Paul made me do this

2009-04-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

I am tired of being angry and wound up all the time. I hate the house, and really dont like living in all the mess. I'm fed up with uni work and i'm not sure that i want to go to Latitude anymore. I'm just really fed up.

2009-04-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

Wants to get rid of this blog because its a waste of time, but doesn't know how.......?

Challenges: Week One

2008-08-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Joint Challenge this week is to each make our own mascot from items we find in our recyling boxes, with a little help from extras such as sellotape and glue where needed.

Single Challenge; I'm going to give up straightners for a day. While this doesnt sound a lot, but it is a bit of sacrifice for me. Which is the whole point of these green tasks, they're not meant to be easy, otherwise we wouldnt call them challenges.

So Paul and i will both be blogging later in the week with how we've both got on with these initial tasks.

"Crap at the environment"

2008-07-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

You’ve probably come across my blog as a result of reading Paul’s. For those of you don’t know me, i’m Scoggs, the “oldish” friend. We’ve had words about that. I’m really not that old.
I don’t take blogging as seriously as him, namely because i don’t think that i have anything interesting to write about. However, i was particularly excited when he suggested that we strive to become more ‘green’. We’ll do this by completing a solo challenge each week, in addition to a joint one. Our success or otherwise will then be documented on our blogs for others to read, and, hopefully ultimately join in too. After finding myself3/4 of theway through “Crap at the Environment” by Mark Watson, i feel a lot more motivated and an even greater urge to change. Paul’s idea is inspired by Watson’s efforts, although apparently he had the idea first.
I would like to point out that while i draw the line at giving up my straighteners, i’m not as shallow as that may make me appear.

2008-03-15T16:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure that i want to do this blogging business anymore. Its abit like talking to myself because no one seems to read it. Plus the stuff i like talking about, no one else will probably find interesting. I had planned on writing about the camping trip, my George III seminar and how i'm really enjoying doing the reading for one of essay questions but, i cant imagine that anyone else is remotely interested. It also worries me how i'm nearly at the end of my first year because it probably means that the next two years will go equally as fast. Particularly as studying history has been one of my favourite things to do, and i cant see myself enjoying my chosen career as much, whatever that may be. All i know is i dont want to be a teacher and probably wont live in Ipswich or Derby. As much as i enjoy it, i'd really either like go north to somewhere like Manchester or in completely the other direction and spend some time in brighton, or somewhere similar with a beach, seems appealing. Either way i'd really like a job where i could travel, epecially because the thought of staying in one place seems dull. This just seems really pointless.

P.S.

2008-02-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

PLUS, i have a new bikini for my holidays!

Good Times

2008-02-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

I HAVE A HOUSE FOR NEXT YEAR! I'm so excited and want to move in now. The bedrooms are HUGE and we each have a double bed, so i can properly stretch out when i sleep and not have to worry about falling out. We've already planned out how we're decorating it, these plans include numerous bean bags, rugs and throws. Plus we're having dance mats and playstations! The only downside is that the garden is completely rubbish, no grass just crappy stones. Its five/ ten mintutes from town but mileage from uni. Our house was the second one that we looked out at today and was such a relief because the first one was a complete let down. It was a house full of boys and was so dirty that we thought we were going to catch something just walking around, althought the estate agent was trying his best to sell it, which was funny! However, signing the contract the other estate was bit of a loser. We had to pay £50 administration costs, when in fact we did it all! It was the most expensive stamps we've ever brought. I dont think it really helped that we were openly laughing at him.

Am going home soon which i'm almost looking forward too because i'm so happy about the house. Plus, will be going camping soon, hopefully, with uni mates for a weekend which should be ace!

Just need to get into work mode now because i havent actually done much since i've been back.

