Every Day is Election Day

Brennan has just delivered the whole “You wouldn’t leave me alone at the side of the road, so why are you leaving me alone on the information superhighway?” so here I am, filling in the blanks in a quite absent online presence over the last while - well, except for my Twitter, but that’s just handy because a lot of my work has involved web inboxes and the like. So I’ve been online, but while working. If that makes sense.

That’s a rambling paragraph so allow me to start again!

Like the Brendawg I’m finished in UCD now, as although my time in the Students’ Union doesn’t end until next Monday, I’m currently on two weeks’ annual leave with time that I’d worked up taking so few breaks during the year. I’m starting with the Affordable Homes Partnership next Monday so I’ve spent last week and the last two days just hanging around at home, doing a few bits that needed time out of the office to finish.

The thing occupying the bulk of my time - and something I’m not sure if I’m at liberty to speak too much about still - is to do with an events guide-style website for UCD. Towards the end of our tenures in UCD, myself and Ciara went to meet some senior people in the UCD admin about a rejuvenated attempt to get an events website off the ground; something UCD themselves had tried to do previously (see www.ucdevents.com for a real-life reference of crapness) and failed quite a lot in doing. The project involves rejuvenation (if not complete replacement altogether) of the website so that it can handle an awful lot more events, as well as daily email alerts with the day’s activities and (hopefully) with the ability to send text reminders before events. It’s just in incubation right now and my role - if any - is yet to have been confirmed - but things are being discussed so I’m hopeful of a successful service coming of our efforts. I finally got my 3,000-word proposal on the matter finished and shipped off to the University authorities yesterday and feedback seems to be quite positive, so hopefully once things are a little more confirmed I might post the actual submission up here for public perusal.

It’s something that we’ve been trying a couple of times this year to get going - Ciara had promised the re-introduction of the What’s On Guide at the start of the year only for the University to take command of the idea and then scrap it - so it’s nice to think that stuff can still be achieved in the lamest part of ones time as a lame duck in office.

What else? Well, yesterday I was on MSN (having sent the proposal) when I got a message from Steph, incoming SU Postgraduate Officer and who’s working with me in AHP, having started a few weeks ago. She was asking if I was free today, because AHP were launching a new consumer website showcasing all of the affordable homes they had in stock, www.affordablehome.ie. They needed a few people to go to a photocall with the Minister for Housing, Michael Finneran, demonstrating the site, and possibly a “young couple” (read ‘unwilling interns’) to look like they were decorating a new pad bought under the scheme.

Well, there are no words really… pictures speak louder…

There’s a fair chance I might be on the Herald AM, Metro, Irish Independent and Evening Herald tomorrow, especially with all this talk of recession and the property crash.

So help me God, I think I might be crawling back under my cyber-rock for a while yet.

Spent yesterday at home, shivering me timbers and getting my sneeze on (atchoo, atchoo, at-chew, atishoooo, etc… ).

I was stuck to the bed, realising I’ve forgotten how good I am at feeling sorry for myself. Spent the morning listening to Ray, reading Q and Time and doing my all time favourite thing in the world: make lists. In doing so, I was reminded by an article I read in Time late last year (fear not, full realisation of my anal nature frightens even me at this stage! I heart lists!).

I disgress. Time management has become an absolutely vital aspect of our lives this year and I can juggle tasks and appointments with the best of them… with a little help from our friends at BlackBerry, Google Calendar,and while I’m at it, a big shout out to Giselle in the Students’ Union for organising us in the day job!

Duvet day also allowed me to:

1. Watch Yves Saint Laurent’s funeral online
2. Work a little on a new project that Gav and I have going on… a ucdlife website
3. Read my favourite blogs (see the Blogroll to the right!)
4. Study. Which I loved, sadly enough. Tort is the subject du jour!

While y’all are waiting for me to get fully better and come out and play, do yourselves a favour and entertain yourselves with the following:

Watch: (it’s a good un for all you law types!)

Laugh at: http://www.rickygervais.com/chimpanzee_karl.php

And finally, listen to: http://www.myspace.com/crystalcastles/

Back in the game!

