Work ethic I have none: Part II - Second Year edition.

This blog update is a bit of a cop-out, given that I'm more or less continuing from a previous post from May, entitled: "Work ethic. I have none." However, it seems relevant to me, given that today I have been on a somewhat lacklustre "job hunt," (the quotation marks are completely necessary).

As previously mentioned, my attitude to work is a rather... lazy one (which goes to show how lazy I was just then, for I would've preferred to find a better synonym for "lazy..."). 

However, I've realised one thing over the course of my employment history - I actually don't mind paid work. 

I realise that seems a fairly broad and, to be frank, non-conclusive statement (what kind of person doesn't mind paid work...?!) but hear me out. I could quite happily spend several hours at a time in an undisclosed supermarket chain, doing the ultimately mundane job of... 
SHELF STACKING :O, regardless of the social stigma that seems wrongly attached to peskily cheery customer service assistants... and indeed, the customers who shop there (mental retardation being the numero uno). However, when it comes to certain "work" of the uni variety, I find myself looking for practically ANY excuse to get out of it. "Killing bad gaiz on COD" has worked wonders thus far...

Curse you scart adaptor hell... 

What is my point exactly? Why can I find myself happily trundling into that aforementioned undisclosed nondescript soul-sucking supermarket chain... yet working towards a degree I'm supposed to have a (here come the quotation marks again...) "passion" for is comparable to spending an eternity in hell with a TV, Xbox, an unlimited number of Xbox games...

 and NO scart adaptor... :|

(OK, well I guess it wouldn't be quite so bad... I'm just a sucker for hyperbole.)

The answer, is quite simply: money. The root of all evil, and apparently can't buy you happiness. Yet I seem to prefer earning a regular wage than being the stereotypically poor student bum. However, my inferior powers of foresight mean I can't see the most obvious solution, which I have summed up in a rather wordy equation:
Working hard at uni = better job prospects = more money in the long run. 

A picture that actually combines and demonstrates both my points... however, it is 
copyrighted,  so I'll expect to hear from The Sun's lawyers soon enough... 
(This isn't actually me in the picture this time ... though he does seem mysteriously happy) 

I'll be more inclined to make this a reality, having written it down, but I digress... I - and I'm sure many students have repeated the following immortal words - have said many a time that I would "work harder this year," or "not leave things to the last minute..." But it means nothing unless it's put into practice. To be honest, I've never revised for an exam, and seem to get by on the absolute bare minimum or effort... How I ever got into uni I'll never know. But, things need to change... It's getting silly now... :')

So... here's to my coming year two at uni... my new (academic) years resolution: quite simply to actually be a 

student this time... 

Just... no one buy me Modern Warfare 3... D: 

This is how I envisage I'll be spending my THIRD year at uni...
If all goes to plan... :| 

The COD effect. I hate it.

Sadly, this is NOT the type of camping I'm talking about... 

Preach. 

This blog update features a very specific topic in mind. Whilst I have previously mentioned my adoration (bordering "obsession" some would say...) for video game, I must reference my fondness for one such particular brand of game:

CoD... *dun dun dun* o.O

It's prevalence amongst gamers today is second-to-none. Mentioning "CoD" to most people over the age of say... 30,  they would probably expect you to be talking about a species of fish. However, to many people under 30 (if we're talking about the key demographic of 18-30 year-old males), their reaction may vary from: mouth-frothing, increased heart-rate, profuse sweating and indeed... an urge to "eliminate the opposition." 


In fact, as previously mentioned in my "Summer - not all sugar and rainbows..." blog, I myself am a CoD fan. Black Ops was the game in question that I looked forward to as being an unashamedly enormous time-sink for my Summer holidays. However, the excitement soon wore off. The thrill of killing anonymous online Xbox Live users was short-lived. I realised that COD, as a franchise, manages to both encapsulate and frustrate it's audience - including myself - in equal measures.

I'm not an angry person, by nature... Playing CoD has given me a chance at self-reflection. I'm a much more terrible person than I thought... D: 

This is me in Hulk-Cat Hybrid form. 

I find myself having to take breaks from CoD (or rather... play it in intermittent bursts... the first one made it seem like my entire summer was devoted to CoD - which would only be half right...), for fear of developing some adverse side-effects - like turning green and feeling unexplained urges to "smash." (for the astute comic book fans, I was likening myself to the Hulk... :| but... whatever...) 


A "game" should be fun... it shouldn't have the ability to elicit any negativity. But maybe that's what make me more... bloodthirsty?! 

This makes me sick... It requires no skill...! D:

... bastard. 

When a game harbours elements that frustrate me, such as so-called "camping", (whereby a player sits in a corner of a room, using equipment such as a motion sensor, or claymore to defend themselves...), I feel like it's such an injustice. Like the whole ethos of CoD multiplayer has been made of mockery of.  Is there any justice in "camping?" (I talk about "justice" as if there's a higher power of CoD police who could deal with such players... sadly - there is not). 


