Shell-shocked

Well, I made the 230 round-trip to Birmingham and back last night... whah? Where am I... Sorry, keep dozing off. That was one hell of a journey (both ways). It took 3 hours to get there thanks to the damn roadworks on the A404 leading to the M40. I was stuck for 45 minutes - crikey!

So, I get to the UCE dead on 6, I race to the loo, run to the classroom, find it in use by other people, search the corridor for signs of life, slink back to the admin office, find the note that says go to room D226, and spend the next 5 minutes batting my head against doors and windows (like a blue-bottle) until I get there.

... stagger in, still in my shirt, tie, glasses, shaved head, hands-free kit strapped to my ear, bag on shoulder. I was greeted by Nicola but no one else. They all had their heads down, reading (I'd discover their portfolios). No one smiled, no one spoke... Er, is this the same class?

So, I sat down, looked around... no one looks back. I literally have to stare. Is everyone as knackered as I am? (Maybe they all read my Pattercake post and think I'm an egomaniac!) Anyhoo, it was kind of a functional night, I got 62% on my portfolio with nice words said about my press release and 3,000 word crit re-work (though I let myself down on the Fanny and Alexander pieces - d'oh! Yes, I really could have put in more effort - but honestly, I didn't realise we'd be marked like real degree students... I'd better start taking this shit seriously). I can't remember much of the evaluation, because Nicola took it back, but it's kind of good. Though, back to my old course days at Reading college and I'm desperate to know where in this league of 18 I came (how much did my F & A pieces let me down?)

62% is good (it's a 2:1) but I should be looking to 1st standard now. I'm pissed that I didn't put in more effort. Gah!

Well, we got down to a little bit of workshopping, had a presentation by Nicola about how she feels workshops should work - including (I thought) a little dig at my usual re-write of someone elses work. (Check my Pattercake post). We chatted a little, discussed the pros and cons of the piece she showed us and then all promptly got up at 8pm and left for home... at least, I did. Others went to the pub. Pah! I can't stay there for an extra hour for a drink, I'd never get home. Downside was I wouldn't catch up with them all, and now the group (down from 24 to 18 already) will be factionalised even further - some people will defer to September, others will go onto the other course.

So, I'm already losing buddies - especially the guy who most stood out as being a kindred spirit, and giving some guidance; he'd deferred damn him, but then he was going to do the other course anyway. What's a guy to do?

So, back in the car, left Birmingham at 8:20, and home by 9:50. How'sat? An hour and a half! And I didn't have to fight with the winds that battered me on the way up.

I need sleep!