Rich's Blog

2011 Roundup!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:26:00 +0000

Happy new year, Blog! Can you remember my 2010 roundup? Pah! I spit at 2010! 2011 was clearly where it was at, and I'm going to explain to you exactly why with an itemised list. We've got a lot to get through, so let's get started right away:

2011 Travel Map:

	Homes: Including Lucy's parents. I visited them over Christmas.
	Speed/May's house: Went to Alton Towers at Speed's and Go Ape at May's. Ooh! And we all went to Amsterdam with James! Incredible!
	Bath/Prague: Just a few of the places I visited with Lucy. Prague was amazing!
	Joe's stag do: My new brother-in-law!! Can you believe Rachel got married this year??
	Recording studio: I had so much fun with my new band! Play my first ever gig (first 5 gigs!). So much more to come!
	Blissfields: Had such a great time. The first music festival I've camped at!
	Les Arcs skiing: Seems so long ago now, but I loved it so much!!

Other cool things that happened: (Dr.) Lucy graduating! And I've been with her almost three years now, and it's incredible. I've also felt less stressed with my Ph.D., this year. Think it's because I moved into a fun new office!

It's been a crazily busy year, but that's ok, isn't it. I just about managed to fit everything in and it's been wonderful. I'm quite excited about 2012, too. Could it be the year I complete my Ph.D.? Loads of exciting stuff with the band, and plenty more cool trips, I'm sure!

I leave you with a photo of the Christmas meal with my Ph.D. pals. I took it with my cool new smart phone! That's another great thing that happened!!

On to 2012!!

New Band!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:34:00 +0000

Omg, hi Blog. I thought I'd drop by to tell you about the new band I'm in! That's right, I'm in a new band, but this time it's a proper band! A gigging band! Let me tell you about it from the start...

After watching Dad/Joe's band at the wedding, I was determined to get into a decent band for once. I looked at a few ads on websites and I was so lucky to find the perfect one! Good music, plus they rehearsed just at the end of my street!

They're called Ocean Red. I met-up with them for drinks and they were a really nice bunch of dudes. I learned all the songs from their demo and jammed with them the week after. Thought I played pretty badly, but give me a break, it was the first time! And they were very forgiving.

Before I knew it, they wanted me to play a gig! I had never done a gig before! And I had still only rehearsed with them once! I said yes, but made sure we had another two rehearsals the week before the gig. I was pretty nervous!

The first gig I would play was a charity show in an art gallery. Turns out Charlotte Church was going to be there because her boyfriend's band were playing too! So I was even more nervous! But actually, when the day came, I wasn't too bad. The place was so nice and chilled-out that I felt pretty relaxed! And yeah, Charlotte church was there watching us, but it was no big deal!

I've played another two gigs with them since then and I didn't feel nervous at all for the last one! Just really enjoy it! Next one is on Thursday at a fashion show,—cool!!

Ohh! And how could I forget that I went to a recording studio with them to record a new track! Get this, it was at the house of the guitarist from Motorhead! His son runs the studio, so I didn't actually meet the Motorhead dude. I had never recorded my bass before, but it went totally fine and I didn't mess up at all!! Really interesting to see all the behind-the-scenes of a band!

It's so much fun! I wish I had more photos but I don't yet. I'll keep you updated!!

Oh, by the way, Lucy & I saw Portugal. The Man play Bristol last night! They blew me away, so impressive! They've come a long way since we saw them in London! Can I also just mention that I had a nice weekend at May's with Speed & Hobday (we did Go Ape, a high-ropes course!) and a lovely time with Lucy at Noah's Ark Farm/Zoo. Speak soon!!

Rachel & Joe's Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:14:00 +0000

Hey blog, can you believe my sister Rachel got married?! I guess I can, I mean, she's been with Joe for, like, ten years now, or something crazy. But, still! The wedding day was perfect, of course! Let me tell you all about it...

It all started on the 28th of August. Dad & I went to Joe's Parents' house in the morning to put on our suits. I couldn't believe how calm and easy Joe was. I was way more nervous than he and I wasn't even getting married! We drove to the manor for the ceremony and the guests started arriving. Eventually, the ceremony starts and dad walks Rachel down the isle. I say walk, he was practically running and Rachel had to hold him back! He was really nervous, you see. Really, really nervous because he knew he had to give his speech at dinner later on.

The ceremony went smoothly and we all relaxed and chatted and watched the (amazing) magician and had our photos taken before dinner. By the time we started dinner, dad was looking like a ghost from the nerves. But when he finally got up to do his speech, he was completely fine! Told me afterwards that the nerves just went away as soon as he joked to the audience about how he was "bricking it". The food was great, too! Although, I couldn't eat it because I was too worked-up. Here's me with Lucy just after food:

After the food, we were free to roam the grounds and find our hotel rooms. But I didn't have much time for that because I had to carry on with my usher duties! I was on the door for several hours at the evening do; welcoming guests to the masquerade ball. Once the party really got going, Joe/dad/Victoria's band kicked-off. They were brilliant!! And I danced for most of it (especially as the singer kept singling me out and telling me to come back and dance!!).

Me & Lucy snuck out (when a power cut put the gig on hold) to get our pictures drawn by the caricature! But the artist was really eggy and he didn't draw us very nicely (he was meant to finish his shift 30 minutes earlier!):

Anyway, after that we pretty much just danced the night away and rocked back to our hotel rooms in the wee hours. It's great that Joe is officially part of the family, now. He's been like a big brother to me for as long as I can remember. And I'm so happy for Rachel! In conclusion, it was an extra-special day, and I give it 10 out of 10.

Huzzah!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 21:30:00 +0000

Hiya! Here's my second summery summary, I guess. Let's jump straight in, shall we.

I think I last left you right before my holiday with Lucy to Prague. That's right, we went to Prague. Only for a few days, mind. It was great!

Great food (went to an incredible steak house), great hotel, great weather, great scenery. It only rained once for about an hour, and boy did it rain! Biggest thunder storm I have ever seen! We jumped into a pub for food just before it started, then watched it by the window for ages. When it finally stopped we walked home without getting wet at all! So lucky.

We did lots of nice stuff! Must've looked like real tourists with our book of top ten things to do in Prague! I'm not sure why but we didn't get any photos of us together! But luckily, through the power of image editing, here is my (terrible) attempt to have a picture of both of us:

I look like a giant compared to Lucy, woops!

