There once was a boy named Harry, born with a lightning scar...

So the ARU Harry Potter Society was awarded Society of the Year 2012-13 last night at the Clubs and Socs Ball and I cannot possibly express how proud I am of everyone who has been involved and supported us through this year. It's been an incredible opportunity and I'm genuinely honoured to have been able to share it with such an awesome group of Potterheads.

It really has been a crazy year and we've had our share of ups and downs, both difficult and truly magical moments. We have an amazing base of members and have had so much fun working with other Societies and the fantastic and ever-supportive SU. It's been a magical journey and I will be sad to say goodbye as the current Committee move on to future Wizarding adventures, but it's been an incredible experience and I've loved every moment of it.

So an immense and heartfelt 'thank you' to everyone who's given the Order of the Ruskin their time from that moment in that kitchen when we wondered if it would be possible, to the near-200 people signed up, to everyone who's attended our events and Pub Socials, and to you if you have stuck with the ARU Harry Potter Society until what is surely not the end, but can only be a bright and magical beginning.

And in the immortal words of Peeves: "We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter’s the one, and Voldy’s gone moldy, so now let’s have fun!"

It's sacrilege, sacrilege, sacrilege you say.

Well it's all really building up into madness now. I feel like we're on the last corner before the home stretch to Dissertation Deadline. However, this is really just the beginning. Deadlines in abundance from the beginning of May stretching on a month beyond, and then moving house and transferring my job; the real world is steadily approaching and it's taking no prisoners.

I'm keeping reasonably afloat at the moment. I keep reminding myself that things could be a lot worse, and I could have nothing to show for my two and half years at University, but as that's really not the case I am instead incredibly thankful and excited as to what the future is bringing.

I have fallen entirely in love with NFTS. It's a perfect place and exactly where I need to be, and so continues the heavy slog to fight my way into it's lovely walls filled with layer upon layer of talent, knowledge, experience and opportunity. I just need to find the right bloody story.

My current living arrangements are hovering in comparison to perhaps the third circle of Dante's Inferno at the moment. Alright, perhaps that's a bit extreme, but it's really bloody awful right now. Most of my kitchen items that I moved in with have been stolen, along with countless items of food. Some nights this is particularly depressing when looking at half a cupboard of food knowing that someone in the house is going to bed particularly well fed that night. And it's a Brucey Bonus when you're then woken up repeatedly at 4.00am by various tenants who cannot possibly inhabit any other rooms within the property besides the ones precisely adjacent to your own. This is very wearing. My letting agency's suggestion to all of this? I'll paraphrase: "We aren't willing to do anything, so you might as well go to police about your missing cutlery." Excellent. I'll just use my extensive funds to replace everything that's been taken since September and put locks on the cupboards that you own. Oh, and I'll soundproof my room while I'm at it, shall I?

Other than this, things seem to be continuing at a steady pace. Some days it's a struggle to remember that there really is a good reason for getting out the other side of my degree. And others... Well, those are the days to be treasured.

There is apparent scientific evidence that creative types are most productive at the early hours of the morning. I'm not sure whether this is true for myself or if this is just self imposed insomnia to try and catch sleep during the day around intensely noisy housemates but I have a sudden urge to tidy my room, although this is most likely another route of procrastination from the more pressing tasks. There are frequent occasions when I wonder how Boyfriend qualifies being with me against a normal life. But normal gets boring.

He's going away for two weeks soon, and I have a strong feeling this is going to be mightily more tricky than the last time he went away. But seven months down the line this can hardly be surprising. And in all honesty it couldn't come at a more appropriate time, with deadlines looming on the horizon. So, he will either return to a gloopy mess living in squalor and crying over a laptop that doesn't work, or to someone else.

Well, I shall continue to slog away through this creative process of all fragmented elements. I have no doubts that blog posts will become more frequent and melancholic as I shuffle towards the end of this chapter.

I'm sorry if this seems preachy but I had to say something.

Are people aware of this petition? http://c4m.org.uk/

Personally, I find it quite ridiculous, with small-minded, bigoted arguments. One of their hilariously bizarre reasonings is that legalising same-sex marriage is only one step away from legalising polygamy. They refer to non-same-sex couple as 'the rest of us', just furthering this horrendous divide based purely on a difference between sexuality.

They also argue that 'Marriage reflects the complementary natures of men and women', but why on earth should relationships be defined only by gender? Surely divorce statistics already prove this wrong. A relationship is a joining of two people whose personalities complement each other, along with their preferences, opinions, and so much more, not because they're a man and a woman.

'The evidence shows that children do best with a married mother and a father.' - What evidence is this? This argument not only debases families with same-sex parents as is their aim, but single parent families, divorced families, widowed families - are they really attempting to say that in contemporary society, children will only do well if their mother and father are married? Because to me that seems very outdated and pretty backwards by all accounts.

