-A Day In The Life-

Relocating.

2010-09-25T10:37:00.001-07:00

www.kill-city-kid.blogspot.com

Of results and hyperventalation.

2010-08-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Image from WeHeartIt.

I woke up on results day thinking "shit".
I had seriously mentally prepared myself for the worst. I was going to be happy with one A, two Bs and whatever I could scrape from media studies, but I was terrified of not even getting that. I know it's "only" the A/S's and it doesn't determine where I go to university just yet, but due to predicted grades and all that malarkey it's definitely going to affect the offers I get.

So, I got into the hall, and opened the envelope (after hiding with Emma in the corner). Thirty seconds later, having actually read the stuff, I was literally hyperventilating.
It wasn't what I had hoped for.
It was better than I could ever have expected.
The long and short of it is:-
Music - A
Media - A
English lit - A
Japanese - B.
I was NOT expecting three As. I thought I'd be lucky to scrape one. And the lack of Cs on the list means that I can apply to the universities I like AND take the three subjects I love. Bye bye media studies!
Well done all!

Today's music has been on the brain for ages.

Peace&Love

Of foreboding and the city...

2010-08-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

Photo by me :)

I'm sure I was made for the city.

I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but if it weren't for money issues I would've been a Londoner. And now I've been to Paris. I think it's safe to say I am in love with the place. I made a wish going under the bridge (the one where you're meant to fall in love), but I won't tell you what it was or it won't come tree ;). Then on the way back we went through London in a cab, and I remembered how much I love that too. As it is, for the next year I will be remaining in shit-village-in-the-middle-of-nowhere. Still, could be worse. It's safe, I guess. Unlike the next town I might add [see people-going-when-the-light-turns-green-even-if-there's-a-pedestrian-right-in-front-of-them.]

It's weird to think that I'll be moving out in just over a year. I kind of feel mentally ready for it, but at the same time I don't want to leave all my friends behind! The other thing is the unpredictable nature of the move. I don't know WHERE I'm actually moving to. But Thursday might go some way to deciding...
Thursday. Results day. FUUUUUUUCK.
(And they actually matter this time!)
I'm hoping to get an A in music and Bs in everything else, but I'll have to see. This also goes some way to determining what I drop this year. I know what I WANT it to be, but I'll have to see...

In the meantime, here's the music for today :)

Peace&Love

Of joy and wanderlust.

2010-07-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

Image from WeHeartIt.

Hmmm. Summer.
Well, it's great not being in school, but I haven't really been doing, well, anything in particular. Ok so I've been drawing stuff inspired by northern mythology and playing me ukelele but yeah. Also I read Wuthering Heights and it was SO GOOD. But not as good as generally socialising. Everyone seems to be away or booked up, and I am stuck in England, looking wistfully at pictures of the Nordic countries. One day...
On the plus side, I have a couple of mates to meet up with, and in mid August I will be spending a couple in days in the good old Pariiiis (where I've never actually been before and am very excited about.

Also, I just got the news that I passed my music theory this time round! On top of that, I got a merit. I am very pleased with this, and that's one less thing to worry about when university hunting.
I know I haven't been writing very faithfully on this lately, but now the exams are over and done with I should have more time as a distraction from the distinct lack of boyfriend as he too is off on holiday next week. It was our nine months today, how time flies...

Today's music is in spirit of the aforementioned book.

Peace&Love

Of ageing and updating.

2010-07-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to be on much lately. First, my internet went down, for nine days. But it's back now. And then I've just been doing other things.
In this time, I got hit by a car (it was going at like 10 miles an hour but I twisted my foot breaking my fall, nothing's broken but it hurts like fuck. Then I went to see the University of York and fell in love somewhat... it's one of the hardest ones on my current shortlist to get into, though. Hmm.... The day in question was also my seventeenth birthday! Raves ensued and I am now the proud owner of a whole bunch of CDs, a new birdcage necklace and a minature TARDIS, among other things. Thankee all!

And now there's the end of term blues. I mean, it's not like I particularly enjoy school of anything, but nearly everyone's away over the summer. And I'm stuck here in England the entire time, save a possible/probable weekend in Paris with the family, which should be awesomely awesome. And I'm already scared about results day. And Goggles is leaving. To be honest I don't blame her in the slightest. The only reason I'm still there is for the very few people who I care about and actually give a shit about me too, and the fact that I want to get decent marks so I can get into a good uni and just start all over again. I'm not much a fan of it other than that. But then people hae actually been horrible towards Goggles. I am simply ignored.

Nothing else has gone on really, so just today's music (Stratovarius) and a picture that made me smile.

Image from WeHeartIt.

Peace&Love

Of days out and not caring less.

2010-06-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

Image from WeHeartIt.

Today was a good day.
Again :).
I went up to town. Took like an hour to get there due to train's Sunday services, but ah well. I was in the same carriage as Georgie for a lot of it, not ever realising until we both stood up, saw each other and looked suprised. Epic fail.
We were then joined by Emma, and later by Andy, upon walking up to meet him. The next two hours or so were spent joking around in the park, until Emma and Andy left to go and watch the football. Having no interest in this, Georgie and myself walked through what had become something of a ghost town due to the aforementioned football, hung out in Starbucks for a while and did a bit of shopping. Well, she did, I only had money for George's birthday present. I am now officially broke. Yay. We were then amused by the person on the train who was playing Rihanna so loudly that it managed to out-drown Hypocrisy. That's almost impressive. The simple things in life are always the best.

And yeah, we lost the football epically, and it's a shame, but fucking stupid referee aside I think people are taking it way too seriously. Especially in that there's going to be some kind of formal inquest into why we did so shite. I'm kind of in the "it's only a game" mentality. Plus, if you've seen Mark Webber's death-defying crash after hitting Heikki Kovalainen in the F1 today, you will understand why I find the football pretty dull. Thank God he's ok.

Today's music is from one of Mr Heino's various solo gigs. If he released an album of this stuff, I'd so buy it. Great for the summer.

Peace&Love

Of sun, sun and sun! (THIS POST IS FULL OF HAPPINESS.)

2010-06-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

Images from WeHeartIt.

It's sunny! In England!
Needless to say I am in a very good mood right now.
I had a great weekend too - Saturday I went into town with Carmen to see a bunch of local bands (RAP-FUNK FTW) and got thrown filthy looks by posh women in a tie shop. I'm sorry, but I thought that the discussion of how Lady Gaga's Alejandro was actually a protest against the persecution of homosexuals was a pretty intelligent conversation. Sunday was town again with George, we got lost somehow and ended up in a children's playground. And all the while, the sun was shining. Summer's a-comin'... at last! Cue feelings of pure elation!
Tomorrow I'm off to investigate Nottingham uni which I'm really looking forward to, and City of London on Saturday. IF I MISS THE DOCTOR WHO FINALE I WILL CRY. But it doesn't really matter. It'll be on iPlayer.
Yesterday it actually hit me that I'm so close to seventeen. If there's one thing I've learnt in the past year, it's not to take anything or anyone for granted. And things don't just come to you. You have to grab hold of them with both hands and never let them go.

Not only am I in a good mood, but seeing other people happy is great too. Congratulations are in order to Smiffy! And Jukka Nevalainen.

Such a mood has to be accompanied by Brother Firetribe, so that's the music for today. I don't see my love of this man's vocal chords ending any time soon. Just to warn you.

Peace&Love

Of freedom and dread.

2010-06-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

Image from WeHeartIt.

A/S exams.
Finished.

Well, thank the Gods or giant lack thereof for that! It's a fairly strange feeling though. I woke up on Thursday (the first day of freedom) and didn't know what the hell to do with myself. I still don't entirely, in fact all I've done was blown the whole of May's budget (due to not going out at all that month, not the most sensible thing to do I know), and before I knew what was happening, I was tossed back into school to start A2s.
All I know is, I cannot stand media studies.
I knew that already. But I seriously cannot wait to drop it. It's not even that there's anything wrong with it, exactly, it's just... not for me. On the plus side, I'm loving the rest of my subjects. Writing and music and languages, oh my!

I've also been really tired recently. I'm not sure why exactly, but it's probably just the shock of being thrust headfirst back into the old routine again. Coca cola is still the only thing keeping me awake, to be honest. That, my friends, and rock n' roll.

George is in Holland for the next few days (I am insanely jealous), but I'm seeing him on Sunday. The town I almost live in is also having some kind of culture festival which for some reason I'd never investigated, but Carmen the Barman is going to show me the stuff on Saturday, which should be great.

I also have creative block, and I feel the urge to do this thing up again. I don't entirely know how yet though.

Today's music is a tad different from my normal listenings - Sugahspank! A few Greek bloggers I follow have been mentioning her, so I decided to have a listen.

Peace&Love

And while we're here, the problem with loving music from another country is when a Dio memorial gala pops up at a club you've wanted to visit for ages in which Marco Awesome Hietala, Tuple Epic Samela, Pekka Gorgeous Heino and Jarkko Fabulous Ahola are playing, and you're two time zones away from it and also a year-and-three-weeks (woah seriously?!) too young for it anyway. Daaaaaang.

Of detective shows and anticipation.

2010-06-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

Image from WeHeartIt.

Three down.
One to go.
Today was English literature. Two long hours of it. I think it went alright, although I hate a fair few of the texts. Still, got to answer the main question on Thomas Fabulous Hardy.
Media tomorrow. Oh God. Not much I can do about that.
And then.
It'll all be over (for this year, anyhow).
So I will hopefully have something more interesting to say. As it is, I am curled up on the sofa, cup-a-soup in one hand, watching Luther (I bloody love detective programmes). It's barely summer yet, but somehow watching this makes me wish it was winter again. And I wish I was by the river Thames, with my coat and hat. And my friends. And George. I've had an absolutely phemomenal lack of social life over the past month. Still, end of exams will be immediately followed by mammoth shopping trips and Hayley's birthday piss up. And a haircut at last.

Anyway, Luther is fabulous (and has a fabulous theme tune), I have nothing more to say here, so here's some Stratovarius. Rock n' roll is a fabulous thing.

Peace&Love

Of Eurovision raves and sexual innuendos

2010-05-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

There are no words to describe how funny the Eurovision song contest was last night.
For this reason, I will first sum it up in quotes:
"Wow, she even looks like a volcano!"
"SHUT UP EVERYONE, THERE'S A FINN!"
"Can I smell your Woo-Woo, in the least sexual way intended?"
"And this is the problem with being an island."
And of course...
"STRIP ERIK STRIP!"
(Sorry Emma, couldn't find the moment on YouTube :P)

Basically, Smiffy, myself, Carmen, Goggles, Becky, Dan and Joel had a Eurovision based rave, and some of us marked the entrants out of twenty.The UK, of course, had a spectacularly shit entry, and we all actually went up in cheers when Belarus got the twelve points that put us into last place. Personal favourites were Moldova, Greece, Turkey, France, Bosnia&Herzegovina and Georgia. My boyfriend, who is fully aware of my obsession with Finnish music, will not stop taunting me about that fact that they didn't even make it to the final. Nearly all of Spain's points came from the random gatecrasher who jumped on stage. Armenia divided male and female opinions, let's just say ;). We all started doing aerobics to the French entry. I think I headbanged a bit too hard (the back of my neck really hurts!), but at least didn't have the earring-to-the-eye mishap that Georgie did.

