Norman Ralph

It’s that time of year again, that period of time when Leeds fills with fresh faced eighteen years and every commercial body is out in force trying to get everyone to part with their hard earned cash. It is also the time when we societies get out there to try and get members.

A-soc is no different and we have been out in force this week recruiting. We have been pretty successful too, with over 40 new members signing up in the first three days! Check out the pictures below and the blogs over on the A-Soc website.

The summer time blues, of Eddie Cochrane fame, have been something that many people I know have experienced and is a phenomenen that I am personally familiar with. I have always found it bizarre that so many people, especially in Britain, suffer from this highly oxymoronic state of mind. Most British people spend all year waiting for the sun to come out and as soon as it does they all get depressed! How silly is that?

On a totally different note I am currently experiencing a massive increase in workload. Planning for the upcoming Atheist Society events in fresher’s week is now in full swing. Membership cards and committee hoodies are in the pipeline, events are being nailed down, room bookings being made and equipment sourced. It is quite scary that we are only six weeks away! Then there is paid work, O2 is going swimmingly. I have just completing my second week in ‘grad bay’ so should be fully live soon enough. I am hoping that I impress enough over the next few months to get up the ladder a bit. The biggest news is the fact that I have just been given my first freelance software development contract! Designing and implementing a user interface for a university research department. More on that as I get into it.

I am quite enjoying this new found level of activity. I have been busy before, of course, but it was usually the hectic kind of busy where you don’t get chance to breathe or sleep or eat. This is the kind of busy that keeps you occupied ten hours of the day solidly, but that doesn’t feel that much like hard work. Whether I am still saying this when A-Soc gets into full swing and Rationalist Week is upon us again I don’t know. In the meantime though, I am going to enjoy it and hopefully see my bank balance rise into the positive numbers for the first time in several years too!

The Christmas festivities are over, the New Year hangovers have subsided and 2008 is nearly a week old. This seems like the perfect opportunity to take a look back at 2007 and the people, events and ideas that made it.

Christmas and New Year are always a time for reflection and nostalgia and this year was no different. My family was all together for the first time in a while, including some of the new additions. I had an enjoyable time with several highlights – firstly, I caught up with some old friends and relived some of those moments from my youth that I miss. I also had a good time Christmas Day as I actually felt part of the family for the first time in many years. The end of December was also a good time for me, I spent it with Liz and her family and really felt accepted.

Anyway, back to my review of the year.

January
January was an interesting month, fisrt it saw the blossoming of a new friendship, one that would lead to something quite special – although i didn’t know that at the time of course. This month saw the final plans for the new academic year’s housing plans and all the arguments that surrounded that decision. This is probably the time that I cemented my friendship with a number of people whom I now consider my closest allies.

January’s exam period was hard for me, not just for the obvious reasons, but because it saw the dawning in my mind that I had lost my passion in Materials Engineering, that the course was no longer the inspiration I required. I began to toy with the idea of leaving university, or at least changing course.

February
I don’t remember much of February apart from starting at McDonald’s and buying a new car. I also went to Langdale in the Lake District with my mum.

March
March was an interesting month, I saw Barenaked Ladies in concert in Leeds which was amazing, visited Sarann in the Lakes and most importantly I started this blog.

April
Now here is the definition of a rollercoaster ride. I reached some of the lowest points of my life but also touched some of the highest highs. I ran Rationalist Week, spent a week in a self-destructive spiral of drinking, partying and depression, I met a girl and fell in love.

May
May was a busy month. Liz and my relationship went from strength to strength, went to see Soweto Kinch and The Who live in concert and Blackpool won in the League One play-offs and got themselves promoted to the Championship.

June
Festivals were the order of the day/month for June. I went to Sunrise and Farmyard Party to work in a chip van with Sarann. I had a great time but it meant not seeing Liz for a lot of the month – the first real test for our relationship. I think we ended up stronger than ever! Chris ended up in hospital with a serious bout of appendicitis and I spent a lot of time helping Matt sort out his car.

July
July was quite boring compared to the surrounding months.I went to Workhouse in Wales, had minor computing issues and moved in with my new housemates – Sarann, Michelle, B and Chris.

August
Always a quiet month, with uni still a month away and the excitement of breaking up long since faded away. I spent most of the month taking stock and seeing what was what in my life. I did go to Solfest, however, which was definitely a personal highlight of the year!

September
I made only seven blog posts in September, which gives a good indication of how little I did. I did start a new course at university though and turned twenty-three – which also explains the lack of blogging! The combination of Fresher’s week and birthday celebrations will do that to a man.

October
A difficult month for me. A lot of things happened in my private life that left me somewhat adrift. I did get a new computer though, which is always nice!

November
November saw things pick up a bit with the A-Soc London trip, Atheist Week and the discovery of the Lancashire Hotpots! London was worth all the effort that I put into it, it turned out better than anyone had predicted and nothing really bad happened. Liz and I went from strength to strength and I even managed to find time to do some uni work!

