What would MacGyver do?

last update, 52 weeks ago

2008-04-22T15:48:11Z

19 year old: "The Internet is pretty awesome for stalking people."

Self : "Yup, I've been stalking since the ol' LiveJournal days."

19 year old: *blank stare* "What's LiveJournal? Is that really ancient?"

Grumpy Old Man

2007-04-13T14:27:56Z

Peacefully reading my theguardian and New Scientist in the Botanic Gardens today, I heard the inevitable inept acoustic guitar. Barely-teens playing and occasionally singing Placebo and Nirvana songs. Groan. You were born after he died! It's not relevant anymore! Get into something of today!

I'm a grumpy old man, complaining about the kids music. Granted, the classic grumpy old man wouldn't be wishing the kids were playing Klaxons or Knife songs instead, but I'm well on my way.

Marks and Spencer's "House Wine" (red), £3.19, recommended

2007-04-12T15:20:10Z

(16:13:14) Niall J Hewitt: I've just now started the wine
(16:13:22) Niall J Hewitt: it is good wine, and had a lovely cork.
(16:13:51) Niall J Hewitt: a plastic cork, not a cork cork, so no worrying about breaking it and dropping grains of bark into the wine
(16:14:11) Niall J Hewitt: and no worrying about the biodiversity of Portugal and Sardinia
(16:14:35) Niall J Hewitt: and it wasn't too firm like some plastic corks, the corkscrew just easily sank into it like a favourite sofa
(16:14:39) Niall J Hewitt: a good cork
(16:14:56) CameraObscura: you are good

Things I am considering "getting into" :

2007-03-11T23:22:41Z

Cthulhu

Blender

Jonathan Franzen

Mornings

23.5 degrees from the ecliptic

2007-02-06T17:20:02Z

Seasons. Amazing. I'm going to be a little late for work now because

1) It's much brighter outside than I thought it should be at "going to work" time.
2) I decided to LJ this fact.

ww_macgyver_do @ 2006-11-13T02:46:00

2006-11-13T01:46:39Z

The much anticipated Bristol/Anja trip! Excited. Eight weeks since I last saw Anja in person.

Wednesday 4:30 am, on my way to a bus to the airport. The adventure begins! Saw the sunrise over the clouds from the plane window. Stunning. Kind of annoyed at all the business-types being so impassive about it all. I've watched a sunset from high above once before, back when I was skydiving. Shadows filling up the hollows behind hills like a thick dark liquid, while I was falling down into it.

10:30 am. Back to sleep, but in a new place. Haircut-wise, I blend in pretty well with the many lesbians I am to meet on this Jaunt.

Middayish. Why is there a picture of Lou Firefish in the UWE art school? Small world.

Lunch is a good excuse to start my plan for the Wednesday, which is to get absurdly drunk. This is not the first pitcher of the day, and far from the last.

Colourful.

Large photos, which don't really advance the storytelling without explanation. I just hate it when pages load quickly and smoothly, don't you?

Does anyone reading this not know Anja? Here she is. She is good.

Wednesday night was spent with a very large, and I mean really very large,
bottle of rum, ham and cheese toasties and a couple of films. The Bristol 'scene' is explained to me, the lack of change in the Belfast 'scene' is explained to her. Toasts are dedicated to John "Good" Quinn.

Thursday inevitably picks up where Wednesday left off.

Rum, "herbal dietary supplements" from a Rastafarian shop, and The Interwebs. An enjoyable combination, we end up downloading a whole lot of Girls Aloud videos on my phone.

Off for gay Thursday. First the silly-camp-sounding Pineapple (downstairs Mynt-esque) and then the delighfully-twee-sounding Queen's Shilling (upstairs Mynt-esque, except with people there).

Helen from a long-ago Big Brother was there, we stalked her relentlessly.
*Welsh accent, with extra drunkenness* "But I'm not a lesbian! I'm straight!" Heartbreaker.

We had dinosaur stickers from last Saturday's Guardian. Cue many confused faces when we say things like "You must be a Stegosaurus" and stick it on to them. Poor Velociraptor girl tho, I think I might have really offended her. I only meant that she's a sharp-clawed predator...

Friday started out with the usual jaunts and cocktails, but by early evening descended into the indescribable. Get a bus to an out of town shopping centre, buy a bottle of water, go back home. People must have been worrying about the two fragile-looking indies. Fido Dido was the only thing that made sense. Friday was an early night.