I can't possible recal the hilariousness of the whole night, so here's Moldova for you. We were VERY distracted by the violinist.

Peace&Love

Of mashed up brains and acousitc guitars.

2010-05-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

Image from WeHeartIt.

My music exam is tomorrow.
...
If I hear another tonic pedal note, I think I'm going to have a break down.
Still, I can't really complain. This is the subject I've chosen to do after all, possibly for a long, long time after I leave school, if I decide to do a Masters degree. This is how I made my bed, I swear to God I'll lie in it!
Still, not a big revision fan. Who is? Today has consisted of attempting to digest my music anthology, and Van Morrison on repeat before I literally had to dash to the toilet so Mum didn't notice me blasting my ears out with ANYTHING ELSE. There are some music pieces I like. Van Morrison is not one of them.
I miss GCSE revision. Then it was like, revise for half an hour and then watch Poirot. Not any more!
Still, this time tomorrow, it'll all be over. And on Saturday it's time for a Eurovision fest. Apparently Finland got knocked out in the semi finals, so now I will be supporting France. Because I can. Because, let's face it, our entry is shite.

Sometimes I think my life would be so much more eventful if JD from Scrubs was narrating it. Or if not, if some guy with an acoustic guitar followed me around everywhere and sang the soundtrack to my life. AND I'D WANT HIM TO SOUND LIKE THIS:

Peace&Love

Of good causes and achievement.

2010-05-24T04:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I achieved the unthinkable.
For me anyway. Most people who know be will be fully aware that I am not a sporty person. I am also incredibly unfit. I can't run 30 metres to the train station from my house without feeling like I'm going to have an athsma attack. And I don't ever suffer from athsma.
However, yesterday, through a mixture of walking, jogging and even some running, I, er, travelled five kilometres on foot in only fourty minutes. And why did I undergo such an insane task?

Hayley, myself and Emma, pre-run.

The answer is, for the prevention of cancer. This was the Race for Life, where you get people to sponsor you to run, jog or walk for five kilometres and all the money is given to Cancer Research UK. It's an all-woman event, but it'll raise money to fund research into all types of cancer.

We were each given an number to stick on our front, and also a label for your back. On this label, you could write the names of specific people that you were racing for.

That was a strange experience. There were over three thousand people there, and on their backs were the names of all the people they knew who had died of or are suffering from the disease. Some of them had whole lists of people, some just a few, and some had summed it up be writing "the 1 in 3" or something along those lines. That got me thinking. Cancer affects so many people, I knew that already, but this kind of put everything in perspective for me. There's musicians that I've already mentioned on here, Dio, McLaren, and Andrew Lloyd Webber is also living with the disease. And then it's affected me too - an English teacher at my school passed away from the disease when I was in year ten, and so did my grandmother in 2006. Her's was the name I put on my label.

So, I feel like I've really achieved something, and at the same time I know that it's not a purely selfish feat, and it is going to help other people everywhere. Now I just need all my friends to pay up!

Just to lighten the mood a bit, today's music is the somewhat amusing sight of Tarot back in the eighties. Marco looks like he's wearing a poodle on his head!

Peace&Love

Of coming full circle.

2010-05-21T02:55:00.000-07:00

Image from WeHeartIt.

I had my first exam yesterday. Japanese A/S. I think it went alright, which is good. A million times better than the mock, so I'm pretty sure I've got more than an E this time round.
This got me thinking - it must've been almost a year since I started writing this thing. Upon checking, I discovered that sure enough, my first post here was made on the 25th May 2009. I initially started this thing up as a distraction from my GCSE exams (which now seem like they must've been so easy), and to avoid the unending shit that is daytime television whilst on study leave. Since then all kinds of things have happened to me, and now I'm back in exam season again. How time flies. What have I achieved in the past year?
Well, I've kept writing in this thing, unlike I ever have in diaries, which I guess shows some kind of commitment.
I've also gained some good GCSE grades, great additions to the iPod, and a boyfriend. I think it has been time well spent.
Well, right now it's stiflingly hot so I don't know why the hell I'm inside, plus the fact that I've only written two of the ten essays that have accumulated due to my spending all my time on Japanese.
I will leave you with today's music, one of the aforementioned fantastic iPod additions, the lovely Leverage.

Peace&Love

Of studying and losses to metal.

2010-05-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

Image from WeHeartIt.

Tuesday.
Japanese exam on Thursday.
This is followed by music, English and media.
I have been spending every waking moment of my life studying. If I get any more stressed, my head is actually going to explode.

Still, in a month's time, this'll all be over. It'll be summer, it'll be carefree, some of my friends might be able to drive so we can go anywhere. (My goal is Paris but due to lack of money I don't know how realistic this). Also, my family just got tickets to go and see Gorillaz in September. They used to be my favourite band, I haven't listened to them properly for a while now but I'm still excited. Plus it'll be Damon Albarn round #4.

I'm gonna try and get an early night as I have a whole day of Japanese revision ahead of me, but before I go, (sorry to end on a sad note) I have to mention Mr Ronnie James Dio, who passed away last weekend after a battle with stomach cancer. It's a sad day for rock and roll.
1942-2010. RIP

Funny the things you notice after something like this happens. The first thing I noticed was that his wikipedia article had been re-written in the past tense. Today's music is Holy Diver.
Peace&Love

Of a week in pictures

2010-05-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

Except Thursday. Nothing ever seems to happen on a Thursday...

Monday brought with it a pear shaped like a dick, much to the amusment of my friends.

Tuesday brought with it massive political change, and destroyed a lot of my faith in this country.

Wednesday brought with it the weirdest weather EVER.

Friday brought with it a party-in-the-park with a Peter-Pan-piss-up theme.

Well, that's all you'll be hearing from me for like a week. My Japanese exam is in like NO DAYS and I am bricking it, so I'll be spending most of my time revising.

Today's "music" is the only thing preventing me from having an exam induced breakdown.

Peace&Love

Of taking things seriously and cravings for cheesecake.

2010-05-10T02:20:00.000-07:00

Picture from WeHeartIt. I recently discovered this site. It's awesome.

Right now, I'm on home study. And I actually did some studying. This is me, taking things seriously. John Tavener has been thoroughly scrutinised. But hey, the sun is shining. For once. And I really fancy some cheesecake. I had some when I was at Wagamamas with Emma and Zoe (I can't do funny accents on my computer) and the other Emma and Ash and Moos and that other guy who's name I can't remember, and I've been craving it since then. Whoever decided to put cheese in a cake is actually a genius.

Sooo... we still have no government, so to speak. Political envy of the world? I think so. Or not.

Errrm I saw George for the first time in ages yesterday, which I guess was for an extremely belated six months. It was awesomesauce of course. We wandered around singing Eiffel 65 and talking about gene pools.

Exams are HIDEOUSLY CLOSE and due to my school being a monumental fuck up I have no study leave for the hardest one! Ah well.

So, home study is nearly over and I need to actually leave for school in less than twenty minutes, so goodbye for now.

Today's music is BLACK SABBATH. I should really stop watching so many programmes about metal.

Peace&Love

Of political failings and phenomenal lack of social life.

2010-05-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Haven't had much time to post here lately, due to mammoth amounts of revision I've only been reading stuff.
I've also been suprisingly interested in the general election.
So, when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, he was a natural progression from Tony Blair and we didn't vote for him. We've just had an election, and due to there being no party with enough seats to form a government, Gordon Brown is STILL Prime Minister and we didn't vote for him this time either!
England evidentally has a clear idea of the concept of "democracy".
Whatever. Rather him than Cameron. But that's just my opinion. And Clegg owns them both.
Anyhow, I am very tired and writing this at some ungodly hour so I will be off.
Today's music has been stuck in my head for the past week.

Peace&Love

Of exhaustion and coca cola

2010-04-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been the most hectic of my life:
Thursday: Music exam
Friday: Music exam
Monday: Media moderation, school concert
Tuesday: Music exam

And it goes on:
Wednesday: Japanese mock
Thursday: University convention
Friday: Music exam.

As Emma would say, FUCK MY LIIIIIIIFE! Still, I am beginning to gradually tick things off my stress list. I seriously need a notepad specifically for lists. I write lists of things to do, lists of stuff to buy, pointless lists like ranking orders of vocalists/countries to visit/political parties, and fuck knows what else.

Anyhow, due to the above list, I am absolutely exhausted. The only thing that stopped me from dropping off at like five o'clock was a can of coke. Woo, caffine! Yesterday we had the school concert, which was awesome (save the out of tune recorders, I didn't even know that was possible!) And I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor is bloody hard to sing without a northern accent.

Today's music is from Tarot's new album. For reasons unbeknownst to me I find the video absolutely hilarious, but the song is good :)

I'm also loving this:

Peace&Love

Of tediousness and preperation.

2010-04-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well. I feel exhausted. I've texted more tonight that over the whole of the last two weeks, and my bag weighs a tonne. People I am ready for school. Not. And I can guarantee that all my essays are shocking.

The last few days have been literally filled with pessimism. Tuomas Holopainen once said "everything is possible. Even the impossible." Which in anyone else's life would be an optimistic notion. Not in mine. Hey, I was told it was impossible to fail Grade 5 music theory, but look what I've gone and done! (I'm over this enough to be able to laugh about it now.)

Nothing else to report. Today's music is from Massive Attack's new album. Feat. Damon Albarn.

Peace&Love

Of universities and the city.

2010-04-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

I went up to London with George yesterday. Forgot Mum's camera of course, so here are my crappy phone pictures:

I was meant to live here. Seriously. Apparently I would've been if my family had been able to afford it.

Today, on the other hand, was spent ordering uni prospectuses, noting down open days etcetra etcetra. I ordered about twelve, but I have two uni's that I love (York and Nottingham) and one where I love the course but not so much the rest of the place (City of London. The trouble is, I'm constantly worrying that I'm aiming too high. York and Nottingham both have pretty much everything I'm looking for - courses with varying modules so you can get an all round view of the subject (music) while still focussing on certain areas, study abroad oppurtunities to places I' really interested in (Finland and Japan respectively), and they're in good locations. Plus they're quite far from where I live, and while I love my family, I don't particularly fancy living with them and commuting up to London every day. Which would be what would happen.

However, I need two As and a B for York, and one A and two Bs for Nottingham, and I don't know if I can manage it. Then there's the trouble of what subjects to take next year: I love English and I fucking HATE media studies, but should I take the one I like more, or suffer for a year if I'd be more likely to get into a decent uni? Ugh, this is such a mission! Help! At least I know the exact course I want to take...

Also, my thoughts go out to everyone in Poland following the plane crash that killed many important members of their government, including the president. May they all rest in peace.

Today's music is a Florence & The Machine demo. I like it way more than the final version!

Peace&Love

Of lazy days and punk legends.

2010-04-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

Today I had a lazy day. It sounds better than "downright boring".

