and blogging (the poor sister show of 'Live and Kicking') and to get that terrible kettle boiling analogy out of my system before I use it somewhere that my words actually matter. You, my trusted and much adored readers, get the best of me - I promise.

I'm hoping to get a post out over the next few days in between university stuff but if I don't then I'm sure you'll have something better to read anyway. Someone jokingly (or at least they claimed to be joking...) said that they only read my blog over the summer because they were bored. I take no offence to this except for the fact I'm the one that makes the jokes around here!

I'll stop blabbing because I need sleep/stop staring at my laptop. Thanks for reading and hopefully something funny/interesting/embarrasing will happen to me which will be conveyed in the form of a blog post in the coming days.

Martin

Legacy? What Legacy?

So the summer of 2012 officially ended today. Well, we didn't really have a 'summer' in the traditional sense of the word but it certainly has been a few months that none of us will ever forget for one reason or another. This afternoon in London there was a parade for the British Olympians and Paralympians and it was a fitting end to a summer of drama, excitement and pride. As much as I enjoyed seeing all of the GB team in one place to celebrate everyone's success there was one word that annoyed me throughout the coverage: legacy.

The New Beginning Brought in by the Cathartic End

It suddenly occurred to me the other day that I still go to university. It's been almost 4 months since I set down my pen for the last time in a 2nd year exam but it feels like even longer. At the time not a single part of me was disappointed to see the summer - I'm pretty sure I clicked my heels after that exam - but never did I think it would get to the stage where university felt like a memory rather than a reality. Thankfully that reality came running back to me today as I finally sat down to clear out my notes from last year - it was nice to see it again.

Everything that I did last year was brought home from my flat in Edinburgh in the summer and left in a drawer under my bed to be dealt with at a later date - I'm sure that's a familiar experience for a lot of you. I occasionally opened the drawer, looked at it and then quickly remembered that I had something much more important to be doing. Throughout the summer I thought that this was just a symptom of my prevalent summer laziness. Today, however, made me realise that there might have been another reason for the fact that this much needed clear-out remained in an almost permanent state of 'pending' in my head.

The Art of Drinking and Self-Alienation

We've all seen those 'don't let good times go bad' adverts which basically tell you not to binge drink and make an idiot out of yourself. I've decided that I might submit my own idea to the organisation that put out said adverts and this is what it would consist of: a short film of my day today and its many highlights (or 'lowlights' as they should probably be termed) culminating in me standing looking at myself in a mirror shaking my head. In short, today has been, hands down, the worst day of my summer and I've only got myself to blame. Yes, last night was quite fun but my 'post-fun' experience has been, let's say, less than palatable.

I always find it amusing when people say that they'll never drink again after a particularly heavy hangover. I've even said it myself in the past but I have long given up kidding myself that I will follow through on such a groundbreaking statement. Even this morning when I was standing in a cold shower having re-coated the toilet I wasn't even tempted into self-delusion. I will drink again and I'll probably drink more than I did yesterday but I won't enjoy it and here's why.

The Early Morning Reality of Dreams

Some of you may already know and some of you will fall off your seats when I tell you what I'm about to tell you. I think I've actually covered just about all of my readers in one sentence - not sure if that's good or bad. Anyway I've got a job ("Blog Readers Get Back on Seats After Nasty Shock") and I've been working away for about a week and a half now. One of the wonders of this job is that I've got 6am starts - note the sarcasm for future reference. If the truth is to be told, I've only had one of those shifts but I have had two other 6.30am starts - you're splitting hairs if you think there's a difference. My inaugural 6am start was in fact this very morning when I was up and about at about 5am with it still being dark outside and with the BBC World Service playing on BBC1. If I'm honest, I don't actually mind the early starts that much but something happened this morning/last night which annoyingly affected this morning's preparations.

We've all had dreams that, when we wake up, seem like they were as real as your first fart - or so I'm told anyway. Up until I started working, I didn't really dream all that much but in the last week a combination of early mornings and hard work has meant that I've slept like a log and I've had a dream just about every night since. Last night was no different but with me having to get up effectively half way through the night for work, this dream really did seem like it was real (basically because I was still half asleep in the shower and on route to work). But reality soon hit.

