All my options come down to one simple decision - to live in London or not.
I say simple, it's easy to write it down but far harder to choose. And it's not really considering other facets like can I even afford to live there, the answer to that being depending on where I lived. In the north of the city, may be not and in the south probably.
The main concern is do I want to. I don't know. I don't know if I'll be able to cope there. As things stand if I go to London I'll be going for student accommodation as it's the easiest way to get a place for a decent price. The original idea of getting a place with my brother has kinda fallen through mainly for affordability reasons. That doesn't change much in that I can still see him regularly. But what it does mean is that I'd probably be living with people I don't know and I don't know how I'll handle that as it's not a position I've been in before. This is probably my biggest worry.
And it's something I won't know the answer to unless I try. So living there, going to university there will be a risk and while going to uni where I went before is the safe option. I tend to prefer the safe option.
At 31 it's probably time I changed that, time I took a risk, did something new. But the uncertainty is making me hesitant.
Just go for it, remember to lay down very clear rules about what is and what is not okay before rooming with other people and try to room with scientists. Seriously, scientists make the best roommates because they'll be gone most of the time.
Your 20s is the best time to live with people you don't know. 30s, I don't know. Figure out the risks, rewards, exit strategies, and gut feelings, and go from there.
I suppose that's also a thing. I was eighteen the first time I lived with someone I didn't know. And that was sharing a room. And that sharing the room was also on the first day that we met because that's how dorm assignments go.
However, I know it may sound counterintuitive, but it's really advantageous to not be living at home when you're at school. Family never seems to really understand on a basic level that college is a thing that happens every day, that sometimes you really need to not be tempted to go out to dinner or a movie or a concert or what have you.
It's why, even though my current university is closer to my house than either my elementary school or high school were, I'm not living at home. Because even now, my parents will call me up and ask me to do something fun and I'll be like, "But I'm working" and they'll be all "Again? But you were working yesterday!"
This isn't to say my parents are slackers or anything, but they're very far removed from that early career point. They're at the point in their careers where they are good enough at their jobs that they can take a day off here and there and still have the work done by the time it needs to be done and have enough vacation days saved up to do it.
Long story short, it's much better to be rooming with people who are in the same boat as you, figuratively speaking. The environment is just more helpful for keeping you on track.
The age is a concern for me, especially when it's likely that I'll be around a lot people under the age of 20 who are living away for home for the first time and having gone through that craziness I don't really need to live through it again.
I'm not worried about my family not understanding the work I'd be going through especially my mother who is finishing up her final year of a crime and investigation degree course right now.
I'd say that taking one course is much, much different than taking an array of them. Even when working full time (well... lab work) while taking one course, I've found that I have way more free time than I ever did in college. Like, to the extent where I can go out drinking and not feel like I'm falling way behind.
I suppose I can't really comment on the age thing, but I find it helpful to be around people in exactly the same situation regardless of age. Maybe that's just me though.
You could be right, it's something I have no experience of myself. I've never been the most sociable person which has certainly been a hindrance with previous times at university but I've also never really attempted university in the usual way, leaving home to the halls and essentially jumping in at the deep end to meet people and make friends.
I hate that I'm awkward in social situations but I lack courage and/or the self confidence to do much about it. And maybe the whole age thing is just another excuse my mind is making for not trying new social things. It's not like I'm hopeless at making friends, I even had a couple the last time I was at uni in 2007 and I could have made more had I not restricted myself by staying at home and relying on a public transport system whose hours of operation were so not conductive to late nights on the town - basically it was a choice of going home early or paying £30 to £40 on a taxi ride (the equivalent train ticket was around £4 at the time).
I want to do something new, break out of old habits and routines. Be brave. But I'm also bloody scared of doing so.
If you like random sex, booze, partying, and socialising, then Uni is perfect for you!
Otherwise you're going to hate it and struggle to adapt there.
(At least that was my experience with it... -_-)
Edit: (not trying to put you off here. Its just I'm kind of a loner and had a room on campus and didn't really like it. I wanted to spend my time in my room relaxing with a DVD or a game or something, and the constant fire alarms, partying and drunken idiocy left a foul taste in my mouth (once I eventually GOT a room. Before I had to stay in a travel lodge due to a room shortage. If it had free WiFi and a kitchen it would have been perfect, but alas, we have to make sacrifices...))