Saturday morning was a wee bit sore, but not too sore to wonder at why in the world this building needs so many chimneys :

Honestly, that's just greedy.

Sitting next to none other than Ciaran Deadmeat on the flight home. Small small world.

Yawn. Goodtimes were had, anyway, if you want to summarise in three words.

~All About Me~

2006-09-05T21:55:55Z

What I'm eating for breakfast: Powerade
How come: In bed
Favorite kind of rash: Carpet
Probably going to have to: Get a job
Why not: will pick the wrong one
Would I get: a sense of that all is right
Plans for today: wait for tomorrow.

Dream

2006-08-24T16:49:02Z

Some of my friends (no-one real, I don't think) and I were in a bus crash, and to save one of them, a guy from a nearby chippie used body parts from a few others. The ones that didn't survive, he battered and fried the rest of their bodies. It was delicious. I think the bus had big stabilizers out the sides, but they obviously didn't help in the end.
I ended up living in a bedroom at the back of the chippie. I had to go though some secret passage with electrical wiring to get there. Claire Doodle was on her way to come and see us. I had to eat all the fried bodies before she got there so she wouldn't be too upset. While doing so, I was watching the Tick, and my remote control broke, which was annoying, because it was recorded with Ricki Lake at the start of the file. To fastforward I had to drop a pound coin into an empty wine glass. There were three empty wine glasses there, moving the coin into the others could make it rewind or pause.
While crawling through the tunnel, I overheard that Radio 1 had picked up on my story, with a lot of sympathy.

Dreams are great.

You wait six months, then three come along at once.

2006-08-15T03:53:19Z

1. NAME THREE THINGS YOU DID TODAY?
Too much sleep
Looking for Electric Picnic tickets
Philosophy of science reading

2. LAST ITEM YOU BOUGHT YOURSELF?
Apples

3. DO YOU HAVE AN ORNAMENT HANGING FROM YOUR REARVIEW MIRROR?
I have a TV aerial hanging from my window handle. That's the nearest approximation.

4.WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR BREAKFAST?
Last time I had breakfast was in Bristol. And it was lunch anyway.

5. NAME A CELEB YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON:
Stephen Fry. I'm hilarious.

6. NAME THE LAST THREE BANDS YOU SAW LIVE?
I'm going to count Erol Alkin (but not Skibunny) as a band.
The Jane Bradfords
Um... Japanese Popstars?

7. HOW MANY HOURS OF SLEEP DO YOU GET A NIGHT?
far too many. well, far too many in a *day*, not enough during the actual *night*.

8. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TIED UP?
Twice

9. WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU WERE DOING RIGHT NOW?
Sleeping.

10. WHO'S THE FIRST PERSON IN YOUR PHONE BOOK ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE?
Aaron (Mark Patterson)

11. LAST TIME YOU WITNESSED A FIGHT?
I think there was one outside the Skitten on Friday night. And little young spidelings threw stones at me near Katy's on Sunday, but I didn't actually fight them.

12. WHAT WAS THE LAST ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE YOU CONSUMED?
A glass of white wine at Elizabeth's flat on Saturday morning.

13. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HAIR PULLED?
I can't think of it ever happening, actually.

14. NAME THREE PLACES YOU WOULD LIKE TO TRAVEL TO:
The Dalmatian Coast.
Anywhere else on the Mediterranean (except Lebanon, for a while)
Manchester.

15. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO ICE SKATE?
Apparently the look of concentration on my face as I do so is comical.

16. WOULD YOU GET BACK WITH YOUR LAST EX?
I don't really have a last ex.

17. NAME SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY YOU LIKE:
John Quinn.

18. IS BIGGER REALLY BETTER?
Tell that to my nanotech lecturer.

19. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BRAD PITT?

20. NAME A FRIEND YOU HAVE MOST IN COMMON WITH:
John Quinn, I guess. I looked at my MySpace friends list to choose that. I have only one active friend who isn't on MySpace, and she is my newest friend, and I will make her get one.

21. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR TOENAILS?
human

22. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Michelle Louise McNicholl

23. DO YOU OWN ANYTHING WITH A SKULL ON IT?
I own my skeleton.

24. HAVE YOU TRAVELLED TO EUROPE?
Extensively. More than anyone else I know. I want to go back, lots. Medical research will pay for this.

