It Rained Today...

My creativity is on the blink today so I went for a factual, un-funny comment. Hope you don't mind.

So Summer has begun, I have finished my time at uni and I have moved back home to Barry. Boo. I don't really like the summer, I hate feeling hot and while the Welsh summer is typically grey and rainy there is the odd day or two when the sun decides to fry me alive. If I wanted a nice summer I would go on holiday or move away, I don't expect to have it in Wales! I am very sad that uni is over as it means for the first time in my life I am no longer a part of the education system and I have to grow up and get a job (NOOOOOO!) not the the job hunting is at all fruitful... As for living in Barry, I really, really, really miss Aberystwyth; the place itself and the people there and the fact that you could use Welsh anywhere and there'd be someone who could understand you! Though there are benefits to Barry, I do have family and friends (to any of you reading this - love you!!) and I suppose being 20 minutes from Cardiff is much better than being about 2 hours from anything.

I haven't posted much lately simply because without uni or a job or anything my life has become rather dull and there is nothing worth posting really. I need to start thinking about a way of making this blog more interesting but don't panic! I'll still post about my boring life and continue to share the music that I love because, frankly, you should all be listening to it! No Eurovision posts though (is that a cheer I hear?!) as that's over until May next year so there's no point bothering with that.

So yeah, no controversy, no humorous stories or anything, nothing to rant about. This is a new one for me, folks. If anything does happen though I'll be sure to let you know!

Quick reminder of some me-related links: Facebook, Twitter

Until next time Nottmares!
Liam    

Less Revise-ie, More Speak-ie

Hello Nottmares (GaGa has her 'monsters' and Minaj has her 'barbz' so I thought I'd have 'Nottmares', let's see if it catches on)! I am fresh from finishing my Welsh oral exam which went OK, I think. I have a problem talking in general, in any language, so I think that this exam was always gonna be a challenge but the examiners led me to believe that it went OK, so phew! I had half an hour to read a random article (in Welsh) - mine was about technological advancements and how they affect language - and I then had 15 minutes to discuss that article with three lecturers. I feel that I was incredibly luckily to essentially just talk about Facebook when other people I know had topics such as the current droughts in England and sustainable farming in the 3rd World. With that exam out of the way, that leaves me with 3 exams to go, starting next Thursday.


A few posts ago I wrote about an event that I would be attending, namely Dawns Fai (May Ball), but as it transpires I am no longer going. As you might have guessed from the aforementioned post, I was never really up for it after the very disappointing line up was announced but I was concerned about other things as well such as my motion sickness (it is honestly really bad) which would only be fuelled by alcohol and my foot which has recently been in agony and I don't know why, though finally after about a week it's stopped hurting so much. Anyway, I've sold my ticket so it's not like I've paid £40 to not go somewhere and I think I will regret not going for the experience but I'm definitely not going to regret missing the 'big name' acts. That still makes me scoff. 


Unfortunately I have become an emotional wreck at a very inconvenient time. Sometimes I get upset for no apparent reason and other times I get upset about my feelings for someone, which has always been a major inconvenience really. I'm on a bit of a moody roller-coaster; last night I was a bit of a mess (emotionally) yet now I'm not feeling too bad - though I put that down to post-exam high. Hopefully, I will stop being so pathetic and emotionally-retarded soon so I can focus on my revision for the upcoming exams like a good student. 


To end on a happier note, Eurovision is coming!!! I got my official album last Saturday and I immediately imported it to iTunes and synced it to my iPod, though that did mean erasing my play counts... The Grand Final will be held in 17 days and the past couple of days I've had people talking about the party I have planned which fuels my childlike excitement for the contest. I get so much more excited for Eurovision than I do for my own birthday and even Christmas. No joke. I have even ordered glow sticks for this wonderful occasion.

Oh, I also, finally, got a haircut. Just thought I'd let you know. Been putting that off for a while...


I will try and post as often as I can, but May is a busy month for me, so please do forgive me if I scarcely post - I haven't forgotten about you! x       

Hufen Iâ Cneuen Goco

This is, of course...

Coconut ice cream!
Coconut ice cream is, by far, my favourite flavour ice cream and today I got to taste my first ever, home made ice cream for the first time and it is yummy! So I thought I'd brag about my skills share the recipe - here it is:

• 600ml double cream
• 400g coconut milk (1 tin)
• 150g desiccated coconut
• 5 tablespoons caster sugar

Method:

In a mixing bowl, whisk the cream until thick. 