Moving on. The weekend after, I went to Nottingham for Joe's stag do!! I can't believe he's marrying my sister NEXT WEEKEND! Wow. The stag do was brilliant! 9 of us went (including my/his dad and my uncle). We did paint-balling and quad-biking and we went to lots of bars/clubs. On the Saturday night, Joe went to the restaurant, bars and clubs dressed as Snow White! Wish I had photos (sorry!).

Oh man, I just remembered the house party I went to the weekend after. It was at Steven's house (and Marc and Amy's). And the theme was geek chic!

It was so much fun! I knew those red trousers would come in useful one day!

I think that pretty much brings you up-to-date. Like I said, next weekend is my sister's wedding, I think it's going to be huge! I'll tell you all about it, obviously. Before I go, I'll leave you with a picture from last weekend, when I went back to Bristol to watch Joe's band (who are playing at the wedding) play their first "test" gig:

Check out my dad getting funky with the bass! It was a great show :-)

Summer Post!!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:22:00 +0000

Oh boy, I've been up to so much lately!! Let me give you a quick update.

Firstly, I think it's only fair that you know I have moved house. But not far! Just across the road, 3 doors down. Here is my bedroom:

Yeah, that's right, it's a digital piano. I dabble in it, now! It's going well! I can almost play the whole of "Don't Stop Me Now"!!

My weekends have been jam-packed. Let me take you back three weekends ago. I took the train up to Chester to visit Speed. He lives in a nice new house there with the lovely Dawn. Hobday and May also visited and we went to Alton Towers together!! (Sorry, no pic!!). And we did other fun stuff. Then on the Sunday I had to travel for 6 hours on the train from Chester to Romsey because it was Lucy's dad's 60th birthday party! I was a little nervous to meet all the family, but it was all fine and they were really nice!

Weekend after and it's Speed's birthday. I went up to visit (again!) with a few friends and we had a great night out at one of his favourite gay bars:

Ok, fast-forward to last weekend and I'm with those same people (minus Speed and May, i.e. Steven, Gareth and Amy (and others!)) at a music festival!! It was called "Blissfields" and it was near Lucy's parents' house. It was the first time I've ever camped at a festival and it was super fun!! Here, see:

Told you!

Finally, in other news: Lucy passed her medical degree!! She's a doctor, now!! How strange is that!? I bought some champagne to celebrate. The ticket said £25 but when I got to the till they asked for £35!! I think I went rather pale, but bought it anyway (and it was lush!!). Here she is on graduation:

Anyway, loads more exciting stuff happening soon, keep ya posted!!! ;-)

"Coffee Shops"

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sun, 29 May 2011 10:47:00 +0000

Omg. So, yes, I tried cannabis in Amsterdam. ... What! Give me a break! It's legal out there! And I'd never do it here. I've never been interested in doing it, but I'm glad I did. I thought it was real interesting, so I'd like to write a blog about it to help me remember my experience.

Friday, we bought a spliff, but it was more tobacco than weed. It did nothing for any of us.

Saturday, we bought a bag of stronger stuff. It was called Amnesia. We smoked quite a lot, then sat around for 10 minutes, while I was thinking "ahh, nothing's happening again". But we suddenly realised I was stoned when James asked me a question and I had no idea what he had just said and I struggled to say anything at all in reply.

Believe it or not, I wasn't high in this pic, but it was minutes before.

It hit me like a tonne of bricks! From nothing at all to total weirdness. The first thing I noticed was that I could not make any new memories! I literally couldn't remember anything that didn't happen in the last second. I guess that's where the name "Amnesia" came from. But it wasn't just my memory, even my eyes couldn't keep up! It was like I was watching a video with a really low frame rate. Every image was separate, and I could only remember the last five or so images. So weird!

It took me a while to realise that my actions weren't really affected. Only my observations. I could still have a reasonable conversation, but I felt like I was observing my own actions (with a delay). Like someone was talking for me, and after a second or so later, I would hear what I just said (and strangely realise that it made sense!). Every time I said something, it felt almost exactly like how I feel when I sleep talk when I'm only half awake. It's always "wow, what did I just say? Oh man, my brain is just not here right now..."!

I then realised that my mouth was also very delayed. I would take a sip from my drink, but only feel my glass on my lips after I had put it back down! Then I would feel the delayed fizz of the drink going down my throat. Eventually, I lost all sensation in my face and my mouth felt like it had been injected with local anaesthetic.

I was very self-conscious as I really believed that I was talking far too loud and that everyone else in the bar could hear me. My voice sounded very different, too, but friends convinced me otherwise. I wanted to see if my legs still worked, but I was worried I'd make an idiot of myself! I went to the bathroom but I ended up going for the ladies accidentally! The bar man called over to me and I apologised and went to the men's. (Later, May told me that I didn't look totally stoned, it was just a genuine mistake). I didn't actually need the toilet, I just wanted to see what walking was like. I waited in the toilet trying to remember how long I had been there so I didn't look weird, but it was very hard to judge time!

Strangely, I felt pretty good! After the first 10 minutes, I went through a panic/paranoia stage (think I did too much), but it was pretty easy to get out of. It took me a while to appreciate my state of mind (thought it was pretty rubbish at first), but I got more and more relaxed with my state of mind, and I really started to enjoy it! It wasn't very practical for everyday life, but it was really interesting. I'll sound like a total stoner, now, but it really felt like I was discovering a different dimension of my brain that I had never used before. It was amazing to see what our brains are capable of. I'm so used to this steady, sterile, predictable state-of-mind, so it was great to see my brain from another angle.

Ooh, we also did Shisha on Saturday. Went well with alcohol. Made me feel a bit smoother.

On Sunday night, we got some more weed. Unfortunately for us, they only had the strongest stuff left in stock. It was called "Purple Haze". We did some, felt nothing, did some more, felt nothing, did even more... Then we started to come up. Much slower, this time. It was nice! This time there were no crazy memory effects or anything weird. It was a much more smooth transition. I just felt happier and found things funnier, I guess. We were all having a great time. The funniest part was when one of us thought that our legs were glued to the floor! Couldn't move them at all!

...Then about 20 minutes in, a few of us started to panic. Myself included. It was harder to get out of the panic, this time (I actually felt like I would throw-up). But I managed, just about. But everything from that point on just went downhill... It made us all feel really miserable and depressed. I felt very serious. My memory was smoothly erasing itself, I felt very confused. We sat in the bar for several hours just hoping that it would wear off soon. But it wasn't going anywhere. We decided to try to walk home because the fumes weren't helping at all.

