This house is too cold...

Am not going to survive the next few weeks without some sort of heat. No-one seems to want to purchase oil, and all the jumpers, hoodies and woolly knee-high socks I have thrown on have not warmed me up one iota. Brrrrrr.

5 essays and 2 exams. I don't seem to be making much progress on the essays, as usual, and 4 of them are due this Friday. No way am I going to have 4 essays finished in 3 days. Not a hope! The exams are good though, on the 11th and 14th of December, so plenty of time to look over notes. Yayyy!

So many Christmas parties this semester, so little time! The amount of Society Christmas get togethers at college have been crazy. Sadly, I haven't been able to go to half of them, but I have apologised and sure I will see them all again soon enough. There are some really lovely societies in NUI Galway though! :)

The Galway Christmas Market is finally here! I absolutely love this market, just wandering around and looking at the pretty ornaments, woolly hats and gloves, and various other things on sale.

 

Once these exams and essays are over, Órfhlaith (my housemate) and I are looking forward to a festive party at our place. I really should be practicing my party piece, but just haven't gotten around to it yet :)

It'll be grand! :P

Eirtakon 2012 Photoshoot

This was taken on the 11th November 2012 at my first ever Anime & Manga convention! :D

From L to R: Jessica, Rachel, me and some random cosplayer :)

On this Harvest Moon...

(Blogsoc Challenge #2, a non-fiction piece...)

"When we were strangers I watched you from afar,
When we were lovers I loved you with all my heart... [..]

... Because I'm still in love with you I want to see you dance again,
Because I'm still in love with you , on this harvest moon..." - Harvest Moon, Neil Young

Photography Kevin Fleming on 26 Nov 2007 wilddelaware.com

Hearing that song being played by the West Cork Ukulele Orchestra, it hit me how much I loved everyone around me, including myself. I might not show it, but every person that exists in my life, I love them, faults and all. This may included an unrequited love for someone, but I can look at them from afar with fondness...

The weekend was an endless stream of happiness. On Friday after lectures in Uni finished, I went driving around with my friend David around Salthill, as far as Spiddal and back again. We took in the sights and caught up on the news, had not seen him in ages.
Afterwards, I went to babysit for Sandra (one of my besties).
Her little boy is such a comedian, love chatting with him about everything. His Mum wanted a night out with the girlies, and I hope to join them in a few weeks for a girlie night out, but instead I spend a few hours watching "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Ninjago" with my feet up and a cuppa tea (made by the little guy, it was yummy!) (^_^)/

I spent Saturday afternoon getting my eyes examined. Contact lenses have gotten a lot more fragile! Lol. I haven't worn any contacts in a few years, so getting used to these one will be fun.
Bumped into some old friends, I keep forgetting how small Galway city can be. It made me smile so much, happy to be alive. I went on a wander around the Galway market for some honeycomb to eat, but couldn't find any :'( Had to make do with a Crunchie bar instead!

The West Cork Ukulele Orchestra played in the Roisin Dubh on Saturday 20th Oct (one night ago) were amazing to hear live on stage. They owed the stage! I bought their CD afterwards, so they're on their way up for sure :) I met two lovely people, Lee and Takata, that night. It was great to hang out with people in a concert than to be alone at one, and they were really lovely to chat to :)

It wasn't always the best week. There always has to be some sour with the sweet. On Wednesday night, I had such a good time at the Irish Conversation Circle making some new friends and having the chats. There were some brilliant musicians that night, and we tried to sing Irish songs. Hilarious! xD

I met this one man, who apparently was a distant relative. Of course I was nice to him, even if he was on the black stuff all day. I was having the chats with him, and he had to go and comment on my weight. Up to then, I was fine with him being drunk and testy, but my weight was my business, and not anyone else.  I have my own demons with how I look to people. It was like a lightening bolt. I went quiet for a minute, but quietly kept smiled. I excused myself after about 10 minutes to go home, even giving the distant relative a hug. Why I did that, I do not know.

Life is funny like that.

Note of interest: The only leather thing I have in my possession is a Leather Rose. And it shall remain like that xD

Bumblebees...

 (A mixed real life and fiction story, submitted to Blogify...) 

We have already been living in the new house for three weeks. In that time, the dishwasher has broken down, a huge amount of assignments are due, and I neglected to look after myself properly. It has been such a clusterfuck, it’s not even funny. There is now a chorus of coughing throughout the house.

