Surreptitious

I can't believe I'm about to bring up this subject, but it's quite relevant to the last couple of day's activity; the weather. It has been absolutely incredible during the past week, and here's proof:



So today I took a walk after somebody else suggesting it a few days ago, and it turned out to be a great idea. Lovely weather, interesting characters and mysterious places. It seems to have given me a new appreciation of this wonderful city.

So, harking back very briefly to the subject of the previous two posts, I am wondering whether it's worth going undercover and working with this guy who beat me, or just avoiding working with him altogether. The former shows I've not let this defeat mar my character, and will show everybody I'm not affected by the situation which is the complete and utter truth, while the latter allows me to focus my energy on proving to myself and everybody else that I am perfectly capable of producing great work without the need for guidance. I'm tempted to use the latter approach but don't want any awkwardness in the future.

I've got a lot of plans for this Easter. Seeing James Morrison gig this Friday, going to Southampton for the NaSTA awards the Saturday and Sunday, going home for a bit the following week, then spending the weekend away in Reading/London where I'll be going to see Jason Mraz in a gig, and it turns out an old friend of mine will be attending so chance for a further catch up, spending a day with my favourite girl in the world is also occurring that weekend. Then completing work on four episodes of Come Dine, and also organising a shooting schedule for my three part drama. Coursework is also added on top of that, which hopefully won't be too difficult and some revision too.

So that should give me enough to talk about for a few weeks!

Why? Part 2

I've had time to settle down now, and I still don't get why what happened, happened. I've accepted it at least now though, and I hope this is over.

I've decided to work on slowing things down in my life in general, there's been far too much rushing around. Also concentrating on my work and improving my skillset. I won't let something like this happen in future.

I'm reminded of the proverb "Sometimes not getting what you want is really a blessing in disguise"

Why

I need to figure out the answer to this question.

I think I just entered what turned out to be a popularity contest and lost, but why the hell do I hate it so much even when I want to be absolutely cool with it? Surely the need for something should overpower any other thoughts, so why do I keep trying to convince myself I'm fine, only to get told by another part of me that I'm not?

My head hurts.

Ineptitude

I wish I had a tiny little book and pen that I could carry around with me wherever I went. I then also wish that alongside that book, I would have the memory to remember to bring it with me all the time. If I had these two things, I swear to you I would come up with a lot more insightful posts on this or any of my other blogs.

As it stands, all I have to talk about is what I can recall from a whole day of insightful thought and crap filler material.

Earlier on today, I ventured onto youtube and commented on a video where some guy was singing a comic relief song. What was annoying was when he did a little talking bit after the song, his eyes would never look at the camera, but off to the side a bit. I figured he was, like many others, just looking at himself in the computer screen while he was being recorded. I hate it when people do that, so I commented. Next thing I know I'm being barraged with insults and comments about my 'insecurity' and god knows what. Bloody youtubers, want to start a fight over anything. If I'd learned anything from this, it's not to comment on a youtube video ever, but where's the fun in that?

Oh man, I cannot believe I forgot to add this in; I'm only writing this because I know nobody involved would read this until it's long but forgotten. I get some stick off my housemate today for not attending my other housemate's birthday celebration in a pub. Immediately, you might think I'm wrong, but here's why I made the decision. Firstly, his birthday was on Tuesday, and I saw him for pretty much the whole day. I not only wished him a happy birthday, but baked him a huge cake. Then, in the evening I joined him and his mates in the lounge while they played the Wii and generally enjoyed the evening. The accusing housemate buggered off to another friends birthday party by the way!

So tonight, I was all up for going until I checked the guestlist [On Facebook, useful tool that] Two people out of a handful were actually people I don't actually like. No big deal you might think, but only a couple of weeks ago a similarly attended gathering in the same pub was extremely uncomfortable because I couldn't get involved with the people I mostly know due to the two previously mentioned morons. So I made sure it was cool with birthday boy housemate to not go tonight because I hated the last time I went, and he seemed fine with it. Then I casually mention this to other housemate and he gives me attitude over it. I didn't say anything, but after going to the shops to get something I came back and said he had no right to make me feel bad after I put in so much effort over his birthday, to which he apologised, and I think things are cool now.

Okay, so when I said a couple of posts ago that this wouldn't turn into a whiney diary like blog I must have been lying, but I will buy that book soon and then I will come up with more interesting thoughts to mull over. Then you will enjoy reading this! [I hope :)]

Confrontation

Is it worthwhile to oppose somebody publicly if they have caused you considerable frustration? This occurred to me the other day when I encountered such a situation. I apologise in advance for the following definitely doesn't rank very high on the list of things to get justifiably annoyed at, but it led me to this thought process so I am including it for its relevance.

I'm in the library, waiting in the PC lab for the next available terminal. There is a girl in front of me, fair enough. You should know this PC lab consists of two rooms, one tucked away behind the main one, both of them have PC's in. A girl struts in from the main entrance, walks straight past the two of us queueing and goes into the other room, expecting to be able to use one of the PC's in there should she spot one, despite two people already waiting. When she came out having had no luck finding an empty spot, she joins the queue behind me for approximately 30 seconds before walking out.

This situation almost got me confronting the girl in question asking her if she thought she didn't have to queue to use them, as she apparently didn't believe that was the case. Except I didn't, because where would it have gotten me? Would I have been seen as the bad guy for making a scene out of it, even though she was in the wrong? Would she have learned from it? Would I have learned from it?

Despite the tameness of the above example, it does make me wonder when it is ok to take the step of confronting somebody. Certain situations, where for example your girlfriend has been made the target of mocking, or had something happen to her like a drink spilled on her with the perpetrator seemingly oblivious, it seems like it's expected for you to stand up to them. Other situations, maybe when your friend has inadvertently made you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome, it seems almost expected for you to keep quiet as not to cause a scene. Is there a middle ground, or is it always one way or the other?

If I were a braver man, I would probably challenge myself to confront everybody for one day or even a week and see what reactions I get. However, realistically given the average day for me, it wouldn't really be enough of an experiment. If anybody happens to come across this and believes in it one way or another, I would be really interested to know what you think.

In other news, I tried this really easy recipe out today, and it turned out really tasty. I highly recommend it: Yum

Nationalism

I think it says a lot about the pride we Welsh have when, after suffering our first defeat in the RBS Six Nations against France and not even by a large margin, we are so extremely disappointed in our team because we have said goodbye to our chances at winning the Grand Slam for a second time in a row. If we beat Ireland, we can still come top of the table, but winning just seems like a compromise now that the big GS is out of our reach. We obviously want to aim high because we are so confident that we can do it.

On the other hand, I despise the lengths the English go to to support any team whose win against another would increase their position in the table. It's called tactical supporting and it goes to show that English sports fans are some of the worst in the world. I don't mean to generalise because obviously there are a lot of English fans who don't fit in with what I'm saying, but in my experience it is the case. I've been to watch a few games here in Exeter where Wales are playing, and every time there have been rowdy England fans booing and chanting and trying to cause annoyance when there are Welsh supporters all around. At least so far we've had the satisfaction of having them shut up when they relise Wales are winning all the time. All except the most recent game, that is.

I don't want to end this on a sour note so I'll recommend you check out a band called The Hush Sound. They are really unique, the vocals alternate between the man and the woman depending on which song is playing, and they have a brilliant sound, one which I always struggle to describe with one word. Go and have a listen to them to see what I mean.