Bad Blogger and Novice NaNoWriMo...

Right. Let's face it. I'm not a good blogger.

On the rare occasion that I remember to update, the blog itself is simply an apology for the lack of updates, followed by some rambling excuse, and then some kind of poorly told recount of my boring life since the last update.

So why do I bother?

This is something I ask myself quite frequently and, as yet, I haven't found the answer. But something keeps drawing me in (when I remember, that is), like a druggie with amnesia.

I like to think that this is some kind of diary that I can look back on when I'm older. Since I lack the discipline and sensitivity to pour my guts out to a notebook each night, I like to substitute it with a poorly-kept blog that, if I do look back on, I will have to piece together and rely on memory to fill in the gaps- more like finding a fossil on a beach.

So what boring snippets of my life can I tell you about today?

Well, it is now nearing the end of my first half term of sixth form, and much to my surprise, I am not dreading the return to school on Monday. For the past few weeks I have been looking on the brightside of my education, with astonishing results. It means that, even though I still often fall asleep in lessons, I have a much higher interest in my subjects, and love even more the subjects that I already loved (Drama and Astronomy, even though Astronomy isn't technically one of my subjects, although I wish it were). So that's good. Maybe I will be able to survive two years of A Levels after all.

The real reason that I am updating today is because in less than 24 hours, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) begins. This will be the first time I have ever taken part, and I have to say I am quite scared. I haven't flexed my creative writing muscles in a very long time- the only time in the past two years was for my GCSE coursework, which was approximately 2,000 words- so the thought of having to write 50,000 words in a month is quite daunting.

Last weekend, when I decided I was going to take part, I was obviously in a very optimistic mood... Tonight, having realised that I need to write 1,667 words a day, it is a VERY different story.

I'm not even sure what I'm going to write about. I know that my main character will be a girl called Sammy, and that she's 17, but that's it.

Am I excited? Hell yes.

Creating a whole new world, full of brand new people, is something I love doing. It's just that I normally do it in my head. Trying to get it out of my head and into the physical world will be tough. But as the NaNoWriMo website says, it's not going to be a good, complete novel.

So yeah, I think that this does actually count as a good, valid reason why you won't see me during November. Maybe I'll pop in once to tell you all about my novel-induced nervous breakdown, but until then, I hope you enjoy the image of me smashing a computer to smithereens...

Another Return.

3 weeks!? Has it really been 3 weeks since I last posted!? No, you're right, it hasn't. It's been 3 WEEKS and 2 DAYS! Shocking, I know. And to be honest, it feels like much, much longer. I'd like to say that my lack of posts is due to my exciting and busy life. But as I'm sure you've guessed, it's not. Really not.

In fact, I don't even know why, I just haven't been on the internet much at all in the past few weeks since school started. I don't even have that much homework- on average less than one piece a day- compared to all of my friends, who seem to be inundated with essays and tests. I know that that will all soon change when we get into doing coursework and stuff, so for now I'm just trying to enjoy it.

Which isn't easy, but before I get into a long moan about school again (Drama is good! One positive thing!), I will talk about something else.

Ummm...

I was ill a few weeks ago. I had to run out of a play mid-performance cos I thought I was gonna throw up. That wasn't fun.

Nor is it an exciting story.

Ummm...

I managed to watch an entire play last night at the Birmingham REP- 'East is East'. It was amazing, better and funnier than the film, so if you get the chance, GO SEE IT.

Ummm...

I have become weirdly obsessed with classical music in the past few days.

Ok, I'm just gonna stop now. This is going nowhere!

Speak to you soon :)

Holiday? What Holiday?

Whenever I say "I've been back at school for a week", I simply can't believe it. This has to have been the longest week of my entire life, and I wish I was exaggerating. I can't even remember having a holiday, to the point where the entire concept seems completely alien to me.

The worst thing about it is that we haven't even had that much work yet. I've had three pieces of homework. So it isn't even the work load that is getting me down.

I may not have started at a new college, but it still feels like I have entered a different world. I look back on the past fives years I have spent at that school, and wonder where on earth that school is now. Sure, I knew it would be different, but I just feel completely lost. And what's worse is that none of my A Level subjects are exciting or interesting me. My favourite (and in fact, the only one I really like) at the moment is Drama, and I know that as soon as we start properly working on the course, that will all change.

There are some good things about it. Being a student librarian, being able to walk into the canteen early, having a pigeon hole... you have to focus on the little things to keep you sane.

Today has been the worst day so far, not least because I had a big argument with my Dad this morning about something so stupid that I'm just baffled by it.

But to save this from simply being a dull, monotonous whine of a blog, I'm going to tell you about something fun I did on Thursday.

It was my friend Flic's 17th birthday. We went to her house after school and had an awesome children's birthday party, with pass the parcel and sausage rolls and all the fun things of a party. We then went to the theatre to see 'The Grain Store', which is a play about the Soviet Ukraine before World War II. But that wasn't the exciting part, oh no. Before the play started, we, along with 40 other members of the audience, had a banquet on stage with the cast as the other members of the audience we taking their seats. It was a traditional Ukrainian feast of Borsh (sp?), which is a spicy beetroot soup, cheese and potato dumplings and a slice of watermelon. Despite our fears about the meal beforehand, it was actually really nice and was such a great experience- just sitting on the stage, with all the lights on us, sitting with people who I'd seen in so many plays before. It was very surreal, and I've never experienced anything like or before, or expect I ever will again, but it was great fun, and to top it all off, the play was amazing too.

So some good stuff. But there we go. I don't really know what to say now... BYE!

P.S. If you're reading this, which I doubt you are because I wouldn't if I were you, hello to Alice and Olivia *waves* :)

Summer '09: Part 4.

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I have no excuse. I do, however, have quite a lot to tell you, but unfortunately I started telling you about my holiday, and so I will finish. This blog post is all about POWERING THROUGH. Then I can move on from the stuff that happened over a month and a half ago...

Wed 29/07/09

Hot hot hot. After an early start, Dad, Charlotte and I took a windy bus through the hills to get to Florence. I went there back in 2007 on the choir tour, but we didn't get to see a huge amount of it, so I was glad to go back and see the rest. The first port of call was the Ponte Vecchio, a mega famous bridge (apparently) with shops on it. We then walked to the top of Michelanglo Mount, to see the stunning panoramic views of Florence.

Florence from Michelanglo Mount

We then walked back down to explore Florence from the ground; we walked past the Uffizi gallery, the fake statue of David and the Piazza della Signora. We went into the cathedral, which was stunning from the outside, but quite disappointing inside. We then started walking around the non-touristy parts, and got lost in the heat of the day. I only remember snap shots of those few hours because I was so dehydrated and heat-crazy. Eventually, we stopped at what looked like a nice café where we could sit down and regain our senses, but after having bought some ice creams, it turned out that was actually an extortionate place where you were charged for breathing. Ok, maybe not, but you had to pay if you wanted to sit down, so we ended up having to stand at the bar. Not great when all we wanted to do was sit down and chill for a bit, but at least we had ice cream :)

We were still extremely hot as we walked through the small streets to San Lorenzo, a nice church, where we saw some nice pieces of art in the museum as well. Afterwards, we walked through the market, but were too hot and bothered to really look properly at anything, and we eventually got back to the bus station, where we sat in the shade as we waited for our bus to come. I slept all of the way back to the camp site, where we had left the girls in the swimming pool. We met up with them and then had a very nice meal (PIZZA :D) at the restaurant, overlooking all of the hills as the sun set...