If I'm wearing my paint encrusted, much too big hoodie, you can tell I'm not planning on going anywhere. I think the only times I've worn it in public were on the Japan trip, which it was for, and after Nightwish, because my hair was greasy with alchohol, pyrotechnic and Finn. So yeah, it has memories attatched.
I was housebound for the whole day due to having to wait for the washing machine repairman. We asked for a callout between eight and twelve. Guy turned up at two. And I have been all on my owny all day.
What have I done? Well I had an amazingly healthy lunch of ryvita, cheese string and cookies, I took some photos of some flowers in the garden (inspired by the sheer number of photography based blogs now gracing my following list, damn I wish I could take photos like that!), watched Outnumbered and Russell Howard's Good News (comedy - the only thing the British still do better than anywhere else), and some revision in my Leverage-pun infested notebook (nine colours, eight pages and two hours later and I'm still no closer to liking Van Morrison. And now I think I will play some Sims. Typically the one day I can't go out is the one day the sun is actually shining.

Today I heard the sad news that a punk legend and creator of the Sex Pistols (who are simultaneously one of the worst and best bands in existence), passed away. RIP Malcolm McLaren.

Today's music is in his honour.

Peace&Love

Of camdening and rain.

2010-04-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

Today was the day of mine and Emma's seasonal trip to Camden. Unfortunately, being England, it was absolutely pissing down.

A crappy photo of some things drawn for the occasion.

I love Camden and all the eccentrics you find there. I bought a nice dress, and despite the rain it was still a trip to the city. And the city, really, is where I want to be. I'm fed up of living in the middle of nowhere.

One of these days, I'll start doing proper photography ;)

Today's music is for Emma.

Peace&Love

Of rebirth and art.

2010-04-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

I SAW A DAFFODIL TODAY.
My life is so interesting.

So, Easter. Also my younger brother's birthday. A time of celebration, of thankfullness.

Of rebirth.

I've noticed that a few people have been turning over new leaves with their blogs and such, but I don't really want to do that. I like reflecting over what's already happened. Even though my computer made loads of shitting pointless typos in my old posts for no reason whatsoever.

What I have done, however, is started drawing again.

My confidence kind of took a massive knock when I did so shit in my GCSE, and I kind of haven't drawn anything properly since. Just doodling. But lately I realised, yeah my coursework and such was fucking awful, but the only way I can change that is by practicing.

I'm so glad I didn't do A Level. I would hate it. I would be knee deep in shit by now. I wouldn't be doing Japanese, which I've come to love. But the best part is that now I can just draw the things that I want, and not what's going to get me the most marks. I prefer to keep it as a hobby, since music's gone way past that now. It's got to the point where it's like the second most important thing in my life (after the people close to me). And that's sad.

Today's music is Serj Tankian, who remains in my last.fm top fifteen. Along with My Chemical Romance. And Vivaldi. And Sonata Arctica. I don't know how the fuck this happened.

Peace&Love

Of a newly revised bucket list.

2010-04-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

- Study music at university.
- Tour Europe by train and visit every capital city.
- Learn to walk in slip on shoes.
- Join some kind of group of political activists.
- Join a band.
- See the Northern Lights.
- Read all the works of Shakespeare.
- Go scuba diving.
- Meet Tuomas Holopainen.
- Dye my hair some insane colour.

I'm sitting here surrounded by stray paper, a vegetarian cookbook and my beloved iPod. And it's bloody freezing.

Spring is finally upon us. I hate spring, basically due to the weather (I'm British, all I do is complain about the weather!). It's mild and rainy, the inbetween season. And I like extremes. Still, it's a time for new beginnings. I think I'm going to fiddle around with the colourscheme on this thing.

Easter holidays - a bittersweet feeling. On one hand it's great to be off school and to be able to go out and do all kinds of crazy things with my friends and boyfriend, but on the downside I will be spending nearly all of it working. A/S level exams are painfully close.

We didn't make the media deadline, which sucks. I don't want it to sound like I'm blaming someone else for my own mistakes, but to be honest, the teachers were the ones who never gave us any equimpment with which to do the aforementioned coursework, and thus it is ALL THEIR FAULT. Ah well... we're nearly done, so we'll be getting it in as soon as humanly possible.

Today's music is Leverage. Because the vocals from 3.34 to 3.45 made my heart skip a beat.

Peace & Love

Of gentle music and rowdy behaviour.

2010-03-28T04:56:00.000-07:00

Waking up today was the weirdest sensation. I was still wearing my clothes minus jewellery and jacket, and I was lying on the floor in a sleeping bag surrounded by empty lager cans and bottles of Woo Woo. The sunlight was gently streaming through the curtains, people were just beginning to stir, and Josh (who will be forever immortalised by the fact that he had a dream about being raped by Spongebob Squarepants) was playing this gentle music on an acoustic guitar. I'm normally really grouchy in the morning, especially since this particular night I had got about three hours sleep, but something about the whole atmosphere... it's been a while since I felt so calm, or content.

For yesterday was the day of Georgie's infamous birthday party. As expected, a complete rave. Lady Gaga was appreciated, onion rings were consumed, alchohol was drunk, awful jokes were told, discussions about dreams were had, and pictures of Johnny Depp were unceremoniously oggled. I barely got any sleep - we went to bed at like half two, rested for twenty minutes, got back up and talked until ten to five in the morning. Needless to say, I am knackered. I think Ed was the only one who got any sleep, being as he passed out around midnight and was completely out of it, even when we got Georgie's dog to lick marmite off his face. All in all, another great night.

[And it's me & George's five months today!]

Today's music is in spirit of last night.

Peace & Love

Of shoes and film loving.

2010-03-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

LOOK AT THESE SHOES.

I am somewhat amazed by these shoes. They probably cost an arm and a leg, but there's no harm in oggling them!
Apparently they were inspired by the new Tim Burton version of Alice In Wonderland, which I finally went to see last weekend with Emma. IT WAS SO GOOD. And I equally want Alice's dress in the Red Queen's castle.

I also went about watching Repo! The Genetic Opera on the internet. My internet connection is SHITE so I didn't get to see all of it (thankfully Hannah said she's lend me the DVD), but what I did get to see was SO GOOD.

Anyhow, film loving aside, tonight I'm going to Georgie's birthday party [B.Y.O.B] which should be a RAVE.

Today's music is from Repo!

Peace & Love

Of songs and numbers.

2010-03-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

Myself In Five Songs:

1. Escapist - Nightwish

I think I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again. Even though everything in my life is fine, I still want to get out sometimes. I do this by daydreaming, pretty much. When I'm brought back to reality, it sometimes feels like I'm trapped, even if reality's not all that bad. Also, at times I feel really down for no apparent reason, just because I've become disenchanted with everything, and the dreaming helps me then too. This song pretty much represents that. I've been like this for as long as I can remember, so when I first heard the song, I was a bit startled! It's so like me it's uncanny.

2. I'm On Fire - Brother Firetribe

Assuming that fire here is a metaphor for being over the moon, as opposed to having a MASSIVE HARD ON. Back at Hayley's Christmas party I had my first proper kiss (in her bedroom, ha ha!), and for the rest of the night I was basically mooning around in a semi-dream, helping people downstairs, lying about the time to get them to sober up quicker and being a dettol-meister with Becky. I was so excited about the whole thing, so the song kinda represents that.

3. Eternal Life - Jeff Buckley

There's all kinds of shit going on in the world, and I just kinda wish it would all stop. That's kind of what the song is about. Simple as that.

4. Nothing - PAIN

I have a few insecurities about not being accepted and not getting anywhere. The song's true - no matter what you have there'll always be something more, and eventually people destroy themselves trying to get it. The darker side of human nature.

5. The Angry Mob - Kaiser Chiefs

It's no secret that I'm not a massive fan of this country. The politics, the weather, AND THE IDIOTIC DRIVERS WHO COME SPEEDING ROUND THE CORNER AND NEARLY RUN YOU OVER THEN YELL AT YOU LIKE IT'S YOUR FAULT. This song's kind of just a depiction of mundane Britishness.
But here's the thing - I know perfectly well that my dreams would be far easier to achieve if I were to move to another country, but I'd never be able to do that, not really. I'm bound here by the people I'd leave behind. And actually, I'm ok with that.

Peace & Love

Of 60-man-strong pissups and skateboards.

2010-03-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

Revelation of the day: The worst thing ever is when you reach into a packet of mini cheddars, expecting to get the last one, only to discover that you've already eaten it.
Go me and my fast metabolism.

Yesterday I went to an uncle's birthday party, where I met loads of distant relatives and family friends who I didn't know existed.
My Dad's brother's wife's brother's daughter is a fellow Nightwish fan.
My Dad's cousin's son's girlfriend is a Portuguese mime artist.
I think my family is a bit awesome. Insane on every level, but awesome.

Today I attempting skateboarding. George was trying to teach me, and let's be honest, I was SHIT, but it was fun all the same. Plus I got a peculiar sense of self-worth when I was able to tell the desperate F1 fan what the results of the Grand Prix had been. Though he was annoyed at the result (1. Alonso 2. Massa 3. Hamilton), I still, y'know, helped him.
Kinda.

I really don't want to go back to school tomorrow. This is made essentially worse by home study in the morning, so by the time I get around to leaving I'll be dreading it even more.
But I' still rather have a lie in.

Today's music I'm pretty sure is originally Guns 'n Roses. Sung by the amazing beardman.

Peace & Love

Of exam success and new haircuts

2010-03-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

I got some results back recently.
I did my performance exam in music (the bit I'm actually good at) and got full marks, and I also got the marks back for my whole critical thinking A/S. I got a B, which I was chuffed about considering that I didn't really give a damn so long as I got more than an F. So all is well in nerdy land.

I also got a new haircut today. It's almost as short as I had it back in the summer, and I really like it, even though the colour is still fucked up beyond all redemption. My roots are absolutely horrifying. It was semi permanent. It's supposed to wash out dammit! WASH OUT!

(This is basically a message for Emma): Incidentally, when she'd washed my hair she combed it all back from my face, and bloody hell, I DO have a REALLY square head!

Today's music... is in ANOTHER LANGAUGE.

Peace & Love

(EDIT @ 21:05 - This time last year, I watched Nightwish walk on to the stage at Brixton. Exactly a year ago. TO THE MINUTE.)

Of reunions and pizza.

2010-03-06T06:31:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently. The most exciting thing that have happened in my life over the past few weeks were a music exam and rice. Yay.

Yesterday was Emma's birthday party, and nine of us went up to Pizza Express. I was getting a lift with Carmen, and we ended up being really late because she couldn't find her phone, but oh well. I saw Aly for the first time in AGES, and finally got to give her her Christmas present! I think Jon Bovi was a little freaked out by some of our conversations, particularly the one about how awesome you feel when you've just purchased some new underwear. The conversation also moved to music, where Emma goes "Sofi likes Nightwish", followed by a chorus of "WE'VE HEARD." by everyone else.

All in all, EPIC AWESOME TIMES.

Today's music is Gorillaz. Because they flatly refuse to get old.

