Fraser on Tour!: Not so Happy New Year, Resolutions and Departure once more

Happy New Year everyone! I know this is my 2nd post of 2014 but seeing as I didn't really update you on what I've been doing during these early days of the year I thought I'd stick to the theme.

For me, New Years Eve itself was nothing special, a bit of a non-event really.In order to avoid the severe bankrupting experience of NYE in Manchester, my friends Olly, Kunal and I decided to go and have a night out in Hazel Grove like I did last year, a much cheaper alternative. Unfortunately, upon arrival Kunal realised he had forgotten to bring his ID with him which critically limited the places we could enter as a group and the bars and pubs we entered were so empty that we just decided to end the night early and head back to Olly's house for wine at midnight and some chit-chat. Although it wasn't the crazy New Years that one would like to have at my young age, it was still nice to spend it with friends and it turned out that watching Jules Holland's New Year's show (Hootenanny) and Glastonbury highlights was a great way to reminisce on the music highlights of 2013 including performances on Jules Holland's show from my favourites HAIM, The Lumineers, John Newman and Laura Mvula. I have spent a lot of time with Olly over these Christmas holidays which has been great as before recently it was probably over a year since I last saw him, it's been a long time since secondary school.

So, a new year, 2014, has begun so what are my resolutions I hear you ask? It's not something I really do and if I do I don't tend to stick to them but here is a short list of resolutions I've come up with:

1. Be more Creative

With my blog writing on here, for Pyramid Online and Kiss From The World as well as my Youtube Channel and Songwriting/Music I've got plenty of mediums in which I can express my creative side and I aim to encourage that and see where it takes me.

2. Make The Most Of My Gap Year

I feel that if I continue to put myself out there and take the opportunities that come my way then I can have an amazing time over the rest of my gap year.

3. Be More Confident

Perhaps linked with the above point but confidence is something I still have trouble finding sometimes and in particular situations. Often I am very paranoid and self-conscious which can hold me back at times as I think too much about what others think. So yea, less of that basically and a bit more self-belief is a target.

4. Stay in shape

On a gap year it is very easy to indulge in an unhealthy lifestyle so to counter this, I plan to do regular daily exercise and to make sure I eat correctly when possible. It's a very general point to make but I definitely found that when I've been at swim training in recent weeks that I've been slightly off my usual pace and I've been a bit more tired out after training as well. Guess my time in Mallorca did take its toll on me a bit.

5. Keep up the good work

Although there are aspects of me that I would like to improve, there are still plenty of things that I'm happy with in my life. More of the same please

That's all I can think of right now but I think that's quite a comprehensive list.

As I often like to discuss, the title of this post is a bit bizarre. It may be a new year, a new start, a clean slate however there hasn't been too much to be cheerful about. Everyone associated with Aquinas has been grieving after the death of student Adam Pickup who didn't return home from a night out in Manchester a few days before New Years Eve. I must admit that I barely knew Adam having only met him on a few occasions but it is always shocking when something so tragic happens to someone you know. I knew Adam's brother Ben quite well through Aquinas and my thoughts are with him and the family as well as many others. One of the great things about being an Aquinas student/Ex-Aquinas student is that we are all one big family and the support shown for Adam and his family in these sad times is very admirable. Candles have been lit and reefs have been laid outside college and on the first day of term tomorrow, everyone is coming to college dressed in Christmas Jumpers in honour of Adam.

Tribute to Adam Pickup outside college. R.I.P Adam

There's been further glum news in the wider world with the deaths of actor James Avery (Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and footballer Eusebio as well as the severe skiing accident that Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher sustained who is now in a coma. I'm sure 2014 can only get better from here onwards.

This is my final night at home before I embark on my next adventure on my gap year-two months in Brussels. Much of this week has been spent making preparations for going away (although even now I still feel slightly underprepared) and seeing some of my friends for the last time before I head off once again. Thursday night was a reunion with the cast of the college production of Miss Saigon that I was involved in during my final year which was a great night of drinking at Revs de Cuba and Taps in Manchester to catch up. I've never felt such a strong bond between a cast of any show I've ever been in before as this one and I hope we can do it again sometime when perhaps more of us are available.

Today, my family and I went on a walk in Macclesfield to the summit of Teggs Nose and back down again for my Dad's birthday which ended with a much more enjoyable pub lunch. Besides the pub grub, I have also indulged in a few last bits of home cuisine including Fish & Chips and Toffee cheesecake, washed down with the left over cider from Christmas and New Year. If I find any of those things in Brussels then I will count myself lucky.