Bloody Scotland

Why hello there internet! 
Long time no talk. Write? Hm. Anyway my last entry was just a descriptive essay I came across and thought I'd put up. Saves me actually having to think, y'know. But this entry, you'll be glad to hear darling readers, is going to consist entirely of me rambling about, most probably, not much at all. Yaaaaay.
Hmm well ok I guess I'd better bring you guys, whoever might read this (why are you reading this?), up to date. Last time I went in to ridiculous irrelevant details of my life, I was in the build up to the Leaving Cert- the biggest, most important and most headwrecking exams of my life. So they began in early June and ran for about three weeks. It was so much fun. Long story short anyway, they went pretty well on the whole I felt. So then two close friends of mine and I jetted off to Portugal to permanently obliterate all we'd learned in our 14 years of schooling with alcohol, in one week. With great success, I might add. My family and I also went to Greece for a month. It was quite hot, to be honest. But nice! Very beautiful.
And then, almost as soon as we got home, exam results were out! Best. Day. Ever.
I feel like I should point out my sarcasm in case there are any Sheldons reading....Maybe I should use italics? Everyone loves italics....
Anyway, turns out I did quite well, very happy. Unfortunately quite well wasn't enough to get me my first choice of Biomed in UCC. So guess where I am as I write this? You got it. Bloody Scotland. In my itsy-bitsy but cosy bedroom on campus in Stirling on a chilly November night, to be exact. But no, I actually really like it here. I'm almost glad I didn't end up going to Uni back home. Here, in Uni accommodation, away from parents etc, life is pretty damn awesome. There are downsides, naturally. Shared bathrooms, doing laundry, the fact that I can't cook anywhere near as well as my mother- but the advantages far outweigh them. Oh and it's cold here. So very,very cold. I kid you not. I've started uttering the phrase 'bloody Scotland' (or worse) on almost every night out when it nears freezing point. Hence the title. 
So yeah! I'll probably share far more inconsequential details about things here you really don't care about in the next few weeks, but that's it for tonight, I think. But I am happy here. I know right, who'd have thought it? Bloody Scotland and all.
Rosie

The City

The day begins early in the heart of the city. Commuters from all over are drawn in by the city’s first breath of the day. Streams of resigned and submissive workers pour off the subway, the buses’ passengers, decked in a unanimous grey, chug and whir their way inside the city boundaries. Office workers, shop assistants and countless other expressionless faces file to their destinations as the city unhurriedly begins to come to life.

The sun warms the pavements of the now quiet streets in the brief lull of commotion. Two black cats skulk along a window ledge and it’s in this pause that blackbirds begin to whistle and take to flight. But soon the peace is broken once again as another breath is drawn into the city. Before long, the chatter and bustle of schoolchildren echoes around the city as they flock almost mindlessly in a never ceasing rush. Seas of grey, maroon and green ebb and flow in opposite directions as school time nears.

          The bells in the tower start to chime and by the time the ninth toll sings out across the rooftops, not a uniform is in sight. And yet, movement catches the eye in every direction. The lethargic city of the earlier hours has given way to a startling, hyperactive maze of colour and cacophony of sound. The next wave of pedestrians crashes in around the ankles of the city, full of purpose, energy and vitality. Tourists, shoppers, sight seers, buskers line the rivers of blurred colour. Shop doors are opened, giving way to the pressure of hassled mothers, lost boyfriends and bright-eyed fashionistas.  Boutiques and cafes overflow, the city fills itself to breaking point. As the day wears on a few start home. Bleary-eyed toddlers clinging to weary parents, bespeckled elderly turn their lined faces towards the suburbs once again. The late afternoon brings with it an eerie silence, a sense of waiting, of foreboding. Then, all at once as if triggered by some invisible force, the quiet splinters and splits. The torrents of maroon and green shatter among the rainbows of colours in the city’s depths. But now the city has grown, tired of the seemingly pointless rush and inconsequential trivialities of the people inhabiting its limbs. As if the decision is abruptly made, the city exhales and the shops and lanes empty of people, ferried away in trains, buses or cars.

