How to be a University Student

So you’re about to go off to University and want to make sure you do it right, huh? How many drinks can you have before being called a drunk and how many until you’re safely out of the ‘prude’ zone? Is it finally safe to go around in your Marx paraphernalia because it’s ‘cool’?
University is a whole new experience and whether you think you’re prepared or not, it never hurts to take some advice from an expert (which, for the record, I’m not). So… Here it is!

1. Being a university student requires dedication! You can’t just rock up and expect to be able to get top marks; you need to read! By read I mean pretend to read, then cram a week before the exam by using Wikipedia and other various ‘legit’ sources. Practice leaving essays off until the last moment then writing them in an hour. This is a vital skill.
   In all seriousness though, try to find books that minimize the other reading you might have to do. If you have one book on Marx, and another book on Weber, why not get just the one on ‘The Founding Fathers of Sociology’, then boost the knowledge with the free (your new favorite word) resources of the library?
2. You have to have an appreciation for alcohol. Are you willing to do a midnight run down to the local store to grab a bottle of Vodka for your dorm? If not, don’t worry; you’re sober and have to stay behind to make sure they don’t set the house on fire anyway!
   Know your limit and also know how to maximize the potential of a single bottle. Two words: Jelly Shots.
3. Think keeping a diary is old school? Invest in a phone that has email push functions; you never have to check your emails again, and this can be a life saver when your lecturer decides to cancel their lecture twenty minutes ahead of schedule. If it’s a smartphone then you can also sync your calender with the university’s. Oh, the emails about ‘first come first serve specials’ also suddenly become a lot more relevant to you as well.
4. Get yourself a thermos. This means that you can bring your (still hot) coffee into the lecturer theatre with you without stinking the whole place out. Your friends, and other coffee-deprived individuals will thank you. You could also save some money with this method since some coffee shops will give you a discount if you bring your own thermos. We’re looking at you, Starbucks.
5. If you’re going to a catered university then cooking isn’t important. However, if you aren’t then don’t think you can just live off take-aways (EXPENSIVE!), frozen meals and instant noodles. Think using one day to cook yourself enough portions for the week then zapping them in the microwave. Think tinned ingredients so you don’t have to buy fresh and watch them wither. Think a bag of frozen vegetables to ensure you get enough fiber for the day!

For more information, keep an eye out for a future infograph!

Resolutions

I am currently looking for photos on Flickr with a sufficient enough resolution that they don’t dissipate into a sea of pixels when blown into size A1.
Anyway, the word ‘resolution’ reminded me of the New Years Resolution so I thought I would share mine.

1. Accumulate less than 5 boxes to put in storage at the end of the year.
2. Don’t dunk new phone in water.
3. Don’t kill the tulips.
4. Learn to use a normal can-opener.

They say set resolutions that you can realistically achieve, so I’ve done exactly that. Well, number 4 is a bit tricky, but I have the support of my flatmates! It was set (post-new years) after I broke the one at dad’s house trying to open a tin and proceeded to spend an hour with a hammer and chisel to open the can before dad got home and found out I as trying to consume an entire Golden Syrup Pudding by myself.

Number 1 is quickly diminishing with my wild dreams of acquiring more furniture for the flat and my room. I figured that I might as well; comfort is where the home is!

Number 2 might be a bit difficult as well since the last few phones I’ve had have already been christened. The second-to-last phone was chosen especially for its sealed-in keyboard which meant that less water could get in!

Number 3 oughtn’t be too hard, but I’m doubtful due to their fading once-lustrous green colour.

That’s nearly all the resolutions too hard. Perhaps I ought to change them? Oh, I forgot one: Be Less Negative.

Toasties

I bought a toastie maker today, Wilkinsons £5.45! I walked into the store with the intention of buying a new pillow and walked out with a toastie maker and dish-rack. Perhaps not the most successful shopping trip, but nevertheless productive!

The last time I used a toastie maker was over ten years ago, back then you had to wait ages for the plates to heat up. This time, I plugged it in and was leisurely getting the butter and bread prepped only to put them on and get greeted by the loudest hissing and steaming in the history of toastie makers. It heats up fast! Forget waiting 5 minutes for your toastie, 30 seconds is the new ’3 minutes’.

