I'll never drink again.

I think just about every time I've had an alcohol-induced sleepless night... or similarly-induced hungover morning... groaning, half-consciously clutching my stomach, running in and out of the toilet, using the rubbish bin strategically-placed at the side of my bed... I've uttered those classic words.

And what do you mean "Bah", Jim? Is that "Bah, my computer doesn't work" or "Bah, Chris can't be arsed blogging"? :p

Yeah, s'bin a while. I get so behind with these things. Busy life of the Mogh I guess :D

Speaking of EFCL, I feel like I'm making progress there again. Got in touch with Preator the other day for the first time in weeks (inter-staff communication has DEFINITELY got to be addressed in the new Constitution). Section 1 of the Constitution is ready, Section 2 is ready pending one review, Section 3 will get kicked off tonight. We've not been going as fast as I'd hoped, although I've made a few adjustments to the scheme of things that should help hurry it along.

Currently enjoying my run through Enterprise and TNG- watching "Vanishing Point" tonight on ENT, and "In Theory" tomorrow night on TNG. In fact... scrap that. I might watch both today. I certainly ain't moving far tonight- not really in any fit shape :S. I was shocked to discover on TrekToday the other day that the Borg are coming to Enterprise. Shocked at first, but actually, it could work. Pleased to hear as well that TVGuide.com will allow me to submit real suggestions to Berman and Braga next week. I intend to write a comprehensive list.

Congrats to Jim too. He passed 2k posts on EFCL this week ;)

Life is good sometimes...

First off, I'm going to yell at that hypocrite JAMES HALLAM who's been rightly trying to get me to blog whilst he himself has not done so in 6 days. So :p to Jim :p

Anyhow, all's well. At 11:11 03/02/03 I officially turned 18 (woohoo!), allowing me to get an overdraft (extra £1250 to my name- woohoo!), and legally drink and enter nightclubs (wooh... hey, wait... no difference there :D).

Anyway with the immediate implementation of my overdraft I went straight into berserko mode, charged on to www.play.com and ordered TNG DVD 6 and 7 box sets, and Search For Spock Special Edition. £135 down and not 24 hours out... :D. Also bought myself a new flashy mobile phone cover- now, I can cease being embarassed of my horrible old 3210 because it looks brand spanking new.

Broadband is finally making a difference, with 3 Enterprise episodes, a few music videos, half a dozen Pet Shop Boys tracks and a ton of ripped software now happily under my belt. Amazingly my roommate Doug, who is both anti-Pet Shop Boys and anti-Star Trek has watched the last 3 downloaded Enterprise episodes with me. Crikey. Think he might even be starting to like it. The dark side claims one more... ;)

My sister has finally decided to leave my mum's home- which I'm bloody glad about. My mum, stepdad and stepsister are all religious nuts, and poor Kat's in a house with 3 enemies, a baby and no allies. So she's off to my dad's- which I'm really happy about, as the maternal party won't stunt her growth anymore. She came over to see me the other week- a carefully planned venture, as my mother would've gone nuts if she'd found out. Managed to get out Kat out to a club (she looks very tall for 14) and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. It was nice to have her over :)

Also laid my hands on the latest album offering by the Pet Shop Boys, the non-studio midterm album "Disco 3" containing 10 dance/disco/pop tracks. It's bloody good. If anyone's reading this, go out and buy it. You won't regret it. So bloody catchy. Classic Pet Shop Boys.

And other than that... not a lot lately. Birthday celebrations (my first ever) were fantastic, touching, ultimately enjoyable. And I feel good at the moment- like the world really is OK. I've been playing hero for the last week or two as well... being there fore my friends a lot. And it isn't draining me. I feel so laid back at the moment- and yet still passionate enough to take my life somewhere.

Oh, and the Constitution editor is up at EFCL. That put a spark in my month :D

*yawn*

Lord knows what I'm doing up at this house... well, no actually. I do know.

