Day 13 - Thursday

Day 13 - Thursday

A lie-in for all the crew today – only had to get to the meeting for 8.00am lol! Early morning with Josephine leading, followed by the leaders initiation – was proper messy – beans, porridge, etc. all poured into socks, then worn by the new leaders who had to dance to the YMCA lol! After people had got cleaned up it was swimming time – yaaay a shower lol! On the way back, Smellit bought all the last minibus back to camp some ice cream & we sat & ate it, overlooking The Needles - sweet!

The evening’s activity was a Gala Dinner [a posh way of calling it a fancy dress dinner lol!]. I decided to dress up as that lovable rogue Sean Dillon! For those who have no idea [i.e. everyone apart from TC, PC, oh & Vicky M]; the author Jack Higgins wrote a series of novels with the hero as Dillon, once the most feared enforcer the IRA ever had, now he works for most secret part of the British military service. Anyways, was loads of fun, with a 3 course dinner – win! The PJ’s included; 6 constipated people in the Bible, Pie Sketch, some Bill Bailey musical number! When all the campers went to sleep, we tried to do a prank – failed, so went to sleep! However, overnight some people took the initiative – in the morning, there were upside-down tables fully laid out – wrapped round with cling film, the final part was to dress up the Ressuci-Annie up in a baby suit – proper winner!!

Monkeyworld!!

Day 12 - Wednesday

Another very early morning, meeting at 7.15 lol! Young Sarah was leading it & gave us a rendition of her favorite song, was really cool. My crew [Alpha Squad] were all going to Monkeyworld today which looked to be good fun. We were to board a big yellow coach thing – yaaay on a coach with many screaming young campers – eeeek!! Also, as it was my cousin’s birthday [Andy – The Giant] so I gave him a call to wish him Happy Birthday [he’s old now – 27…oh wait, he’s only 6 months older than me d’oh!].

Monkeyworld was pretty rad – there were monkey’s everywhere lol! However, there were a few problems [well 7 of them lol], no really it was good fun, but there were what appeared to be a million young people milling around – eeeek! We also visited the gift shop & I got some monkeys – a big chimp, a really cute…grey…monkey…thing & the best thing ever – a snoring monkey – it’s a monkey…that snores heavily lol!!! After we had finished looking at all the monkeys, with our monkeys [lol], we got on the coach & headed back home.

On the way back, I got all my monkeys stolen by the Tizzy & fallen asleep on by the Mad-Eye! Although the funniest thing I’d seen all day, had to have been when we de-coached & Mad-Eye [having just woken up] picked up a box, got off the coach & staggered & fell over – so harsh, but so very funny lol!! She did look like a drunkener, it was proper funny, then me, Tizzy & Rosie helped her back up & escorted her back to the camp [where she stayed till 2nd Helpings lol!].

The evening’s activities were a campfire, then cocoa & sleep for the campers! The campfire was cool, testimonies [including one from Nate which nearly made me cry with happiness – go on my brother!] & some acoustic worship – that always rocks my socks [as the great Oli would say] – especially: blessed by your name [plus one other – I’ll remember which one…eventually lol].

For the last bit of the night, hung out in the kitchen, with crazy conversations going on, including; me & Nate whispering expletives to each other, Smellit talking about taking a dump & it being a penguin, etc. lol! Then me & Nate went back to our tent & had a torch fight - why?! I just don’t know, but it seemed funny at the time, but we might possibly have woken up Hobbit lol!!

Day 11/A very busy day!!

Day 11 - Tuesday:

Started off today with one of those magical early-morning prayer & bible study sessions, but had to be there for 7.15 [ouch!]. I turned up just after 7.10 & was amazed to find out I was supposed to be leading it – d’oh! Well it was in the leaders pack, which is great, but as I still didn’t have one [as I wasn’t there on the first day of camp, I was at the wedding!] I had no idea lol! So I had about 4 minutes to prepare something, so I did it on Micah, which had come from a talk at my placement church [St Mary’s, North Leigh]. It went ok, but I’m not sure it was up to the standard set by everyone else! At the meeting, we found out if we were going to go Scuba Diving, or to Monkeyworld – today it was the turn of the younger tents to go Scuba Diving & the older one to Monkeyworld. As per yesterday, I was working with Shani & the youngest boys & girls tent, but as an added bonus, we had AJ [whose real name was Adam & I’d forgotten that – been calling him AJ for years lol] & Maddie [aka Madeleine, Madders, Mad-Eye, etc.]. After the morning teaching session, we had to get our packed lunches & drink & load it into the minibus, then off to a place far, far, away [honestly I have no idea where!!] where we first had to have some luncheon, then head off on a photo-challenge-treasure-hunt-thing! This was quite cool & I think we did get most of the answers, but we were with the little ones, so things always took a little longer lol!!

