In which Demi acts as glue

I hatehatehate not being able to fix my friends' troubles.

I am advice girl. Always have been. Even if it's something silly, like giving advice to a nervous friend about his big football match yesterday. Did I know anything about football? Not really. But I feel the need to try and help, to rationalise, in some way and hopefully present the problem in a more positive light, so they feel like it can actually be tackled.

And one of my best friends, A., plays the same role for me. She's the girl I have turned to for years when I have a problem, because she seems to work on an even higher rational level than I do. And seeing her distraught is one of the most horrible things, because I feel incapable of giving her advice that she has not yet thought of herself, if nothing else. So after the lastest drama today, I did the next best thing: showed up at her door with my entire bag of nail varnishes, a selection of girly DVDs and some fizzy strawberry laces to cheer her up.

Similarly, I dashed home last weekend to try and help out my darling Elf in a rather traumatic time. Again I was scraping the barrel for sage words of wisdom that I normally dish out, so had to pray that my presence would be enough. It seemed to do the trick, alongside watching Tangled and playing on her Playstation like children. It also meant that I could surprise my younger sister by being home for her birthday, which was lovely :)

I have an inherent need to try and help people. It sometimes manifests itself into bossiness, and sometimes passivity. But my brother has always described me as the glue that holds our family together. And lately I've found myself trying to apply my restoration properties to other people. I just hope it helps.

Other recent events include hosting the first magazine social of the year, which turned out better than expected! Yaaaaaaaaay! And plans for Monday's 7-legged bar crawl, which was my absolute favourite night out last year. We went as 'Onesie Night Stand' and had an absolute blast.

Yes, that is me going over...

Whoopsies :)

Pretty much sums up the whole night.

This year's theme is the 7 Deadly Sins, and I can see it being even crazier than last year... I can't wait! xo.

In which Demi is playing catch-up

How on earth has it been this long since I've blogged? Evidence, as if any more was needed, that Third Year is by far the most intensive year so far, and I've only had one week of classes!

Soooooo, as a general catch-up/way to clear my bogged down brain, here's what's been going on.

The University Magazine Thing: Crazy. Absolutely crazy. Attempting to stay one step of everybody, since that's basically my job, and feel like I'm about to trip over in my haste. The first issue got out with only minor hitches though, which I think is a massive success considering we've not done this before as a new team. I'm getting on swimmingly with my co-manager, which is a huge relief, and we have our first meeting with eager PR recruits on Monday, yaaaaaaay!

The University Life Thing: We have damp in our house. Which is far from ideal at the start of the year, going into what is sure to be another horribly intense winter, given the climate after the short, freakish heatwave that the UK enjoyed a week ago. It is now about 15 degrees and grey and miserable and rainy. Perfect. House structural problems aside, I'm loving being back with my Uni friends after the long summer, and enjoying the freedom of not living with my parents again. I love them dearly, but it's rather annoying to be constantly asked what you're doing and where you're going. Now I am free to come and go as I please, and return at ridiculous hours of the morning without worrying about inciting the wrath of my early-bird mother who sleeps ridiculously lightly.

The University Work Thing: I'm coping (for now) because I have been reading ahead in one of my modules, which has bought me some time to get back into the swing of things. My modules are all interesting, and I made a fool of myself in my Arthurian Lit class by saying that Excalibur was the sword in the stone. Wahoo!

The Friends Thing: Love our new house dynamic, with our new housemate. Love having the rest of the girls 3 doors down. Love catch-up nights out at our favourite bar, and crazy birthday celebrations involving a 2ft long penis-shaped cake (oh dear). Hate being helpless with two of my best friends' long-term boyf trauma.

Aaaaaaaaaaand that's about all for now folks. Currently reading 'The Line of Beauty' for my Post-Millenial lit class, various tales of Arthur and investigating language use by journalists to create inconspicious bias. Super interesting! Listening to old school All American Rejects, and looking forward to watching Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor with the girls tomorrow in our hungover state after the house party tonight.

The student lifestyle is pretty sweet :) xo.