so, since august

so, i went to bestival, where i experienced mud, rain, and too many people in a two-man tent with my friend olivia:

and i met charlie, who's pretty neat:

and up until now have spent an unbelievable amount of money travelling to and from manchester to dance and have fun:

so i've decided to up sticks and move back up north, especially since getting a job in london is harder than it sounds, and much harder when you don't live there and can't bother people with your CV in person.
i plan on spending the next few months finding out whether there's something i actually want to do career-wise, or maybe trying instead to write, or start a small business of my own. don't they say that everyone has a book in them? and i can sew, so i've decided i should try harder to be independent of office work or corporations, or generally relying on a manager for my self-worth. i've got no problem with a shop job to earn me some money, but i'm finding it harder to believe the accepted wisdom that you should aspire to a 'success' defined by faceless business. a lot of the people i knew at uni are now in offices, throwing away the individuality and creativity which a university degree nurtures as a measure of merit. career complacency is my enemy.

in the meantime i'll be listening to this band a lot. i missed them in leeds last year because of work, and really hope i get to see them again soon. one of the things i'm most excited about moving to manchester is that i get to see live music within walking distance again. a two-day oxford-london commute to see interpol one night and suede the next, while totally worth it, was completely exhausting. deaf institute is 20 minutes walk from charlie's flat - can't wait.