Thurs 30/07/09

We left Florence and drove to a town on the coast, just outside Pisa. When we got there, we had to put on these yellow wristbands to show we were part of the campsite, or we'd get kicked out. I really really hated that wristband. It just felt completely wrong, and no one else seemed to understand my hatred of it. But I was forced to wear it, and despite my efforts to get it off, I knew I would have to keep it on for the two nights we were staying there. All afternoon, we played Rolit, a french game that is too difficult for me to explain here, but is very addictive. The adults went for a bike ride, and whilst they were gone, us kids turned the van into a posh restaurant: Dora and I were the waitresses, and Becca was the chef. We cleaned the inside of the van, set up a candlelit dining area (using the citronella candles), made posh menus and made a sign saying 'Chez Oz' (Oz is the name of our van), which we stuck to a tree, and I think we forgot to take down when we left :P Anyway, I had lots of fun doing that, but I think Dora and Becca thought I was a bit crazy...

Fri 31/07/09

I actually stopped writing my diary at this point, so now it is up to my brain to remember what we did.

As we were so close, we decided to go into Pisa. We didn't spend much time looking at the tower. We didn't do much. End of day.

Sat 01/08/09

It was time to leave Italy. As soon as we left the campsite, I cut off my wristband. I was free! We had a long drive through Italy, Switzerland and France, which was made longer by the traffic getting through toll booths in Italy and some horrendous traffic in Switzerland. However, we eventually arrived three hours later than planned at our French friends' house in Metz. We ate tea with them, although I have no idea what it was now- I was so tired because it was late and my memory fails. We also met their two new kittens, who's names I have also forgotten, and who were only a couple of months old. So cute!

Sun 02/08/09

We spent the day with our friends- Nathalie, Alain, Claire, Anne and Pierre. We went bowling at the alley, and then went to the local bowles (although it's not called bowles, it's Petung or something that I have completely forgotten) where we split into teams and had a tournament in front of some very experienced French bowles players, who called us English people 'roast beefs', cos apparently that's what we eat all the time. We had a lovely pizza meal in the evening, before going to bed. The adults slept in a room inside the house, so it was only us kids in the van, which was quite fun!

Mon 03/08/09

It was our final day of holiday, and the majority of it was spent on the road. We left Metz quite early and drove back up through Belgium, Luxembourg and France. We spent a few hours at the Cité Europe, where I bought Harry Potter 7 in French, before taking the channel tunnel back to England and driving back up to Charlotte's house.

I had a really lovely holiday, and was so happy to see such amazing places such as Venice. I love camping, and wish I were out there doing it right now.

DONE. :)

Summer '09: Part Three, with present day extras.

So before I get carried away with my summer memories again, it's time to update on today.

Today is the day I have been working towards for the past two years: GCSE results day.

I got quite a shock, but a good one! I got 4 A*s, 6 As and 1 B. It took me a while to let it sink in, but 12 hours later, I think it finally has! All of my friends did really well, and I'm so happy for everyone! Yay ^_^

Now back to the story... Where was I..?

Sun 26/07/09

We spent our second day in Venice a bit differently. We decided to buy day passes so that we could use any of the water buses to, from, and around the island. The water buses are exactly what it says on the tin: buses, but that go on the canals. I hate boats, so I really wasn't looking forward to it.

The boat we got across to the island made me feel very sick, so it wasn't a great start to the day. But then we got on a water bus down the grand canal, which was much calmer, and by the time we got off at our stop, I had relaxed about it. We then walked around the non- touristy parts for a bit. It's really nice to get away from the main attractions, as many of the streets we were walking down were completely empty apart from us, and they were just as beautiful.

We ended up on the other side of the island, where we decided to get a waterbus across to another, smaller island: Murano.

Murano is where they make all of the famous Venetian glass. It's pretty much the same as Venice, apart from it has even more glass shops, which I didn't think was possible! Unfortunately, as it was a Sunday, we didn't get to see any glass making, but it was still nice to see all of the finished products.

Two boat trips later, and we found ourselves on the Lido, a long, thin island next to Venice. We went there because there was a beach, so, as usual, I just sat there with a towel wrapped around me.

We accidentally took the wrong boat back to Venice, so we had to take a very long boat trip around the island, but it was nice to see the island in the evening. We got to see a lot more of Venice, and I kinda tackled my hatred of boats a bit, so it was good. I absolutely love Venice, and would love to go back there one day...

Mon 27/07/09

The day of pain. After a sleepless night, a 7 am start and a three and a half hour drive, we finally arrived at our campsite in the hills, 12 km from Florence. It was a scorching hot day, which just made me feel worse, especially since I was COVERED in bites. One bite was half the size of my calf. To take my mind off it all, I read 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' whilst sitting in the small patch of shade. The campsite had a free pool, so we didn't see much of Dora and my sister Becca...

Tues 28/07/09

We had a nice lazy day: a long lie in, and then we left Dora and Becca at the pool to drive around the hills for a bit and to explore the local towns. We eventually managed to find a supermarket, in which we ending up spending more time than we expected because it was air conditioned. Then we went back to the campsite and just did nothing for the rest of the afternoon! A nice break...


And back to today, it is time for some sleep, methinks...

Summer '09: Part Two.

Thurs 23/07/09

We decided to drive to another lake, Lake Como, because apparently it's very pretty and lovely and blah blah blah, which of course it was, as Italy is just generally very pretty. We walked through the town, which was a mixture of markets, little ice creams shops, big clothes shops, and historic buildings. We sat on the bank of the river, eating ice cream (because that's compulsory in Italy) before taking the funicular up one of the mountains.

The funicular is basically just a one carriage train that takes you from the bottom of the mountain to the top. It's quite strange though, because it is built on a diagonal. The best way to describe it is like a stairway that has been turned into a train. Imagine your stairs, with a seat at each end of each step, and windows and a roof, and that's the train. It then travels up a straight path to the top of the mountain, pulled by a pulley system, with no driver or anything. It's basically a ghost train taking you to heaven. Pretty cool.

Looking up from the bottom, we could see that there was a big house at the top of the mountain, which I thought was amazing. How did they get it up there!? So I was in for quite a shock when we reached the top and found an ENTIRE TOWN up there. Fully functioning, with shops, cafés, a post box... It was like being in a real, normal, average town, if you could just forget about the fact that the Cathedral in Como that had seemed so big before was now just a tiny dot far, far below...

We then left Como, and that night we went to a pizzeria near the campsite. My first taste of Italian pizza on the holiday! I had become quite an expert on Italian pizzas during a trip to Tuscany back in 2007, when I had the same type of pizza every day, at different restaurants in different towns. I never got bored of them, even though I only had a margherita pizza every day! The most boring of the lot! The amazing taste certainly didn't disappoint this time round, either...


Fri 24/07/09

It was soon time to leave Lugano behind and embark upon our next adventure. I have to say, I was looking forward to this part of the holiday the most, because we were heading for a place I had always wanted to go, but never thought I'd get to go to, especially this young.