And now, I have to do some research for the joys of media studies.
Peace & Love

Oh, and congratulations Nettan :).

Of flowers and inappropriate footwear.

2010-02-20T06:27:00.000-08:00

Today saw even more media studies. We have pretty much all of the filming done now, which is good. One piece of hellish coursework will soon be done and dusted. Living up to expectations, I wore the wrong kind of shoes. Again. This always seems to happen to me, I've ended up wearing boots on the beach before! Today I had red heels on, not realising that we were going to go and film in a MUDDY field. Ah well.
Anyway, I got home complete with mud-caked shoes, and was greeted with a surprise delivery.

Turns out that, knowing that I would be out, George had come round to my house on his way to a football match and dropped these off (belated Valentines day). I've never had flowers before so I was over the moon! I know he won't read this, but thank you!

Peace & Love

Of Mardi Gras and budgetting.

2010-02-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

Between midday on Tuesday and about five on Wednesday, I spent the equivelent of about seven minutes at home. Living life to the full? I think so.
Thursday afternoon was spent a-wandering round town with George, contemplating buying an audio tape of the Moomins, testing out glasses that doubled up as straws (great idea, not so great in the execution) and having a Finnish-Swedish band battle. He bet me that I couldn't name as many Finnish bands as he could name Swedish ones. I did. He made all of his up. I win.
Then I went home to grab some Häagen - Dazs, and went out to Hayley's. Alchohol was consumed by all but me, I woke up with a hangover (THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS), we watched The Grudge 2 and talked fairly candidly about bases. And Emma had awesome novelty glasses. And I slept in my clothes.

(I look hideous.)

THEN I went home again to change my t-shirt and brush my teeth, before going to Cosmo with Emma and Georgie. Ate mammoth amounts despite it's being the first day of Lent, then wandered around town. I spent a grand total of 50p. I am awesome at saving up. Not that this will last due to the simultaneous discovery of this jacket and Brother Firetribe's recently released DVD. Today's music comes from that DVD.

Peace & Love

Of living in a dream.

2010-02-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

I think I know how characters in dreams feel.
"Tell me how does it feel when the dreams become real".
Not that anything particularly interesting happened to me today. But yesterday, I was absolutely CONVINCED that it was Friday, but I know that tomorrow is Saturday. So today was kind of... nothing. The space in between.
"A place between sleep and awake".
I was just kind of walking around, living life as normal, but everything seemed numb and empty. I think it was partly because I'm really tired and it was the last day of term, but I kind of felt like I wasn't completely there. It was cold but I didn't feel it, I caught my semi-split nail so many times but barely noticed, I burnt my tongue on hot chocolate and didn't wince in pain. It was weird. Plus I was thankful that I managed not to impale myself on my sharp music folder.

English Literature really makes me think. Particularly Thomas Hardy. Other than comparing his poetry to episodes of the Moomins, it kind of puts human nature into words. Just as an example, take the first time I went a-wandering round town with George. We sat on a bench for hours just talked. It didn't even matter what we were talking about, just that we were there. But that place in town, it's been there for all the eternity of the world, under different names, and, prehistorically, attatched to Pangea or whatever. (I used to have a dinosaur obsession, I know what the first landmass was called.) It's probably seen absolutely loads of historical things, there's been miriads of people passing by, kings and queens, murderers, lovers, viking invasions... but, because the moment was special to me, I automatically associate that place with that event, even though it's one insignifigant event set against eternity.

Life is too short for memories to fade.

Peace & Love

Of encouraging comments and strange cravings.

2010-02-11T13:19:00.000-08:00

I had parents evening at school today. Saw one of the teachers in Japanese and English, and both for music. I managed to get good comments from everyone, which was encouraging. This was probably due to my media studies teacher being ill and thus unable to attend. She's a great teacher and really lovely, but I am HORRIBLE at that subject.

It's been snowing again here. I love the snow, I just don't like how it mucks up all the public transport. I hate having to wait in the cold. Plus I'm getting a little bit bored of winter now. Even though I love it, I really want it to be summer so I can go out without freezing my arse off. Plus reading My Life Is A Mess has given me a massive craving for strawberries, which I never associate with winter.

What else... saw a string quartet at school today which was awesome. Media coursework still not done. Boyfriend away on Valentines Day so celebrating it on the Tuesday instead. Going for Chinese with Georgie etc. Pancakes and drunkeness with Hayley etc.

I cannot wait for half term.

Peace & Love

Of plaguing questions and disenchantment

2010-02-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

I can't help but wonder what the answers to the following questions are:
-What would life be like if I was bilingual?
-What would life be like if I was completely alone?
-What would life be like if I never dwelled on mistakes and just let things go?
-What will life be like in fifty years time?
-Why is Pingu's dad always ironing when none of them wear any clothes?

Today I'm feeling... disenchanted. It's one of those days when I just want to be somewhere else, just leave and never look back. Though I'd never actually do this. I have escapism to do that for me. And I know that the feeling always passes. Life continues to mundanely roll by, but none of that matters because I know that I have it better than a lot of people. I'm grateful for what I have. There are people here that I'd never be able to leave behind.

And I absolutely love this writer.

Music today is Vivaldi, since I'm that awesome.

Peace & Love

Of callings in life and boredem.

2010-02-06T05:14:00.000-08:00

I get bored way too easily. That's my revalation for the day.
Yesterday I learned a couple of things that are pretty important: Trust your instincts no matter what anyone else says, and being a signpost is the shittiest job ever.
Oh, and I need to be more assertive.
Emi and Carmen filmed some of their media project yesterday (after a casting disaster) and I somehow ended up standing next to Hayley holding up a sign saying "KEEP OUT, FILMING." Of course I was completely ignored by everyone, due to just standing there holding up this folorn piece of paper, while Hayley argued with the people who refused to go away.
I was talking to my singing teacher last night, and she was asking me about university. I know that I want to study music, and I'd also like to study abroad for a little. York used to run a study abroad programme to the continent, but it's since disappeared from their website. My teacher was telling me which countries were good and bad if you were thinking purely from a musical perspective, and I happened to ask her what she knew about the Sibelius Academy, which was one of the links on the programme. She turned to me and exclaimed "Oh, Finland's a great country for music, especially for singing!" My face went like this: :D
So yeah. I had a plan. Now I have a reason.
Peace & Love

Of total weirdness and being "gifted"

2010-02-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

Today was possibly the stangest day of my life.

I got sent a text-message-breakup from someone I've never even met. Apparently some guy called Neil decided it would be funny to kidnap George's phone and send an incredibly fake breakup text. I kind of figured it wasn't actually him since it emerged that Carmen, Becky, Kathy AND Jodie all got the same message, not to mention how apologetic George was about the whole fiasco!

Then I got some test results back that are supposed to determine the goings-on of my brain. Turns out I have no sense of logic whatsoever (111 out of 140, dearie me), and I'm seriously mathematically challenged (113 out of 140), but I got 129 out of 140 in verbal reasoning, which means I'm being put on the school's "gifted register" for it and apparently should be really good at English and languages. Which is good since I'm taking English lit and Japanese.

I think today must've been "lets-pretend-Sofi-doesn't-exist" day. Or "lets-all-be-ill"Nothelp being ill. I hope they're all ok. I'm just day. lonely. that people can

And apparently wallowing in self pity.

Although, in the grand old scheme of things, I'm lucky.

Today's music is the awesomeness that is Nightwish. And a cover of Pink Floyd.

Peace & Love

Of music nerdery and insatiable wanderlust

2010-01-31T03:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I heard about a documentary film made for some Australian film festival, called "4". All it is is four different violinists in four different parts of the world, each showing an insight into life there in four different seasons, and each of them is playing a movement of Vivaldi's four seasons. Spring is set in Japan, summer in Australia, autumn in the United States and winter in Finland.

I really like the idea of this, since it ties in my music obsession with my massive desiresee things in the world, to not to mention my interest in the countries of Japan and Finland.Unfortunately, said film seems to be nigh impossible to get hold of. Still, I found a littleYouTube. bit of it on

Peace & Love

Of hiding in bedrooms and camels

2010-01-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to a party at Georgie's. It involved being delivered free ice cream by a guy who isn't called Camel, and then barricading ourselves in Georgie's room in order to hide from her brother's rowdy drunken friends. We contemplated throwing Georgie's poster of Turisas at them, then decided against it.

Back to school tomorrow. Ugh.

Music today comes from PAIN. Is it bad that I find this video hysterically funny?

PAIN - Zombie Slam

Peace & Love

Of feelings of guilt and The Piano

2010-01-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

Feelings of guilt. Hmm.

I'll be honest. My life's pretty dandy right now. I've just come out of the best year of my life, and this one, so far, is looking good too. The trouble is, a lot of people who are very close to me are having a shit time of life. And I wish to God that I could help them. But I know that there's absolutely nothing I can do, save the occasional hug and trying to make sure they know that I'm there for them. However, the fact still remains that hugs can't change anything, however good they make you feel. I feel absolutely helpless... I can't even try and describe how bad it makes me feel, even though things in my own lifelooking up. are

I watched The Piano yesterday. Other than the sheer amount of unneccesary sex scenes(ONE WAS ENOUGH!) it was the one of the best films I've ever seen. And the soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous. ( Michael Nyman for the win!)

Peace & Love

Of ends of eras and new look obsessions

2010-01-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

Second Critical Thinking exam was today. Thank God for that! Now I never have to think about that subject again! At least, not until the results come out...

I've recently gained a bit of an obsession with New Look. I just love everything in there! Unfortunately I'm not very good with winter clothes. I either need to buy more jumpersWHICH NOWHERE SEEMS TO SELL EVER) or somehow stop myself from feeling the cold so (easily!

Music today is a Bon Jovi cover by Pekka Heino. He is seriously my favourite singer at the moment.

Peace & Love

Of potential pub brawls and Shakespearean views

2010-01-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

I have recently realised that my entire view of life is based on Romeo And Juliet.

I believe that love and hate always come in pairs. Like binary oppositions in media studies. One cannot exist without the other. If there is no hate, how can you know what love is?

However, I also firmly believe that love will triumph in the end. Although Romeo and Juliet take their own lives, they are together in death, and their families are brought together in grief. As long as someone is always holding on to that hope that love will triumph, then one day that hope will become a reality. If hope is lost, then what? Losing hope can have disasterous effects, both physically and mentally, and I've seen what it can do to a person. Although I'd really rather not go into that.

Ok, enough pensive-ness for the moment. The soundtrack to the Romeo and Juliet filmbought in town today. I went there with brought it on, which I Emi and Georgie, where they planned the conception of their Californian bar. I don't think my interjections of "Finns!" at random intervals were particularly helpful, but hey, you can't have everything in life. My apparent ability to be a deep thinker is balanced with the fact that I have no idea when to shut up.

Today's music is from the soundtrack.

Peace & Love

Of university courses and jamming

2010-01-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

I looked at some university courses today. I'm probably going to study music. Perhaps a joint course in music and creative writing, that'd be amazing. You can also study a variety of bizzare subjects, including Viking studies, pig, and Ed.