Fold in the coconut milk, desiccated coconut and sugar.

Pour the mixture into a container and freeze for at least eight hours, stirring ever hour or so to keep it smooth.

And it's that simple! 

As you can see, I had some of my ice cream on top of some apple slices which makes for a yummy combination as the apples have a sharp flavour and the sweet, creamy coconut ice cream kind of tones it down a bit.

The ice cream is very yummy and simple to make, so give it a go! x

Writers Block

You know there are people who define themselves as 'academic' or 'creative'? If you're academic you're into things like history, politics, maths, etc whereas creative people or more into art, music, media, etc - totally generalising and stereotyping here so forgive me for my rudeness! If I had to put myself into one category I would probably lump for academic because I am much more into my politics and history than art or music but one thing I do love is creative writing. Followers of the blog will probably already know that one of my current uni courses is Ysgrifennu Creadigol - creative writing. In Welsh.

My course is assessed by the submittal of a portfolio (worth 100%) of about 50-80 pages, I am currently at about 25 and the deadline is March 1st. Uh-oh. You might be thinking to yourself that I have nearly a whole month to go yet, as that it is what I was thinking at first, but I have to allow time for work to be looked over and allow time for my work to be bound professionally not to mention that being creative takes time, for me at least. I am essentially using this post to moan about my uni work. It's like procrastination but I'm getting something done! 

Welsh is not my first language. Although I have no problems speaking Welsh informally and have been taught through the medium of Welsh for almost 3 years that doesn't change the fact that I still naturally think in English and that I find it easier to be creative in English and I have, in fact, been told by a lecturer, after having read one of my short stories, that I need to think in Welsh when planning/writing my story. Much easier said than done. Welsh is also painfully different to English (though I think English looks like a funny language after having studied Welsh for so long) and so a lot of extra work is necessary to write in the language effectively. Purely just to get my camera out, I have taken a picture of the things I require when writing creatively in Welsh:

We have (going clockwise, starting with the green book):

• A Dictionary of Welsh and English Idiomatic Phrases - a rather important dictionary for idioms or sayings, for example we don't say 'raining cats and dogs' in Welsh, we say 'bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn' which translates as 'raining old women and sticks'
• Y Thesawrws Cymraeg (The Welsh Thesaurus) - useful for creative writing
• My black book, it has all my poetry and story ideas and is, of course, private!
• Sweeties - can't write without some sweets!
• Welsh dictionary - there are some words I just don't know!
• Y Treigladur (The Mutation Dictionary) - I won't explain Welsh mutations as it would probably take a post of its own. I'm fairly confident with my mutations but just I keep it nearby just in case.
• Yr Odliadur (The Rhyming Dictionary) - I am terrible at making poems that rhyme in any language, it's too strict a poem for me but I have it just in case I fancy it
• Pa Arddodiad? (Which Preposition?) - Lots of Welsh verbs come with specific prepositions so if I don't know the particular preposition I can look it up
• You might also have noticed the apple, I'm eating loads at the moment and in the corner is Mwmi, a cushion/teddy thing which has nothing to do with creative writing

I find that all these books hamper creativity a bit and besides all that I am known for my lazy attitude towards work and as you can see, there is a lot of effort involved. 

Anyways, I had better get on with my writing (sigh) but thank you for taking the time to indulge me in my self-pitying moment of procrastination. Diolch!

Liam x

My Higgledy-Piggledy Week

Well it has been over as week since my last post (surprised?) so feel free to mutter something under your breath if it takes your fancy. Done? Good - moving on...


I'll start with exam-based news, I had 3 exams, Modern Welsh Poetry, Russian Politics & Welsh Language Development. Russian Politics came first and I am not at all sure how that went, I'm feeling quietly optimistic about it especially as I did well in the essay for that course. Next was Welsh Language Development, I put so much work into that exam and the essay and project that went with it so if it doesn't turn out great I probably will be devastated but apart from getting lost and turning up a teeny bit late to the exam, I feel it went really well - a good sign? Will have to wait and see... And finally we come to Modern Welsh Poetry. Hopeless, I found it really difficult to revise for so I essentially wasted time that would have been better spent revising. Following the exam I thought that I'd fail for sure but after seeing my essay result (a 1st - total shocker) I'm hoping that I'll at least scrape a pass - that's really all I want from that module!