Next came one of the highlights of the week [for me anyways lol] – Scuba Diving!! This was not far from the treasure hunt thing, & we went as a whole crew [apart from Shani, who didn’t want to!] so there were 10 of us in the water & one watching [i.e. Shani]. First we had some safety announcements, then were introduced to the kit & the leaders were asked to help the younger ones on with their stuff first, before getting their own kit sorted. The kit we were using I assume was for beginners [but don’t quote me on that lol!] with basically a pack on your back with shoulder, chest & waist straps to attach you to your pack, then there were 4 different attachments to the pack – one for your air apparatus [respirator], a spare air apparatus, a divemaster computer [how much air you have left, direction, depth, etc.] & a method to control your ascent/descent – this was a method of inflating or deflating your pack [it had an air lung inside it which was linked to the air supply I assume] so you could sink [presumably with natural gravity & the weight of your pack – it really was quite heavy]. Once everyone had got the packs on, we had to get on some swim-fins [although they were a bit unnecessary in the pool!] & a mask [so we could see underwater!]. Then we had a chance to play with the kit we had on – try breathing above water to get used to the respirator, then using the ascent/descent control, try sinking down. The pool was only about 20m long & was split into two depths – 1.5m in the shallow end & 3m in the deep end. We weren’t allowed to go deep [although other groups had been, as they were the only group using the pool] - there was another crew of more experienced divers at the deep end, so they didn’t want to have too many people in the same part of the pool! Because there were 10 of us [no there were actually 11 – Smellit was there to!!] it was quite crowded, & for the leaders, it was quite frustrating as 1.5m of pool is not really enough to do more than swim around a little bit – I felt that if we had the 3m part, we could have at least dropped away from the rest of the campers & had a bit more space – near the bottom of the pool!! After about 45 minutes [of which only about 15-20 was spent in the pool] we had to de-pack & shower & change [a shower – eeek that might make all the dirt & stuff go away & where’s the fun in that lol!!]. Once all the campers had showered & changed, the leaders disappeared to do the same thing.

We had Smellit [i.e. Dave Adams] with us on the journey back & we actually drove through some rain - so far this week, there had been no rain, only glorious sunshine!!! Also on the way home I had to look after Mad-Eye’s wooden heart necklace, which she had snapped the string which kept it around her neck. It was a very pretty heart, made out of King Wood [quite ironic as Mad-Eye’s surname is King] by her dad & she had to take it off her neck for Scuba Diving, & me, being me, said I have some string to fixify it lol!! So I had to look after it [& not snap it lol!!] till we got back & then I put some elastic string around it & gave it back – 1, 2, 3, awwwwww!!! When we got back, there was going to be quite a wait for the Monkeyworld crew to get back [the traffic was awful on the main roads back to the camp base], so Smellit & Me got a match going between the leaders & campers – to start off with, it was, Smellit, AJ & me, but as soon as people wanted to get involved it got a bit larger lol! Was a lot of fun, but it kind of defeated the object of having a shower after diving lol!! When everyone came back, it was time for Tent Time & then dinner [yaaay dinner!!]. During dinner, I noticed that one of my tent-crew was not looking particularly happy, so I checked to see if he wanted a chat after dinner, he did, so I told the man Wrighty that I would have to take some time after dinner & to excuse us from the washing up. I chatted to the camper about what was up, & it was a member of his family that he felt really close to, so that was not cool. I prayed with him & then he asked for some thinking space, so I gave it to him. I then caught up with Wrighty to explain what was up & for each of us to keep an eye on him.

The evening’s activity was a chilled-out movie – Happy Feet. However, I really didn’t see that much of it! It probably too me an hour to walk from the kitchen to the main meeting tent, as almost everyone I passed needed to talk to me! From Josephine & Sarah who needed jumpers as they were always too cold, to Lauren who needed to chat as a member of her in-laws who she’s know for ages had developed a cancer, & needed to talk to someone. It was good to feel needed, but my only problem was that if you’re always giving out support, sometimes you need to receive some support yourself – I really felt that tonight. However, as a bit of good news, my mother rang me to tell me that my Grandmother Jean [on her birthday no less] had decided to give me £120 to buy a camera!! I reckon that I might use the money towards getting a SatNav instead, but I will have to talk to Jean to confirm if she would be happy for me to do that.