I then realise something else... these campers don't care how annoyed I get. And indeed, if we were in real modern warfare, you would use whatever so-called "dirty" tactics you could to survive... 


Still... It doesn't annoy me any less. 

Summer - Not all sugar and rainbows...

This blog post centres around my plans and ideals of my forthcoming summer vacation.

I'll be honest - I likely have a somewhat "different" view of what most people would consider "fun." My interests span to:-

1. Playing video games... 8)
2. Playing piano. 
3. Blogging now, apparently.

All of these activities require me to not leave the house (unless there's some outdoor piano somewhere... or I took my laptop outside and blogged from there - but those are technicalities... -_- ) and also, coincidentally, can all be executed alone. Does this therefore mean that I'm "wasting" my summer holidays? Can you call me a "geek" for staying indoors and owning the masses on COD, or working on piano covers for my youtube account? You could... I suppose. But where others feel the need to be outside, "making the most" of our paltry British summer, I find myself more inclined to cut out the middle man. It's more in my nature to act like a hermit all year round, regardless of the weather. 

What exactly are the benefits of being outside? "Fresh air" you say? Fresh air is overrated... 

This cat is a metaphorical representation
of how I intend to spend the majority of my
summer... I can't wait... :'D

I should point out, when I say "hermit," I'm not exactly an unsociable person. In fact, quite the opposite. I like spending time with my friends, and undoubtedly have more fun playing co-op RPG's with them for days at a time... ahhh TOV... you will have been missed... :') It also means I won't be seeing my friends any less than I normally would... but most of the entertainment that can be had with them can be achieved inside - going outside is, more or less, superfluous when it comes to attaining optimum levels of... FUN. 

But I'm not going to go out of my way to do something I don't particularly enjoy with my free time, to do something more "socially acceptable..." Like... having WILD house parties, or crazy road trips to completely arbitrary seaside destinations... those things would only appeal to me if they were "Xbox House Parties..." or if the seaside destination in question had some form of arcade...(wow, I can sense the geekiness in my words just seeping out into the interweb... :| ) 

This is NOT my ideal summer... these kids may have learnt to defy gravity, but can they do a 
Britney Spears mash-up on piano, or get a flawless FFA match on COD? ... Point proven.
(also, the ones on the left and right look in pain...) 

I guess what I'm trying to say is - if you hear about my plans for summer and start judging how "lame" they may seem in comparison to yours... you needn't bother. If your "warped" view on summer involves frolicking through fields of flowers, with overhanging rainbows, and picnics under a tree with friends, (or, seemingly more appropriate for people of my age-band, messy nights out getting drunk...) then all the more power to you. 

I'm as excited for my summer holidays as you are, and they can't come quick enough... :D 

The World Ends With You

I know where my loyalties lie... 

Hmm... This whole "Rapture" business seems to have not come to fruition. But I can't say I'm surprised, even though, at the time of writing this - 12:46pm - the apocalypse is meant to occur at 6:00pm in your respective time zones... a quick google search revealed. (I must admit, rather than think "apocalypse" when hearing the word "rapture," my mind instantly went to Bioshock... sigh video games... :D)

But I don't want to turn into a crazy-religious-nutjob-preacher-guy. Hence this blog is related to the theme of "endings."

There were many options I could've chosen for a "cool-sounding," or "artsy" blog-post title for today - "All good things come to an end," springs to mind. But the title is a video game (I'm obsessed o.O). Without giving too much away, the game starts with your death, and centres around the trials and tribulations you endure to reclaim your life. I'm not going to pretend like I can make sense out of the title, (or infer it to an unintentional meaning) because chances are it's a direct translation from the Japanese original, "It's a Wonderful World." But I would interpret its meaning is one of perception. If you believe that the world is over, then it ends with you. Only you can say when your world ends. 

But alas, I'm not here to get into philosophical debates either... I feel like I'm going off topic again. 

On the subject of endings, my first year of uni is almost over. I was discussing this topic last night with a friend, who shall be codenamed... erm... "Sebalicious" (an indecipherable codename, if I do say so myself...). This year has gone by too quickly. I know it sounds so cliché and everyone told me this would be how it would feel in the run-up to the end, but I didn't heed their warnings. Without realizing it, I'm literally a week away from finishing. My last exam will be over, then it's smooth sailing until summer... ahh the blissful ideals of a summer vacation - I can't think of anything better than spending copious periods of time indoors with my friends playing Xbox... 8-|

I'm not going to do a "review" of the year; that would be pointless. There were good, and bad times... mostly good. Do I regret certain choices I made throughout the year? I guess. Would I do it again if I could? Probably. Would things change if I did that...? Impossible to tell.

One things is certain though... regardless if you believe the world ends today at 6:00pm, or if you feel like you can take control of your own life, it's important to remember one thing...

This is me, in cat form, playing video games.
What? You're telling me that wasn't obvious?! 

Video games are fun.