December
A month of WoW and family. Not a lot to report on really, except what is already included at the top of this post. It was a good festive period all in all. I think it set me up for 2008 quite nicely.

Well this is a story and a half!

Last night saw the annual Fresher’s reception in the School of Computing. The Long Room was the usual venue, ale and wine the usual fayre and the school disco style separation of Freshers from every body else. As the ale and wine flowed the segregation became less and less pronounced and by the end of the second hour everyone was mixing and chatting away. Kieran leapt to his feet just as the last drop of ale was being quaffed to announce that CompSoc would be continuing the evening’s merriment in the form of a pub crawl into town starting with the Old Bar.

After a few drinks in the Old Bar, along with pizza for those who needed a good lining for their stomachs, we set off on the pub crawl proper with Sam, our illustrious president, leading the way to The Fenton. There was a level of irony that should be mentioned here; Sam is a second year and has lived in Leeds for over a year now yet still doesn’t know where anything is in Leeds! So, with a gaggle of Fresher’s, CompSoc committee and the usual band of hangers on we trekked the couple of hundred yards from LUU to The Fenton (it’s on Woodhouse Lane between Leeds and Ledds Met unis for those that don’t know).

I don’t spend much time in The Fenton unless I’m playing a card game there or I’m on an Otley Run, but it’s a nice enough place and is owned by the same people that run the Eldon so a good selection of ale to be got. We stayed here for a swift one then headed next door to Strawbs.

Strawbs is a quaint little place, a litte bar (about a metre long) and a selection of seats and sofas. It can be a little grotty, but this time round mainly due to the fact we filled the place it had quite a good atmosphere. The drinks are reasonable if a little limited in range.

Dry Dock was the next stop on the crawl. It is a very student orientated place but with a Yellow Card the drinks are about as cheap as you can get in Leeds! The Freshers were starting to feel the pace by now. The beer had been flowing for a little over seven hours (it was ten o’clock by now) and wheat was beginning to separate from the chaff. We had had a couple of drop outs along Woodhouse Lane, namely CompSoc V-P Kieran.

The main gossip by this stage was the massive amount of flirting going on. It is always funny to see Freshers chatting up the ladies – it is much like watching dogs on heat. Liz and Charlie were both getting a lot of attention at this stage!

Fab was the next port of call and the temperature was beginning to rise. Charlie and B were starting to have to fend the guys off and Liz was having her drinks bought for her. A few more bodies left at this stage but the numbers were still far better than we could have imagined prior to the event. With Sam still leading from the front the night was beginningt o turn into one that many wouldn’t forget. Most people were merrily drunk byt this stage, especially Sarann who had long since passed her safe limit!

After a couple of drinks in Fab we moved on to our final bar – Bourbon. This is where the fun began. Firstly we were down to the hardcore few, about ten people, half freshers hand half others. Sarann, Liz and Charlie were all busy making new “friends” and really making the Freshers feel welcome. Sarann and Liz were being particularly friendly. Unfortunately, Sarann was now well past her limit and had to be taken home – a job for Michelle and I. The rest of the gang headed over to Grosvener Casino for a flutter. All I can say on that topic is check out Liz’s blog on the night.

The new semester at university starts in less than two weeks. Well, it’s two weeks until Fresher’s Week begins anyway. Usually that wouldn’t be too significant as it is many years since I was a fresher, but this year I am helping A-Soc recruit new members at the Fresher’s Fair and generally make sure that A-Soc is a massive success this year whilst I am secretary. This means a lot of work! The past few weeks have basically seen me sat at my computer sending emails left, right and centre to sort out events, book speakers and generally make sure everything is set up for the new year. I have also been busy beavering away on speeches and presentations for the first few meetings of A-Soc seeing as we have a lot of debates planned. I am going to take this opportunity to plug A-Soc, so if you are in the Leeds area and are a student (or even if you are not) then get in touch with us at Atheist Society. Membership is £5 for the year and that gets you voting rights, access to our library of books and DVDs as well as a regular newsletter and invitations to all our events. Check out the website for listings.

New semester means new course for me. Having successfully changed from a MEng in Materials Science and Engineering to a Joint Honours BSc in Computing and Management I am really looking forward to getting my studies back on track. I could write a whole essay on the reasons behind that decision, but I think I will save it for a blog post sometime in the future. New semester also means new job. I somehow have to pay for my course and living expenses and at the moment there are a few options out there. Firstly, I have recently had some good news from McDonald’s which means that I can return there if I so wish, there is also a possibility of an opening with William Hill (the bookies) which looks like a good opportunity – mainly beacuse it is better pay and nicer hours!

All of this means that I am going to have less spare time to spend with friends and what’s more, I will probably end up seeing Liz a lot less than is ideal. Compounding this is the fact that Liz has applied for a new job (interview on Wednesday) which means she will be working full time hours and therefore be free a lot less. Normally, I would say that this sucks but I think our relationship is at the stage where we can understand and accept the commitments we both have and work our relationship around them. I am really looking forward to the next few months, they are probably going to decide the next few years of my life!