Well, not if you go by the weather, which in Scotland changes every five minutes. But my exams are now finished and so for now it is officially summer time for me. It means that the great big mental to do list has now been put down on paper with everything I can remember at the moment. I’m sure I’ll find more stuff to add to it as time goes on. For now though it keeps me busy and stops me worrying about exam results and finding out about my creative writing application.

I’ve already been busy and completed one of my tasks. I’ve imported everything from livejournal to dreamwidth which was remarkably easy and I can see now why people love dreamwidth, it has so many awesome features. I’ve also got my blog importing to dreamwidth, insane journal and tumblr. All profile info and stuff has been updated at all three journal sites. The list below is mainly online stuff, computer realted and/or creative activities. I have a munch of stuff to do around the house and loads of out the house activities planned for summer. We’re off to Majorca in May and Devon in July. But no one needs to read a list of my household chores

I also intend to catch up on some much needed reading and will probably blog more about this another time. Ditto for stuff in World of Warcraft.

Continue reading ›

posted by Heather
Filed under: Books, Gaming, General Geekery, Roleplaying, University, Writing

As the majority of the students in the UK begin to prep for exams, sites such as studentbeans.com start throwing out articles such as this one; “10 exam period tatics to get you a first“. That’s one of the more sensible ones out there and advises students to make revision timetables and eat regular meals. At the grand (“old”) age of 27 I’ve spent a good portion of my life studying for exams. When I was in secondary school we actually had tests for every subject every half term – yep, that’s right, every half term. Not just at the end of every term. Then there were year 9 SATs, GCSEs, A-levels and then university – twice. I wouldn’t consider myself an exam expert, I still hate them and stress over them. But I have learnt some tricks over the years and also seen some really stupid things done by my fellow students, so now seems a good time to share them.

Do it your way.

The biggest tip I can give to any student is to find their own way to study. You can read hundreds of study guides, you can listen to teachers tell you every single way to study – none of it matters if it doesn’t work for you. Some people are blessed with the ability to cram the night before an exam; the rest of us need a better plan. So don’t be afraid to try and test different methods. If re-reading information doesn’t work for you then try reading it and then writing it down. Or maybe spider diagrams work better for you.

Ignore other people.

I’m actually really glad that I get to take my exam in the disability computer cluster like a little special person. I have always hated the period waiting to go into an exam hall because everyone is talking about what they revised, what topics they hope will be covered. If you’re anything like me it just makes you worry and panic even more about the exam. The creation and popularity of social networks such as twitter and facebook mean that this starts even before you get near the exam hall. Don’t panic because everyone else has studied a certain topic/theme and you haven’t. Last year a lot of people decided to study gender for our English Literature exam and it never appeared on the exam paper.

You are on your own.

Don’t rely on other people because at the end of the day the exam is between you and the sheet of paper in front of you. While social networks are a good way to hash out ideas, don’t be too dependent on them for information. Make yourself familar with your university website and exam procedures; know where your exam timetable will be available and where it can be found. One of the biggest mistakes I find students making is that they expect the university hold them by the hand. This isn’t like GCSEs/A-levels where you will get drilled on so many exam papers that you’ll be sick of the sight of them before you even get to your exam. You’ll get one lecture and/or tutorial about exams and that is it; you’re on your own. They might provide a few past papers and put them up online for you, but generally you’ll be expected to go find them yourself. So after first year you really should know where to find past exam papers.

Prepare.

That probably seems really obvious but I’m not talking about preparing for the content of the exam. Once you know where your exam is being held make sure you know where the building is on campus! Most exam halls tend to be out of the way buildings and rooms you’ll never ever see again. A week or even a few days before your exam go and find the room. Also be careful for room splits – some courses are so large that A-M surnames will be in one place and N-Z will be else where. You’re naturally going to be stressing about your exam so don’t make it worse by getting lost or going to the wrong room.