We got home and went to sleep. In the morning, We couldn't believe we still felt stoned! This stuff wasn't wearing off! I wasn't too bad, I just felt very disconnected from my brain, all day. And the next couple of nights I woke up in the night with a strange, stoned feeling. Anyway, I'm fine again now. But Purple Haze really put me off ever trying cannabis again. Shame, because Amnesia was really fun!! Ahh well, I'm glad I had the experience. Onto heroin next!

Amsterdam

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sat, 28 May 2011 23:36:00 +0000

Hi blog! How are you?

I am fine! This time last week, I was in Amsterdam with my buddies Speed, May and Jimmy. Let me tell you all about it...

It was so cool. We stayed the night at May's before because we got the plane from Luton airport. When we arrived at Amsterdam we had a few drinks before we went to find out hotel.

That's right, it was a 5 star Marriott!! We checked-in at 3pm, had a look around, then slept until 6pm!! Well, I only slept for an hour, after that I had a long soak in the Marriott bath tub! We were so tired after our 6am start!

When we finally woke, we went out for food and drink. I was so hungry and so in need of some beef. So imagine my horror when my lasagna arrived, only for me to realise it was vegetarian!! The boys had to rush me to McDonalds at the end of the night for some beef!!

Wow. I forgot how seedy Saturday was until I started writing this... Not very proud, but it was very fun!! We kicked things off with a visit to the sex museum! A bit of an eye-opener. Here's James on a giant penis:

The rest of the day is kind-of a blur; we spent a lot of time in a coffee shop, if you know what I mean (more in next post). The evening was very wild; we spent it in the Red Light District area. We got stoopid, went to many (hideous) sex shops, saw the prostitutes, then went to a sex show! Yep, people were having sex right in-front of us on stage. Terrible sex, mind. It was more of a strange dance than sex.

Sunday was slightly more respectable. We went to the Anne Frank museum (after queueing for hours!):

Then we went to the Heineken brewery:

Monday was our last day and we hired bikes for a cycle through the park!

And we came across a climbing frame!

And we did lots of other stuff in-between. We packed loads into those four days! It was so much fun, and I want to go again. I was happy to be with my friends because we all got along really well and everyone was happy!

My Friend Speed

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 09:27:00 +0000

My Friend Speed, by Richard Coombs.

My friend Speed is always fun to be around.

He has a big happy smile and is as tall as a cloud.

My friend Speed is from Wales and talks funny.

No-one can play the guitar and piano as good as my friend Speed.

My friend Speed has a silly dog called Maggie.

Whenever I'm upset, I talk to my friend Speed and he cheers me up.

This is why my friend speed is one of my best friends in the whole wide world.

Funeral

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:53:00 +0000

Even on the morning of my Grandpa's funeral, I was still surprised at how well I was coping. Unlike other bereavements in the family, Grandpa died old, his suffering was short-lived and he left no widow. The day of the funeral was bright and blue. We were at Grandpa's house, excited to meet all of the family in the sun and in our Sunday's best.

...Then that wooden box came rolling up the road. It could have been empty, at first glance. But I soon noticed the shadow it had cast, and I quickly realised that the wooden box was much heavier than empty. My Grandpa is right behind those wooden panels! I felt as if I had just realised he isn't coming back. Like I had to see it to believe it.

We drove straight to the cemetery. The colours of our Sunday's best appeared much deeper, now. I was choked by my own collar and tie. For me, the hardest part was leaving after the service. I watched my Grandpa's four daughters say their ultimate goodbyes to him. Bow in respect or blow a kiss. I couldn't begin to imagine a suitably sufficient way to say goodbye as I turned to leave him for the last time.

Four daughters, seven grand-children and beyond, all exist because of him. Because he met his to-be wife on a train all those years ago. That simple flap of a butterfly's wings. An essential stepping-stone to my golden ticket to this world; my life; my everything. But, anyway, this isn't about me. This is about my Grandpa. Rest in peace.

Skiing Holiday... 2!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:51:00 +0000

Remember my first skiing holiday? Well I went back for more!! Not to the same place, but somewhere close! ...And not with the same people, but still nice people!

It all happened three weeks ago. Me, Matt (other PhD), Jon (other PhD), Jon's girlfriend (Rebecca) and Matt's mate (Gary) went to Les Arcs in France. We took the Eurostar train, it was soo much better than my 30 hour coach journey I did last time. We even got given blankets and a blow-up pillow to sleep with!

We started skiing pretty much as soon as we got to the resort! I remembered how to just fine (like riding a bike!). Unlike everyone else, me & Gary opted to not get lessons each morning, so we just went off together and did our own thing. He was such a nice guy! I spent a lot of time with him sat on slow ski-lifts, and we would sing Panic At The Disco (even on the slopes!). Here we are together:

Skiing was great! We all got along really well, and us boys were all a similar level. We went down some pretty scary slopes! I fell over a few times, especially this one time when I hit a rock! Luckily, we caught it all on video because we took a helmet-camera with us!!:

What are the odds!

Skiing from the top of the mountain was amazing! I did it twice, the second time it was so misty it was like wearing a blind-fold! We had to wait for people to go past just to see which direction we needed to go! First time I went up there (with just Gary) I remember being quite scared because there were lots of signs saying "danger of death" and huge cliff edges and even stretchers there for broken bodies!! But I skied it anyway!!

For the last two days, I tried snowboarding. It was pretty fun at first, but then the pain got worse and worse and it just wasn't worth it. The more you fell over, the more you would hurt so the slower you would go; but the slower you went the harder it was to balance so the more you fell over! A real vicious-circle!

Omg, there was this one time when I was at the top of a slope with my snowboard and I took my feet out of it so I could walk down the steep bit. As soon as I unstrapped my feet, BOOM! The snowboard slipped away from me and was gaining speed very rapidly as it raced down the busy slope! I was so embarrassed, it was so dangerous! I ran after it but I had no chance of catching it. Everyone on the ski-lift above me were gasping and pointing at me! Several people tried to stop it (one person fell-over badly trying!). It was out of my sight and I thought I had lost it when I caught-up with Jon who had somehow managed to save it! (Apparently, everyone on the ski-lift cheered when that happened!). I could've almost died of embarrassment! I just hid my face behind my ski gear and goggles!

We met some crazy Dutch people while we were there. We had a great night out watching a live band (Moustache!) in a bar. I sang so much the bassist even pointed at me (in a good way, I think...)! Then we went to a club, etc. So much fun!

In closing, I think the skiing holiday was great fun. I'm glad I went with these guys because I got to know them well and they were all really nice! Hopefully, one day, I can go again!