25. NAME THREE PEOPLE YOU WOULD TRUST WITH YOUR LIFE?
John Quinn. Carol Ann Hewitt. Michelle McNicholl.

26. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Dr Strangelove.

27. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU HAD YOUR FIRST KISS?
In a rustic old barn, in the middle of a rural field.

29. LAST BOARD GAME YOU PLAYED?
Monopoly, at a skydive club near Seville.

30. LEATHER OR LACE?
*shrugs*

31. EVER HAD A BLACK EYE?
Pink eye, not black.

32. WHERE DO YOU RENT YOUR MOVIES AT?
I steal them off the Internet, or my brother. I should return a couple of DVDs to Lauren, come to think of it.

33. HAVE YOU EVER WORN FISH NET STOCKINGS?
I must be missing out.

34. DO YOU KNOW ANYONE IN PRISON?
Nope.

35. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS TOMORROW?
Get a graduate account from my bank, with a larger overdraft to abuse.
Meet Michelle.
Drink coffee.

1. What did you do last night?
Lavery's NoDancing with dance music
Katy's actual NoDancing.

2. Who was the last person you called?
Michelle

3. What does the 5th text on your phone say?
I'm not telling

4. When was the last time you thought about sex?
2:11am

5. When was the last time you got hurt, physically or emotionally?
I got sickened by some Tiny Prawns last week, which hurt and made me boke lots.

6. When was the last time you cried?
um... last night. hardly at all tho.

7. When was the last time you lost something?
I've lost all my payslips from work, I need them to prove my NI number. This was three weeks ago.

8. What are you listening to right now?
Computer fan is the loudest noise.

9. Why did your last relationship end?
Didn't really begin.

10. What bothers you the most about the opposite sex?
I'm less bothered by the "opposite" sex than I am by the same, usually.

11. Where & when was the best date you've ever been on?
I've had lots... I'll say... Oppenheimer at the Speakeasy :)

12. What was the first thing a guy/girl bought for you?
A 10p mix bag of Haribo :)

13. Do you date more than one person at once?
Would someone answer yes to this in their public blog?
No, by the way.

14. What was the last movie you watched?
The Empire Strikes Back was the last one before Dr Strangelove.

15. What was the last tv show u watched?
Stargate Atlantis.

16. What do you want for your b-day?
Shoes. A new pair of my knackered 80s print Vans. A lifetime supply.
A digital SLR camera.
Those glasses in Jonathan Keys on Queen's Arcade. -4.25 dioptres left, -4.5 right.
A windowbox of herbs.

17. What are you doing tonight?
Continuing my awful non-sleeping.

18. When will be the next vacation?
Electric Picnic. Then maybe a Bristol visit.

19. How do you feel right now?
Like a wretch.

20. Who do you think will take this next?
Ahmoud Ahmedinijad.

Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be.

1. Who was your best friend?

David Bird. Haven't seen him since the summer after 1st year at uni. This upsets me sometimes. We were really close, but I felt a bit shit that him being only as far away as Scotland killed it.

2. What sports did you play?

Mitching sports was a sport itself.

3. What kind of car did you drive?

ha!

4. It's Friday night, where were you?

Um... The Knightsbridge, if there was a pre-formal on. Or David Bird's house.

5. Were you a party animal?

Averagely. I had lots of partys at my house. One had 140-odd people, but I didn't much enjoy it.

6. Were you considered a flirt?

Not in the slightest. Never said a flirtatious word. Just pined.

7. Ever skip school?

Only a couple of classes. I had started to like school by 6th Upper.

8. Were you a nerd?

Absolutely. Physics, Maths, Further Maths, Computers.
The haircut (short, spiky, red tips, too designer to be spidy) was unexpected, and diminished my nerdness to some degree. Two girls who had never before shown interest kissed me that week. I realised in hindsight that they were obviously completely superficial bitches, and wished I'd rejected them.

9. Did you admire your homecoming king?

i don't know who it was. i don't even know what that is.

10. Did you get suspended/expelled?

I was almost suspended for being in a fight I wasn't actually in, and threatened with suspension for the aforementioned haircut. Tedious.

11. Can you sing the fight song?

is that by marilyn manson?

