SIX.

Working retail at Christmas is awful. Why is it that the minute the sale starts people think it's acceptable to discard the clothes they've decided not to buy ON THE FLOOR?? You wouldn't have done that when the dress was €70, would you? You're not even doing it because its only €45 now, it's because it USED to be €70, and has now lost some of its value or something. You see me on the floor picking up items by the armful, and, ok, you'll put that cardigan carefully back on the hanger when I'm standing beside you, but I know I'll come back five minutes later to see all my work undone, people trampling clothes into the ground. Before this, before the sales and the pre-christmas day gift-buying panic, you were almost pleasant. Definitely polite. Now you care little for me, jostling me out of the way to get your hands on a discount skirt, that you're only buying because it was apparently a whole forty euro more expensive at some point, and if that's not a bargain you don't know what is. It does look a bit on the small side, but the queue for the tills is so long, you decide to purchase it without trying it on. You barge forward, maybe knocking a rail or four to the ground on your way, pushing past that old lady because, hey, you were here first.



Oh my God leave me alone!!!

And being paid monthly is not fun either.


Happy Christmas anyway, I had a fairly tame and uninteresting one this year, but it's nice to have a break.

05. I Love Karl Pilkington!

I first came across him on The Ricky Gervais Show on Channel 4, and then more recently An Idiot Abroad, and I've come to the conclusion that he's just great.

My friend can't stand An Idiot Abroad, due mainly to the fact that Sky are clearly spending ridiculous money to send this man to the seven wonders of the world, and he doesn't seem to appreciate any of the amazing places and sights placed before him. She probably has a point in a way, but that's exactly what was intended and damn it makes great viewing.

I love his honesty, and the way he tries to find a certain logic in things that just can't be explained (While travelling through the desert on a camel in Jordan, he asked why the locals don't just move closer to a shop, or, failing that, build a shop in the desert). And yes, I love the way he gets so annoyed at the ridiculous situations he is put in. In response to a group of people dancing on the road in Jordan he states "I don't dance at weddings. I'm not going to start doing it in the middle of the dual carriage way, am I?" His disgust at being tricked into eating penis, eyes and testicles. His description of the Chinese alphabet "It looks like somebody testing out a Biro".  It's hilarious, and I'm officially owning up to having seen every episode.

I'm putting my head in the books for the next couple of weeks, and attempting to kick my TV habit. But here's the best bits from one of my favourite episodes of Idiot Abroad.

04.

I am aware it has already been discussed and scrutinised to the point that everyone is sick of hearing about it, but I just wanted to make a couple of comments on the student anti-fees protest that took place in Dublin on Wednesday last. I was not present at it, though I am fully supportitive of the cause. A good few of my friends were there that day. While the majority of the people enjoyed a peaceful protest in which they delivered their point without any trouble, there was a small minority of what I can only describe as eejits who tryed to ruin it for everyone. It is not the fault of the gardaí as far as I can see, though many students are pushing the view that they are to blame, their "brutality" only causing more hassle. I have seen the footage that has been plastered all over the news in the past couple of days, and I have spoken to people who were actually there. And alcohol was consumed by a proportion of the students there that day. Being a student myself I am very familiar with the drunken antics that can occur, especially in large groups. I do not think it is fair to place the blame for any trouble on the authorities, who were no doubt only trying to maintain order. If you reject them now, who are you going to call when your houses get broken into or you're attacked some night? Don't blame the gardaí for you acting the shite.


But to the majority of the 40,000 students present that day, fair play. I hope the message was received, a €3,000 registration fee is a joke.

03.

Ah Irish winter weather. Wet, mucky, cold enough for us to complain about but not cold enough for snow or any of that. Mild. Dull, grey, drab. Its miserable. I convince myself I'll do college work at home instead of making the fifteen minute trek to the library in the rain, stepping over many the abandoned umbrella on the way. Instead I sleep in, and partake in many useless activities such as watching hours of crap tv and trying on most of the contents of my wardrobe in different combinations. Needless to say it was a very unproductive day. And I now need to clean my room more than ever, lest I stumble in drunk some night soon, trip over the massive mound that is made up of pretty much everything I own, and do myself an injury.



 I wouldn't mind a bit of snow. A bright, airy snowy, afternoon can be lovely. Provided you have proper footwear. Need to start buying things like wooley scarves and hats, in anticipation of it getting a bit colder.



In other news, I'm loving Eva Longoria's ad for the MTV Europe awards. I bet she's great craic in real life.

TWO. Again.

I'm giving this another go.


I've recently got a new job, in River Island. I haven't started yet, but I'm excited. Mainly for the extra cash I'll be able to spend on all sorts of lovely things (forgetting about all serious things like rent and bills for the time being). Oh and the staff discount! I have never been a massive fan of River Island clothes, but in the past year they've really come up with some good stuff, a pair of velvet shorts I bought in August being a prime example. I wear them to death, though the buttons keep falling off, which is disappointing.


Since giving up a full-time summer job when I went back to college, I haven't really had money to spend on clothes. And I am absolutely itching to go shopping.





I've had my eye on these on asos for a while.

 

I keep buying cheap boots that haven't lasted, and winter's a'coming. Still, at €152.50 they're still very much out of my current, or even future price range. Maybe for my birthday.

ONE. new beginnings

2010. New year, new blog. Why? Boredom, essentially, combined with a desire to produce something creative. So far this Christmas break has consisted with the odd night out, but mainly fucking up my sleep cycle with over indulgent lie-ins to the extent that I'm now fully nocturnal. My nights are now spent wading through the ridiculous amount of DVDs owned by my brother, my mother and I. Blackadder, The Wire and The O.C are the tv series' of choice at the moment. University starts back next week, so theres a good chance I'll abandon this thing once that happens. We shall see.

Hopefully this year will bring new opportunities, good times with friends old and new and general happiness. And summer plans would be great too, a job somewhere exciting perhaps?