So life in general, from the Saturday after my last exam right up until today really I've had a hard time of things. I felt really low and over thought pretty much everything which causes problems not just for me but for those around me. I cannot have been a great person to be around the past few days. The low point of this mini spell of depression has to be convincing myself that I've fallen out with one of my best friends which was, of course, total nonsense. Thankfully, after hours and hours of talking to people, sometimes from evenings till 4-8 o'clock in the morning - I'm a really inconvenient depressive - I'm feeling much better today, yay! Unfortunately, despite lessons from my past, I have inconveniently 'fallen' for someone I shouldn't BUT it's all out in the open, he took it well and I don't see it becoming a problem. Phew.


I am mainly keeping myself busy with Creative Writing at the moment because my portfolio is due in March, really need to get a move on with that. I do enjoy writing creatively but I haven't managed to get much done in the last couple of weeks what with revision, exams and sad times. All of my modules will begin/continue next week - Welsh Grammar, Britain & Ireland in Peace & War & The Cold War. A nice and fairly easy final semester I think which is handy pre-graduation. The next few weeks will definitely be work-ridden (sad face) buuuuuut I'm having a generally good time at the moment and my outlook is fairly positive - more yays! 


Hope your 2nd month of 2012 is going better than mine so far! 
Liam x  


PS - how fantastic a word is 'higgledy-piggledy'? Love it!

You Are Moldavian, Super, Superman!

Two posts in quick succession? Madness! And to be honest this post will be a trip into madness as I felt that I MUST share this song with my readers. It is a song by the Moldavian group SunStroke Project and singer Olia Tira who are in the running to represent Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with their song "Superman":

It kind of reminds me of some kind of mix of "We No Speak Americano" and "Mr. Saxobeat" which can only be a good thing. This is just 1 of 85 songs hoping to represent Moldova and I hope they win it, the song is really fun and they have experience having represented Moldova before in 2010 with one of my favourite songs that year, "Run Away":

How can Moldova not want them back?! 
Anyways, back to revision - sigh. Hope you enjoyed my brief moment of procrastination in Eurovision land!
Liam x

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

Cannot believe that I haven't posted anything since August! In my defence, I have been rather busy starting my final year of University and whatnot! Also, not much has really been happening with me which is a pleasant change really, of course there's drama all around me but I'm not at the centre of things - how times change!!


So, for the sake of catching up, let's start with September. I moved back to Aber (following the summer holidays) late September into Cwrt Mawr halls of residence - and maybe this is because I'm Welsh but it does perplex me hearing others struggle to pronounce an easy bit of Welsh. It's a nice flat really, on the ground floor for the 3rd year in a row, good for moving in but my window looks right out onto a car park and cars pretty much park in my window - annoying! But I've gotten used to it, begrudgingly. We are directly across from the University's Cwrt Mawr Bar, convenient unless you're not going out in which case you have to put up with a bit of noise but, again, it's not really all that bad. 9 single bedrooms, 2 toilets, 2 showers and 1 fairly large kitchen in all, not too shabby! After a couple of months of people coming in and out we now have a full flat, 8 3rd years and 1 first year (bless him) and it also seems that the flat is generally pro-Welsh (language) which is always a bonus. 4 of us speak the lingo, 3 people are learning the lingo and 2 Englishmen. Everyone gets on which is marvellous and with only a few minor fall outs amongst various people the flat looks set to remain murder free for the whole year!


Very briefly, all my subjects are going well (touch wood), no firsts this semester - a couple of marks of a first in my Russian politics module *sob* - but I'm not about to complain about 2:1s! I have 3 exams this semester, Russian politics, development of the Welsh language and Welsh poetry since 1979 and I have already had my Russian exams which I think very well. Russian is such a difficult language!! But I really do enjoy it and I think I'm slightly ahead of some of the others which is always good for the ego!


It's been a merry Christmas in Barry, I essentially got a load of clothes for Christmas and will no doubt acquire some more clothes in the January sales. I do love a bit of clothes shopping. 


New Year's is around the corner! My resolution to this blog is to post regularly! I've said it before, I know but starting in January I WILL post at least once a week - feel free to chastise me if this doesn't happen.


