The Last One...

For now!

It's the end of term: the last week of the first Semester has gone,
it's five to seven Saturday morning, and I'm getting ready to go to
St. Étienne / Lyon / Paris to see some of the lovely French folk I met
this summer. Absolutely shattered- didn't get to bed until late, and
then the wind was bizarrely loud, so didn't fall off for ages. Will be
alright though...

Hope traveling today goes okay, will be busy, lots of waiting around,
but I think everything's going to be good.....

To forget?

Look time, no blog. Don't really know why that is. The trite 'I didn't
have time' again falls down- of course I've had time, I just don't
think i've wanted to try and write something,

Extremely excited about going to France next Saturday, arrangements in
place, just have to buy a few things, pack, and off I go. Well, that
excludes the shocking pile of neglected Uni. work I've left to do. I'm
blaming the backlog on being ill the other week: it's partly the
cause, but also I've just been thinking about one of the essays for so
long, trying to work out what to argue (and now, the more I analyse
the argument I'm making, it becomes weaker, more superficial and full
of holes).

At D's tonight, the end of a gathering where all I did was eat Skips,
read Charles Taylor, and take photos, but for some reason I feel like
it's the end of an LCR. Really want to have a decent day tomorrow, get
the first draft of my SPT Essay done and a decent plan for the silly
Glob. World essay done, and some decent revising for SPT test on Monday.

Don't really know what to do now- might stay up and work for a bit, or
might throw in the towel. Been sleeping so much lately tired of it.
Annoyed, a bit sad, just want to have a break for a bit now. Role on
next weekend...

Horrible Daze

Oh God. Feel absolutely terrible. Been stuck in bed since a fire alarm
at 5 bloody am Friday morning, dizzy, not eating, coughing my lungs
up. Not good at all. Really hope feel better tomorrow so can get to
lectures and be reasonably sentient, and get back to work on pile of
essay etc.

Fed up of being ill, don't like not being able to do anything, and
makes me feel pathetic- like a child. Really, really, looking forward
to France and Christmas, just got to get through these assignments
first- a ray of light it would seem.

PRINT

Daniel Youmans
dan.paul.youmans@gmail.com

Mad Few Days

Mad last week or so, Election Night, town Thursday night, poorly
Friday, woke up well late Saturday, LCR Saturday night, up talking
until 5am, chilled Sunday. So an absolutely frenetic end to these busy
two weeks. Feels good though: happy that I got the essays in- despite
not being overly pleased with them as pieces of work- and that I've
had a good time and am getting on with people.

Excited about starting mentoring this or next Wed, still fumbling
(penny-less) over buying tickets for Christmas. Time really is
whizzing past, and want to get the next set of work started, and make
decent progress. More soon.

AND don't appreciate that...

So in his concession McCain calls this a special day for African
Americans. Sod You.

The End is High

So that's the end! Obama wins seemingly resounding, with states
(Florida etc) still to declare. Pretty exciting night, though it'd all
be over when Calif. closed at 4am, and it was; literally as the polls
closed they decided to flash up 'Barack Obama elected as President'.
And thank America for that.

Election Night

Woah, in pub, waiting for the results to come in. Pretty nervous!
McOld best not sneak up out of nowhere...

Catch-up, Wake-up

Not had chance to write for last few days. Weekend was really good,
Student Mentor training both days (14 hours?), learnt a lot about how
to build a relationship, work on issues, and truly get something
positive out of this experience. Heard earlier today that I'd passed,
which I'm really pleased with, so can hopefully soon start and meet my
mentees.

S sent me the link of an interesting-looking scheme from the TDA-
Student Associates, which entails placements in school to gain
experience of teaching- will look into this in more detail soon.

Also went to Sparks in the (Earlham) Park Saturday night. Fireworks
really nice, absolutely tipping it down to sludge-fest, but fun all
the same.

SPT essay going okay I think- maybe it's actually not going as well as
I think. Believe I've got some good ideas, and a good overall
structure, but not sure if it'll all come together in enough detail
tomorrow, when I make some real inroads into it. Due in on Thursday,
so do need to get moving.

Looking forward to election night tomorrow, should be really
interesting (off to the pub from midnight to half six, they're showing
it on the TVs), but have this niggling worry that McCain will win a
surprise state and it'll then just all slip into his less-than-mobile
hands. Can but hope.

Last Few Days

Been a manic, but really enjoyable last few days. Monday was mad,
really annoyingly timed lectures, helping out a friend of one of my
housemates when the printers all decided to stop working about an hour
before her deadline, and then the Alphabeat interview.

Was really nice to interview Anders R, Rasmus, and Troels. They were
all really nice and obliging, answering all the questions I asked and
really making me feel comfortable- for my first interview, and one of
my favorite bands, I think it went okay.

