All entries for November 2005

WE HAVE SNOW

At last the snow arrives in the west-midlands.

After all the time we have had this really cold weather, it is finally snowing which makes it all worthwhile. I was in the RaW Studio 1, helping with the rebuild, when someone noticed the snow.
I then had to go to a lecture and the snow was wet and more like hail.

When I came out of that lecture, there was a layer of snow on the grass, and the falling snow was large, fluffy flakes. It was really nice and made it fell christmasy (is that a word) and nice.

Woo for snow.

: 28 Nov 2005 15:41 |  Tags: Snow |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Destruction

I just pulled a radio studio apart in a day, then beat a snooker player 3–1 at pool. Overall a good day.

For the time-lapse video of the studio demolition (and rebuilding) see here

I am the 2nd to arrive at RaW at about 8:50, as you can see on the video, (Ian was 1st at about 7:30, foolish man) and am the last to leave at about 21:30. That's dedication, but that's also fun.

More to do tomorrow, ceiling to sand down, windows and fixtures to mask and then it's being spray painted white. I do have lectures to go to and work to do but I will fit it in around that.

Fun.

: 27 Nov 2005 23:24 |  Tags: Pool RaW Rebuild |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

No such thing as a free lunch …

… think again.

I got the following all free from RaW Sport Not Out.

• Farmhouse Pizza
• Garlic Pizza Bread
• Potato Wedges
• Chicken Strips
• 1.25 Litres of Coca Cola
• 3 packets of Peanut M&M's

All for just a bit of browsing on the internet to find the answer to a sports based question.

So there is such a thing as a free lunch (well a free dinner anyway).

: 26 Nov 2005 18:48 |  Tags: Dominos Free Free Lunch Pizza RaW RaW Sport Not Out Sport |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Nice Program

I like this program!

Mmm, tasty! :)

: 26 Nov 2005 15:56 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Photos

I have now got my card reader for my camera so can upload my photos of the freshers week Top Banana. They are not great photos as it appears that the lens was dirty and also it is very dark, not surprisingly.

Freshers Top Banana Gallery

P.S. The ones of the marketplace empty are to show my friend, James, what our union looks like.

: 26 Nov 2005 13:22 |  Tags: Freshers Photos Top Banana |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Mask

If you watch The Mask and lookout for the scene where Jim Carrey is dancing like this while surrounded by police officers pointing guns at him you will find something interesting. Look at the main building on the square with the large illuminated sign on top.

The sign says "Warwick".

I don't know what the building is supposed to be but this is true as we just watched this and Cool Runnings after eating our rather large Christmas Dinner.
Photo's will follow soon when I get them off everyone else. I couldn't use my camera as it uses the batteries up in no time and I can't get the photos off of it anyway. I'm waiting for a card reader to come off eBay and once it has I will have some photos, of my first Top Banana, which I took in freshers week.

: 26 Nov 2005 00:36 |  Tags: Film The Mask Warwick |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Snow!

I have just found out from my sister, on MSN Messenger, that it has just started snowing at home and now i'm not happy.
Why can't it snow here, all we get is rain, fog and a lot of wind.
It would have been really good if it has snowed today. Snow on christmas day (on Rootes O Ground) would have been great.

: 25 Nov 2005 15:33 |  Tags: Home Snow |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Feeling A Bit Better

Wednesday afternoon I went out with the Christian Union to do some evangelism. I got to talk to a 3rd year Physics student about God and creation etc. It was quite fun and left me feeling good inside. I never like talking to people and worry that I won't know what to say. Thankfully I know that I don't have to worry and once I had got into a conversation I was fine. I knew that God was with me, and would help me know what to say, due to this passage.

Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age

Matthew 28:19-20 - The Message

or

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20 - New International Version

depends which version you like better.

Later on I went to the CU main meeting and the guy was talking about "What does Jesus mean to me?" He went through this pasage which made me thing actually how much Jesus did for us and that I had forgotten this.

What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.

Mark 7:20-23 - New International Version

It's what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness— all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.

Mark 7:20-23 - The Message

He used a really good analogy to a guy who worked as a security officer for a company in the twin towers. When the 1st plane crashed he went running through the offices banging on the desks telling everyone that they needed to get out. Some of them went but some of them said that they were too busy or on the phone or any other number of excuses. He then went round again, putting phones down and making people get out of the building. he refused to leave until everyone had got out.
Only 6 of the ~2500 people from that company died and he was one of them. If you asked those people who survived what that guy had done for them, they wouldn't say "Not much!" or "Who's he?" they would say "He saved my life!". The same is true withe Jesus. He died so that you could live on. He saved your life so when asked "What did he do for you?" you wouldn't say "Not much!" or "Who's he?" you would say "He saved my life!".

That was quite a poweful analogy and after praying I felt happy, relaxed and free again.

P.S. If anyone is interested there is a carol service at Coventry Cathedral on 30th November (Week 10) at 7pm. If you meet at the main campus bus stop between 5:30 and 6:15pm you can get free transport. Admission is free and you get free mice mince pies and hot drinks afterwards. If that isn't eneough of a reason to go I don't know what is. See you there

: 25 Nov 2005 11:49 |  Tags: Agape Carols Christian Union CU Evangelism |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Happy Christmas

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a

Happy Christmas

as today is the 25th November.

We are having a full turkey roast and will probably eating turkey sandwiches 'til the end of term. I have heard that one kitchen is cooking a 12–16 person turkey for 12 of them. We cooked a 8–10 person turkey last friday and there is still some left a week later.
We have had stockings already with sweets and little presents and we are giving secret santa presents later.

Enjoy the day everyone.