My 23rd Birthday...!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 22:25:00 +0000

My 23rd birthday was nice, thanks, Blog. Even though it was a month ago, I look back with fond memories! I was actually at my parent's house in Bristol for it. Mainly because I had to go to a "red-light workshop"...

...Yes, omg, that's right, I had to go on a course to learn what a red traffic light means. Turns out it means stop. I had to go because I was 1.2 seconds late going through a red traffic light. I'm so ashamed! I couldn't make my mind up whether to brake or accelerate! So I hesitated, slowed down, and went through late... I only I had just made my mind up! Anyway, no harm done, and I feel like I learned a lot at the workshop. Everyone else seemed to really like it, too!!

My actual birthday was a little boring because my parents were at work so I was hope alone. But I saw Phil and we had lots of fun times. And he got me this!!:

In the evening, I had a nice meal at Rach & Joe's house with my parents and them.

Next day, I was back in Cardiff... And so was May and Speed and Gevans! They came down to visit me on my birthday! We had a meal and then met with others for a night at Welsh Clwb!!

The day after, me & Lucy went skiing on the dry ski slope in preparation for my skiing holiday! (see my next post!!). Lucy had to pretend that she had done skiing before for our class, but the first time she went down the slope, she made it pretty clear that she had never experienced anything like it before! Hah, oh well!

Meditation, Old People and A Funny

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 20:41:00 +0000

At my uni, we have a "quiet room". It's a place where people of all faiths can take some time out to pray, meditate, contemplate, etc. It was invented because Muslims have to pray so often every day and they had no place to do it. I even used to see them on their knees in the corridors before we got the quiet room! I often use it for meditation at the end of a day at work. A couple of weeks before Christmas, I was alone in there, meditating, when I hear someone walk in, then stop. I had my eyes closed so I couldn't see him, but I heard him tap on the lockers by the door. I ignored it. Then he said "excuse me", so I had no choice but to break meditation, open my eyes and look at him, frustrated.

He was a big chap, middle-Eastern looking. He told me that I was not allowed to be in there because I am not a Muslim. He told me the room is only for Muslims to pray in and that I had to leave. He said it in quite a harsh tone, with some fire in his eyes. I think he expected me to get angry, but I stayed calm and explained to him that the room was for everyone, etc. He insisted that it wasn't. He told me that I especially wasn't allowed in there with shoes on because "we like to keep our homes clean, unlike most people..."(!)

I looked around for the sign saying it's for everyone, but it had conveniently disappeared. I had no choice but to leave! Before I was even out the door he started chanting his Muslim tongues. I thought it was meant to be a quiet room! I emailed my head of school and they will soon introduce a booking system for the room. So I guess there goes the idea of all religions and faiths using it together.

Onto a better note! The other night I had a breakthrough! Let me explain. I know it's stupid at my age, but I've always been fearful of growing old and lonely. What if I don't marry? What if my partner dies before me? What if I have no children and all of my friends die before me? Well, I discovered care homes / old peoples homes! Sure, I knew about them before, but I never even considered them because of the way people always talk about how they never want to go to one. But I've realised that they would be great! With/without a partner, I could sell my lonely house to afford the poshest care home money could buy! In there would be an endless pile of new friends in the same situation, with a lifetime of stories. No more cooking/cleaning, just relaxing! It'd be like student halls again! I remember visiting a care home on a school trip, and I remember it being very laid back and cheery. So, this is a big worry I can clear from my head :-)

Onto a hilarious note!! Last night, there was a knock at the door. Lucy popped back down the stairs to answer it. The blonde girl asked Lucy if Chris lived here, Lucy said yes and pointed her to his bedroom. The blonde girl skips into Chris' room with a happy "hello!" before realising that it wasn't the right Chris!! She stops and asks "is your name Chris?" and she realises she found the right name but in the wrong house!! Embarrassed, she lets herself out while me and Lucy are falling about upstairs! It made my entire week!! Poor girl!!

Finally, let's brighten this post up with a photograph of my family playing the snowball game over Christmas (as usual!):

2010 Roundup!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 00:57:00 +0000

Oh, boy. I felt that I hadn't really done much this year, but, as usual, it all starts to come back to me when I make a roundup post! Let's take a peep:

2010 Travel Map:

	Aberystwyth: Helped Emma move into her new student house.
	Bristol/Cardiff: home(s)—moved student house (yet again) to City Road.
	Holiday: Family holiday in Centre Parcs Longleat and the incredible holiday with Lucy in France! I'm still amazed at how great it was!
	Southampton/Wrexham/Swansea: Visiting Lucy on placement / at her parents' house.
	Chester: Visited Speed's new home and went to Chester Zoo (I also went to Bristol Zoo!)
	London: Lucy and I went to London to see Portugal. The Man live.
	Theme Parks: I went to Alton Towers and Drayton Manor!

Gigs/Shows:

Not many, but they were brilliant!

Circa Survive cheered me up on my last night in Galleon Way.
Portugal. The Man in London, a great weekend.
I Am Arrows blew me away, and did I mention the support band almost had me in tears!? Incredible!
Some great comedy nights.
Dancing on Ice with my sister, etc.

So! Did I complete my aims that I set last year? ...I knew this would come back to haunt me! Well, I suppose I kinda did... I got into a band, but we are terrible and will never gig. I was getting back into meditation but someone stopped me! (I'll tell you about this soon!). I didn't get out of Europe, but my France holiday was perfect. I still need to get back into Lucid dreaming. I did do some painting! I discovered how great watercolours are. Here's one I made for Lucy for Christmas:

So yeah, I sort of managed my aims. I won't make any for next year, though. I'll see where the wind takes me!

It's been a good year, not the best, but pretty damn cool! Come the end of it I started to feel quite jaded about "the real world", how everyone has to work, work, work, work, work. But I feel more comfortable about it, now. Like I've submitted and given up on the struggle for "freedom"... Wow, sorry to put a downer on my 2010 roundup! I'm happy, by the way!

2011! I hope I flow with the river more, and not try to struggle upstream. And I hope I appreciate and fulfil every last drop of free time that I have. Sorry to get all metaphorical on you, blog! I have lots to tell you, we much catch up very soon!! :-)

I'm afraid we have some bad news

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:48:00 +0000

"I'm afraid we have some bad news."

I'm wasn't expecting any bad news, but when I read this in an email from my mum, it hit me hard. I could feel my eyes widen and a shot of adrenaline straighten my spine. I guessed the severity of the news before reading another word. It's funny how you can sense how bad it is just by reading text. No facial expressions or tone of voice to judge. Maybe my mind had already subconsciously read the rest of the paragraph to prepare myself...

