"They call it Blue Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad"

What a miserable 24 hours I've just had. Although this blog is primarily to record my O.U. experiences, the events of yesterday have shook me somewhat so my usual bounciness is a tad muted today. In the morning we got a letter out of the blue saying there was some money we unexpectedly owed that had to be paid NOW. The credit card company passed the matter to a debt collection agency without telling us we actually owed the money (we've been good on our bills until now, for some strange reason). I've promised Alison I won't go into details but worrying about it has stressed me out a lot in the last day or so. We are sorting this out right now amidst our already threadbare lives at the moment.

I made a bit of a boo-boo the other day when I said my tutorial was last night. As someone rightly pointed out on OUSA 103, it's tonight (I got the date wrong). Didn't matter as I was able to get some extra work in on 'Seeing' last night. Initially I found this quite tough as it seemed to be something 'practical' that didn't need notes to take. That I found a bit bewildering as I wondered how I was going to learn these 'seeing' skills whilst at the same time not being able to get to a gallery. But gradually sense seems to be coming through after reading on a bit more. I do need, though, to get into London soon to see a picture. Hopefully, tomorrow may be the day!

Now, this next bit is an open 'letter' to someone who made a comment after my last entry (it's not directed at everyone!):

To 'Anonymous'

Have you read the blog's description? This a personal blog to record the ups & downs of doing this course. It is NOT some kind of 'guide' on how to do it, nor some deliberate attempt to put off newbies who have yet to do something like this, IT IS A PERSONAL BLOG ON MY FEELINGS, FRUSTRATIONS & TRIUMPHS ON DOING THE COURSE. I appreciate I do come off as a tad anxious in these journals but do I get the studying & the work done? Yes. But rather than 'whinging all the time to Alison' and others about my experiences, I do it here. And I find it cathartic. Thank you very much.

I do NOT appreciate being called 'immature' simply because I don't bottle up my feelings about this giant step I am taking. Others who have never taken on any arts-based course in their life may also be feeling the same way I do but can't or are too afraid to express any anxieties about it. Would you like to call them immature as well? Go on, I dare you. By the way you may be totally surprised to find out that I AM actually enjoying it, believe it or not.

Thanks for the practical advice but as for the totally unnecessarily personal bits you added to the comments, I suggest that you learn to divulge your advice in a manner that seeks to be more useful and less insulting to mine (& Alison's) intelligence.

Regards

Sean