12. Who was your favorite teacher?

Cliff Manley. Wonderful man. Looks a bit like Alec Guinness. Physics teacher. We liked him talking about the force. John Quinn gets this.

13. What was your favorite class?

Physics.

14. What was your school's full name?

Regent House Grammar School.

15. School mascot?

uhh....

16. Did you go to Prom?

Yes. With a girl I'd never met before. That story isn't as interesting as it sounds, and nothing came of it.
I spent the last couple of years in school with quite the 'crush' on one girl. One of my best friends felt the same. We had an understanding that it would never come between us, because nothing would ever happen for either of us.
At the formal, against all reason, I got to kiss this girl, once.
I found out the next day that so did my friend. Neither of us were her date, by the way.

This is another kiss I wish I hadn't kissed. I have a few of these.

17. If you could go back and do it over, would you?

No. I might fix a couple of things, but afterwards I'd just be bored waiting for the summer of 2005 to come round again.

18. What do you remember most about graduation?

The "last assembly". A video some idiots made got played, and I was uninterested in getting into any photos. How times have changed...

19. Favorite memory of your Senior Year?

Honestly, sitting in physics class.

20. Were you ever featured on the Senior Wall?

If we had one, I wouldn't have been.

21. Did you have a job your senior year?

In my year before senior year, I worked in a shoe shop in Ards Shopping Centre. It was enjoyably dossy, and I spent my earnings at the music shop on the way home.

22. Where did you go most often for lunch?

Prefects room. Didn't eat.

24. What did you do after graduation?

Lay on the lawn at home, all summer.

25. When did you graduate?

muh

26. Where are most of your classmates?

Scotland

27. Are you going to your ten year reunion?

Do we have them? Depends how I feel that week, I guess.

28. Who was your home room teacher?

I can't remember her name.

In other news, I can't help but feel recently that (apart from Michelle-related things, which are great), 2006 has peaked already, and the best is behind us. It's been great tho, best time of my life by far.

State of the world

2006-02-06T20:44:59Z

Sense of perspective, anyone?

I'd never make it as a film cricket

2006-01-31T21:09:18Z

Howl's Moving Castle.
This film deserves me to tell The Internets that you should go and see it. It's heart-achingly beautiful. If you've seen Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away, these are also similar films by Miyazake, sort of Shinto fairy-tale stuff. Childrens' movies? I guess. Sigh. Yes, everyone tells each other they love them at the end, and the monsters turn into heroes, and yeah, yeah... aw, but so sweet.
I could watch it again, even. It's all hand-drawn, there's an amazing amount of detail packed into every image, little funny things happening in the background, totally absorbing. Perfectly paced, 100% wrapped up in the story, eventually noticed the fire exit sign near the screen after an hour, and thought "still in the real world? ... no thank you". Miyazakiland please, where true love is all you need to overcome any obstacle. Feel the fresh air in the magic anime meadows.

It's in the QFT (yeah, so it might be slightly out of focus from time to time, but at least there's mega comfy seats, and a bar) but only until Thursday.
I'd never been to the cinema by myself before, but then again, indie is short for independent.

The Postal Service

2006-01-27T15:56:13Z

So, I typed a letter, largely to play with my new typewriter. It amuses me, okay?

Then, and this is the interesting part, I put it in an envelope, texted John to get his postal address, wrote that on the envelope, and put a stamp up in the corner. The stamp cost 30p, and means that when I left the envelope in a postbox out in the street, LOADS of people are going to work to get it to the address. And the patterns and symbols on the page actually represent words, which represent thoughts!

People don't think about these things enough! It's amazing! SOCIETY!

Consciousness, empathy, life, senses, thoughts, feelings, language, identity... sometimes I'm just overwhelmed at the existence of these things.

Would you guess I've just had a large mochachino? :)

Went for a lovely walk and learned...

2006-01-25T18:03:20Z

Ducks are *almost* as funny as elephants.

I'm far too sentimental.

2006-01-19T22:46:49Z

My mobile text inbox is full. It's been brimming over for months now, I have to delete messages to pick up new ones, but now I can't actually find *any* I wouldn't mind deleting. Far too sentimental.
Non-random example, looking for ones people probably won't mind me sharing : just after I had sent a message saying "NoDancing later?" to Niall Harden
"I'll be there. P.s. when my phone beeped i said 'please be something unstressful like niall saying "no dancing later?"'