Venice.

I'd heard so many fantastic stories, especially from my Dad who went there over 5 years ago, and now says it is his favourite place in the world.

But first, we had to drive for a few hours to get there. But it didn't take us too long, and we soon found a campsite on the mainland. It was a very full campsite, but we found the perfect space, right on the bank of the lagoon. Across the waves, we could see all of the landmarks of Venice. The bell tower of Saint Mark's, from there looking absolutely tiny. Another great thing about being right on the bank was that there were some HUGE carrier ships going by, and sailing quite close to the bank, so we were very close to them, which was pretty amazing.

We also made friends with some english people staying in a campervan next to us. They were four young kids with their parents, and we soon discovered that we were from the same neck of the woods. The Dad of the family played a swingball tournament with Dora (my Dad's girlfriend's daughter), and she was beating him 4 games to 3 when it got too dark to continue...

The campsite itself was my favourite of all that we stayed at, not just because of the lagoon, but also because it had a bar where they played loads of good music right into the night. My family couldn't hear it from the campervan, but I could from my tent. I love the sound of music and people having fun in the distance. It reminds me of camping when I was younger. It wasn't so good at karaoke time though...


Sat 25/07/09

Our first early morning of the holiday, but we decided that it was best so that we could see as much of Venice as possible. We took the bus to the island, which I enjoyed because I like using public transport, especially in other countries!

Venice wasn't what I expected. It was even better.

It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. I thought it was really small, with just the main famous square and then a few streets leading off it. I don't know why I ever thought this, because it's pretty much the exact opposite. It's very easy to get lost there... We found the main touristy parts, like St Mark's Square, which unfortunately had some construction work going on in it, so it wasn't quite as spectacular. But we also explored the less touristy places, and found a really nice park to sit and eat the bread we bought from this tiny supermarket.

We also found the most expensive toilets on our travels so far: 1.50 euros EACH! They weren't even very good! Although the cubicles were the size of my bedroom, just with a toilet at one end.

But before this blog turns into a 'Loo Review'...

"Just one Cornetto,

Give iiit to meee..."

We spent a nice evening back at the campsite, playing with the kids from next door, who were all so cute and lovely. They had SO much energy and were constantly laughing... They were also jumping about on the rocks next to the lagoon, which scared me a lot, being the over- imaginative wimp I am... I mean, the youngest was about 1, the oldest was only about 7! We were hoping to play swingball, but the swiss family who were also our neighbours asked if they could play on it and ended up doing so all night... Still, Dora and the Dad from next door managed to finish off their tournament by the light of our campervan's brake light. The Dad ended up winning, but ah well.

I sat for a long time on the rocks by the lagoon, just looking out across it to Venice. It was so beautiful. I will never forget it.

Back to the present, and tomorrow is the day I have been waiting for for the past two years, so I had better get some sleep for it...

Summer '09: Part One.

So, in my last post (which was quite a long time ago- I need to get a grip...) I said I would talk about my holiday in a later post. This is a later post and, since it has now been three weeks since I came back from my holiday, I think it's about time I document it before I completely forget.

I did kinda keep a diary during the trip, which I wrote by the light of my iPod in my tent each night before I went to sleep, so I'm now trying to decipher the scrawl to help me :)

And to make it more digestible/ less for me to write, this blog comes in an as-yet-undetermined number of parts.

Mon 20/07/09
We set off in our campervan, prepared for the 17 hour drive we had in front of us. We drove down to Folkestone, which took about four hours, where we ate some food before getting on the channel tunnel train. I really like the channel tunnel. It's fast and simple, and if you book in advance, probably the cheapest option too. There's no sea sickness involved, like on a ferry, and I don't think they accept campervans as luggage on planes, so we might have had a problem there. All we had to do was sit in our own van for half an hour and there we were, in another country.

That other country was France. This was the main part of our drive- we drove from Calais, through Belgium and Luxembourg, then came back into France, before stopping just south of Metz for a break. My Dad was driving the whole way, as we thought it would be better doing the whole drive in one go. His girlfriend had sat in the passenger seat up until this point, but now it was 10 pm, so I swapped with her to do 'the graveyard shift' of navigating, which wasn't really necessary since we had the sat nav, but otherwise my Dad would've been driving in the early hours of the morning whilst everyone else was fast asleep, which I didn't think was fair. Also, I really LOVE driving at night, and I'm so glad I stayed awake.

We drove past Strasbourg and into Switzerland, which is so pretty at night, because you can see all of the lights on the mountains. However, it was even prettier at dawn, with the sun coming up over the mountains. Beautiful.

Tues 21/07/09
We soon got to the area we were planning to stay at, Lake Lugano, at around 6 am. We didn't know which campsite we were going to stay at, but since none of them were open yet, we pulled over and had a nap at the side of the road.

We ended up in a very nice campsite just south of the Swiss border in Northern Italy. We could literally step out of the campsite and onto the bank of the lake. The first time I did this, I was speechless. My little brain couldn't quite take in the stunning views of mountains and lakes and... gah. It was just amazing. If I use my technical skills here, I might be able to add a picture...

If only my photography skills could portray the true awesomeness...

That night was the first time I had slept in a tent by myself in a foreign country and the first time that I would be doing it for more than a few nights, so I was pretty excited. XD.

Loser.

Weds 22/07/09

This was the first full day of the holiday, and it didn't actually go too well.

We decided to drive to drive around, to 'look at the lake from another angle'.

Van + small, windy Italian roads which aren't well signposted = disaster.

We got quite lost and couldn't find anywhere to park to get out and look around. We were driving down some quite narrow, steep roads and around hairpin bends. Luckily, my Dad has some experience with this, thanks to the great Cretian 'Stuck-in-a-Nine-Seater-Van Up a Winding Footpath on a Cliff Hundreds of Metres Above the Sea' incident of '05 (it's a long story), but still, we really were fed up when we found ourselves at a dead end and had to do a 1000-point turn in the van to get back up the road whilst loads of impatient Italians beeped their horns at us.

Eventually, we pulled over somewhere to make some sandwiches, and it started to rain. So, we had nap. Then we drove straight back to the campsite.

This time, it was traffic that was our nemesis. The roads were COMPLETELY full. We stopped at a supermarket to buy supplies, but then remembered that we had crossed the border into Switzerland, where they use Swiss Francs and not Euros, which is all we had. Thank god for credit cards, but we have no idea how much we spent...

Back at the campsite, we were all hot and a bit fed up, so we went to the lake. One thing about me is that I don't swim. I just don't like it. I haven't swum in three years, and don't even own a costume, so I wasn't expecting to swim on this holiday.

The rest of my family were swimming, and I stood on the edge, kinda talking to their bobbing heads in the water. My Dad suggested that I just get in fully clothed. I don't know if he was joking or not, but in the end I decided that I would. So I took off my belt (it's too colourful and cool to get damaged :P) and walked straight in, wearing my full length jeans and t shirt.

As I say, I hadn't swum in three years, and I had almost forgotten how to, but I eventually got better, and had fun! I got loads of weird looks from passers- by, and my clothes took days to fully dry, but it was certainly an experience!