It's only scary until you actually do it. Believe me, it was scary moving six hundred miles north to live with a complete stranger.
However, if you actually do it and dive in headfirst, you'll probably surprise yourself. Just don't think too much about it.
EDIT: I also think it depends on the school. If you go somewhere where people are really serious about their work, you might find it more enjoyable at an older age than a party school.
Wish I could play Poker Night 2, but I'm Steam-deprived.
Anyway, yeah, "regret at not doing something" lasts the rest of your life (and your brain is quite adept at reminding you of it repeatedly), so consider that versus any short-term potential pain you might encounter.
Also, I've somehow managed to keep my Metroid Prime Trilogy case (the only Steelbook I own) in pristine shape, and now I'll probably be even more careful with it in the future.
Also, I've somehow managed to keep my Metroid Prime Trilogy case (the only Steelbook I own) in pristine shape, and now I'll probably be even more careful with it in the future.
When I bought mine from eBay, it was already dented.
Believe me, I would have been careful with it enough to not cause damage to it.
EDIT: Change of subject: I've been watching a Let's Play of Bioshock, so that I can have at least some excuse to mark it off my Backloggery. It occurs to me while watching it that I would get really bored of having to do the hacking minigame so often, which is perhaps one reason why I don't play it.
EDIT: Change of subject: I've been watching a Let's Play of Bioshock, so that I can have at least some excuse to mark it off my Backloggery. It occurs to me while watching it that I would get really bored of having to do the hacking minigame so often, which is perhaps one reason why I don't play it.
It's not a long game. You can fire through it in a couple days. As for the hacking game, yeah I got bored of it, but I grew up owning Loopz... A Nintendo game which was just THAT. At least it gave me a little nostalgic value.
When I bought mine from eBay, it was already dented.
Believe me, I would have been careful with it enough to not cause damage to it.
EDIT: Change of subject: I've been watching a Let's Play of Bioshock, so that I can have at least some excuse to mark it off my Backloggery. It occurs to me while watching it that I would get really bored of having to do the hacking minigame so often, which is perhaps one reason why I don't play it.
If I remember right you can get a skill that basically lets you fly through it.
When I bought mine from eBay, it was already dented.
Believe me, I would have been careful with it enough to not cause damage to it.
EDIT: Change of subject: I've been watching a Let's Play of Bioshock, so that I can have at least some excuse to mark it off my Backloggery. It occurs to me while watching it that I would get really bored of having to do the hacking minigame so often, which is perhaps one reason why I don't play it.
Well, at least you guys got a steelbook. We just got a stupid cardboard sleeve over here.
OK, I'm having real problems with sitting down and focusing on actually editing together my next video. I have to FORCE myself to do it, and even then I constantly let myself get distracted and sidetracked. I've barely gotten through a script page this evening and I've had hours. I just can't stay focused on the damn thing.
Now 99% sure that I'm to going to London to study. So that's all bar the actual accepting of the offer. Gonna start the application for a room in one of the halls tomorrow.
OK, I'm having real problems with sitting down and focusing on actually editing together my next video. I have to FORCE myself to do it, and even then I constantly let myself get distracted and sidetracked. I've barely gotten through a script page this evening and I've had hours. I just can't stay focused on the damn thing.
Any suggestions?
Take an actual break. Listen to music. Watch that movie you've been meaning to watch. Play DAT game you've been meaning to DAT play.
Late to the party, but about university... Government pays for everything for me (Doctoral program). I live alone in a flat, there's none of this drunkenness or partying in the complex I live in (yeah some late night friday stuff but that's it). Honestly you won't even have to deal with most of that since most people 10 years younger than you won't want to hang with you.
Take an actual break. Listen to music. Watch that movie you've been meaning to watch. Play DAT game you've been meaning to DAT play.
Trouble is, that's all I seem to be doing. I'll do a tiny bit of editing, then I'll take a break and not want to go back to editing, and even when I do it doesn't take long for me to get distracted again.
I really need something to help me stay focused on this. I told myself I'd have it finished yesterday, and that's just plain not happened. I probably won't even get it finished today at this rate. Gah!
Trouble is, that's all I seem to be doing. I'll do a tiny bit of editing, then I'll take a break and not want to go back to editing, and even when I do it doesn't take long for me to get distracted again.
