ROOM (2)

Lack of blogging about university (or anything at all for that matter) this past year has made me very sad. However I had my hand-in’s today so I can proudly announce that I have got my life back! It’s already May and this afternoon I thought I better take a few photographs of my bedroom before I begin to move out. (Last year's post here)

Unlike last year’s post, this year I moved into a house with 5 other girls. I must admit, I like this room better than my room at home - you’ll see why now...

Reason 1: My room is GINORMOUS

The biggest room in the house. Although sometimes cold in the winter months. (Saying that, I’m usually too warm than too cold so it hardly bothered me.) But what's behind that door, you wonder?

Reason 2: A WALK-IN WARDROBE.

Reason 3: Posters everywhere!

Due to the generous wall space, both in wardrobe and out, I can have lots of posters on my wall! This room has 6 posters up! This little table area is where I keep my beauty stuff. The Doctor Who and One Direction poster was bought by my friends for my birthday, yay!

Reason 4: Double BED!!

I never had a double bed before but they are AWESOME! Fergus and Harold the terriers say hello, they live on the bed and make me feel better. :D And of course, the Andy Warhol cushions have returned.

Reason 5: Study Area

This desk has been a life-saviour this year as I worked. Although I miss looking out the window like last year in Cranagh, I ordered a big corkboard and decorated it with everything I love. Have a look:

Such things which may catch your eye here is my BIGBANG calendar, 16th Birthday Joe Jonas card from Jordan, a drawing of a Princess that a P.3 gave me in Tutoring for Schools, BIRDS, autographs and cute cards. c:

Short post yes, but I have returned, with many more updates of my boring life to come!

Talk soon,

Claudia

SHERLOCK [COURSEWORK]

Hello,

Sorry I’ve gone missing in action - yet again - but shall return to blogging after I finish up this semester at university.

This past couple of weeks I’ve been working on an Interactive Narrative on Adobe Flash. I based my idea on a BBC Sherlock episode, ‘A Scandal In Belgravia’.

(Funny how for two of my modules this year I’ve focused on BBC shows - I made a website on Doctor Who last semester!)

Anyway I’ve never created anything like this before so apologies if it kinda sucks - and to be honest it doesn’t follow the storyline fully but I wanted to base mine on Sherlock cracking Irene Adler’s code on her phone, rather than all the other fantastic things that happened in the real episode.

All drawings done by myself and as you can see from the image above, they have been based on the characters from the show too.

Feedback would be appreciated!

I tried everywhere but failed at hosting and embedding the ginormous sized swf, so please play here.

Many thanks and I shall return soon,

Claudia xo

20

Last Wednesday marked the unfortunate end of my teenage years, that’s right - I am now twenty! I find this very hard to believe, but believe me, I have no intentions of becoming a sensible and responsible adult anytime soon.

I was fortunate to have more than one party too! Since my birthday fell during the week I celebrated one with family, one with university friends and one with my home friends.

On Tuesday 5th, Hannah, Emma, Rebecca, Seb and myself went to Yoko Noodle Bar - a popular and delicious restaurant at Coleraine Jet Center. They didn’t disappoint, as my Crispy Honey Chili Chicken was amazing!

For desert, I chose brownie (they gave me two, wow) which was served on a plate which gave out steam?? We were amazed by this. 

Following that, we went bowling at the Jet Center which was so much fun, best bowling trip in ages! 

After Christian Union the next evening, I was finally allowed to open my presents! My housemates and classmates joined together and bought me a whole pile of gifts - which ranged from Sherlock on DVD, jewelry and One Direction merchandise- to a comb, M&Ms and a hot water bottle! 

On Saturday, my friends back home went to Italian restaurant, Villa Vinci in Newcastle. (Yes I have ate out a lot this week..) The 12 of us enjoyed a choice of pizzas, pastas, burgers and spaghetti bolognese. I was surprised by a birthday cake, with many thanks to Kerri and Elizabeth!

Outside I was target to the Birthday Bumps. Oh dear...

We returned to my house for a night of party games - probably the best games of Mafia, Fishbowl and Consequences played ever!

Thank you to...

Hannah St - for INCREDIBLE present choosing and organising.

Emma H - for choosing the ever-so-gorgeous One Direction poster.

Rebecca - for choosing the most amazing cracked nail polish.

Sebastian - for a wicked game of The Sims and Eyetoy on Playstation.

Alison, Danielle and Shannon - for an amazing meal cooked on Wednesday.

Charlene - for a lovely walk on my birthday with Hannah in Portstewart.

Rachel - for the really cute scarf!

Tina - for her impression of James Bond (I’m an actor...) haha!

Aimee - for such a pretty present, especially the little book!

Hannah S - for the most amusing conversation at dinner on Saturday.

Laura - for buying me a beautiful gift even though she couldn’t attend the party.

Elizabeth - for being absolutely wonderful all the time.

John - for creating the most disturbing consequences game ever played.

