Struggling

When I arrived at the council building there was a large fence towering above me. Builders worked by the front doors, so I had to find another entrance. As I walked inside, there were no sign posts, no one to ask for directions. I began the day feeling optimistic but it was not to last.

After several minutes I asked one of the 'official' ladies who watched me stand awkwardly in front of her, who then informed me that I was in the wrong area of the building and had to go left, inside a large hall full of colours and people. Inside the hall there were several desks, machines, circular see-through offices standing in the middle, a café, posters and chairs scattered around the place unordinarly.

It was strange that Bath council, the place where I were to ask for financal help, was to represent my situation in such a terrifyingly realisitic way. There were several voices in the background which disorienated my surroundings and no obvious point or reception to ask who to talk to. I stood nervously, trying to pinpoint what exactly I needed to do, but the only information I recieved from friends and my career consultant was that 'the council could help'. And so I stood and watched the circus before me. Slowly, the despair I had been feeling for the last few weeks began to reboil in my blood. Just as I was about to turn around a lady said something to me, but I couldn't understand her. She walked to another person and left me with them, who asked what I needed.

This lady was far easier to talk to, and she recommended I talk to the Citizens Advice Bureau. She told me to 'take a seat' which I found a little funny as there were small groups of seats everywhere and I had no idea which seats she meant. I guessed and waited my turn.

Cutting the story short, I eventually met a lady from the CAB who was very helpful and kind. She listened to my situation and pinpointed me to to talk to housing benefits, knowing that I had no where to live. She also said I might be able to get a list of landlords from them, but when we asked a lady together she did not want to help and seemed to think it was ridiculous that we were to even ask her. The lady we talked to together said there was absolutely no chance in getting a council house/flat/etc, then complained about how busy she was and how understaffed it was today. I moved on to another section of the hall and the staff wrote on the paper what housing benefits I might be entitled to. Only, she would only know for sure when I were renting.

Then I saw a good friend, and the despair went away for a little while again.

Moon Flower

Despite being 21 I still don't have regular periods. But today is the dawn of the moon flower and I feel like I have suddenly doubled in weight. It's work today. I better stop stalling and get ready.

Forward thinking

When life gets busy my blogs tend to get a little left behind. After having a good conversation with an old friend who reminded me about my blogs I thought it was time for another update.

So what have I been up to recently?

It is the beginning of a brand new journey, as university slowly comes to a close and old friends leave the area. There have been many gatherings and farewells which has hasn't really sunk in yet. I hope to stay in the area personally, although Bath itself is very expensive. I'm looking for cosy looking places where I could live by myself or with a non-student close friend. I would like to move forward, get another job and set myself up to start a company at the beginning of next year.

I will be having to skip sofa to sofa but I think the effort is a good investment for a pleasant future for me.

Recently I hosted my own gathering to celebrate my 21st birthday. It was fantastic - a lot of my close friends attended and I felt truly loved. It was a wonderful experience to see friends new and old, and even to conduct a successful Paranoia RPG improvisation with my friends. Paranoia is one of my favourite rpg tabletop games and tends to get good reactions from friends who play it with me, I would like to make a blog post about it in the future. In short, rpg games such as Paranoia encourages my confidence and storytelling skills. I hope to host other games, especially horror themed.

Also at my birthday two wonderful chefs baked me delicious cakes which was amazing, both to look at and to eat! Unfortunately I don't have any photos, but they brought a huge smile to my face. When I came home the following day my parents also gave me a cake with a special photo made of icing on top. Of course, it was myself at one years old. It was both embarrassing and awesome at the same time. I was also lucky enough to receive a violin and I have been practising Rains of Castamere. Perhaps I shouldn't advertise my instruments so much though, otherwise no one will want to live with me again in the future!

On that note, one of my housemates this year said that they found me a great housemate to live with which really touched me. I really adore every friend I've had this year, everyone has been fantastic.

I have of course been delving in the creative side of life, as always. Other than practising music I have been writing both fiction and academia. I have also been working on my games, The Girl and the Dragon, Little Cat and a brand new game called 'Cognatus' which I am very excited about. I will probably introduce it in the near future.

Anything else?

Well, recently I went to Bristol Zoo and really enjoyed my time. I found the experience very interesting and enjoyed how informative each exhibit was. I learnt a lot about various animals I had never seen before and have thus have an even longer list of favourites.

I found the aye-aye was the most fascinating and enjoyable little creature to watch. They were quite curious and remarkable in the way they behaved and moved. Bristol Zoo has a special section with very low lighting which will make it inaccessible for some. However, it features several creatures that thrive in such conditions including the aye-aye and the sand cat, so I do recommend it a visit!

And...?

And lastly, in between tidying the house and academia I have been playing games such as Civilization V and reading books such as The Moon Child which I hope to be reviewing soon.

I think that's it, so alas, ciao for now :)

General~

A foul health wave played up again. I think things are concluding. Maybe it's lucky, hopefully I'll be able to enjoy my birthday in good health :)

University and the future

I have only five deadlines remaining now for university, then hopefully, if I should pass them I'll be graduating. Overall, I have enjoyed my time at Bath Spa, and would like to make a post in the future about my views on the university. Because I have still not finished my work however, I feel I will concentrate on this first.