Prepare your bag, pencil case, clothes, route and if you have health problems your medication. My pencil case is actually more like a first aid kit; I even carry strepsils with me just in case. If you have health problems, disabilities or any physical/mental problems then speak to your tutor, department or advisor of studies before exams. They will most likely refer you to your University’s disability service and their job is to make your life as easy as possible and this includes your exams. Don’t be afraid to have your medication easily available, just put it on your desk at the start of an exam so that the exam staff can see it clearly. They’re going to be more suspicious if they see you rummaging around your pockets half way through the exam

Play to your strengths.

One of the benefits of most university exams (especially essay based subjects) is that you will often get a choice of questions to answer. You are never going to know everything and most of your teachers will always tell you to revise extra. If you find that too overwhelming then don’t do it; instead focus on topics that can be moulded to different questions. You may find that your classmates will say certain topics are easier, however, you may find them really difficult. Play to your own strengths. If there was a certain topic or text that you found interesting then go with that. You’ll find it much easier to remember things that appeal to you rather than subjects/texts that bore you to death.

Sometimes it isn’t possible to avoid some of those boring topics, and if you haven’t already gotten them out of the way by using them in your coursework, make sure you balance them out. Depending on the question you might want to put a weak topic with a strong one so that you can piggyback off of the one you know best. Sometimes though if you are really struggling to answer a question because your mind has gone blank, it’s different to what you practised or it just sucks, you might be better placing two stronger subjects together and leave the weaker ones for the awkward question. You won’t find any tutor/lecturer recommend that but they’re not the one sitting the exam. If you just need to pass then forfeiting a bad question to give yourself more time on a better one might be your best plan.

Don’t panic.

That’s a bit of a no sh!t sherlock one because most of us will worry about exams. However, exams at university level tend to come with a big bonus compared to exams in earlier education – you can re-sit them. There is another chance and as hard as it is, it’s better to try and stem the panic of failing and just get on with it. Until you sit the exam you have no idea whether you will pass or fail, so predicting it isn’t going to do you any favours.

posted by Heather
Filed under: University

This idea is completely stolen from Janet who recently posted a list of things she dislikes and it sounded like a good idea. I should probably do a list of things I like as well to balance it out.

1. Ants – This is one of my biggest hates and phobias. Never sit on an ants nest.
2. Heights – Again, another phobia. I’m not sure when or how this one started, I’ve had since my early teens at least.
3. Stag beetles – Thanks to my photographic memory I have a very vivid memory of how this phobia started. I managed to contract a sick bug which then went around the entire family (parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, the lot basically). My nan was looking after me while my parents were sick and I went out in the garden. I suddenly looked down and on my slipper sat this massive stag beetle. Safe to say I screamed the house down.
4. Caterpillars – When I was a kid there was an epidemic of these big hairy caterpillars and they were EVERYWHERE. Since then any caterpillar, even the little ones just freak me out.
5. Earwigs – Just because they are weird and creepy.
6. Maths & numbers – I just don’t get them. However, give me algebra and I find it easy peasy. Go figure.
7. Crunchy vegetables – I just can’t physically eat them, biting into crunchy veg makes me feel ill.
8. Fruit – I love the taste and smell of most fruit, but again eating them just makes me feel yucky. The only exception is fruit in crumbles where it’s all squishy.
9. Bananas – The smell of them makes me sick, I really cannot stand them.
10. Bullies – As a bully victim several times in my life, this one isn’t just a dislike it’s a burning hate.
11. Prejudice – I feel uneasy putting this because I’m a human being and I do have my own prejudices (see the point above for one example). I considered putting it as ‘prejudice without good cause’ but how do you define that? So I guess the best way to describe what I dislike about prejudice is it being used to hurt people. It’s natural to dislike people but when you use that to harm someone that’s wrong. So sexism, racism, ageism etc. = disliked.
12. Homophobia – This one gets it’s own point because it is just such a huge topic and it is something I absolutely despise.
13. Using religion as an excuse for hate – I’m not going to point a finger at a particular religion because it’s the individual people, not the religion itself, that is to blame here.
14. Ignorance – I have no patience for people that are ignorant. We live in the first world where education is available for everyone and most people have access to the internet. There is no excuse to be ignorant when so much knowledge is available.
15. Ignorance of invisible illnesses/health problems – There are so many people out there that have no idea what some people go through every day, so many people who are judgemental and claim that people are faking it just to get benefits. I could rant about this all day, I believe I already have in previous blog entry
16. People talking in lectures – This drives me nuts. It’s not only disrespecting the lecturer, it’s also showing no respect for your fellow students. I get finding a lecture boring, or being too ill to concentrate – there are alternatives to starting up a conversation to ease your boredom/discomfort.
17. Lack of support for long term/chronic health problems – In the government, in schools, in employment – this is a major issue. The only institution that seems to recognise these people need extra help are universities.
18. Animal abuse – I often to put animals at a higher status than people, and one of the worst things I think people can do is abuse an animal. It sickens me.
19. Metal/Dance/Rap music – I cannot stand any of these genres of music. I like my music to actually have singing not screaming, cursing and techno crap.
20. Whiners online – People that read a book series or play a video game and then just whine and whine about it. Mainly this tends to be fans of the author Laurell K Hamilton and players of the game World of Warcraft. They keep buying the products rather than just walking away. No one is forcing you to keep reading/playing!

