Ridiculous Chocolate Coin

Today, Sophie's mum gave us both a chocolate coin as a treat. It is a ridiculous size! I challenge anyone to find a bigger chocolate coin. Now, I am going to eat it.

For those of you interested, it is a 'heritage chocolate medallion' manufactured by the national trust. Thats right, so the same people that stop homeowners of old buildings from getting double glazing windows are now responsible for me eating some chocolate. Win.

What happened with University and stuff

Just to get this out there, yes, I have left Bath University for good. I will not be going back nor living in Bath this year.

It is a massive shame for me, because of all the good people and things i had to leave behind. For quite a while I already knew that doing Chemistry was not what I wanted to do. You may be wondering, well why did you do it then? Well there is a combination of reasons.

• It would have been an impressive degree to get, that would set me up for almost any job I wanted
• Bath was a very nice place
• I was interested in science

So there are my reasons. When I got there, I realised I was being asked far more of me than I could give. I have never had a knack for maths, and having done 1 year of a chemistry degree I can honestly say it is just maths and physics in disguise. I quickly realised that most people on my course had an A at maths A level, whereas I used my A in fine art to 'sneak' onto the course through a loophole of some description. So great, I could paint very well and talk to you for hours about MC  Escher but could I integrate complex numbers? well, no.

So I was struggling. I hear you all saying, ok that makes sense but why did you not leave earlier?

I had some of the greatest friends I have back in Bath, and I could not bear to leave them. I had joined the juggling club and learned so much and met some amazingly talented people. The area was great for my running and there was a pub that sold my favourite beer on tap. It literally could not have worked out any better for me. ... However, I was not there because of those things. I was there, at the end of the day, to do a degree. And so, when it all collapsed in on itself it dawned on me that I had to sort out my priorities and leave.

It wasn't easy, there was a number of things I had to sort out.

• Leaving itself- there was paperwork
• Student finance
• I already was stuck in a contract for a house

Once these things were done, I was free. Despite all the money I lost, I would do it all again, no regrets. Here are a few quick notes for some very special people.

• To Oliver Jefferies: Oli, we shared some fantastic times together and I could have not asked for more. We shared so much in common and the fact you live 2 floors below me changed nothing- you felt like a close neighbour. One of the nicest people I have ever met, who is morally sound and would never do anything to anyone. As my fellow chemistry student, lets just say we shared the same pain! A fellow Pokemon nerd, we spent so many hours of procrastination on that game and other games and general hanging around. I'll be sure to visit, take care man. All the best
• To Phil Murphy: Well phil, my at first quiet neighbour... what a card you turned out to be. We were very close friends with very similar senses of humour. We also shared some fantastic times I would do all over again. Apart from that time when we were woken by the sound of Andy f***ing someones brains out... For all the irish dialect I picked up, your harry impresonations, all the hilrious conversations with renfred, not forgetting hundreds of wee bevy breaks. I will so come back to see what the craic is, maybe go to a club and be awkward together with our thumbs up based dance moves.
• James Rooney: You weren't even in our house! Well you basically were. For more pokemon antics, that time when you helped me with the maths stuff, and oh god the steinway piano... thanks so much, see you around.
• The rest of my housemates (even Haaziq): You guys were awesome. What can I say, read down the blog for all our antics throughout the year, especially with me and tom. All the best everyone.
• Gravity Vomit, the juggling club: What would I have done without you all! Never met so many jugglers who taught me so much. So sorry for leaving the committee, we would have rocked the juggling world with our awesomeness. Keep on juggling and being the best society for miles, and good luck Scott, you'll be great.

All in all, I had the time of my life. But you all know why I left now. I am taking a year out to make some money back, and apply for new places. I intend to study primary school training, specialising in art. I will be either at Bath spa or Reading, so I will only be a walk or a train away.

take care everyone

Essential updates on my life story

I have been away for a while now. Its unfortunate, because a lot of things have happened that i should have ideally blogged about. So prepare for a few short blogs outlining the whimsical and entertaining adventures of me and my friends:

They should go as follows:

1. What happened with University and stuff
2. The band and our capers
3. Me and Sophie
4. The Pokemon Club

Stay tuned

Back for the year... Lets do my very first test beard

This has been my first post for aaages! I promise I'll get back to posting about random events and musings as soon as possible.