Then, later it was time for the concert. The LCR was pretty packed,
I'd had a couple of drinks, and as I was guestlisted +1, we had a
ticket to sell! One lucky bloke later, we had drinks money. Their
support acts were really good: Pandering and the Golddiggers are
pretty cool, great tunes to dance to, and a real spectacle. Similarly,
Belgian wonders Das Pop were full of energy, singalong songs, and real
stage presence. And of course, Alphabeat themselves were pretty damn
good, Stine is so petite and cute, and they al just seem at home on
the stage.

So that was Monday. Tuesday was the charity calendar for East Anglia
Air Ambulance, which was fun (definitely an experience). Wednesday I
went into town, bought a really nice suit jacket, waistcoat, and tie
on sale, ready for James Bond/Casino Night tonight. Also, finished and
handed in two assignment, made a very small amount of progress on the
third, got my haircut, went to final Student Ambassador training, and
wrote up the majority of the Alphabeat interview article for this
week's Concrete (will post that here soon). Busy busy busy, and it's
not over yet.

Amazing Night, Less One Hour

Had an awesome night last night. Started of with a couple of drinks
and goes on the machine (we eventually won £4.50, but that was after
probably putting in more than that), and then progressed to D's flat,
a couple of beers, and then out came the UV. UV scrawls all over the
kitchen, M's room, t-shirts, arms, everywhere. Not exactly the purpose
the police intended them for, but well fun. J has a UV light, so we
could see the various drawings, scribblings, and Eddie Izzard quotes
around the place. A very cool time, fun people, lots of guitar, and
totally studenty.

Didn't feel too bad when woke up, clocks went back this morning so
wasn't even that late when came home. Got first drafts of both essays
I'm working on today done, but not happy with them at all: both
because I don't think the reading I did really makes an appearance,
and because they aren't particularly well written.

Bit nervous about Alphabeat interview tomorrow, really excited about
the gig. Hopefully will chill me out from this weekend, and get me on
track with the next essay I need to do (due in in a week and a half).
Trying to be positive about them, and to think of them as first
attempts and a way of seeing how University works, that that's the
purpose of the first year here, but still I worry.

Think I want to go abroad for my second semester next year (Jan 2010),
but again a scary thing. Will have to think seriously about it. Decent
enough weekend, really looking forward to this week: Alphabeat, James
Bond, Sparks in the Park. And just £70 left in my bank account.

A Baroness, A Bit of Work, Post.

Another pretty good day. Woke up surprisingly late, got some work and
some errand done, and then went to a UEA Lib Dems (for which I now
have a Committee job) hosted talk by Baroness Ros Scott on Local
Democracy. She spoke really, well, passionately, and with obvious
knowledge of the ins-and-outs of British politics. She's most
definitely getting my first preference vote for Party President.

Work going okay, got a decent plan for my Big Brother essay done,
added quotes and citations to it, and will hopefully tomorrow work
that into a first draft. Not done much work on my Globalizing World
report, but it's short and straightforward so that's not too bad. And
once those two're drafted (hopefully by the end of Sunday), will crack
on with SPT.

Busy week next week, get to interview Alphabeat and see their gig
Monday, then I've volunteered to be in a charity calendar Tuesday,
then Thursday's the deadline for two essays, and James Bond Cocktail
Society evening. So all in all, an action-packed week.

Hopefully, and boringly, having an early-ish night tonight, as got to
be up at the crack o' dawn tomorrow for Student Ambassador training.
Oh, the lives we lead.

Morning All.

Another busy day's gone by. And by busy, I mean full of me sitting at
my desk, reading endless articles; or in the kitchen, washing up. Got
feedback from Delicious exercise back, so ever-so-slightly joyous.
Also, another good meeting with the Chair of the UEA Lib Dems (news to
come soon, I hope).

This afternoon, read ten-odd articles, bits from four or five books,
and wrote some decent points down: despite not having that much down
on paper, I've been thinking about the essay (for my Big Brother
class, will post a link to the article under scrutiny later) for days
now, so think I've got a lot of it down. Still not really sure whether
this will be too little (or too much?) for 1,500 words, but we shall
see. Trying to approach this first round of essays as a test- seeing
how my way of writing essays fits with University, and learning from
the outcomes. Hopefully this'll work.

Treated myself to 1984- the book and the DVD- so looking forward to
that. Flatmates looking to go out tomorrow night, so might get a
welcome break from this old Mac of mine. Moo cards here, travel
article in Concrete today. Not too shabby for Dan.

Headaches

Couple of days since wrote here, been busy and shattered. Today woke
up late with a massive headache, rushed off the lecture on essay-
writing (fairly useful). Then seminar, which was okay, but I don't
think I said anything interesting, instead filling the silences with
trite answers stated verbosely. Want to really get plans down for two
of the three essays due today (and seeing as its only 13:30, this
remains possible), but need to get rid of this headache first- pills
taken. Still not heard about Delicious exercise mark/feedback, hope
will come soon. More later, probably. Possible. And if you can, check
out Stephen Fry's America series on BBC1- a nice piece of Sunday TV.

