It was fun. I feel like I should run around with a plastic gun in my hands firing lasers at my friends more often, really. Not to mention gorging myself on pizza, something that I always love. But then again, there are lots of things that I feel that I should be doing but just can’t be bothered to.

At the moment, I feel slightly… directionless. Like there was something more to the whole sixth-form routine that I’ve simply forgotten in the chaos of university applications. Which, I have to say, are looking good. I’ve got a conditional offer of AAB from Durham University, and have interviews/visit days for Manchester, York and Bristol coming up.

Then, the Cambridge interview. Which will be at Churchill College, some time between the first and fifteenth of December. I’m less nervous than most people seem to be, mostly because I actually look forward to the interview. The thing is, I love talking about computers and most of my friends (even those who take Computing alongside me) don’t really keep up enough to have a proper discussion with.

I’m not talking about “Hey, what do you think about the new iMac? Do you want one?”, I’m talking about Biocomputing, Quantum Computing, Computer Vision. The cool things that I’ve been imagining could be possible since I first heard about them. There are plenty of gadget geeks and programmers, but nobody who likes the theoretical side. So yeah, I look forward to an interview.

I should be in bed, really. The next couple of days are going to be packed. Tomorrow, I need to be in Hecky for 10 to do some maths interview practice. Sunday, I’m buying a suit and practising a set which hopefully I’ll be performing at Matty’s open house in a week. Monday, I’m competing in the Senior Team Mathematics Challenge, in the regional final.

And being busy is probably a good thing, because then I can’t spend hours sat at my pc doing nothing before deciding to write a blog post at gone 1am in the morning. Whoops.

~ Godders.

And it’s not like I really feel like sitting down and doing something ‘useful’ right now. So I’m going to settle for the next best thing – listening to some good music, learning some new graphical techniques and maybe coding a little. Because even if these things aren’t directly useful, I’m hoping I can get in the mood to do something. If not, I’m still learning.

I’ve (re-)discovered Last.fm recently. And I’m wondering why in the hell I stopped using it. Although, using three music programs concurrently seems a bit excessive. I have to ask myself a couple of questions before sitting down to listen to music:

• Do I know what I want to listen to? Yes – go to next question. No – Last.fm
• Do I own what I want to listen to? Yes – iTunes. No – Check Spotify for it.
• Is it on Spotify? Yes – Spotify. No – YouTube and get frustrated at having to physically change tracks every 3-4 minutes.

So, listening to random things on Last.fm at the moment. Which is always good. And I’m learning how to make realistic-looking planets using photoshop. Which may lead to a celestial-type desktop background at some point, if I can actually make any of it look decent.

And at some point tonight, I intend to start messing with some stuff in Flash. It’s been a while since I did any ActionScript, so I think a recap can do no harm. Also, I really need to print off CSS3 and HTML5 cheat-sheets. No idea where I’m going to stick them, but they’re useful things to have knocking around.

Epic D&D session tomorrow (supposed to be about three hours, good times) so I’ll have to finalise my character backstory tonight. Looking forward to finally using my smexy transparent dice. Ah, the geekiness.

~ Godders.

Too long.

I don’t really even have anything to say. Every time I think of making a post, I forget to make a note of whatever’s on my mind.

Everything seems to take so much effort at the moment. I have loads of homework to do (Maths, Computing, EPQ. Fun times.) but I can’t really face sitting down for any length of time and working on it. So I’m sat here listening to Last.fm, bored out of my skull and unable to settle or do something useful.

In actual news, I saw Four Year Strong, Ghost of a Thousand, Alexisonfire and Anti-Flag at the Eastpak Antidote Tour on the 17th October. A fantastic gig, I love the energy and the message that Anti-Flag have. It’s even better when you go to see one band and the others are all enjoyable too.

On the 19th, I was supposed to see Billy Talent. However, Benjamin Kowalewicz was ill so the gig’s been postponed. I’ll tell you how it is if I don’t end up choosing a refund though.

Then on Tuesday the 20th (yes, three events in four days. Crazy, moi?) I saw Michael McIntyre live at the MEN Arena. Honestly, I’ve never laughed so hard and I really did need a humour-filled evening. Absolutely all of it was new material and I actually enjoyed the train journeys to and from Manchester.

And I have a party this weekend. Fancy dress. Normally, I don’t do dressing up but I figured I might not have too many chances to just be silly with my current group of friends. The universities rear their ugly heads – some people already have offers lined up! Also, who can argue with drunken fancy dress?