The societies had been taking priority. I felt like I was an advocate to all of their causes, and I tried my best to be at every meeting. But, this week, I have taken a step back, and decided to help those I truly enjoy (i.e. BlogSoc being one of them, of course!).

I had the weirdest dream involving a swarm of bees a few nights ago. Hmm, a dream… More like a nightmare. Because I had been so worried about assignments, and talk of bees the past few days, this might have triggered the horrible images.

They say that dairy products give you nightmares before bedtime, so either there was too much dairy in that scrummy Oreo milkshake or I had taken too much cough syrup.

This dream started out in the kitchen of the new house. Outside the window, I could see that a massive amount of dark clouds hung in the air. The back garden’s walls were broken down, and the earth looked very dry, hardly any plant life.

A huge swarm of bumblebees buzzed around the sitting room and kitchen. They were massive, the size of basketballs. Their black and neon yellow stripes were scary to look at, like their sting was going to point straight at my head.

I ran towards the back garden. Flowers started popping up everywhere, even though the harsh terrain had been a tundra to begin with. They started buzzing louder, heading towards me. I wasn’t sure what would distract the fearsome beasts, so I quickly pulled a bunch of flowers from the ground, and threw them down the basement.

Somehow, I could triangulate their main headquarters to the NUIG concourse. But, they kept following me, buzzing towards me. I ran around Eyre Square, towards the Spanish Arch, and around Salthill. I kept running and running, until I woke up with a cramped foot. Ouch.

The moral of the story is, wear coloured socks. They are the best items of clothing, ever. Random coloured socks are even better. They are always guaranteed to cheer you up when you’re stressed or ill.  

(Photo by http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/ )

Zombie living... Take Oranges for the cold...

Second week of college was going so well. The Socs Day was brilliant, got to see some Anime on Thursday night, and then I took part in the Third Annual Galway Zombie Walk...

(Photo by https://www.facebook.com/XadackaPhotography )

 It was amazing! The evening was to raise funds for the Make A Wish foundation, so you could donate a few euro to get painted up as a Zombie, or just have blood on you and be a Survivor. The event took place from the Spanish Arch. The makeup team did a fantastic job on the huge crowd that turned up, not sure how they got everyone all done!

 I was the first one to volunteer myself as a Zombie makeover person, and I specifically asked for the Works, so I got it! Bloody mouth, scratches of blood on my arms and face, huge pulsating gashes on my face... It was so amazing ^_^"

 Everyone was admiring each other's zombie (or survivor) attire. It was so nice to talk to everyone there, as I had gone on my own. I still felt out of place at times though, only because I didn't push myself to talk more. But everyone was so lovely ^_^/

(Photo by https://www.facebook.com/XadackaPhotography)

Around 10pm (I think), we slowly started making our way up through Shop Street up towards Eyre Square. Photographers were taking our photos like paparazzi at a fashion show. The audience were either taking photos of us, amused by the sight, or scared stiff. I was a terrible zombie, but I loved it!

 Afterwards, we were entertained with a fire show in Eyre Square, and then free entry into The Bentley club. I went in for one drink to warm my cold undead body, and then went home...

 Since then, I have had a terrible cold with a sore throat. Bleh. Am taking tons of Vit C, painkillers, cough syrup, drinking plenty of fluids, Lemsip... Nothing has worked yet. Even lost most of my voice :'( I must not miss any classes tomorrow though. I hate being ill, it is not fun missing lectures and society meetings!

 Hugs, M xx

Starting off anew...

(A piece I wrote in Blogify.org... I will paste the pieces I write from there onto here... ^_^/)

Ok, so I tried to hook up my personal blog to the account, but it failed. Maybe it's better off.

I'm Máire, nice to meet you *waves both hands enthusiastically at a computer screen...* ... Weird much?

I got a lovely card from the nice guys at NUIG Blog Soc about this site, so thought I would sign up and give it a go. Today was a very hectic day for Societies Day around the NUI Galway campus, and was helping out my friends in Cumann Drámaíochta (Irish Drama Soc), An Cumann Craic (Irish Fun Soc), and Life Society. So, while most of the Galway student population took to the streets to sample some entertainment for the evening, I had conked out on the bed (YES, I am very disappointed! I was invited to a party and all, still didn't push me! *sigh*)

Am currently trying to figure out how to balance 2nd year subjects, study, and attend at least 27 societies. Am serious! They are all so good! I have since organised them all into a Bookmark folder on Chrome. If I could only be as organised for my lectures and study time...

First lecture in less than 5 hours... Oh joy.

Laters, M xx