Now I must stop, because I am so tired that I just forgot how to spell 'got', so part two of my Italian adventures will continue in another (and hopefully more interesting and concise) vlog soon.

:)

Return of the Blog.

I've been off the blog for a while, but I have now returned!

*Cue sounds of booing*

This is actually my 50th blog post, which is either very sad or something to be proud of. I'm going with the latter, just to amuse myself.

Although, I must admit that 30 of those posts were written as part of BAEDAARPOM, so I have awesome author Maureen Johnson to thank for that, not myself. But still. Here's to the next 50 crappy posts!

So why have I been away for so long?

Well, apart from general laziness, I have also been on holiday, which I will talk about in a later post.

But first, there is something very important we need to discuss. And by 'we', I of course mean myself and my multiple personalities, as I am sure that I have probably already discussed this matter with my faithful follower Rachel (*waves*) via Facebook.

This matter is Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince, The Movie.

I can quite easily sum this up in one word: disappointing.

I was ever so slightly disappointed with The Order of the Phoenix, because they missed out SO MANY elements of the plot, but the fantastic special effects did make up for that.

But this time, so much was missed out and altered that it just felt wrong.

Now, I know that they can't make it an exact replica of the book, and I'm not expecting them to. Missing out a few elements of the plot, even if they are good elements, is something to be expected of a movie adaptation. But HBP just went too far. So they took away some of the plot elements, probably for timing purposes, but then ADDED IN an ENTIRE SCENE that was just completely and utterly POINTLESS.

I am of course referring to the blowing-up-The-Burrow scene. I'm not going to go too much into it, as, as you can probably tell, it annoys me. But I will just say one word on it: WTF!?

Also, the whole Ginny/Harry GROSSNESS was just quite freaky.

The final scene was also RUBBISH. There was no big battle- in fact, the death eaters just walked away! And I didn't even cry when Dumbledore died. I cry at 'Cheaper by the Dozen', so that just proves that something was wrong.

People seem to be pretty divided about it. And whilst I may not particularly like it as a Harry Potter film, I have to admit that it is a good film, as films go. I just hope that the next two films really do live up to expectations...

Unexpected Sadness.

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. One of the main reasons is that, for the past two weeks, I have been doing my work experience.

To be honest, I wasn't particularly looking forward to work experience. I just wanted to start my summer after finishing my GCSEs, like most people my age. One thing I was looking forward to however, was that I would be staying at my Mum's house during that time. As I expected, that has been fantastic!

I did the work experience itself at a Primary School. Until last year I really wanted to be a teacher, but then decided against it, so this was really make or break on that front.

I went in last Monday, just wanting to get it over and done with. Over the two weeks, I have worked with Reception for 4 days, and Years 1, 3 and 5 for two days each.

I loved it. Everybody was really nice and I really enjoyed getting to know the kids. I thought it would mainly be photocopying, but I didn't actually have any photocopying to do until my seventh day, and only had one other photocopying job after that. I supervised the kids, read with them, and did other jobs such as marking tests and filing things, which (for some strange reason), I actually enjoyed too! I met so many nice people and learnt the names of all the 120 children I worked with, which made me happy :)

I have had such a good time and now that I have left I really miss it. There are somethings I could have done better, like I could have stopped being so shy all the time, but it's all part of the experience. I've learnt many valuable lessons that I will keep forever, and had a great time too.

It's going to be very strange waking up on Monday and not having to go back. It feels like I spent a lot longer than two weeks there- in a good way though! I enjoyed being with the infants the most, which surprised me, since I am most used to 7-10 year olds and thought that, if I did go into teaching, it would be at secondary school.

This is the day I've been looking forward to for the past two years- GCSEs are over and I'm finally free! But actually, I'm pretty sad :(

Now I have to say good bye to every one I met, and go back to normal life. And that sucks.

Lazy days?

It's been nearly two weeks since I updated- sorry about that. It's because nothing has really happened... or has it?

First of all, on the 11th of June, I officially finished my GCSEs! It's SUCH a relief. I have NO school work to do :D

So since then, I have basically sat at home and done nothing.

Well, I say nothing. I have been to a party (I NEVER go to parties. I'm never able to. So this was a BIG DEAL to me. :P).

I have made TWO VIDEOS, which was pretty good going I think, considering I haven't uploaded any for 8 months. I was planning on making on for every day last week, but they ended up taking such a long time to make that it didn't work out.

I have been shopping A LOT. I am currently in the process of trying to replace my wardrobe, since most of my clothes are AT LEAST a year old. I also needed clothes for the induction days I have to go to this week. It took forever to find clothes. Especially a black cardigan... I really wanted one, ever since my sister stole my black hoodie. I thought it would be easy to find one- I mean, EVERYBODY seems to be wearing cardigans these days, but I was SO WRONG. After six shopping trips, I finally found one today. So YAY!

Apart from that, I have played on Guitar Hero and generally messed around. Actually, I have done more piano practice this week than I have all year, so I'm pretty happy about that :)

It's been great just having the week to totally relax. After months of having to constantly work, revise, or feel guilty about not working or revising, just one week of freedom has been a very welcome relief.

But it ends today.

Well, technically tomorrow. I am going to London tomorrow to see Phedre at the National Theatre, and I am VERY EXCITED as I haven't been to London since 6th May, and even then it was straight off the coach and into the theatre, and then straight back on the coach afterwards. So I haven't properly been to London since January. So YAY!!!

After that though, I have three induction days, and then two weeks of work experience.

During my work experience though, I am staying with my Mum. I've never stayed with her without my sister, so I'm REALLY looking forward to it!

But after that, summer will officially be here! I can't WAIT!

I'm not sure when I will next be able to blog. Not that it's very interesting anyway. But I hope that more interesting things will happen soon that I can tell you about.

Ciao for now!

:)

Snail Mail

There is one thing that I don't like so much about the Age of the Internet. That is the lack of physical mail we get.

I always get so excited whenever I get a piece of mail. Even if it's a bank statement. And I know that that sounds weird, and that I probably wouldn't get excited if I got mail all the time, but still...

When I know that there is something in the mail being sent to me, I get even more excited.

So imagine my excitement for the past week and a half, knowing that my copy of the Chameleon Circuit album is on its way to my house.

Everyday for the past few days, because I have been home as I didn't have any exams, every time the post man has come, I would wait until he was out of sight, and then run like mad to the post box.

And every day, I have been disappointed to find letters and packages for everyone else in my house except me.

Today I got home from my exam at about quarter past twelve. I checked the post box through the little slit in the top, only saw a junk mail leaflet thing, so decided I would empty it later. Nothing. Again.

But when I went back half an hour later to empty it properly, THERE IT WAS. A little packet with my name on it. I pulled everything out, ran upstairs and ripped it open.

And now I am the very proud owner of a Chameleon Circuit album, as well as a CHAMELEON CIRCUIT PIN BADGE, which for some reason excited me nearly as much as the CD itself.

I don't know why I am telling you this. I think it's just a way of wasting time so that I can listen to it whilst I type before I have to go and revise.

And Rachel, I don't know if you like Chameleon Circuit, but if you want to borrow it, you can :)

Now I'm off to admire it some more.

I am such a loser.

