Dan Q
A post on my blog, now lost, was published in August or September 1999, and mentioned that I’d been playing a lot of Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. This image, taken on the day I purchased the game (although never used in the blog post) was shared here in hindsight, on 25 May 2019.
A blog post, now lost, was published in August or September 1999, and discussed (among other things) the 11 August 1999 solar eclipse which I’d been lucky enough to witness from one of the few places on the path of totality that wasn’t plagued by heavy cloud on the day: Paris. This image, taken on that day (although never used in the blog post) was shared here in hindsight, on 25 May 2019.
Went to church with Alecia and Richard. There’s a weird experience for me. Tasted the new flavour of Juicefuls from Brewsters while I was in town – Strawberry flavour. They’re just as addictive as all the other flavours. Though I had intended to use the remainder of the day to finish tidying my room (the end of a mammoth task) and doing homework which is due later this week, I was instead distracted and played on Civilization II, watched TV, and other such mind-expanding activities. Went to bed in the wee small hours, after updating the Castle with my latest Åvatar Diary accounts.
Got up late, and had lunch with my mum before returning to my dad’s house. Made a chicken stir-fry for tea (one of my few culinary skills) while my dad repaired his bike… I wasn’t actually being considerate of others needs: I was just hungry. Watched “Gattaca” on video in the evening, followed by Channel 5’s late film, “The Demolitionist”. Neither was particually good.
Went into college for Pure Maths, and for the first time in 1999, arrived on time (as opposed to one or more hours early)! Went out for tea to McDonalds with my dad and sisters in the evening. Went to my mum’s house, and spent five hours (almost breaking my personal record of 5 hours 27 minutes) on the phone to Fay, and, after failing to go to sleep afterwards, sat up and watched the sunrise before dropping off. If anyone asks about why I was on the phone to her at that time of night, I’ll tell them that I’m running a phone sex line as a way of making extra income. No – that won’t work… It was my call… Hmm… Let me think of an explanation, then…
Maths in the morning. How is it that the first lesson in a new module always makes so much more sense than any other one? Went home for lunch in my three-hour break, returning for Psychology. Watched a video on “Eyewitness Testimony”. We’ve seen the same one three times now. Alecia took the second half of the lesson to preach to us – usally the kind of activity for Monday’s Psychology lessons – and persuaded Richard and me to come with her to church on Sunday. Promised I’d go, and I think I’ve persuaded Rik too, as well (even though he let her down on the Carol Service). “You can’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it,” I told him, with my usual democratic tact.
Couldn’t sleep again tonight – same as last night – watched TV until about 4:30am…
Psychology in the morning was low-tone, and everybody seems to be under excess stress. Bunked off General Studies, because the recently-done exam paper hasn’t been marked anyway, and it’ll be cancelled as usual… Everything seems to be this week. Instead, took off into town with Fay, browsed the shops, put in my application for a Switch card at the bank, and ate hot potatoes for lunch. Returned to college at 2:00pm for my Mechanics exam, arriving just on time by taking a short cut through the building site. The exam wasn’t too bad.
Didn’t go in to college. Virtually all my lessons have been cancelled anyway. Instead – spend the morning catching up on sleep lost over the last few weeks, and took the afternoon as a chance to deal with my backlog of e-mail in my InBox…
These photos, originally published in the Avatar Diary during January 1999, were recovered and republished here on 25 May 2019 on a post dated the day they were taken, 9 January 1999 – the day after my 18th birthday party. They were originally accompanied by a blog post mocking everybody who’d participated in (drunken) silliness the night before. In particular, I laid-into Gary and Faye, who ended up sharing a bed on the night, but in actuality I was hiding the fact that I was heartbroken: at the time, I had an intense infatuation with Faye which wouldn’t completely abate until a year or so later.