Was funny. That one turned out to be *particularly* good NoDancing.
There are 94, which all remind me of some sort of goodtimes. And there are two in my sent messages section.
Sigh. I actually do read my inbox when I need a bit of a pick-me-up.

The oldest one is from Dylan Chalet. It says "Hi anja. No problem. What are your full names. You'll be on the guest list. My head hurts"
13:14 23rd August 2005. Despite getting my identity wrong, I can't delete that! Reminds me of Dublin Trip and Vital, which was when these past couple of years started turning good for me. And Dilbot's too lovely.

Far too sentimental.

I'm not going to make a habit of this, promise.

2005-12-06T04:35:58Z

Using only songs from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions...

Pick an artist: Magnetic Fields

1.) Are you a male or female? Sweet-Lovin' Man

2.) Describe yourself: Young And Insane

3.) How do you feel about yourself? I Wish I Had An Evil Twin

4.) Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: Take Ecstasy With Me

5.) Describe your current boyfriend/girlfriend: Either You Don't Love Me Or I Don't Love You

6.) Describe where you currently live: Desert Island (lie)

7.) If you could go anywhere, where would you go: (Come Back from) San Francisco

8.) describe your best friend: Crowd Of Drifters

9.) Your favorite color is: Blue You

10.) You know that: Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old

11.) What's the weather like?: All the Umbrellas in London

12.) If your life was a television show, what would it be called?: The Night You Can't Remember. Or, Yeah. Oh, Yeah

13.) What is life to you?: Nothing Matters When We're Dancing

14.) What is the best advice you have to give?: Kiss Me Like You Mean It

15.) If you could change your name, what would you change it to?: The Death of Ferdinand de Saussure

Now I can be indie again

2005-09-21T21:27:13Z

Dear Internet, Today I have been mostly a bit dazed and unsettled. Turns out I'm in final year now, which came as a surprise. I had been doing the MSci four year physics course, but, um, no. As of today I'm on the three year BSc. I'm *graduating* in July. This makes real life terrifyingly close. Eeekk. I'm in final year. This is going to take some time to sink in.
So at least something bad has happened to me, for the first time in a few weeks. I used to be indie. Recently, read on down there, I've been too bloody cheerful. Like a game show host. I don't want to be a game show host.

Yay for several reasons

2005-09-19T14:58:36Z

Hey, you.
Yay for living with Leah! She is the best housemate.
Yay for being back in town. The countryside is sort of pretty, but more boring.
Yay for having gigs and cinemas and clubs and bars to go to.
Yay for freshers wandering around town, looking slightly anxious and excited.
Yay for seeing friends often and not having to sit on a bus for two hours each way to do so.
Boo at the weather today.
Vaguely indifferent at my flat off Botanic being finished on time or not. I am happy where I am.
And now - to search for pear cider.

bouncebounce

2005-09-12T00:18:13Z

More fantastic news - I seem to be moving in with Leah for a few weeks. How good is this? *puts hands far apart* It's this good. Wonderful. Thanks there!
Completes a very cheerful weekend for me, really. I went scarf shopping with Boyinept. No, really. I went scarf shopping with Damien Boyinept. Had I died and surprisingly found myself in heaven? It fits the facts. Party de Boyinept in the Union was awesome. Deci's a really good DJ! I had slagged him off a bit, based on some Queen's Radio listenings, but I take it back now. Party de Boyinept - Reading National Geographic at the bar, with a new scarf (edit: and mono eyeliner)... are we the most indie kids ever? I think so. Go us.
Oh wow. It was just all good. Dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance. Thanks there, all involved - really ;)
Saturday was the day between one party and the next, not worth my while going home. I had thought that I might get a bit bored, not a bit of it. I do enjoy Belfast, if you can try to ignore what some people get up to. It's got that small-town meeting people on the street potenial, which I'm enjoying these days. Leah's! My new house! YAY! Apart from being persuaded to get a lift over from the Dublin Road on account of a godforsaken actual fucking ~sniper~, fuck sake, it's 2005, not the Dark Ages (with guns). But, yeah, thanks there Eoghan, it's better not to be shot at.
Yes, Leah's. Lovely night, lovely people. Yeah, you. I think I got the most tipsy / merry, ever. I'm not overly happy at having to use that word, but it's the right one. I have thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. Mind, I can tell it's Definitely time for me to move back into town when I start buying new clothes on the Sunday because I've been up the whole weekend with only my ickle backpack with a spare tshirt and such. YAY! I'm moving back to town! Such goodtimes.