A Philosophical Rant/ Crazy Unintelligble Charlotte Thought Process

I should be revising like mad right now, having not stuck to my timetable at all this week. However, I have just got back from seeing 'Angles and Demons' at the cinema, and after seeing something like that, it is impossible to return to Earth immediately.

I don't go to the cinema a lot- it's hard to find the time (and the money: it cost me £6.90... add on the little tub of ice cream... not the cheapest three hours...) but when I do, I always enjoy it, quite often (although not always) even if the film is rubbish, because it takes you away from your own world.

But sometimes there are films that just blow you away, and 'Angels and Demons', for me, is certainly one of them.

I read the book about three or four years ago now, and loved it. I always believe that films are never as good as books, but this may be an exception to the rule. There were a few changes, but they were done for the better- if it had remained exactly the same I think that the film would have dragged on too long, and that is never a good thing.

The reason it affected me so much is not just because it was a good film. In fact it's not really anything to do with the film itself. The film is absolutely fantastic, but the reason that I am still thinking it over a few hours later is more personal.

I am very open about my hatred of Science and Maths, and in fact School in general. But it wasn't always like that. In fact, two years ago, if you had told me that I had to move schools, or that I had to leave school altogether, I would have done anything and everything to stay. And I would have cried and screamed a bit too.

In fact, and I know that this sounds weird, but when I wasn't at school, I was depressed and longed to go back. And when I was at home, I would sit at the computer or use books to research learn random things such as different languages and long lost alphabets and everything about an ancient civilisation. And I would properly research and learn and absorb this knowledge- all of this Science, Maths, and History.

Present day: I still sit at a computer, but trying to put off working, dreading going back to school, and researching things about actors and musicals and films and other drama-related things.

Seeing the film reminded me of the time I read the book, during the time when I craved knowledge. What changed? What happened to me? The film/book, and others like it, shows how interesting all of this science and history can be. If I had stuck with it at school, then I could carry it on and enjoy it. But I don't understand all of these complicated things. There was a time when I could have understood, but I have become too lazy, and like to procrastinate too much, and haven't paid attention in lessons. I now hate it.

I don't understand this world, as I'm sure no one does, but up to the age of 14 I always wanted to discover more about it. I wanted to understand how things worked. I wanted to know about things beyond this world- out in space. Now I am more focused on escaping this world. My world. I am going to take A Levels in English Language, French, Philosophy and Theatre Studies. Whilst it could be argued that Philosophy is trying to understnad the world, the other subjects are trying to get away from it- English in its creative writing, French in that it is so different from my own language and culture, and Theatre Studies to get away from myself.

I don't know what made me think of all this. To be honest I'm just typing as I think it. And I don't know why I am typing it. Or what to conclude from it.

I guess I am mourning a Charlotte past. Even though, oddly enough, I am constantly trying to escape my past.

I don't know what else to say. My brain has just imploded.

And that's why I could never be a scientist. No one wants a scientist who's brain implodes at the slightest complexity.

I need some thinking time...

Late Night Blog

It may be half past midnight, but it's never too late (or early...) to blog.

Something that I realised recently really shocked me. I wanted to keep it to myself, but now I am ready to tell the world. Well... Rachel. *Waves* (I have just decided that I will make it my mission to somehow subtley mention Rachel in every blog I write, as she deserves it. :D)

Anyway, ready to be shocked?

I like exams.

Now don't suddenly hate me, let me explain.

I HATE exams, with a passion.

And no it's not just my multiple personalities arguing again.

I hate the whole thing of having to try to memorise the basics of things you really don't understand just to get you past an exam, and so you will simply forget everything afterwards. I just feel like I'm wasting my life at the moment, trying to remember all of this rubbish that I'm not really interested in.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to be ignorant. I'd quite like to be able to understand it all (I am particularly referring to subjects like Maths and Science here) as I understand their importance to the world around us. What I hate is that I don't understand any of it, and know that I don't want to pursue it in the future as a result, meaning that I find trying to learn these basic facts that I will forget immediately afterwards completely pointless.

However, if we want to get anywhere in this world these days, we have to have good qualifications. So I have to memorise these basic facts.

I HATE revision, with all my heart.

Why I like exams is this:
Before an exam, be it a few weeks before or a few seconds before, standing just outside the hall, I always feel guilty if I'm not revising. Even if I am revising, I feel that I'm not revising well enough. It's like a constant buzzing in the back of my head... "You should be revising... You should know this... You will fail."

But as soon as I cross the threshold of the exam hall, I know that I can't do anymore. That's it. I can only go with what I know.

My family constantly tell me that I can only do my best, but it's not until I'm in the exam that I feel I can try to do my best. At any other time, I always feel like I have to do better, work harder. But sat there, I can only use the knowledge that I have. Sure, I could have worked harder beforehand, but sat there, pen in hand, silence surrounding me- all I can do is my best at that moment.

Then there's the time afterwards... when you realise how many mistakes you made... how many stupid things you got wrong... And then The Results. Afterwards can almost be as bad as Before.

So whilst During is never pleasant, it is actually the best time. Or is that just me...?

Challenge Ended.

I forgot to mention something... remember that '46 days using only four websites' challenge? Well I kinda stopped. About three weeks ago.

I needed to go on Facebook to find out things about the end of school and stuff... and I decided that it was just silly. However, I managed to stay away from twitter until yesterday, 26 days into the challenge, which isn't bad...

I would feel like a failure, but I decided to go back onto them because I was sticking to my revision timetable, which meant that I had a lot of spare time (because it was timetabled :P) and so I allowed myself to go on in those times.

Ah whatever I say, no matter how I try to justify it, I failed. But ah well. 26 days without twitter was good for me.

As for the whole sticking to the timetable thing, I actually was. Until this weekend.

But I haven't epically failed on that front yet. The fact I have stuck to it at all is impressive in itself.

But as you can tell, this blog is just a way of wasting time.

It's not like I want to waste time. I'd rather revise to get rid of the guilt. But just as I begin to revise, I get a sudden urge to blog or write a song or research the origins of Jaffa Cakes. And I'm not joking.

But I started this blog post over half an hour ago and have been in and out of my room writing it and answering phones and making tea for my Dad, so now I WILL revise.

BYE.

Blog Break

So I decided that, after blogging every day for 31 days (well... very nearly) it would be a good idea to have a little break. Not because I don't like blogging, but because my brain was starting to turn everything into a blog, and I figured that that was another step closer to insanity, which I would like to try to keep at bay for a little while yet. Also, since I now have a follower who actually reads this thing (*waves at Rachel*) I wanted to try to improve my blogging in some way... don't think it'll work, but ah well.

I thought that by leaving it a little while, I would have something interesting to talk about. I was wrong.

All that is going on in my life at the moment is GCSEs. I've only had one exam so far, Music, which went ok. Tomorrow I have RE and Maths Non - Calculator, Tuesday I have English Literature and Wednesday I have Biology. That's all for this week. But they're all so close together, and there's so much to remember. I mean, I am having to try to remember everything I have ever learnt just for an exam, and in 11 different subjects. I'm also having to try to learn all the stuff I should've learnt, which isn't easy. But anyway, I don't really want to think about it.

