The Idiocy of the Collective.

So lets say you have been living under a sizeable rock for the  last 18-24 years. For some unknown reason you picked the beginning of last week to emerge from your mossy cocoon and, after getting to grips with the iPhone and shake in the bag chicken, you decide to check on the newsworthy items of the week. Imagine that last weeks headlines are the only perception of society you have. You would seriously think that today's so called 'young adults' were the biggest pack of fucking idiots to walk the face of the earth.
I am referring of course to Neknomination. The online drinking game where you down a pint of beer alcoholic beverage then nominate 2 of your friends to do likewise. It started off pretty innocently with people (from personal experience mainly men) downing a pint of beer/larger/ale in a pub. Obviously not the wisest of pastimes but relatively harmless. Then the morons got involved. The contents of the pints first became a higher percentage, then mixes of various spirits and finally began to incorporate various non alcoholic substances including but not limited to catfood, live fish and urine. Yes. I shit you not. Someone drank his own piss. On top of the concoctions the scenarios have also become more and more extreme in a bid to outdo the nominator. Over the last week I saw videos of people downing their concoctions while behind the wheel of a moving car, on a golf course, in the gym, standing on a car and more a more men doing them in silk thongs. Guys, please put your testicles away. Ain't nobody got time for that.
Of course anybody with half a brain could tell that this was a dangerous and needed to be discussed, of course the media weren't going to give a shit until they had something juicy to report. Unfortunately they didn't have to wait long. At time of writing there have been 4 recorded deaths thanks to the 'internet phenomenon'.
Now trust me, I've heard it all. 'it's fun', 'it's just a bit of craic', 'it's no big deal'. What people don't seem to realise is the fun aspect ended the second someone died. I've also come to notice that anyone who is against Neknomination tends to be branded as 'dry' or, my personal favourite 'the anti-bants', but you know if not risking alcohol poisoning/getting killed doing a ridiculous stunt makes me dry I think I'm OK with that.
I would truly love to know, out of the people who have completed a nomination, if I were to run up to them on the street hand them a pint of miscellaneous contents and ask them to down it how fast would the majority of them tell me to fuck off? I would hope (and am pretty confident it would be) the vast vast majority. So what made them do it in the first place? The collective stupidity. If everyone is doing something it has to be OK right? Nothing can go awry, right? It goes right back to '....but everyone is doing it' and noone is allowed to think for themselves if everyone is doing it.
I guess this is my rant. I'm not saying don't take part in Neknomination, I'm saying don't be a moron in general. It's not that hard. If you feel the need to do something that the internet is telling you to do then take part in something worthwhile. In the face of the Neknomination controversy things like Raknomination (random act of kindness) have taken off. Granted someone shouldn't need Facebook to tell them to not be an asshole, but unfortunately some people do. Again the collective are idiots, but if being idiots makes people do something nice for someone then it's not all bad.
In the meantime, I'm going to take my current perception of humanity and crawl under the newly vacated rock. Call me when the world improves.

-Claire

Happy Birthday To.......Me?

Good evening human.
So this post is,  shock horror, a tad overdue. Oh well. #YOLO right? (I completely understand if you never want to read another word I write ever again)
So October 28th was a very very special day. It was the anniversary of the birth of, lets face it, an unforgettable figure. A person who has touched the lives of many and whose importance can never be overstated. So if you're reading Mr. Gates. Happy Birthday!!
Oh, and I may have turned 21.

So this is it I officially have 1 year left before I'm 'past it'. Before it's time to be a real life grown up. This prospect terrifies me, however if the first few days of twenty-somethinghood is anything to go by it's going to be a year filled with funtimes.
The weekend consisted of family, eating fry ups (thankfully I have yet to develop an intolerance), family, tea, presents, family, tea, large dinner and family in that order. I ate so much I thought I would never stand up again. This premonition is thus far proving exceedingly accurate.
The following day consisted of yet more eating and the spending of an obscene amount of legal tender. Like...truly obscene. However out of it I gained an awesome new phone (It's nice to be able to plug out my phone and not have to sprint the length of the house so it can be plugged back in before it dies), clothes, make-up and a spectacular case of spenders guilt. This escapade was followed by a meal with some lovely people. The less said about this he better, though all I will mention is 1. We were in the particular establishment for 3 hours and 2. We were almost overcharged by €100. I bet you can guess what the next step in our evening was. Isn't it true that every 21 year old frequents the local public house for a few beverages before sauntering home? Well yes, unless they get sidetracked by the midnight screening of Thor 2 and end up seeing that instead. I fail at being an adult. (In other news, excellent film)

I also managed to come away with a decent haul which included:

• A sword of Gryffindor letter opener
• An array of awesome mugs (special nods to Anchorman and GOT)
• Books
• Stationery
• Socks (of the fuzzy variety!)
• Breaking Bad poster (Aaron Paul. Babe)
• An alpaca related t-shirt
• Doctor Who stamps (I squealed)
• A way of minimising spenders guilt in the form of vouchers

All in all I had one awesome time and thoroughly appreciate everything everyone did for me. Here's to 365 days of remaining youth. In the meantime there are many essays I should be writing. Expect the next post to not exactly be full of the joys of life. I know you're looking forward to it!

- Claire

Growing Up is Overrated

Ever get bitch slapped by reality? Like I mean really properly walloped? This week I was left black and blue and most definitely ended up with a (thankfully brief) loathing of life.
Now please don't get me wrong, I always knew that being an adult was nothing short of well....not fun, but suddenly the prospect of actually becoming an adult isn't all that far off.
So what brought about this realisation of impending doom....sorry, impending adulthood? 2 spine chilling words, 'Recruitment Fair'. Up until this point the words recruitment fair were synonymous with free stationary and nothing more. This year however I actually went with a purpose, to find a career that would allow me to be able to eat at least semi-regularly for the next 40 odd years. An hour later I staggered back into the warm (however fleeting it may be) embrace of student life with a bag full of various complementary items and some serious food for thought.
So what did I learn this week? It's bullet point time!

• Growing up, as I may have previously stated, is not a nice thing.
• Having to face the harsh reality of actually getting a job is positively terrifying.
• If you play your cards right when talking to recruiters you can walk away with a lot of stuff you don't actually need but are happy to have anyway.
• Apparently Leaving Cert points are still important.
• Similarly UCAS points are also important and converting the former into the latter is a pain in the neck.
• A lot of businesses want to send you to Taiwan. 
• Signing up to websites like Grad Ireland  or Prospects UK  is well worth your time.
• Even though all this is scary as hell it's pretty damn exciting at the same time.

Let the applications begin!

- Claire