There are few things in life that are worse than having such a vivid dream only to realise that that was all it was. Reality bit hard this morning a few minutes from work with the promise of milk and frozen food replacing what was otherwise quite a pleasant existence - in my dream that is. I'll tell you about it eventually, I'm just delaying at the moment because I don't know how to describe it!

Right here it goes. It was a fairly standard dream: there were a lot of people that I know and I was there - the usual stuff. I'm sure that everyone important was there in some form but don't hate me if you weren't; my sub-conscious probably just doesn't like you. The reason why this dream hit me so hard was that someone was there (of the female variety) for whom I used to hold a lot of feelings. I've written about her in the past on Ramblings of a Teenager and I thought that was where she was to remain: in the past. Apparently not and so I woke up this morning convinced that everything in the dream (all clean, I promise) had actually happened and subsequently those feelings returned, albeit until I was putting ice-cream in the freezers.

I could approach this from a few different angles, each of which results in a different destination. Initially I thought that this might be a relapse but I've not spoken to her for about 3 years and I've seen her almost as little in that time - relapse is quickly ruled out thankfully. I could also look at it from the point of view that I might like to get in contact with her again but that's irrational - I'm learning! I should then` probably consider why I was dreaming about her at all because I've not thought about her in a long time and haven't even come across a 'story' on Facebook about her that would have really made me stop to think. The last, and most probable, reason for the dream deserves its own paragraph.

Those of you that have been reading Ramblings in the last couple of weeks like drug addicts looking for their next fix will know that I've been reading (and writing about) some hefty stuff recently - namely philosophy. I was actually at a lecture/interview with Alain de Botton at the weekend with my Dad at the Edinburgh International Book Festival but that's a post for another day. If you haven't been reading (why not!) then things went pretty deep last week - or at least as deep as I go.

Oh ye, that paragraph I was talking about - apologies for the important, yet lengthy, digression. My interpretation of the dream (hence the digression) and the way it got to me this morning is that I miss having a someone to pine after. The poem that I wrote about in 'A Look at Love' (which gets a lot more airtime that it really should) had a last line that says. "...is it love or teenage lust?". That very poem was written about my 'relationship' with the girl from last night's dream and the very reason why I wrote it was because it was just teenage lust - nice rhetorical question eh? The real question is this though: what would I not give for a little bit of that back?

It's funny how a little dream (which had many other elements to it by the way) can have such as effect on your head, especially on someone who considers himself half-decent at being stoical. I'm not going to let it get to me and I'll trot off to work tomorrow morning (slightly later start thankfully) thinking about something else. Having said that, it doesn't mean that I wouldn't mind dreaming about her again tonight.

Thanks for reading,

Martin

How to Take Inspiration From the Olympics

Last night's post is the last time I think I'll get 'deep' for a while. As much as I've enjoyed writing the last few posts, I feel that the style of them isn't really what most people want of an evening. With that in mind I set out on a quest of lightheartedness and jocularity and I hope you'll come along for the ride - that sounded like something from Disneyland; this isn't Disneyland.

It seems apt that I'm sitting down to write this post. I should say that I sit down to write all of my posts, just in case you had any images of me on my feet - sorry if that ruins your dreams. Anyway I'm very much in a sitting down position as I prepare, in my own inimitable way, to explain how to take inspiration from the Olympics. We've been told every day this week about the 'legacy' that the 2012 Games will have in Britain and how it's going to encourage people to get up and take part in sport. How does that legacy apply to the regular Joe though and how do we derive the necessary inspiration from Bolt and Co?

Confidence: A State of Mind or Just Who You Are?