Eurovision Song contest last night. I thought it was ok actually. We did very well... in fact it was quite werid to see us up so high on the leader board. In previous years, if someone has given us 1 point I have been excited. I don't really know why Norway won though. They're song wasn't too bad, but, to be honest, unless I had heard previously that they were favourites to win, I wouldn't have given them a second thought. They would have just disappeared in the memory files along with Armenia and Bosnia Herzegovina. But ah well. Better than that Finnish entry that won a few years ago...

In other very exciting news, I was in Waterstone's yesterday, armed with a £10 voucher I was given for my birthday. I was hoping to buy the latest book in the Percy Jackson series (it's meant for pre-teens, but is so good and interesting and perfect to read during exams... so don't judge me.) but I couldn't find it. I was about to leave when I saw it. On the shelf. At the bottom. Just... there, where it hadn't been a few minutes before, I swear. I knew it was due to be published in England, but I didn't realise so soon...

Oh, did I tell you what it was? No. Sorry.

'13 Little Blue Envelopes' by Maureen Johnson!

I love reading her blog because they are always so funny and well written (I know she's an author so you'd expect it but you know what I mean) so I have always wanted to read one of her books, and now I am! I'm already half way through, althoguh I'm not really sure when that happened, but it's just so good! Definitely not a disappointment. And Rachel, if you're reading this, you can borrow it if you want :)

Now I'm listening to Elaine Paige on Sunday as my favourite West End actress is due to be on it today... yay!

Better go... bye!

Day 31: So Long, BAEDAAPOM.

I can't believe it's over!

I started this on... the 9th of April I think. At the time I was thinking about all the things that would be happening during my time doing BAEDAAPOM: Terminal Task, 'As You Like It', Drama Coursework, 'Wicked', Last day of Year 11, Alton Towers... and now they have all gone.

Some of these have been rushed over. In fact most blogs have been rushed as I tend to write them when I don't really have the time to... But this is not the end of my blog. Hopefully when I don't have the pressure of blogging every day I will be able to spend more time and it will become more interesting?

Yeah right.

But the past month has been great for practising my blogging skills. I'm not sure they've improved much, but also reading other people's blogs during BEDA has helped me to read GOOD blogs, so I feel like I have learnt from them.

Anyway, in true BAEDAAPOM style, I must go as I am meant to be leaving to go to my Grandparents' house for the weekend in 25 minutes and I've only just woken up.

So, good bye BAEDAAPOM. I will miss you!

Day 30: The End.

As is school tradition, my year went to Alton Towers today to celebrate the end of Year 11.

Having been awake most of the night with a fever and needing to blow my nose every 2 minutes, I was exhausted, and at times felt too ill to really do anything, but I did really enjoy it.

I hate big rides, but we went on some good smaller rides. We got absolutely SOAKED, so much so that the blue dye in my jeans ran and turned my legs blue. I now also have some crazy pictures of us on the rides, which is nice.

In other news, I have decided to lift the ban from Facebook and Twitter at weekends.

I just want to see all the photos from the past few days, and although I feel annoyed with myself that I couldn't last the 46 days, these are kinda the 46 days I need Facebook in order to keep in contact with people.

Anyway, I'm sorry this is so short, but I realllllly need sleep now!

Ciao :)

Day 29: ...And Calm.

It's over.

0 Days of Compulsory Education remaining.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No more Maths, or Science, or Geography, or... anything.

Apart from the exams... and the fact that I will still be going back to school for A Levels... even though I don't know which school yet...

But still. That fact that I now have an option whether or not I go to school is nice. Even though I will.

But of course, the past three days have been hectic.

Tuesday was good, Wednesday was great, today was... well... a rollercoaster of emotions.

Let's start with Tuesday.

Tuesday was the Day Of No More Science- I had Chemistry and Physics and then NO MORE! It was also the last day of French and English, which was sad because it will be so different and so much harder next year (I'm taking them both for A Level) but nice to know that we have finished the GCSE. Well. Almost.

Wednesday. We had our drama performance which went... ok. Everybody kept messing up their lines and missing out big chunks, but we didn't really let on. And I am happy with my mark so that's good. Then it was the last Music lesson, and then... 'Wicked'.

My GCSE Drama group went to see 'Wicked' for an end of Year 11 treat. It was amazing. My fourth and, unfortunately, final time (I have decided to ban myself from going again. There are sooo many other musical I am so desperate to see!). We had amazing seats- near the back of the stalls but right in the middle, so we had a clear view. The only slightly annoying fact was that the sound blew about 2 minuted before the end. I had been sooo looking forward to the ending- the final few notes ('WIIIICKEEED... DOOOOOM... WIIIICKEEED... DOOOOOM... WIIIIIIIIIICKEEEEEEED") are phenomenal, but you can't get the full effect of them until you are in the theatre and they are booming out, sending shivers down your spine. Except, just before this, there was a sudden 'BOOM' and the sound went. You could just about hear Dianne Pilkington (who plays Glinda) but not really anyone else. You could hear the notes played by the orchestra and when the whole ensemble was singing but not loud enough to get the full effect. But still, it was fantastic, and I love it so much.

Today, I woke up after just 5 and a half hours sleep, which after less than five hours sleep the night before, wasn't great. Especially with my cold. But today was the last day. It was nice- we didn't really do any work, even though we were supposed to have normal lessons all morning. We were each given a little notebook so we could all write notes in each others' books, which was really nice. We dressed up as geeks and, whilst a couple of people tried to bring back the old tradition of a 'Muck Up Day', the day went smoothly. I don't know if I'm leaving or not, but still I had to say goodbye to some people. It still hasn't quite sunk in yet. I feel so detached from life. But anyway, we are going to Alton Towers tomorrow (a school tradition that we are still allowed) which should be fun.

In other news, I am calling this blog 'Day 29' as I missed yesterday... and it was a day... even if I had to miss it... yeah...

Now I must sleep. Yay.

:)

Day 27: Speed Blogging

Well, it would be speed blogging if my computer WASN'T SO SLOW.

I have a problem.

It seems that I won't be able to blog every day for part of may after all.

Again, you can't tell but this is another early morning blog. It's currently 07.12 and I should be getting ready for school. Reason why I'm doing it now is because I am staying at my friend's house tonight, and am busy all evening before that.

This means that I won't be able to blog tomorrow morning, as I will still be at my friend's house. Problem is, as soon as school finishes at the end of the day, I'm going to be hopping onto a coach with the rest of my GCSE Drama group and travelling to London to see 'Wicked', which will be AMAZING. But we won't get back to school until 12.30am on Thursday, which means I won't get back until at least 1 am.

During the day tomorrow I am at school, and even if Blogger isn't already blocked by the web filter, I won't have time to blog as I will have an extremely busy day.

So tomorrow is out of the question. Which kinda means I fail. But I was thinking, when do I actually stop blogging every day?

Well the BEDA people had to blog every day in April, which is 30 days. So I technically should go on until Friday. But then I'm missing out tomorrow, so I will have to add on an extra day.

Therefore, I can officially announce that I will stop all of this on Saturday.

Now I really must go. BYE!

Day 26: Here We Go...

No amount of list making can ever prepare you for three days of non-stop busy-ness.

I've had to pack a carry all full of stuff for the next two days, as when I leave tomorrow morning, I won't be coming back home until Thursday at 1 am.