The city pauses again. Almost in contemplation, or so it would seem. A silence descends, followed soon by a curtain of darkness peppered with the flickering lights of the night sky, obscured for the most part by the beams of city lights. Encased and cushioned by the dusk, life in the city seems to slow, if only temporarily. But, again, the calm is short-liver. As the night looms, restaurants reopen as more patrons arrive to fill them. Bars glimmer and gleam, enticing in the young, the old, the trendy and the lost. Later on the night clubs open, soon crammed to capacity with heels and sequins, deafening music and high-pitched laughter. The nightlife of the city seems almost brighter than the day for a moment. The city itself seems to pulse and glitter. As the clubs and pubs empty, the energy dies down. Men, periodically breaking into alcohol-fueled and fleeting fights, women stagger home unsteadily with broken hearts and broken heels. It’s the early hours of the morning before the city achieves tranquility again. The last of the pub-goers meanders away, intoxicated. All the windows in the city are shut up and covered.

Because it’s now, in the darkest of hours before dawn, that the unseen becomes evident.  Now silent and empty, the flaws begin to show, the invisible, the overlooked, the unknown of the city.

A stray dog crouches, softly whining on the side of the road, crippled by a car that didn’t stop. An old man, once an attentive husband and adored father, cringes in a gutter, still searching for the numbness whiskey couldn’t offer him. A baby lays in an alley, wailing feebly beside his lifeless mother, the needle still in her arm. Children cower in bed, too hungry to sleep but too petrified to complain. The homeless curl in doorways, reliving the bygone, steeling themselves against the biting frost. Many slip willingly over the edge into slumber, and when they don’t wake, nobody notices, or nobody cares.

As the city sees this, the first smudge of colour brushes over the horizon and it’s with relief that the city draws in another breath. Another wave of colour and laughter. Another disguise of warmth and life to cover the cracks. Another day in the life of the city.

Heaney

S'up!
So I wasn't really planning on blogging today, nothing new or remotely interesting has happened since Sunday but I had an urge to share with you my favourite poem.
I'm not sure if any of ye, who aren't Irish, have heard of Seamus Heaney, he's very famous here as one of the best Irish poets to ever have lived. and he's definitely my favourite poet.
This, "Postscript", is my newly-discovered favourite favourite poem by him. Maybe it's because I've been there, or just because I just found the imagery particularly vivid and striking. Either way, here it is-

Postscript by Seamus Heaney

And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter, and inland among stones
The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit
By the earthed lightening of a flock of swans,
Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white,
Their fully-grown headstrong looking heads
Tucked or cresting or busy underwater.
Useless to think you'll park and capture it
More thoroughly, you are neither here nor there,
A hurry through which known and strange things pass
As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways
And catch the heart off guard and blow it open.

West Coast of Clare by Carmel Doherty

 

Hope ye enjoyed it as much as I did, until next time,

Rosie

Bit o' a ramble

Hello people,

I would say sorry for my inconsistent blogging but I don't really think any of you mind much. But if on the off chance you do, I have a good excuse, trust me. Well, excuses. On one hand, things in my personal life have been pretty complicated these days. Not really great timing but anyway. I won't bore you with the details, Hopefully things will start looking up now anyway. Happy thoughts!

But maybe more significantly, the Leaving is getting uncomfortably close now. Technically, I've known the dates since this time last year, but somehow it still managed to creep up on me. Weird how that happens, huh? So yes, the orals are all done but that doesn't really provide as much comfort as I thought it would. Sigh. Next week things get hectic again. My Art practicals begin this coming Thursday and continue through Friday. The Craft is first. If you're interested, that's basically a five hour exam in which you have to produce a full craftwork piece. The themes/topics are given to us but we have quite a lot of freedom in which craft and even in the content. I was always a clay kinda girl myself, but due to a string of missing pieces from the art room, I figured the teacher was trying to tell me something. Laugh, do. It was really not subtle at all. So yes, now poster is my craft, if you can call it that. But in fairness, I do like it a lot. And you can do some pretty cool stuff. My theme for this one is 'World Science Convention'. Sounds boring enough, but I think it'll turn out good. Honestly!