posted by Heather
Filed under: Uncategorized

I’m not sure whether to celebrate that it’s only been two months since my last entry, or to slap myself on the wrist again. There have certainly been much longer breaks between entries and one of the reasons this one was so delayed was general laziness on my part. I was having issues with some wordpress plugins (which have hopefully now been fixed *crosses fingers*) and frustration won out.

Now with just under two weeks until my first exam, I figured it was time to blog again. Compared to my December exams the dates have worked out much better. There is also no Saturday exam (hooray!). My essays went as well as I expected; a B1 for my comparative Lit essay which I knew as the strongest of the two. English Literature was disappointing with a C1 but it was to be expected considering how ill I had been and I had to get an extension for it. It means I really need to push for a B or higher in my exam to gain access to honours, although it does say that you can substitute another literature subject grade. So if I get a low grade for English Lit but  a B or higher for Comparative Lit, I may still be able to get into honours. I can always resit, but after last summer I am really looking forward to a stress free summer where I can concentrate on other things.

I have one essay grade still to get; English Language. It was only 10% though and I only need to pass this course to get into honours. The exam is 50% and at first it seemed pretty scary, but once I started revision I realised it isn’t that bad. The good grade for Comparative Lit means I can focus more on English Lit. As if the exam wasn’t scary enough, our course leader has chosen to change the exam this year. Previously we had section A and section B and this year he’s removed Section B, which in my opinion was much easier. Especially when you look at the past exam papers and most of section A is riddled with random quotations (not from the set texts) and then one line “discuss with reference to two texts”. Great.

I’ve sent in my application for honours and along with it an application for Creative Writing. There are only 18 places for this course and we had to send in a portfolio for it. The portfolio was only 1000 words, but it was incredibly difficult to just choose 1000 words of my novel. I got opinions from several people, including my dad who isn’t a fan of that genre, and I got very positive feedback from all of them. It was a nice confidence boost. I only have to wait until the end of the month to hear back, but the wait is stressing me more than my exams!

Chris and I spent a week down in London with my mum, and it was a mixed experience. It was great to relax, spend time with family and friends and finally get to visit Kew Gardens. But it was marred by the passing of one of my cats Ginger. Ginger was 16, he was one of a litter of four kittens that my first cat Tammie had. She died when they were 3 and a 1/2 weeks old due to a heart defect. We had to hand rear them, I was 11 at the time and so excited that we finally had a ginger cat. He was the runt of the litter but you’d never believe it. You could understand why his mum took so long giving birth to him; he was so much bigger than the others. He was always a stupid ginger tom, with a big nose and big ears when he was a kitten. He always got into fights, coming home with his battle wounds which left you wondering what had happened to the other cat.

As you can imagine it wasn’t a pleasant experience and I guess I was lucky to be able to spend his last days with him as he lived in London with my parents, where as I’m in Glasgow. He was my companion from childhood to adulthood, always came when I called and I just can’t believe he is gone.

posted by Heather
Filed under: University, Writing

This statement was heard as recently as the beginning of term (January 2013), and has been one I have heard many times before. I admit to being intrigued at the prospect of finally reading the novel, of learning about the romantic hero of Heathcliff for myself. We have no reached that point of the course and I have to say not only am I disappointed, but quite horrified. I had expected to have a different view of the romantic story of Wuthering Heights, I hadn’t been prepared for my predisposed idea of Heathcliff as a positive character to be turned completely on it’s head.

The fact is that Heathcliff, while devoted to Catherine, is a violent abuser. What terrifies me is that generations of women, past and present, consider him to be their man, their hero. If you google Heathcliff you are immediately told that he is the archetypal romantic hero. Since when did romance or love come hand in hand with abuse? It suggests that some women still have their heads stuck in the sand when it comes to marital abuse, and more alarmingly makes me wonder how many women think that their peers deserve to be abused by their husbands. Recently there have been campaigns across the internet, from both men and women, about women provoking abuse done to them by flashing a bit of skin. I make the point of including men in this because men are beginning to recognise that they are being lumped together with abusers and rapists just by being male.

So from now on, whenever I hear someone idolise Heathcliff I am most definitely going to visibly wince and will have to bite my tongue to ask why an abuser is romantic.

I am just coming to the end of week 5, which is only of note because it is followed by reading week – aka our version of a half term, a week of holiday without classes. So now that I’m at the half way mark, a review of the term and it’s texts seems ideal. I am also happy to pat myself on the back for keeping up with my reading, as it is only this week that I have fallen behind due to Wuthering Heights. I should be back on track by the time classes resume.

In English Lit we have covered; The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh which was as well written and engaging as his play The Cripple of Inishmaan (last year) but also haunting and terrifying. Then there was the Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark, In the cage by Henry Ford and The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford. Out of those three only the Driver’s Seat stood out and then, like The Pillowman it wasn’t a pleasant text to read.

Comparative Literature part 2B continued the random and weird stories of 2A and included Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad (much more interesting than Heart of Darkness studied in English Lit last term), Franza Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the play Six Characters in search of an author, and then finally The Nose by Nikolai Gogal. When I say weird I am not meaning it in as an insult; weird is interesting, it’s different. That’s not to say that upon finishing these texts I was left puzzled on many things. Nothing about these is straight forward and each one opens up many questions about identity, what we think of it and how it is constructed.

I have two essays due in the next few weeks; 15th and 18th February and this week we should also be given the questions for our English language essay due in week 1o.

posted by Heather
Filed under: University

The post Christmas and new years entry is always a pain to write, and even worse when hindered with illness. I have (or my body does, I’m beginning to think it is it’s own person) an annual habit/date/whatever you want to call it of being ill. By being ill I mean more so than the normal health issues because they’re part of every day life. For the past 3-4 months I’ve had sinus problems on and off;  antibiotics sooner would have probably helped nip that in the bud but I’ve ranted about that before, I’m sure. What I haven’t said is that a cough came along with this and has stayed with me. I’m on my third bottle of cough mixture and the little bugger will not give up. My doctor is pretty concerned that it’s been going on since she saw me at the beginning of December – I didn’t see the point in saying it’s probably been longer – and has given me antibiotics to shift it. I have some sort of other virus/infection in my throat so two birds with one stone.

Anyway; why is this entry so hard for me to write? For one it can be quite depressing. While my life is moving on and I am moving closer to my goals, I am also in another year of being constantly ill. Every year is going to be like that and the start of a new year just tends to hammer it home. It wasn’t helped by reading a news article that said that the Disability Living Allowance is being completely scrapped. I think this is old news, but I tend to keep my head buried in the sand – I have to, I don’t have the energy to deal with everything else in the world. I’d love to solve the worlds wrongs, help everyone that needs help, or save the tigers… I just can’t right now. That’s one of the reasons I want to become an author and/or a teacher; to be in a position to make a difference.

