First Year of University - My 365

But one thing will be exactly the same, the pointless arguments with the Ms.

Take it from me, I speak from great experience in this field. They look different, wear different perfume, cover-up in different colours to mask their hidden beauties :love:, but they all taste / think the same :bang::bang::bang:
 
Day 098 - 25/12/2009

Merry Christmas!

I might have a photo for you later, but then again, I may not.
I had 3 and a half pints of 7.5% Frosty Jack's Cider last night and a pint of beer.
I'm still extremely drunk, what a shocker.
 
Good morning, and Merry Christmas to you and everyone at your end of the UK :thumbs:

I hope you're not feeling numb :).
 
I feel a bit better after: a bowl of Cookie Crisp cereal, 2 croissants and a waffle :eek:

This has been, so far, an amazing christmas. My parents have spoiled me rotten. For my family, gift giving is the best part of christmas. I didn't have much money so I thought really hard and each of the presents I gave had thought in. I got my mum 2 CD's of random bands she's never heard of, which I know she'll love. I got my brother Army of Two on Xbox - you have to play it with 2 players in co-operative mode, which is his favourite thing to do - his favourite games are Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty's Nazi Zombies, because he plays with his friend. I got my Dad a book about an escaped Italian POW and some fudge - he's difficult to buy for.
For my Dad, gift giving was never a big thing, so he grew up like that, and would be quite happy to not give anything for christmas, but my mum, my brother and myself all love the feeling of giving someone a gift and the feeling of happiness you get. We also love getting gifts :D

I've been spoiled rotten this year, in more ways than one. I'll go into that in a minute.

2 pairs of Calvin Klein boxers, 2 polo shirts, a bottle of Sailor Jerry rum, a bottle of Jack Daniels, plenty of socks, a storm shield (it's a manly umbrella :p), some hair straighteners, toiletries, Assassin's Creed 2, Fifa 10, Full Auto (all 3 xbox games) and Boss by Hugo Boss.
My parents also gave me £50 to put towards an acoustic guitar. Spoiled rotten.

Now, bear with me a second - soppy, cheesy, cringe, whatever alert:
The best gift of all has been my Granddad. My Granddad has had a pretty tough life, but he's always come through fighting on the other side. He lived through a bomb being dropped on his Anderson shelter in his garden, he fought throat cancer earlier in his life, he's worked his arse of all throughout his life and never had much to show for it - but the one thing he did have was a fantastic work ethic, and generosity. He has given all his best features to my mum who's passed it on.

Recently he contracted larynx (voicebox) cancer, and had a laryngectomy to remove the larynx and separate the airway from the nose and mouth. He now effectively 'breathes' through a hole in his neck. It was a 13 hour operation under general anasthetic, and he's 78 years old - we were quite worried, but alas, he came through with flying colours. The surgeons and doctors were all happy with his progress, he was coming along fantastically and they had expectations that he'd be out of hospital and home for christmas.

Unfortunately that was not to be.

A week ago (around about) he had a stroke. Thankfully they caught it fairly quickly. He lost the use of his right hand - not normally a life changing thing, if you can talk.
He was unable to communicate for a while, but he managed to get past it. He can now move each finger individually and grip a special (fat) pen to write with. The nurses are extremely impressed.

The reason for the stroke was because one of his arteries was closed off by 90% which stopped him getting the correct blood to the brain. He underwent another operation yesterday (thankfully under local anasthetic) to put a stent (basically a tube) in the artery to open it up. If he didn't have this operation he had a 30% chance of having another stroke.

Again, the operation was a success and he was out of recovery and back into the ward after only a few hours.

My Granddad is fantastic, and we all love him to bits. He's not home for Christmas, and for as long as I can remember my Granddad has been a massive part of our lives.

So, yeah, he's not home for Christmas, but with all he's gone through, and the fact he's going to be okay is easily the best thing we could have asked for this christmas.

We're going to see him tomorrow, but until then, the photograph for today is this one :)

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Bloomin awesome post Sean. Great to hear about your best present! Kinda sets everything into context.

Happy Christmas to you mate - if you are ever in Herts lets hookup for a days shooting and an evenings drinking.

Matt
 
So glad all is going well for your Granddand, and he does seem a remarkable person.

Merry Christmas to you and all; it's great to be spoilt by loving :love: parents, isn't it.
 
Day 099 - 26/12/2009

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Wow, hectic bunch of days! Sorry for the late update!

This is my Granddad from Devon. Lovely fella who's also been through cancer, 5 years ago. He's not as strong as he used to be, quite frail, but he's still around.

Day 100 - 27/12/2009

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So! A landmark day in anyone's 365! It's day 100! And it's a pretty boring photo of some dew on some grass. Never mind.

Day 101 - 28/12/2009

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This is our car, Seat Leon 1.9 Turbo.
When my mum was little, she never thought she'd have enough money for 3 things:
-A dishwasher (she got a dishwasher when she moved in with my Dad around 23 years ago)
-To go to Disneyland (we went to Disney World Florida (far better than Disneyland :p) once in 2000, and again in 2003!)
-To buy a brand new car - we bought the Seat this year

Day 102 - 29/12/2009

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We went to my Grandparents house today in Devon. Was a surprisingly good few days. My Nan doesn't like my mum, but there were no tiffs or squabbles or snide comments like there usually is. Got some pics but it was too miserable weather to pop down the beach. Next time.

Day 103 - 30/12/2009

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Here's a pano of the sheep field next to their house. I used to stay for a week or so in the summer when I was little, and I remember always waking up to hear the sheep ba-ing in the field.
 
Day 104 - 31/12/2009

So, it's the last day of 2009.

Today, I'm going to (hopefully) grab a coffee with a friend, see my Granddad in hospital, and then tonight I'm having a party with all my mates.

Oh, and I've got to write a report.
Ouch.

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Day 105 - 01/01/2010

So while today is the first day of 2010, it's also my brother's birthday.
We're going to the cinema in about half an hour to see Avatar, and then out for chinese. When I get home I'm going to finish writing my report, and then tomorrow it will be cracking out a serious amount of work.

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Day 106 - 02/01/2010

So, for Integrated Visual Media and Design I have to do a 15 minute presentation on the Retail Environment on a case study of my choice.

I originally chose Levi Strauss in Southampton's West Quay centre. I wanted something with a style and a theme, not bland and unoriginal like Topman or Primark or Carphone Warehouse or Game. But I didn't want something that everyone was going to do, like All Saints or Apple.

So, I chose Levi. I came home for christmas and immediately realised that the time I'd allocated to do my presentation would also be the time that I wouldn't be going into southampton for 3 weeks. Hrm, issue. Especially as I actually needed to visit the shop to do the presentation. Sorry Levi, you're out of the picture!

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Next stop, Reading - The Oracle...

Now, for a shop similar to Levi...

Ah hah! Ben Sherman! I love the minimalist design and 'mod' style. Great! I went into the shop (the day after boxing day - quite busy) and waited in line, and when I got to the counter, a very lanky 6ft2 guy, of a similar age to me, with hair twice the bigness of me, awaited me. I might add that this guy is slouched over the counter and looking at me as if I was 5 and wanted to show him my Pokemon cards. Here is the conversation:

Me: Hi there, is the manager around?
Him: Uhh.. *looks around* Can I ask what it is for?
Me: Yeah, basically I'm a student at the Southampton Solent University, and I'm doing a presentation on the retail environment. I need your manager's permission to just take a few photographs of the point of sale designs and make a diagram of the store's layout.
Him: Uh, well, see, there's 2 problems with that. Firstly, I'm pretty sure there's an issue with copyright as far as you taking photos, and secondly it's not really the best time.
Me: I understand. The photographs will only be used for the presentation itself, and I won't be in anyone's way...
Him: No, you can't do it. If you have an issue, you can speak to one of the managers. *turns around, fumbles in a drawer, makes a comment to his colleague who looks at me and giggles, and makes a comment back, and hands me a business card*
Me: Oh, right, okay. Thanks anyway!

F*** you staff of Ben Sherman stores! You're rude and pretentious and I don't want to do a presentation on your poxy shop anyway!

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Crap. I'm running out of time. I spent the first 2 weeks of my christmas holidays dossing around and now I'm regretting it. What a fool.

I can't go back and forth to Reading whenever, and so I need to think about my local shopping centre. It has... crap... nothing. River Island, nope 3 other people are doing that. Game, no, it's bland. Primark, seriously? Sainsbury's... Ah dear...

But wait! The Body Shop! It's themed, clean, minimalist, colourful, suited exactly to its target audience, styled similarly, and as it's not a clothes store it's far easier to talk about!

I go in on New Year's Day, and ask politely to speak to the manager, the lovely (and beautiful) girl says, "Ah, sorry, she'll be in tomorrow!"
I reply, "Ah, okay, is there a supervisor around?"
She says, "Yeah that's me!" and smiles (which, by the way, was an amazing smile)
I say, "Cool! Basically I'm a student..." (you get the idea) "Can I come in tomorrow morning, when you're opening, just to take a few shots and some sketches?"
She says, "Yeah that's fine! I won't be in tomorrow but I'll leave a note for the staff", she smiles again
"Great!" I say

Go in this morning, 9:15am, and a different, but still gorgeous, girl is stood behind the counter. I say, "Hey, I spoke to a supervisor yesterday about taking some photographs here today?"
She says, "Oh yeah, that's fine!"
"Great!" I say

Finish at 9:25am and go up to the counter to tell her, and I say, "All done, thanks very much" and give her a cheeky smile
She giggles embarrassedly and says, "Oh, thanks, okay, bye!" :love: :p

All done!