We were studying Thomas Hardy in English and I actually really liked the poem! It kind of summed up what I think about life in a really poetic, metaphorical way. I believe it was called Under The Waterfall.

Watched Emi and Carmen (and Georgie as the music stand since she forgot her bass) practicing a kind of Avenged-Sevenfold-medley for their media studies project at lunch. I bloody love jam sessions, and although Avenged Sevenfold isn't really my kind of music, one of the songs was really nice, particularly with the addition of Carmen's violin. I settled for being the techie/groupie/comforter for Georgie, since she's the one who lovesdrummer recently passed away :(. the band and their

In the meantime, I rediscovered last.fm. Four of my top five bands are Finnish. And the other is Swedish. I think I gave up on English music.

Peace & Love

Of snow, snow, and more snow

2010-01-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

It's still snowing here in England. I was the only one of my family who went into school/work today. Typical. We found ourselves stuck in the common room with nothing but a hideously out-of-tune five string acoustic guitar (at least it was out of tune until Ed got hold of it), and my Finnish-English dictionary for company.

There were seven of us in media. SEVEN! And apparently my boots are not waterproof. I found this out the hard way.

I recently found my Sims disc again, so I've had much fun pissing around on there. I also ordered some new clothes and Brother Firetribe's album, Break Out. Unfortunately, due to the aformentioned snow, neither of these have been delivered. Nor has our new washing machine. Looks like tomorrow'll be another day of wearing the same jumper to school...

Peace & Love

Of A level exams and chocolatey missions

2010-01-11T09:03:00.000-08:00

I had my first A/S exam today. Critical Thinking. What a bloody nightmare. It's a silly subject, but by Tuesday it'll ALL BE OVER! And I am so glad I did some revision even though both of our teachers and the textbook told me not to bother.

On the plus side, I found some new ambitions in life:

.Get a batchelor of arts degree in music.

.Assist Georgie and The Smithster with running their Californian bar.

.Introduce Finland to the concept of "Hole In The Wall."

Today we went on an epic chocolately mission. Upon discovering a box of chocolates in her and Natalie's locker, Jess thought "Ooh, a secret santa present!" since they're still coming in. So we ate some, and then Hayley dropped the bombshell - what if they were for Natalie? So she texted Natalie, and it emerged that they weren't hers, but Steph had been keeping them in the locker.

We panicked, and went down to the local shop to buy Steph some replacement chocolate. We managed to find the exact ones that were missing. Hayley slipped over in the snow in the process.

We got back to school, where we refilled the box of chocolates. Hayley gave it to Steph, and said "We're really sorry, Jess though these were for her so we ate some, but we've replaced all of them!"

Steph goes "Oh don't worry, they were a present for Jess anyway!"

Peace & Love

Of grinding halts and Nordic laughter

2010-01-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

I bloody love snow. The result is that this is the fourth day of a five day weekend.

Saying that, if I can't get in on Monday, I will have to do my critical thinking exam in June. Which means even more lessons.

I will walk if I have to.

(I don't know how realistic this is considering I live miles away from school).

Apparently France and Spain have freezing weather too. I think the whole of Europe may have moved slightly closer to the Arctic circle. Or not. This weather makes me feel so English. One of those insanely British ways of life is that when we get a bit of snow, everything comes to a grinding halt. And now we're also running out of grit. Fantastic. All the Nordic countries are probably LAUGHING THEIR ARSES OFF. That said, we were actually colder than Finland yesterday. That's some achievment!

Speaking of Finland, today I learned that the Finnish phrase "Mitä tämä paska on?" means "What is this crap?"

I think this information will be invaluable.

Music is Brother Firetribe. I like listening to this in the mornings, it puts me in a good mood.

Peace & Love

Of thinking critically

2010-01-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

Ten Things I Would Rather Do Than Critical Thinking A/S

(In order of preference)

1. Talk to my friends/boyfriend.

2. Listen to some form of Finnish metal.

3. Eat some soup.

4. Play on the Wii.

5. Decorate a t-shirt.

6. Have a music test.

7. Be ill.

8. Spend three hours in a locked room with a LIVE BEAR.

9. Eat my own foot.

10. Travel billions of lightyears across the universe with nothing but a haggis to guide me.

Peace & Love

Of wii failings and curls

2010-01-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

My brother has been thrashing me at Formula 1 racing on the Wii. If I were actually controlling the cars, Heikki Kovalainen would never be the same again.

I've been attempting to curl my hair recently. I don't know if "successful" is the way I'd describe it, but it's definetely getting there.

Currently I'm watching Corpse Bride, which is pretty cool.

George is back in the country at last, but with a hefty bill from texting me whilst in New Zealand... oops!

It was the last EVER episode of Doctor Who with David Tennant as the lead role. I nearly cried my eyes out.

I'm seeing family tomorrow, and getting remaining Christmas presents. In the meantime, I would like to express that I love Pekka Heino's voice. (Music Junkiness?)

Peace & Love

Of new beginnings and faded memories

2010-01-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

This year I:

Was proud of five GCSE results (I took seven this year)

.B in maths

.A's in English language, additional science and music

.A* in Japanese

Tried four things for the first time

.Playing the bass

.Being vegetarian

.Learning a new language (fairly unsuccesfully)

.Media studies

Saw three bands live

.Kaiser Chiefs

.Nightwish ♥

.Blur

Kicked two bad habits

.Biting my nails

.Being hideously disorganised

Got asked out once.

-------------------------------

Next year I will

.Work more

.Spend less

.Take nothing for granted

First music post of 2010 goes to Leverage. Not many songs make me cry, but this nearly did.

Peace & Love

Of hair dye disasters and raging against machines

2009-12-20T07:57:00.000-08:00

There was a campaign recently to try to get a song other than the winning X Factor single to number 1 in the UK charts this week. The song chosen to rival it was Killing In The Name by Rage Against The Machine. Now, there's campaigns like this every year, and I always download the song, just the once, though it never seems to come to anything.

Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name

For the record, I have nothing against Joe McElderry (the X Factor winner). I actually think he has a pretty good voice. It's just the whole principle of the programme. The contestants get this record deal, where they'll have like one or two hit singles and then be promptly forgotten. The exception here is Leona Lewis, and even she's mostly popular in the States. People have their dreams crushed on that programme, people are turned away simply because they don't have the right look or because they like the wrong sort of music. But there's one man who wins every time, and that is Mr Simon Cowell. Don't even get me started on him.

So, I downloaded this song off iPrunes, then today checked back to see how it was doing.

Lo and behold: NUMBER ONE

EPIC WIN.

In other news, I dyed my hair reddish brown recently. Semi - permanent. Said it comes out in 24 washes. Well I've washed it once and it's nearly all gone already! Just the top of my head is red, the rest is my natural boring brown. Ah well, at least it doesn't look too retarded.

Peace & Love

Of midwinter magic and movie nights

2009-12-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

Ironic that I woke up to Sacrament Of Wilderness.

"Naked in midwinter magic

Lies an angel in the snow

A frozen figure

Crossed by the tracks of wolves"

Nightwish - Sacrament Of Wilderness

Dad came in and told me it'd been snowing overnight, and he didn't know if we were going to be able to get into work and school. My first reaction was "Yay snow day!" Then I remembered that it was the last day of term, and I needed to give people their Christmas presents.

Then I looked out of the window.

Dad hadn't been exaggerating, there was six inches at least! Of course the school ended up being closed, so no one got their presents. Instead I went out in the snow with Hayley and her sister, and we watched some Christmas films. Since then I've got home, wrapped some more presents, and watched Pirates Of The Carribean. Now I'm on Spirited Away!

Peace & Love

Of Christmas raving and farewells

2009-12-12T04:49:00.000-08:00

Last night was one of the most epic moments of my life.

I had so much fun!

It was the day of Hayley's long awaited Christmas party. Becky brought crates of alchohol, but this time, I wasn't the only sober one. The uninvited guest never showed up. Several people told me they loved me. I got a chance to wear my awesome red shoes. We sung a ~~very~~ drunken rendition of My Heart Will Go On. Jon Bovi described the song as "magical" and I nearly did a spit - take with my lemonade. And I got covered in cat hair.

Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

It was also the last time I could see George before he goes to New Zealand for three weeks over Christmas, so we did present swapping. He gave me some Malteasers and a bracelet which is pride of place next to my Camden one. And (though this is pretty much for Emi's benefit since she said she'd probably forget), I definitely did have my first kiss this time.

Overall it was one hell of a party!

Peace & Love

Of Christmas illness and yore

2009-12-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had our school Christmas concert. We spent an entire day rehearsing for it, which was primarily spent being bored. One of the lines in one of our carols was hideously chromatic, and set to the words "In the scene of yore".

What, pray tell, is yore?

We didn't know, so we added it into every sentence we could.

Having heard the yorechestra, the reyoreder consort and singing in the sixth fyorem choir, we went home only to return three hours later for the concert itself. It went fairly smoothly, but the descants we had to sing were ~~way too high~~. I am not a soprano. The last note was so high I actually thought I was going be sick. Not fun.

Today was one of those days when you just feel awful for no apparent reason. I think it was a bit of a mixture of a sore throat and cold, tiredness, stress and the imminent departure of ones boyfriend to the other side of the world for almost a month.

Bad times.

Not much else to report, although Hayley's having a Christmas party on Friday, which should be awesome fun!

Peace & Love

Of winter nights and memories

2009-12-05T04:48:00.000-08:00

So, December.

Possibly one of my favourite months. I like July too. The year's nearly out already, and not only that but people are counting it as the end of the decade too. That's scary. Essentially it's my first full decade, since I missed out on 1991 and 1992.

This year's been great one, possibly one of the best in my life, ~~even if it's had it's downers~~. There are some moments I'll remember for the rest of my life, even if they were just little things that made me laugh.

--Frozen Moments In Time--

14th February 2009 - I haven't had so many laughs in a looong time!

11th March 2009 - It was worth eating those chips to see Nightwish live.

8th May 2009 - STUDY LEAVE!

6th - 8th July 2009 - Leavers day, my birthday, Thorpe Park, what a combo!

29th August 2009 - When I got my GCSE results.

28th October 2009 - ♥

And from what I've heard, cheapskating isn't always a good thing. Particularly when the bus catches fire.

I hope everyone's ok.

I'm going to see 2012 with Emma and Hayley today. Fun times!

Not so long ago, I used to do a fair amount of art, even though I'm essentially crap at it. I don't have as much time to do so anymore, but I still love looking at it. Here's some awesome stuff I've found lately.
Light From Emirates
Bananca
Nordic Visions
Utherworlds
Jaques Resch

Peace & Love

Of uncertainty and Leverage

2009-11-29T05:35:00.000-08:00

I think I had my first kiss yesterday.

Well... only if it counts if it lasted about half a second and then the other party RAN FOR THE HILLS (or in this case, the toilet.)

Hmm. Encouraging? It was fun times anyway.

I'm bored. Not that this is any revelation. Did my first coursework essay today. English literature. The only bit of Shakespeare we do on the whole course. Done and dusted.

Two years ago, that would've been good news.