Finally today, there was no PJ’s so it was chill time, then sleep time – a very busy & draining day!!

Day 10/Indiana Jones Day

Day 10 - Monday:

Woke up early (well early for me lol) at 7 (ouch!!) ready for the day! Firstly there was a leaders meeting with Jules leading an early morning bible study, then a mass prayer session & information about what was happening that day & trying to inspire all the leaders for the rest of the day/week.

Today was the Indiana Jones adventure day. This meant a series of challenges in the New Forrest, including transporting Yeti Blood [bleuch!] [with Captain Beakie], picking up Dollie’s & climbing trough a rope-web [with Smellit], lugging trees around a course [Captain Bear & Tanya], guiding someone blindfolded round a course [Ginger Ninja & Mad-Eye], guiding a boat [loaded with a Resussi-Annie] road a course [George & Rosie….I think] before the most evil of them all – the bog pit [Wrighty & AJ] – where you first of all had to get your feet wet by walking 250m up a stream, then go into a boggy area & play search, rescue & hide – it was really disgusting & I was not completely impressed with trashing my fairly new Merrells, but hey what can you do! For all the challenges etc., I was working with the youngest campers & was working with the great Shani, who was loads of fun [even though she kept calling me Dave for some reason….hmmm!]

After cleaning off we chilled out before 2nd Helpings [with Jules] whilst I sorted out my tent & moved some stuff around, so I wasn’t sleeping practically on top of Nate lols!! Then it was PJ’s, this time with ‘Just a Minute’, a Bill Bailey track, etc. Next off to bed for some more sleepage!!

Day 9/MWCC Day 1 or 2, not really sure!!!

Day 9 - Sunday:

Woke up & finally feeling stoked for camp! Had quite a leisurely breakfast (this hotel has the narliest cutlery ever - everything was long & thin - bizarre) & some strong coffee with Jen & waited for her Dad to pick her up from the hotel. Which is where I currently am, updating my holiday diary!!

Bring on camp!!

Got to camp.....eventually! & met up with mes amies (Jo, Smellit, Nate-Dawg, Judge Jules, Cookie, etc.) & got much huggage.......mostly from da Boyz lol! Then started making a journal with 'Pikachu Ind' on the front & got Nate to draw GIR on the back & then put 'What does the G stand for?' next to it lol - always a good laugh being around the Nate, but I think it's a bad idea - we'll corrupt each other lol!! Next was a tasty lunch, then I was 'volunteered' to rush a camper (who was from my tent group last year) who was really ill (he's already been to hospital & diagnosed with either a UTI or Appendicitis & needed to go to the pediatric ward of his local hospital) halfway home (which was also very close to where I started from this morning - d'oh!!) & there was a distinct possibility that I might miss going to the beach - eeeeek!! However, with some rather fast & furious driving, both me & Hobbit made it to the beach & managed to dive straight in the sea - yaaaaay! I love the sea lol!!

After getting back & playing the obligatory game of football, I was introduced to the concept of PJ's (it stands for Pete & James) & they did some classical Mighty Boosh stuff & some Blackadder 4th scripting - it was pretty awesome, but the Boosh went down the best I reckon!! Then I was on duty to make sure all the male campers were asleep!! So late (ish) night for me!

The Wedding [Day 8]

Day 8 - Saturday:

Ahh the Wedding! Yes, well as I'm sure all the students in my year group know, two of my Uni crew are due to get married today.....however, I am also due to start camp (Mid Wessex) today to - d'oh, how can I be in two places at once? Hmmm! Well with the good grace of the man in charge of my camp this week (Tim Beacon) I'm allowed to turn up tommorow (Sunday, I think!) which is great, as it means that I get to see some more crazy people get married - eeek!!

Anyways I got up & had a leisurely breakfast & repacked my car & took myself & young Jennie down to this posh hotel (Norton Park) near Andover. When we got checked in, with about an hour to go till the wedding, we checked out the room & I have to say it was pretty awesome - a little better than the last time I stayed at a 'hotel' (aka Travellodge) - with a rad 28 inch LCD TV built into the wall, a really nice bathroom & a really comfy bed with nice surrounds, a fridge, safe & allsorts!

