finished

So, the aforementioned Events Week finished last week and it was bloomin amazing! Here is a video summarising all that went on:



Well, suffice it to say it was all marvellous and I was pooped to the highest degree when it was all over - so so much organisation and so many early mornings and late nights. All wholly worth it though!

So, in a quick sum-up of all that's been happening in the last few weeks, given my blog posts have been scanty to say the least:

• I presented a few ideas for my documentary for my Contemporary Documentary module (which I'm loving). The only fly in the ointment is that my tutor hasn't been over-enamoured with any of my ideas so far. However, I've storyboarded the one I like best and I'm just going to run with it - hopefully I'll be able to prove that I'm not a total non-entity, haha. SO eager to get my hands on the SLRs that we're using to film the documentaries - I've booked one out for this coming Wednesday and also the weekend. Cannee wait!
  
  
• I've seen the following films at the cinema: 
• Hereafter (6/10 could have cut half an hour out of it without breaking a sweat)
• Black Swan (8/10 gripping throughout and beautifully shot)
• The Fighter (8/10 Christian Bale was fantastic - didn't really like him as an actor until this film)
• True Grit (8/10 a little slow at times but beautiful and some clever funny lines)
  
  
• I've read the following books (excluding uni-related): 
• Never Let Me Go (I was determined to read it before seeing the film - which hopefully I'll be seeing tomorrow. It's well worth a read, very compelling)
• The Screwtape Letters (a re-read, still a definite favourite - typical glorious C. S. Lewis eloquence and wit)
• Searching for God Knows What (technically still reading this one, but it's brilliant so far)
  
  
• Got a couple of offers for work experience in a couple of marketing agencies in London (I know right?!) - so so excited about them! Can't imagine little ol' me commuting into the Big Smoke for work!
   
• Started knitted the long-awaited iPod sock. It's my first time using a proper pattern and involved me learning to purl (a tad harder than anticipated...) but lovely Ellie has been on hand with counselling and lightning-fast knitting-reflexes, haha.

Can't think of anything else in particular, but it's seemed like a really busy few weeks - with more social gatherings and cups of coffee than I care to remember. Jolly good stuff.

latest

So, coming up scarily soon is our CU's annual Events Week. It's the biggest thing in our CU calendar, and it's basically a week packed full of events for people to invite their mates to - there are talks with a free lunch on every day of the week, and events in the evenings like acoustic nights, curry nights, and sports matches. Great stuff! The whole idea is that people come along and find out what it means to be a Christian.

This year our chosen theme is "The God Delusions" (a clever take on the title of Richard Dawkin's book The God Delusion) - basically we're focusing the daily talks around common misconceptions people have about God (e.g. "if there's a God, why is there suffering in the world?").

Anyway, I made a quick promotional film about it that we'll be littering Facebook with in the week before it all kicks off - here it is!

recap

Oh hello blog, you lovely thing. It's been a while.

Well, now that I'm back home after almost 3 weeks without internet I thought I'd tell you just what I've been doing in the mean time. It has been a good 3 weeks!

Ok, first week I was on a barge on the Oxfordshire canal, which was bea-utiful. We became expert storm-dodgers and, if I do say so myself, I was soon steering the boat like a pro, even in the pouring rain:

An amusing incident on the barge: I was steering fairly early in the morning and looking like a real bargee, when I looked to my feet and saw the hatch down to the engine, and noticed a small brass sign next to it explaining what it was. Now, for my somewhat immature mind, this sign turned out to be more than I could bear to keep to myself. I called to my brother at the front of the barge: "Oi Tom, there's a funny sign on the barge!" He asked me what it said, and I bellowed out over the noise of the engine: "It says FUEL COCK BELOW!" Then fell about in helpless hysterics. It wasn't until cruel coincidence caused me to turn round that I saw the old bloke on the tow path that was out walking his dog, looking at me in surprised amusement and pity as I rolled about the deck cackling like a schoolgirl. I was so embarrassed that, naturally, I went and hid in the toilet for the next half hour.

So, the week after the barge we went to stay in a cottage in Dorset (in Lulworth Cove, if you're interested). The weather was much better that week, and we went on plenty of day trips to explore everything around. One of the highlights of the week was when we went sea kayaking - it was incredible! I would so recommend it if you haven't done it before. Tom and I shared a kayak, and we were crashing through waves and dodging in and out of rocks and caves - whistling the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, naturally.

Another highlight was our trip to Lulworth Castle for the annual jousting festival - where I learned that not only do I need a boyfriend, but he must be of the armour-wearing "I-shall-win-this-tournament-for-your-honour" type.

Needless to say, the baddie knight ("Lord Odious", as it happened) was my favourite, and - I am ashamed to say - without any other appropriate favour to give him (women used to give knights handkerchiefs and things to show their favour during the jousts) I was seriously considering removing my bra to give him in a moment of madness, but it seems a young girl beat me to the underwear offering:

She was on her dad's shoulders next to us and told him she wanted to give him her spare pair of knickers. On ascertaining that it was in fact the baddie that she wanted to favour, he said amusingly: "I'm not sure if I approve of this!" 

The final highlight, was the Anniversary of the Battle of Britain Air Show in Duxford. Man, I have never seen anything like it. So many World War II planes - they had sixteen Spitfires flying together! And I'm no fighter plane expert but I'm told that's rather a big deal. Of course, the Red Arrows are always a big hit with me.

So, this brings us on to this week, where I have been at Forum 2010, organised by UCCF (the national organisation of Christian Unions in universities). It was one of the most incredible weeks ever, honestly. The teaching was fantastic (click here to listen to any of them - Graham Daniels' talk was particularly brilliant) and we all learned to much and got really fired up for going back to uni and organising our CU freshers events. I nearly lost my voice from all the singing we did! Picture it: pitch black outside - no clouds but loads of stars, a huge marquee and a thousand students belting it out so that you can hardly hear your own voice. So good. So so good!

So, here I am - complete with a host of new books from Forum, a miniature model of a Red Arrow plane, and flip flop tan lines. It's been a mint few weeks!

so basically...

I have been absolutely useless for the past couple of weeks. I have only blogged 4 times so far this month (not including this one) with, I have to admit, not even very much interesting in those.

I could jump on the whole "my life is really busy at the moment, guys" wagon, but the truth is it isn't. Or at least it hasn't been until this week, as it is our CU's Events Week, which certainly takes some organising. It's basically a whole week full of events and lunch talks, and it's the culmination of the CU's year and we try to reach as many people as possible on campus.

It's a bloomin' mint week as there is a lo-ot going on and it means you pretty much don't have an hour to spare - but we love it :)

Aside from that I am hopelessly behind on my reading for my course, with no excuse at all - something which I plan to rectify in the next couple of days when there is the occasional lull in events. Determination is, admittedly, low but it will be done. Oh yes.