I really need something to help me stay focused on this. I told myself I'd have it finished yesterday, and that's just plain not happened. I probably won't even get it finished today at this rate. Gah!
Thinking up art projects, coming up with a composition, spontaneously sketching it, I do that in a snap. That's the creative stuff, I love it. The results are imperfect, but what the heck.
Yet actually finishing the artwork? Finding photo reference? Crafting a painting together with full color studies and other kinds of research? Mounting the paper, mixing the paint? That's the time consuming, rather non creative part of the craft, so I never finish anything.
Maybe it's similar with what you're doing. You love to think up all those videos, and your mind is always at work for the next half a dozen, but the editing is just boring stuff. But us artists have to get through those parts somehow, else we're doomed.
Thinking up art projects, coming up with a composition, spontaneously sketching it, I do that in a snap. That's the creative stuff, I love it. The results are imperfect, but what the heck.
Yet actually finishing the artwork? Finding photo reference? Crafting a painting together with full color studies and other kinds of research? Mounting the paper, mixing the paint? That's the time consuming, rather non creative part of the craft, so I never finish anything.
Maybe it's similar with what you're doing. You love to think up all those videos, and your mind is always at work for the next half a dozen, but the editing is just boring stuff. But us artists have to get through those parts somehow, else we're doomed.
This, this, a thousand times this.
I really am just like that. Loads of ideas floating around and intros for so many reviews written down, but nothing beyond that. I'm just hopeless.
Nice that you consider me a fellow artist though
EDIT: FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!
The video I'm using has a corrupted section RIGHT where I need to take a clip from! Shit shitititty shit shit SHIT. Now I gotta redownload it from somewhere else. Just for those 10 sodding seconds!
FUCK.
EDIT2: A-fucking-GAIN? Oh, you're just fucking taking the piss now! Completely different video, completely different file format and EXACTLY THE SAME THING HAPPENED. My anger knows no bounds.
Comments
GRUMPY FACE BABY NO LIKE YOU
I say simple, it's easy to write it down but far harder to choose. And it's not really considering other facets like can I even afford to live there, the answer to that being depending on where I lived. In the north of the city, may be not and in the south probably.
The main concern is do I want to. I don't know. I don't know if I'll be able to cope there. As things stand if I go to London I'll be going for student accommodation as it's the easiest way to get a place for a decent price. The original idea of getting a place with my brother has kinda fallen through mainly for affordability reasons. That doesn't change much in that I can still see him regularly. But what it does mean is that I'd probably be living with people I don't know and I don't know how I'll handle that as it's not a position I've been in before. This is probably my biggest worry.
And it's something I won't know the answer to unless I try. So living there, going to university there will be a risk and while going to uni where I went before is the safe option. I tend to prefer the safe option.
At 31 it's probably time I changed that, time I took a risk, did something new. But the uncertainty is making me hesitant.
However, I know it may sound counterintuitive, but it's really advantageous to not be living at home when you're at school. Family never seems to really understand on a basic level that college is a thing that happens every day, that sometimes you really need to not be tempted to go out to dinner or a movie or a concert or what have you.
It's why, even though my current university is closer to my house than either my elementary school or high school were, I'm not living at home. Because even now, my parents will call me up and ask me to do something fun and I'll be like, "But I'm working" and they'll be all "Again? But you were working yesterday!"
This isn't to say my parents are slackers or anything, but they're very far removed from that early career point. They're at the point in their careers where they are good enough at their jobs that they can take a day off here and there and still have the work done by the time it needs to be done and have enough vacation days saved up to do it.
Long story short, it's much better to be rooming with people who are in the same boat as you, figuratively speaking. The environment is just more helpful for keeping you on track.
I'm not worried about my family not understanding the work I'd be going through especially my mother who is finishing up her final year of a crime and investigation degree course right now.
I suppose I can't really comment on the age thing, but I find it helpful to be around people in exactly the same situation regardless of age. Maybe that's just me though.
I hate that I'm awkward in social situations but I lack courage and/or the self confidence to do much about it. And maybe the whole age thing is just another excuse my mind is making for not trying new social things. It's not like I'm hopeless at making friends, I even had a couple the last time I was at uni in 2007 and I could have made more had I not restricted myself by staying at home and relying on a public transport system whose hours of operation were so not conductive to late nights on the town - basically it was a choice of going home early or paying £30 to £40 on a taxi ride (the equivalent train ticket was around £4 at the time).