Defeat => Victory

2005-09-07T23:17:08Z

So, aye. That was a night out, of sorts.
Started off according to plan, lovely coffee with the Boymostinept, I so can't wait to move in round the corner. Really, it's difficult to fully convey the ferocious magnitude of my new flat's proximity to Clements. Terrifying in many ways.

But, like, wa? I didn't get into the gig? By the end of the night, I was, fer cryin out loud, on the guestlist for Oppenheimer and The Chalets, with them talking to the manager about me. The manager of course knows me too, I go to the Empire all the time, but I just guess that once the dickless on the door says no, it's a matter of sheer stubbornness and not being seen to change your little mind. Ah well.

Love and kudos to Damien for hanging around outside with me, thanks for that. You're a legend. (except you actually exist, which makes you even better). Also to Anja, who made some wonderful arguments on my behalf as well, and thanks to Rocky, Shaun and Dylan, you did try. Thanks. Aw, you're all so lovely. I actually felt really good about it.
Also, I saw Oppenheimer only last Wednesday at Vital, and the Chalets then and on Saturday too... and the other band was Panda Kopanda, who, well, they're certainly better at making music than me, so it's not my place to slag them off, but... you know what I'm getting at.

I'm pretty sure I could have got in the side door, the other person with the same problem that night did so, but only because all those guys were talking to Empire people about me, I didn't want to do anything that would get me in trouble, not for my trouble, which may have been worth it, but because the last thing I ever want to do is reflect badly on my friends.

So, aye. There was no point me loitering any further, so off it was to the Union, stopping again at Clements for a quick coffee and catch up with a random old school friend. "I'm working till midnight" Niall Harden had told me, so I assumed this would be the Union job. As it turns out, no. But, really, I can make the best of things.
Picture the scene: At the bar, in the empty Speakeasy, with a bourbon and ginger, because if film noir and blues music has taught us anything, that is the only drink one can have while wondering if the New Friend one was meant to meet thinks one has stood her up. Okay, so they didn't have any ginger ale, it was Coke, but in spirit...

Enough of this. I wasn't moping at all. I've been in a very good mood for the last few days especially, and I refused last night to be any exception. The bar staff were thoroughly not at all busy, so they all took it in turns to invent new cocktails for me. Wonderful. I had a good night of chatting away with them, with them giving me insanely cheap and insanely strong new creations, using as many exotic ingredients as the Speakeasy could provide. I thought I had cracked the Fine Art Of Zero To Hammered In £8.22, but this took it to new levels.

By the time Deci, Kieran and company turned up after the Empire gig, wow. I was *rollixed* and very merry. We stayed on till (after) closing time, talking about the prospective record shop in the Union idea. We like it, a lot. Ideas we also mooted included an open air cinema near the PEC car park and (mine here) a Silent Disco. Really, I do hope we talk seriously about these sometime again, and even better, do something about it. The Union said they'd give us a few months rent-free for the record shop... and there's Invest NI, LEDU, and various small business funding type dealies. Please do actually comment here about this, let me know if it's sheer bloody madness, given that every Belfast independent record shop except Hector's Godforsaken House has closed down in the last few years, Backbeat being the last of it.

I do hope that wasn't just drunken rambling. Then to sleep at Leah's, staying up talking, with tea. Absolutely lovely. I had a very good night. Kieran, thanks for lift, you are indeed a Gentleman and a Scholar.

Oh! Most.random.thing.ever! Just left lovely Leah's in the morning, you may well know where it is, next door to the Lyric. I was walking, actually right past the door when my phone rang. "Hi, Niall? This is Clare from the Lyric Theatre, I've just read your CV..." Fantastic stuff. So, aye, went in and talked, which maybe wasn't the brightest idea, it being a Morning After, but aye. Seems I'm getting that job, hopefully. Anja, I will see what I can do about you too. I am hopeful. :)

Off home via Castle Harden, picking up a dynamite mix CD. I really do have a lot of tremendously marvelous friends. There is no way for me to have a bad night. You're great! :) What a pleasant day.