Hope you all had a great Christmas and I hope that you all have the willpower to stick to your resolutions - I know I'm gonna need a hell of a lot of willpower!
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Diolch am ddarllen,
Liam x

Chart: 2011

A very random and rather restrictive way of showing my various relationships with important people in my life is back by popular demand (one person asked, but seeing as I like him I'll do it - this is for you!), that's right, it's chart time!
So it's been a year since the last chart was published and a certain someone pointed out to me that it is in need of updating with the inclusion of new people. Last time I said I would explain each individual but only managed to explain Alec's graph but seeing as its now summer and I have time to burn I will give it a go! So without further ado, here is the state of affairs in 2011:

(The graph looks a lot busier thanks to the four new people so if you click the image you'll be able to see it full-size. It looks better, trust me.)
Four new people? Yes indeedy, namely Furey, Josie, Karin & Lleucu - I will begin writing about them soon so look out for them! 


I will explain the graph in better detail soon but for now, here's the key:
S1 - 2006                                                  7 - Unknown/Dislike
S2 - 2007                                                  6 - Neutral
S3 - 2008                                                  5 - Friend
S4 - 2009 (Jan - Aug)                                 4 - Close friend
S5 - 2009 (Sep - Dec)                                 3 - Confidant
S6 - 2010 (Jan - Aug)                                 2 - Attracted to/Feelings for
S7 - 2010 (Sep - Dec)                                 1 - Life consuming obsession
S8 - 2011                                                

As Alec has been covered before I will update and re-post the previous post about him so it tallys with the graph very soon and then I shall move on to Dima - you can read a lot more on my relationship with him in the First Love series which I will hopefully be going over very soon and maybe adding a little more to bring the story up to date.

Thanks as always, dear readers, for your comments and e-mails, and sorry for my very sporadic posting. Hope to be solving that in the next few days!
Diolch am ddarllen,
Liam x

Game On

I hate summer. I really, really do. I'm not a fan of the sun, I cannot deal with the heat and I always seem to get a cold whenever the weather warms up and who could forget the hey fever? Besides all of that, last summer was a nightmare, I barely saw anyone and spent most of my time in a depressed mood - bad times! This summer, however, is different. Though I still hate summer and all the illnesses it means for me, I have spent much more face time with people and my mental state has improved a lot since then so even if I am having a slow day my moodiness doesn't take over.


I have done the usual social stuff, shopping in town, chats, catch-ups, films, BBQs, etc, etc and recently did something unexpected. It all started with a simple game of Buzz! (a very fun and competitive PS3 quiz game if you haven't heard of it, you lay with buzzers that light up, it's so much fun! (childishness showing here)). There were just the 3 of us, the inaccurately named '3 gay musketeers' (me being the only gay of the gay musketeers, plus we lack muskets), when one of the straighties spotted Monopoly on top of my wardrobe and suggested we play despite the fact it was the Welsh edition - it's all in Welsh and I'm the only Welsh speaker of us, feeling rather special right about now! Anyway it was great fun, although the winner was totally unexpected and he crushed us. It was humiliating.


So to save our pride we arranged another game session. We started with another couple of games of Buzz! (both of which I won - genius!) before moving on to Star Wars Monopoly. I have a few problems with this edition. The money and places are very weird and the rules are ludicrous. You can either play Monopoly, proper rules and whatnot, or you can play Star Wars rules, or as I dubbed it, cheating. From what I recall the rules involved being able to steal other people's properties, and rolling a snake eyes would allow you to move any where on the board. Cheating. Pure and simple. I of course insisted we didn't cheat and play properly, and of course I got my way - childishness has its uses! We ended the game before anyone had the chance to win so we could play Risk, only one of us knew how to play and it wasn't me. So after a lengthy 30-minute explanation of gameplay we finally got to it and it was actually more fun than I expected. I assumed it was, dare I say, nerdy in that it would be similar to Dungeons & Dragons, it's not and I enjoyed it even though I came last.


Anyways, the point of this post? In the last fortnight or so I've been a bit up & down with my mood and these games nights have really helped cheer me up and have fun when my mind may have other ideas, so I shall use this post to thank my fellow 'gay musketeers' and to wish my readers a fabulous summer! I have been reading and replying to emails (sorry if I haven't gotten to you yet) so let me know how your summer's going.


Diolch am ddarllen,
Liam x    

The Single Life...

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about 'singledom'. There are so many people out there talking about the benefits of it and films showing the benefits (sometimes literally...) and, if I'm totally honest, I am content being single, borderline happy. 