I’ve written more than I intended; this entry was supposed to concentrate on my online projects. Before Christmas my muse decided to pop back from it’s long vacation and it has been singing to me ever since. The result was my personal site finally up and running at Ruby-Wings.net as well as my online portfolio HLTrend.com. I also changed the joinables directory to Ruby Wings Listings and created a plug site, Ruby Plugs. There is also the Great Gift Exchange which is a gift exchange site similar to Secret Santa but all year round. On top of all this I have gone back to role playing finally, although I am not running them which takes a lot of stress out of it and I am taking it slowly.

Future Projects and Associated Tasks

Ruby-Wings.net

• Affiliates
• Take photos of collections
• Switch coding to php includes

Blog

• Finish exit page
• Create link back buttons
• Join listings
• Affiliates

Ruby Plugs

• Affiliates
• Join Listings/directories
• Switch coding to php includes

The Great Gift Exchange

• Create website front/portal
• Contact people to spread the word
• Offer featured spots on my Deviant Art account
• Affiliates
• Advertising

Queldorei.net

• Switch coding to php includes and affiliates to script
• Affiliates
• Join Listings
• Check for dead links
• Add note to remind people it is a video games listings, not an RPG listing.

Twi-lek.net

• Switch coding to php includes and affiliates to script
• Affiliates
• Join Listings
• Check for dead links

Distant Fantasies

• Catch up with RPG Reviews
• Trouble Check directories

Bookworm Clique

• Finish link back buttons
• Code website
• Open – find affiliates, join listings

Fighting Everyday Clique

• Find old members list
• Create website layout
• Create content
• Create link back buttons
• Code website
• Open – find affiliates, join listings

Secret Project – Webmaster Links @ Mind-Blast.net (clickie!)

• Create website layout
• Create/find content
• Create link back buttons
• Code website
• Open – find affiliates, join listings

It seems like an awful lot but most of them are pretty quick jobs and all of the new sites won’t take that much time once completed. Everything is automated and all I’ll need to do is click a button somewhere.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

posted by Heather
Filed under: General Geekery, Health, Roleplaying, University

Yes, that’s right; my exams are over. They have actually been over since Wednesday but I’ve only been able to get around to writing this entry now. Chris has one more exam left so I am trying to contain my excitement – and failing miserably I suspect. I volunteered to go with Chris’ gran to the hospital on thursday so my first real lay in was friday and today, and it was glorious. I can quite easily change my sleep timetable around if I need to get up early for something but otherwise I will just get up and stay up late. As annoying as it is not being able to work due to my disabilities at times like this it is a good thing.

I’m not sure if you will remember that last December I missed my exams and had to take them in August because I was so sick? Well, it seems that my body just likes being sick at this time of year. I don’t know if it’s the weather or the stress, or what, but I have had a sinus infection for months and months again. To be fair though this time it probably would have gone away before my exams if the doctors had given me antibiotics. For some reason doctors have suddenly jumped on this train of thought that says ‘antibiotics = bad’ because they are worried we will become immune to them. I don’t disagree with this, however, I do expect a doctor to actually read my file and recognise that I get chronic sinusitis and usually need a second dose of antibiotics. When I got an appointment with my own doctor she didn’t seem too pleased that they had refused to give me them, and the next time I saw one of the other doctors they gave me a second dose of antibiotics without argument.

In August I swore blind I would not miss my December exams again, but I have to admit I did waver after a couple of days of intense pain and constant sneezing. One or two sneezes aren’t an issue, but massive sneezing fits or sneezing every 10 minutes? IT HURTS. I was lucky enough that some of my university buddies were supportive and gave me some helpful stuff for studying when I was beginning to panic.

So…the exams themselves. I can say that I have passed English Literature and Comparative Literature. Due to being so ill and having such a small amount of time to actually study, I purposely put all my time and effort into English Literature. I need to get a certain grade balance between this term and next term to be able to study for honours. When I was at Leeds I ended up doing honours by default and only the final year grades really mattered. So Comp Lit did get put on the back burner, in the sense that I didn’t learn any quotes and rambled a lot. I just need a C overall to pass for that.

My third subject, English Language, I have absolutely no confidence about. It was a class test rather than an actual exam, so Chris reckons that you can fail it and still pass the course. Normally you have to get at least 35% in exams and course work to pass a course. Fortunately English Language is a two part course that covers term 1 and 2, which means the grades from both terms go together. In comparison for English Lit the grade for Term 1′s course is separate to Term 2′s. So as long as I make up the grade in term 2 I should be ok. There’s an essay worth 50% in Term 2, and I am already planning ahead to get most of my reading done for my other subjects so that I can really work hard on Term 2′s essays.

I have more to say but I’m still feeling pretty rough so I’ll leave all that to the next entry

posted by Heather
Filed under: University

Holiday Wishes @ livejournal.com

STEP ONE
Make a post (public, friends-locked, filtered… whatever you’re comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of ten holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related (“I’d love a Snape/Hermione icon that’s just for me”) to medium (“I wish for _____ on DVD”) to really big (“All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV”). The important thing is to make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it’s your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) can get in touch with you. Your home address is not required!

Make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ so that the holiday joy will spread.

STEP TWO
Surf around your friends list (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now, here’s the important part…

If you see a wish you can grant, and it’s in your heart to do so, make someone’s wish come true. Sometimes one person’s trash is another’s treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don’t want or a gift certificate you won’t use – or even know where you could get someone’s dream purebred Basset Hound for free – do it.
You needn’t spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn’t to put people out, it’s to provide everyone a chance to be someone else’s holiday elf – to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not – it’s your call. There are no guarantees with this project, and no strings attached. Just… wish, and it might come true. Give and you might receive. You’ll have the joy of knowing you made someone’s holiday special.

My List

1) Art featuring my World of Warcraft Characters – I would love to have art work featuring my World of Warcraft characters. The game has been going for 8 fricking years now so I have a very close relationship with them, especially my main character Kaelea and my main alt Aleassa. I have an obsession with taking screenshots so there’s plenty to use for reference over here. Art can be any media; pencil, paint, digital, pixel etc. Both characters tend to be quite sassy, and if you want to know any more please just ask!

2) Icons/Avatars – I love icons I’d love any for my favourite things/fandoms, which you can find by browsing my website. I’d also really love some quote icons using my favourite quotes; best place to find them is my goodreads profile.

3) E-books – I’m a disabled student studying two literature courses and e-books are a blessing as I can’t carry heavy books around all day. Any books on my ‘to read’ list or any urban fantasy/fantasy/supernatural books you think I might like would also be extremely appreciated!

4) Postcards, magnets and key rings – I collect all of these and so any weird/wonderful ones or from local places would be awesome.

5) Amazon Wish List – I have a smaller specific list I’ve given to friends and family, so everything else got thrown together to make this list hence why it’s so long.

6) Some love – I’ll be more specific New buddies on livejournal or twitter would be great. I’d love to meet some new people. A small warning though; I suffer from depression and other health problems so if you’re put off by these etc. then probably best not to add me.

7) Deviant Art watchers, faves and general love – I’ve been working all year on adding stuff to DA and updating it with new photography. So any new watchers, faves, group submission/requests, comments, recommendations to friends/family etc. = awesome and will make me smile My account is here.

8) Link back buttons for some sites - I’ve opened a few new sites recently and would love to have some link back buttons or banners made for them. Namely Ruby-Wings.net, Ruby Plugs and Ruby Wings Listings

9) MP3s/mixed tape playlist – In ye olden days a mixed tape was literally a cassette tape with a selection of songs especially made by someone for someone else. Now we’re in the digital era so technically it’d be more like a playlist. No one has ever made one of these for me so this would be a really special gift for me. If you don’t know me personally then just create a playlist of songs that make you happy, that you love or for a particular emotion. No heavy metal, rap, hip-hop or dance music please!

