LSMedia or Liverpool student media at liverpoolstudentmedia.com is a brand new website launched by the University of Liverpool's students to promote and support talented Liverpool student's creative written, visual or radio content.

(My ratings of what's been cool and gruel in life this week the last couple of weeks.)

Yay is...

1) HAPPY NEW YEAR. New Year's. In one way, this is kind of a sad time as it symbols the festive season and our lives returning to some kind of normality. On the other hand though, it brings a fresh start to us all, as we hope it will overthrow the sins of the previous year.I haven't had much of a variety of New Year's Eves in my lifetime as up until last year I always spent it at a relative's house, but for this one Jake and I went to our friend Riley's house where his parents were throwing a kick-ass party. My friends and I got nice n' drunk, sang Frankie T's The Ballad of Me And My Friends at midnight and definitely disturbed his neighbours. A thoroughly awesome night. Next year I have been invited to Kate's house where Mr. Birchall has kindly offered me a lamb-steak dinner. Woo :D

2) SLEDGING. On Wednesday 6th Jan, Jake and I went sledging on Taylor Park hill with some of my cousins and their respective other halves. Haven't been down a snowy hill on a thin peice of plastic since I was like seven, so it was very cool. Especially exhilerating it was when Jake and I spun around 180 degrees and went down backwards, practially running over a few kids. A lot. It's also a lot of fun trying to skid to a halt before you go headfirst into the ditch at the bottom. It has happened. One downside was that fingerless gloves were a bit of a wardrobe blip on my part. Luckily I still have my fingers - just.

A little south of yay is...

5) REVISION. Yep. It's here. Exam season is upon us. That means less XBox, msn (HA - so the story goes), less posting things to this site, less partying, less....well, anything you guys are into. Of course, nobody else probably makes such drastic changes when exams are looming and I am probably on my own, or one of very few, where actual studying is concerned, ha. But I am fond of the procrastination that this season brings. On Sunday 10th Jan I took to sorting through everything in the drawers under my bed in the hope to concentrate my mind before revision. Don't know how that logic worked....three hours later I had managed to drag myself away from the distractions of all the junk I've been hoarding and carry on tidying....was this about revising? Erm, yeah, just do some. Good luck :)

4) SNOW. Maybe this is me being the biggest grump in the world...hell, it probably is but...all sledging and snowman-making aside...once you've done all that stuff a few times all you're left with is some grey mush and icy patches that are just waiting to humiliate you. Buses and trains have been awkward...and last week I felt pretty much stranded seeing as most people's cars were out of action and my parents wouldn't let me walk anywhere alone in case I got hit by a sliding vehicle. (Yeah, I know...) Our band had to postpone practice like a trillion times because the weather has been gradually worsening and none of us feel like trailing to Liverpool when it's minus ten outside. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm thinking bring on the spring :)

3) LOSING B.A.G'S TO UNIVERSITY...AGAIN. Now that Christmas is over, our B.A.G's (that's Boyfriends And Girlfriends) are returning or have returned to their far-away universities (okay, this won't apply to those crazy, free singletons out there, but at least some of you will know what I'm sayin'). It's back to friends and studying only for a while. Thank God for msn and webcams and texting. Do you hate the distance or like the space? Your thoughts, please.

2) PARENTAL POLITICS. Even when the tide goes down, it's only a matter of time before it comes up again, and therefore one of my sort-of New Year's resolutions this year is to always be prepared to this. As soon as my defences become lowered - as soon as I start to relax at home and think that maybe, just MAYBE I'll be able to grow up with minimum fuss something happens to remind me that this is just a mere pipe dream, and that I'm going to have to fight my way to freedom and independence. I know how I want to live my life - what I'll do, where I'll live etc. but where my parents are concerned these equate to selfishness and lack of care. Narrow/close-mindedness and guilt tripping are just some of the things that come to mind here. I could write an entire book on this stuff - my dad especially - but this year I need to focus on freeing myself from these chokeholds.

1) R.I.P. REVEREND. On the 29th December, Avenged Sevenfold drummer The Reverend passed away. This definitely makes the bottom of my scale this week as it is as of yet unfathomable as to how A7X will even attempt to find another drummer as good as him. My friends and I along with, undoubtedly, thousands of other fans, were hoping to see them on their UK tour this year as well as waiting intently for their new album to arrive. We're completely gutted as he isn't gonna be an easy one to replace. May he rest happily.