Everyday life is full of 'fine lines'. There is a fine line between something being funny and something being offensive. There is a fine line between dressing well and dressing badly. There is a fine line between your food tasting lovely and it being just OK. Then there is another line that I've seen many people cross (or even dance over) in my time: that is the line between confidence and over-confidence. We've all seen it and we all know people that frequent the wrong side of it on a regular basis. As a continuation of the theme of this week's writing (slightly philosophical for those that didn't notice a pattern!), I'm going to suggest that there is another one of those lines to do with confidence. It's one that takes conscious thought to create but nevertheless one that I think we're all capable of conjuring up when we need to, whether that be a good thing or a bad one. That line is the one between having confidence and having none.

A Basic Lack of Understanding - Another Comment on Relationships

If someone was to ask me (which they undoubtedly will in light of this post) why I have been writing about relationships in my blog recently more than anything else then I'm not sure what I would say. I'm not authority on the subject but I am fascinated by it as can be seen from yesterday's post and one of the first posts of ROATSomething, 'A Look at Love'. In writing those two pieces (whether they make sense or not) I have opened the proverbial can of worms and, as previously predicted by yours truly, many more words are there to be written. Think of what I write about this topic as me thinking out loud in a noisy room full of more learned and experienced people than myself; you might want to occasionally listen or even engage but a lot of it will be me rambling - again the title of this blog pays for itself. Today's comment comes from a shortcoming of my own which I have elaborated on in my head and turned into something of an argument. Some will like it but most won't - at least not the guys anyway.

A Truth About Love and Relationships

You know that feeling when you read something and you think 'yes, I couldn't agree more with that'? I read quite a lot of stuff, both fiction and non-fiction, and only occasionally do I come across a sentence, a passage or a chapter that says something more to me than what is actually written on the page. This happened to me when I was reading a sample of a Kindle book last week. I'm going to one of the Edinburgh International Book Festival events next weekend with my Dad; the event being an interview with Alain De Botton who is a writer and philosopher from Switzerland. It wasn't something we originally looked at going to (everything we did was sold out by the time my 'place in the queue' eventually got to the front) but the tickets fell to us from a family member who can no longer make it - funny how some of the best things 'fall' to you.

A Hopeful Return to the Basics

So with the finish line of the Olympics 2012 before us, it's about time that I found myself back on the blogging boat again. I've spent a lot of words on this blog in the past saying just how much I enjoy writing and, in particular, how much I enjoy writing my blog. That being said, I've actually enjoyed a brief hiatus from Ramblings of a Twenty-Something for one reason or another. 

First and foremost I've really enjoyed the last 2 weeks of sport on the TV and that is what I've been spending most of my time doing. Secondly (and I'm not sure why this is the case) I've enjoyed not having to thing about topics to write about - a break from the pressure that I put on myself to come up with good content. And that last note is third and final reason why I don't feel that guilty having not written for a while: I don't feel like I've written well for a long time. Looking back at my last 5 posts, there have only been a couple that I've come away with that satisfied feeling of having written what I what I wanted to. For those of you that click on my posts whatever the weather, you might have noticed this as well and for that I apologise. You might remember that I wrote about wanting to boost my readership through writing in quantity and with quality but neither of those things have come to fruition - time to pick things up I guess.

The Real Spine-Tingling Sensation

The sheer volume of things that I could have written about in this last week is almost as big as the Chinese medal haul at the half way point in the Olympics. The thing is that I've spent all of the last 9 days watching sport on TV therefore I've found very little time for anything else. The greatest irony of the Olympics so far for me in fact has been that I feel inspired to go out and run and cycle, yet I've been sitting down for about 90% of the last week. I've missed nothing though and there is plenty of time for inspiration to carry me outside when the Olympics come to a sorry close next week.

As I said, there has been a lot for me to write about this week, with last night's excellence in the Olympic Stadium in London being the pinnacle of an awesome week of sport. I watched every heat and final in the swimming, I've not missed a single important rowing race, I've lapped up the cycling and I've enjoyed learning about so many sports that I knew little (or nothing) about this time last week. Veined through all of that has been something that I've heard people talk about but never actually felt myself - in fact I thought that it was just a turn of phrase. Everyone has claimed to felt tingles in their spine at some point in their life and I can now state that well over 10 events this week have done that to me. Whether it be the outburst of emotion from a British athlete or the national anthem, I've never witnessed so many moments that I've felt such pride, awe, inspiration etc.