I want to do something new, break out of old habits and routines. Be brave. But I'm also bloody scared of doing so.
Otherwise you're going to hate it and struggle to adapt there.
(At least that was my experience with it... -_-)
Edit: (not trying to put you off here. Its just I'm kind of a loner and had a room on campus and didn't really like it. I wanted to spend my time in my room relaxing with a DVD or a game or something, and the constant fire alarms, partying and drunken idiocy left a foul taste in my mouth (once I eventually GOT a room. Before I had to stay in a travel lodge due to a room shortage. If it had free WiFi and a kitchen it would have been perfect, but alas, we have to make sacrifices...))
However, if you actually do it and dive in headfirst, you'll probably surprise yourself. Just don't think too much about it.
EDIT: I also think it depends on the school. If you go somewhere where people are really serious about their work, you might find it more enjoyable at an older age than a party school.
This discussion has been helpful, articulating fears. I guess I just need other people telling me what I kinda already know.
(Two Hours Later)
I forgot how badly I suck at poker.
Anyway, yeah, "regret at not doing something" lasts the rest of your life (and your brain is quite adept at reminding you of it repeatedly), so consider that versus any short-term potential pain you might encounter.
They get dinged and then they look bad.
Fixed.
Case in point (no pun intended): Metroid Prime Trilogy.
It's okay. I'll take your copy if you really REALLY hate it. :I
Also, yay....working on scenes out of sequence means I get more done faster. WHY DIDN'T I DO IT BEFORE. (Test font shown)
Also, I've somehow managed to keep my Metroid Prime Trilogy case (the only Steelbook I own) in pristine shape, and now I'll probably be even more careful with it in the future.
Believe me, I would have been careful with it enough to not cause damage to it.
EDIT: Change of subject: I've been watching a Let's Play of Bioshock, so that I can have at least some excuse to mark it off my Backloggery. It occurs to me while watching it that I would get really bored of having to do the hacking minigame so often, which is perhaps one reason why I don't play it.
It's not a long game. You can fire through it in a couple days. As for the hacking game, yeah I got bored of it, but I grew up owning Loopz... A Nintendo game which was just THAT. At least it gave me a little nostalgic value.
If I remember right you can get a skill that basically lets you fly through it.
I'm pondering buying a big nice block of sculpey to get some of the perspectives for my paintings right...
Well, at least you guys got a steelbook. We just got a stupid cardboard sleeve over here.
Any suggestions?
Take an actual break. Listen to music. Watch that movie you've been meaning to watch. Play DAT game you've been meaning to DAT play.
Oh, sorry. For me it's not. I go out a lot. With people my age, of course. I'm not a flat hermit.
THIS DAMN MAP SCREEN IS TAKING FOREVER
I really need something to help me stay focused on this. I told myself I'd have it finished yesterday, and that's just plain not happened. I probably won't even get it finished today at this rate. Gah!
Thinking up art projects, coming up with a composition, spontaneously sketching it, I do that in a snap. That's the creative stuff, I love it. The results are imperfect, but what the heck.
Yet actually finishing the artwork? Finding photo reference? Crafting a painting together with full color studies and other kinds of research? Mounting the paper, mixing the paint? That's the time consuming, rather non creative part of the craft, so I never finish anything.
Maybe it's similar with what you're doing. You love to think up all those videos, and your mind is always at work for the next half a dozen, but the editing is just boring stuff. But us artists have to get through those parts somehow, else we're doomed.
This bitch took six hours from start sketch to inking. SO MUCH WORK.
<sigh> Stage Map Done.
But have you ever considered brushing up on your linear perspective skills?
I really am just like that. Loads of ideas floating around and intros for so many reviews written down, but nothing beyond that. I'm just hopeless.
Nice that you consider me a fellow artist though
EDIT: FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!
The video I'm using has a corrupted section RIGHT where I need to take a clip from! Shit shitititty shit shit SHIT. Now I gotta redownload it from somewhere else. Just for those 10 sodding seconds!
FUCK.
EDIT2: A-fucking-GAIN? Oh, you're just fucking taking the piss now! Completely different video, completely different file format and EXACTLY THE SAME THING HAPPENED. My anger knows no bounds.