How things change.

It's thundering outside. The shitty British weather has reached us again. Though I don't mind thunderstorms. As long as I'm inside when they happen.

I have to go back to the orthodontist on Tuesday. I thought I was through with that shit.

Apparently not.

Today's music is Leverge, who I discovered yesterday and got hooked on in less than half an hour. Must be some kind of record. The guy's voice hit me like a tonne of bricks.

Leverage - Mister Universe

Peace & Love

Of irritating school and industrial metal

2009-11-18T10:51:00.000-08:00

The people who run our school just don't get it.

Today we had these pointless tests that are supposed to determine our basic intelligence level. Total waste of time.

The teachers haven't been giving us much homework, which I thought was a good thing. How wrong was I? The result is that they've suddenly realised that they haven't taught usChristmas yet. So we get all the stuff we need to know by bogged down in homework. This results in Emi and myself having to cancel band practice for the week due to drowning in music scores and such. Saying that, the piece we're studying (The Lamb - John Tavener) is GORGEOUS. Which is how I found myself on the way home on my own on the shitty public transport, blasting my ears out with Nightwish in an attempt to ignore the incredibly irritating people sitting next to me.

Now, if it had been any other week, we wouldn't have had to cancel because we could do it in free tomorrow. But instead we have a stupid ACT day. Now I've hated the idea of these since the beginning, but I can see why they might want to give the younger years a taste of stuff outside the curriculum. Fair do's.

WHY does the sixth form have to do it too? We have some three hour long careers meeting (they've apparently forgotten that most of us plan on going to university first), and then two hours of self defence, which we already did a few ACT days back. Now, maybe it's just me, but I think that maybe being given time to do homework, courseworkSTUDYING FOR SOME IMMINENT A/S LEVELS IN JANUARY might be a and better use of my time. And yet apparently the reason we're allowed to go for lunch at any sitting is so we can spend the rest of the time revising. So we're expected to revise in the one break we have all day, but when we actually have some time to do so outside of this, they take it away.

Ugh.

Anyway...

Today's music is PAIN again, in fact the URL of this blog is named after the song. I prefer this version to the non-remixed one, and I never say that about anything ever.

PAIN - Clouds Of Ecstacy

Peace & Love

Of winter wonderlands and dirty jokes

2009-11-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

I redid the layout on this thing, to make it look more wintery. I like winter, as I've said before. Especially Christmas. I like hot soup and long coats and going to fairs and penguin-huddling with George. Which might be problematic since he's on the other side of the world during the holidays.

Hayley's having a Christmas party, B.Y.O.F.B, so it'll be another night of passive drunkeness with Jerk and Dipshit. Good times.

I heard the best dirty joke ever today:

A small child is staring at an old man who has a really small head. The boy says "why have you got such a small head?" The man said "One day, I was fishing and I accidentally caught a mermaid. She screamed 'Please release me, I'll grant you one wish!' so I said 'How about a little head?'

Peace & Love

Of hopes and dreams

2009-11-10T14:19:00.000-08:00

I was talking about this with George, so I decided to make a bucket list.

.Go scuba diving

I love the sea and I've always wanted to try this, but I've never managed it. I go snorkeling on holiday but I'd love to be able to dive down and see all the fish and such.

~~.Get a band started up~~

Kind of done this. Myself and Emi had a band practice today, and will hopefully be doing the same every week. We'll find the rest of the members eventually!

~~.Go To Japan~~

Done this. I went there about a year ago and it was incredible. I'd love to see my host sister again, and all the people there were just so much nicer that here. I'm almost definite that I'll always be living in England, but if the BNP came into power or something, Japan would be my second choice!

.Go to Lapland and see the Northern Lights

I've had a bit of a thing with the Northern Lights ever since I read the Phillip Pullman book, uh, Northern Lights. Lapland (I've only seen pictures of Finnish Lapland but I'd like to see Swedish Lapland too) seems to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. And I'd like to see Father Christmas.

.Meet Tuomas Holopainen

Nightwish's keyboard player/main man. A bit of a personal hero of mine. I'd just like to see him long enough to say hi or something. I'm not a weird obsessive fangirl, but I do have a massive respect for the guy due to his massive composing skillage.

.Make sure that people know I'm there for them

Sometimes I worry that people don't know this, and I hope some day I'll be able to make it clear.

.Read ALL of Shakespeare's plays

I used to hate this kind of thing, but I love Shakespeare right now. So far I've read Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Twelfth Night and half of The Merchant Of Venice, all for English Lit. This could take a while.

.Be able to at least make myself understood in a foreign language

I'm not exactly a genius at languages so I don't know whether this will ever be achieved, but I'm in my sixth year of studying Japanese now. I'm also attempting to teach myself Finnish.

~~.Go to a music festival~~

Done this. I went to Love Music Hate Racism back in '08, the second time I saw a Damon Albarn related project live. I wasn't really sure what was going on when I went but I left with a totally different view of politics! I'd like to go to Glastonbury or Download or something one day.

.Hurl an onion bhaji at Nick Griffin

I'm pretty sure he's been egged before, but due to his racist views an onion bhaji would just be immense. Plus they're quite tasty.

Peace & Love

Of British weather and procrastination

2009-11-04T11:05:00.000-08:00

It's freezing in England.

Reminds me of the UNIQLO advert that's on telly at the moment. It talks about the temperatures in different cities. Tokyo 5°. New York 3°. London... -1°! I applied for a job never got back to me. at the shop once, but they

Sometimes I get days when I really can't be bothered. I don't know if I'm just tired but I have a massive lack of motivation at the moment. I like most of my subjects but music'simportant to me. Sometimes it feels like it's the only one that's the only one that's really... worth it.

Media studies is an absolute disaster. Note taking and such is fine, but the minute I get within a three meter radius of any kind of technology, everything falls apart. Plus we're doing compostition in music at the moment, which is DEFINITELY my weakest area. I'll spend like ten minutes writing and recording like, four bars of melody, then Emi and I will show them to each other and hers is always unbelievably good... I have this hook up that composing comes naturally to some people and I'm not one of them. Well, we'll see.

Me and George have been together for a week now. It's just a little amount of time, but it means a lot.

And me and Emi are starting a band :)

Today's music is my favourite song at the moment, from Nightwish of course!

Nightwish - Ever Dream

Peace & Love

Of the good and the bad

2009-10-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

The Good:

.I can't physically stop singing. If I saw a bear I'd be singing "oh look, a bear!" before wondering why there is a bear on the loose in the dullest corner of England and then running.

.Russell Howard's Good News is AMAZING.

.George asked me out on Wednesday.

The Bad:

.I have a headache.

.I have too much work that I should be doing.

.I'm uninspired and slightly bored.

Peace & Love

Of gigging and Willy Wonka

2009-10-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well, myself and Emi somehow ended up playing (she was playing guitar & singing a little, and I was singing) in the art corridor on sixth form open evening. Why we got put in front of art I will never know, all the visitors were like "is this music?" and we had to go "No. This is art." But it was fun all the same and we gained three groupies (Steph, Georgie and Will.)

Anyhow, the "setlist" (in no particular order):

Colours of the Wind - From Pocahontas (Me)

Heaven (Candlelight mix) - DJ Sammy (Emi)

Walking In The Air - Howard Blake (Me)

Knocking On Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan (Emi)

My Immortal - Evanescence (Both of us. Acoustic version, nearly all of which was made up on the spot!)

Let It Be - The Beatles (Both of us)

Times Like These - Foo Fighters (First sung and played by Emi, I later attemted to sing along too but since I didn't know the words this was rather unsuccesful)

Sleepwalker (A'cappella version) - Nightwish (Me, with hastily improvised ending after the second chorus due to the bridge type bit being too high and not really wanting to sing the slightly innuendo-y bit in front of the teachers who were walking past at the time.)

Where Will The Birds Fly - Written by us and Aly, played by both of us minus the cello part

Freefalling - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers (Emi)

"Emma's Song" - A song Emi wrote, I don't know what it's called... played and sung by her.

Romanza - Some Spanish bloke (Emi)

Wonderwall - Oasis (Both of us)

In other news, we had book character day today, Ed made an AMAZING Willy Wonka, and I met up with George which was great.

Music today is the newest release from The Rasmus. I don't usually like The Rasmus, but I like this. Plus Nettan is in it which makes it instantly better.

The Rasmus feat. Anette Olzon - October & April

Peace & Love

Of Chinese food and TV shows

2009-10-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

Went for Chinese at Cosmo with Georgie, Izzy and Ed today. Ate way too much and dragged Ed round New Look, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Superdrug for like an hour and a half. We let him pour sugar into his coke in Cafe Nero though. Big mistake. It fizzed EVERYWHERE and he couldn't gulp it down fast enough, so it went all over the table and floor. Epic fail.

Returned home to discover that they're filming 60 Minute Makeover down our road. Incidentally the TV vans have been there at least since I left the house at ten past eleven, and they're still there now!

Tomorrow I have a bass lesson and I'm meeting up with a friend called George... Emi knows what I'm talking about here, I'll elaborate if anything interesting happens...

Peace & Love

Of being shepherds and amaranths

2009-10-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

We had open evening at school yesterday which was... succesful. I guided a family round, sort of rambled on at them at length about the music department (good to plug your own subject eh, and everyone does English and media) but we didn't have time to go up to Japanese, which would have resulted in more rambling.

After that Emi and myself sort of turned into "guide shepherds" which basically involved wandering round the school and dragging the younger years kicking and screaming into showing more people round. Everyone's knackered by the end of this I can tell you!

By around eight we realised no-one else was coming, so we wandered into the music blockCarmen and watched her play the piano. First she played something she'd been learning, then a really with happy, silly sounding piece that she called "Becky's Song"Nightwish's Amaranth. Being the Nightwish nut that I am, I already because it basically sounds like our friend Becky in music form. Then she did a piano version of knew she could play it, but she does it amazingly well so I was in as much awe as Emi, who was like ♥_♥!

Then our music teacher came into the practice room we were in and asked us to help tidy, so we did. We ended up tidying pretty quickly, so we made our ways over to the piano in that room. It is The Worst Piano In Existence, and more than one person (student and teacher) has had the idea of burning it and claiming the insurance. Nethertheless, there it stands. So, Carmen started playing Amaranth again, and I started singing along. Then the two teachers came in and really liked it.

By the time I leave, I WILL have inflicted this band on the entire music department.

Nightwish - Amaranth

Today we have a day off, so I'm going for chinese with some friends.

Peace & Love

Of rainy days and technology

2009-10-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

The umbrellas have been out all week... I have a half day tomorrow and an inset day on Friday, so that's looking good.

Hayley has swine flu, but said she's feeling a little better now, so I hope she gets well soon.

I'm still having a bit of an internal tug of war between my head and my heart, do I keep what I have or do I take a gamble? I don't know, I don't want to rush anything...

I got a new phone, and I'm having massive problems trying to get it to work! It doesn't help that my computer keeps disconnecting it of its own accord!