Then Friday is the Still Life and the Life Drawing. They're both pretty self explanatory, I think. Once again the papers give us the set up, but there's much less room for individuality. These are the ones I'm worried about though. I've never liked drawing people. And, I suppose, it doesn't help that they're on my birthday either. Maybe it'll give me some extra luck hey? No harm in hoping. 

But yes, interesting as I'm sure ye're all finding this, school is probably not the most fascinating topic of conversation. This is where I need someone to interrupt me before I ramble! Not sure I'm suited for one-sided talks. Moving on to a more cheerful subject, my friends and I have arranged to go to Portugal for a week after the exams. I'm getting pretty excited now. We've got an apartment on the beach and everything. I myself was hoping for something like 'The Inbetweeners Movie' ( if you haven't seen it, shame on you -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3HzTKbsqsY ) but my best friend seems to expect more of a reenactment of 'Taken'. She's an optimist, as I'm sure you can tell. I haven't actually seen 'Taken', but I did watch this,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAkqgeNnFWQ . If you haven't seen the movie, but intend to watch it, I wouldn't click on that link, bit of a spoiler. But for those of you who have the attention span of a chipmunk, like myself, it's quite handy. If only they did the Leaving Cert course like that. 

Ugh. My tea's gone cold. I'm going to have to stop. I've found tea is a necessity for writing and cold tea is never, ever ok. Kay? Good. I'll be back soon. Unless these exams kill me, which at the moment is a very real possibility. Shlater folks ^^
Rosie

The last poster I did

Acid accidents are really the best...

Hok, long time no talk huh? Well no not really but I have been meaning to write again for a while. Been a bit of a busy week, I'm afraid. Had my Leaving Cert French oral on Monday. Tout s'est bien passé, grâce à Dieu. But I don't really want to talk about that.

So school's starting to wind up. Forever, I suppose. Can't say I'm too sorry about that, but I will miss certain things. I like the atmosphere at school, being around people you've known forever. It's comforting, I guess. But then again, I really truly cannot wait for college. You know all those crazy stories about college and dorms and all that? I fully intend to do all of that. I think the idea of Uni is made even more appealing by what I'm currently comparing it to though. But I genuinely will miss my old school. In particular my friends. We're all heading separate ways next September, so these few weeks will have to count. Few obstacles though. Couple of practicals. Moving out. The Leaving Cert. Nothing too bad. Hmm yeah.

So anyway, want to hear my news? Bit of an accident. An acid accident to be precise. Aren't they the best kind? So yes. Bitta sulfuric acid. Melted jumper. Long story short it was definitely the most interesting Chemistry class since we made aluminium oxide explode. Great craic altogether. But really. Quite painful for a while there, but definitely educational. The amount of lotions and potions I got to put on. Was really very fun. 

I'd like to introduce any of ye interested to my favourite youtuber too actually. Literally cannot get enough of her humour. She's very cool. Here's one of her latest videos, and definitely one of my favourites. Extremely valid advice right here, trust me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXzwAXzUwwE&feature=g-u-u

That made me laugh a lot, so I thought I'd share it. I'm also a big fan of charlieissocoollike so look him up if you ever have a spare moment. Not that I'd be at all surprised if you'd already watched both of their stuff, they're quite famous, but I'd definitely recommend them if you haven't. 

Well. I'm not too sure what else I can ramble about. I'm going to go nurse my acid burns now, I always have the best Friday nights, it's true. Stay safe folks, hope ye're having a more eventful evening than me. I'll be back ^^

Rosie

Now you get to know who I am....

