Outcast and Puffy hat Degrees

The title may sound strange, but all will become clear. As a note, this is not all about Larp.
We had an epic weekend at Outcast, the best part being just seeing all my friends from the system again, both OoC and IC. I really know some amazing people.

The weekend started off well, with most of the Fae being possessed by a sorcerer (because it was totally a good idea to fall asleep next to the creepy portal gate right?), and then myself and Ylva (IC name) went and got 2 more people without anyone noticing. We did get caught pretty much as soon as we timed in Saturday morning however. Thankfully people were nice and fixed us rather than trying to kill us. Saturday saw us trying to solve the plot (Rescue our friend from the prison, stop the sorcerer who was corrupting the rock naturae, and find the magic acorn in order to fix Gaia's grove in Varkarna). Unfortunately it had rained the night before, so all of the writings we found on the field had smudged horribly, so translating was not what you would call easy.

Fae pile! (deliberately blurry)

That day, Fian decided to go to war, which has not happened in forever. It meant that Memory (my characters mentor) had to write and prepare the song of war to trigger the story-eater. That night, we fought the tainted rock naturae and fixed the small one, and at midnight performed the song. It was pretty darn spectacular - the guitar and drums together with the chanting and singing sounded amazing. Sunday finally dawned, leading us to find the acorn, fix pebbles, and for myself and Memory to take flight and follow the story eater to war. 

So Sunday evening brought about the unfortunate return of normality. So far this week I've been doing all of the boring induction rubbish that comes with starting a new degree. Whilst its necessary, I really want to just get on with it already. We've had to sit through safety talks and welcome talks and all that jazz. I have to say that the best part of the three days was when they pointed out a number of different things that PhD could stand for, including Puffy hat Degree :D So now that is what I refer to it as.

The puffiest of hats

The most frustrating part of this last week has been that we have been asked to sign up to a bunch of courses that will be really useful/required for our Puffy hat Degrees. What was annoying was that the system just didn't work, meaning a bunch of us have wasted 2 days trying to sign up to the ones that have only 8 places (for 40 of us...), and then when it did all go live people missed out >:( Thankfully I managed to book onto all but one of the ones I wanted, and I'm hoping that the waiting list will mean that the course either runs again or extends slightly. We will see.

Tomorrow we get to go on a trip down south to Rothemsted to see all the cool stuff they do there. Then the weekend shall be filled with LARPing with the university and playing L5R with my friends.

I guess I shall report back when I have something to report.

Moving in

Having spent the last 6 months away from Notts, living back home with my parents, I have to say it does feel a little strange to be back living here. I made the decision to move back into student halls, so I'm now living in a small studio flat by myself. Now many people might say I'm mad to be going back into halls after 3 years of house living, but I had some good reasons (whether they will remain good reasons remains to be seen!)

Mainly, this place includes all bills, rent, insurance and security in the 3 payments I make throughout the year, and I know in advance when and how much I need to pay. So as long as I'm careful with my money (and I normally am), I have no need to worry, and can have as many hot showers as I like without worrying about how much it is going to cost me.That lack of worry is the best thing.

Also, as you can see from the title, I'm about to embark on the PhD journey for the first time. I have no idea how much work this is going to entail. So having a tiny flat with only me to worry about takes a whole work load out of the equation. 

Well, me and my two friends!

Anyways, moved into my new room today finally. Managed to bring me, my parents and all my stuff in one car (large improvement from my undergrad years of far too much stuff). That said, they are bringing more stuff up for me in a couple of weeks...

Had a bit of a faff getting my room sorted when we arrived, as for some reason they didn't have my payment confirmation. Luckily I did and they soon handed over the keys. I have to say, the room wasn't exactly in a great state when I got in - muck on the walls, the door stuck, the carpet and hob rings were filthy :/ To be fair on the accomodation people though, we went and told them and within a few hours it's all been sorted! The carpet is still a bit of a mess, but the lovely cleaning guy has done his best and said he will report it (I might even get a new one!).

All my stuff is now unpacked, and whilst it doesn't yet feel very homey, after a few nights I'm sure it will. I even have a tea corner! Plus this place now has wifi which is just heaven in a box. And it's really warm up here (I'm up on the top floor). Which is good in a way, means I shouldn't be sleeping under 4 blankets and a double duvet all year like my last house. 

Tea corner. Best thing.

My parents have also started up my new post card collection :) I have a fairly substantial one from my four years of undergrad, and I now plan on starting a new one which is just as big, if not bigger! (If you ever feel like sending me anything, PLEASE send me a postcard with it :) I love postcards)

First postcard of the degree!

Outcast coming up this weekend :) something I am much looking forward to and will report on next time hopefully. If I remember.

Nel