so i have decided to make this blog… better. yeah, so far it’s only been about me, but i’m not too interesting. half of the stuff on this blog is about the same stuff (”not much happened/saw leigh/played this/listened to this”) and honestly that’s probably the reason i don’t update this too much. so i have decided i’m going to do… stuff. reviews, rants, feature articles, interviews with random people, ANYTHING to make this a better place to visit. and  i’ll still talk about me sometimes too for the 3 people who still read this blog who aren’t searching for camel spiders (i must have over 28,000 views from people searching camel spiders, apparently my blog is on the first page on MSN image search for spider crabs). so welcome to the teaplusplus renovation project. i will use tags and stuff too. any comments would be appreciated, give me stuff to write about!

well, once again i’ve been neglecting this blog. which is bad! anyway, let’s see…

i saw leigh yesterday for the first time in 2 and a half weeks. it was great, though the open day at teesside uni was very boring. checked out mima, that was pretty good, and just wandered around. i had fun, and i’m seeing her again this saturday. can’t wait.

on a side note, today is our 5 months. 5 months, and it’s just flown by (i seem to only update this when its an anniversary). it’s been a fantastic five months, but next month will be half a year. god, that’s a long time. i must be doing something right!

anyway, not a lot has been happening. mainly work work work.

i really wish i had something interesting to say.

well, not much has been happening. i got my acceptance letter for leeds (unless i mentioned that before, it’s been a while since i last updated) and things have been pretty hectic on the college work side of life. haven’t seen leigh in a while, since she’s got even more work than me to do! so fun times. i’ve been learning how to make my own interactive fiction game, and got back into indie gaming, which is great. the IGF that was on recently showcased possibly the best indie games of all time. grand prize winner was of course crayon physics deluxe. absolutely stunning, amazing fun and addictive. although it isn’t out yet, there’s a prototype available which is great fun, although you’re limited to lines and quadrilaterals. there’s even a little level editor with it. the deluxe version will have an in-built level editor, and a huge amount of levels is promised. it’ll be the next N!

other games that looked pretty fantastic were world of goo and fez, along with audiosurg the audience favourite. fez looks incredible, taking paper mario to the next level, and looking beautiful.

anyway, enough about that, what’s new? not a lot. i’ve been pretty reclusive recently, as it’s very cold and i’m very sensitive to cold. i don’t like it. and i don’t have warm clothes (damn attempts at being fashionable!) so it’s either go outside with 40 layers or go outside with 2 and freeze.

on a side note, i’ve been drinking orange juice.

so england suffered the worst earthquake in 24 years or something, and man was it fun! i was just dozing off to sleep when it hit (redcar for a rating of IV) and it shook the room i can tell you that. at first i had no idea what was happening, being half asleep and all, but that woke me up. it was great fun. i just wish they gave us time to prepare so we could have set up a bouncy castle. that would have been great. i feel sorry for anyone in surgery at that time though. was there any casualties? i’ve heard about one, but that’s it.

anyway, i’ve been getting back into interactive fiction. oh yes, text based games. they’re great. i used to play them way back, and i’ve found a particularly great one called varicella (yes, that’s chicken pox). it’s about a palace minister with a plan to become king. i haven’t got very far (you have like 2 hours in game time to beat it) and i haven’t managed to kill any of the ministers yet. but i’m still feeling my way around. i’ve downloaded a whole load of games, as well as an editor so i can make one of my own. should be good.

other then that, i’ve spent my time watching arrested development over and over. it’s perhaps my new favourite show, and they’ve confirmed a movie! which is great news. i’ve heard that series three isn’t very good, but i’ll find out for myself.

a very… interesting post.

yeah, don’t worry. my lack of posts recently is due to laziness. i haven’t had much to say really.

anyway yes! hello hello hello. wow, since my last post, quite a bit has happened. well, not really. leigh stayed over again, that was fun. i saw leigh this weekend, but i’ll come to that in a sec.

i got a place at leeds metropolitan. that was pretty awesome, and i seriously can’t wait.

but yeah, this weekend has been rather fun. firstly, i had an awful morning. everything was going wrong: things weren’t dry, woke up late, bath was cold, taxi was late etc. i met leigh in newcastle, and it was her friend alan’s birthday. so we went to yo sushi, which was really nice. then we went clothes shopping. we went round a few shops to look for clothes, and i got some. all interesting stuff. we had a really nice time though. then we went back to her house, and i was really getting on with her parents and stuff. which was really cool. then we went to sunderland, and i had to go home. only the trains weren’t running, and there was a bus running instead. the bus left a good half hour before the train did. so i missed that one. we were told another one would be coming. but it didn’t. so in a frantic panic, leigh and rachael tried to find somewhere for me to stay. it ended up being leigh’s house, but her parents were NOT happy about it at all. so we were all a bit down, the night ruined, sat in a pub. woke up the next morning, and it was very very awkward and silent. i then left for home. so i’ve ruined a lot this weekend.