Christmas in the 'Switch

2008-01-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

Although i'm really looking forward to going back to Derby, i'm actually enjoying being home at the moment. I appreciate being with my family more, and have been getting on a lot better with my Mum especially. I'm appreciate my family even more recently because some of my friends are going through some difficult times. One of my close friends is dealing with the fact that her Dad has a brain tumour and only has a few months to live. Some of the worst things are that, they've only just started getting on recent years and that he's not going to live long enough to walk her down the aisle when she gets married. Another one of my best friends has just seen her parents split up, although i think she'd be one of the first to admit that it was for the best. This particular friend i found out this week is actually my second cousin! It turns out that my Mum and her Dad are cousins, and although we're second cousins, its just easier to say that we're cousins. I'm really excited because it means that i'm going to have the chance to meet other members of my extended family. The last time that i met them was at my Great Nanna's funeral or Little Nanna as we called her a few years ago, so it will be ace to get in touch with them again.

As its the new year, i thought i'd better give my resolutions some thought. I recognise the fact that are several things that i need to change about myself. Not least my temper. I get so wound up when i dont get my way and normally i end up getting really angry. Its got worse since i've gone to uni because when i go home, i am really spoilt. Although i dont know how achievable this is. Another thing is to eat healthier. Although again i dont know how achieveable this is because i'd be the first to admit that i love eating food. I think that what is more achieveble is to exercise more. Already today i've brought myself a gym ball and when i go back to Derby, i'm at least going to start swimming with my best friend there. The aim is not to lose weight but to tone up and not become really chubbs. I dont have the intention to lose weight because my sister had an eating disorder and still has an issue with food today, we dont even have scales in our house. I think thats why i have such a relaxed attitude to what i eat.

I'm hoping this whole exercise thing isnt something i get bored of. I also need to be more honest with people about how i feel, but i think that might be too much to attempt all in one go.

I heart Russia

2007-12-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

Today was the last day of term before the Christmas holidays. We had two debates in our Atlantic World lecture. One centured around the question of problems with the concept of studying the Atlantic World, and the other should the British Government apologise for its part in the Slave Trade. Aside from the debates which i really enjoyed, i cant exactly say that i'll miss that lecture. Although because i got so bored during it, i can now wrote my name joined up with my left hand, i'm quite proud. Then we had our lecture for New Directions, now i will miss that. Although we focused too heavily on religion, my lecturer for this module is ace largely because he's so passionate about his subject. Plus i found out today that he's teaching the Russian History module next semester which i'm immensely excited about. Over Christmas to prevent me from getting bored i've decieded to read up on the modules for next semester. Although i'm changing the Women's Vices, Women's voices module to Industrialisation because the women module does not interest me at all and focuses on literature written by authors such as Jane Austin, so i cant think of anything much worse.

Plus the History Posse is out tomorrow night. We're going to Zanibar which normally is wank but last week it was mint because everyone was there, plus its their Christmas party. Also my friends and i are planning to get our forms filled in by our lecturer for Kamp America if we remember to take them in with us alongside handing in our assignments:(

Meeting the rest of our history group on thursday in the pub, so we see each other before Christmas. Really dont think i'm looking forward to going home, it will be ace to see everyone again but i'll know that i'll miss uni loads.

I just need to finish my essay on how revolutionary was the late eighteenth century and then i've properly finished for the holidays.

Also i did my washing the other day to avoid doing my essay, so now my room smells of Fairy which is minters.

Thats it really.

ps

2007-12-03T12:53:00.000-08:00

My room is spotless because i have essays to write, i now have nothing to distract me:( Plus i'm so full of pop i think i may actually burst.

The past week....

2007-12-03T11:28:00.000-08:00

I'm back! On the Nurse's suggestion i went home for a few days so that i could sleep and get over my laringitus. There was too much going on at uni and i was over doing it which was making it worse. I got quite upset too because i dont have time to be ill, i have too much work to do. One good thing though, i'm sleeping properly because my tablets make me drowsy, so as soon as i take them i just go chum on my bed and i'm asleep.
I was a bit sceptical about seeing her, because she wasnt a doctor but she was really knowledgeable. I left fully informed about what was wrong, although i nearly felt that i had to tell her i was doing a history degree not a biology one because i had no idea what she was talking about. She was even kind enough to book me in for a flu jab on wednesday!