Yesterday was a mixed day... like the few days around it, things feel sort of different. I think perhaps the knowledge that we (Moor Grange) are breaking up and are all living seperately next year has been very sobering. Feels like I'm looking at the same people in a very different light. And life seems to be so mundane at the moment... like I'm missing something. I kind of attribute this to the fact that I don't have a soul mate at the moment... but hey, I'll get over it ;)

Anyhow, my birthday on Monday :D. Further to this my Granddad kindly contacted me the other day and took me out to buy a camera of my choice. I was very touched... this will be the first birthday I've ever been able to celebrate properly, and the fact that he wanted to take me out to buy such an expensive present was touching to say the least. We picked a nice digital cam that will also act as a webcam for me- with a price tag of £130 (plus a £25 AC adaptor so I can save on battery power). Wow. Feeling more than grateful I took Granddad and Iris (his wife) to a cafe for a coffee, then came back to fiddle on my comp with it.

The internet went down whilst I was talking to Jim (bugger. BT really are Bloody Twats), so I idled over a few tasks. I was halfway through watching my daily TNG episode when I was asked to come downstairs for a meeting about housing, along with Natalie.

Felt like a damn kangaroo court. Basically the 6... as I pretty much envisaged... said they didn't feel they could take us. Talk about being shafted. Some good friends of mine are in that group. I didn't say anything, but I've felt pretty ill at ease with each of them since. I'm not one for grudges and I'm usually pretty accepting- but it's the whole level of stress this has put me through, and how deep it's struck I think, that has made me feel kind of slighted. I do innately find it pretty selfish that they are more concerned about making things a little cosier for themselves than they are ensuring two of their friends a home. That was pretty much the reason they cited- very nebulous statements like "it's harder to find a house for eight" (bollocks), "nothing against you" (possibly bollocks), "there'll be more noise and less space and things" (definite bollocks).

Oh well. This puts me therefore in a house of five- Me, Corrie, Natalie, Sarah, Tara. One bloke, four girls. I rang my dad today and told him- the jokes came flying thick and fast, then we laughed even harder when we began to wonder how I'll tell my mother. She's in the sort of religion that credits nobody with anything- for example engaged couples are expected to spend no time alone before marriage (just in case ;) ). With that type of attitude it will be interesting to see what she says when I explain that I will be living in a house with four members of the opposite sex. I even toyed with the idea of telling her I'm gay for the fun of it (would solve that problem :D). Seriously, makes you wonder if they feel willing to take me because they consider me "safe".

So we've been gathering preliminary details for houses. Houses with less company, a hugely higher rent, no bills included, no insurance included, no cleaners, no food included, less secure and comparatively run down. You really gotta wonder why the hell we're leaving Tetley Hall- seems mad. I suppose it's one of those things- "showing your independence" by getting a house. Personally, I don't think it's what it's cracked up to be- but time will tell.

Went to Baha Beach Club last night and got relatively pissed, only this time I had the luxury of capturing some prize moments on digital camera. Woke up with a relative hangover, relatively late, discovered I'd missed today's lectures. Oh well. I went a full 72 hours before missing any. Remind me to call Guinness up later...

Politics. There's no getting away from it.

Always in human circles there are politics. Leaders, followers, middle-people and clever, intricate relationships joining the two. Politics is a fun game to play when you're on top; can be hell when the chips are down.

Anyways as usual I set my computer to play a very loud rendition of Enterprise-D's Red Alert siren continuosly this morning at 8:30, the idea being that breakfast=gain weight=good. As usual I bolted out of bed at 8:30, pressed the power switch on the subwoofer, and promptly fell back to sleep, the idea being that sleep=good. So much for that ;)

So I was lucky then to wake at 12:10, as I was due for today's first lecture at 1:00 (I have been known to stir at times approaching 4pm). I'm feeling proud of myself today. 48 hours of a new semester and not a single lecture missed. Must be a record.

