This will be the 100th blog that I have ever written on this here website and what better number is there to start a possible comeback? No that's right there probably isn't one really, so lets head on into the blog.

I flirted with the idea of a comeback over the summer when writing a blog/review of the electric gardens festival but that was just a one off in the greater scheme of things and who knows this one quite possibly could follow in the same vein.

So what have I been up to in the last year I hear you ask, well if I was to even start thinking about all the many blogging opportunities that I have missed. I drunk some more alcohol, I passed my first year of university, started renting a house between me and 5 of my friends at uni, I drunk some more and now I find myself here at stupid o'clock in the morning writing a blog rather than sleeping.

My new house is off campus in the small village of Wivenhoe, I live with Ben and Qandeel who I used to live with last year and Dan, Steph and Rossen who I didn't but I do believe there is at least a brief mention of all of them at some point in previous blogs. Coming to the end of the first term here in this house there have yet to be any real problems with the living conditions and everyone appears to be getting on fine. There have been rumours of people wanting to move out at the end of the year from both Rossen and Qandeel but neither have really come into a deffinite decision as of yet.

The only real problem that I am having is the work, yes I know the whole point of university is that you are meant to work so you can get a degree and then live your life happily ever after with lots of money. My problem isn't that I don't think there should be any work, it is that i STILL don't have the enthusiasm to do anything despite the extortionate amounts of money that I am paying to get this education. I foolishly believed on getting to university as a fresher that I would do more work than I did at A-Level, that didn't materialise and I put it down to the first year being worthless and so yet again I came into 2nd year thinking I would do more work but no I havn't. I rarely turn up to lectures or seminars, I don't do the readings that I am suposed to do and I am still rushing off my essays the night before they are due in. I have actually got to the stage of wondering why I am actually at university at all...

don't get me wrong, the university experience has been great, the living without my parents and having to do things for myself has been a great learning curve in life experience and I have met some of the coolest people that I am ever likely to meet but unfortunately that won't get me a degree at the end of the course. I really do fear that at the end of the course or possibly even by the end of this year, I will have come to the conclusion that I have just wasted an awful lot of my money and got not all that much potential to earn back.

This blog unfortunately will not be one of my happy-go-lucky blogs about how I have enjoyed a night out or something along those lines, it is just going to be a long rant about the problems of university living, although this next bit is a little less, oh shit i'm wasting my life and more - silly fat bastard, stop drinking.

The picture on the left is a before and after shot of me. The one on the right was me just a couple of weeks after joining university in October 2006, the picture on the left is me in November this year (2007) and I'm pretty sure I am not just seeing things when I say that in the one on the left I look a lot fatter. I know it is a bigger picture and all but I deffinitely have a more defined face in the picture on the right.

The problem with this though is that although I have identified the problem and know how to change it, namely doing more exercise, eating less crappy food and especially drinking less beer. I don't find myself wanting to change my ways enough to stop this process happening. It is very similar to my problems with essays and with most of the problems i face in my life, I fail to do things that I don't particularly want to do in the short term to benefit me in the long term. I know I should but I just don't. This is why I am poor, fat and am likely to get a poorer grade than possible, if not fail my degree.

and on that optimistic note I shall leave you, will I write another blog in the near future or will it be another year before I go again, that is something that only the sands of time will determine.

Ta Ta for Now, Ant

END

Well I was gonna do a blog for Matt's birthday but I never got round to it, but just to let you know it was nothing too unusual for a birthday round our parts. Went to spoons, the birthday boy got violently sick and the soberist ones (of which i was unusually one) had to help everyone else get home. Lovely.

So yes, onto my first ever thanksgiving. First I would like to point out that it is not that we just randomly decided to celebrate, it was in honour of our 2 American flatmates. it started as any other Thursday would, IR seminar, mondo's hour then Politics seminar, all very normal but soon after that came the start of the rest of the day. At 3 we went out to the field to play a game of American football which is apparently is a tradition and thus a part of our day.

 <i got bored of writing, i'll finish at some point>

Most of the time I am a very cheerful fellow but on the odd occasion I do find myself getting very angry and this weekend was one of those few occasions and it is all due to various modes of public transport.

Hoorah I thought as I finished my seminar on Friday, Im going home to see family and friends. Having pre-booked a train I left uni with a good three quaters of an hour to do what is essentially a 20 minute journey.. after buses being late, stopping to change drivers  for about 5 minutes and not stopping in the correct places meant that I missed my train by 4 minutes and so instead of paying just the £7 for the pre-booked ticket I had to pay another tenner.. I was less than impressed. This Lateness also made me miss the fireworks display that was pretty much the point that I went home this weekend.

When I finally got home though I had a very nice weekend, on the Friday night I may have missed the display but I caught onto the end of the party that followed which was nice but I didnt drink because I wasnt in the mood.

Saturday I went out with the lads, a few people that I hadnt seen for months like shane, leander and darryl and a few that I had seen a bit more recently but nevertheless were a joy to hang out with anyway. Mary was there aswell but not for the majority of the evening (dont worry I would see her the next day). Stupidly, under the influence of Dave, half the evening was spent by most on the itbox which I agree is good fun but not for more than 5 to 10 minutes really. Whilst some were doing that I was taking others up to the bar for sly drinks but I wasnt particularly drunk, it must be the london air as I seem to get drunk a lot easier in Essex.

On Sunday morning I went for a nice breakfast in the cafe before sitting in watching the football with my family and then back to weatherspoons in the evening where I met up with Mary and her friend Teresa who I had not met previously but who seems very nice and as she has a boyfriend called Ant, clearly knows a good name when she hears one. Mary got quite tipsy and started trying to match make the barman with her good friend Jo. I spoke to Blondie on the Phone for a short while so he was almost there and also John (PNB) came in to say a quick hello which was a pleasant surprise as I havnt seen him in ages and wasnt expecting to see him all weekend as he told me he was working the whole time.

But then today, started with the 6am start and despite making it to the station in plenty of time my return ticket didnt work because I apparently printed off the return ticket on the way down.. now why the hell would I do that, stupidbloody train company, so I had to shell out yet more money on train tickets.. GRRR. So in trying to save money on tickets by booking online I probably ended up paying double what I did last time so for future reference I shall not book online because public transport, especially in Colchester can not be trusted in the slightest.

END

P.S. Well done Rossy boy for reaching two decades of life, you're bloody OLD my man