There is one major obstacle to my happy singledom however and that is practically everyone around me. That's right, the "it's not me, it's YOU" defence, it's simply not my fault. In Barry (where I am spending my summer) many of the people around me are in a relationship and so, of course, have less time for me. Frustrating! Yes, yes, this does appear to be jealousy but is it really? Am I jealous that my friends' attentions are elsewhere or am I mourning time lost with said friends because of their relationships? No matter which way you look at it, it is envy. Though interestingly I'm not totally envious that they're in relationships (we'll come back to this later). I'm envious that my friends' partners have been highly prioritised - and rightly so, but that doesn't mean that I don't feel left out! This problem also spreads to Aberystwyth, my uni town, where people there are also in relationships and this forces me to reflect.


Why am I so alone? That might be one of the questions I ask myself, but I shan't - utterly pointless question, I still have friends and family and blah, blah, blah so I'm not entitled to feel lonely but because everyone around me is happy with a 'significant other' I can't help but put my childish attitude first. Where's my significant other?! He's got one, I want one tooooooo! And then throw the mother of all tantrums which probably answers the leading question...


I hope that this post has not come across as me being mope-y, that isn't the case! I am merely ranting. It's healthy to rant, well that's the excuse I'm using anyway. 


Don't be afraid to comment people, it's nice to hear from you!
Diolch am ddarllen,
Liam x

Parti Eurovision!

Eurovision is coming!!! On Saturday 14th May, 25 countries from across Europe will compete in the Eurovision Song Contest, the biggest television event in Europe and, debatably, the second biggest in the world. Tonight (May 12th) is the second semi-final which I am, of course, looking forward to! Saturday night will basically be full of food, drinks, flags, games, glow sticks and even a little bit of a dress-up and for the occasion I have made a 23-track playlist of pure Eurovision tracks. The tracks contribute to a party atmosphere and so there is a variety of countries, winners, languages but all can either be sang along to or danced to - maybe even both?! 2011 songs have not been included because they'd lessen the stage presence of the actual performances on the night - which is a shame because there are some great songs this year!


Here is my Eurovision 2011 playlist:
1. ABBA - Waterloo (Sweden, 1974)
2. Alexander Rybak - Fairytale (Norway, 2009)
3. Ani Lorak - Shady Lady (Ukraine, 2008)
4. Arash & Aysel - Always (Azerbaijan, 2009)
5. Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up (UK, 1981)
6. Dima Bilan - Believe (Russia, 2008)
7. Dima Bilan - Never Let You Go (Russia, 2006)
8. Eurobandið - This is My Life (Iceland, 2008)
9. Gina G - Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit (UK, 1996)
10. Hadise - Düm Tek Tek (Turkey, 2009)
11. Jessy Matador - Allez Olla Olé (France, 2010)
12. Kalomira - Secret Combination (Greece, 2008)
13. Katrina & The Waves - Love Shine A Light (UK, 1997)
14. Lena - Satellite (Germany, 2010)
15. Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah (Finland, 2006)
16. Manga - We Could Be the Same (Turkey, 2010)
17. Milan Stankovic - Ovo je Balkan (Serbia, 2010)
18. Paula Seling & Ovi - Playing With Fire (Romania, 2010)
19. Ruslana - Wild Dances (Ukraine, 2004)
20. Scooch - Flying the Flag (For You) (UK, 2007)
21. Sunstroke Project ft. Olia Tira - Run Away (Moldova, 2010)
22. Svetlana Loboda - Be My Valentine (Anti-Crisis Girl) (Ukraine, 2009)
23. Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai (Ukraine, 2007)


How about some trivia?
8 of these are winning songs.
Amazingly 4 of them are British, amazing because I usually dislike UK entries - tied with Ukraine whose entries I usually love.
Most of these songs are from the 2010 contest (5) closely followed by 4 from 2009 and another 4 from 2008. 
19 of these songs are from the 00s onwards, specifically 2006 onwards, while only 4 are from before the 00s and all but one of those 4 are from the UK.


So as you can see there are some very modern Eurovision tunes along some unforgettable classics - good playlist? I think so :) 
Roll on Saturday!!
Liam x

Tidy-up!