Electric Picnic

2005-09-05T23:58:00Z

Rocknrollgoodtimes = Such, yes.

The festival = Soulwax, Chalets, Flaming Lips, (or "Flips" as I'm going to call them from now on, just to annoy you), Kraftwerk, Human League, blah blah blah, look on the EP website, it was fucking amazing.

Silent Disco! = Yes! Yes yes yes. I'd do this again. Niall Harden, forget the record shop, new gimmicky idea here.
It's a dancefloor where can talk to people when you want. This is very good for making new friends! :)

The randomers = Brilliant! Talking to fellow EPers just sitting around you is a thoroughly nice experience. Apparantly two guys are posting me demo tapes. Sweet. Some I was talking to while curled up with my new friend in a bed under a tree, with magical music from a funk band and mere metres away from a pear cider bar. Who knew life could be this good?

When people try to not be awake anymore = Yes, I remember reading an article about this 'sleep'. Do people ever do that? Nah.

Scarfs = Scarves are life!

Rumour = It'll be a three day event next year? This is from a fellow EPer on my bus home (Hello Emma, you are lovely), and it's on "The Internet" so it's got to be true. Awesome.

Photos => Friends page, possibly. Not of me though. I abandoned yizall, my LJing bus lot, except for some essential moments - Anja, we are the Chalets front row, always :)

So, yeah, bring on Tuesday!

Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last

*gives you all a hug*
Thank you for the best weekend of my life.

Good week, that was.

2005-08-29T15:13:17Z

I woke up this morning really quite in doubt as to whether or not I had woken up at all. Something wasn't quite real. Coffee fixed this, by the way :)

I got an email there telling me I'd better hurry up and choose my modules for next year. Tricky. I'm going into third year (EEEEeeeEEKkkK!!!2! But I'm only young still! Seems so wrong.) and this is the first time our module choices have really made a whole lot of difference. At least I have a good idea what I want- it's got to be medical physics. This is presumably to do with scanners and what-have-you. The most morally worthwhile choice, probably the best thing I can do with my degree to really help people. People are saying there's great money in semiconductor and nanotech physics, but, meh.

Really, I could try to do the journal thing properly, and mention Vital, Snab, Anja's, BelfastDanceParty, Randomderry, but given that chances are anyone who actually reads this was *there*, it seems redundant. :)

And now- I'm off for a few days. Weather seems good, I have a bike and a little tent. Think I'll go to the Mournes. 's pretty down there, haven't been for ages.

See yiz! Have fun.

bounce

2005-08-23T19:13:18Z

Eeeekk... I'm overstimulated. Going up to see Tracer on Sunday turned into a *ridiculously* good couple of days.
Tracer, not to overlook, were fantabulous more than usual even. Then - Monday found me much more "in Dublin" than I was expecting to be.
Cheap buses = love. Niall Harden = love. Anja = Love. Lucy = love. Dublin = love. Dylan, Caomhe and Enda Chalet = love. Guest list at Vital for Chalets = love, plus thank you Dylan. Strawberry and Cherry Fanta = love. The Cribs = aye, okay, I suppose. Eating the Cribs' rider = love. Skanky and Bokey = please leave. Being in Oppenheimer video? = love. Going on a surprise road trip and spending three days in the same socks = a bit dodgy. Phil Lynott statue = naff. Boyinept = love. "Bicycles Locked To Posts" = love.

Losing Track of People?

