Done done done done done...

Well, I finished work a fortnight ago come Friday. To be honest, I can't quite believe that a year passed so quickly. And I'm already missing the job.

Ah well.

Onwards, upwards, a new path lies before me...

What-ho one and all!

Another three months gone by. So I think it is time for a new post. Firstly, I've scaled Snowdon. Technically I did that about six weeks ago now and gosh was it cold at the summit. The views (after the mist cleared) were spectacular though.
And- big news- I've been offered a place at Oxford Brookes University to study Historic Conservation. Ta-da! But, as with all things, it is a case of one step forward and two back. In this instance, the step forward is the offer of a place and the two steps back are the retraction of funding and the need now to secure a loan to cover the costs of the course. Gah. Blast it.

Oh I say! Who the deuce is this stranger?

My friends, I return after an enforced absence (enforced by that ghastly incident involving, well, we know just what it involved....) But no matter, for I am here now.

And what, you ask, have I been doing for the past six months? Working, of course. I've got 6 months of my work experience under my belt. By jove, but it has gone fast. And really quite well. I'm now involved with several building conservation projects, which is one of the specialist areas I'm extremely interested in. And I love it absolutely and with a passion.

Otherwise, got a few postgraduate applications in and a few interviews lined up, a trip back to Lincoln is in the offing in a few weeks and one to Leicester a few weeks after that.

So yes, I'm doing pretty well at the moment (and hoping it lasts).

Oh, and I'm building my first 'proper' steampunk stuff- an Aetheric Accumulator (think along the lines of a Victorian dongle- and taking inspiration from Marconi wireless sets) and some new goggles. As in completely new. Everything built from scratch, though unfortunately not of metal and glass but rather card, metal laminates and plastic. Oh well.

A Hectic Few Weeks

The past few weeks I've actually been working in London. What's happened basically is this: my boss is having his house in Paddington refurbished and needed somebody to look after it whilst the builders are in. That person just so happens to be me, so every Monday I travel to Snow Hill in Birmingham and then take a Chiltern Line train down (or 'up' as the railway enthusiast I am keeps insisting)to Marylebone, before descending into the underground across to Paddington. Every Friday of course I repeat the journey in reverse.

But anyway- onward. What I do down there is to keep a site diary, telling my boss what the builders do each day, any issues arising, any visitors to the house and so on and so forth. The evenings are mine to do with as I please.

But the thing is that London is immense and labyrinthine, so if I go out there's a good chance I'll get lost or run afoul of a miscreant having inadvertantly wandered into a rougher part of town. Thus it follows I don't go out often, and when I do I keep to the Paddington area.

Apart from Tuesday evening, when I went to The Green Carnation in Soho to see a band called Sunday Driver. And I'm gad I went. It was a great gig, intimate little venue, cosy atmosphere and an enthusiastic crowd. I recommend them to anyone who's in the market to listen to Indian-influenced Steampunk music. They can be found at www.sundaydriver.co.uk

London, and the curious tale of a Mr. Dorian Gray

A fortnight ago I had the great privilege to go to London for the 'Open House' event, when 700 or so usually private buildings are thrown open to the public for one weekend only.
And I had a great time. We went to the Tate Modern on Friday evening to have a look at the Futurist exhibition, where I bought a copy of a folio of Futurist manifestos. I always think one appreciates art more when one knows the rationale behind it.
On Saturday we necessarily had a hectic afternon, going both to Richard Rogers' Lloyd's Building and Norman Foster's City Hall. Then onward to the New London Theatre for a performance of Warhorse.
Sunday was a little more relaxed. We had a pleasant stroll through the parks (Hyde Park, St James' Park and Green Park) to Whitehall and the Foreign Office.
And then last week I and some absolutely wonderful friends went to see Dorian Gray, for which I shall simply say this: it is an epic piece of art.

In which prospects finally improve for our protagonist.

My dear readers! Behold, for after a long recess I return and beg leave to inform you of events.

I believe the last missive I posted for your perusal involved my being turned down for a postgraduate course. I cn now tell you that I applied to three more universities, attended three interviews and succeeded in getting nowhere. So, for a year at least, I shall be becalmed still. Or at least, my studies shall. More disquieting for me is the notioon of spending another year sharing a bedroom with a brother- who mistakes hospitality for subjugation and thinks it entirely appropriate to allow his girlfriend into the room for hours upon hours at a time, thus keeping me out of my own room...

I also believe I brought tidings of a temporary position at an architect's practice and that they had kindly allowed me to work on my portfolio at that time. They've now offered me a full-time position as an architectural assistant. So I can now accumulate the prerequisite experience needed for a successful postgraduate application next year, which is absolutely outstanding news.

Next week I've been invited to spend the weekend at my boss' London house, which is going to be an interesting experience, as I've only been to London once before and that was... quite some time ago. Nearly, or actually, rather over, ten years ago, now that I think about it.

But that is a tale for a future date...

So unspeakably outraged

Well, I heard back from the University soem two weeks ago. And the prognosis is... not good. After five months of dilly-dallying and four months after telling me I was guaranteed a place as I had graduated from the same institution, they turned around and told me 'no'.

So the past fortnight has been spent in a whirlwind of applying to other universities. Two applications have gone in, but they had to wait for the blaggards of Lincoln to return my references. Which, to be fair, they did with a surprising alacrity (the last time they moved so fast was when they thought I owed them money).

The past fortnight I have also spent working on my portfolio, my employers having been kind enough to allow me time to work on that at the expense of work I'm supposed to be doing for them. My portfolio now is looking really slick and far beyond anything I had credited myself as being capable of.

Of course, this set back means now that the Lincoln steampunk weekend in September is out of the question, which is a great shame. But conversely if I get in Birmingham City University I actually see myself going to more steampunk meets- many of us live around there!