I like waking up to emails on my BlackBerry. Sad but true – it makes me feel connected and busy and that’s the best way to be in my mind. I especially like waking up to emails like the one I got this morning, telling me that my blog – this humble little website – had been featured as one of the “10 Awesome Student Blogs You Should Follow” on freelancestudents.co.uk!
You can see the others on the list here.I would like to congratulate my fellow finalists and thank the folks over at Freelance Students for promoting my site.
I would also like to say a great big hello and welcome to any new folk who may have found their way here through said article. I hope you enjoy laurapatricia.co.uk, and I would like to invite you to join my little community by interacting with my website if you wish. Leave a comment, drop by and see me on Twitter, whatever. I love to hear from readers and see what you think of my little corner of the interweb.
As for my loyal followers, well, I am sorry for ignoring you guys lately. I am moving house, yet again, and its been a busy few weeks (when is it not?) I promise I’ll be back with an update real soon!
Thanks for stopping by folks!
Well, dear readers, tomorrow is my birthday. I will be turning 22, and, thanks to my birthday falling during the summer time, this is the first birthday I will ever be spending without my parents and sister!
I have nothing majorly exciting planned yet for the actual day, but I am having a dinner out with my friend Amy (who is coming down from Aberdeen) and some other folks on Saturday, going home for drizzle cake and presents with the family next weekend and then having a joint bash with another girl on the Sunday that week, so don’t think I’m not celebrating! I like to think that the boy will take me out to dinner or something, but we’ll see.
Anyway, I just thought I’d commemorate the big day with a brief blog post. (more…)
In 2008, a blind man called Dave and his sighted guide became the third and forth people in the world to run seven marathons in seven days, on seven different continents. They embarked on this near impossible feat in aid of Guide Dogs UK – their goal was to raise one million pounds for the charity which had changed Dave’s life a few years previously by providing him with a seeing-eye dog. (For those who are wondering, no, the dog did not run the races with him, but he was waiting for his master at the final finish line in London.)
We all know, I am sure, about the great work that Guide Dogs UK does in raising and training dogs and puppies to assist the blind and partially sighted. These dogs not only provide a service that allows the user to be far more independent; they also give the user a lifelong friend and companion, which is often just as valuable (if not more so). Having a dog to care for gives them a reason to get up in the morning, and a trained assistance dog allows them to lead a full and varied life without having to rely on human carers. And the dogs win too; they get to spend their lives working and using their brains, which is what dogs love best, and they also get to play hard when they’re off duty, often being much loved members of the family and usually staying with them after they have retired from active service. (more…)
Yes, it’s official, laurapatricia.co.uk has been online now for six months! How time flies.
Back in February, when we ‘launched’, I was still a student fighting deadlines and a dissertation. Last month, I graduated (and yesterday, my student discount card got rejected for being out of date). Back thenm I had never ever been on, or even remotely interested in Twitter; now I have Tweetdeck. When I uploaded my first post, from my good old studio flat, I was wearing at least six different layers (I remember because I spent the entire winter wrapped up like this trying to stay alive), but I am writing this entry wearing nice summery clothes, which now live with me at Adam’s.
So yeah, a lot has changed. (more…)
Ah, the joys of technology! I am writing this blog from Adam’s parents’ house in Cambridge. On my BlackBerry…
Yes folks, I have now installed the WordPress app on my Curve, so I can blog on the go. Which is good, because what prompted this step was that I was sitting in the back of a car this afternoon a) feeling bad for having neglected this blog and b) lamenting all the time I was wasting just sitting doing nothing. Now, this is no more, and I can be merrily tapping away at these purple keys whenever I feel like it! (more…)
Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates, but exciting stuff has been going on! I’ll attempt to give you a rundown of the news before I head off to bash out some articles – hopefully there’ll be a plethora of new stuff up here over the next week or so, so do check back.
The big news is that I was headhunted, and am now the new freelance proofreader/editor of a local magazine! You may not have heard of it, but you’ve probably seen it around. CityLife is distributed on the new Greyhound buses, as well as at ferry terminals, hotels and so on, as well as places like Cascades and Gunwharf. From the next issue onwards, my name will be on it, so do pick up a copy if you spot one. (more…)
I’m on work experience!
The nice people over at K9 Magazine were kind enough to offer me some experience researching and writing articles for their website and magazine, so while I am still doing what I love best (writing about dogs), I will not be doing it here for a while.
However, you can check them out and see some of my articles over there – I have posted the links to the two that have gone up so far below, and will post the rest shortly.
I am really enjoying the experience so far, and am looking forward to the rest of the week. They are keeping me busy though, so I’d better get back to it! Wish me luck!
What I’ve done so far:
“12 Greyhounds Free to Good Homes”
Well, I just finished University! I have handed in my final pieces of coursework, and it’s just a matter now of waiting on the final three marks to come back and (assuming I pass, which I should) collecting my diploma. If all goes to plan, as of the 22nd of July, I will no longer be a student, and will have to start thinking and acting like a fully fledged and proper adult! Scary stuff…
Other things are ending as well. I completed my last ever issue as Editor of Pugwash News, and have handed over to the new guy – it is well and truly ‘not my problem anymore’. Sadly, things did not end exactly as I had hoped they would; it’s a long story. But I am trying to see all the positives instead of dwell on this. I made some wonderful friends and memories, and I have three years of wonderful and educational experiences behind me. I know the new team will look after it well, so I’m happy to walk away with pride. (more…)
Well, it’s official. Pugwash News has a new Editorial Team, and I’m not on it! The elections went really smoothly, and I was, overall, pleased with the outcome, but it really is winding down to the end of my era here, and it’s all getting a bit emotional.
As I write this, I am sitting in the office in the process of laying up my penultimate issue of the paper. We’re at the phase where my first role, the copy editing, approval, and collection of articles is largely done, and my second role, the jabberwockying (extending or cutting articles to fit) and so on has not yet started, so I can sit back and attend to other things while the design team does their bit. Updating this blog is at the top of a list of about 100 things I have to, most of which are Pugwash related. We have two big socials coming up, which need arranging, and a handover period for the old and new teams, plus the final issue this year, so there’s lots going on and it’s going to be a busy month. (This is all on top of my last three deadlines and moving house, but that’s another story for another day!) (more…)
In an hour’s time, we are having our Pugwash Editorial Team Elections, which will democratically decide who will be running Pugwash News and Pugwash Magazine next academic year. This is quite a big event in the ‘history of Laura’, as it is the first year that I will NOT be running for a position. This is, of course, because I am graduating this summer, and will be moving on to other adventures, but it’s still sort of sad.
Pugwash has been a part of my university life literally since Freshers’ Week in my First Year. And it’s been a huge part of my experience here; not only in terms of the friends that I have made and the time I have devoted to it, but also because of the amount I have learned and achieved during my time on the team. Yes, it has been a long and stressful road, with plenty of angst, tears and more than one moment where I have threatened to quit. However, overall there has been more ‘better’ than ‘worse’, and I have many fond memories of my time here. (more…)