So we both got ready to go (Jen ironed my shirt for me to tee hee!) & tried to find the church in Andover lol which was classic: 'oh look I see a church tower - that must be it....but where can we park eeeek!!' etc. We did arrive, a little bit late, as both bride & groom were already by the alter by then! We found some seats & I recognised Nick from my course, then Mikey, Hannah, Claire & even Yolanda - not a bad turnout methinks! (afterwards Dom was there to!)

The service itself was really good & very Han & Mark (now Mr & Mrs Vicarage lol) where they exchanged standard vows, as well as their own commitment vows (1, 2, 3.........awwwww!!) also there was loads of worship, & Yoko (Yolanda) sang Amazing Grace (Gospel style) & there was a song made up for the bride & groom, & poetry & it was just really chillaxed & cool & best of all, the after-wedding photo session was fairly fast - win!! The church itself had really narly decorations; candles, sashes, flowers everywhere & an archway just in front of the alter covered in ivy for them to stand under - all very cool! Oh & for all the girls, the dress looked like a cross between the dress from Pirates of the Caribbean & mixed with lace & gold underlay & was corseted - rad! She also had some flowers in her hair, but I am a man & I have no idea what flowers they were lolz!

After the service we all gathered together for the reception & that, although was an 'interesting' journey (yeah Satnav only works if u a postcode or any clue where you're going whatsoever lol!), was really awesome!! It was a mill & all outside, the food was great & there was Pimms....what could be better?! A great time was had by all!! They also had a narly idea of taking photo's of all the guests for an album & getting them to sign their good wishes - genius, & crazy Han decided to stand in the river for some photos.....in her wedding dress - the crazy Foo lols!!

Afterwards we went back to the hotel & chillaxed & watched more bad TV (Jaws 2 & Lake Placid on the same night - d'oh!) & I crashed on out!

day 7!

Hey y'all as you can probably tell, I've managed to get my phone online - yaaay! As such, expect a few more updates today lol! currently sat on a minibus full of kids from the youngest boys & girls tent (of camp) & am on the way to scuba diving - sweeet!!

We continue!!


Day 7 - Friday:

Mostly a chilled day, had to go over to sort out some things with my Brother & to try to get him to clean my car - yaaay clean car!! Then went back home & had my Mum being all panicky & going off in a huff - yaaay family politics lol!! Anyways spent the rest of the avo repacking my clothes for camp - trying to weave some magic & only take about half the stuff I had last time & sort out a computator for Jen as well!! Also during this time I managed to find a rad hotel to crash at after the wedding tommorow - not bad, 4 star & about 10 minutes drive from Andover - excellent!

Picked up Jen in the evening, took a little while & wasn't helped that she did not have a phone for me to contact her on - d'oh!! Yeah I kinda wasn't sure whether I was supposed to get her from the coach or train station......oops!!

Then me & young Jennie had a rather nice & posh dinner (even if I do say so myself lol!!) of; sunblushed tomatoes, rocket, baby spinich & camembert, in a puff pastry, & chicken, pesto & tomato en croute (in a cross pastry ting!) with roasted potatoes & some good wine - yaaaay! Was good to cook again, & loads of fun to!! Then it was back to chillaxing & watching 'Five Children & It' (again!) & falling asleep in the middle of it (again!!).

more holiday diary bloggerage!

Day 6 - Thursday:

Had an interesting sleep - mostly because of the dreams & visions about Jen - & no not in that way, but it was an answer to prayer that I was not really expecting lol!! Then got up at a reasonable hour & got my stuff together & ready for the off. Then got my car packed & showed Sid the delights of 'Caturday' (cats doing silly things or in funny poses, but with captions - yaaaay captions!! If you want to see more, there are some fine Caturday example on some earlier blogs!). Then I took my leave of young Sid & disappeared off toward Andover in search of a reaonable campsite near(ish) to Andover itself.....& seach I did, & search & search & search!! I found one, about halfway between Andover & Mid Wessex - great! Oh except it was miles out in the middle of nowhere & I doubt I'd find it again.....ever!!

En route to Andover(ish) I also rang Jen & shared what I had been considering, praying about & then getting dreams & visions about! Basically it was about getting back together, but giving purpose to our relationship (oh & for me to get off my long-distance-is-a-terrible-thing high horse) I think my exact words were that I should stop being a pr*ck & be serious - yeah let's work it out!!

Then, after much frustration trying to get out of somewhere called Romsey - it has a weird road system enough to rival Oxford - I reckon I had to go round the place 5 times & be at exactly 88 miles an hour to get out of it's orbit lol! In the end I decided a good use of my time would be to go back to relax & have a bath! Not an unreasonable idea lol! Also because I am going to the wedding (Hannah & Mark) with Jennie & she wanted me to pick her up from Oxford I thought it no harm at all to be back!

En route back to Oxford I called a couple of people; my Mum, Oviler & Hobbit, to see what was going on tonight & found out that Da Boyz were going out for Hobbit's leaving do & why don't I join them - it didn't take much to convince me that was a good idea lol!!

So after getting back & unwinding, I picked up Hobbit, who told me that I also needed to pick up Oli (d'oh back to mine to unload my car then!) so we got Oli, who then told me that I also needed to pick up Katie as well (uh-oh I only mae space in me car for one extra passenger lol!) we then headed over to the Head of the River pub on the Thames & hung out having just the one beverage ('cos I was driving - duh! Then went home & chilled & watched some rubbishy Tv - yaaay rubbishy TV!!!

Holiday Diary Day 5

Day 5: Wednesday

Got up by 10am & after a life reviving cup of tea, got down to the buisness of the interweeb lol! Posted a couple of my diary entries & checked all Facebook & email entries - nice! But at the same time giving some advice to the Sid to try to get a journal finished (he had to resubmit a couple of bits of work) he's got one more & hopefully I'll be able to help him nail that to!!

Spent much time on the net today, with young Sid, with only a couple of breaks for food & drink! Got one journal nailed which was great & repacked the car & got my bike out (& it had a flat tyre hmmmmm not cool!!) & am about to go for a ride........after my cup of tea though lols!!!!

Went for a massive bike ride (about 3 hours) & took in some cool sights, like the biggest cemetery (scary) & some army testing places - was very cool, but managed to get a puncture (Sid, mate, riding a road bike over rocky ground is a really bad idea lol!!) when we got back (in the twilight lol) I was totally exhausted (a good thing some might say!) & we just monged out in front of some comedy on TV & had a flick through Private Eye!

Also spoke to my Cousin (Kat) & it looks like I'm not going down to Brighton tommorow now, she's busy & her parents are away - d'oh! My plan is now to try to find a campsite somewhere near Andover & be there for 3 nights, then head down to camp instead!!

Just before going to bed me & Sid had an intense pray for each others needs; kids, situations, opportunities for Sid & heart, family, situations, health, opportunity & kids for me. Was really good to be encouraged & encourage someone else in prayer - it'd been a fair while since that happened!!

Day 4 of teh travelling!!

More bloggarage - this time from the hip & happening metropolis of Woking!! Day 4: Tuesday

Woke up.......eventually & trekked down to the beach (where I currently am) on the way went to a professional tatoo parlor & chatted to a artist - who seemed sure that I was not entirely 100% sure I wanted one & should really think first for a while & see, but could come back on Saturday if I wanted to get one for sure! Hmmmmm we shall see!!

Next we went to a coule of shops & I ended up getting a narly new Vans back-pack & new Mambo beach-towel in the sales - all very good! Then proceeded to have some McLunch & head on down to the beach!! Played a new & very bizarre card game called sh*thead!

Also spoke to young Sid at lunchtime & it looks like Woking is my next stop, so about to get my stuff together & head on off on the road again for more craaaziness!! When will it all end lol!

Eventually left the beach around 3ish & was really burned on the backs of my legs - d'oh! & on my shoulders quite badly, but all is fair in love & war........& sunshine!! Treked back to the car & left Mich in Bournemouth & started the very unknown journey to Woking - I think it's in Surrey, or so I'd been led to believe...an hour later & driving into the county of Surrey means yes, yes it is in Surrey lol!

Anyways got to a little village just outside Woking called St Johns & met up with the Sid (who's now sporting a rad mohawk!) & had dinner & went straight out to meet some of his amies!

Had a delayed pub visit, as Sid had no I'd (he's like 22 but they were being a little funny about it) then had a beer or 5 with his friends. Met some really rad people like Luke, Ben, Adam & a guy called Mark who was the ginger Jack Bauer (i.e. From 24!) complete with his own action figure!!!! Ttoally random, but funny bunch & we got on really well, based on our knowledge of the interweb - Zim, Family Guy, etc. & our similar humour - definite lol! We then went on a massively detouring detour via the train station back to Sid's at about 12.30 tired but in very good spirits!

Bournmouth Day 2

Mooooooooooore holiday diarying! Day 3: Monday!

Definitely not a regular Monday! Woke up at 9, in definite need of a life-restoring cup of tea lol! Today Mich had an induction-day at a water park in Poole called Splashdown - it was very VERY rad!! We were there from 10-4 & I was going on the flumes & am thoroughly knackered! Then had some Nando's & am currently walking down to the sea again - hopefully will go in the mofo this time lol!

