Christmas!!

When I think of Christmas I get the usual fuzzy, warm feelings and think of family and friends and eating so much that I may or may not explode. However this year
the word Christmas has so many other different meanings to me. For starters it means all our assignments and projects in college will over..Thank God!!! I was really getting so stressed out at one stage there. It just felt like nothing was ever going to be finished and everything was too hard. But (eventually) I'm nearly there!! Working in groups can be really hard because everybody has their own ideas and opinions on how things should be done and that can cause a few bumps along the way!! It's weird though because no matter how much you like somebody as a person and how well you get on with them, sometimes it's just impossible to work with them!! Just the exams to go now..Should be fine..Fingers crossed!!
So after all that stress the party season is a great opportunity to let off some steam!!

Another thing I think of when I think of Christmas this year is being so bloody busy!! I work in an Italian wine bar in Dundalk and we are just so flat out with the Christmas season..We also sell large size designer shoes too so we get the shoppers by day and party people by night!! Closing time is getting later and later these days!!
The final thing Christmas means to me this year is the fact that I'm going to Paris shortly after!!! SO excited!! I got it as a present for my boyfriend for Christmas and he doesn't know so Shhhhhhhhh!!! Hope he doesn't take a mad notion and decide to read my blog!! Oops!!

Galway.. Unbelieveable!!

I went to Galway during the Summer with my boyfriend. It has to be the best city in the whole world. We actually didn't think we were in Ireland anymore!!! Like I mean just walking down the streets at night, which are packed with people, we came across this band. In this particular video the band told us all to sit down on the ground, which we all did!! Then as they started to play their music louder and faster we all got up..Amazing!!!
The atmosphere in this town is just unbelievable. Another day when we were walking down the pedestrian street we came across this...
I mean can you imagine walking down the streets of Dundalk and seeing the likes of that?!! I don't think so!! There was so much more going on but if I start to put up all the photos and videos the computer would probably crash. They are my favorites though!! And another thing..Nobody drinks in pubs..They all go into the bar, get their drink and plastic glass and then stand out on the street. Its just so much fun..You really have to see it to believe it!! I would go back in a minute. We went during the arts festival; which would probably be the best time to go because all of the bands and stuff were part of the Galway Arts Festival.. Click here to visit their website if you want to find out more!!

Lack of Good Telly!!

Is it just me or is TV getting crap these days?? There is such a lack of a good sitcom to make us laugh once a week. Roll on the return of Desperate Housewives that's what I say!! I really think there are less and less good programs being made year..I mean do you not remember how good telly used to be?? Friends, Sex and the City, all the Saturday night game shows!! It just feels like they can't be bothered coming up with new and fresh ideas anymore. Like they are still playing re-run after re-run of Father Ted for god's sake. It's funny but it's not that bloody funny that were going to laugh at it after seeing it for the hundred and forty-eighth time!!!
Oh and what about telly when you were a child?? Now that was brilliant!! Do you remember all the programs that used to on? "Tot's TV".. Oh my God!! And the theme tune was like.. "I'm a tot, je suis a tot, teeny, tot and tiny. We're the tots from tot's TV, one, two, three!" Aw that was pure genius!! And the wee red haired one was French and even though she just babbled away in French the whole time we all still understood her! In fact most of the French I used in my Leaving Cert. probably came from that show!!
Rosie and Jim was another great one!! I can't think of the name of the guy that drove the boat!! I must look it up!!
But it has to be said that Bosco was the the greatest children's television program ever made!! It was class!! I went to see him in the town hall in Dundalk and it was unbelievable!!! A huge room full of kids and all their faces lit up as soon as that theme tune music started to play!! What the hell happened Bosco anyway?? He would kick Bob the Builders ass any day!!

What's Wrong With Institutes of Technology??

So the annual list of the Top 400 secondary schools featured in the Irish Times at the weekend. So to keep on top of the old current affairs I decided I'd have a look. No surprises in top ten..Seven of them are private schools and the rest are Irish speaking. They are nearly all in South Dublin. Dundalk got a mention though (yes seriously)twice actually with the Grammar School at number 190 and St Vincents at number 347.
Something did surprise me though and that was the way in which this list was compiled. What they basically do is use the percentage rate of progression to third level and the school with the highest is up there at number one. However, and this is the bit I don't like, if there are two schools with the same percentage then the percentage that go to institutes of technology gets taken into account. Then the one with the higher percentage gets the lower place. How unfair is that?
I'm doing a degree course in Public Relations in DkIT at the moment and I don't see why my degree should be looked upon differently than any other degree.
Most people that went on to third level in my year at secondary school went to Dkit. One of the main reasons probably being that it's right on our doorstep. So does that make the school I attended a bad school???
And more importantly is this report belittling the course I am doing in DkIT, the course that I worked so hard for in my "crappy" school??!!

He Without Sin....