Yes, that's right, I said that hearing the national anthem sent shivers down my spine - I wasn't just going to wash over that point. I've said it in a couple of Facebook statuses: I've felt very British this year and never more than that during these Olympics. I won't get into Scottish independence discussion here but if it does come to fruition then we'll lose those moments because they won't be ours anymore. Scottish athletes have done well (Andy Murray you beauty!) but last night Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah did something beautiful for the whole of Great Britain, not just Scotland.

Other highlights? Well watching Michael Phelps this week in his final Olympics has been truly awesome - it always is - and the whole swimming competition has been really exciting. I've really enjoyed watching the Brits compete in the Judo - pure emotion flowing from them all. The stories coming out of the rowing have really caught my attention and have produced some great TV moments - I think that was where my first 'spine-tingler' came from. The last one that I will mention (because I could write a book on the last week) is the action from the velodrome. Watching Team GB win and break a world-record pretty much every time they got on the track in the first few days has been fantastic and that, mixed with Bradley Wiggins' success during the week, has made me think about dusting down the old bike in the coming days - or at least when the Olympics is over!

Thanks for reading and I hope to comment on the Olympics some more in the coming days when I find a gap in the coverage - it'll be hard but I'll try my best.

Marti

The Olympic Dream

I'm one of those people that will sit down and watch pretty much any type of sport on the TV, possibly with the exception of cricket. Imagine, therefore, what I have been doing for the last two days. That's right, you got it in one, I've been watching the Olympics for the whole time. To be exact, I watched about 12 hours yesterday and I've been watching it on and off today since about 9am until now. I've taken time out of my busy schedule to write this post in fact - you lucky people! The "Olympic Dream" that titles this post is nothing to do with medals or 'taking part' but instead it is the dream that is the Olympic fortnight for sports fans such as myself. The 24 HD channels that the BBC have dedicated to the Olympics have been used to their full effect - and then some.

Green Fingers the Answer to Idle Thumbs?

The summer months usually mean a whole bunch of changes to our daily lives. For me it meant no more lectures, no more exams, having more free time, being able to play more football etc. It should also have meant better weather but that has yet to materialise here in not-so-sunny Scotland. All that being said there has been one thing that seems to have defined my summer. I've attempted to find something to keep myself occupied, whether that be a job, work experience, a 'project' or anything along those lines. In all respects I've come up short and I've only really got myself to blame. As a result of all that I've also found myself moping and moaning a lot more - not a great change for the summer months. I might have found the answer though: the garden.

The John Terry Saga

John Terry: Captain Fantastic

As a law student (albeit a Scots law student) and an ardent Chelsea fan, you might have thought that I would have had a conflict of interests as John Terry's trial at Westminster Mags unfolded last week. I saw the Youtube video (as apparently did everyone in the world) and saw the same words being uttered as everyone else. As it happens, my situation (the potential conflict of interests) meant that I've spent the last few months defending John Terry from both points of view. Firstly my law student mind saw me defend him from the point of view of the 'innocent until proven guilty' stance. People don't like to hear that argument but it's one that I will stick to because it's the right argument in a society such as ours. My Chelsea supporter's mind was telling me that I had to defend him because I like him as a player and as a captain of the team that I'm a fan of. The latter, as you can well imagine, was not as strong a standpoint.

The Art of Language: My Love for the Work of Cormac McCarthy

Just when you think you know the rules, something or somebody comes along and changes everything. The use of language is thought to be a universal thing with the same rules applying across the board to everyone that sets out to use it. When those rules are 'broken', there is said to be an error that must be fixed to ensure that the rules are followed to the letter - excuse any puns in this piece by the way. I thought all of the above was true until I started to read Cormac McCarthy's books. McCarthy was a favourite of my Papa's and he introduced me to him through the much acclaimed book-come-film, 'The Road'. At that point I was thundering through crime, comedy and action like there was no tomorrow but when I put down 'The Road' for the last time my view of reading, and of the English language, was changed forever.

