Running Out of Steam

The title says it all really, for whatever reason i've nearly just completely run out of steam and motivation. It's not just this advent blog, but also lectures which are being affected. It's got to the point where i'm not really sure whether it's still worth blogging daily, as i seem to be just writing loads of sort apology posts, which wasn't exactly the point. Maybe it's because of a total lack of material, that might be true, but there's plenty of things to write about out there. Although i do know that my writing style really doesn't work like that, if someone gives me a topic to write about i can normally spurt out some totally grade a waffle. Otherwise i just tend to well... write, it normally starts with only a simple idea and then my brain just takes it wherever, sometimes without ever really being consciously recognized.

 Surely given that i could very easily pick a news story of a event of the day and just start writing about it then. I could but i really think the core problem here is deeper than just writing style. For starters the reason i really can't be bothered today, goes down to the fact that currently i want to go and talk to other people elsewhere in college, unsurprisingly writing blogs isn't the most social thing in the world. This feeling has been especially empahised this last week as the realisation that i only have a few nights left here in Durham and that it might be nice to actually spend that time talking to them in person. Will it be easier when i'm back home? No, if anything it'll be harder as the there i want to spend all the time i can chilling out with my girlfriend. After all i only have 5 weeks at home before coming back to uni for another term.

The other reason is the Pokemon game, which is no longer following the rules of the Nuzlocke challenge: i still can only catch the first Pokemon in each area, but the fainting equates to dying is no longer in effect, but the nickname one is and is the cause for the attachment that doesn't want me to release them once fainted really. Does this make the whole thing a futile exercise, well in terms of Pokemon, no as i'm still using Pokemon previously that i wouldn't. In terms of general life, yes it is quite futile but so is playing Pokemon at uni really.

This leads me on to the final reason why i think i've run out of steam. The workload. No not the huge amount of work i have to do, quite the opposite. Engineering has quite simply wound down for Christmas with less lectures no maths work or problem sheets, and only a solitary CAD assignment to dig into, which before you ask will be finished tomorrow once i've queried a few things. It's similar to sleep really, if you sleep little you'll be tired, but if on the other hand you sleep too much and relax too much, you'll be just as tired.

Having said all these things about why my questioning of the daily blogging, i now realise that they are somewhat hypocritical as they have given me something to write about. However i can say, and previosu days can testify, that this will not be the case everyday. I will keep blogging daily though, whether for the odd moment of inspiration that was lurking below the surface, or just to keep me in habit so when something does happen which i can write about, i will be forced to write about it. See you all tomorrow.

Day 10- double digits, doesn't really mean much since we're still less than half way.

The Return of The Sun

For you the sun may have never gone away, but for the past 10 weeks i've been living in as room which had a serious deficiency of it. I walked into my new room today and bam it hit me, with full glory as well. I mean for a while sunglasses were and option so as to get used to it. The view of the bins and loading area for college isn't great i grant you, especially when compared to the nice tree lined road of previous, but that doesn't make an iota of difference to me now.

Sun! It has returned to me, though i might add not at the very moment, my room isn't magic or anything so no nightime sunshine for me... well not until i can find the funding for my... plans, totally normal plans which have little to do with any kind of world domination. Why the heck would i want sunshine at night? well to be honest, i only just thought of that, but it would have some positive side effects for me, but also thinking about it now some drawbacks.

The main reason i like sun so much is down to the fact of the way it makes me feel. Happy? No, not anymore than the usual person, what it does exceed in doing though is making me very sleepy. With sun shining through my window a nap is only seconds away, and i'm not exaggerating, during study leave this was a regular occurrence. During the time of the day when it blessed my room with it's presence i just lay on my floor and slept, simple as. It was great times and made the day so much better and relaxing, which is exactly what you need during revision... well revision would also help, which was found lacking due to the sun induced naps.