Aside from the jab, wednesday should be mint! Its my coursemates' birthday and the history posse are dressing up as pimp's and ho's! When my flatmate did this recently with the cheerleaders, they ended up looking like prostitutes but it all seemed like good fun.

I was informed by my birthday twin today that when we break up for xmas, we'll be half way through our first year and overal a 1/6 of the way through the whole course, which is uber depressing.
In better news, the original hot history guy was back this afternoon. Its only the second time that we've seen him but he's our friend because he showed us a short cut to/from uni which has significantly cut down our journey time and prevented us from getting lost.

:(

2007-11-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

I'm in a really funny mood at the moment and i can't deciede if i'm happy or not. I've just had an interview for Warehouse, and i have one for Schuh tomorrow. The idea was to get a job and stay in Derby over Christmas because i hated going home so much. However now, although i dont want to go back to Ipswich, i do quite like the idea of seeing people. Plus i already have a job at home. Also i have four essays due in in the next two weeks, and i know the first year doesnt count or anything but i still want to do relatively well. My lecture this morning was ace. We were put into groups and had to analyse sources from the First World War, which when you looked past the obvivious points was actually really interesting. Exercises like these are also fun because it forces you to talk to people in your group that you otherwise wouldnt.
I'm still dreading having to get up at 7 tomorrow morning for my Atlantic World lecture. New Directions in Europe in the afternoon is a much more exciting prospect, purely for the fact that the lecturer is so knowledgeable and passionate about his subject.

William Wilberforce Presentation

2007-11-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

I want to share with you my class presentation on William Wilberforce. Although i'm bricking it about doing it tomorrow. I apologise in advance for its length, and i admit that not everyone will take such interest in it as i do.

It has been said of William Wilberforce that “No Englishman has ever done more to evoke his conscience of the British people and to elevate and ennoble British public life”.

Born in Kingston-on-Hull in 1759, very little is known about his childhood. He marrried Barbara Ann Spooner in 1797 and together they had six children within the first ten years of their marriage. He left Cambridge University in 1780, and following on from this became a statesman, religious leader and philanthropist although his greatest legacy is more than likely to be that of being an active enemy of Slavery. He set out his intentions and ambitions in terms of the Slave Trade, as early as 1781, in which he has been quoted as saying that he had dreamt of becoming “the instrument of breaking or at least easing the yoke of the West Indian Slaves”.

Wilberforces’ trepidation with the slave trade is evident in the following quote from “The Problem of slavery in the Age of Revolution 1770-1823” by David Brion Davis “Virtually any man who could afford a horse in England” Wilberforce said “could afford a slave in the West indies. Masters included men of all ranks, understandings, and temper, including no doubt, the most ignorant and worthless.” This higlights his digust aimed at the Slave Owners and hints at the abuse inflicted by such people.

It wasnt until the later part of the eighteenth century that people began to question the slave trade. Albeit initially the British attitude to the trade was one of disgust, it soon evovled into approval as the profits generated became more apparent. However, people soon began to see the Slave trade as a medival practice and an avoidable evil. It was these revulsions that the Abolitionists were able to exploit, and so in 1787 Wilberforce’s attention became focused on this matter, which was to occupy him for at least the next twenty years of his life.

The Abolitionists argument first began to gather pace in 1789, when after several months of gathering evidence, a case was prepared against the slave trade, which was then submitted to Parliament in April of that year and further debated a month later on May 12th. Within this debate, Wilberforce rose in the commons and gave a speech in which he declared that “The wickedness of the Slave Trade to be so enormous, so dreadful and so irrmediable, as to admit no solution short of its abolition. However, necessary the trade might be....” Following on from this, he put forward to the House twelve propostions he had subtracted from the Privy Council’s report. These included;
· “That the Slave Trade was particularly destructive to the seamen employed in it.
· That the trade so carried on had a tendacy to to cause frequent wars among the natives.
· And that the method of transporting Slaves from Africa to the West Indies exposed them too many sufferings for which no regulations could provide adequate remedy.”