Hello again ^^,

So this is going to be more of a proper blog. I hope. Not that I've a clue what a proper blog should consist of but for me it means rambling on some more. 

I figured I should probably introduce myself officially so here goes. Brace yourselves. My name's Rosie. But ye knew that. I'm Irish and currently in my final year of school. Big whoop, yes? Well no not really. For those of ye not familiar with the Irish education system, 6th year means Leaving Cert. And Leaving Cert is just no fun. Basically it's our equivalent of the big end of school exams which decide which college we get into and which course and, ultimately, our entire future. No pressure though. It's cool.

But I'm not going to turn this into a rant on the education system. Might, well probably, will do that later but I don't want to be scaring ye off too early. Because, fair warning, when I rant, I rant hard. But anyway.

I actually had an exam for my Leaving Cert today, my oral exam in Irish. Now I know that any Irish people out there are thinking what in the world was I doing setting up a blog on a Wednesday night, the day before my Irish oral. Well. I could pretend it's because I'm that dedicated to writing and really needed my thoughts (and bothers) to be heard. But I think I can trust you guys, so I'll tell you the truth. Procrastinating. What else?

Moving along though, what to tell you...

My favourite movie at the moment is The Notebook. Not very original, I'm aware. My favourite series literally changes from day to day but I'm pretty taken with The Big Bang Theory right now, fancy myself a bit of a nerd so I really do love the science jokes. Also been watching Hart of Dixie and a few other comedies, I'll probably keep you updated. Not like I have any study to do or anything. Music wise, it also varies a lot too. Linkin Park, The Script, Muse, John Mayer, Kasey Chambers- I really could go on all day. My favourite colour is blue, generally, not that it's at all relevant, but there you go.

I guess probably the biggest thing happening in my life these days is the whole end-of-school-start-of-university thing. Applications all sent in, open days attended, just have to do the exams now. Ideally, I'll go to my local-ish Uni to study Biomedical Sciences but the points are very high (Irish education system rears it's ugly head again) so I devised a plan B. Plan B involves moving to Scotland to study Marine Biology actually, which is a pretty scary concept for me. Scotland that is, not Marine Biology, From what I've gathered from my friend the television, moving away to Uni is pretty standard for most countries, but not so much in Ireland I think. Most people I know, especially the guys weirdly enough, tend to go to a Uni near home and live at home for the first year at least. Irish sons and their mammys, you know. But it's starting to seem like I'm going to be a long way from home. Bit frightening. But also quite exciting. I went to Scotland last week for a few days to see the Uni and the residence halls etc and I really liked it, apart from the whole one toilet between 12 people thing. So we'll see. Inseoidh an aimsir, mar a dearfá. I need to get all this Irish out of my head. French on Monday. Sigh.

Until next time, 

Rosie

Hi I'm Rosie and I'm an alcoholic....

I'm just kidding. I'm not an alcoholic. Really. I promise. I was just completely unable to think of a an even vaguely appropriate or witty title for my first blog post. Great start, huh? 

So yes this is my first blog ever, so be nice. I'm not even really sure what I'm going to write about. I'm absolutely sure that I have nothing to particularly interest anyone out there, but maybe I'll end up making someone laugh or smile. Even if it's at me. I'll take what I can get. So yes, I started this blog because of a suggestion from someone, you know who you are, and it'll be a sort of experiment I guess. This person will probably be my only reader for at least a while, so I guess I should say hi there.

 Sigh. This isn't going so well. Who knew you could babble in type? This is around the time in a conversation where one of my friends would stop me and seeing as I don't have that very helpful assistance online, I'm going to wind it up. Just one small thing. Is it ironic that the blogging site spellcheck doesn't believe me that blog is a word? Huh.

Until next time. There probably will be a next time. I haven't even really introduced myself yet.

Rosie