On the way to the beach stopped off in a Ben & Jerry's shop (next door to an Odeon cinema) & both got a double core sundae each & a milkshake with a double scoop in it - that's 4 scoops people - a lot!! That nearly killed us both so we staggered back home & grabbed a couple of DVD's & chilled out watching '5 Children & It' which was good & funny, but I fell asleep & started snoring.....allegedly lol!! Also tried to decide a) should I get a tattoo? & b) what to get? Eventually decided on a GIR (in dog disguise looking craaaazy) tattoo......somewhere, but not sure where lol!

I'm going to write more in a bit, cos it's not day 1/2/3 - it's day 5! Also I think I've missed a load of things that have happened since the 'Rock Off' post a while ago....HP7 book, Transformers, HP5 movie, my brother - hmmm I feel more blogging w00t w00t!!!

Road Trippin' Day 2

More you say? Day 2 - Sunday:

After going to bed at midnight, woken up by 'Cat of Doom' (scary eyes & coughing up a lung at 4am!) hung out with Steve, Sarah, Emily & baby Oliver in the morning, mostly being bossed around by young Emily (playing with special scissors & a tea set w00t!) About to take the dogs for a walk in the woods (they have electronic collars with shocks from 1-4, Ste tried it on me on level 1 - ouch, but Ste had it on 4 - shocking - allegedly it hurt till the next day lol!!), then got a meeting for camp (seniors week for Mid Wessex) at lunchtime.

Spoke to Jen who now has tonsillitis - not cool, but will try to visit her....if she's feeling betterer - need to stay healthy this summer - have places to go & many people to see lol! A trifle selfish - but also very realistic! Oh also just got a call from Mich - she's finished work early so will head down to Bournemouth nice & early w00t w00t!!

Meeting finished at around 4.30 & met with some cool people for camp - definitely a youthful, yet mature bunch of leaders & very different to the junior 2 leaders (I think that's mostly down to the fact that I knew 50% of that crew outside of Mid Wessex context). I'm definitely stoked by the content & crew I'm going to be working with - Jo & John are pretty rad & I think that by the end of the week fellowship should be definitely coming into play!

Got down to Bournemouth at about 5ish & met up with Mich, then walked from her new Uni house in Winton into Bournemouth town centre for some fish & chips on the beach (courtesy Harry Ramsdens's) then some beverages. We went to a few bars & ended up drinking a Brazilian beer called Brahma & with every couple of beers getting another free pair of flip-flops - eventually we ended up with 7 pairs between us!! The walk home was cool & we really got caught up on stuff that'd been going on, etc. We crashed out at like midnight & were rather merry!!

Holiday Bloggage - Day 1

Fresh from the pages of my phone - enjoy:
Day 1: Saturday

Started off on the road & it felt amazing!! Spoke to the Ste, Mr Olivander & Sidney - all quite stoked about the road-trip, but not as much as me lol!!

Eventually arrived (off the beaten track & I think I really do need to get Satnav now lol) at a country-retreat just outside Marlow - totally outrageously awesome pad - swimming pool, hot tub - no neighbours - proper rad!

Had a few beers & a dip in both pools, then went out into Marlow (The Ship) & had some more beers & am havin fun & hangin out with Dan & Ste!

Food was officially leftovers, but was BBQ meat, pizza, chips & wedges - but was amazing - nice one Ste & Sarah!!

We really do continue! ;o)

What are YOU doing.....this summer?!

OK for those who don't already know - this summer I am mostly going to be doing a Road Trip. This is basically going round the country to see my friends & family, amongst the 2 weeks of summer camp I'm leading on. I started last Saturday & I have been keeping a diary, so that I know what on earth I've been doing for the whole of August!!!

The theory for this is to pack my car with a months worth of clothing, plus about a weeks worth of food, my bike, & full camping gear [oh & Sully] & drive here there & everywhere, but basically hang out in the south of England!

I'll be posting my holiday diary things whenever I get the chance [& WIFI] so expect updates quite regularly - the first couple will go up later today I think lol!

Adios amigos!

Rock off

Seriously this blogging is getting rather addictive, which is nice - I'm finding that this a good way to get my brain on paper - the traditional way of describing writing my testimony or a real heartfelt email - don't look, just type!!