So there's one drawback really, with sun work is even harder to do, though i'm at uni now so i should be more responsible, i'm sure i can use it as some sort of incentive to working: finish this and give yourself a well deserved hour nap. Hopefully that'll work, otherwise i could be scuppered next term, though having said this Pokemon is currently having a similar effect on my work ethic. In my defence the only work i have, i have done at least 70% of and i can't do much more until resolving a few queries, so i'm not just skiving. Also how can i work when i've assemble the crack team of Pokemon, there's: Geoff the gastly, Colin the furret, Mc-Owlface the hoothoot, Sprigy the hopit, Nils the sandshrew and the space for one more key member.

As you may have guessed the Nuzlocke challenge is going well, although i really want to forget the challenge now and just pursue the normal game just with these Pokemon and one other hardly used one. The major problem i have is that after naming them i can't face to replace them and so i'm just going for it with them. Updates will continue as my goal of reaching the Elite four by friday stays strong.

The only thing that has happened due to the sun, is the lack of wintery feeling now, which has slightly halted my festivities, but the next week i'm sure will be packed with such as to make up for it, and i will get used to having the sun back anyway, but never forgot the joy it has brought. So in a similar way i hope that i don't forgot the joy of this Christmas season, even if i have somewhat got used to it.

Day 9 - New surroundings, though no sun to emphasis my point as it's 8pm

Packing, Packing... Pokemon!

So it's packing day today, and having tried to sort a suitcase out for going home next weekend, i will have to pack again next week, as... well it wasn't the best packed. Surprisingly though i seem to have nearly everything fitting in the boxes i brought up with me. Everything apart from my computer, monitor and other computer things (because i'm using them at the moment). Then there's the printer, which still has no ink and so is sat uselessly on my shelf, my power adaptors, laptop, desk lamp, hats, coats and jackets... ok so a lot really hasn't fitted. I'm still not sure how i have this much stuff, so tomorrow is going to be a fun day of carrying things to and fro.

Enough about all that, that's not important at all, what is more important is my starting of a new pokemon game on my laptop. Having not played since last talking about it here, i felt that the time had come to restart but i didn't want it to be anything normal. As you may remember (i'd be impressed if you do) last time round i cheated, no not cheated, used my initiative to acquire a dratini as my starter pokemon to make it more interesting. 

The reason i want to play now, is because i really want to have a go at the Nuzlocke challenge (look it up if needs be). And with what promises to be oodles of time, now is the perfect time especially since it'll end with a 3 hour train journey. So there's another challenge really i can try to defeat the elite four by the end of this week. This will of course in no way affect my CAD project which also needs to get done this week... no way at all, because after all CAD is just so much more exciting than Pokemon... 

As of now i haven't actually started the challenge, i gave this blog the priority. Now don't get too up yourselves thinking that your better than Pokemon, that'd be difficult to argue, i mean Pokemon, c'mon. However i know from previous experience that if i don't take the first opportunity to write a post, i will forget, guaranteed. And i'm determined to make this advent challenge without any failures. So don't worry whilst the week is beginning to fill up with things, this blog will still get priority. Also if you were worrying then i'd suggest you need to find something else to do, really do, i mean it's Christmas how can you worry about this.

So this next week is going to be a festive, chilled out, pokemon filled extravaganza, and then the week after will be just as awesome, even without the pokemon, as however good Durham is, it will be great to be back home with my friends and most likely back at the pub.

Day 8 - I have now all packed up and i forgot about the picture until after this, but i promise you the calendar is there somewhere

Revision, Revision.... Pokemon!

So it's that time of year again, but this year it has a greater precedent as how well i do in the next few months will determine where i will spend the next 4 years of my life studying. Quite daunting thought and you would think that would put me into the right mind for some solid studying over the Easter holidays, indeed that is what i thought just two weeks ago. Oh how long ago does that seem now, because unfortunately even with best intentions in my mind, yet again as many-a-time before it has occurred, something (or as it normally turns out things) have shown a way out of the unpleasant task of having to face the fact that i need to get some work done. And yet again this task of potentially ruining my education has fallen to the ever-brilliant Pokemon.

Ok yes i know i'm 18 but who cares Pokemon is still as awesome as it always has been especially now i've managed to get it on my netbook, enabling Dratini to potentially be best ever starter Pokemon. Now for those of you who have never played Pokemon and are wondering what on earth i'm chatting about, there's one simple solution: get the game, you will not be disappointed (although like Star Wars stick to the original). Of course i've been off for a week now, so surely i can't have spent all that time playing Pokemon, could i?