But I wasn't prepared. My mum told me that Grandpa had 8-18 months left to live. All the work he did with asbestos finally caught up with him, and he has developed inoperable cancer in the wall of his lung.

I guess I didn't really learn much, today. My Grandpa has lived to a ripe old age (80+), and, as we all know, people die when they get old. If he didn't die of the cancer, he'd die of something else eventually. In fact, he could die of something totally unrelated during the 8-18th months. All I learned is that Grandpa has a maximum of 18 months left to live.

I couldn't really concentrate for the rest of the day. I took a nice long stroll in my favourite thinking park (Bute Park) and tried to work out why I was so upset about this. I don't think I should be upset about him dying, I mean, everyone does it and something really good might happen to him after life. And I shouldn't feel upset as one of the people he's leaving behind because we will carry on fine without him. I think the worst part is saying goodbye.

I cannot even begin to think of a way to say goodbye. How could I ever get across my love and respect, and how much I'll miss him? I went to buy a card for him, that was hard enough. I saw things like:

"Get well soon!" --- not going to happen...
"With sympathy" --- so miserable!
"Goodbye, sorry you have to go!" --- for people getting a new job, I know, but it broke my heart. I felt myself welling up in the store.

It really scares me. Having such a finite time left. I think that I would be in a desperate panic for the duration. What did I always want to do? Who must I express my love for? What lose ends must I finish before I can hang up my coat?

It's been playing on my mind, hard. I see things so insignificant that I usually take for granted, then I imagine if I were in Grandpa's shoes how everything would be so sacred and precious. Every tiny scrap of life. I can feel myself clinging onto them with my fingernails as I'm being pulled under. People always tell you that you should love life. But I think if you love life too much, you may suffer from a horrifying fear of death.

But deep down, I'm sure he's in a settled state and I'm sure he's ready as one can be. And he's free now to look at all of those sacred scraps of life and smile and let go.

And, as for saying goodbye... I hope he knows how much I love him and how much I'll always miss him.

Relax!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:17:00 +0000

'Sup, blog!

Firstly, I moved house! Speed left me to work in Chester so I had to move out of our lovely flat! It hit me pretty hard. On our last night there we went to see Circa Survive play, which was incredible as usual!

That's me & Speed at the front!!

The move was stressful, but I'm all settled-in, now. Here's my bedroom: it's really big and it looks nicer in real life!!!

I live with a man called Gecko, Greg and 'Tatoes (and soon Mark). Lucy came to stay with me a few times in my new place. We went out for an evening walk one night and stumbled upon a fair/carnival all through the streets! Cool! And the other night I made the most amazing pasta, chicken & spinach bake for us from scratch!! Soo nice. I like cooking. A few weekends ago I went home to Bristol and cooked a delicious spaghetti and spicy meatballs for Phil and Ria. So much fun!

It's so sad that Speed has moved away... I went to visit him (with Lucy because I was actually visiting her at her placement in Wrexham). The three of us had a great day in Chester at the zoo! And a butterfly landed on me!!

Yep, it sure is going to be strange without Speed around for a while... And guess what? Lucy went to Ghana on Saturday! She's going to be there for 5 weeks doing a medical placement. I'm not going to see her for 6 weeks! I miss my buddies!!

What other crazy stuff have I been up to? Hmm.. Well, I went out with Lucy's friends to the beach to have a BBQ. Check my hair out, I got it cut pretty soon after this picture (a new style, finally, but I like it!):

Three years ago when I was social sec. for the Art Society, I spoke to an Italian exchange girl a few times. Not a lot, just a few words. Well, the other day, she emailed me and told me she's back in Cardiff for a week with her friend and would I like to meet up! I said yes, and the three of us went for few drinks! Very strange as I hardly know her and could barely understand her! Still fun, though!!

At the start of this month, me and Lucy went to London to see Portugal. The Man in concert!!! They were so incredible! It would've been such a personal gig if they had paid more attention to the audience. We did lots of fun stuff in London, too!

I also spent a weekend in Southampton visiting Lucy's parents. We did fun stuff like go-karting:

I felt terribly travel-sick afterwards (and a bit stressed) and later threw up my lunch. Then in the evening, we went to a posh dinner party. The food wasn't very nice, and I popped off to the toilet during desert to throw it all up again. Why is it that other people cry/swear/shout when they're stressed but I just vomit!? So unfortunate! Don't think anyone noticed, though, and it was still really fun.

I think that covers all the interesting stuff! Talk to you next month!!

8 Days of Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:29:00 +0000

Blog, let me tell you: so much stuff has happened lately!! Omg, where to start... Ok, I think I know:

Let me take you back to a sunny June 11th. The sky was glowing, the seagulls were... making that really annoying noise they always make... and it was a beautiful day! They day of the Summer Ball, no less!! I'll spare the details as it was pretty much the same as the last two I've been too (super!), but here's a pic!:

These are the dudes I spent the ball with (friends of friends) and they were all really nice!

May came down the following Monday. Hah! What a night! May, Speed and I hit the tiles and ended up bringing two ladies back to our flat! No, not like that! We got back at about 4:30am, then Speed and I serenaded them both with our instruments. —our guitars... we played them songs. And they loved them! They told me I shouldn't go anywhere without my tambourine, from now on. They were so much fun! We didn't exchange any contact details, but we arranged to meet in the same bar in exactly 6 months time. Let's make it happen!!!

Here's me & May the next day:

Speed's birthday was on the 25th, and everything kicked-off on that day! We had something fun to do pretty much every day for about 8 days! Day 1 (Speed's birthday) was great, we went down town and had a sing and a dance!

Day 2: was so fun. We all went to my brother Chris' house for a huge BBQ (you know how Chris does his BBQs—gawd daym!) It was phat. I'm talking "ph" phat. He had a whole salmon and joint of lamb on there, for goodness shakes!

Day 3: After staying the night at Chris', I scurried home on the train, quick as I could. I had to get back to meet Hobday (I hadn't seen him for a year, and he came all the way from Cornwall!). He was still exactly the same! So funny!

Day 4: It was time to say goodbye to my friend Liz :-( We'd been friends since I met her in my first year at uni (she lived in the flat opposite). She's moving to London so we spent the day in the park where we took a boat out on the lake.

We also went for a nice meal in the evening, but I had to rush off to meet my friends from Weekenders (volunteer project) for one last drink with them. I'll miss those dudes!

Day 5: Day off, finally! Pub was meant to be today, but was re-arranged last minute.