A Pure Scottish Mindset

So Andy Murray was beaten by one of the greatest Tennis players, no sorry, one of the greatest sportsmen in history - what of it? That is not the issue here though really. The issue is whether is was the Brit Murray that was beaten or the Scot Murray that lost. Time and again this argument about the negativity of the Scottish psyche comes to the fore and sadly I noticed Facebook was littered with such discussion after the final yesterday. The thing that bears the bug for me above all is that such accusations (although hurtful) are probably true. As much as I tried to fight it throughout yesterday's match, I was unable to fend off the demon that haunted the final with the air that Murray just wasn't going to win. Even with the first set under his belt and a break in the second I just knew. I'm Scottish after all, but should that matter?

Looking for a Break-Through

Do you like the new logo? I sat down a couple of mornings ago with only Microsoft Word and Paint for company and tried my best to come up with something that didn't look as though it was drawn by a 5 year old. I might have succeeded in fulfilling that rather flimsy specification but whether I've come up with a new identity for my blog is another issue completely. You might have gathered that this blog is something that I'm very proud of and every time I looked at the original logo (which has been there for the 4 month life of this thing) I felt that it didn't say that I wanted it to say. In fact the logo is just one item on a list of things in my head that often make me feel less than satisfied with this page. In short, I'm looking for the next step but I'm not sure what or where that is.

Running in the Rain

There is no time to waste. I've just jumped out of a quick shower after my run and I've not had such an urge to write since before the exams - time is of the essence people! You might gather that this was no ordinary run. I've been watching tennis, reading, drinking coffee etc all day today and I suddenly had this urge to go for a run. For whatever reason the monsoon that is taking place just now drew me outside and as quickly as I could have said 'I can't be bothered' I was in shorts and t-shirt, ready to take on the world.

Success in all the Right Places

It's taken me about a week to get around to writing this post but I knew as soon as my last exam result was out that it was going to happen. Why the delay then? Well firstly I thought I should let the dust settle after what had been an arduous period of waiting for everyone. Secondly I didn't want to come across as being someone who brags about their results as soon as they got them through. Yes, you got it, I'm going to spout for 5 or more paragraphs about how happy I am with my results and be under no illusion that I couldn't be prouder of myself just now. Gloating? Probably to an extent but everyone that I study with has had some time to digest their results so why shouldn't I get to talk about mine?

A Look at Love

Today I have been unsettled. I occasionally sit myself down to watch a film that I know is going to skew my head for a couple of hours and this post comes off the back of such a film. I'm a huge Ian McEwan fan - something that my Dad is mainly responsible for. A couple of his books are amongst my favourites - I even wrote my first critical analysis on his best book (in my humble opinion) 'Saturday'. This morning I decided that I would watch the adaptation of 'Enduring Love' starring Daniel Craig. Admittedly I've not actually read the novel but the DVD has been in the house for as long as I can remember and I finally decided that I would see what it was like. A deeply unsettling film about love and obsession, it has got me thinking about the question of love and what that actually means to me. A brief exploration into my head is sure to follow here - apologies are in the post.

Football = Time Consuming

It dawned on me today that I've not actually put out any content for over a week and I thought that I should maybe do something to rectify that. A video was all I had time for this evening and therefore you are stuck with looking at me again instead of just reading - super news for most I'm sure! Here is said video which includes a cut-off head, a lack of structure and a lack of explanation as to why I was showering at 4.30 in the afternoon. I was running, just in case you are interested...

For those of you that store any of the information that I sometimes write in this blog, you will remember that I said something about art last week or the week before, I forget. I'm looking to redesign my logo because it is pretty rubbish and I was hoping that the more artistic amongst you might have an idea at least of what it should look like. Any suggestions/ideas (make them on the Facebook page please!) would be much appreciated and I look forward to hearing back from my artistically superior readers in the near future!