I was just looking through some other people from my class's blogs and I just happened to see a post that was giving out about the spelling and grammar of other people's blogs. For starters I know my spelling and grammar is not perfect but the funny thing is, neither was the grammar of the person writing this particular post!!! I just don't really understand why anyone would bother giving out about other people's grammar when it obviously didn't bother them enough to fix their own!!
Although having said that, are we all a bit hypocritical in one way or another??

So Upset!!!

Oh my god..I really want to cry!!!
See, I was supposed to go to Hawaii this summer on a J1 and I just found out that I can't because I fall short of the age category by like three weeks!! I am so mad!! I was really looking forward to it!! Just imagine..HAWAII for three months!! Itlooks absolutely amazing!!
And just to top it all off my best buddy in the whole wide world is going and I'm gonna be stuck here in crappy Dundalk in rainy, freezing Ireland!!! And she is going to be living the bloody high life Honolulu with one of those necklaces made of flowers around her neck!!! I'll have to make do with a daisy chain. That's if, unlike last summer, all the daises haven't drowned with all the rain!!
Right I fell a bit better now after that wee rant!!!
Hawaii better beware next year!!!!
Anyone is interested in doing a J1..I thought the J1online website was good for info
Click here to visit the site.

PR is not soft PoRn!!

For some unknown reason, the December issue of a magazine called "Business Plus" was lying around my house today. So, I thought I'd have a wee flick through it, seeing as I'm studying Public Relations in DkIT and am supposed to be up to date on current affairs and what not!! My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw this headline on the cover
"PR Babes, The Poses That Get The Column Inches"
It also had a picture of a fairly provocative looking model beside it. Of course I flicked to the "Public Relations Section" of this so called business mag. What I saw was actually laughable. They have really serious and in-depth accounting and marketing etc. sections but the Public Relations section consisted of half naked models lying about on desks and women posing on streets wearing skin tight PVC suits! Literally soft porn!! (Well very soft porn but still!!)
Tried to get all the pictures but I could only get one (above). It's not the worst one but you get the idea!!
So people wonder why Public Relations does not have a very good name for itself...If a "high quality" business magazine is sending out that message about PR what can we expect. Why can't people see that it is a serious profession?? And why can't they see that there is such a massive difference in being a public relations professional and a promotions girl or a model!! I mean I'm doing a degree course in it at that moment. There is no degree course in modelling as far as I know!!

In Bad Taste!!

OK...Please tell me some of you have seen this ad. I tried to search for it on YouTube but I couldn't find it so I'll just try to explain.. Its for an insurance company, I'm nearly sure it's FBD, and it starts with this guy sitting in his house. He obviously has a pet parrot because there is one flying around the room. Next thing is the parrot turns the knob on the cooker and the gas goes on. So the room is filling up with gas when the guy (who doesn't realise the gas is on) goes to light his lighter. Then the ad ends with the slogan "It happens, we'll be there if it happens to you." I mean seriously, how sick is that? That fella is going to die. Like the second he lights that lighter the whole place is going to explode. It's really not funny!! I don't want to sound like an old granny who complains at ads that show too much flesh but I honestly think it's in really bad taste!!

Con Artists!!!

I have to say this really bloody annoyed me... I was in work the other day, (I work in a cafe and wine bar), when this man came in and asked would i change the money he had into a fifty euro note.He gave me two twenties and a rake of change that added up to fifty and I got the fifty note out of the till and handed it over. I turned to close the till and as quick as I turned back he had a tenner in his hand. "Eh..I asked for a fifty??!!" was what he said to me...Cheeky git! So I replied "And that's exactly what i gave you." " No you didn't" "Yes I did" etc. etc. This carried on for a good five minutes until he realised that I wasn't going to take any of his crap. Then he actually turned and ran out of the shop..I mean literally ran!! Like talk about making yourself look guilty!! The thing was, if i had of been busy I probably would have thought that i had made the mistake and handed him another fifty. Just makes you wonder how many times he does it a day and more importantly how many times he actually gets away with it!!! What do these people think gives them the right to steal other people's money?? What makes them so special??

when they really dont have a clue

Weddings!!

I was at a wedding at the weekend.. The first one in like five years!! As i was getting ready for it I actually couldn't believe how much preparation goes into just being a GUEST at a wedding!! Its ridiculous!! First of all there's the task of finding the perfect dress..A serious operation in itself!! I'm not even joking.. The list of "do's and dont's" is absolutely endless!! Plus you must do everything in your power to try to ensure that nobody has the same dress as you. Then in the weeks leading up to the wedding there is tan, nails, shawls (as you MUST cover your shoulders in the church!!), shoes, make-up etc!!
So with the huge expense and all the stress I was beginning to feel like it was actually me that was getting married when in fact I didn't even know the bloody bride!! To save a bit of dosh I got my friend to do my hair and thanks to about a litre of hairspray it was a great success.. The poor girl probably had most of it her lungs!!
The point I'm trying to make is that after all of this preparation to just be a bloody guest at a wedding..What would it be like being the bride?? Is it worth it?? The stress..The expense... Is there more emphasis put on the wedding than the marriage??? And even thought he picture is a bit of an exaggeration, has the whole "bridezilla" culture got out of hand???