3-5th Aug - Gay Pride

As the title suggests, this weekend was Gay Pride! And what better place to do that than Brighton? Ok, maybe Rio, shush. But Brighton is definitely the Queen of Pride Parades in this country, and unsurprisingly the atmosphere was suitably pink. Windfred of course came along for the ride, and fitted in perfectly (although I don't think he was particularly welcome in the supermarket).

We spent most of the day sat on the grass, soaking in the atmosphere, with a bit of dancing and a healthy portion of drinking. The best bit about Gay Pride is the people-watching - mostly the outlandishly ostentatious costumes, but also the openly gay couples. It's so strange that you don't see gay couples being open like that anywhere/time else really, and even stranger to think that the whole thing was illegal 40 years ago. I suppose it takes a long time for a culture shift like that to fully sink in, which is perhaps why there were protesters holding up placards and chanting about the professed evil of sodomy. Still, there's a time and a place, and I don't think they were particularly welcome.

All in all it was a seriously good weekend, but (at the risk of this sounding strangely insulting) seeing all those gay couples in love made me really miss Emilie. Only two-and-a-half months to go before I'll see her again...

21st July

Yet again, the end of an era. These era-endings do come around soon. It's been about a year since I moved to Reading, which just about makes it time to move on. So today I packed all my stuff (and Emilie's stuff!) into my car and relocated to Birmingham. It's a shame to leave - I've had a really good time here. But I also can't wait to move to Montreal...

9th July

Today was my interview for a PGCE (in Maths, at Bristol), and I had thought I had a reasonable chance of getting it. However, my luck was not running high that day, and I was rejected before I had even returned home. The lady assured me that it was because my MSc clashed with the PGCE by over 2 weeks, and she encouraged me to reapply next year and get some experience instead (but I'm still a bit annoyed I didn't get a deferred entry). Anyway that's what I'm going to do, except I'm going to get my experience... in Canada! Yup, I'm going to move to Montreal with Emilie and try to get work teaching over there. It'll be cool though, i'll get to meet her friends and parents properly (hopefully make a better impression with her Mum (see 27th May)), see a bit of Canada (which I've always wanted to do), and perhaps most importantly, try some real Poutine.

5th July

They're dropping like flies! The next one to flee the country is none other than Emilie, to Quebec. What is this obsession with french-speaking countries all of a sudden? Fair enough it is where she and her family are from and stuff, but still! Very rude. As things have turned out (see 9th July) this will be our longest break apart from each other - 3 months at least, and I am not looking forward so much to the rest of this Summer. Only to Autumn.

29th June

England has finally got rid of that pesky Harrison! We left the cottage to go to Bristol, and Tim's leaving celebrations, which were fun, but kind of weird as a part of me thought he would be a permanent Bristol fixture. How wrong could I be! Off to France for a year, and who knows what after that?

As always, it was good to be in Bristol again. It always feels like home every time I go back, and having a Little Jon Special for breakfast the next day was just the icing on the cake.

27-29th June

Went to the cottage with Emilie, which was real nice. Peace and quiet, and a couple of days where neither of us had to do any of the boring stuff. So good to get away, and going to the cottage is never a chore.

27th June

In preparation for my impending PGCE interview, I went for a day's observation in a school (in my Mum's school actually, as it was way easier to set up). The day was interesting - I saw both Maths and Physics lessons, but I have to say that from what I witnessed, Maths teachers spend half their time playing cards with the kids. I think it's the job for me!

20-25th June, Glastonbury

...followed by another!

Seasick Steve, Maximo Park, Arcade Fire, Chemical Brothers, Noisettes and Sunshine Underground (for 2 minutes each), !!! (twice), Rufus Wainwright (who was so ridiculously bad I'm not sure why I put him on the list), Iggy and the Stooges, The View, the Marley Brothers, Bjork, Bloc Party, The Fratellis, CSS, and I'm sure there were more but I can't be expected to remember everything.

And of course, how could I not mention Windfred, the chirpy gay frog that struggled (and sometimes failed) to keep the whole group together, but never complained about it once, despite having a large pole in an uncomfortable place. I also have to mention the portable toilet "invented" by Ben - a groundsheet that one can wear to cover one's bum whilst one relieves oneself into an empty Carling box. I thought he was joking for such a long time, until he made the whole thing and, as every inventor must do, tested the prototype.

The best moment: the build-up to Arcade Fire. The atmosphere was amazing - they were late, and everyone in the crowd was cheering the hook from "Wake Up". When they eventually came on, they were amazing.

The worst moment: about 10 minutes later. Three songs into Arcade Fire, Kate (one of the girls I was camping with) collapsed in the crowd. Her eyes just glazed over and she dropped. We later found out it was a claustrophobic attack, and she was fine, but it was pretty scary for a while.

Anyway, despite that it was brilliant. I was worried before, as the only people I knew who were going were Martyn, Pete, Nige, Bea and D. But it turned out the other people I was camping with (Pete's friends: Charlotte (his girlfriend), Ben, Kate, Mark and Faye) were all excellent too.

9-16th June, Croatia

Yeah! What better way to enjoy the lack of exams than to fly to a totally random country and lie on the beach all day? The answer to that is: fly to a random country, drink beer and play volleyball all day! Excusing the Flip-Flop Saga (the inability to find a decent pair in the whole of Novi Vinodolski), the threat of a Great White Shark attack, and almost heated discussions about the presence of streaky patches on the water (I'm telling you, it's the freshwater streams emerging under the surface!), the holiday was an amazing success...

29th May

After months of solid working, the likes of which I never even had to do during my degree, I have finally finished all my projects and all my exams - just the dissertation to go. As always, I am sooo relieved to have them behind me, and have a huge list of things that I've been waiting to do. Of course, I'll probably never do them - but I knew that all along. For the next (almost) 2 weeks I'll just enjoy the freedom of not having to get up early in the morning, spend all day and evening in the library, and be so drained at the end of it that all I can do is watch eTV (sorry Emilie, for my consistent failure to keep a sensible conversation. But then what's new?!).

27th May

Met Emilie's parents for the first time, although really I should say I eMet them, as it was over a webcam. As I was telling myself beforehand, meeting a girlfriend's parents for the first time is a very important moment. First impressions cannot be undone, and this kind of thing could affect the course of the rest of the relationship. Unfortunately, I managed to inadvertantly call her mum a racist. Actually, it was a dicey joke that luckily went well - her dad found it hilarious. But right after I said it I was counting myself incredibly lucky that it had got away with it. The rest of the meeting went well, although I wished I could speak more French.