SURVIVING THE SUMMER: Having been officially declared unemployable by the people of Dublin, I have started to vegetate., writes Seamus Conboy

Last week, I picked up an unfortunate shoulder injury that is keeping me from hurling, and is preventing me from getting a job labouring. What a pity. Without a job all I seem to do is sit at home, sleeping, reading and watching television. This, however, has been a blessing in disguise. I have been able to return to the lost garden of my youth. Cartoons.

My return to the world of children's television came about as a fluke, a combination of luck and a hangover. I woke up one afternoon feeling awful, fit for nothing but the couch. I turned on the TV and had a choice between Big Brother, Jenny Jones, Wimbledon and Nickelodeon. Maria Sharapova wasn't playing on this particular day, so I chose Nick.

I was delighted to find that the good people at Nickelodeon have finally started to learn from the Holy Bible of Animation, The Simpsons. The key to a good cartoon is to make it appeal to people of all ages, and in Fairly Odd Parents and Jimmy Neutron - Boy Genius they have created two gems.

I was immediately hooked, and I've watched them religiously every day since. Although I have no frame of reference, I will assume that they are more addictive than heroin. Hopefully next September I'll be able to arrange my college schedule with an hour free for cartoons every afternoon. As far as I can remember, Trinners has a cartoon society, and even if it doesn't, I'm sure the Metaphysical Society will be the same deal.

Back in reality, that brief interlude between television programmes, life has been very uneventful. Standing on the sidelines watching others training is the highlight of an average day. The one ray of sunshine that has brightened up the past fortnight for me has been the visit of the Scottish ladies' shinty team. They came with their funny-shaped sticks and lovely accents to play against Na Fianna's camogie team. I'm not sure who won. It doesn't really matter.

While they may not have the fame or glamour of the Brazilian beach volleyball team or Maria Sharapova, there are some lovely girls among the shinty elite. Of course, the visit resulted in the usual heartbreak of a holiday romance, doomed to end almost as abruptly as it begins when someone goes home. Naturally, I got over it quite quickly.

Last weekend, half the world shipped off to Witnness, or Oxegen, or whatever it's called now. The other half sat at home watching cartoons. Without a job I couldn't afford a ticket. It would be nice if I had Slane to look forward to, but if I wanted to spend €88.50 to watch an old lady dance around. . . I don't think I need to finish that sentence. To be honest I probably wouldn't go to see Madonna for free!

One thing I do have to look forward to this summer is my trip on the Asgard II. On the morning of Tuesday, August 17th, I will fly out to Cuxhaven, Germany, leaving all my worries, financial and otherwise, behind me. Once there, the next fortnight will be spent sailing, homeward bound, reeking havoc on any poor little fishing village we happen to weigh anchor in along the way.

Last summer I sailed on the Asgard, and it was an incredible experience. Sleepless nights spent retching over the side of the ship into the wild Atlantic, days spent basking in glorious sunshine, the sea stretched out in every direction as far as the eye can see, and I learned a little bit about sailing too. Very little compares.

The big aprés-L.C. holiday this year is to Greece. I, however, will not be joining my (ex)-classmates, due to lack of funds and the fact that it overlaps with my Asgard trip. I am a little envious of all their talk of drunkenness and debauchery, but I'm sure I'll figure out some way to compensate. A little fun in the sun would be great, but, as my mother constantly reminds me, "money doesn't grow on trees". Some day I might venture into the world of genetic modification just to prove her wrong, but until then I'll just have to work for a living.

Somehow, it's halfway through the summer already. September doesn't seem very far away at all. At the moment it's as if life is passing me by, and I feel very little motivation to get involved, to go out there and do something, to get a job. It's all just a big fast-moving blur of sound and colour, a flickering image on a screen in front of me - a cartoon!

Seamus Conboy has just completed his Leaving Certificate at Scoil Caitriona, Mobhi Road, Dublin