: 25 Nov 2005 11:23 |  Tags: Christmas Rootes |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Dating Game

I'll start at the beginning so you know where i'm coming from.

I had a girlfriend for more than 2 years before we split up about 6 months before I came to Uni. We never went through the dating game, i.e. I didn't ask her out and she didn't ask me out. It was throught a mutual friend that we got together. It's a complicated situation but it worked out. We went to the same youth group at my church and I had seen and liked her from the 1st time I went. I followed her around for a while, but she had a boyfriend at the time. She said that she had also noticed and liked me at this time and showed it to me by trying to stamp on my feet with high heeled boots (as women do). One evening she was sitting on the wall outside with her boyfriend when they had an argument as he had been seeing someone else at the same time. After this the mutual friend got us together. Looking back at it now it was doomed to failure really as it was a bounceback reaction.

Unfortunately I couldn't see this at the time as I had never had a "propper" girlfriend before, only a junior school thing. I should have also known by the fact that she had had ~40 other boyfriends before, but what can I say, I was young and naieve. That relationship lasted a long while mainly due to naivity (if that is even a word), the feeling from friends and media that I needed a girlfriend, competition with a friend, and "rose tinted specs". After her mum and dad devorced she became even more insecure and started accusing me of ogling other girls if I even looked in their direction. I also stayed with her to offer emotional support throughout this ordeal. We decided that when I went to University we would split and then if neither of us had found anyone else after 4 years we would get back together. This is what my mum did when she went to Uni and this was fine for a while. My girlfriends best friend knew that I was thinking about finishing it and asked me to let her down gently. Unfortunately it wasn't that gentle as we had an argument and I dumped her in that.

It wasn't that bad as we are still friends. She had said that should I dump her she probably wouldn't be able to ever go out with anyone else, but soon after this she started complaining that no-one loved her and that she was feeling sad and depressed at being single. Soon enough after she got herself another boyfriend. She seems to think that you have to be with someone in order to be a full and complete person. I think this is something to do with her childhood but there is nothign I can do about this that advise her.

Her best friend has been single for a long while and told me that I didn't need anone and that being single wasn't that bad. She is a good friend and good looking but I never considered going out with her, even though my now ex-girlfriend accused us of going out just to spite her. There were a good few other good looking girls at the youth group, but I decided that they were better as frinds and I woul wait until Uni before looking again.

I was really enjoying the single life. More money, more time and being able to do what I want and look in any direction I want. Now i'm here I am enjoying the freedom and independence that gives me. E.g. I can wake up at 11 in the morning, go to some lectures, do some work, stay up 'til 1 working (I work best in the evening) then go to Tesco. I can go out with my kitchen mates and come back at 3, then sleep in even later. I am having fun here and really enjoying it, but recently I have been feeling/acting weirdly. I will elucidate.

Recently, as you will know if you frequent my blog, I went to see "We Will Rock You" with Tech Crew and I ended up wishing that I was the guy in that. This wore off rapidly as we went for a drink and then had the minibus ride home which distracted me from thinking about it. The next one was Fame! It was an top notch performance, but it has the familiar love story element which again affected me. This time it was worse. I started fancying 2 of the character, I say characters because I think it is that more then the actresses. I was expecting this to wear of quite quickly as well but it didn't. Through all of the 2.5 times I saw fame I couldn't stop looking at these 2 people. The same thing happened at the party. Even though i know one of them has a boyfriend, as he was there, I couldn't stop looking at her.

Sunday evening, the evening after the party, I was writing the previous blog entry and got really annoyed thinking about it. Thinking abou the way we are bombarded with this image that you have to be part of a couple. I had problems listening to my music collection as I had to keep skipping songs that were to do with love. I couldn't listen to the radio for the same reason and I got to thinking about how many couples you see in films and magazines and even just around university. I almost cried on my bed just thinking about all this stuff and I threw a paddy just like a little child would but I don't know quite why. I know I don't have to have a girlfriend, I know it makes me no less of a man and I'm a christian so it has nothing to do with sex. To to stop myself thinking about it, as it was making me feel worse, I took a late night walk while listening to a speach show on the radio. I also end up thinking about this every time I see a couple holding hands around campus.

On Monday I was feeling better but then I saw one of them around campus, the one with the boyfriend, and again I couldn't stop looking at her. I really don't know what I am feeling that makes me look, but I don't want her to see me looking 'cos I don't even know her. I was then fine for the rest of the day as I was occupied with lectures and work and such like. I then saw her again on Tuesday while walking back from the lecture and the same thing happened. I am really hoping that this will wear off, as I have no chance and really don't want to keep feeling whatever this is.

I just thaught today that it may be because I am missing affection. I have noone to give me affection here. At home I have my parents, siblings and relatives to give me affection. I guess that I'm subconciousley looking for affection and that these musicals remind me of that and cause me to focus on someone who can't give me that affection, whether it be characters or actresses. Luckily I go home in less than 2 weeks so if this is the case it will hopefully sort itself out.

What i'm after here with all this nonsencical ramblings and pouring out is some advice. This is not the place you would normally look for advice but it is the place I feel most comfortable putting this. It gets it out in the air and may make me feel better. I am after advice about my current situation and also the dating game. I have never "played" it and have no clue about how to go about doing so. There are a few people around who are good friends who I like but have no idea as to how to go about this. Any advice at all would be welcomed on any subject raised here. Also if you have any questions for me, comment and I may answer them.

I'm now going to go to the graduate to get a drink and maybe do some work on my laptop.

: 23 Nov 2005 22:44 |  Tags: Advice Affection Dating Failure Musicals Past |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem