There's a rat in my kitchen what am I gonna do?

Being from a small town in the middle of nowhere has had its fair share of issues for me over the years, issues such as having to travel miles to get to the nearest half decent shop and of course any chance of a late night McDonald's is long forgotten when you consider the effort it would take to get one. These things are just a couple of reasons why I love Southampton, although its not a big city for a little almost country bumpkin like myself Southampton offers a far more interesting life style than the one I have back at my parents house. However this blog is not a dedication to Southampton it is actually the opposite, as living in a city has its down sides, one of which is the huge problem with rodents. I hate, hate rodents. I have an not so uncommon phobia of the little buggers, which is why it freaks me out to have to be sharing my house with the pests. For the last year it has been a constant battle with the useless landlord and estate agency to deal with this issue, and needless to say the issue is far from resolved. After finding a huge dead beast in the middle of my kitchen floor on return from a visit to my beloved little town, I decided enough was enough, and called the pest control myself. At a lovely little cost of £50 , money which could of brought me a nice pair of shoes, I felt I could no longer face my fear every time i wanna go in the kitchen for a cup of coffee. So mouse man came round put some poison down and informed me that he would be back the following week for a re-visit. I was very happy with this and saw him out the door relieved that the problem will be fixed. Anyway a week later mouse man returned, and informed me that its not just mice that we have it is in fact rats, which is what I had told my landlord and he just laughed in my face and reassured me that it was only mice. Which is crazy cause mice are still gross, but rats! Rats are on a whole other level of gross. Anyway mouse man asked if there was a man in the house, I was a bit taken aback by this question, seeing my confusion he said "No, no not anything like that, wasn't trying anything, just i'm going to put a trap down and it needs to be checked everyday, so." I felt it was a tad bit insulting that he thought that just because I am female I would be incapable of disposing of the little bread stealing creature, which of cause is exactly the case but he did not know this. Anyway he put some bait down and a trap and will be back next week. So he went off I was happy that maybe just maybe I will be free of this problem, however later that day a friend of mine was over and I heard a snap. Yes I thought the trap has worked. So I sent my friend into the kitchen to investigate, and what he opened the kitchen door to was terrifying! A rat was indeed in the trap, not dead though,no the huge disgusting waste of space was running round my kitchen with the trap on its head. Obviously this was a dilemma, do we let it eventually die or do we do something about it. By we I obviously mean my friend, like hell I was going into that kitchen. So I found a box and a broom and ushered my poor friend into the kitchen, assuring him i was right there holding the door open. When trying to sweep the rat into the box , the trap snapped open and off the pest ran. Damn he got away. Resetting the trap and hoping that it worked the next time was all I could do. After a few drinks we returned to the house later that night to find that the trap has disappeared, literally no where to be seen. Hopefully it got stuck on his head again and he ran back through the hole where he came from got stuck and this acted as a warning to the other rodents to back off from the kitchen. Although i'm not so sure, so to be safe i'm staying out the kitchen until a male can investigate and make sure the coast is clear for me. Maybe mouse man was right, somethings are men's work and should be left for them to deal with. Kylie xxx

Tighten the Purse Strings

The gut wrenching feeling you get when you decide to sort out your finances, you just know something bad is waiting for you on your online banking. As you type in your details and hit the 'view statement' button, a sense of dread fills over you. I personally cross my fingers and close my eyes when doing so in some desperate attempt to some how not be faced with what is ultimately a total financial disaster. For once, just once I would like Barclays to inform me that I am in fact not a poor arse student, with a shopping addiction and a few too many nights out under my belt. I would love it to display the spending of a money conscious, wealthy young person with the amenities to go on a major shopping spree if she so desires. However I know this is never going to happen. I think I should be banned from town as the temptation to shop is to over powering for me. Although I would like to think that it is down to my friends bad influence that has me spending, but the truth is I know deep down that we both encourage each other with our addictions. I do not however wish to develop an eating disorder due to my lack of funds to spend on food, so I have devised a very clever plan, do the food shop before all my bursary money goes on new clothes. I will have to come to terms with the fact I will be a broke arse student for another year, choosing to ignore my dads words of 'Please not more shoes Kylie' I shall continue to close my eyes and cross my fingers on the rare occasion that I check my balance, and maybe one day I won't be depressed with amount that I am shown. If anyone knows a good shopaholics anonymous group I could join that also may be a solution.

80's baby..

Nov 1989, the year the Berlin wall comes down,Nintendo released its popular handheld video game player the 'Game Boy', The Simpsons premier and of course the year that I came into the world. Yes i am technically a child of the 80's well i like to think so anyway.

I grew up however in the 90's where the fashion was as unmemorable and quite frankly as dull as dish water and the music industry was pumping out artificial generic pop music. Artificially put together cleverly marketed boy and girl 'bands'(using that word loosely as I'm sure none of the spice girls truly possess an amazing vocal talent). Even though as a child I did have a slight obsession with Boyzone, which included pj's, bedspreads, stationary and various other memorabilia.

The thing that confuses me is what was the transitional point for music, fashion and the culture in general. How did we go from the mix match subcultures in the 80's to well the 90's?

I first started considering this one evening when discussing music with a housemate, he concluded from this discussion I should of grown up in the 80's and that I'm from the wrong decade. My response to him was "Who wouldn't want to have grown up in the 80's?" I grew up listening to my parents music(as they were teens in the 80's)and hearing stories of concerts and fashions. I grew up listening to my parents play early Madonna, Blondie, UB40 and Micheal Jackson. I still listened to Steps, S-club 7 and A1 (remember them?) of course I did, however now I find myself listening to 80's music again. I'll spend hours you-tubing Blondie, The smiths and The cure. They still hold so much relevance in today's youth culture, there is a sudden trend for all things 80's. And I for one am glad, and very proud to call myself an 80's baby.

New York I Love You!

I have been in love a couple of times, and I love that tingly feeling you get when you see that person, the way you breathe in every inch of them, the way you feel totally at ease with that person. You can just relax and be yourself, and even if the love isn't felt back you still hold a special place in your heart for them.

This is how I feel about New York. I knew i would adore it from the stories people have told me, books I've read, films seen and endless episodes of 'Sex And The City' I have watched. However I wasn't aware of how hard I would fall for it. I have fallen hook line and sinker for this big city. Full of life, New York has a buzz that you can not describe unless you have experienced it for yourself.

Standing in the middle of times square on a busy Thursday night, looking up at the blinding lights,huge billboards, and enjoying the hustle and bustle of Christmas shoppers rushing by whilst taxis honk their horns in frustration. I have never experienced anything quite like it, yet i have never felt so at home.

When looking out at the sun setting behind the skyscrapers, I breathed in the nights air and made a promise to myself and the city that I will return, maybe not this year, maybe not even the next, but I will return and until that day I will hold New York City closely to my heart.

Are you dazed and confused...

As part of one of my core units for second year we have been asked to pitch a potential magazine to a publishing house... this project immediately excited me. The chance to put ideas together, my ideas something that will open peoples minds, broaden their interests and Draw people in with witty but thought provoking articles.

The first thing me and my group had to do was figure our target market, it became immediately clear that the teen market was seriously lacking in what I would class as good reading material. Therefore it became abundantly obvious that this was the market we should tackle.

Yes, of course you get the standard gender pacific girly magazines and sport magazines for the lads, however is this really enough? I know as a teen I would read the likes of bliss, it being filled to the brim with tips on how to attract boys and all of the stuff I undoubtedly loved during my teen years,However are these interests just a product of society telling me what it is I should like and be concerned with, distracting me from the issues I should of been interested in with all of their fancy type, bright colours and freebies.

This got us thinking why isn't there any alternative magazines out there for teenagers, something less mainstream and less blah,something less gender defining, something appealing to the teenagers out there who care about gigs, unique fashion,comedy,bands,films,plays,books....
People who care about the environment they are growing up into, people who want to make a difference to the world we live. People who want to be influential in the future and get their voices heard. So we are putting together a pitch aimed at these people,boys who are sick of nuts, match of the day and kerrang. And for the girls who just want something other than to learn about how to dress to get boys attention. Im hoping our magazine goes down a treat... will keep you informed... let me know what your feelings are?

Kylie
xxx

Can't blame it on the weather man...

The thought of summer is what drives us British through the months of horrific winter weather, endless months of trying to keep our toes and fingers from falling off.

When summer eventually rolls around we get very excited and dig out the summer shorts and flip flops with such an air of optimism, yet year after year we are bitterly disappointed. We average around a week of actually what could be described as summer weather, and everything in between is disastrous. Being inside watching the rain blast against my window for yet another day got me contemplating why it is that there always seems to be a mad rush for all things summer come spring time? For example T.V adverts blast us with images of the perfect nuclear family enjoying a bbq on a beautiful summer day, bathing in the heat on their new garden furniture sets. It plants this idea in our heads that summer must be coming ,and we must rush down to B&Q and get a new bbq and patio set, so we too can enjoy this bliss just like the family on the T.V seem to be. This of course as we all know from previous experience is totally unnecessary, as by the time we have mowed the lawn, re-planted the flowers that winter has so carefully destroyed and brought a new summer dress, the sun will have disappeared from its five minute appearance and been replaced by big fat rain clouds.

So if we know this is going to happen why do we subject ourselves to this false hope of sunny days filled picnics and long walks? There is one good thing about the summer in this country being so awful it allows us to appreciate the sunshine when it does come out, as we all pull out the summer clothes and head into it hoping to gain a little bit of colour. Sure enough within the blink of an eye it is time to wrap up warm again, pull on layer upon layer and head into the icy cold British winter, with the thoughts of summer pulling us through.

The Polygon

Finally the big day had arrived for me and my seven flat mates to make the big venture into our house. Our very own (well rented) town house, finally somewhere other than the small cramped accommodation that the university halls provided.

As our little family has been through so much for this house, so many problems, people dropping out, money worries etc.it finally felt as though we had gotten back up on our feet and had got a beautiful home to match our beautiful family.

Other than some disappointments with the general cleanliness of the property, the house went beyond what I remember it to be.

Its strange now, although we all moaned about halls, the size of the rooms, the state of our out-dated kitchen and many problems with the appliances. We all had a sense of loss as we said goodbye to our Deanry Halls, what had become our little piece of home for the last several months, will shortly become someone else’s piece of home.

We have had some great memories in that place, became different people to the people we went in there as, made many friendships and created our family from a group of total strangers.

And as we moved our stuff across to The Polygon House, I thought to myself , yes it is sad that we are no longer officially freshers and yes we no longer have the security that halls provides. I cant help but have the feeling of excitement buzzing through my veins.

I have a feeling this will be an amazing next couple of years in this house. We shall make loads of new memories, friends and throw some damn good parties.
So cheers to Deanry , but Hello The Polygon!!

Kylie xXx