That was a spin on the song title "I Won't Be Home For Christmas" by Blink182.
But yes, now the time has come to inform you all that I indeed have left University for the duration of three weeks so that I can be home for Christmas. So let me tell you about Thursday.
It wasn't particularly exciting to be honest. But I got up at the very reasonable time of about 1230 and breakfasted, and then I watched Cowboys and Aliens, which is to say quite a good film. It's not one of the best, and it did seem very silly at points, but it killed a few hours, and it's been a while since I've seen an Old West film, so that was welcome. What I did like was the fact that they had a plot surrounding the cowboys and their town that could have easily been its own film, but then aliens arrived and fucked it all up. That was definitely a good way to do it.
In any case, I soon went over to Alannah's house so that I could see her before I left for home. David Winter (my boss) happened to be there as well, so it was good to have a laugh with him before he had to shoot off.
I'm suddenly realising exactly how short this blog post is going to be...
In any case, what was supposed to happen that night was the big Demon TV movie night social, which everyone excluding most people in Demon TV went to. As I was going home, I couldn't go to this movie night. So I stayed chatting to Lannah until about half 19, at which point Hannah and Ben arrived and I realised that I only had half an hour to get back to my flat, eat and pack before my Dad arrived. Ben and I then demonstrated the perfect man hug and I think I got just about the weirdest hug ever off Hannah. I don't mean weird as in awkward, I mean weird as in she's taller than me. I don't think I've ever hugged a girl who's taller than me before. It works perfectly with Lannah because she's the same height as me (and yeah, that's something I've noticed about Leicester, everyone seems really tall. They're either my height or taller, and I don't know why), but with Hannah my chin was in her shoulder. In any case, I then gave Lannah a massive hug and left them to get prepared for their night.
I then popped back to my flat (trying to avoid using the word "home" so I don't cause confusion) and set everything out, had a quick curry and then my Dad arrived in the Z4.
I then packed up and we went home.
Then I noticed some odd things about home. Everything seemed a lot smaller. The sink is lower down, the people are tiny. In fact, that is something I've noticed about all my old friends when I see them again. Because of the DMU illusion, every single one of my old friends looks smaller, and that counts doubly for Lauren who just looked minuscule when I saw her. Crazhy timesh.
I did get a nice surprise today (as in Friday, which is now yesterday) though. I went into town to shout at the Royal Mail for giving me an ambiguous note telling me that I had to pay some money, and so I did so online, but they didn't tell me what they were trying to deliver, nor even include my full name on the card. It might even be for me. In any case, on my way home I bumped into Courtney of all people. If you don't remember Courtney, she was one of my favourite kids last year when I used to teach them. Christ things have changed. Apparently they haven't at Brooke though, and in fact everything is quite the same apparently. She's getting on well though, if you're at all interested.
It only leaves me to say what a joy the first three months of Uni have been. I've already briefly talked about how much I love Demon TV and how they've made my life a little bit interesting. But, like the ways of old, let's spare a moment to commemorate those people who matter to me most at De Montfort University. (Spoiler, they're all from Demon TV)
Ben
What a dude. "This guy" is his one of his favourite phrases, along with "hero". Sometimes they're in conjunction with each other, as if to say, "I'm a hero", which of course he thinks he is. He's utterly convinced that he is a separate person from "Drunk Ben" who is his alter-ego, which only ever comes out when he's on the old glass and a half, and then some. As Station Manager, he has made sure (almost pointlessly) that I am punctual, always on task and up to date with everything that I do. He gave me a deadline to do the Christmas video, and I set out to do it. One day before deadline I said, "Ben, it won't be up by tomorrow," but a little word of encouragement later and there it was, on time and ready for the world to see. He's a pretty standard guy, who gets a little touchy feely over me when he's drunk, and he also completely confides in me.
James Langley
This guy is on my course with me, and also happens to be the Head of Pre-Production. We have more arguments in a day than there are hours, but at the end of each argument (usually the end is signalled by someone telling us to stop arguing) we have a laugh and let everyone know that there isn't any bad bloody between us. He too completely confides everything in me, and also presses me for information if I even look a little bit down, which is honourable but can be a little bit annoying. But nah, he's cool. He and I have become a team to behold. Wherever there's a Demon TV shoot, we're not far behind to say, "Look, you're doing it all wrong." We are the brick and mortar of Demon TV, and without us there wouldn't be a Demon TV right now.
Stan the Man, the Man with a Plan
Actually, I don't think I've ever seen Stan plan anything. He kind of just does stuff. Annoyingly, Stan doesn't confide in me, which is annoying because recently he's been a bit of a grumble bum. But everyone knows what happens to grumble bums. They get a ride on the tickle train. Stan's a pretty stellar guy though. If you need something done, then Stan the Man will get it done.
Hannah
Sadly I haven't really had much of a chance to bond with Hannah. She's there often enough, but I haven't yet really had the chance to hang out with her without anyone else there. But hey, that's something to work on isn't it? She's a pretty cool lady, and is also our new Social Secretary. Hang on, I've noticed a pattern emerging. James and I become good friends with Stan and Ben. James and I become execs. We meet Alannah and soon the exec team is one unit of really good friends. Hannah is also part of this group, and we're always going out together and having a great time. Hannah becomes Social Sec. Hmm... I'm sure it's coincidence that the best people for each job respectively became the Heads.
David Winter
He's my boss, the one who tells us to step it up a notch when we're not doing well. I do keep reminding him that James and I are only newbies, and that our team is actually very new indeed. We've all been thrown into the deep end a little bit, because Demon TV created at least one good show last year, and we've been tasked with creating fucking loads of great shows this year. We've got some in the pipeline, and they're going well. But yeah, he's got my back like a butt-crack, this guy. I like him, but I don't think I've warmed very well to him as an individual, but that might be because he's my boss and most of the time with him it's business, because he's got a lot to worry about. But I'm sure as soon as we as a station get our necks out of the woods, common ground will find itself quicker than a cheetah on speed.
Alannah
What a joy it has been to get to know Alannah. I think she's the one girl in history who I've spilled everything to and hasn't turned around and said, "What? Oh uh... awkward." Nope, she's stuck with me from day one. As people we've had our ups and downs, along with the "Demon TV love explosion" that Ben fondly recalls every now and then. She's not afraid of me because I like her, which is just grand. She looked after me when I nearly died from that whatever drink that Hannah gave me, and even showed me how a woman changes bedsheets. And you know what else? She's Irish. More often than not she'll say something that doesn't mean anything to me, and this surprises her for some reason, but nonetheless we always get a good laugh out of it. I get a particular sense of pride whenever she says something to someone and she turns to me and says, "I've already talked to you about this, Pete." She know that I'm there for her, and I know that she's there for me. That's pretty fine and dandy.
So, that's the team if I haven't talked about them before.
Roll on the holidays. It's time to the faces that I've missed so much after the last three months. Or however long it's been since I last saw you. You know who you are.
Pete out.
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