Thanks.

Martin  

A Look Back on the Jubilee

I risk becoming something of a social commentator if I keep on going like this. Not that this would such a bad thing because, after all, it might be that I better myself in such a role. My posts over the last 6 months have wavered between inane teenage angst and stiff social/political comment - I feel like the latter might be of more interest to the masses. Anyway, and speaking of masses, today saw the end of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and left me with a lot of think and write about. This might just be the start of something new for me as I look to find a quasi-genre for a blog that is otherwise lacking in such. This evening I feel more like a Brit than I have done in my 10 or so years of social consciousness and it feels nice. At the start of the weekend the sight of the Union Jack would make me slightly queasy but now it invokes in me a feeling of, dare I say, pride.

Diamond Jubilee in the Rough - A Look at the Monarchy

It takes a long time in a short life for you to be able to make your mind up about big things. Take politics for example. You spend your adolescent years either not watching the news or at least not watching until the sports section comes on - that might just be me though - not really paying attention to anything that happens in the world around you. Why do you need to at that age? Let the grown-ups deal with that whilst you find new things to make out of old bits of cardboard or undertake the more important task of training up your Pokemon. It's not until young people hit their teens that they start to notice 'important things'. It's fascinating to look back at the period of your lifetime and the things that were happening in the world that you were blissfully unaware of. Politics might not be a great example because we all take to that in different ways (and at different times) but this weekend brings fresh opportunity to explore the nation's relationship with the Monarchy. As the Queen gets set to strap herself into a golden life-jacket this afternoon I ask you this: what does the Monarchy mean to you?

An Update in Person

It was a nice feeling sitting down to make this video because the last time I made one I was taking a break from revision and other such (less than) fun things. My old habits of moving around are still there and I like to look out of the window a lot but I think they are getting better. See what you think for yourself...

Well there you go. Any feedback on these videos is much appreciated as always! I'm looking to do something interesting over the next couple of weeks which might be of interest to the artists amongst you - keep an eye on the Facebook page and future posts for more information.

Martin

Freedom

Yes, the title to this post is cliche but it is the word on everyone's lips at the moment. After a gruelling 4 week exam diet, I can finally say that I am free. As well as being happy for myself I'm also delighted for the people that sat those exams alongside me because I know what they have been going through for the last couple of months - really pleased for everyone. I'm also happy that they're done for my parent's sake as well. I don't think I'll ever quite grasp what it's like for them when I've got exams but I think they go through the wringer as well. Not only do I spent a lot of time being anxious and hard on myself (which I know they don't like), they also just want me to do well and to be successful. They never put pressure on me in any way but it is the pressure that I place on myself to do well that is the biggest thing for me - I don't just want to do well for myself, I want to do well for them as well.

Back to the Start

I thought that I would be able to save myself until the end of next week before I dusted down my blog again but I can't keep myself away. I've been typing notes for the best part of 10 hours today and yet my fingers still want more. My back might well say 'no', but my fingers say 'go' - who am I to ignore fingers that can think and talk for themselves? They've got me into plenty of trouble in the past so I've learned to embrace them and go with the flow - there's little point in fighting the feeling any longer. So with that gripping (yes, I just punned) story under my belt I guess it's time to crack on with something substantial. I'm not 100% sure where this post is going to go (which tends to happen when my brain is mush) but I like the feeling of writing something that isn't for revision purposes. However, knowing me, by the end of this post I will have told you all you need to know about the Scots law of leases - I'll try my damnedest not to though!

My Exam Stress Avoidance Techniques

With another 2 down and only 3 more to go, it's safe to say I realise why I was looking forward to this day right from the start of the exams. I've now got a whole week to get myself ready for my next one and to start making noises towards the other 2 so I'm pretty happy as I sit here just now with a nice cup of green tea. I think I answered pretty well today and Tuesday's performance is near enough impossible to comment on so they can both be left in my past along with that up and down week I had last week. If today has taught me anything at all then that is that all of the work that I've done this year and all of the exam preparation I've been doing for the last 5 weeks has been good for me and it's nice when you feel hard work paying off. Whether I'll be able to cite such a positive message to you when the results come out in the summer is a different question all together. Current feeling? Going almost as well as I could have hoped.