2005-08-20T07:23:52Z

I haven't contacted any of my Mount Charles buddies since we moved out. Not a one. It's just occurred to me that if I was ever going to, I would have done so by now.
I *loved* my time there, it's the international students street for QUB, as well as pretty much the best location in the city. Just in my house I had: Liz from Vancouver, Quoni from Hong Kong, Nicole from Munich, Yian We from Kuala Lumpur, Claudia from Naples, and, um, Ian, from Saintfield. Up and down the street there was *everyone*, Spanish, American, Kiwi, loads of Germans, you get the idea.
I kicked and fussed to get that place. From moving in in September, I was having the best time of my life, by Far.
Sitting out on the street with red wine, candles, and guitars, listening to the Spanish guys sing all night.
Always losing to the Germans at chess.
Making the Italians only speak Italiano around me, so I can hopefully pick up the most beautiful language in the world.
American girls know how to deal with one night stands.
Playing 'guess the nationality' sitting in the common room of number 28.
Having American Thanksgiving parties, Canadian Thanksgiving parties, Japanese Emperor's birthday, various Independence Days... you get the idea. Oh, and St Paddy's!
The bus trips that QUB put on to introduce everyone to NI, around the Giant's Causeway and the Mournes.
Being the local scenester, showing everyone the good gigs. Introducing the Estonians to Torgas Valley Reds. Realising Belfast has a music scene to be really proud of.
People loving my accent.
Noticing the exotic accents slowly get a touch of Galway. I don't know why they didn't get a touch Belfast, but I assure you they started sounded a wee bit southern.
Explaining the concept of the "pay as you go" phone.
None of them getting *any* jokes in the Empire comedy nights.
Creepily, overhearing everyone's conversations home, because the only working landline on the street was the payphone outside my bedroom door.
Tasting all the foods! Love the Italians. Love them.
And so on.
My best friend of all these was Liz. For the first two or three months, we would go out nearly every night. Really, maybe once a week we'd stay in for the evening. It was *fantastic* to see the city through totally fresh eyes.
Most of the people on the street stayed for the whole year, but some new people who moved in in January for the second semester spiced things up again, I could do it all again. Good times.
Then, I dunno. Maybe we'd seen everything Belfast and Ireland had to offer? Liz, Claudia, Kristian, and all of us were still friends of course, nothing *bad* happened at all, but also... not much of anything happened at all after a while. We'd only say hello when we passed in the street or on the stairs. I was still going out, but with Niall Harden, Mark, physics and skydive buddies. This happened very very gradually, but by the end of the year, I was packing up all my stuff, and my brother asked "So are you the last person in the house?" "Yup." It only occurred to me then that I hadn't even said goodbye to Liz. I didn't notice her leave. I was more surprised that I wasn't more fussed about that.
The moral of the story, I suppose, is that exotic exciting foreigners are just normal people who are from somewhere else. Which is a rubbish moral.

Ten things

2005-08-17T23:20:03Z

Dear All You Scenesters Going To Electric Picnic,
Why are you all worrying so about how you're getting there? It's ages yet. We'll be there.

Dear Interesting, Sexy And Frequently Canadian Girls Off The Internet,
Please, stop asking to live with me. On Monday I signed up Adam from Bangor, and all your too-late applications are starting to depress me, because you'd all be lovely to live with. Not that Adam isn't.

Dear Photobooth In The Union Lobby,
Shut up!

Dear Spides From Kircubbin,
So you stole my blue scarf. Well, I hope you strangle on it.

Dear Richard Dean Anderson,
I wrote you a letter a couple of months ago. I have just realised today that a first class stamp won't have got it to you. Don't worry though, I'll write you another one, and send it airmail properly.

Dear Lyric Theatre,
So do I have the job, or not? Srsly.

Dear Planes,
Please stop crashing. You're freaking me out.

Dear Exam Tomorrow,
Please be about stuff I know.

Dear Leah,
That was nice to meet you today. (All you Internet People are lovely, in fact.) There may be a Canadian Girl after your spare room. She seems nice, and also a bit of a photographer.

Dear Tori,
Hello. It's good that someone from back.in.the.day reads this.

Yours Sincerely,
Niall J Hewitt.

Yeah, I'm sick of flat-related entries too.

2005-08-15T19:09:53Z

Paid first month's rent, will move in as soon as it's ready. Really, really looking forward to that. Was on Botanic there this morning, and it felt like home again - such a good feeling.
So that's behind me. New Plan -

1 - Do this Astronomy resit on Thursday. Made some attempt to study with Niall Harden today, but there was cricket. You know how it is.
2 - Spend the weekend with some of my old friends from school I haven't seen since the end of last summer.
3 - Then there's two weeks till Electric Picnic. Depending on the weather, I'll hopefully spend this either:
a- Doing a cycle tour of Ulster, maybe all around Ireland.
b- Doing a cycle tour of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, fly over to somewhere on the east coast and get a ferry back from the west coast
c- Most likely, given the state of British weather: if I can get my touring bike on a plane for a reasonable price, cycle tour around Provence. The French are good with cyclists :) Lots of good, cheap dropzones out there for a quick skydive here and there too. :)
4 - Electric Picnic.
5 - September.

My plan looks good. Yes, I like it.