It’s been too long, dear readers/stalkers from Bebo/Scally! One shouldn’t be excused for abandoning you during such stuffy times as exam season, but I’ll try to redeem your faith in me. Reilly and I have been getting our stress on in a big way (more anon) and blogging was impractial, nay impossible. That said, I’m back for good now (with your lipstick mark still on your coffee cup, or at least on one stolen from the office… I see it as redundancy)

So. Where have you been, Mama Brennan? To what reasonage for your abandonment shall you cling to now? Well, in no particular order, I have, in the past fortnight:

1. Returned from Slovakia
2. Survived two job interviews
3. Begun work (-ish) with said job
4. Continued to moonlight as a Sabbatical Officer in UCDSU
5. Moved house
6. Rewritten the Class Rep Constituency make-up for the next academic year (hack-a-doodle)
7. Registered for my new evening course to prepare me for FE1 Death
8. Begun studying for said Death
9. Enjoyed a catch-up weekend in Wexford with the Ladies GAAfia
10. Begun Curves in Donnybrook (there are plenty blogs in that one!)
11. Realised that the Mini-Marathon will be Epic Fail
12. Sat in the RDS for a cold and miserable week during the UCD exams, looking after all you real student types
13. Purchased tickets for even more gigs/concerts (Dara O’Briain, Muse et al)
14. Endured yet another Sligo/USI weekend of debauchery
15. Enjoyed my fabulous Mother’s birthday celebrations
16. Co-ordinated a fundraiser for the Chinese Earthquake victims, raising over €10,000
17. Celebrated the Munster win in style
18. Celebrated, with equal aplomb, the beginning of the Championship
19. Begun crossover with next year’s team, albeit with a certain degree of “Jeez, I’m bitter nobody was this nice to me, this time last year…”
20. Dealt with an issue with a friend that’s been on the horizon for a while now, and has finally been put to bed, and all is well.

Basically, to phrase my father (Habeus Papam Nickey), “She’s been hitting the ground in spots”. Our world of late has a habit of swallowing any spare nanosecond, but I’m back on the blogging bike and all normality shall resume anon.

Take this as an update to take the edge off, I’ll be back soon!

Ciara met Gav two years ago and realised she was onto a good thing - so today they live in a house with a lawnmower, a coffee maker and many, many newspapers and books. Gav also met Ciara, co-incidentally, two years ago - and now he mows the lawn, makes great coffee, and buys many, many newspapers and books.

Ciara studies for Law exams for a living after a brief stint of being a professonal student (viz-a-vis Students’ Union life) and Gav? Well, everything Gav touches turns to the property of UCD Students’ Union.

Ciara is to Kilkenny as Gav is to Meath,
Ciara is to RTÉ Radio 1 as Gav is to Phantom FM,
Ciara is to Gav’s credit card as Gav is to… er… Gav’s credit card bill.
Ciara is to Obama as Gav is to Hillary,
Ciara is to It’s A Wonderful Life as Gav is to The Matrix.
Ciara is to editing as Gav is to writing.
Ciara is to The Hills as Gav is to stuff that’s actually real,
Ciara is to Karl Pilkington as Gav is to Steve Merchant.
Ciara is to Americanos as Gav is to mochas.
Ciara is to hurling as Gav is to football,
Ciara is to Sudoku as Gav is to Rubik’s Cubes.
Ciara is to regulations as Gav is to constitutions and standing orders.
Ciara is to Elephant & Castle Chicken Wings as Gav is to all of his (and some of her spare) Elephant & Castle Chicken Wings.
Ciara is to running in elections as Gav is to running elections.
Ciara is to Time Magazine as Gav is to Q, most copies of Hot Press and the occasional FourFourTwo.
Ciara is to Lindt as Gav is to chocolate raisins.
Ciara is to sundried tomatoes from the Gourmet Store in Kilkenny as Gav is to grapes from a punnet from pretty much any corner shop in the First World.
Ciara is to The Irish Times as Gav is to The Sunday Tribune.
Ciara is to U2 as Gav is to Radiohead.
Ciara is to early mornings as Gav is to late nights…

…in short, Ciara is to Gav as Gav is to Ciara.

Basically, we’re the macaroni to the other’s cheese. Don’t worry, we won’t get too gushy here - if we are, give us a cyber-kick, danke schön.