Still Alive

Knock, knock! Anyone out there!? You'll all be glad to know that I'm still here and I've not lost the ability to blog - who groaned at the back of the room there? After over 2 weeks of radio silence I return briefly this evening to make you smile (hopefully) and to make myself feel good about writing again. I'm not going to lie, these last few weeks have been pretty heavy going. I've done almost nothing but revise, a big part of which has been typing notes. I'm now well into the tens of thousands in terms of words typed for notes and not a word has been spilt since on anything jocular or with any of the usual innuendo or irony that I love to see dripping from my writing like too much chocolate sauce on your ice-cream. I've missed this thing more than ever over these last few weeks because of the (more often than not) dense amount of work that I've got to do for my exams. In short, it's nice to be back!

Message from the Author

The crux of this post is held below in the video but I would like to make a few points about said video before you watch it:

• Firstly the video is rubbish but, as I mention, I attempted it a few times and the lighting was rubbish so I've settled for it.
• I didn't get dressed up for the occasion.
• I don't grow facial hair - not because I don't want to, but because I can't do it. I've not shaved for a week now and so I apologise for the mess on my top lip - adds character as far as I'm concerned.
• I clearly don't have a concept of night and day. That might be down to the fact that I've been up for ages and I had to close my blind to get the lighting right but I'm an idiot first and foremost.
• I don't have an itchy arm (or armpit at one point), I just don't know what to do with my arms when I talk apparently.
• I don't plan to stop blogging but if needs must then ROATSomething will be having a hiatus during the tougher parts of my exam diet.

 

Thanks for watching.

Martin 

Tragedies and Their Futures

A week not of tragedy itself but of the memories of tragedy. In the last week we've seen the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and in the week ahead we'll see Anders Behring Breivik go on trial for the atrocity that he conducted last summer. Two events that seem are so far removed from each other but which share such a bitter common factor: the loss of lives of many innocent people. In the Titanic's case 100 years is a poignant anniversary but people seem to have missed the point. The commercialisation of the anniversary (talked about below) can only but make you cringe - not the desired response to the memories of over 1500 people. In the case of Breivik, a madman will be dumped onto the conveyor belt of justice this week and rightly so. Why, though, do I pick up on these two things in the same post? Well read on and let me explain.

The Week I Needed

I walked out of my university's lecture theatres for what appears to be the last time a week ago today and I wondered where I was going to go next. Obviously what lies ahead are my exams and all of the fun that they hold but I wasn't quite sure how I was going to get there - I wasn't even sure where to start. So I went to bed on Friday night with a sort of empty feeling inside of me, hoping that a week away from home and from university would do me good. We're a whole week on from that now and I here I sit with a rekindled fire in my belly and a new found confidence in myself - I couldn't have asked for a better outcome really.

My Fish and Chips Theory

There is a particularly sad fact in my life: when I'm meant to be thinking about one thing I'm probably thinking about something else. Just now I'm meant to be concentrating on my exams that are now less than a month away but I've got fish on the brain - something isn't right. Actually, I tell a lie. I was thinking about this last night when I was having dinner (yes, you guessed it: fish) when I wasn't actually meant to be studying - there is still a light at the end of the tunnel; a beacon of hope for my bizarre and sometimes worrying head. I've not theorised since I made all of those pretty pictures about sleeping back on Ramblings of a Teenager. Those halcyon days of frivolity and youthful exuberance are behind me now and new ideas must be sought from my old, decrepit mind.

