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!