Day 6: I was meant to meet my friend Lee!! (the guy I met on the coach!) but I realised that, with all the fun I was having, I had missed a deadline for my PhD, so I stayed in and worked... I'll see him soon!

Day 7 & 8 I spent helping at a "Summer School" project, which was to show young people with Asperger syndrome what university life is really like. It was really fun! We did lots of fun things like bowling, nice meal, shopping, coffee, games etc. And I stayed in Talybont halls of residents for the night! Everyone was sooo nice there. One of the young dudes was a brilliant artist and I asked him to draw me and here's what he did:

What a legend!

And now you are up to date!! I better stop typing before this post is too long to read. Just one last little bombshell: Speed got a job in North Wales so he has to move out... I could either live here with a stranger or move back to Cathays with some friends... I chose Cathays.... I'm moving out on Tuesday :-( I'mma really miss this flat! I'll keep you up to date after I move. Bye!

La Source

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:42:00 +0000

Last week, me and Lucy went on Holiday to La Source! It was splendid, let me tell you everything!:

(See how close it is to where I went skiing in December!)

Yeah it was close to where I went skiing, so we decided to take a plane this time (it was a 30hr coach journey to skiing!). Such a shame our flight was 5 hours delayed on the way out! We finally got there at about midnight. Went straight to bed. When we got up in the morning, we couldn't believe our eyes!!

The place looked incredible! We were in a bowl, surrounded by mountains; still with snow on-top—despite how sunny it was. We were in a beautiful two-storey chalet, just a 2 minute walk from the main house. Both places were so cosy and relaxing.

Every day we'd sit around that table (in the main house) to eat breakfast and dinner with the other guests and staff. It turns out all of the other guests were family of the owner of La Source. Everyone was incredible. So welcoming, interesting, happy and friendly. Everyone helped us organise our holiday with recommendations, phoning places to book and driving us around. The people there really made the holiday.

We went there for an activity/adventure/relaxation holiday, and we certainly did a lot of those! Here:

We did parapenting! (Like paragliding, but in the sitting position.) It was such a sight! But after 10 minutes I felt very travel-sick... and... I actually threw-up in mid-air! That's right, 1600meters in the sky. I couldn't help it! Just hope I didn't hit anyone!!

We also did white-water rafting. It was, about, the only day it rained, so we thought it'd be a good idea. It was tons of fun, and we didn't even fall out! (I just got blasted to the back of the boat on my bum!) Wild!

We did rock climbing on huge cliffs! (It was a bit safer, though. We had a safety line and there were metal pins in the rocks.) So amazing. I'm not usually scared of heights, but this was giving me the shakes!

We also did a high-ropes course, which was also very high and very challenging! You could choose how hard the course was (of course, I went for the hardest route possible!)

We went swimming in the lake!

We had a full-body massage from the same masseuse who massages Trinny, from Trinny & Susannah! She was lovely, and I felt so great afterwards! We also went in the hot tub at La Source! So relaxing!

We spent the day in a place called Anise, it was so picturesque!

We took a speed-boat out on the lake! Fun.

Yep, it was a truly brilliant holiday! But, like I said, the people we were with made it so incredible. It was such a personal holiday. So much better than never meeting anyone else and spending all day on some beach. We felt like guests, not customers.

The people I met made me realise a new lifestyle that I had never even considered before. It really showed me that we're not tied to our shirt & ties, money obsessions and negativity. We can all be free, relaxed and, almost in a carefree bubble world. Payment would always be the last thing people mentioned (if at all). They never even lock their doors there (very strange for me to get used to!)

Wow. Thanks, La Source. What a great holiday that was. And I'm so glad I got to spend it with my lovely girlfriend :-)

Lactic Acid (sucks)

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:01:00 +0000

Ah man! I'm sorry to leave my blog on a negative for such a long time. But I haven't been feeling brilliant, lately. But today! ... I have found out what has been causing me so much trouble for sooo long!! (two words:)

... Lactic ... Acid

Ohh man! It's so simple! Lactic acid has been the cause of my anxiety/mild panic attack problems for the last few years!

This took me ages, but I finally got to the bottom of it:

I was pretty sure the problem got worse straight after exercise (sure enough, exercise causes lactic acid in the muscles)
I thought it had something to do with my high-carb diet (yep, refined starches in a low oxygen state causes lactic acid)
Lately, I've realised milk/dairy is the biggest cause (yep, dairy is full of lactic acid)
I knew deep, belly-breathing helped (yeah man. Increasing oxygen levels gets rid of lactic acid).

It all makes perfect sense! And I've found plenty of websites to back me up. I feel so great for figuring this one out!! Now I know how to control it! I just wish I knew during hard times like exams!

This months been great! I went to two theme parks in the space of two weeks! The first was Alton Towers with Lucy:

And the second time was Drayton Manor with Weekenders (the volunteer project I do). I can't believe that was my last trip with Weekenders! I'm going to miss those little dudes, I really enjoyed chilling with them. Kids are so carefree; when I talk to them I'm free of any worry of trying to sound cool or intelligent or even make sense. It feels like I can just chat shit again, just like I did when I was a kid. I suppose it's like talking to a really great friend who you know won't judge you for talking rubbish, but it's even more carefree than all the boring, grown-up stuff adults talk about!

I'm going on holiday this weekend with Lucy to France!!! We're going to the mountains (near where I went skiing!) for an adventure/activity/relaxation holiday! Can't wait! It's my second time I've been on a plane, too! (sooo glad there won't be a 30hr coach journey each way like with skiing!!) I'll let you know how cool it was when I get back next week!

Socially Hungry!!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:12:00 +0000

'Sup, blog!

I've just been out for a lovely walk! It was so nice and sunny. I watched the birds and the bees and the sun. I saw some kid do a somersault on the grass! And I saw a man dressed in army clothes salute a war memorial as he walked past.

This weekend was my sister's (& Joe's) engagement party! Can't you believe it!?! They're getting married next year!! I'm so pleased. Joe's been part of the family for 8 years, now, he's like an older brother to me.

I'm so lonely right now, blog. Once again, Speed has gone home, and this time he won't be back for weeks! Even when he is here he can barely tear himself away from his computer (even when he's not working). So I'm on my own in my increasingly boring flat with no-one around. I could go into uni, but I'd be sat in my little cubicle, again with no-one to talk to. I have hardly any friends left in Cardiff. I just want some human contact! This is the first time in my life when I haven't been forced together with people in classes/lectures etc. and I miss it! I can't even think of how to meet people, I can't think of any social clubs to join. Hell, it even went through my mind to pretend to be Christian so I can go to church and meet people there—they always seem to have a great time.