Today's music is more like poetry than anything else. It astounds me that this is so beautiful, and yet the rest of the band's stuff is like BRUTAL RAGING DEATH METAL D:

My Dying Bride - For My Fallen Angel

Peace & Love

Of Alice and excitement

2009-10-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I discovered that Tim Burton was going to direct a version of Alice In Wonderland. I've only seen the animated Disney version before, but I love the story, and I love other Tim Burton stuff, so I was pretty excited. I then forgot about it for ages and it just came back to me. So, I looked up the cast list on Wikipedia (the film comes out next year), and discovered this:

(I'm not hot on actors or actresses, so I've just posted the main role and the actors who I actually know.)

Mia Wasikowska - Alice

Johnny Depp - The Mad Hatter

Helena Bonham Carter - The Red Queen

Anne Hathaway - The White Queen

Alan Rickman - Caterpillar

Stephen Fry - The Cheshire Cat

Matt Lucas - Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Christopher Lee - The Jabberwock

Barbara Windsor - The Dormouse

I think I'm about to die of happiness.

Peace & Love

Of choices and rumours

2009-09-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

What do you do if you want something but are too scared to go after it?

Even though you know you should live each day as if it's your last.

What do you do when you've been told your thoughts aren't in vain,

And yet there's no word from the one person you want to hear it from?

What do you do when you love what you have,

But somehow you still want more?

Do you stay safe, or do you take a gamble and follow your heart?

Peace & Love

Of songs and friendships

2009-09-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

Do you have a song?

A song that you had no part in writing but that somehow speaks to you? I was talking to my friend Georgie about this, and we came up with two different reasons why a song might speak to you.

Georgie's song is I'm Not Okay by My Chemical Romance. This is because she heard the song, and it gave her the incentive to change everything about her life to something she could like about herself. She feels that she owes a lot to the song, so that's why it's "her" song.

My song is Escapist by Nightwish, but not because it's changed me in any way. What Escapist does is takes what my life is already like and puts it into music. I'm a bit of a dreamer, and I don't like being stuck in the never ending loop of things. So that's "my" song.

Peace & Love

Of winter chills and longing

2009-09-26T05:18:00.000-07:00

I think it's fair to say that summer's on it's way out. Or at least it is here in Kent. Yeah the skies are blue and clear, but it's absolutely freezing. I like summer, but I think I like winter more.

What I don't like is autumn and spring. The in between stages. I prefer the two extremes.

I miss the weirdest things about winter.

I miss the cold air whipping around my face.

I miss the smell of the rain and the artifical shine of the streetlamps when it's dark at half past four.

I miss that one frail bit of hope that we might actually have a white Christmas.

I miss the Doctor Who specials!

I miss the unbelievably long chat I have with Emi on Christmas day, and the marginally shorter one I have with Hayley,

I miss that one glorious week of doing fuck-all at school, and watching the upper sixth make a fool of the teachers on the last day. They said they might ban it, but if not, that's me in 2010!

I miss the weird things you find in Christmas Bazaars like a table full of sushi. And spending stupid amounts of money on raffle tickets knowing that I have no hope in hell of winning anything.

I miss wandering around town in the freezing cold, and only being able to afford one hot chocolate between us, resulting in us drinking it with three staws.

I miss the feel of the fire when the central heating just doesn't make the grade, so to speak.

I miss the coca-cola adverts and the things you always find on TV.

I miss it when the teachers at school let certain secrets about certain Christmas traditions slip and we all pretend to be shocked and upset when actually we've known for ages.

I miss how in primary school we used to pack things up into shoeboxes and send them as Christmas presents to children in less economically developed countries.

I miss the meal we have with Hayley's family where we play drunken board games and my brother gets pissed off because everyone picks on him.

I miss the unbelievably tacky light-up santas people have popping in and out of their chimneys.

And I miss all the Christmas raves I have with my friends.

Today's music reminds me of winter. Plus Nightwish are awesome.

Nightwish - Walking in the Air live at Hartwall Areena

Peace & Love

Of drunkeness and suprises

2009-09-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

I have a bit of a cold, headache and a funny taste in my mouth. Worst, I have a sore throat. Two of the things I love doing the most are talking and singing, so you can imaginesore throats make me a little depressed. that

Went to Hayley's mum's birthday party last night, along with Hayley and Emi (who by the end of the night had been re-christened Jerk and Dipshit.) Everyone got REALLYthe one who doesn't drink. I got offered loads, but I kept on saying no. The drunk... except me, only good personality trait I have is that I don't give in to peer pressure. I wasn't about to give it up! Anyway, it was the most fun I've had in ages despite feeling ill, so many thanks to Hayley's family for organising it. And Emi, please don't eat the ceiling, I can imagine it tastes like crap.

(Drunk & Lovely)

Last night was also the last gig of the Nightwish tour, and needless to say, there is video evidence of how incredible it was.

Their most recent album, Dark Passion Play, has two tracks on it called Amaranth and For The Heart I Once Had. Apparently these were supposed to be bonus tracks, but ended up on the album, one because a later B-Side Escapist wasn't finished in time. The other song was meant to be a kind of Nightwish-esque take on Michael Nyman's The Heart Asks Pleasure First, which, being a cover of sorts, they had to get permission to release. Which they didn't. Anyhow, this is the original.

Michael Nyman - The Heart Asks Pleasure First

I absolutely LOVE this piece of music, and, despite being a massive Nightwish fan, kind of assumed that their version wouldn't be all that great, just because... well... Nightwish don't really do simplicity. Anyway, they don't have permission to release the thing, but they're still allowed to play the recording at shows, which they did for the outro last night.

OH. MY. GOD. It's incredible.

Yeah it's not all that true to the original, but still! I'd been expecting that it would be bad, and then I got the most pleasant surprise ever! So the moral of the story is, if you expect the worst, everything good will always feel even better!

Nightwish - The Heart Asks Pleasure First

You can't hear it all that well, but you get the general idea. Minä rakastan sinua!

Lyrics go something like:

"Silent nights surrounding me

On the shore of wistful sea

My kindest heart made me believe

The promise I wish it to be

We´ll bear the wait

Years for your heart

Little hideaways for a lonely heart

Cast away into the sea

The good in me, the child within

The cruelest heart made me forget

In moments I wish it to be

Hold inside my last fire

You will conquer death by dawn

Slave to the toil, this mortal coil

Risked by the siren that voyage

We'll bear the wait

Years for your heart

An end for winter morn

Calling us, the sirens of the dark

Frozen moments in time

Little hideaways, the meadow of life

Little hideaways for a lonely heart

We'll bear the wait

Years for your heart

Little hideaways for a lonely heart

Silent nights surrounding me

On the shore of wistful sea

My kindest heart made me believe

The promise I wish it to be"

Peace & Love

Of epic battles and devastation

2009-09-09T23:09:00.001-07:00

Our tale begins on the eve of the eighth of September, 2009, in a girls grammar school.

The teachers have noticed something fishy.

"Something appears to be wrong with the toilets!" cried one. "They won't flush!" Baffled slowly and methodically went through a copy of the yellow pages in order to find some plumbers. by this revelation, the head teacher. Eventually, they arrived, clad in... errr... what plumbers usually wear. They shut themselves in the room where they believed the problem to be, while the head teacher peered frantically through a small window in the door. After several hours of painstaking work, the chief plumber emerged. "You might want to sit down." he explained to the head. "It isn't good news..."

At exactly 9:45 the following morning, the head's army of teachers were forced to grimly make their way up to their form rooms and deliver the news to the eagerly waiting students. One in particular wanted to put off the news for as long as possible. She walked into her form room - a hi-tech area (the computer room), which was filled with sixth formers. She handed out the letters, which had been "lovingly" prepared by the head, face down. "Now." she said, solemnly, when everybody had recieved one, "Turn them over and try not to scream."

The letters read that due to an unforseen collapsing main water pipe, there were not enough facilities to accomodate the students, and thus, they would have to be sent home. The students, needless to say, were absolutely devastated.

So, the line of students wound up from the school toward the high street, tramping their way up to Starbucks, and, inevitably, to home.

Meanwhile, the headteacher had decided that enough was enough. She called her secret base and requested an epic crack team of plumbers to come to the school and rectify the problem. After around five minutes, the plumbers burst into the room containing the rogue pipe, and began to work...

After a painstaking night of trying to contol the water supply, the (very wet) plumbers left the room, looking tired and glum. The headteacher frantically asked their commander "what is it?! WHAT'S WRONG??!!" The plumber said "I'm sorry. We did everything we could."

It was by this time early morning, and the head teacher was forced to make an announcement over the school website. It read:

"I write to advise you that unfortunately we have not been able to reinstate the water supply. As a result the school will be closed on Thursday 10 September. The updated position regarding closure will be posted on the website and you are advised to check this regularly. I should like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your help and support during the closure."

To make a long story short: I have a day off today!

Peace & Love

Of a return to the school

2009-09-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

Music - Same old, only harder :) we have set pieces to learn and some of them are AWESOME (though we're apparently supposed to be able to play these within an hour... oh dearie me... )

English - WE ARE STUDYING MACBETH. Again, but I actually like Shakespeare now whereas in Year Eight I LOATHED it :D Not sure what else we're doing as of yet.

Japanese - NEED. TO. LEARN. THOSE. KANJI. MUST. GET. OFF. INTERNET. It's cool though, it's nice being in a class of seven people, just have to try not to get distracted this year. Back to the year 7 reigime!

Media - Possibly the most awesome subject ever! Yeah it's confusing in some ways, but our homework is basically to use the internet and watch telly and films... so far anyway, I know it's going to get waaaay more hectic.

In short - I love being in the sixth form.

Peace & Love

Of winter cravings and carniverous deer

2009-09-06T13:06:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I went for a picnic for Carmen's very belated birthday party. It was fun, we listened to panpipes being played, got gatecrashed by some randomers who were in the park, and Carmen got attacked by a deer. The deer then called all it's friends and we were soon surrounded. Dan managed to scare them all off by running at them and yelling something that sounded like "FLOBALOBALOB!" but not before Amanda had managed to adopt one and insisted that Jodie was the father. So all in all, a great day.

I have this sudden craving for it to be winter again, even though I know it won't snow. I miss freezing days loitering in town and wet autumn wind and it getting dark early so you can see all the streetlights, and above all I miss Christmas!

Peace & Love

Of close encounters and Somerfields pasta

2009-09-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

Went to my sixth form enrollment day today. This involved close encounters of the third kind Jon Bovi, being thankful that my ID card picture is so dark you can't see my face, and being annoyed that I had to sign up for Japanese without actually consulting the teacher first, due to her being in a meeting.

After that went swimming with Hayley (and ate some more of that AMAZING pasta from Somerfields, it's cheese and tomato but it tastes like pickled onion monster munch!). Then we went back home and had a look at her audition piece for a drama club she's in. She has to sing Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from Phantom Of The Opera, and I'm helping her since I did it for my GCSE music performance. Well, that and an acoustic version of Let It Be by the Beatles with Emi. Only dropped one mark :)

Peace & Love

Of rowing boats and epic failures

2009-08-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

You may recall that some time ago I mentioned that myself, Hayley and Emi had attempted to row a boat at a park in our area. We were particularly bad at rowing said boat, and after being towed out from a bush we were forced to trade for a pedalo. Well, there is now a lot more to this story...