'It's not discriminatory to support traditional marriage.' - Yes, actually. It pretty much is. I don't understand how, in this day and age, a movement towards equal rights is still being protested against.

I apologise if you find my comments offensive, and as they point out 'People should not feel pressurised to go along with same-sex marriage just because of political correctness. They should be free to express their views.' But surely the arguments for same-sex marriage are rooted in much more that 'political correctness'.

I aware this is a very long post and quite ranty, but I hope you appreciate that something has to be said against these old-fashioned and frankly offensive arguments.

Building up my problems to the size of a cow.

Well I am out of the miserable slump, which is nice not only for myself but for pretty much everyone around me who's had to put up with it in recent weeks.

And feeling refreshed and energised and positive and motivated I have near on scheduled every hour of every day, so I am constantly doing something useful. That's the plan anyway. I even scheduled a lay-in this morning, which was a very nice thing to do for myself. Although it appears that I am so bloody organised at the moment, I'm forgetting to do things like eat and use my inhaler. So perhaps I need to take a step back from the super-scheduled lifestyle.

The last-first week back has finished, and I am 7 days closer to the end. I haven't decided whether I'm terrified or very excited about this, but I think I keep swinging between the two. What I do know so far is that the two modules I've had seminars in so far have been so very useful. One infinitely more so than the other, but I think I am feeling prepared and ready for this semester.

I want to do more and be more active within my field of study, and I think all this business of doing things is spurring me on to do the right things that I should be doing. Having lots of time off is great every now and then, but for me personally, knowing I have hours and hours of not much means that it is a lot easier to put off the things that really need doing, because "I'll have time later". If I have three hours on a Wednesday to do some Dissertation research, then I find myself doing three hours of dissertation research because that's all I have. So this insanely busy attitude seems to have snowballed into PRODUCTIVE ATTITUDE. Which is a nice discovery.

After my Great Weepy Week as it shall henceforth be known, on Mother's advice I have put together a 'make me happy' playlist which I now listen to whenever I'm feeling a bit crap and it makes me feel good again. It's little things like this that can be surprisingly useful in keeping up the positivity.

Although I keep hitting relatively small snags and bumps so far in my future-plan, I seem to be very positive about it. I'm excited at the prospect of finishing my degree and moving on to bigger and better things, but I'm also aware that the time I have left is limited and I want to try and cherish what I do have. I'm still a student, and this is the time when it's acceptable to go out dancing in a bright-red wig and order enough takeaway for two people to hit the delivery charge, just because it's easier than having to get dressed and go out and collect it. I want to look back on these few years and think 'Uni, what a fucking awesome time'. Crikey, if I'm paying this much for it then I might as well get some good memories on top of a degree and all.

I've been sorting out train fares for the Open Days at the School I plan to study at. Which is very exciting. I know it doesn't mean anything, but just the chance to be there fills me with even more excitement than the prospect of an Open Day at my current University did over three years ago. I'm going to be walking the halls.

My biggest dilemma currently is how I'm going to fund my MA. If someone would like to give me £20 000 in the next couple of months then I promise I'll pay you back when I'm making cinematic feature films. If I take out a loan then I have to pay it back on top of rent, bills, travel and food. If I take out an overdraft then I have to pay for it on top of rent, bills, travel and food. If I get a scholarship I'll be really fucking lucky. A fresh undergrad? Yeah not likely. But nevertheless, I shall continue on!

And continue on I shall to bed. Goodnight.

Dancing on the ceiling.

Of which I am not.

Oh gosh, I have been rather miserable over the past couple of days. I'm trying to stay positive and carry on with everything. But right now, I'm piecing together my finances for post-graduation and I'm going to need to work near on 40 hours a week in order to be able to afford to live. So I can work and live and get by and that's fine. The problem is that I intend to be there to study for my Masters.

It looks like I'll be back to the dreaded house share after all.

Every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven.

Well of course that's not true, but I've spent most of the day listening to film soundtracks, including The Artist.

We've finally been hit by the snow here, and it is so beautiful. I went out with my lovely camera and took plenty of pictures of it. My Canon makes everything look even better. I took an awful lot, mainly because I couldn't resist, but here's a select few of my favourites.

 I love these two, possibly my absolute favourites. The lampost is perfectly placed, I was quite lucky.

It was a beautiful few days, and now it's beginning to dissipate a bit. Which isn't so bad. I love the snow, I think there's something truly magical about it. But I don't like it when it disrupts me too much. A few days is lovely, but then life needs to go back to normal, at least that's how it is here. I can't imagine what it must be like to have snow the majority of the year, I'm not sure it would feel so magical.

