This is my blog, where I generally talk about occurrences and issues in my life and random thoughts as they happen.

This blog is hosted by A Small Orange and is powered by Wordpress. The theme this blog currently uses was designed and coded by me, and is valid xHTML.

My full name is Nicola Lesley Ball, and I’m a 20 yr old female with (currently)brown (naturally blonde) hair, standing at the slightly annoying height of 5ft10″. I have I have a great sense of humour, and I am a fairly intelligent person. I am very analytical, which is both a blessing and a curse at times. I also enjoy getting on my soapbox on some issues because I am a very opinionated person.
I currently live with my sister and parents in Southampton, which is located in the south of England. In general, it is a pretty lovely place to live, because I live right on the edge of the New Forest national park, and I’m only 30 minutes drive away from the best beaches in England.

I have three pets:
- Poppy, a female ‘cocker spaniel collie cross’ who turns 10 this year, whom I love to bits. She is mad.. crazy.. ridiculously beautiful but has chronic halitosis.
- Two 9 month old female guinea pigs. Fudge is rather plump (we call her Portly Pig ), is of a light cream colour with tan patches… and Toffee with cream, tan and dark brown patches.. who I nicknamed ‘Inquisipig’ because she loves to explore and sniff things. They’re both adorable… but evil at the same time. They make a big mess but they’re entertaining to watch. They also eat too much.

I currently work part time in my Dad’s office in Dibden, mostly updating their website, while I look for a full time job, hopefully within the area of web or graphic design. I enjoy both web and graphic design a lot, and can see myself learning more about the industry and getting a job which interests me… and that I enjoy. I work harder in things that I enjoy and that mentally stimulate me. I love a challenge, and I love learning new things.
I am not afraid to admit that I dropped out of University at Bournemouth in 2006. I do so because I realised I was not interested in that area of computing, the course was poorly organised, teachers went on strike and left… and I never really got on with my housemates because our interests and personalities were too diverse. I don’t see it as being a decision I regret, because I feel that if you’re doing something you don’t enjoy and you’re forcing it, you’re not being true to yourself.
I may still go back to University one day but I don’t feel it’s essential for me to do so just yet. I’d like solid direction and an idea of what I want to do before I make any decisions.

In my free time I enjoy going out with my friends to the cinema, and perhaps grabbing a pizza before hand to catch up since they’re not ‘home’ much due to being at University. I love movies, and I have a large collection of DVD’s which I must stop adding to.
My favourite bands are Snow Patrol, Maroon 5 and U2, but I have a rather wide taste in music from rock to pop to classical.

One of my hobbies involves spending a lot of time online giving support for the popular forum services InvisionFree and Zetaboards. I have been with the services for just over two years now and I find it to be a rewarding and educating hobby. I completed the default theme used on Zetaboards just over a year ago, including the layout for the Administration control panel… which I worked on with the awesome Seth Kinast.
I also try to take as much photography as I can. My main interest in the field is nature, which suits me because of where I live.

Visual examples of my hobbies can be found on my My Stuff page.