I rather foolishly brought all of my DVDs, blu-rays, games, CDs etc in their cases with me to university and they take up a lot of space!! So, in order to make moving out at the end of the year easier, I have removed all of my discs from their cases and put them into a couple of thise disc holder things. Anyways, here's a quick before and after:


Before:

As you can see, my uni shelves are congested by cases! Half the bottom shelf is made up by books while everything else is mainly DVDs, CDs, blu-rays and PS3 games - the yellow sticky notes remind me of what uni work I need to do and the teddy on top is Dewi :)


After:

 Here is my unmade bed playing host to the empty cases, a case graveyard if you will. Also on the bed you can see my box of tissues (bit of a cold), Didrik (the teddy next to my pillows) and my uni bag. I'm basically rather untidy.


And here is a view from inside my new disc case with some of my blu-rays featured (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse & Changeling) and if you look closely you can make out the keypad on my laptop on the left, and my legs on the right. So now you have an insight into the kind of films I watch and the clothes I wear! 


Of course, there's much more tidying and sorting to be done but I shan't bore you with the details :)
Much love,
Liam x

Apologies!

I can't believe it's been a whole week since I last posted - SO sorry!! Guess uni work gets on top of you, as well as sorting out the general things in life. Not much happened this past week anyway really except for my glasses. On Saturday I had an appointment with an optician because I have problems reading handwritten and typeface notes from a distance so, of course, I assumed there was a problem with my sight.


At the optician's, I discover that my left eye is perfect, sees everything with clear vision but my right eye was "incredibly lazy" - the optician's words, not mine. I assumed it was a general problem so it was weird to find out that one eye is really good but the other refuses to keep up - though they are healthy so that's some consultation, eh? I was prescribed glasses and had to return on Wednesday (today) to pick up my glasses, in frames I chose.

So now I wear glasses! I will have a picture eventually but I'm gonna wait until I've had my hair cut/dyed just so I don't look like a total fool in 'showing off' my new specs! For now, all I will say is that they are slimline, steel, black and half-rimmed (top-half). Oh, and I'm going from red to black in case you were wondering :)

Sorry again for very late update, will behave myself from now on.
Much love,
Liam x

TweetTweet

As you can see I am now on twitter and I will do my utmost to tweet all the little things that go on in my Nóttmare so do please follow me!! If you do, I promise to be your friend :) haha - how's that for an incentive?!?

Isn't he ciwt??

So log-in to your twitter account, find me @nottmare and follow!
Much love
Liam x

Biography

I have, of late, been attempting to heavily summarise my biography and, to make sure none of you miss a bit of the bio, I have added a series link so you can read them all on one page. So, if you want to catch-up on the series, go to the right of the blog, look under series, and click "Biography". Simples. :)

Much love,
Liam x

Ffinneg

Last Sunday I watched a very interesting, Finnish film titled Musta jää (Black Ice) which inspired me to learn Finnish. Luckily, the person I watched the film with is, oddly enough, from Finland and she is more than willing to teach me some of the lingo. The alphabet is fairly simple, especially if you know the Welsh alphabet because many of the sounds are the same and some of the words are fairly simple (providing you know the alphabet of course!) such as moi (hi - pronounced 'mwy' as in Welsh for 'more) and kiitos (thanks - 'key-toss') but then came a list kindly provided by aforementioned Finn.

The list, very basically, is an explanation of various Finnish prepositions. In Finnish it's not enough to simply 'with Liam' but there is a kind of mutation rule in which you add a suffix, 'with Liam' would be 'kanssa Liamin' - it's as if they actually change your name! I couldn't, of course, let her get away with landing this bombshell and so I gave her a small insight into the Welsh mutation system which I'm sure looks as random and nonsense as the Finnish list here does me.

In other news I've treated myself to a bit of online clothes shopping today after receiving a cheque for £222 (woo-hoo!) and I've been emailing the Welsh department at Aberystwyth trying to sort out some timetable issues - this happens every semester. Tomorrow I start both of my new politics modules: International Political Theory Today and Wales & Devolution. Unfortunately, IPTT is at 9am which means I have to get up early :( but I am very much looking forward to starting my first Welsh politics module :)

I'm already having early morning blues!
Liam x

Army of Love

This is my absolute favourite song at the moment, it's so weird that it's almost as if it were made for me! The artist is Kerli who I've mentioned before, she's a self labelled 'bubble-goth' singer (which essential means it's a weird yet very cool pop kinda thing) who hails from Estonia. Her music and her videos are rather Gaga-esque but she hates the comparison and actually went public before Lady Gaga so the comparison is rather unfair - she's not copying anyone else's style, is my point. Anyway here is the brilliant song accompanied by the brilliant video, Army of Love:

