Developments

After a scorching hot summer, the weather has finally broken - autumn has introduced itself with a gentle drizzle of warm rain. In a break from my no rowing policy, I have agreed to row in a mixed boat in an upcoming regatta in Oxford (it had to happen sooner or later). Am also getting involved with a canoe trip down the River Wye.

College life is fun at the minute. We're planning a party for a very popular member of staff. She is lively and charismatic so I aim to make the party lively and charismatic.

Have just fully recovered from an equipment failure in lab. This has set back my progress by about two weeks. Apart from this, the work is going smoothly. It is inevitable that over half of my time in lab will be spent fixing and troubleshooting scientific kit. I've only come to accept this recently.

In a strange turn of events, the college development office has expressed a great deal of interest in an idea I had to sell the name of the Common Room for half a million pounds. This is profound stuff and is highly confidential - I don't know what would happen if anyone were to find out!!! Maybe I'd get a few more hits on my website - hint hint...

Event

Have staged an event in college. The idea was to celebrate the summer by relaxing outdoors with friends. The event encompassed a barbecue, a photo exhibit and outdoor movie on big screen. Over 120 people arrived making this one of the most successful events of the year. There are some photographs in the "photos" section of my website.

Everything ran smoothly (almost). The college kitchen (who were doing the BBQ) sold more tickets than they could cater for and tried to pin the screw up on me. This didn't wash. I chose to not engage in a dispute and will instead avoid those involved until it blows over. I haven't got involved in college politics to date and am not gonna start now.

Said my farewells to one of my best friends from college who graduated today. Very sad. Got to meet her parents again. They gave me an Ambercrombe tshirt - great stuff!!! I've grown very close these guys since my visit to their home last Christmas.

I have been playing with Garageband (music synthesis software) in conjunction with my accordion lately. The result is some freaky sounds. More on this shortly...

Shame

I have come to realize that the luxuries that I enjoy come at the expense of the suffering of a third party. An obvious example: when I drive my dad's Mercedes, I am using oil that has been secured via an illegal war. When an Iraqi civilian dies or an American soldier falls, I personally have blood on my hands. Very true. The Irish like to think of themselves as being politically neutral. Yet, Iraqi fighter planes stop at Shannon airport to refuel. Guilt on my behalf ensues.

One of my very best friends has left college for the big city. This marks the end of an era. I partnered well with this person and I am a less effective man as a result of the departure. I am not an independent entity hence any form of change is upsetting. Now that my sidekick is gone, I question how much of myself is me and how much is derived from codependency.

On a more positive note, I went to London this weekend and met my friends from Omagh (County Tyrone) as well as my sister. I had a great time. It is hard to beat the company of your friends from home. We understand each other since we know where each of us has come from.