So, it’s that time of year again. It’s the time when everyone lies to themselves that they’re going to change their lives. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why, and quite frankly, I sympathise, and I’ve been known to make New Year’s Resolutions myself; actually, that’s what I’m here about, because I’ve decided to make yet another attempt at something I’ve now tried three times, with varying levels of success.

• Taking a photograph every day of the year.

I tried this the first time in 2009 – yep; three years ago. I got to early April and then decided that my exams would take up so much time that I couldn’t possibly keep up that rate of photography. Well, I’m much busier now, but I also regret that I’ve barely done any photography for the past six months. Therefore, I’m making a sort-of co-resolution:

• Carry a camera everywhere and always (within reason)

Now I’ll have no excuse not to take a photo where and whenever inspiration creeps upon me. I’m going to try and do something fancy with Facebook and other web stuff, partly because I’m aware that 365 projects are a complete Flickr cliche, so I need to make it a bit different. That, however, will have to wait, as I’ve not had a chance to work out exactly what I’ll do (or, moreover, learned how to update my Facebook Cover Photo via the Facebook API).

Otherwise I don’t think I’m making other resolutions; I know that there are a number of things I want to get done in the next 366 days (yep; I just realised it’s a leap year – that’s another photo I’ll need to take), including…

• Attempting to learn perl,
• Attempting to play tennis,
• Make something really cool (I’m open to suggestions!),
• Being more politically active again,
• Maybe learning a new (human!) language, or improving one I’m meant to know already (and don’t say English )
• Trying more things for the first time – and, I guess, blogging about them,
• Improving my list-making skills.

Not to mention learning lots and lots and lots of physics, maths, and astronomy.

So. 366 days then. It can’t be that hard. Can it?

Well, today’s a big day for many people I know. It’s A-level results day. That also means this is the most relaxed I’ve been in an August for… well, a long time.

Facebook, with its own bizarre attempt at sick humour thought it would be a good idea to tell me what I was thinking out loud on Facebook in 2010. Evidently I was nervous; I remember waking up at five in the morning to sit over the computer waiting to find out the results of two of my four A-levels. It was pretty horrible. In the end I managed to find out that I was going to Glasgow long before I found out how badly I’d done.

So, everyone getting results today, I sympathise, and certainly don’t envy you, but, all going well, life’s just about to start for you. On that note, I’ll finish up – that’s an entirely better blog post.

I frequently find myself annoyed when commentators on TV and in newspapers refer to things like the United States’ debt ceiling as being astronomically huge.

• US Gross Debt stands at around 14.34 trillion USD (1.424E+13) to those who prefer Scientific Notation.
• There are around 400 billion (4E+11) stars in the Milky Way (our Galaxy).
• starregistry.co.uk charges 49.95 GBP (80.84 USD, 8.084E+10 USD) to register a star

It seems quite clear to me that the US government could pay off its debt, and more, by selling off just 45% of the stars in our Galaxy, or maybe a few more if they want to undercut the competition. Now, how’s that for an astronomical number?

Well; it’s been one of those eventful weeks. The title of this blog post is written deceptively in the style of a self-help book. It’s nothing of the sort. It is instead all about the last week.

I had three exam papers this week – two astronomy, one maths – that was unpleasant. At least one of them suffered from the co-location. There’s not a lot to say about them beyond that though, so I’ll leave it there.

Sunday was good – it was Low Sunday, without the choir, making me feel doubly self-conscious singing out of tune as ever. The weather was great, and it felt more like Easter Sunday than Easter Sunday did somehow.
Most of the rest of the week was taken up by preparing for the aforementioned exams, but I did find time to resurrect my blog, to the point now where I’m bound to be annoying anyone on Facebook who gets alerted to the stuff when it’s synced over to there. There was plenty to blog about, including the business with Osama bin Laden, which I wrote after reading numerous other peoples’ reactions, and feeling slightly uneasy about their outright condemnation of either side’s behaviour.
I also got a little bit excited about the election. It’s the first one I’ve ever been able to vote in where there were real political parties fielding candidates, rather than the excuse for a system we have back in Northern Ireland. I was quite keen for a Yes vote, and was disappointed, if unsurprised by the result.

The only real news then, I suppose, comes from Saturday night. It was the closing concert of the RSNO season, and I was pleasantly surprised.
It was the first time I’d been in a proper concert hall for over a year – the last time was when my school was performing Eternal Light by Howard Goodall, and I was on the scarey side of the dais – able to see the entire audience of the Waterfront Hall. I should clarify, I was singing. Badly.  The two pieces played by the RSNO were John Adams’s moving, thought, and chilling On the Transmigration of Souls. This was counterbalanced by Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. For £5 it was quite an evening. The chorus were outstanding.

Otherwise, it’s been a fairly normal week. I did however find out my blog is being looked at by people… I must go and tidy it up…

So, yesterday, as they say, was a washout.  I don’t think I need even go into it; but suffice to say very little surprised me.