 Cannot wait for her second album! If you look at my labels on the right of the blog, click music and you'll find two other videos by her there :)

Hope you like it!
Liam x

Adolygiad

Exam season has come to an end and I am now left to clear up the mess revision has caused. Literally about half of my floor is taken up with clothes, notes and books. When I revise it kind of takes over so stuff, like laundry, glasses, cups, notes, pens, etc. builds up and remains untouched until after the exam nightmares. My walls and my posters play host to post-its and list upon list upon list of random notes that I had hoped would come in useful, though in the end not many of them did.

This is my notice board where all my notes go, funnily enough. In the middle is my Robert Pattinson calender which was a well-received birthday present from a housemate, on the far left is a Lady Gaga calender which I got for Christmas, also well-received, below that is a fire safety sign that I have to keep in clear view because of the Uni rules, blah blah. On the far right there's a red necklace thing with a Finnish SIM card in the pouch which is commemorative of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki and next to that is a yellow Plaid Cymru necklace thing which is keeping hold of my Sarah Millican ticket - cannot wait to see her in March! Below those is a really kitsch-y Alice in Wonderland 'Drink Me' bottle which I adore! Surrounding all of these things are my revision notes: Welsh on the left and politics on the right.


European politics revision was pretty simple and straightforward, as simple as EU politics can be anyway. Very luckily the exam asked a question about Europeanization which was the topic of my essay earlier in the year so that came in handy :) Welsh on the other hand could have given me a mental break down. The paper had 100+ questions, all of which had to be answered, and some of the questions made sense as in they actually tested that you're progressing in learning how to use the language, whereas others were just plain ridiculous. Over the course of the semester we were required to have learned 97, fairly uncommon words, some of which I'd never heard of in English, and only use 6 (that's SIX) in the actual exam. As well as that there were idioms, word genders, proverbs, grammar rules and a lot of other anger and vomit inducing topics.


Anyway it's all over now and on Monday I start the second semester with the exact same Welsh modules as last year and two new politics modules, namely Wales & Devolution and International Political Theory Today - fun times!!


Right, gonna get on with profiling myself as best I can, and I can only whole-heartedly apologise for this rant of a post.
Liam x

  

Nóttmare.2

Well I say .2 but the blog has been redesigned 2, 3, possibly 4 times? Either way the .2 signifies the new approach to the blog not the new look (which I hope people like, the black was getting a little depressing). I have also added a tag-line, it's my favourite quote from Anturiaethau Alys yng Ngwlad Hud (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) as is the background of keyholes on the battered blue look, you can use it as a desktop background if you want to:

I have others as well, top hats on a green background, hearts on a red background and teacups & teapots on a yellow background - all very attractive :)


Anyway I've already planned my next post, I'm going to write about me - the vanity! Just gonna be some basic information as well as some stories or traits that I think define me. I've not got around to properly planning or writing it yet because of the ongoing revision but I will make a start on it soon.

Seeing as I'm going to write my own exposé I may as well sign off this post (and all that follow) using my actual name, so, until next time, thanks for reading :)
Liam x 


EDIT: Forgot to say, the tag-line (Rydyn ni i gyd yn wallgof yma...), for those of you who don't speak Welsh, means 'We're all mad here...', apt?

Overhaul

It's time to take this blog in a whole new direction, dare I say 'modernise'? Basically I'm gonna stop writing about past experiences and go more for present experiences like an actual diary should - though if for any reason you are interested in finding out what happens where First Love and The Aber Affair are concerned I'll try and find time to carry on with them though they may crop in in current events or whatever, who knows? Also I'm gonna see if I can't spruce the blog up with some pictures and whatnot along with the obligatory text of course!

So what am I up to now? Revision. And lots of it. I have my European politics exam on Tuesday followed by a Welsh exam the Thursday after that so they are pretty much taking up each and every one of my waking moments at the moment.

After reading a lot and writing a lot I have decided that I would quite like to publish a work of nonsense through the medium of Welsh as there aren't really any examples out there, I could potentially be the Welsh Lewis Carroll! But don't worry, I shan't hold my breath :)

Thanks again for reading, I really will try to update as often as possible and not to bore you,
Engill x