This may seem a weird post to jump back into the blogging world, but nonetheless we soldier on to a standard no-shave competition between ricky and the pigeons. Ricky wants to see what I have, so here is a  picture of my "full beard look", 8 days of no shaving in.

So yeah, you can actually kind of see it! Just for you Ricky, although its better in real life.

Let summer begin!

So summer has officially begun for everyone. All of my old friends are back from Uni or College, so let the various parties and reunions begin! I feel I have not blogged recently, so I'll begin. Here come a number of posts about summer!

James "Gigantor" Rooney

Yes, its true, my good friend Rooney from University had begun on the blogosphere. I look forward to reading his blog, Its gonna be good as it grows. I suggest you follow it, as it is only me at the moment. I guarantee you will be mildly entertained.

Awesome. Oh yeah, here is the link.

This and that (Rooney's blog)

It may be tacky, but it was home

Well there we are. I have survived my exams, its all over. Summer awaits, and I can't wait to get started! Unfortunately this means I have to part with my room 11 in Eastwood 4. This place has been my home since last september, and I have met many good friends along the way. Fortunately, I am moving in next year with them all again (minus a few, cough cough) because I love them all so much.

So, my room is pretty much packed now. No posters, just bare walls and a stripped bed, which is kind of weird really considering this is supposed to be where all my creative explosions take place (but not in that way). I am just literally waiting for my parents to arrive and whisk me back to sunny (hopefully...) Torbay, where I will proceed to 'hang out' amongst my peers. It is nice to relax once in a while.

So as my supposed wealth of chemistry knowledge seeps out of my brain like a fully functioning seive, my thoughts turn back to the memories of Eastwood 4. Here is some polite Eastwood 4 trivia concerning my experiences here.

• the first person I met in Eastwood 4 was Harry, which was... enlightening?
• In the beginning, gareth shared his room (albeit humongous) with Mike Brookes, this northern guy who only seemed to eat microwave pizzas for the whole of freshers week
• To my knowledge, a number of people have been sick in the shower
• We all wished Haaziq had not left...
• The kitchen has remained a state for the whole year, much to the despair of Oli.
• We have had many Halo nights, and even a Halo LAN party between the us and some of the chinese residents of the house
• To my knowledge, the kitchen has been filled with smoke about 10 times for various reasons, such as Oli burning a crepe in the microwave and the grill killing my naan bread.
• Our grill is so powerful, even chuck norris is afraid. It literally burns EVERYTHING
• I have essentially learned how to cook food this year
• squirrels have been known to enter the kitchen in the last few weeks
• We had a quote board on the go for a while. Hilarity ensued, and was subsequently written down
• We actually finished a game of monopoly once
• Me and phil have been woken up by all too literal banging noises coming from Andy's room. (Haaziq's replacement)
• Tom Woollacott still is thin somehow considering all those venison burgers
• We have watched many films in this house
• The freezer died at one point, and the maintenance guy came over to fix it with screws and nails....
• We built many Snowmen when snow day came around. One, an impressively tall 7ft.
• Mega Bite was the preferred choice of takeaway because it is cheap and does kebabs

I could go on forever, need i mention the Half Time Pies and the eastwood badger, but I digest digress. I'm totally glad I didnt live in the posh accommodation with all the rich people, because I prefer the kind of people that don't mind or can't afford to live somewhere that is not lavish. My housemates this year were on the whole, awesome.

Not of course forgetting Eastwood 3, where would we be without the lovable James Rooney, we have shared many a coffee break and he is essentially our adopted housemate.

So this is it. The last ever blog from my rubbish little house on campus known as Eastwood 4. I would not have had it any other way. This is Jamie Duffield signing off from room 11 for the last time.