Mark - for making everyone laugh with his transvestite Beyonce impression?

Kerri - for deleting all my photos!! LOL jk - for buying me a beautiful hat!!

Kathryn - for doing the most hilarious impression of Stephen Hawking I’ve ever seen.

Alison and Hannah (for buying me the most beautiful bird ring!

Emma - for never failing at buying me the most disturbing and brilliant presents. AHH.

Thank you to everyone who made my 20th birthday one to remember! 

- Claudia

LIAM DAY

Hello!

Another quick update on my celebrity watching! Last Monday (28th January) famous actor Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List 1993, Batman Begins 2005 and Taken 2008 to name a few) took a trip back to his home town of Ballymena, County Down - which so happens to an hour away from where we study at University! Not wanting to miss the opportunity to see someone so famous (and Hannah to meet the man of her dreams), Rebecca, Emma, Hannah and myself travelled early Monday morning to see if we could catch a glimpse of the movie star.

Although we arrived in Ballymena at the ridiculous hour of 8am, after a yummy McDonalds breakfast and a few hours of retail therapy, we were excited to see Liam at the Town Hall. It rained horribly for the majority of the day but that didn’t put off a crowd of over one hundred people gathering.

Our early start did not go to waste! The four of us found a place at the front of the barrier which gave us a perfect view of everything that was happening. However it also appeared to be an opportunity for the local news too! We got interviewed four different times and posed for endless photos. Although it felt really awkward at first, it was a good laugh.

The weather magically cleared up and just after lunchtime Liam appeared! The camera men went crazy trying to get photographs and we were also snapping away, praying he’d do a round of the barrier. Unfortunately we didn’t get to shake his hand, never-mind get a photo with him! However it was very exciting and I took some photos with my new camera.

When we arrived home, we made sure to catch all the news and by 7pm my Facebook newsfeed was filled with notifications that I was on television!! I’m very awkward on camera but thankfully, they cut the majority of the interview out. We appeared on UTV (below), BBC Newsline and RTE and also some photos appeared in a local newspaper and the BBC website. Here's the clip from UTV - I am on at 0:28 seconds! 

All in all, it was a excellent day and a great way to start Semester 2! Many thanks to Rebecca, Emma and Hannah for making it so much fun!

Lots of Love for Liam,

Claudia

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2012

Best Moments of 2012

• Zumba Container Party (yes, that was January!)
• Meeting The Wanted after their concert in Belfast
• Seeing The Dark Knight Rises (twice)
• London with Emma to see EXO-K, Baker Street and Andy Warhol paintings
• Singstar Container Night - reliving the golden days!
• Learning how to create Motion Graphics and my Doctor Who website
• Leading two girls to Christ during Fused Summer Scheme
• Art Night at Kerri's house!
• 'Thorsdays'
• Roadtrips with the IMAmates listening to Mentallll Breaakkkkerrrrr
• Seeing BIGBANG in London!

❐ Biggest Achievement of the Year:

Learning to swallow tablets!
❐ Biggest Failure:

Missing an exam.

❐ Happiest Moment:

BIGBANG coming on stage at Wembley Arena.

❐ Saddest Moment:

Funerals - Granny Green and Great Granny Gordon.

❐ Biggest Shock:

Hearing Gangnam Style by PSY on UK Radio for the first time.

❐ Best Purchase:

2 pairs of Moschino jeans on sale!!

❐ Greatest Musical Discoveries:

Josh Groban and Hans Zimmer.

❐ Best Song of the Year:

The Chaser by Infinite followed by Mental Breaker - Block B in a close second.

❐ Best MV of the Year:

Fantastic Baby - BIGBANG
❐ Best Film of the Year:

The Dark Knight Rises, of course!

❐ Greatest Discoveries of the Year:

Sherlock and Sweetcorn.

❐ Biggest Addiction:

Buying and selling stuff on eBay over the summer.

❐ Favourite Celebrity Figures:

Matt Smith and Alex Day.

That was fun!
- Love Claudia x

2012: THE END

Helllooo - Happy New Year to all! What a strange year 2012 has been - definitely not my favourite to be honest. However the important thing is, did I keep to my resolutions? Here's the original post.

Diet

Aha, I did diet - (although I’m always dieting) - I managed to lose half a stone over the summer but alas, I still haven’t met my ideal goal. The challenge continues...

Photo Diary

I can proudly announce I completed my photo challenge! To those who are not sure what I’m talking about, last year I decided to take an Instagram photo and post it to Tumblr every day for 2012 to illustrate my day. Although it was sometimes an inconvenience and something I was very close to give up on, I’m pleased to have stuck it out to the end! Behold, here it is.

Don’t Complain

This one started out really well, surprisingly. I became really aware of others around me complaining and instead of joining in with them, it made me really thankful of how easy my life was!