I was hoping to be all prepared at this point- after a three day weekend with nothing special planned I should have had plenty of time.

Of course I'm not ready, but that's always the way, isn't it?

Saturday and Sunday were pretty much wasted, and I was hoping that I could do everything today.

And I would have been able to, if my Dad hadn't said "Would you like to go to my girlfriend's house for the day?"

You see, I thought this would be a good idea, to spend the day at his girlfriend's house. She had been staying at our house the rest of the weekend anyway, and then they were going to her's today as she needed him to do jobs and stuff.

I thought 'what a great idea- whilst they're working I can take some revision with me and will have no distractions'. So I packed a bag and went.

I did actually start looking at my biology revision book.

But then I helped a bit with fixing a bike, then I went to Tesco with them, then I watched a couple of episodes of 'Come Dine With Me', then I kinda helped cooked tea a little bit, then I watched more 'Come Dine With Me', then we ate tea, and then we watched another episode of 'Come Dine With Me'. Then we drove back home (which itself takes 40 minutes).

And so by this time it was 9 o'clock, and I had nothing prepared.

Anyway, I think I'm pretty much packed now.

I can't believe that it is this week all ready. Three days of compulsory education left. I remember when I started BAEDAAPOM and this week was just somewhere off in the distance. Where did April go? I have a feeling that this week is going to be a mixture of fun, stress, sadness and anger.

We'll see.

Day 25: Where did you go?

So this has been yet ANOTHER day where I have got absolutely nothing done that I wanted to. I wouldn't mind so much if I could actually remember what I have done. I mean, I have been pretty busy all week and have got a lot done, so if I had had today off it would have been fine. Apart from I really don't know what I've done, so it just feels like a waste. This is not helped by the fact that I am still wearing the same clothes I slept in last night.

Thank god it's a bank holiday weekend. That means that tomorrow is 'prepare for week ahead' day, since I will have NO time to do anything at home this week. Several lists have been made in preparation for this, and now it's just a case of doing it.

But that's enough about that.

One thing that I can remember doing today (because I only started about 45 minutes ago and it has annoyed me slightly) is sorting out my music library. I started completely by accident when I realised that the CDs I had copied onto my computer for back up hadn't worked properly. You see, whenever I buy a CD, I copy it into iTunes so I can listen to it on my iPod, and then copy it onto Windows so that it isn't locked in some temperamental file type forever. I've just realised however that this hasn't worked, so I tried using Windows Media Player to do it instead.

I haven't used Windows Media Player since I got my first iPod over two years ago and switched to iTunes. I had forgotten how annoying it was. It just tries to be too clever. For example, when I put a CD in, it came up with all the names for the tracks. Fantastic. Apart from they were all the wrong names. This meant I had to go in and change them all. You see, I may sound weird here, but if all the track names had just come up as 'Unknown', I would have been much happier typing in all the names than if I had to change them all.

I don't know why I bothered anyway. They're only for backup.

Sleeeep.

Day 24: News and Reviews

So as I was looking back over some of my April blogs, I noticed that in my early morning blog on Tuesday I said that I would give you news on my Terminal Task and 'As You Like It'. I kinda forgot to do that, so I will do it now.

My terminal task (when you have to write a song in half an hour for 15% of your music GCSE) went ok. The chords I was given to use were pretty good really, but I don't think I did it all that well. But I don't think it was a castastrophic fail, so I'm okay about it.

'As You Like It' at the RSC was AMAZING. It's only the third Shakespeare play I have seen ('Henry V' and 'Richard II' being the other two) but it was definitely my favourite. It's a play that I've never come across before, but I know class it as my third favourite Shakespeare play ('Macbeth' being my favourite, 'Much Ado About Nothing' my second favourite). I thought the production was simply fantastic, and all of the actors were just... wow.

So, I was a bit disappointed to see that it only got a mediocre review in The Times. I saw it on press night, so I saw exactly the same production as the critic saw, but they obviously weren't so impressed. I know that everyone has their own opinions, and there are some things that I hate that everyone else loves (like 'Twilight' and 'Forrest Gump') but I just found it interesting. I could agree with one or two points the critic made, but others I don't know how they got to. Ah well.

One of the best things about the night was that we got the tickets for free under the new 16-26 year old scheme, but we got possibly the BEST seats in the house! They were at the side, RIGHT at the front, so the stage was closer to me than my computer screen is. It was fantastic, because it felt like we were right in the action. I wasn't so sure about it when one of the shepherds actually skinned a rabbit on stage right in front of us (it looked like all the guts were going to fly into our faces), but when the guy pointed to me and said a line (something about a 12 month old lamb, I don't pretend to fully understand Shakespeare) it was pretty cool. Even if he was insulting me. I don't know. Plus they were FREE. Yay!

So there we go. I've just written the music to a new song, and am about to write the lyrics. I'm hoping to start recording this weekend for my return to YouTube, but we'll see how things go.

Charlotte's Internet Challenge Day 6
Song of the Day- 'Takk...' -The entire album by Sigur Ros- cos I just bought it and LOVE it :)

Day 23: Goodbye BAEDAA, Hello POM

I have just realised what a CATASTROPHIC error I have made for the past 22 days.

Blog Almost Every Day April And Part Of May

That's BAEDAAPOM.

So WHY have I been spelling it BAEDAARPOM?

FAIL :(

Anyway, Blog Every Day April is now over. This means that most people have stopped blogging every day. Not me. As I started BEDA late, I will continue for a few more days to get up to speed. However, I do feel less pressured into blogging every day now. I still will, but if I fail I will only feel like a minor dissapointment, rather than a major dissapointment. Not that I'm actually disappointing anyone. I don't know why this is. Actually, I do. It's because I have the busiest week of my LIFE next week, and I know that there is at least one day that there is no chance whatsoever of being able to blog, so I am trying to make myself feel better. So, becuase I need to make a list, here is a list:

- 3 day weekend (yay!)
- Tuesday: Interview to become sixth form librarian at lunch; final rehearsal for drama after school until 5.30; Year 13 leavers' concert 7-9.30; staying over at friend's house
- Wednesday: Perform drama; choir at lunch; singing lesson at lunch; end of year party in music; leave school ASAP to go to London to see 'Wicked' with GCSE Drama group; get home at 1 am
- Thursday: Last day of school; have to carry home EVERYTHING in my locker
- Friday: Alton Towers trip (yay!)

Basically it's Tuesday and Wednesday that will be the busiest. I will leave home on Tuesday morning and won't come back until 1 am Thursday morning. This means I will have to take EVERYTHING for my Drama, for the end of year party, for 'Wicked'... everything basicallly. Many more lists will have to be made before then.

Anyway, since it is now very late, I had better go.

Days of compulsory education left- 3
Charlotte's Internet Challenge- Day 5

Day 22: Illness (Continued)

Still ill today, though not as bad as I was last night. I was going to try to go to school for my afternoon lessons, because I have drama and we are performing our final coursework piece on Wednesday, but I just couldn't handle the train journey to get there. Hopefully this way I'll have a bit more time to recover, and won't get ill again, as the next week is SO IMPORTANT. I cannot miss it.