10) Invisible illness awareness – I’m someone who looks healthy on the outside, but really I’m in pain and feeling like crap. This is called an invisible illness and one of my goals in life is to spread the word about it. I talk openly and honestly about my health problems and hope one day that people will be understanding rather than judgemental. So next time you see a young person sitting in disabled seat, or someone who looks healthy says they’re really not well; remember that disabilities and illnesses come in all shapes and forms. Don’t judge someone because they’re too ill to go out, or they keep blowing you off. In today’s society we’re almost taught to automatically believe the worst, not to recognise what’s going on beneath the surface.

posted by Heather
Filed under: Books, General Geekery

I was never particularly speedy on updating this blog before, but I have become shockingly bad at keeping it updated. I’m two weeks away from the end of Term 1 and this is my first post about my second year so far. Well I guess it is at least being written before the end of the term!

That does sum up my year so far for two of my courses. I have to take English Language level 1 to qualify for honours, otherwise I would have saved myself the boredom of the majority of it. I’m sure there are some people out there who find it very interesting, I’m just not one of them. I did find the old English, runes and generally anything historical fascinating. It’s just a shame that some of it crossed over with the stuff I learned in Celtic yesterday or my previous degree.

English Literature is the second course and it just feels like it is just going to slow and dawdling this year. That may be because it’s about Ideology, which isn’t the most exciting topic ever. It just feels like some of the lectures just drone on, or maybe we just don’t have great lecturers this year.

I have to admit though that I have not been there for a whole lot of the lectures. My sinuses again. Lots of pain, not fun, you get the idea. I was very fortunate that this term I only had two essays instead of the four I had this time last year. And one presentation which I got an A4, so feeling pretty damn happy about that right now. It might be only worth 10% but I worked hard for it and achieved a good grade. I get the two essays back this week and just like normal I am of course dreading it. I wrote these two essays while very unwell with the sinus infections, which tend to make my brain think wonky. I actually spent a whole class thinking one classmate was someone else; until she politely corrected me at the end!

I have an online test for English Language due on 25th November and I got 7/10 in the practise test so a bit more studying and I’ll be ready to tackle the real thing. I’m supposed to have the exam for that subject in class but there is also a date up for an actual exam, so not sure what’s happening with that just yet. I had heard that it’s multiple choice from those who did it last year. My other two exams, both lit subjects are back to back; 7th and 8th of December. And yes the 8th is a Saturday *sigh*. In all my time studying I have never had one on a Saturday before so I guess it was due to happen sometime. I’m more worried about having to study for both rather than being able to study for one and then study for the second after the first is over.

The worst part about December exams is how quickly they sneak up on you; so I need to start studying this week. I don’t want to damnit! I am determined not to miss them this year though, I never want to resit exams in August unless it’s for a better grade.

I started writing this entry a few weeks ago and now here I am writing it from London. We came down just for the weekend for my cousin’s wedding (which was lovely), although of course my body has had it’s after event meltdown today which has consisted of a migraine alll day. If I’m like this after someone else’s wedding, how am I gonna be after my own? I’ll need like three days to recuperate!

In other news; my next update will probably include my brand new personal site (ruby-wings.net) and my online portfolio. I have, after a very long time, got my creativity back and have been pulling website ideas out of thin air. I am also semi-participating in National Novel Writing Month and have therefore officially started writing my own novel. I probably won’t have it finished by the end of November but ideas are flowing and for the first time being written down so it is a massive step for me

posted by Heather
Filed under: Health, Uncategorized, University, Writing

Warning: This post contains major spoilers for the latest World of Warcraft novel ‘Jaina: Tides of War’ and some spoilers for Mists of Pandaria.

I’m not usually one to go into detail about a book or even list the events, however, the in game scenario leaves out a LOT of important information. I know that a lot of my fellow or ex-WoW players probably won’t read the novel so when MoP comes around there are going to be some massive gaps left unanswered. So first I’m going to relay the ‘Facts’, the events and information in the novel and then I’m going to give some of my own thoughts.

Continue reading ›

posted by Heather
Filed under: Books, Gaming, World of Warcraft