It turns out though, I live in one of the very few places in the UK which was in favour of adopting AV. Over at thurible.net, Kelvin Holdsworth – Provost of St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow – had this suggestion to make:

Here’s the Plan! Barracades all around the boundaries of the Constituency by dawn tomorrow. Declaration of the new Liberal People’s Republic of Glasgow Kelvin at noon from the steps of Kelvingrove Art Gallery Parliament Building.

The following policies to be enacted forthwith:

• All elections to be conducted by our revolutionary Alternative Vote system.
• The establishment of a Glorious Mass of Liberation to be Celebrated Annually if a suitable Cathedral can be chosen using the same Alternative Vote system.
• All Tenement Factors to be subject to Alternative Vote election monthly.

The search is now on for a Glorious Leader. Nominations are now open for the post of Emperor Democratically Elected Leader of the Liberal People’s Republic of Glasgow Kelvin.

All I ask… that we apply for EU Membership ASAP – it can take a while.

I have another exam in the morning, so again it seemed necessary to do some last minute procrastination.
I posted this rant on a friend’s wall a few minutes ago, but I’m moderately pleased with it, that is, for something I knocked off well after my pre-exam bed-time. I should clarify, the other people commenting on the same post were Laboury people too. Enjoy.

It concerns me slightly that most people seem to worry about AV because “it’ll hurt the Labour Party” or “those bloody fascists will get in”. In fact, they’re all the same arguments you could make in favour of gerrymandering.
I may find the BNP deeply distasteful, but I can’t see what right I have to dictate that they not be given power if that’s what the majority of the country favour on some level. I would, granted, emigrate to some nice, socialist country like the United States if Nick Griffin was made prime minister, but that’s my problem – not the voting system’s.
Maintaining an old-fashioned system in FPTP serves only to allow the larger parties – specifically the Conservative Party, but to a lesser extent, the Labour Party, to form large parliamentary majorities without winning the popular vote. In fact, it makes a Conservative majority remarkably difficult, thanks to the distribution of population in the UK. A fact which is normally born out in the popular vote, as it was in the 2010 General Election.

I also find it annoying when people say “Oh, you’ll get more hung parliaments under AV”. I’m not sure this is true, but if it is, that can only be a good thing. The present government is the result of a hung parliament, and is, by many accounts, hugely unpopular, but it’s putting the cart before the horse to suggest that the reason we have what is perceived to be a bad government is the fault of forced cooperation. As much as you may hate them, the LibDems have only served to dilute the Conservative agenda’s libido.

In summary, I’ll vote yes tomorrow. I’ll vote yes because the government needs to be reminded that the people have a voice in between General Elections. Ill vote yes tomorrow, because I’m not a puppet of the Labour Party.

I’ll vote yes if I can find the polling station.

Clearly it must be that time of the year again – I’m updating my blog with a wordy essay-ish post. Yes – I’m right in the middle of exam season, with one tomorrow, and two more later in the week, so now seemed like the right time.

I woke up this morning to see that I had a text message – it was from the BBCBreaking service on Twitter, and, to the bleary-eyed, bespectacled me at seven in the morning, I got quite a shock.

US team killed Obama, says Osama

I soon realised I’d got this the wrong way round, but was more ashamed at never having noticed the unfortunate sharing of 80% of the contents of their names.

Putting my glasses on I found out that crowds had gathered outside the White House, and were singing and chanting. It must be a sign that I’m becoming cynical in my late-teenage; my first thought was, “Well he’s won a second term”. Cynicism is, in my opinion, an asset, not an annoyance. After all, anything’s worth it if it makes you more dog-like.

So, there’s been a lot of talk about my part of the internet about whether that wasn’t a disgusting, horrible thing to do. I say, it depends.

On face value, yes, celebrating the murder of a murderer is no less sick than celebrating the murderer. If, that is, he was the murderer. So that’s a straight forward answer then. I suppose you’ve got to look at the whole thing in context though; are these people really celebrating the death of the man, or the ideas he stood for. I can’t help feel that it’s rich of people in the United Kingdom condemning the actions of those gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue this morning when, not so very long ago we had VE Day. No matter what your ethical position on the war in Afghanistan, or even your intellectual one, it’s hard to deny that the citizens of the United States of America have been put under considerable stress by the events of the last ten years – albeit mostly by their own government. Maybe they need a royal wedding to cheer themselves up – I certainly feel much better knowing that thirty thousand flowers were sacrificed for the occasion.

So… conclusion. I’m really not so good at these, but I suppose my opinion is something along the lines of “Don’t sneer, but don’t sneer at the sneerers either”.

Pictures now, words to come.

So, I’m on a very undulant journey back across the Irish Sea, escaping the cold of Strathclyde and Glasgow to the balmy heat of County Down.

It’s been an interesting thirteen weeks – from moving into my flat, to starting university, and finding my way around a fairly sizable city. Now it’s coming up to Christmas, and I’m starting to miss people back in Northern Ireland, including, of course, my family, pets, and piano, so I’m really quite excited to get home, but looking down my Facebook updates I’m realizing just how much I’m going to miss Glasgow for the next three weeks.

Meanwhile, I have some catching-up to do with people, and a few projects I couldn’t find the time for in term-time.

What a pointless blog post, but my first from a boat.