I went through a phase of arranging events for people to come to. Here's some stats:

Event 1: 20 invited, 4 came.
Event 2: 16 invited, 2 came.
Event 3: 46 invited, 13 came.

Wow, sorry to bitch. I just feel like I'm buggin people now, so I'm not doing it so much. When I'm done with the PhD I'll be sure to get a job with human interaction. Even if it means I have to go back to John Lewis.

Can you believe that after six years, my phone has finally broken!! This news is HUGE!! I really pushed this phone to the limit and it finally gave-up. Enter the new phone!!!:

I feel like I talk to Facebook more than you, lately, blog!! But I don't want you to miss a thing, so here's some of my statuses, old and new:

I got to walk inside one of the UK's most powerful computers! It filled a room! It was kinda ghostly... like it was watching me.

Totally nearly ruined a 7yo.'s childhood, today:
Kid: "My friend got EXACTLY the same presents as me this Christmas."

Me: "Ahh, your parents must've done their shopping together—I MEAN, *Father Christmas* must've done his shopping... together..."

Kid: "?........yeah!"

Phew!

Did I seriously just tell a group of guys in my class to "settle down"?! I lost a piece of my soul today...

Pretty surprised when the waitress brought me a birthday cake. She said "You looked so excited, I thought it must be for you!"

Got asked for directions again today... And, as usual, she almost cracked-up at my terrible attempt to direct her...

Talk to you soon :-)

What is love?!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:58:00 +0000

Baby, don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. No more...

Isn't love strange! It's just a brilliant relationship, right? i.e. a great friendship? i.e. a friendship? It's true, I suppose, that I love all of my great friends.

I once heard a recording of Michael Jackson on the phone to his voice coach. At the end of the conversation they both told eachother "I love you".

Ok, so this isn't the kind of love that I want to focus on here. I want to talk about being "in love". But isn't being "in love" just the same as regular love plus sex? Actually, some people in love might not even have sex, so I suppose only a sexual attraction is required.

I once heard a male porn star being interviewed and he said that he doesn't want a girlfriend, just friends that are girls, because his sexual desires are fulfilled by his job.

So what? To be in love with someone I just need to be sexually attracted to a good friend? But "good" is such a fuzzy word, so would just a regular friendship be valid? What the hell, I'll be friends with pretty much any friendly stranger I meet, some of which I find sexually attractive. Does that make me in love? What am I missing here?

When people crave love, what do they really crave? Assuming they have friends, they already have love! So why doesn't that terrible yearning feeling go away? I don't know. Perhaps they believe love will be so much more than it actually is. Perhaps they just want another friend.

I once heard someone say "you must learn to be happy on your own before you can ever be happy with a partner".

Obviously, I have over simplified love here. There's much more. I can obsess about people I am not friends with or strongly sexually attracted to. So why? What is that secret ingredient? What is love?

Just Perfect

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:14:00 +0000

Why are our imaginations so good at imagining people to be perfect? Do you ever get that? I get that plenty, mainly with people I see on the Internet. I see a few pictures and my brain creates an entire story about who the are and what they're like. They usually end up being the most incredibly cool person in the world! So jealous! But in reality, I'm sure that's not even close. Anyway, I'm trying to realise that I can use these imagined idealisations to improve qualities in myself. It doesn't matter if these people aren't who I imagine, I can still aim for their fictional perfect qualities that I have dreamt up. Wow, ace! I'll be the coolest dude there ever was!

So, what have I been up to?! Apart from being cool, this:

New Year's was brilliant! I went to a house party at Steven, Amy and Marc's new house (they're in The Bay, too!!) See how much fun I had: (Phil came, too!)

Another night, Speed & I went clubbing with my friends. Got back about 3am and went to bed. I fell asleep, then, after a while, felt disturbed in my sleep and I eventually woke up to see Speed's head peeping over my bed, in the dark!

Shocked, I was all "Dude!! What the fuck!!?", and he was all:
(dopey) "...You said I could use your en suite" then he walks out so I ran after him.
"When did I say that!?"
"...The other day"
"Not at 04:22 in the morning, you ass! What the hell!!?"

I went back to bed and jammed my door closed with my doorstop. I was too worried to sleep! Thought he might come back in and get me!! The thing is, Speed wasn't even that drunk last night... When we got up in the morning, I told him about it and he couldn't remember a thing! He swears it was all my dream, and then I started doubting it myself! Now we're totally confused, we don't know what happened last night! I'm pretty sure he was sleep walking, though... Hope he doesn't make a habit of it!

I'm in charge of arranging monthly breakfasts and pub nights for the PhD lot, now! The latest few have been good!

This weekend has been soooo busy. Yesterday, I had my Weekenders volunteering thing? Yeah, we went ice skating and swimming!! The flume pool was so cool! And I was with a bunch of kids so I didn't feel silly to enjoy it!

In the evening, I was pretty tired, but I still went to a house party at my friend Gareth, Tait and Price's house!! (They live in The Bay, tooo!!). So much fun, again! So much fun! Today, I saw some of the party people again and we had a meal and a walk (my good friend May slept over).

What a hoot! Talk to you soon!

2009: Win

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:06:00 +0000

...Just finished reading 2008. Why did I big that up so much? I could top 2008 with my hands tied! I laugh at 2008! Here's what happened in 2009:

2009 Travel Map:

	Swansea: Kift's birthday party!
	Bristol/Cardiff: home(s)—including my super-cool new flat!
	Longleat: Centre Parcs holiday!
	Southampton/Poole: Visit to Lucy's parents and Splashdown water park!
	Birmingham: January road trip with Speed & Hobday! Including a trip to Cadbury's World!
	London: Group of friends trip to see Brand New gig
	Tignes: Amazing ski holiday!

Gigs:

Twin Atlantic, Flood of Red (met them), Me My Head—Amazing. I felt a world away here.
Flood of Red (met the band)
Feeder at the Summer Ball
Brand New in London
Taking Back Sunday/Twin Atlantic
Biffy Clyro (for the 5th time!)
Tommy & The Weeks comedy gig, did I tell you about this?! Tommy threw a manky orange into the crowed and it landed on Lucy's lap! (With a scream!)
Monsters of Folk—Incredible 3 hour set of pure talent

Highlights:

Finishing my degree! Hooray for no more exams!
Getting a cool summer job
Getting on the PhD course
Getting a lovely flat in Cardiff Bay
Having an amazing girlfriend for almost a year!
A second visit from my bestest eFriend: Sarah Maree
Great parties, including my 21st, the Summer Ball, silent discos and my graduation
Pretty fun volunteering trips

Lowlights:

Just one: hideous, nasty anxiety/stress! I got a little crazy coming to the end of my degree, with coursework, exams, job interviews, first girlfriend, being good enough for a PhD, finding a place to live. Did I mention panic attacks and spending days ill in bed? Reading my 2009 blog posts reminds me of how horrible it was. I sound so burned-out in them all! So glad I'm all fixed now, I don't think I'll ever have that problem again.