However, at the end of the summer when the hearing of evidence against the bill had concluded, it was still unfinished. The Abolitionists were frustrated by the fact that Parliament delayed their decision by even an hour, let alone a year. Upon requesting further evidence, Parliament soon turns to other matters.

Wilberforce alongside Sharp and Clarkson partially make up the Abolition Committee. On June 20th 1793, a meeting worthy of note took place invovling the aforementioned men. They recommended to the public that they refrain from purchasing products of the Slave Trade, such as West Indian Sugar and Rum. They even went as far as to appoint a sub committee to aid them. Nonetheless, the boycott action was held in reserve as a weapon, for fear it might be associated with more turbulent elements of the abolition. Wilberforce goes on to put forward a slave Trade Abolition Bill in 1791, 1793 and 1796. In 1804 one such bill progresses as far as being passed by the House of Commons, but any decision is then postponed by William Pitt in the House of Lord’s, who cites that there is not sufficient time to hear the evidence. Abolition legislation proposed by Wilberforce is again defeated by the House of Commons in 1805.

In the summer of months of 1833, the health of Wilberforce had begun to decline rapidly, more notably after he suffered a severe attack of influenza, from which he never recovered. After becoming increasingly weak, he died on the 29th July 1833. However despite his poor health, he survived long enough to learn that the Abolition of Slavery Bill had been passed upon its third reading in the Commons. One month after the death of William Wilberforce, slaves of the British Empire were granted their freedom through the Slavery Abolition Act passed by Parliament.

Home

2007-11-19T11:16:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this from my dining room at home, and despite the fact that i've only been home a few days for my Sister's birthday, i have noticed a stark difference in my personality. Here i am edgy, irritable and teary all the time. However, in Derby i am far more relaxed, laid back and one issue aside, a lot happier. I'm not sure the reason behind this but i'm entirely sure that its my fault which nevertheless makes me feel extremely guilty. Therefore i am currently dreading christmas, although in saying that, i'm hoping the fact that i'll have no work over the holidays will mean that i'm a little less snappy.

Heroes!

2007-10-20T06:52:00.000-07:00

Is my new favourite programme. I have an unhealthy addiction to it. At its worst my flatmates and i watched it for almost 6 hours straight, cancelled any plans that we had for going out that night and didnt even have time to eat! I think i'm also picking up random Japanese words, because of one my favourite characters in the programme, Hiro.

I'm immensely enjoying jumping on the Rugby bandwagon too:D

Can't think of anything interesting, so first blog entry!

2007-09-28T11:33:00.001-07:00

I refuse to enjoy this blogging malarky, simply because i was forced into it. I'd much prefer to read the interesting stuff that other people have to talk about. But i've found that this is a first class way of avoiding writing an essay. The subject of my essay is Thomas Cromwell, who i'm finding it hard to get excited about or at least relatively interested in. I find this a tad worrying considering i'm only a week into my first term at university. Much more exciting, is the prospect of the freshers ball type party thing tomorrow. I dont think its an actual ball, because my flatmates and i are dressing up as Derby university beauty queens, or something along those lines.

The past couple of days i've spent in Ipswich, which technically speaking is my home. However, depsite the fact that i've only been here only a week and a half, i keep referring to Derby as my home, which i do feel guilty about. The only thing i resent about Derby, is the fact that my bed at uni is so damn uncomfortable. I also couldnt wait to get back, so as to avoid the bombardment of questions which i suffered when i did arrive home. It drove me insane. I appreciate the fact that my family takes an interest in what i do, because i'd moan for sure if they didnt, but in the end i just had to get out of the house so as to avoid them.

On a more positive note, its my birthday next week wop wop:D