I never fail to surprise myself

Late edition news:
Ok - so I visited the uni today. Initial impressions where, urgh... you call this a uni? There were lots of undergrads hanging around that just reaked of "eau de I couldn't get into any better uni" and "eau de I am an overseas student that moans about exams, I mean I paid for it already, why do I have to study?". This freaked me out a bit .. but when I visited the actual department I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, it is a really focused little place. It is offers one of the only courses that has a competition law component combined with all of the economics stuff. The lecturers are often from industry, including senior people working at the Competition Commission. All of this convinced me to sign on the dotted line. So, it is pretty much a done deal now. About as done as they get in the deal business.


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Today I am off to Uni. I am going to meet with the programme director for MSc Economic Competition and Regulation. Then I will be seeing the programme admin chicky about paying my deposit and converting from a part time enrolment to full time. It is a bit weird to be back in the position of looking at doing full time study again. I am a bit disconcerted, but for one reason or another the lure of learning has pulled me back into the exam world. It has been quite a difficult decision to make, and I am holding out a bit on saying that I have fully made the decision, but today is the deadline for paying the deposit and as I mentioned in the last post, time is a very impatient master.

One of my issues is that the uni itself is not really Ivy League quality, but I did have a good look at Cambridge and LSE (London School of Economics), and my gut feeling was that they were more interested in "economics as it can be made to look alot like engineering" and not so much "economics as it relates to real world policy analysis". Since the former makes me shudder and the later makes me think happy thoughts, I am sticking with my current guns. I think. Well I haven't signed anything yet, but I am getting there. The idea today is to keep a very open mind to both the idea of doing full time study, and the idea of deferring the decision for a year if I am not happy with the Uni. It is kinda important to get this bit right. Well, not "end of the world" important, but certainly more than "which wool would make a nice scarf" important.

I will keep you posted on the outcomes!

Update regarding monks

Ok, first things first. This post has nothing to do with monks. I just read that line somewhere and it stuck in my head. I really wish I had read what came after. Context can be so helpful.

I have now watched the entire four and fifth series of Six Feet Under. I tried to upgrade my unemployed status from intermediate to advanced by launching straight into Twin Peaks back to back, but even I can't hack that much couch.

Not sure what I am doing at the moment. I have been accepted into a masters degree that I think that I would love to do, but I have just read the large print that says that, though part time, it does need one half day a week. Without a job lined up it seem a little rash to commence studying and then find a suitably accommodating employer. I have until the end of the month to accept the study (meaning mid next week), but the jury is well and truly out and getting drunk at the court house local so who knows. They will have to reconvene sometime soon, though, cause time waits for no man and seems to have a particular eye on me.

In music news, I bought tickets to Four Tet recently for an "intimate" gig Fabric. I don't know how intimate Fabric gets, but it does make the mind boggle a tad.

In even less relevant news, London stinks! As in, literally it is a very smelly place. I haven't been in a situation before where I have been so acutely aware that humans, like any other animals, have an oder that is not exactly peachy. I think that it is partly the population density, or maybe they all just have really weak bladders from all the Pimms, but whatever it is there are patches of wiffyness that hang in the air around bus stops and tube stations. Pretty nasty stuff.

This weekend is the Notting Hill carnival which is apparently the largest of its type outside of Rio. Given that it is packed into a few tiny London blocks, the fact that it is absolute mayhem may not be too much of a surprise. I have been told that the "go" is to get there in the morning and then get the hell out while you still have your wallet. Seeing as this seems about par with Brixton weekday, I am not all that worried, but we will see. I have just started knitting a scarf and between that and cups of tea I am absolutely flat chat.

This is it, kids!

Today is my last day at my contract work. It has all just flown! On the weekend I moved into my new house. It was great, ‘cept for the fact that I chose to break my drinking draught with drama and aplomb Saturday evening with my new housemates. Sunday I remembered all of those very, very good reasons why drinking is not my friend.

The new house is, well, I dunno, good I guess! I think that I was having some sort of panicky reaction to it – scared that I wouldn’t like it and that it wouldn’t work out and that I would have to move. I am thinking that I desperately want to stay in one place for more than a couple of weeks sometime soon. That seems to be the message my weary brain is telling me! Well, for better or worse I have signed a 6 month lease on this little room and will stick it out. ‘Cept for a sprawling backpack in the middle of the room gutted like a woman after child birth, the room is looking good. I have my own private beech in the room. I don’t know quite how I feel about this. There is a fire place, and in place of fire and tiles there is a pebble beach. This means that when I use the mirror on the mantle in the morning I leave a trail of white pebbles around the room. This could get very old very quickly. The house is still in Brixton, blessedly short minutes from various stations (I have access to no less than three stations within walking distance, Public Transport Gods be praised).

Oh, and another bonus is that the new house has on DVD every episode from every series of Six Feet Under. You see, unemployment is suddenly looking up! Actually, I am really looking forward to this break “between jobs”… It will be nice to chill out and get my stuff sorted. But in the meantime .. I had better wrap this work up and make like a banana.

I'll believe in anything

My birthday week is nearly over ... the sugar high has become jittery .. the cake tin is empty... but have you seen me stop smiling?! No sir!

It has been a lovely week. Dinner on Wednesday night was really lovely and even had some family cause my cousin Tom just happened to be in London. Thursday night, last night, KT her doppelganger and I went to see The Junior Boys. Again - perfect night - perfect band. Nice happy synthy pop to have a mid-week bop to and nothing too stressful. I guess my only criticm would be that men of the slightly porky persuasion should avoid white button up shirts when getting up in front of a crowd. Enough said.

In other musical fronts, and just cause it is Friday and the internet is feeling generous, why not check out Wolf Parade I'll believe in anything, I mean, really, were you actually planning to do any work this arvo??!

If I were Jesus, today would be Christmas!

By the time that you read this, Tangles will be 28 years old. Or 28 years young!! (Oh mirth)

I am sitting here trying to write something about it being my birthday. I don’t really have much to say. Last year was a bit shitty, in all honestness, which gave me the shits because the year before had been a bit shitty too and I had thought that I had left the shits far behind me.

About two years ago I saw a fortune teller on a shitty work do on a boat in Sydney harbour. Having already seen about 200 other boring IT professionals, this old bint had about the freshness of cabbage around the bins at the back of Coles, but she did say that the next two years would be a bit shitty BUT that I should look forward to about this time in two years, which turns out to be about now. Well, I don’t normally go in for that sort of stuff, but what do you know. I am having a whale of a time and my happiness readings are off the charts (well, my charts at least).

So, well done me and well done to all those around me who have put up and shut up with my ups and downs over the years. I hope to repay in full and then again some all the kindness and love and puppy dogs and moonshine…

Sorry got a little carried away.

Happy birthday me!!