For a post where I have nothing to say, this has actually turned out fairly long. I might post again soon, if anything happens. Not really that likely though, hah.

~ Godders.

The book was good though. Above Suspicion by Lynda La Plante: It got quite a bashing by some critics though the review in question is about the TV drama, not the book. I don’t read enough crime to have a ‘reliable’ opinion but for what it’s worth, it had me gripped.

So: I’m flying out to Crete this morning. You won’t get any more updates till next Tuesday or Wednesday (depends how knackered I am when I get back, really) at which point I’m sure I’ll be sick of my family, sunburned and weary of the heat. Still, it’s my last family holiday at least before I finish university and possibly until I have a family of my own, and I fully intend to enjoy it.

I’ve given up any hope of sleep. The four hours I’d get aren’t worth going to bed for, to be frank. Time to decide how to spend the first half of this morning.

Currently listening to “Ghost of You” by Good Charlotte. This is almost old-school haha. Not listened to it in ages, but it’s not bad.

~ Godders.

In other news, my last day of employment for the summer has been and gone. I’m sad to see the back of it, I really did enjoy every minute. Still, they’ve said that I can come back whenever I like so it’s all good. I bought Mirror’s Edge on Thursday – it’s great fun. It’s extremely fast-paced, it almost reminds me of the platformers of old that I used to love so much.

Story’s not that good, but I only paid £8 for it and it’s well worth that. It does get quite infuriating at times, but so does any game if it’s challenging at all. Unfortunately, this means I’ve still done nothing useful this weekend. I was going to go LARPing today, but my mum wanted me to help with preparing our garden for a vegetable patch, which was obviously thrilling. There’s always tomorrow, eh?

Currently listening to Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac. Youtube it – it’s one of my new favourites.

~ Godders.

I have to admit that he was right, thus far. I’m listening to Rumours, an album by Fleetwood Mac. And it’s brilliant, to be frank. I’m really, really looking forward to the rest of the stuff he picked out if it’s all going to be of this calibre. My only complaint is that all of the songs have a fade-out at the end and as such the album feels a little disjointed.

In other news, it’s my last day at work tomorrow (will be today by the time I’ve finished typing out this post) and I can’t believe how quickly the past four weeks have flown past. It seems like no time until I’ll be back in the grind that is A-level education, although I’m looking forward to seeing everybody again.

Between now and then, I have some Computing coursework to do, some Maths (lots of Maths) that I want to learn and the bulk of my EPQ assignment to do. I still haven’t started that: Score one for procrastination. It really does bug me how much of my time gets wasted, but at least I have actually done something useful recently.

Tomorrow should bring ratings for a lot of my music, and hopefully also some progress on the Computing/Maths/EPQ front. Currently listening to The Chain – Fleetwood Mac. It’s a good song.

~ Godders.

Unfortunately, this means I now have to commence the painful procedure of re-ripping everything that I actually do own. And the fourteen albums that are sat under my desk that I’ve bought within the past month or so. Still, I’m feeling quite good about this decision. It makes the whole process of organising my music collection a hell of a lot easier for a start!

The way I see it, I’m very rarely going to lack an internet connection. So if there’s something I “just want to listen to” I don’t have to download it permanently. Spotify was created for a reason after all, and last.fm is hardly negligible either (when I get around to actually making an account that I’ll remember the details for. Haha)

Honestly, piracy is over-rated.
~ Cap’n Godders.

But first, I’ll make a list of what I’ve done so far. After all, I’m half way through my summer break – I think that’s a good place to make a full summary of everything I’ve done so far. Here it goes:

1. Book that goddammed appointment.
Did this what feels like an age ago now, it’s in the first update.

2. Stop (at least) one of my bad habits.
I’m making a concious effort not to swear except in moments of pain or extreme frustration. I swear far too often, normally without realising.

3. Tell somebody exactly how I feel about them.
Unsure who to tell what to, so this’ll have to wait.

4. Dye my hair. Probably blonde.
I’m a slacker, so I’ve not sorted that yet. Am thinking of waiting until I get back from Crete anyway.

5. Start to learn Java.
I’ve continued with the basics of it too – I quite like it as a language. That said, I’ve not encounted a language I dislike using yet.

6. Start to learn ActionScript 3.
Unfortunately, lack of Flash at home limits this to what I can mess around with at work. Need to sort that out.

7. Finish all of my Computing coursework that I can without further knowledge.
I plan to have a bash at this over the weekend, should be able to get it mostly done.

8. Begin learning how to do the rest of it.
(Read above)

9. Complete a significant amount of my EPQ.
Erm… Well… Ok, nothing much has happened on this front. I’m slack, I know.

10. Sort some kind of voluntary work out for my AQA Baccalaureate.
I’m really unsure what I’d want to do or where to start, will have to talk to other people from college about it to be honest.

Running total: 3/10

11. Post in the blog at least once every four days for a month.
This one’s probably going to become a habit. I quite like routinely updating this little space on the internet dedicated to me, though every now and then I have to rack my brains for a theme.

12. Produce a game in Flash and publish it to Kongregate.
This is coming, even if it’s slowly. I doubt I’ll get it done in the next three weeks, or at least I doubt that I’ll get it done to a standard that I consider acceptable.

13. Visit at least three live music events.
I’m getting tickets to see Jack’s Mannequin and Anti-Flag (assuming the former aren’t sold out) this weekend, though Anti-Flag’s not for a while yet. I’m going to count gigs that I’ve got planned for this one, it’s a bit of a cheat but oh well.

14. Rewatch Veronica Mars.
Skins first, haha.

15. Sing on stage / In front of a crowd that isn’t just my friends.
Where I’m going to find a crowd, I have no idea. >_>

16. Get my main PC connected to the internet.
Got two monitors connected to it now, too!

17. Start swimming again.
This annoys me – I work within 2 minutes walking distance of Huddersfield Sports Centre and still haven’t been swimming once.

18. Work out at least once every day for a fortnight.
Need to make working out a part of my routine if this is ever going to happen – running out of time though!

19. Stay up all night talking to somebody.
This’ll happen at some point, though I’ve been fairly good with my sleeping recently. The wonders never cease.

20. Make a new friend.
Covered in the first update.

Running total: 6/20

21. Have some money left by the end of the summer.
We shall see, shan’t we?

22. Cook a meal without being asked.
Covered in my second update, though work limits the chances I get to cook.

23. Go for a magical mystery adventure to somewhere I’ve never been before.
Might have to find somebody like-minded for this one, as I’m crap at just deciding to do things like this when I’m all comfy at home.

24. Kiss someone to interrupt what they’re saying.
Nobody to kiss. Damn.

25. Admit to something I’ve done wrong.
I’m not really talking to anybody in-depth about myself at the moment, which is a prerequisite of this.

26. Read at least one book a week.
I’m on track for this one so far, though to be honest I’d like to be reading even more.

27. Make a comprehensive list of all the CDs I don’t own but should.
I’ve started this one, but comprehensive is not one of the things that describes the current list.

28. Begin accumulating said CDs.
I’ve bought five CDs recently, so I guess this one counts as done. Yay.

29. Keep my bedroom in some semblance of tidiness.
*looks around* Hmm, not even close.

30. Write at least three new songs. And make sure they’re not crap.
I keep having fantastic lyrics coming into my head and then disappear before I have chance to write them down. Dammit.

Running total: 9/30

31. Finish an Xbox 360 game. Properly. Every single achievement that doesn’t need Xbox Live Gold.
Still on 920/1000 for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

32. Go without Coca-Cola for a whole week.
This one was covered in the first update too, haha.

33. Avoid being miserable for a whole week.
I’m fairly sure I’ve done this one – I’ve been feeling good recently. Honestly, I think that the main two factors are doing a decent amount of exercise again and talking to people more. Also, I’ve got fairly big plans for the future which I’m excited to start realising.

34. Finish the C3 and C4 syllabuses(syllabi?) before we’re even supposed to have really started them.
C3 is done, C4 is getting there. I’ve done a bit of S2 and a bit of my A2 Computing as well. Go me.

35. Decide between CompSci/Maths and just CompSci.
I’ve done this on a uni-by-uni basis: Only Cambridge and York are actually CompSci with Maths – the more I actually work with computers the more I’m feeling like the maths won’t really be useful.

36. Organise at least one going-out.
Going shopping on Sunday, yay! (This might conflict with #21 haha)

37. Print out this list and place it somewhere nobody will find.
Another one that was felled early into the summer.

38. Tweet at least once a day for a fortnight.
Having access to Twitter at work made this one fairly easy to be honest.

39. Tell somebody about everything, not just parts.
Not yet.

40. Kiss someone in the rain.
Read comment for #24.

Running total: 15/40

41. Forgive somebody.
I’ve already covered this one haha.

42. Organise all of my music library including ratings.
Working on this one, though I’m thinking of pruning a lot of it.

43. Help somebody else at my own expense.
This one requires an opportunity to present itself, something that’s not happened yet.

44. Buy an album of a band I’ve never heard of.
I bought “Mer de Noms” by A Perfect Circle on the advice of Rory from work, and it’s pretty good to boot. Success!

45. Be there for somebody when they need it.
If you’ve forgotten what I wrote 4 lines ago, you really need help.

46. Go for a walk in the rain.
Still want to do this one again. Haha.

47. Cycle for at least an hour at least three times.
Yay for exercise!

48. Read all of Bernard Cornwell’s ‘Sharpe’ novels.
I’ve reread some of the one’s I’d already done – need to grab the others out of the garage at some point!

49. Say “I love you” to somebody, completely sincerely, and mean it.
Nothing to say really. This line’s just here to be consistent with the other ones haha.

50. Give this list to Sophie and get her to devise a punishment for everything on this list I don’t do.
She’s not talking to me at the moment. Bugger. Might have to ‘adjust’ this.

Total: 19/50. Not disastrous, I guess, but I’d have liked to have been over half way there. Still, I’m progressing pretty well in my humble opinion.

Watch this space for more thrilling posts about me.
~ Godders.

On the plus, I’ve discovered Smashing Magazine and it’s a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to design or develop websites. I’m really enjoying messing with some of the new HTML5 and CSS3 features.

So yeah, I’ve been playing a hell of a lot of cricket this week. Essentially from when I get home until when it gets dark every day after work, it’s great. Except we keep losing all of the windies and we broke the ball that swings. Darn. Tennis balls are rubbish to bowl with >_>

My bowling has been good though, I’m in really decent form. And bowling fast really needs some level of fitness. At the moment, I struggle to bowl more than a spell of four or five overs at full pace. And the last couple of such a spell would be pretty inconsistent anyway.

I ordered a DVI-I Male to VGA Female adapter the other day, and it arrived while I was at work today – using two monitors is brilliant. I’ve been asked why, and having used two monitors previously it’s almost impossible to go back: You just don’t have enough space on one monitor!

I mean, look at it – If you’re coding, you can’t have your code up and your preview up at the same time (this applies to both programs and webpages) and if you need two bits of code open at the same time it’s just awkward. Then we can consider that I’m currently trying to learn XNA Game Studio stuff from tutorials, and now I can have the tutorial open and my code open at the same time and not have to alt-tab between them.

Anyway, I intend to go sort out my music (I’ve bought five albums recently that I’ve still not stored on my pc haha), I know this is quite a short entry but I’ve really not got a lot to say.

~ Godders

It’s something that is extremely important, especially for the next four years. In the long term, choosing between some of the best universities for Computer Science in the county is not going to make or break my career prospects if all else remains the same. But whichever I go to will be my home for at least three years – if I don’t enjoy it, it’s going to suck.

I’ve tried rationalising it all with numbers, but that’s the problem really – Numbers are, in this case, no replacement for good old gut instincts. I know what you’re thinking: “You’ve not even applied yet! You don’t even have to choose your five until September!” (October if my AS results are sub-Cambridge standard, in which eventuality the five would choose themselves thanks to the lack of Cambridge)

But it’s something I can’t help thinking about. Oh well. The provisional order is thus:

1. Cambridge
2. Manchester
3. Durham
4. York
5. Bristol

From my point of view though, the more I think about Cambridge the less appealing it seems really. I mean, why do I want to apply other than the university snobbery? It’s more than just a name, but if I graduate with a First Class Honours degree from Manchester, Durham or Bristol it’s not going to make the slightest bit of difference.

My favourite course is Manchester’s or Durham’s, depending how much weighting we give to the Industrial Placement, and I like Durham most out of all these cities with Cambridge and York close seconds. I like the idea of a collegiate uni (i.e. Cambridge and Durham) though ideally, I’d want to be close enough to home that I can visit but far enough away that I’m not expected to often.

Then there’s costs to factor in, but I can find no consistent standard to compare them all to. I really don’t know what to think really. So tell me, what do you think? Any comments are much appreciated.

~ Godders.