So 2009 was a brilliant year, so much so that it's got me worried about next year! 2010 will be a total downer compared to 2009, right? Well, not if I can help it. I've got a few little plans to make sure:

2010 Aims:

Get into a good band an actually play some gigs!
Get back into lucid dreaming, meditation, psychology, painting—I miss that stuff!
Step-foot out of Europe, for once.

2009: what a good time! See you again next year!

Skiing Holiday!

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:56:00 +0000

Skiing holiday! Hooray! The week before last, I went on holiday to a place called Tignes (pronounced Teen—it's French!) on the French/Italian border. I went with my buddies Nat, Dan, Phil and Ria, and it was really fun!

But first we had to get there! The journey was crazy, we were on a coach all the way (apart from the ferry crossing) and it took me a total of 28 hours to get there from Cardiff! That was such a tough journey. It's so hard to sleep on coaches, especially on the rubbish coach we had. It didn't even have a TV!

The accommodation was terrible! We arrived late and there wasn't any hot water for us to shower after our journey! We had a nice meal out then went to bed, ready to have a full day tomorrow.

We didn't have any lessons the next day, so we tried some skiing on our own. Started off with little slopes, then, stupidly, Phil and I went up a chair lift! The slope didn't look very big, but when we got to the top it looked totally different. Soo steep! We knew there was only one way down, Phil went first, he started off steady and picked up speed, faster and faster, I thought he would take off! Then suddenly he exploded into a ball of dust and tumbled head-over-heals for the majority of the rest of the slope! It was quite a spectacle! It was hilarious (once he stood up and we knew he was safe). Now it was my turn! My run was pretty similar to Phils but not quite as impressive. My legs were in angles I didn't even know were possible! The others watched in hysterics from the bottom!

The skiing lessons were great. I can't believe how good we all became at skiing! It was me & Dan for the win. We went off together and hit some crazy-steep slopes! It was such a rush! It felt like we were on top of the world when we were the only ones stood at the top of a huge mountain. The chair lifts were so big you could see for miles! And the scenery was beautiful. Everything covered in snow, no cars, no computers, no worries, we were a world away!

I met some really lovely people there. Most people on my trip were from Oxford/Cambridge University (there were 2,500 of us in total!), so some people were total stuck-up rahs, but most people I met were great. So great that I was sad to leave them when I came home!

The evening entertainment was alright... Drinks were way too expensive, and there just wasn't much going on in general. But that didn't stop us getting our groove on!

I learned a little bit of French while I was there! I looked so silly talking to waitresses out of my little French book, but it helped! And we laughed!

Skiing was incredible. I can't wait to go again. Tignes was stunning, the people were great, let's go again!

Precious Time

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:28:00 +0000

Time is so precious. I never seem to have enough. It's not that I mess around, watch TV, play video games or anything... I think the trouble is, I'm just slow at life in general. Anyway, I'm working on some time-saving ideas...

It all started because today my PhD supervisor was telling me how I need to put much more time into my PhD (really loudly in my office and everyone could hear and it was super embarrassing). I thought I was putting loads of time in! Apparently not... He said I should be thinking about my PhD all the time, day & night, weekends, Christmas day, etc etc. He said my PhD is an art and that artists don't work 9–5 and forget about work in-between.

And I think he's right. I think there are two types of workers:

The "bin-man" type worker works 9–5 and forgets work at evenings/weekends. He doesn't enjoy his job, but he must do it, so he just kinda tunes-out while he's at work. It's as if he loses the 9–5 from his days. They just fade into a boring void.

The "musician" type worker actually lives his work. He loves his work and never stops thinking about it. All of his free time is spent on it and he enjoys that.

Obviously it'd be much better to be a "musician" type worker. That's what a PhD should be! But, of course, you have to love your work, to be this type of worker. I don't think I do, yet. But I think I might one day. It's something I need to work on...

What have I been up to? Omg, went to my FIFTH Biffy Clyro gig with May & Lucy!! Sooo lucky we made it: they changed the day without telling us and I just happened to walk past the union on the new day and saw Biffy signs. I went upstairs and saw them setting up! I knew where I had to be that night!

I went rock-climbing with my friend and his friend! So fun, glad to do it again! I will try to do it every-other week, now.

I did my first Weekender volunteer thing on Saturday! We took the kids to an arts & crafts centre (down the road from my flat!) and we did pottery! I made that guy from Monsters Inc. I will paint it soon!!

And we went bowling and it was really fun and omg omg anyway I better go!—Saving time, 'n all! :-P

Better

noreply@blogger.com (Richy C) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:00:00 +0000

The other day I was sat on a bus coming home from Lucy's house. It was, like, a 25 minute journey and it took me all around the Cardiff sights. It made me realise how nice Cardiff is. It's so much nicer than Bristol. It's nicer looking, with more features; it's smaller and more personal; the people are nicer and there's less weirdos, the bus drivers are actually friendly; everything is cheaper, especially buses/taxis plus healthcare; yeah, it's way nicer.

Anyway, they've stopped that bus service now, so I guess that little avenue of pleasure has been closed...

I'm thinking more and more that doing this PhD was the right idea. I was so tempted to stay in my software job because it was easy, had good money (it actually wasn't that great), and I didn't want to be a PhD geek. But I think I'm way cooler now I'm doing a PhD. I'm no longer just a code monkey, I'm using my brain and being creative; I'm meeting new people everyday; I get to join university societies; I get to teach; so basically there is so much more choice & variety doing a PhD than sitting in the same office with the same people for the same hours every day. It's not all about the money, for me. It's about not being bored as hell all day.

I did some teaching last week! Well, I just walked around answering people's maths questions. It was quite fun, but harder than I expected! But I was totally ill last week so it'll be better next time.

I've joined a society this year: well, it's actually volunteering. The project's called Weekenders. They take kids out to have fun (like swimming, zoo, etc) when they usually can't have fun because their siblings are disabled. My first trip is on Halloween! We're going to make pottery then bowling! Fun!