Speechless, and the Interwebz.

Mockingjay. Woah. Never have I been more confused, horrified and enthralled by an ending. I promise I won't post any spoilers until a more suitable time gap has passed, but wow.

In other news, I was lucky enough yesterday to be given some pretty awesome college advice from one of my favourite YouTube musicians, Mike Lombardo. For those of you who are unfamiliar I recommend you search Abby Never or Hey Molly for future enlightenment and musical joy.

However, despite the fact that I totally fangirled out for awhile and blatantly posted all cap messages on friends facebook walls, it was after we sent an email or two back and forth that I realised how epic the situation really was. The fact that I could be chatting to someone living on an entirely different continent about college worries was pretty impressive. It's also nice that in this new "Internet Age", the people who make videos and sell their music are still honest, good people. I think the internet and those with internet "fame" are a brand new species that many of today's celebrities could take some notes from.

You see, despite the fact that he never mentioned it once to me, I have decided that my next music buy will be his newest CD (Songs for a New Day) because I feel good about supporting people I feel I have some kind of connection with, however small.

Sorry for the ramble today. I blame the headspin after Mockingjay. Still not thinking at 100% capacity. I'll keep you posted on that one.

I feel: Overwhelmed

I see: New chore schedule on my notice board (ew...)

I hear: If a Nerd and A Cupcake had a Baby by Rocket Me Nowhere (so cute!)

I smell: Crumbly fudge my sister made earlier (still delicious)

Island Life

Despite the fact I have lived here all my life, today is the first day that it really hit me: I live on an island.

This thought came into my brain on Thursday when I entered my local bookshop to purchase Mockingjay, something I have wanted to do since I read Catching Fire last year. Imagine my disappointment then when I search the shelf to no avail, only to ask and be told that the shipment had been messed up and only one large book chain in the entire country possessed this book. Not that I'm complaining, but seeing as we already had to wait an extra day after the US release date, I was feeling rather hard done by.

But it was only today during a conversation with my mum in which we discussed how handy it would be to live in "proper Europe" that my epiphany struck. Even though, according to Wikipedia, Ireland is the twentieth largest island in the world, it still is just that; an island. We need a plane or a boat to get out of here. I can see the sea from my attic window and the mountains from my bedroom. Our population stands at roughly 4 million people, half that of the entire city of New York. Yet, to me, this place is huge.

It never before crossed my mind that people might think of Ireland as a small place. In reality, I have been living through "island life" without really thinking of myself as an islander. But I feel like this isn't entirely my fault. I'm pretty sure there are hundreds if not thousands of Irish people who have never given a thought to the fact that we are little people living on a little island.

One thing is for sure, there is a lot of world out there to see. While I might not be able to get there just yet, this little island girl is going to go somewhere and see new things.

And then, of course, I'll come home again.

I feel: Enlightened

I smell: Fresh bedsheets

I hear: That pop from facebook chat (multitasking)

I see: My new shoes happily sitting on my floor (pink)

Love,

Shauna

xxx

It's a waiting game.

Today, I feel like I'm waiting for everything. Being a fairly impatient person this is not an ideal place for me to be. I get crazy, I watch the clock counting down minutes, I fidget, I tap my fingers and I go generally stir-crazy. All in a days work.

As of now I have twenty four minutes before I can register for my college course (See? Counting.) I am also waiting for my mum to come home with my little sister and I am waiting for my dad to finish tidying the shed so I can try and convince him to drive me places I am far too lazy to walk to. I am waiting to go to a bookshop so I can get Mockingjay and I am waiting an three reply emails. Is there much more waiting a person can take?

Today I also discovered that while I am allowed to pay my college money (and a large amount of money for that matter) I can't actually pick modules until September. More waiting. Someone help me...

I feel: Jittery

I smell: freshly cut grass

I hear: My sister singing (she is awesome)

I see: My orientation schedule staring at me from the noticeboard

And yes, before you ask, I am copying hayleyghoover but only because she is amazing.

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Shauna

xxx

Diary of a Freshman...

And the obligatory first blog post begins... Let's make this quick and easy, shall we?

Name: Shauna

Age: 18

Nationality: Irish

Reason for blogging: Boredom, excitement, starting afresh and trying new things.

Now that we've got the important things out of the way, let's get down to business.

For a while I've had the idea of starting a blog and I've made quite a few attempts at it but all have failed miserably due to my complete lack of dedication and/or interesting things to talk about. College life, however, should prove much more exciting than last year's abundance of study. I'll keep you posted (See what I did there? Eh?)

So right now I'm awaiting my college registration with far too much excitement than any normal student should. I have been religiously checking the registration website to see when I am allowed to get in there and select all my modules but apparently I'm forced to wait until 3pm tomorrow. Yeah, I'm that cool.

Still, I'm really looking forward to this big college adventure. It seems like the whole of last year has been leading up to this and I'm ready for that all to be over and just get there already! I'm sure once the exams come along I won't be so thrilled but until then I'm remaining in Camp Happy. College is a big deal and hopefully by keeping this blog I can look back on first year and think: "I was insanely weird, but I was happy. Those were the days."

Until after 3pm tomorrow,

Love,

Shauna

xxx