However, after everything that happened during the summer, I began to feel down and kinda miserable - and after returning to university everyone’s negativity around me made me feel even worse. Even then, I didn’t complain - although everyone was driving me absolutely insane and everything in my life appeared to be going wrong. It certainly was testing times for me, and I didn’t handle it very well. 

Work Hard

Second semester of first year was great - I created a really cool Motion Graphics piece and got a brilliant grade in it, so I’m really proud of that. Overall, I was really proud of my first year marks so I guess that’s proof that I did work hard!

However I was shocked to see how much of a step up my course was from first year to second year. In first semester I was working so hard and for so long that I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing, it made me sad. I’m hoping this upcoming semester will be better!

Save Money

WOO I actually kept a book of my finances so that’s really impressive for me. I also opened another bank account to save money because to quote Claudia’s Blog 9/1/12 “If SM or YG decide to put a show on in London, I will use it then!” which THEY DID, as you all know, BIGBANG stopped there during their tour in December - success!

No Stressing

Believe it or not, since making this resolution I don’t stress as much as I used to. My whole attitude towards everything has changed. Although I wouldn’t call myself laid back, I definitely have chilled out much more more since 2011.

Get a Boyfriend

LOL - neither Rachel or myself successfully completed this resolution, maybe next year! (I did see T.O.P though...from a distance anyway!)

Much love,

- Claudia

BIGBANG LIVE

Hello!

Today I must create a post that I’ve been very excited to write about for about the past two years of my life. This, of course, refers to the BIGBANG Alive Galaxy Tour that was indicated to stop in London - leaving all European fans astonished, excited and determined when dates were released for Wembley Arena back in October. 

After Saturday 15th December sold out in a couple of minutes, many distraught fans, including myself, were delighted to see another tour date added for Friday 14th.

We flew over to London early that Friday morning and casually wandered around Oxford Street and Covent Gardens - London looked so pretty and festive. Everywhere was packed as shoppers attempted to conquer Christmas shopping. Our hotel was situated directly beside Wembley Stadium so it was fun to point out who was going to the concert.

After queuing for a very long time, we finally got in and found our seats - music videos played on the big screens which fired-up the audience as we waited. We also bought light-sticks, as Emma and I had learnt from our mistakes at EXO! You need a light-stick at a K-Pop concert.

At 7pm, the curtain fell, revealing the members in their Alive pods. For the duration of Tonight I think I was in a state of shock, following that, I screamed for the entire 3 hours.

Setlist

From someone who knows all their songs, the setlist played was perfect - with a selection of classics How Gee and Number 1, from previous hits Stupid Liar and Haru Haru to their latest work including Blue, Bad Boy and, of course, Fantastic Baby. These tracks sounded different than the original songs but were PERFECTLY remixed for live performance.

The members had their solo stage too. Notably, G-Dragon performed his latest work from One Of A Kind album and Seungri appeared with a very impressive Victorian British accent and a gun.
In between the set, Taeyang, Seungri and Daesung kept the crowd entertained - rapping, beatboxing, teaching us Fantastic Baby choreography and winding each other up. My heart nearly broke as they left the stage, but returned for an encore and performed 4 more songs, including Heaven, which is one of my all-time favourites!

Special mention to the acoustic version of Haru Haru - where T.O.P ACTUALLY SANG. Tonight and Hands Up were definitely my favourite performances of the night, although every song performed was spectacular.

Stage

The set looked incredible - not just a stage at the very front, but one which extended right into the middle of the arena with the audience surrounding around the edge. We had seated tickets, but we could see everything perfectly. A band played above the stage on an individual platform. The boys made the most of this stage, moving up and around so all the fans in the arena had a chance to see them up close. During the encore the some of the members walked down towards the audience, shook their hands and took gifts. TOP took a giant lollipop and reindeer antlers and brought them on-stage!

The Members

They looked amazing - with a wide selection of costume changes between stages. Daesung’s hair was grey but wow it looked so good - he’s such a cutie on stage. Seungri was a character and made the most of every opportunity to practice as much English as possible but it was hilarious. G-Dragon was G-Dragon really, wearing a different outfit every time I managed to look at him. Taeyang ripped through a couple of vests, as expected, fans went crazy at all the nakeyness - not me though, as my eyes were fixated on TOP! Who looked absolutely gorgeous without revealing any flesh at all. Even Kerri acknowledged his beauty, and that’s saying something. The majority of photos that were taken were close-ups of him - I regret nothing!

My Thoughts

Where do I begin? I’ve never seen my ultimate favourite band before, so for about 90% of the show I was a hysterical mess. I knew it was going to be great, but I didn’t realise it would be so SO outstanding. It was worth every minute, every penny, even losing my voice for the following day. It was faultless - and I’m not being biased here because they are my favourites. Despite traveling for 14 hours from Korea, they put on a phenomenal performance and I adore them for such dedication. 

Many thanks to Emma and Kerri for making this trip a trip to remember and a perfect way to start the Christmas holidays!

Stay Fantastic Baby,

Claudia xo