Full, funny, dressing-gown

Pretty decent day. Got some work done earlier (thank god for the
beauty of brown paper), read five or six articles for one of the
essays I have to write in the next couple of weeks, which were pretty
good, then gave up and went into town. Bought a dressing gown- which
I've wanted for ages- had dinner, and am now back home, half seven.
Hope to get a bit more work done now, to make up for the denting my
bank card took. Random as that may sound

A Good DAY

Having a pretty damn good day. Got most of my lecture notes typed up,
done some reading, and now about to start nailing ideas down for the
three essay things I've got coming up. In a really positive mood,
hopefully will do something good tonight- dinner with friends, pub
maybe.

Been thinking about just how quickly time here is flying by- we've
been here almost a month already, and it simultaneously feels like we
just arrived and like we've been here for an age. Settled in to
looking after myself, and adjusting to the kind of work University
entails. But still haven't visited the stunning lake on campus (or
booked my gym induction). On the other hand, I have registered at the
doctors AND bought tickets for James Bond night.

Came across a hilarious site earlier: http://palinaspresident.com/ .
The scary thing is, it's all true; Also watched a speech she gave (on
CSPAN) the day after the final debate- which I thought was pretty
close- and all she does is screech on, say 'maverick', and attempt to
smear Obama as unpatriotic or disrespectful of US soldiers.

Pathetic really- in my book, what these men and women need is a
respect for democracy (what they're purportedly defending)- and thus a
respect for debate and a commitment to treating opponents in a fair
way. Not silly slanders.

Quick Note, then work

Just a few words before I finish off making notes on conservatism, at
start attacking the pile of lecture notes that need typing up. A
pretty good day, had useful, effective meeting with leader of the UEA
Lib Dem Society at lunch, so hopefully can progress from there, SPT
seminar was also extremely interesting- debating the merits of
conservative ideology- what there is, at least.

Looking at picking modules for next semester- most likely will take
Intro to American Studies alongside the mandatory Into to IR and Into
to Contemporary Politics. Looks like a pretty good mix- although I
have a creeping feeling all I'll be talking about is realism, post-
realism, behavioralism etc. We shall see.
Daniel Youmans
dan.paul.youmans@googlemail.com
dyoumans@hotmail.co.uk

Post-pizza blues, thoughts on Burke

Had the much-awaited Dominoes pizza, was pretty damn good. Back at
computer now. Finished Burke reading for my Social & Political Theory
(SPT) Module. All in all, there wasn't much that I really got out of
it. The last two weeks we've read Marx & Engels (an excerpt from 'The
German Ideology') and JS Mill's 'On Liberty' which were both fairly
detailed. Even though this piece was much shorter than the other two,
it just didn't have the same level of information, or the same number
of ideas. Burke seems more to repeat the same concept in a few
different ways (or as several rhetorical questions), rather than move
on. I suppose it doesn't help either that I don't know much about the
French Revolution, so can't engage that closely with it.

Other than that, very interesting lecture (the development of the web
and its role in the public sphere/civic society) and seminar today, SPT
seminar tomorrow- for which have to read the aforementioned Burke and
another chapter from the general cover-all book.

In other news, UEA Lib Dems meeting tomorrow, which I'm looking
forward to, and will hopefully get down to making inroads on the
essays due in in week 6/7 soon (it's week 4 now). All-in-all, a good
day, in a good mood, and feeling positive about work.

Merging Delicious accounts

How to merge separate Delicious accounts' Bookmarks into one account....

Log into your account, click on 'settings' in the top corner. Then
click 'export/download bookmarks'. Make sure both boxes are ticked,
then click 'export'. This should download a little file. Then log
into the new account, go into settings again, and pick 'import/
upload bookmarks', then 'browse', then find the little file you just
dowloaded. It'll then take a few hours for the site to sort it all out

New Stuff Soon

So couldn't make Twitter work with this site (you probs can, but can't
work it out). Seeing as I can just post from my email, I suppose this
isn't very important. Still not much further with the Burke reading,
but hearing a bit about the Union Council (the parliament of the
Student's Union at UEA, my University), and adding some links and
stuff to the blog. I think I miss being a Governor of my old College.
Was pretty fun, and really interesting to read/discuss the checks and
balances behind any organisation- even those as prosaic as a college.

First Day, First Post

I'm at Uni, studying Politics. Much discussion about Web 2.0,
blogging, YT etc. so thought I'd get in on the act with this simple
blog. Somewhere I can post text quickly and easily to access
everywhere, keep in touch with everyone, and various other things.

Right now, I'm reading an excerpt from Edmund Burke's 'Reflections on
the Revolution in France', for one of my modules (fun). More later, I
hope.