I am also glad I stayed home as I watched the handing over ceremony of power to the US in Iraq, which means the Brits are coming home! I like watching BBC News 24 sometimes, as it means I can watch historic moments such as this as and when they happen. Also, I get to see a story break, which is then reported on the normal news later, and I can say "I saw that when it happened", which I find very exciting. Does that sound strange? Either way, I'm happy that our troops are coming home.

Today is the last day of April, which officially means the end of Blog Every Day April. This doesn't really effect me: I have 8 more days of my Blog Almost Every Day April And Part Of May, but I'm going to miss reading people's blogs and watching their vlogs everyday. On the other hand, it does mean I will spend less time doing this. On that subject, just at the time I give up Facebook and Twitter for 46 days, my favourite musical goes and gets a facebook and a twitter page. Typical.

Anyway, I should go. Sleep. Yum.

Days of compulsory education left: 4
Days of Charlotte's Internet Challenge: 4- only 42 to go!

Day 21: Illness

Now have fever as well as horribly sore throat. Am only on computer as I need to write and essay, and I didn't want to miss a day. Hopefully will be better tomorrow. Fail :(

Day 20: Early Days

So as I mentioned yesterday, I am going to the theatre tonight. I'm going to see 'As You Like It' and then staying at a friend's house afterwards, which is why I am writing my blog now.

It may not seem a different time to you that I am writing this, since you can read it at any time you want, but for me it is 7.12 in the morning. I'm just getting ready for school now- have to leave in fifteen minutes, so this will be short and rubbish.

I have my terminal task today (have to write song in half an hour then perform it) but I'm not too worried at the moment. I can only do what I can, and I can't really prepare that much for it, so I think that I am as ready as I will ever be. But once I've done this today, I will have already completed 75% of my Music GCSE. The other 25% is done in my exam, which happens to be the first exam I have, which is good as I will have the least pressure in the one as it is worth the least. Since I normally find the first exam the hardest in terms of pressure, it's good that I shouldn't do this time so I can just get into the routine.

Anyway better go now, wish me luck!

Day 19: Day of Realisation

So when I woke up this morning, something totally unexpected happened.

I realised how soon exams are.

I know that I often talk about exams, and I don't really want to anymore, but I wanted to celebrate the fact that FINALLY, 16 days before my first exam, I have realised that I am about to actually have to do some work.

However, there's not much you can really do about it at six o'clock in the morning, so this called for a list to be made. You see, I also have quite a few other things going on at the moment, including my final Drama coursework performance next week, and my Music Terminal Task (I have to write a song in half an hour to get 15% of my Music GCSE mark) tomorrow. Normally, I would be stressing at this point, especially since I am out tomorrow at the theatre, which means that I will lose an entire evening of potential work time, but I'm not stressed right now. That is because today, I feel, has been rather productive.

I had a Biology mock this morning, which went terribly, which is extremely worrying considering it is the only subject I have properly revised. I then had a chemistry practical, which could potentially be part of my GCSE, which also went terribly as I had to work on my own, despite my fear of chemicals and the fact that I had no IDEA what the hell I was doing. I still don't. But I did it, and my teacher said she was proud of me :) (when I say I'm scared of chemistry practicals, I mean I literally freeze and just want to leave. I don't even want to sit and watch, but I have to. But that's another story...) However, all the rubbishness of the morning was soon forgotten, as I discovered that that was the LAST chemistry practical I EVER have to do in my LIFE. Which makes me happy.

I then had my LAST EVER P.E. lesson, which made me happy. I don't hate sport, but I just hate P.E. lessons. I won't discuss that on here though for fear of upsetting people...

The rest of the day wasn't particularly special, but this evening I have only wasted about 10 minutes of my time, which makes me VERY happy. I feel kinda relieved without all of my other websites now. It's not like I needed them, I just checked them out of habit. I would go on Facebook or twitter just to have a quick look and then end up spending ages on them. It's only Day 1 of the four websites challenge, but I think it will go well.

However, I am still in the internet habit. When I see or hear something, I have to decide what to do with this information. Some I obviously keep to myself/ tell the relavant person, but more trivial things that I have to let out of my system need a release. Some things I think might interest or are directed at my friends, so I Facebook it. There are somethings that I don't think are particularly interesting, but that I have to let out, so I Twitter it and allow it to get lost in cyberspace. Other things I want to blog about, but by the time I come to write a blog, I have forgotten them. These things get lost in the recycle bin of my mind.

I want to try to get out of this. Whilst I don't think that there is anything wrong with expressing ourselves on the internet, I don't want to get so into the habit of it that I can't break it. Already today there have been things that I have wanted to go on Facebook for, which is BAD. But I feel free. Yippee.

Anyway, tis getting late and I need my sleep. Shall talk to you tomorrow, infact, in the MORNING of tomorrow. I mean, BEFORE NOON. That must be a first.

Days of compulsory education left- 7

Day 18: Hello, Mr Guilt

I love my bedroom. It is the one room in the world that symbolises me- it contains all my belongings, is painted my favourite colour (yellow) and has pictures and other things I like stuck up on the surfaces that won't get too damaged by blu tack. Basically, if you walked into my room, you would know that it belonged to me.

Not only does it symbolise me, but it is also the place that I spend 85% of my time when I am home. It is perfect. However, recently, I don't want to be here.

You see, every time I come into my room, Guilt is waiting for me. Sometimes he's sitting on my bed. Sometimes he's hiding under it. Sometimes he's sitting in my chair, which is particularly annoying as we then have to argue for a bit until he finally gets up and lets me sit down. I've asked him politely to leave, but he's not going anywhere. He says he's staying here until the 11th of June, which coincidentally is the date of my last exam.

I don't think it's just coincidence that Guilt has promised to stay that long. You see, the other reason that you can tell this is my room is by its distinct lack of any evidence of work or revision. I have three quarters of one of my wardrobe doors covered in post it notes, reminding me about one half of the Biology I have to learn, and I have a couple of pointers about 'How to Write a Drama Essay' on the other wardrobe door, and a small messy pile of revision textbooks covered in dust on top of a shelf. But that's it.

17 days.

17 days until my first exam.

But I CAN'T revise. It's impossible. And I HATE that.

So I have to do something about it.

You know I mentioned I was going to cut down on internet usage? Well now I really am, BIG time.

Until 11th of June 2009, I am only allowed to go on four websites:

-YouTube
-Hotmail
-Blogger
-BBC

Now this may seem a bit feeble, since I could still quite easily waste my time on these sites, but let me explain. Blogger I have to come on, it being Blog Almost Every Day April And Part Of May and all. Hotmail I also have to go on to check my emails, which takes on average 30 seconds a day, so that should be ok. BBC includes BBC Bitesize, which I will probably turn to in times of need. As for YouTube (and also BBC iPlayer, I'm sure you were probably thinking about that too), well, I need a break sometime. I am not someone who can keep going and going and going. My brain has to have a break sometime.

This does also exclude Facebook and Twitter, two of my biggest wastes of time recently. So in all, I think that this will cut down internet usage dramatically.

I should also note that any website I am required to use for homework is allowed, and also Google, although I have the Google toolbar, so this is technically not going on the website.

OH NO. I forgot Wikipedia. And so many others. This is gonna be tougher than I thought...

But it will happen. 46 days of only four websites. It can be done, right?