So, a big :thumbs: to the staff of The Body Shop!
They're gorgeous, kind, friendly and helpful. Far better than the stuck up nonses of Ben Sherman!

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Day 107 - 03/01/2010

Snow!

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Day 108 - 04/01/2010

New Year's Eve! This is a photograph of my brother. He turned 17 new year's day, and got very drunk the night before at my house party. He passed out in bed with a girl (nothing was happening, I don't think!) and so we sellotaped them together. She woke up, but he didn't. Naturally, we wrote that he loves men on him. It's the law.

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Day 109 - 05/01/2010

Another filler shot from Devon.

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Day 110 - 06/01/2010

Possibly my all time favourite portrait shot that I've taken. This is Marc, someone whom I live with.

Last night was messy.

I drank a whole bottle of Jack Daniels, BEFORE going out. Terrible idea. I felt fine until I hit the clubs, of which I don't remember.

My phone was out of battery, and all I can remember thinking was that I could go back to halls, charge my phone, and then come back out.

Nope. Here is my journey, the bits I remember.

12:00 - Midnight: Leave club, without telling anyone where I was going (bearing in mind it was thick snow, I could have passed out and potentially died.)
12:10: Walk past a homeless person sat in the snow. I gave them some change, saying, "You need this more than I do."
12:20: I go into Subway and order a foot-long toasted Italian BMT on Italian bread with extra cheese, green peppers and barbecue sauce. £5.30! What the hell!
12:30: I'm stood in the park, in the snow, on my own, eating my subway.
12:45: I've finished my subway, and am now running and then sliding my way home
12:50: I meet a guy called Cole who lives in some halls near to me, and we decide to run/slide home together
1:00: I get in, put my phone on charge
6:00: I wake up, laid perpendicular to my bed, still clothed, phone fully charged. I don't think I have much of a chance of getting back to the club now.

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OptimusBri said:
Sounds like you had a pretty eventful night! Glad you got home alright in the end :)
And I very much like your portrait shot. Good job :thumbs:
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Very eventful. Surreal, in fact!

Thanks :)

david1701 said:
I have massively done that before, but it was a burger van not a subway and there was no snow :D
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Take away pizza>Subway>All other fast food
 
Day 111 - 07/01/2010

Oh crap! Work due in today! Best check what it is...
*checks*

Please write a short film review for Empire magazine about a film you've seen over Christmas and email it to me for January 7th 2010.
Click to expand...

No way! I do this stuff for fun!
Just cracked a review for Avatar out in about 30 minutes, 500 words. I wish I could be so focussed on my other work.

Today - working, hanging out.

Here is a picture of one of the friends who came to visit. She was very, very hot.

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This thread is hilarious. It's like Adrian Mole.

Some nice photos too, good skills.
 
:lol:

uni randomness!

Hope all is good at uni Sean.
 
Day 113 - 09/01/2010

A new boy-band!

Did lots of work today, finished an essay, just waiting for a member on here to reply with a quotation I can use :thumbs:

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Day 114 - 10/01/2010

Not that great a photo, but it represents Chantry 3rd floor's favourite past time (other than drugs, sex and drink) - ping pong!

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That's a horrible imitation of Queen Amidala, to say the least! Please tell me you weren't actually attempting that :nono:
 
Have barely touched my camera in the past few days. It's been a mixture of busy, ill and anxiety.

If I don't get a job, I won't be able to afford my rent next year. I've looked online at all the job vacancies for the places I can think of and there are none. I'm going to drop in an application form to spoons today and hope for the best.
 
Day 116 - 12/01/2010

Funny tale to this one:

My friend emily was getting 'chatted up' by some proper weirdo on facebook. She met him once, and he had gone from weird stranger to full on stalker. Literally wouldn't stop talking to her on facebook chat, saying things like, "Sexy emily" and asking her dirty questions:
Here are some examples:

Emily: I'm going food shopping
Guy: Are you going to buy strawberries and creme?
Guy: Do you think that's kinky?
Guy: Do you use them in bed?
Guy: Have you ever used them in bed?

Guy: What age did you lose your virginity?

Guy: Do you have any sexy pics?

You get the idea. Proper freak.

So I took this as my right as a 19 year old boy to chat him up. I knew what he wanted to hear so we lead him along. It was hilarious. He was getting right into it.

He said he wanted some sexy pictures, but we said we'd give him some if he sent us one first. That trick never works.
This time it was different. sure enough, incoming email of a conical bright red penis. Gross.

Our turn. We sent him this picture, with the caption: "lick this you dirty pervert!", followed by uploading the picture of his bright red cone-cock to facebook and tagging him in it when he went offline :D

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Day 117 - 13/01/2010

We got a big bouncy ball off one of the girls for christmas as a group present haha.