Threw on last night's clothes, noticed the weather elements and decided to don the black mac which has quickly garnered a few names from my housemates, including but not limited to "the detective coat", "the streaker's coat", and "the matrix coat". Made a beeline for university and one bus trip later, piled into Roger Stevens Lecture Theatre 21, home of 300 students and first lecture of the day: SO13: Programming- this being the only one course carried on from last term.

So it was shortly after that I was treated to an hour of a new module: IN11, with Dr. Julika Matravers. Followed by an hour of MA12, with Dr Kristina Vuskovic, who speaks a curious combination of Russian and Canadian. What is it with all these foreign tutors? Added to yesterday's new entrants Dr Natasha Shakhlevich and Dr Vania Dimitrova, you'd think they were importing lecturers en mass from the Eastern bloc. Julika was mildly amusing; Kristina had a penchant for talking, talking too fast, talking too fast and writing too fast. She could babble for England... or Russia... or Canada...

Anyway after 3 hours my arse was practically numb, so a quick detour to the Union bookshop to fritter my hard-earned (yeah, right) cash before arriving home...

...and it all begins...

You see, Tetley Hall is an accomodation hall belonging to the University of Leeds. 214 students, 2/3 female. There is a central complex, and 6 houses within the grounds. It is within one of these houses, "Moor Grange", that I reside with 19 other layabou.. I mean, students. Now with one or two exceptions, we're all good friends. Sadly, one girl in the house... Hannah... decided to quietly approach 5 others in the house with the intent of living with them next year. Very hush hush. Once everyone else found out, everyone panics, everyone rushes into groups. All of a sudden there is a dilemma. Me and my friend Natalie are left in the middle. There are three groups altogether...

1) Hannah's group of six. Reluctant to look for a house of more than six
2) 4 lads. I don't get on with 2 of them, can just about handle the third and rarely talk to the fourth. And they won't take a girl.
3) 4 girls. And they won't take a lad.

So as you can see, this kinda leaves me and Nat up shit creek sans paddle.

Anyway for days now we've been trying to negotiate entry into the house of six. Kevin and Kathryn say YES. Hannah and Fiona say NO. Ian and Tom say nothing. Me and Natalie therefore decided we'd try and get her in with the 4 girls- leaving me to come back to Tetley next year. This presents multiple problems.

Then the politics shift again.

The 4 girls become 3. Suddenly they want Natalie. But Natalie still wants to be in the house of 6, and she doesnt want me to have to come back here next year. So they can't have her until the 6 finally say YAY or NAY to me and Nat. Hence the 3 girls, me, and Nat go and find Ian, Tom, and Kev and badger them. They all say they're happy for us to join. But they need to convince Hannah and Fiona. Then Kathryn become unsure if she actually wants us to come and thinks its unfair to pressure Hannah and Fi. Then the 3 girls say they'll take both me and Natalie anyway if the deal with the 6 falls through...

...as I said. Politics. Ugh. Convoluted or what?

The good thing that's come of all this is I finally know I have a house for next year. Either the 6 say yes... and it becomes Chris, Fi, Hannah, Ian, Kathryn, Kev, Natalie, Tom... or they collectively say no and it becomes Chris, Corrie, Natalie, Sarah, Tara. Not sure entirely what I think to having no other males in the house... still, they're all nice people and I get on well with girls anyhow. So my mind is finally at rest.

It's probably been gutting me up until now because I've not had a stable home since I was very small. Having been evicted from home by my mother one last time and ending up here, it finally seemed like I was in a calm, relaxed, stable environment. Suddenly talk of buying houses comes up and the whole thing turns to chaos. And immediately my gut reaction is panic... I've been here before...

And so finally I'm starting to relax. My daily TNG helped (thank god for DVD's). EFCL has finally quietened down on the whole Slipstream/Batlh/Libel front... just a few loose ends. And with a house now on the horizon one way or the other...

...no more RL politics for a while. 'til the next time... ;)