Blog neglect and Em Con woes

I have been (and probably will be) neglecting my blog over the past and next few days due to the amount of deadlines I have coming up. I have about 10 for my work placement and 2 big deadlines for university - work overload!!! Needless to say I'm very stressed.

Em Con was a disaster. I queued for nearly 4 hours. In the sun it was boiling hot. It the shade it was freezing cold. The stewards kept lying about how long the queue was (turned out thousands of people were queuing) and how long the wait would be. Apparently they sold far more tickets than the venue's capacity so it was a one-in-one-out operation. We were often stood without moving at all for over half an hour. It was just so poorly organised. I felt pretty ill considering I hadn't eaten since 10am and didn't get into the convention until 3.30pm, and had been on my feet all day, battling the elements (thank God it didn't rain!!)

There was talk of people without tickets being let in before people with tickets which if it was true (and it appeared to be) is absolutely ridiculous.

I was immensely disappointed because one of the main reasons I went was for the Game of Thrones Q&A panel which I missed the majority of. When we got into the room where all the guests were it was so packed I could barely see them, and probably missed most of them, being crushed by the crowd as we all tried to move around. You were literally touching people from all sides and were sometimes unable to move for 10 minutes at a time. The majority of the event was cramped into a tiny room with all the guests and merch sellers. A lot of the merch and handmade items looked really cool but by the time I'd got into the convention I already felt so sick and tired it was no longer enjoyable, plus most of the tables were inaccessible due to the crowds. I got quite close to Gethin Anthony and Kristian Nairn nearly knocked me out when he stopped for a selfie with a fan and nearly hit me in the face (totally by accident of course!) but I really couldn't see any point pursuing them by this point in the day.

They've moved the venue to the Capital FM Arena next year so I guess that's something. Hopefully it'll be better then...

Healthy eating

So I did a big food shop yesterday and decided that now was the time to start eating healthy.
I think as a student it's easy to shove something frozen in the oven for 20 minutes and eat it but often the nutritional value just isn't there.

I forgot to take pictures which is pretty stupid of me but today so far I have eaten:

Strawberries with blueberry yoghurt (a natural one, not filled with fat and sugar)
A tuna salad wrap

I feel good about myself knowing that the things I'm putting into my body are good for me and ideally I'd like to lose around 5lb as I've put on weight since coming back to university. I've also been trying to actively consume less meat as I'm aware of the atrocious conditions most animals live in and as a result the contents of my fridge, freezer and cupboards are officially meat-free.

I'm not saying I'll be a strict vegetarian forever, odds are it'll be tricky, especially with a meat-loving family, and to be honest I haven't fully committed myself to kissing meat goodbye forever but even if I only eat meat one day a week it's still better than eating it almost every day.

Quorn has been my savior. When I do fancy something meaty I find quorn really fills that hole. I had a "chicken" curry last night and it was fab.

I can't commit fully to healthy eating right now because unfortunately I'm ill with a chesty cough and I feel like I've swallowed a razor. The only thing alleviating my symptoms is ice cream, and Ben & Jerry's was on offer... it'd be rude not to!

PR placement dilemmas

The first problem I have encountered is that I'm supposed to be doing a telephone interview with a person who could not be located!!

I rang twice last week, the first time the receptionist told me that she had worked there for 9 years and had never heard of this woman. She told me to ring back in an hour because there was a woman who might know but she was in a meeting. I rang back in an hour. The woman had finished work. Grrr...

I rang again today and the receptionist knew who I was talking about!! Hooraaaaay BUT this woman was a coach driver and was driving around, so I have to call back in 15 minutes in the hope that she's there and available to take my call. Wish me luck guys...

My second dilemma is that my boss has invited me to go to a business networking breakfast. It's at 6.15am in the city. The buses are irregular at the time, so I would either arrive around half an hour early or 15 minutes late. Plus goodness knows what time I'd have to get up to make it. AND it'd be extremely nerve-wracking I'm sure!

On the other hand it might be a good experience and if I say no I might seem disinterested (although my boss assured me it's totally fine if I can't/don't want to attend).

What do you guys think?

East Midlands Sci-Fi and Fantasy convention

I just booked tickets to the East Midlands Sci-Fi and Fantasy convention!!!! (If you live nearby check it out http://www.em-con.co.uk/)
SO excited!

I'm primarily going for the Game of Thrones cast:
Gethin Anthony
Josef Altin
Kristian Nairn
Luke Barnes
Ian McElhinney

!!!!!

That's all for now I'll probably post later when I've composed myself.

A blogging bonanza

Basically I decided to give beauty blogging a real go. I haven't officially started yet but I've set one up on Wordpress and even though I think Wordpress is harder to use than Blogger and you don't get to experiment much with themes etc without paying, the overall look is more professional.

I don't really know how it well it will go to be honest, I don't have a great quality camera or anything so it's hardly going to jump out at people but hey ho.

If anybody is interested in hearing about my PR placement I've set up a blog about that http://amyonplacement.wordpress.com/. It's mainly to stop me from ranting on here and also so I can keep track of how many hours I'm doing.

I'm currently debating what film to watch tonight. I'm tempted to watch Wake Wood as my obsession with Aidan Gillen does not seem to be waning anytime soon.

P.S. You have all been graced with a profile picture (lucky you!!)

Wild weekends

I am really excited for this weekend and it's a reflection of my introverted side that I plan to spend pretty much the entire weekend by myself.

My plans?

• Eat Chicago Town takeaway pizza which I bought on offer from ASDA
• Eat Ben & Jerry's Half-Baked... which I bought on offer from ASDA
• Netflix

I'll probably have to admit defeat and do some work for university, and also do my laundry, but really I'm looking forward to this.

Basically it's all because the flatmate I am closest to is going home for the weekend, two of my other flatmates are busy, and the other two don't socialise. 

Bring on the calories...

Unmotivated but gettin' PREACHY (sort of but not really)

The title pretty much sums it up.

Feeling unmotivated. I haven't been pro-active about my placement work, my university work or arranging nights out. I haven't even made much progress with The Tudors!

The only thing lately that's really moved me is watching the documentary everybody seems to be talking about... Blackfish. And I was reduced to tears. I don't consider myself an animal lover. I respect animals and I care about their welfare but I didn't think I'd be reduced to tears!

Anyway there's a petition here urging Richard Branson to stop selling trips to SeaWorld and I signed and if you also want to that'd be cool.

P.S. PANCAKES TONIGHT!!!!