It's big, heavy and very bouncy, and we play ball games with it. These basically involve bouncing the ball around and usually end with something breaking - radiators, cupboard doors, crockery, noses.

I wanted to see what it would look like when it compresses. I set my camera to 1/640 of a second and the highest FPS it could handle. 500 frames later and this was the closest I could get to the ball hitting the ground. Yes, I know, I needed a faster shutter speed, but it wasn't bright enough and I didn't really care :p

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Day 119 - 15/01/2010

I am feeling very f***ed up at the moment, just really not myself, and have done for a few days now.

I'm feeling completely self conscious about myself.
I am worried about whether or not people like me, I'm worried about what other people think of me, I'm worried about money, I'm just worrying, about everything.
I'm a very confident guy, but at the moment I'm feeling very self-conscious and under-confident. I am sure this phase will pass and is just a product of me being ill and various tiffs due to lack of sleep recently, but I can't help but keep panicking.
About literally everything, and this has gone on for a while.

Last night, at the pub, we were all chatting away, having a good time, and then as a comment to something I said one of my mates joked, "Careful mate or I'll crack this glass over your head!"
I joked back, leaning over the table and 'presenting' my head for him and said, "Haha, go on then!"
He suddenly got very serious and said, "I will, don't tempt me."
Misinterpreting him, I joked around and said, "Yeah, well, I'm all yours mate"
and at that point, he threw the glass at me and it smashed all over the table in front of me.
Completely taken aback, the manager came over and we apologised and told him it was an accident.
I was really really shocked, none of my mates at home were like that, we could joke around and not have it result in ridiculousness.

When the manager had gone, he picked up another glass and said, "I'll do it again..."
I laughed nervously and said, "Uh don't worry mate you don't have to do that..."

No one said anything. Everyone just carried on as if nothing had happened. It was horrible.
Moral of the story? Don't be yourself around anyone unless you're 100% certain they're 100% sane.

Caption to the image: "3rd Floor close your curtains when having sex..."

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Day 122 - 18/01/2010

Had a wander with everyone today down to Ocean Village - very misty, took some photographs, then went to tescos and bought some crisps and came home and watched "Inglourious Basterds". Cracking film.

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Day 123 - 19/01/2010

I have a feeling today is going to be good. I took this photo yesterday, and I would consider it one of my best (obviously in my opinion). I love it.
Later on we're going into town and then out. Brilliant.

My Dad is giving me a brief and I'm going to be creating his website for him, for £300, which should sort me out for a month until I find a regular source of income.

Sorry about the JPEG artefacts, but I didn't want to upload a top quality version.

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Nice to see that bridge being safe :suspect:; it would be a horrid post otherwise, had there been any incidents there of recent :p


foodpoison said:
Day 121 - 17/01/2010

Had a roast dinner with my girlfriend today, and it was lovely.

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If you don't mind me asking, what kind of dinner date was it when you make reference to it with a cobweb. You must keep some wormy company ;)


foodpoison said:
Day 122 - 18/01/2010

..... and watched "Inglourious Basterds". Cracking film.

....
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I generally don't like these types of films; but this one was pulled off with amazing humour and realism. Am going to get the DVD and watch it again this weekend. Love it :thumbs:
 
Wail said:
Nice to see that bridge being safe :suspect:; it would be a horrid post otherwise, had there been any incidents there of recent :p
Click to expand...

Haha, I don't think anything has happened there in years, thankfully!

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of dinner date was it when you make reference to it with a cobweb. You must keep some wormy company ;)
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I find that web quite beautiful (despite the fact it's wobbly and needed a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second but the light wouldn't allow) so there :razz: :p

I generally don't like these types of films; but this one was pulled off with amazing humour and realism. Am going to get the DVD and watch it again this weekend. Love it :thumbs:
Click to expand...

It is a wicked film.
I recently saw "44 Inch Chest" and it was just men, talking, for hours.
Not Tarrantino style, it was just boring. That's what I love about Tarrantino's films.
The dialogue is gratuitous, exaggerated, self-indulgent and extremely entertaining.
 
Day 124 - 20/01/2010

Had a fantastic day today so far.

Beginning of the new semester, and we had a new unit tutor introduction for the other half of my Communications and Research unit - Research.
Amazing lecturer, really amazing. Enthusiastic, friendly, funny, interesting, interested. Brilliant.

The assignments actually look quite interesting, too, which is good.

Going to see 'Up in the Air' later with the GF.

Also, I've bought my first uni ready meal. I've made fresh meals every single time (not from scratch, but cooked the spaghetti and added a pouch of sauce or whatever), until now.

Bring it on, Co-Op Healthy Living Beef Lasagne and Cottage Pie!

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