Having not been listening to any rock in about a week - that leaves me with Trance, old skool Dance & of course Breaks! Mostly some stuff from Fabric Live (breaks) & some good old 'Crasher favourites (that's trance for those who don't know). The last thing vaguely rocky I listened to was Arcade Fire's 'Neon Bible' & I'm not convinced that counts lol!

But me being me & changing my music preference rather frequently shall we say, I'm sure I'll switch the rock back on - I think I just overdosed on Muse, well it's a theory at least!!

As the great Pete Tong puts it..........we continue!!

Feeling old much!

OK, this writing [for want of a better phrase] is a reflection about my relationship status & what I'm feeling. It's allegedly highly irregular for a guy to want to think or discuss his feelings, well then that must speak volumes about me then lol!

true Having been to a few weddings over the past couple of weeks [my cousin Emma & my good friend from Uni Hannah] & with another coming up in a couple of weeks [another Hannah - this time the more madder of the two ;o) - sorry Han, but it's true lol] but always as the single man. This is obviously because I have split up with my girlfriend [Jennie] after about 2 1/2 years, back in April. Since then I have remained more solitary & much less social as I have previously, shall we say. I have spent time with friends occasionally, but seem to be having 'too much time' with myself.

This seems to have caused a worrying trend of reflection. Part of my degree is to train youthworker's to be 'reflective practitioners' - this can have it's drawbacks though - a tendency to either over-analyse or dwell on thoughts & feelings. This seems exactly what I am doing with this whole 'being single' thought process.

So, when I see let's just say not just one or two people getting engaged, it creates interesting feelings deep within me & not all of them are positive! It's not because I fancy or am deeply in love with these people, it's more a form of resentment - because these immensely happy things are not happening to me! For example at Uni I think there's only me who's remotely single - out of my whole class! Outside of Uni, anyone resembling an available female appears to be in a relationship. It's frustrating & maddening! I find myself thinking "Oh dear [or words to that effect!] what if I never find someone who's right for me - what if I never get married?!" Now that thought terrifies me! I'm a youthworker - not a Catholic priest or a Monk!! It's not as though I am a young man anymore - I'm 26!! Am I going mad, or having a mid-life [kinda] crisis - or just over analysing & dwelling on things that are unimportant?!

The problem is that my brain has been used to being full of all the crapola associated with Uni over the past 2 years & during almost all of that time I've been in a relationship - now with nothing to preoccupy my mind, I've started looking more inwardly - toward my heart & where it's at. I know that deep down God has a plan for exactly the person, time & place for if/when I fall in love with 'the one for me', I've just no idea who, when & where the heck that is!! But this should not be read as desperation - it's frustration! I almost dislike having the space to think about these things - because I don't think I want to reflect on my own needs - for; security, reassurance, presence of people, to be loved, cherished & feel needed.

I don't think these are bad needs necessarily & I do know where they come from - because there are sadly only a few people who truly know me [other than God & myself] & what makes me tick. There are a select few who know about my 'dark days' - not that they happened, but the reasons behind them. But when reflecting on what makes my heart ache & brain tick, I think that what was missing, appears to be needed now.

I think this is the crux of what's going on with me now - I'm reflecting more on past things - because of counselling & too much free time [apart from when I'm gaming or occasionally working lol!] knowing myself well enough to know what I want/desire/need & getting......nothing at the moment frustrates me. It's depressive to a degree, but not enough to make me depressed.

But I'm thankful for those who are around me - even when I annoy the hell outta them lol! [it happens!] I appear to have built up a strong network of support, but I'm yet to use it to work on this aspect of what's going on with me - all I've said is I feel like a bit of a sad old man........people get that about me already - I've been the oldest amongst my friends for many years, but right now I really feel that!!

Right, what's that spell, oh yeah "mischief managed"!!

zupDATE pt 2

Also last weekend was Mr TC's Birthday Bonanza Weekend, which was both really good, yet also really challenging, because I saw an old friend who I had not seen since my dark & distant past. This was really difficult due to not knowing how they would see/judge me to be - in the same state as I was all those years ago [a little more explosive, charged & unhinged] or as I am now [slightly less of the above!!] The whole experience really shook me up, & caused me to leave one of the parties early [not the norm for me!].