Procrastination Proclamation: A Juggling Idiot

It was a good use of a holiday I think. Over Christmas I taught myself how to juggle to an OK standard using a couple of pairs of balled up socks. I've since been upgraded by a good friend of mine and below is the result. It might well get to the stage that I'm going to have to hide them somewhere for my exams but it's a nice way to relax. Apologies for the bad dancing and for the number of times that I attempt (and fail miserably) the trick behind my back - I've honestly done it only 2 times out of the million that I've tried it, hence the reason why I go a bit mental when it doesn't come off for the camera. Enjoy!

Thanks for watching!

Winding Up is in Order

What an academic year it has been. After a tough first semester ending in a successful exam period I stepped into this semester full of vigor and enthusiasm. The latter of those has wilted somewhat over the period of the last 12 weeks or so but the vigor remains and has carried me through to the other side - well almost anyway. All that is left for me to do now is to get through my exams and I'll be half of the way through my law degree which is pretty scary. You don't really notice change in yourself when you're going about your daily life but when I've been away from university and with people that I don't see an awful lot, I notice a change in who I've become - I think it's fair to say that this degree is having the desired effect on me.

Me on Religion

'Good news! Can I interest you in a Big Issue?'. Those are the words that I hear every morning on my way to class and have become ingrained in my memory to the point where I flinch when I hear them. I'm not going to talk about Big Issue sellers tonight though because I think it's time that I went head to head with a big issue of my own for once. In the time that I've been blogging I've always felt the need to dance around certain issues so as to avoid offending people. Now I feel is the time for me to have a go at writing about something serious and I'm actually really excited about the prospect of what this post could bring. Tonight (for a multitude of reasons) I've decided to put forward my views on religion and how I perceive myself in the light of religion. This should be interesting...

Why the Sun is Bad For Your Eyes

Hurray! The good weather has decided to make a stop in Scotland for the first time this century and my goodness isn't everyone making the most of it? It has been nice to be able to step out of the door with 2 (or less!) layers on for once but a part of me thinks that some people have gone too far. The amount of flesh that I've seen over the last 3 or so days is unbelievable. And it's not just 'attractive' people that are at it either; everyone has decided to get their kit off for Mr Sunshine and quite frankly I'd rather they didn't. I knew everyone was going to come out when the weather got better but they are also getting out of their clothes and it's not cool - contrary to popular belief.

Walk Into Me at Your Peril

It feels like a long time since I sat down and had a really good moan about something that isn't university, drinking or females (a reference to Friday Night Dinner for you there). Tonight I'm branching out and I've decided to just have a moan about people in general. Well, not everyone because that would require a book but a certain type of person that I've come across recently. I live and go to university in a pretty busy city and my route to university includes a particularly busy part of it. Everyday I walk to and from my flat hoping that that will be the day when someone doesn't walk into me. I'm not that big a target nor am I the kind of person that walks so casually that I end up walking into people. It appears that I carry on my head a homing beacon for these people who, for the sake of this blog post anyway, will be referred to as idiots.

Settling

I used to think. To invert Rudyard Kipling's famous poem 'If': 'if you can lose your head when all about you are keeping theirs' - that's just how I feel just now as I sit down to write this post. The stress levels are beginning to bubble and it won't be too long before they erupt (otherwise known as the exam diet) and everyone is suffering from the same fate - I'm certainly no different. I just feel that people around me are keeping their cool and I'm sitting doing nothing about the fact that I think I'm behind. I feel like I've settled for the 'I'll just get by' attitude which is something that I'm not known for. I need to start using my head again because it's pretty good whence I dust but the particles of misuse from it.

A New Beginning

Start as you mean to go on. That's what everyone who has any sense will do when they set out on a new path or throw themselves into unchartered territory. I'm not really doing either of those things with this blog because I'm something of a seasoned pro at all this - you might even call me the salt and pepper of the teenage blogging sphere - but I start with the best intentions. I can't lie and say that I'm not going to miss Ramblings of a Teenager. That page has become a part of me over the last couple of years and I feel that, at times, I've reached out and managed to touch people in a way that I didn't think was possible over the internet. Ramblings of a Twenty-Something might well me more of a mouthful than my first blog but I'm hoping to provide a lot more for you to chew on than I ever have before. Welcome!