In other news, I've been getting myself super organised! I have so many wall charts to keep track of and updated, but at least it's an easy way to see what I'm supposed to be doing, where I'm supposed to be doing it, when I'm supposed to be there, and how much it's going to cost me. I'm cracking down hard on my finances. If I do this properly then I will definitely have enough to move into a new flat in HW in August.

I think that whatever happens I'm probably just going to move there anyway, whether I get on to my MA course straightaway or not. I can't stay in Cambridge, and if I move home then I'll lose my job which will mean losing my transfer which will mean a much harder struggle to find a job to support myself whilst I'm living elsewhere. And moving back home feels like a big step backwards. I know it's not, but being where I want to be means opportunities and possibilities and prospects and being a real adult. I'm now beginning to feel like being a student is really just practise for the real world. We had these grand notions of moving out and being all grown up on acceptance to university, but really we're surrounded by so many safety nets and back ups. It's like we're having a go at real life, but once we graduate there won't be an Accommodation Office to seek help from, or Student Loans to rely on, or Student Services to tell us what to do when we're stuck.

And honestly, I find it all very exciting.

I'm trying to be a lot more disciplined with my film work. Because I'm really really not. At all. So I need to buck up and get my act together and be the student that NFTS will want, because I will not be going anywhere else.

I need to finish off this last bit of work experience work, and then I can get my timetable sorted out and really start to structure my days with uni work, dissertation work, film work, society work, masters application, and having a life (Although not necessarily in that order). I'm determined not to become a complete hermit whose only friends are my laptop, desk, library and iCentre. I'm still at uni, I'm still going to be student with all the social aspects as well as getting a kick ass grade! I'm sure of it! (Ask me again in a couple of months and we'll see...)

If you've read my recent posts I'm sure you would see my sheer panic in anticipation of this year. Well, it's now settled down into organised Hatti and I'm feeling inspired and ready to go. I'm still making big changes and little changes which is probably helping tremendously. I've had my hair cut for the first time in a couple of years and I've rearranged my room, amongst other things. Whilst it may seem like procrastination, I'm feeling much more focussed and on target, which is lovely. And I'm looking forward to no snow, because I can start running again which will help.

I think I should be very grateful to my boyfriend who has given me a gentle shove in the right direction, which is probably what's inspired all this focus and motivation. He's really quite marvellous. He took me to see The 39 Steps last night, and it was fantastic, an excellent piece of theatre.


So now I'm off to go and do productive things. Or nap. One of the two I think.

We are the kings and queens of promise.

I wonder if Monday nights are going to become a regular blogging witching hour for me. I'm usually up anyway to listen to boyfriend's radio show. I suppose it's just a good, quiet time to collect thoughts and mull over the past week and the week ahead.

I had a strange dream last night, albeit interrupted at 4am. I can't swim and have a pretty full on fear of water, but I dreamt I was swimming in a crystal clear, blue ocean, and a luxurious pool that looked right over it. I'm not one for decrypting dreams and understanding the deeper meaning behind them. Maybe it means this year I'll learn to swim. Or perhaps will embrace scary things - that part's for sure at least. I'm not sure. I just wanted to put it out there I suppose. I'm panicking about all sorts of things, from work experience to dissertation, from eyebrows to boyfriend. I think anything will do at the moment. As long as I can have a good long panic-session about it.

It's difficult not really having too many people to talk over this nonsensical rambling with at the moment. Which is why, dear blog reader, if you really are out there, you are currently bearing the brunt of this. And I apologise.

I'm most likely going to have to go back over most of this

and re-edit so I don't sound like so much of a lunatic.

On the up-side, my panic is motivating me to do more things! I'm making good progress on my work experience tasks, which have had a major set back with illness and deadlines, but hopefully I'll have it all finished up by tomorrow so they won't think I've abandoned the cause entirely.

For some reason I've also kicked off my Nail Art Blog again. Apparently I do not have enough to do at this moment in time. Here are a couple of my new creations, inspired by and taken from Sharmadean Reid's WAH Nails Book of Nail Art, which is truly fantastic. I give you POW nails, and rainbow leopard print.

I have also dug out some of my old script ideas. Its exciting because they're half-developed and still a bit interesting, so maybe, finally, I might actually do something worthwhile. Lord knows, whatever people understood of my nudey film might at first glance, its not the direction I'm planning on taking my career in. And neither is Harry Potter-themed stop-motion lego animation.

Also, (and this is where it gets really exciting) I've sent booking requests for two open days at the School of my intended Masters degree! Terrifying and so exciting I could squeal all rolled into one. Of course this doesn't mean I'm literally a step closer to getting in, but it could most definitely aid the journey.

I should really sign off now, it is getting rather late and I should do more things tomorrow.

Good night.