aoife.trench.warfare

For the past two weeks, I have been touring Ireland with a group of other huns playing Irish music. We perform concerts in 14 venues over 14 days, and at the time of writing, there are 4 more left before we *sniff* finish up. I type this in a state of perpetual physical and mental exhaustion, sitting on a noisy bus, with the sun gleaming on the laptop screen as I contemplate what the tour life has taught me thus far. One major life lesson I have garnered from the whole experience is to appreciate what you have before it is cruelly snatched away from you. I am, of course, referring to a good night's sleep, which, by the way, I rob from myself by staying up drinking and generally acting the blaggard with the rest of the gang until the wee hours of the morning. 6am bedtimes are routine , as is checking out at the ungodly hour of 10am, and hitting the road again. The sleep deprivation becomes so much that you'd be forgiven the next morning for pouring mayonnaise into your tae ...

It has crossed my mind of late that the pursuit of further study would be most appealing. God knows what I would study - English literature, psychology, education, journalism - or where, even, but once I'm learning and bettering myself as a person, that's all that matters, right? Mm. Well, such a thought couldn't enter my mind without the coupled concept of the 'student lifestyle' , a way of life my parents bemoan when my brother and sister return from college on the weekends leaving a collection of used laundry and dirty ware in their wake. It is real, and it is scary. Where o where o where are my lecture notes? I honestly do not know if I could do the whole college-house thing. The idea of filthy cups and plates piling up in the sink, cans and bottles littering the gaff after a night out, damp towels covering every square inch of the floor of the shared bathroom... The mind boggles. My self-diagnosed OCD wouldn't cope, whereas the bubble of ignorance ...