But what is an appropriate thought exercise is deciding what steps to take towards the future. I have decided I would like to remain in Bath for a while, however, along with council tax and bills, I will need over £500 a month. This seems almost impossible.

The benefits that I will receive in Bath are phenomenal and worth fighting for that impossible however. My GP is a lot more efficient and sympathetic in Bath than in my hometown, I feel there is even hope that they may be able to help improve my health. I have suffered from numerous health issues and despite going to the hospital regularly as a child to see a 'specialist', both my mother who took me and I knew that it was a complete waste of time.

I also have very close friends in Bath which I would like to spend at least another year in the company of.

Bath is also a very beautiful city that is only two hours from London, close to Bristol, with a mix of brilliant architecture and countryside.

In the end, I will make sure I will always have enough money to catch a train home. Before then, looks like I'll be sofa hopping for a while.

C

Aims:

• Work towards finding stability 
• Be able to responsibly afford to keep a small animal such as a guinea pig
• Be able to visit home now and then
• Work towards a career I enjoy
• Continue to work on writing and try to get published
• Continue to learn.

I'll keep trying my best, we'll see what happens.

Nuzlocke FireRed - Grumpy/Cold/Sarcastic Ver.

Colds. What are they good for? Feeling completely unmotivated to do anything but procrastination? Having a headache which makes words wiggle up and down and not make sense?

At least they're a good excuse to play Nuzlocke.

So here we go. Of course, the first thing to do is to grab that potion from the PC...

Better have a chat with our in-game mum or 'mom'.
I've played from Yellow - White 2, and never had mum said anything... Mum like. Not I miss you? I love you dear? Where do you think you're going? I will never let my 12 year old daughter go to Mt Moon on her own????

Well, see you later, obsolete character.

So I'm at the lab after Prof. Oak has to rescue me from the perils of level 3 rattatas and pidgeys. Here's a confession. As a kid, Pokemon Yellow was my first hand held game I ever played. And it took me AGES working out how to move on from this bit. I didn't realise the mechanics of pressing the a button pretty much every second. It's kind of disappointing that FireRed purposefully makes things really simple for players. Perhaps that makes me sound like a stereotypical old lady waving a cane and proclaiming "back in my day things weren't as easy", or maybe my nostagia is over compensating. But I truly think the not obvious-ness of the pokemon series is kind of a theme. Lemme just point you to EV-training.

Anyway. Moving on, I choose Charmander.

Named him Percy.

I go out to Route 1 and crash into a Rattata which means I can no longer catch any pokemon along this route. Ah well.

It's around here I decide to change the options to text speed 'fast' and change the frame.
Did anyone else change the 'frame' option when they played these games?

I give a parcel to Oak and take a solemn glance at Prof. Oak's last POKéMON. (EVER.)

And time to truly begin my adventure. At this time, Percy is level 7. Woop!

Time to catch pokemon. See here, my helpful addition of the cross regarding where I cannot catch pokemon. I decide to go left of Virdian City and try my luck in finding a Mankey.

Now a Mankey is a really helpful addition to the game, with it's fighting moves and what not, so it's always a good idea to try and catch one. Of course, in Nuzlocke rules, I can only catch the first pokemon I see.

Of course. This happens at the only area nearby where I can catch a guaranteed useful pokemon. Thank you, Rattata.

May as well dream.

As I go on, an old man shows me how he catches a weedle - by simply throwing a pokeball while it has full hp. Very educational.
I wonder if Game Freak was intentionally sarcastic there...

So onwards I move to Route 2, hoping to catch a new pokemon. I come across another Rattata, and under a short while of thinking, I decided catching duplicates would be okay. Besides, it'd be kind of cute if I owned two Rattata brothers. I'm not sure what I'll name him but--

Ah.
Now I truly understand the look of fear on that Rattata's face.

"We abandoned you on route 22 for a reason!!!!"

So here's the new map so far. We didn't really get far, but I'll take a break for now.

Until next time.

All the Concerts!!

So um...

I'm going to see An Cafe on the 7th March.
I'm going to see Miyavi on the 15th March.
I'm going to see VAMPS on the 28th March.
I'm going to see Girugamesh on the 9th June,

This is kinda crazy.

It also makes my childhood self squirm in happiness.

I went to An Cafe's earlier concert two years ago which was amazing. Simply the best live concert I've ever been too. The An Cafe members were amazing, the music was amazing, I got to be near Kanon which was amazing. The crowd was amazing and so nice! It was so cool.

I've never been to a Miyavi live before, but I've wanted to go for such a long time. I'm a bit unsure of what he'll be performing this year, kinda nervous actually, since I'm bringing a friend along, but hopefully that'll be great.

VAMPS is a band whose style entertains me. I've no idea what a concert would be like with them.

Girugamesh is a top band, of which, I own quite a few albums with compared to other Jrock bands. I am really looking forward to seeing them, and I know they'll be awesome!

Eeek... All the concerts!!