The toastie maker has proven very popular with the flatmates as is evidenced by the installment of ‘toastie Fridays’. Ironic seeing as we had a better toastie maker last term (George Forman), but didn’t touch it once. The difference seems to be in the ‘sealed-edges’ technology that my little budget one has.

The history of the toastie maker is easily available on Wikipedia and proves to be quite interesting- if you’re into cultural differences ect.

Today (the first Toastie Friday) we made a sweet one, and a savory one the recipes of which I have posted below.

Sweet

1. Have your special toastie bread and taking a slice, butter one face, then flip and put a layer of peanut butter on the other side.
2. Get another slice and butter then flip and put a layer of nutella on the other side.
3. NOTE: when you’re buttering the bread, be sure to make it reach the corners or it won’t seal properly.
4. Put the sandwich butter-side facing the pre-heated plates of the toastie maker and seal until ready.

Savory

1. Butter one side of your toastie bread, then flip and put some onion relish or whatever savory dip you have on the other.
2. With the other slice of bread, put a layer of butter on a side.
3. Grate some cheese onto the relish then seal it in by putting the other side on top and putting it into the toastie maker.

I think I’m going to enjoy my toasties.

Healthy Shortbread

Oat bran is amazing. It expands in your stomach giving the you feeling of being full, if somebody could incorporate this into their recipe that would prevent finishing the whole box of biscuits, then they would be a genius. Hmm… Challenge accepted!

Healthy Shortbread

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup of caster sugar
• 1/4 oat bran
• 3/4 plain flour
• 120g butter

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Mix the caster sugar, oat bran and flour together.
3. Cut the butter into squares then ‘crumble’ it into the flour (Rub between your fingers until it resembles crumbs).
4. Tip the mixture out onto the baking tray and press into a large shape, 1-2cm in height.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Allow to cool and enjoy.

York

The best thing about living in a place where everything is so close together (such as England) is that travel is convenient, and you’ll never get bored since everything is so exciting. It doesn’t hurt to have friends scattered around the country either (read: free lodging if you return the favor!).

The last place I visited was York whose most famous landmark is the Minster, a Gothic cathedral. From the outside, it looks quite compact.

However, it is definitely bigger on the inside (Oh, Dr. Who reference right there). One of the reasons why is because modern buildings don’t have such high ceilings and therefore we’re accustomed to expecting smaller spaces than is actually available. The elongating pillars don’t hurt either.

Because we went while the Christmas market was on, amusing ice sculptures such as the Harry Potter one below were also on display.All around the city is evidence of the old Roman habitation, a statue dedicated to Constantine, the first Christian emperor watches languidly over his territory. Also, as you exit the train station, a wonderfully preserved section of the old Roman wall greets you.And, of course it wouldn’t be England if it didn’t have a river running through it.

Christmas at the Supermarket

I live in England and when Christmas hits here, everybody goes wild. Even supermarkets.

One example is ‘Mince Pie Ice Creams’, sold at all the main supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose) for under £5, it’s an interesting combination of what tastes like brandy butter ice cream mixed in with mince and crumbled shortbread.
We got the Tesco one and although it was a little icy, if you allow it to melt a little bit then stir it together; the iciness isn’t an issue any more. Mmm.

Obituary in the Comics Section

I like updating my ‘About’ page. It makes me happy and for some reason I feel as if people actually read that page (they don’t).
Anyway, doing the clean-up made me hesitant about keeping the emphasis on comics seeing as I don’t really do them anymore. As a result I’ve decided to move the information into a post about them. An obituary actually, as from now on they will no longer be posted on a regular basis.

History.

The comics came bubbling up over a move when all the clean cardboard boxes looked like they needed a little something extra to brighten them up. I grabbed the closest Sharpie pen and started drawing, after that nothing could stop me decorating each and every box.

Style
I don’t claim to use my own unique style of artwork but just adapt whatever’s most suitable for each comic.The University Experience

‘The University Experience’ is a series that was originally created for the College Magazine, however, it wasn’t published. I decided to continue sharing them with the world, one at a time.