anyway, other then that, it’s been a pretty good few weeks.

thanks for all those birthday messages and stuff! i had a great time. i met leigh at boro (got knocked back from a pub, on my 18th birthday!) and we went to HMV where i bought absolutely shitloads of dvd’s. like, in excess of £100 worth. then we went to pizza hut and got the best cookie dough ever. and pizza of course. then we went to see sweeney todd. it was suprisingly good, despite first impressions (johnny depp singing, hmm). though it was a bit silly to have sasha baren cohen or whatever his name is. borat, that’s the one. he did a decent job suprisingly. though he sounded a lot like borat in some lines. anyway all in all it was a good watch. then the party… begun? i don’t know. my mam had done a little party with family, but we got back a bit late and had missed everyone. thankfully. i don’t like fuss really. i spent the night talking and catching up, looking through old photos and stuff, then off to bed to watch some new dvd’s. good stuff.

saturday i went to leigh’s house. though we kept falling asleep. anyway, that was fun. all in all i had a fantastic birthday.

i have started a new blog, it’s called whyjustwhy?. it’s a ranting blog. don’t worry, i’m not abandoning this one, just saves putting rants here. i’m looking for writers, so if you’re interested holla.

http://whyjustwhy.wordpress.com

check it.

so heathledger is dead. what a shame. admittedly i’ve never seen anything he’s been in, but i’ll watch the new batman film once it’s released.

since it’s my birthday in two days, i’ve decided to see what happened on it. turns out (most notably), i’m born on the same day as john cooper-clark (amazing poet), the HONKY TONK MAN and alicia keyes. but on the exact day i was born, this happened:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/25/newsid_3420000/3420797.stm

sort of sets the tone for what my 18th will be like. thrilling.

other interesting things that happened:

• henry VIII marries anne boleyn.
• Sao Paolo was founded.
• the WWII: battle of the bulge ends (hahahaha).
• charlie manson is found guilty.
• avianca flight 52 crashes, killing 73 passengers.
• russia almosts starts a nuclear war.
• al capone dies.
• robert burns day!

and so on and so on. quite interesting actually.

well, it’s been quite a long time since the last update. i’ve been pretty fucking busy with a lot of college work (which has just piled up). in fact, right now i’m finishing off my 3D animation, but it’s not going too well so i thought i’d take a break.

wht’s been happening recently? well, not much really. the usual. i visited durham with leigh on saturday, which was pretty nice. however, there isn’t an awful lot to do in durham, in fact, it’s fairly dull. nice, but dull. it has nice scenery and a nice market though. in the end we got a bit bored and went back to sunderland to watch a movie at the cinema. i’m not sure of the name, charlie something’s war. it was pretty okay actually. this friday she’s staying over at my house.

and another thing, this friday is my birthday. i expect lots of love and money. my 18th. i actually can’t believe i’m going to be 18. you have no idea how long i’ve been waiting for this.

next up: university. i aim to get into leeds metropolitan. i’ve heard many many many good things about it, and it sounds amazing. my application is being processed.

london soon, and my we’ll have a lovely treat. and so will you hearing about it! haha.

in music: underground manchester band cats in paris. go listen to them at http://www.myspace.com/catsinparis and listen to terrapins. if you don’t fall in love, then get the h*ll out. i’ve been really digging yeasayer lately too. 2080 is such a great song. check it out if you get chance.

i’ve also been getting into ross noble lately too. the man is amazing. how he improvises the entirity of his show and yet is still hilarious is really great. i suggest you check him out (he’s from newcastle mind).

and that’s all.

so i keep coming to this but i can’t think of anything to write.

life is pretty good. i’ve finished my UCAS application for university, getting on with work etc. me and leigh are still going strong, which is always good.

i’m going to london soon, and i can’t wait. also it’s my birthday two weeks from today. i will be 18.

that’s all i have to say really.

well, first post of 2008, best make the most of it.

christmas was pretty ok. i got a new tv, which is always helpful. spent most of my christmas money on dvds and books however. bought mystery men, which is excellent, and a scanner darkly, which is pretty good. and it has music by radiohead in it, what’s not to like? leigh stayed at my house, we stayed up late watching the super mario bros. movie. how awesome are we?

new year was quiet really. not much to tell.

my resolutions are to cut down on smoking and actually make an effort with college this year. leigh has challenged me to not smoke for a week. so far i’ve gone two days without smoking, and it’s not even affecting me. i’m sat playing morrowind for the millionth time. i’ll get a prize if i do it.

it’s just another year.