Actually this time, surprisingly, that is correct. I haven't spent all that time playing Pokemon, i mean i'm not playing it now in fact... otherwise i wouldn't be able to focus on typing but instead be writing something along the line of: "Damn you and your hyper potion" (i mean seriously why do the gym leaders always use hyper potion, it's sooo annoying) or "Enjoy your bath" (as i use surf) or indeed other puns/ awesome Horatio Cane style phrases, i might get my sunglasses out to add to the effect whilst staring into the distance walking in some dramatic style (i have to admit that Horatio's phrases were the only reason i watched CSI: Miami, and i suspect this might be true for others as well.)

And just in case you're wondering, no i didn't spend the holiday watching CSI: Miami. I wouldn't waste studying time to watch some TV show. No i watched The Big Bang Theory, since that is not just some TV show, it is one epic show, although slightly irritating due to all jokes at the expense of engineering, but hey-ho at least for my final year project i get to build and test something (maybe even race it) instead of sitting around with test tubes or drowning in books and papers of theoretical physics. That is, of course if i stop watching TBBT and get studying for my exams, otherwise i won't be doing any of that.

Alas there has been a lot of other stuff going on aswell. Last week i stayed in Suffolk, which is filled with very old buildings and anglo-saxon stuff but more importantly 7% cider which was quite easily the best way to end the lent-water diet. Then of course the important morning lie-in, as studies have shown that a good nights sleep leads to good learning state-of-mind, although if the lie-in stops the learning occurring i'm not so sure it entirely works.

So here i am with only a few days left of the holiday with no work done, but plenty of it to do and 6 exams to sit in the summer (including for some reason still unbeknown to me, even though i agreed to doing it (my maths teacher should really be a salesman), a 3 hour non-calculator STEP paper; and the other worrying thought that i've self-taught one of them, so that may not end well...) It's going to be a long final 6 weeks of school, but at least i can be safe in the knowledge that i have study leave and all it's studying time to come. Which means it can be put to it's best use: completing my Pokemon game before the summer holiday.

Gotta Catch Em All

Being a 90s child there was only one game i grew up with (if the title doesn't give it away then you have missed out on something), that game was of course Pokemon. I remember not ever actually owning a Pokemon game, i used to borrow the games from my friends, not sure why that was the case but eventually i got round to buying some games, although by this time i was already in my late teens but this is still an acceptable age to play Pokemon, in fact i think any age is acceptable. Now i not only have 2 Pokemon games on my GBA, but also roms on my notebook, so my life is now fully Pokemon filled and i couldn't be happier.

 Anyway since this blog is meant to have posts inspired by my thoughts of the day, you may be wondering where this Pokemon nostalgia is coming from. Well here is the reason:  http://www.thedrunkenmoogle.com/post/7829564863/squirtle-wartortle-blastoise-pokemon-shot-and
This is the excellent link i found today whilst browsing pokememes (any fan of pokemon or memes should definitively  give this website a go). I know i posted a cocktail recipe this weekend, and so i must say that i am by no means an alcoholic, i'm simply love making cocktails.

Might i just add in case you're incapable of finding the other links on the bottom of that page, there are 2 more for the bulbasaur and charmeleon versions. But being a massive squirtle fan i decided to post this link. Now i know many people will disagree, but to put it simply squirtle IS the best starter pokemon, i mean he's a turtle that evolves into Blastoise whose also a turtle but has massive cannons on his back. I know there are arguments for the others, but i also know that if you care to argue about it then you will also realise that there's a link with your starter Pokemon, probably stronger than you have with some people (and if you don't understand this, then again you have missed out on something awesome).

I'll leave it there for now, as it's hard to explain Pokemon to someone who hasn't played and to anyone who has they don't need telling how awesome it is. And anyway i feel like going to battle the elite four with my magnificent Blastoise (because unlike Chuck Norris i can't do it with a magikarp (see below, again from pokememes, i mean this site it truly awesome)).