It was bizarre, because before all that, my weekend was going rather swimmingly - had one of my really good friend's Wedding on the Saturday - Mrs Hannah Woods [as she is now called lol - go Hana!] followed by some crushing football & then loitering around in a pool [well I say pool - it was more like a large paddleing pool for adults lol!] with my best friend JMC passing me a beer every couple of minutes - so it was all shiny!! But that negative experience transported my back about 8 years to someone I once was - not good! However, I did manage to get my head around it & bring in some peace, with the aid of my esteemed counsellor - JP. That followed by some hardcore gaming with Nate & it was all green for me! Although when I heard the following song, I was challenged to think about my actions & reactions [which I haven't really gone in to, but I don't think it appropriate - so there!!]

"Right now we can't we can't stop what's coming on my way
How many more dark clouds will pass me in a day
Why, can't I tell myself to walk away?"

From a track called Stonecold, on one of the best albums I own - Mixmag: Big Room Trance, mixed by Armin Van Buuren - choon after choon aften choon, from back in 2003. It was a freebie that I bought on my way to Spring Harvest [Skegness] the first time I went & was the only CD I listened to all week & is just about the most perfect trance CD out there - although Sundissential 1, Disc 1 could give it a run for its money lol!

We're back!

ZUPdate

Hey mes amies,

OK been a very quiet week - the most exciting thing I've done is watch ALL the Harry Potter movies back-to-back, then go to the cinema & watch the new one [Order of the Phoenix].

First a little about that movie - ignore all the media attention & just go see it, it is the best one in terms of special effects & acting [OK, with the exception of Dudley who is just a little too hammy for my tastes!] it's definitely trimmed down from the book, but that was huge to begin with. Everything just seemed a little more polished than before, it was less about gimmicky things [I assume because people are used to this magical world by now] & more about the story & development of major characters. All the scenes with Sirius & Harry feel really heart-warming, as does the stuff with the DA. Umbridge appears to be as loathsome as in the book, & as for the battles near the end - they left me speechless. It did feel quite true to the book, but with some changes & trimmings. For fans of the books & films, I don't think you will be too disappointed! I intend to go watch it a second time - I think it THAT good!!!

Anyways, enough pottering about [sorry!] have also spent a lot of time gaming & boosting my Gamescore [the infamous points system on the Xbox 360, where gamers get points for if they complete certain stages of games on harder difficulty settings, or exceed at certain aspects of games] which is now approaching a fairly respectable 4500G [thank you Dynasty Warriors lol!]. Rainbow 6 Vegas has also been played heavily & has gotten very challenging shall we say!

To be continued!

What ARE you doing?!

[Written Saturday 7th July & imported just now!]

Currently blogging in Starbucks in high street Oxford dressed up as smartly as I get these days (smart black open-neck shirt, jacket & chino's) reading Disconnected (Nick Barham, 2004) & reading all about blogging, so I thought I'd update again!

Been a very quiet week - ran 1 youthgroup, & have hung out with my friends Hobbit & Nate for most of the rest of the week, just playing 360 games & causing mischief lol! But mostly playing a few highly unethical games - Crackdown & Rainbow 6: Vegas.

Crackdown is basically Grand Theft Auto with steroids! Cue guns, explosions & killing bad guys, all from a 3rd person perspective. A patch was released for this game recently & it has yielded 2 cool things - resurrect the dead gang-members (i.e. the bad guys) & God mode - you can't die & have unlimited ammo - nice! This has mean being more creative with said bad guys & how you (ahem) stop them causing any more mischief!! It's all a little silly & comic-book violent & doesn't take itself at all seriously - I mean come on - how often do we jump off skyscrapers, into skyscrapers or even over 3 storey buildings - I suggest at least not often!!

The second game is much less comic-book & more 'real life'......kind of! Rainbow 6 Vegas - custom weapons hundreds of bad guys (not gang members this time - terrorists) & again it's set in America (umm Las Vegas) & the bad guys are either Russian, Mexican, Chinese or South American. The key emphasis for this game is not brash balls-out mayhem (although that sometimes happens!!) it's stealth, teamwork & trying to be as sneaky & silent as possible. But this is both punishing & rewarding in equal measures - it's really difficult to not die a lot, but amazingly satisfying when you move on to the next level!!

Frag this!


Si

Demotivator

Morning gang!

Bit of a weird day - am feeling a little demotivated today - not really sure the reason why - I think it's something to do with my pain-suppressants for my prostate condition. This is making things like planning for tonight's youth group much harder than normal - not sure what to do - hmmmm! It does indeed seem to be difficult to get motivated to working - frustrating to say the very least. Hopefully when my body gets used to the new chemicals I can get more awake & motivated, but we shall have to see! Right enough bloggerage - time for more sleep [grrrrr!]

We contine [with sleep that is!]


Si