Aly had her sixteenth birthday in the park and the three of us went. We dragged Aly into a rowing boat with us. Now, Aly actually has some idea of how to row a boat, but being as you needed two people to do so, we just went round and round in circles. At this point, some of Aly's guy mates jumped into pedalos and tried to ram us. With them towing us around via some ropes on the boats, playing tug of war with our boat, us yelling at them to leave the ducks alone and Aly leaning across the boat to kiss her then-boyfriend, we nearly capsized. We then had to be towed in again once our alloted time was up.

Turns out that while I was away, Emi and Hayley went back to the place, and, having got stuck again, asked the guy to try and teach them to row. He stormed off when Emi asked which way was right, and they got stuck on the bank again. The guy refused to help them, so Emi climbed out onto the bank and pushed it free. However, Hayley was then left rowing round and round in circles while Emi stood on the bank in complete hysterics! I wish to God I'd been there! We plan to go back again... they're going to know our names soon!

Peace & Love

Of nicknames and racing

2009-08-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

While on holiday, my brother and I decided to make up nicknames for various formula 1 racing drivers. Here were some of my favourites:

Kovalainen - The Accent That Got Away

Trulli - Madly Deeply

Fisichella - Fish

Rosberg - Porco Rosso

Webber - Andrew Lloyd

Glock - *ughn* Glockenspeil

Heidfeld - Parky

Kubica - Rob Le Cube

Nakajima - Naka-chan

Badoer - Badger

Vettel - Kettle

Grosjean - Big John

Peace & Love

Of dramatic returns and GCSE results

2009-08-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

Back from Spain, and have all my GCSE results!

Japanese - A*

Music - A

Core Science - A

Additional Science - A

RE - A

English Language - A

English Literature - B

French - B

Maths - B

Art - C

Peace & Love

Of holidays and closing forums

2009-08-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

I'm on holiday from tomorrow until the 29th August. So I won't be on here. So here's a few messages for the three people who might read this.

Emi: I hope your last few days in the Burgh of Edin treated you nicely. Have a lovely summer and I'll be ringing round the second I get back to discuss exam results. Sorry I can't text you in the... pain of S?

Holly and Mia: When I get back, the forum changeover will have already have taken place, so I'll see you there. PLEASE keep your original usernames or I'll never find you!

So yes, I'm off to Costa Blanca (or thereabouts) and when I come back I will have my GCSE results. See you all on the other side!

In the meantime, here's a couple of things to watch.

Florence & The Machine - Blinding

Anette Olzon - Kuolema Tekee Taitelijian

Peace & Love

Of those born in July

2009-08-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

Found on the facial book. This is the list of the ones that actually make some sense.

July
.Honest (Usually)

.Concern about people´s feelings (I worry more about others than myself)

.Not revengeful (I try to keep any bad thoughts I have about people inside)

.Forgiving but never forgets (This is probably true)

.Treats others equally (Well, I support equality)

.Always broods about the past and the old friends (Now I think about it, this is true)

.Not aggressive unless provoked (Basically never, except when my brother tried to snap my copy of Oceanborn!)

.Overly concerned (Possibly)

Peace & Love

Of eccentricity and film music

2009-08-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm watching a documentary about a man called Philippe Petit. He's a French man who used to tightrope-walk across tall buildings, in particular the Twin Towers before they were destroyed in the terrorist attacks in 2001. I often admire people who are a little eccentric, and there was one thing that the guy said that I really appreciated.

It was something along the lines of:

"Yes, it's illegal, but it's not doing any harm to anyone."

Now, I'm not promoting breaking the law obviously, but everyone is so uptight these days that sometimes they seem to forget about art and expression.

Today's music is Michael Nyman. He could kill two stones with one bird.

Michael Nyman - Time Lapse

Peace & Love

Of Florence and machines

2009-08-01T08:04:00.001-07:00

The most recent addition to my CD collection is a band called Florence And The Machine. I really liked them when I saw them on TV during festival-whorage-season, and I got their album for my birthday! Unfortunately, all the tickets to see them live have so far been sold out. Anyway, this is my favourite off the album - Blinding.

Florence And The Machine - Blinding

Peace & Love

Of being starstruck and messing about in boats

2009-07-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

I saw Mr Gok Wan in the middle of a shopping centre today. Gok Wan is a stylist who does some fashion-based programmes on TV, one which is about cheap fashion fixesHow To Look Good Naked, is basically about getting rid of feminine ideals and making people happy with their own body, by showing them how beautiful they really are. Kind of. Anyway, I kind of (which I usually watch when it's on, Gok's Fashion Fix) and the other, admire the guy for not being one of those stylists who takes one look at a person and tells them to get a boob job, and how he respects people, so when I saw him, I was like "OH MY GOOOOODDDDD!" He was actually filming the catwalk scene for the latter of the aformentioned shows, in the middle of the shopping centre! I was probably too near the edge of the crowd to end up on TV though. Which is probably a good thing.

I saw Ice Age 3 and the new Harry Potter film with some friends this week, which were both good. I also went to a park on Monday, where we attempted to row a boat. (Typically, the first thing I noticed was that the oars were made in Finland.) We did so badly that the guy we hired it from towed us in and made us swap it for a pedalo. It was hilarious!

Peace & Love

Of corruption and science fiction

2009-07-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today I finally got round to watching the five hours of Torchwood that was on telly recently on BBC iPlayer. I'd never actually watched Torchwood before, but this looked interesting. I watched it, there were some moments when I wanted to cheer, some when I wanted to laugh, and some when I wanted to cry. In fact when Ianto died I was half crying, half screaming "KISS HIM!" at Captain Jack.

Either way, it got me thinking. I know that it's science-fiction and we've never actually had an alien invasion, but it was the workings of the fictional government that struck me. There are so many governments out there. Ours has made a royal fuck of things as I've said many times before, and there's some out there which are really... corrupt. I think the government in Torchwood isn't that far from the truth of some in this world. If it wasn't for the heroes of the story, they would have just sacrificed 10% of the children in the world. Now I know that, the only other option being war, if this was the case it would be the only option. However, the government should have:

.Selected random children rather than saving the intelligent ones

.Not exempted their own children from the process, as that's not fair

.Oh, and TOLD THE PUBLIC WHAT THEY WERE DOING.

What kind of a world do we live in, really? We hear all this shit on the news every day! And yet it never changes. Yeah you get some people who try to make a difference, but they can't do it alone. I guess some people just don't want to get involved. But maybe it's not that hard. Maybe if everyone was just nice to each other, respected each other and didn't take things for granted, we COULD change the world. See. No physical effort required.

The other thing that made me think was how, even though everyone had given up, the world was in turmoil, just the notion that something could be done, resulted in the children being saved. Captain Jack lost loved ones I know, his lover and his own grandson, but he KEPT GOING. What drove him on?

Maybe it was hope.

It reminded me of the "composers note" written in the CD inlay of Nightwish's Century Child album, where Tuomas Holopainen said:

"Losing faith and love is bearable, losing hope is the end of everything."

At some other point, he also said:

"Hope is the one thing you should always cling to, no matter how f*cked up things are."

"Losing faith and love is bearable, losing hope is the end of everything. Hope is the one thing you should always cling to, no matter how f*cked up things are."

I don't take my life for granted, I know how lucky I am. But when I see all this shit on the news, when I think about my friends who aren't as fortunate as me, I wonder what the point of this stupid world is, and wonder why we put up with it all.

Then I remember this quote. And it all makes sense.

And now I carry it with me always. On a scrap of paper in my purse.

Peace & Love

Of growing older and Finn action

2009-07-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

The last three days of my life have been amazing.

Well, the last two. Monday could've been, if it weren't for some rather irritating intervention.

Monday

Monday was Leaver's Day. My school year has left compulsary education now, so some people are going to other schools, some might be going to work, etc. Most of my friends and I are staying at the school we're at now, but one of my best friends, Aly, is leaving to go to college and do a BTEC in fine art. She's one of the most stunning artists I've ever seen... you can see some of her work here if you're interested. So, we all thought it was going to be a really emotional day. Apparently not. Basically because the teachers spent the day burying us in summer work. Then it rained so we only got like an hour to muck around outside. And then the teachers threw us out of our own school. So we had no time for it to sink in. Plus, we were seeing Aly the next day anyway.

Tuesday

Tuesday was my sixteenth birthday.

Again, chucking it down, but anyway, Aly, Emi, Becky, Carmen, Hayley and myself all went for a picnic. It was a complete rave! Among other things, we had a discussion about "how far we'd got" if you know what I mean. This is kind of private so I won't tell you what they said, but I can tell you that, since I've never had a boyfriend, by the end of the discussion I felt like a social recluse. We also returned a shopping trolley to it's rightful owners.

I also ended up being the proud owner of the following:

A new bag

A box of soap

Rihanna's head on a stick (don't even ask)

A DVD of Gorillaz live

A book on how to write crime novels (or kill someone, as Becky put it)

A box of Lindor chocolates

A scarf

Florence And The Machine's debut album (Lungs)

A charm for a bracelet and an anklet

A programme to create and edit music on (FINALLY!)

A grand total of £115.

Today

Today, Hayley, her friend Ellen, Emi, Aly and I went to Thorpe Park. Again in the rain. We discovered the following things:

We can all still get away with child fares, despite the fact that only Aly is legally allowed to get them.

There are no queues early in the morning, so THAT is when to get on all the big rides.

But always make sure you go on Tidal Wave last. Or not at all.

One letter can change the whole meaning of a sentence. One of the rides is called The Flying Fish, which as you probably could guess, had a fish theme. For this reason, the motto of the ride was "get some fin action." Only, of course, I went and read it as "get some Finn action." Oh dear...

When stuck in a queue, the best entertainment is watching two ladybirds bumming each other.

Oh, and my school has Swine Flu.

Peace & Love

Of parklife and haircuts

2009-07-03T06:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts of late (not that anyone reads this anyway) but I've been preeeetty busy.

So, the last week.

Monday

New hair. It's a lot shorter than it was... I'm hopefully putting black lowlights in it sometime soon. Also went shopping and bought some summery clothes.

~~Tuesday~~

~~I've actually completely forgotten... can't be that important then I guess!~~

Wednesday

Went up to Camden avec Emi and Aly. Spent an amazingly small amount of money since it was too hot to stay there for too long. I did spend like a tenner on bottles of orange juicesunglasses. Emi nearly got her eyes poked out with a pizza box, we nearly though. And I bought some suffocated on the tube and we got attacked by a werewolf (NO JOKE) but it was a good day.

Thursday

I went to see Blur live at Hyde Park! It was one of their first gigs in about six years,come off hiatus, and they were amazing! They played they've only just all the classics and some of the lesser known songs too. We all went completely bonkers when songs like Song 2 and Parklife came on! And to top it all off, I actually remembered the camera, so there are actually some relatively decent quality videos from it!

So yeah, it's been a great week! Even the weather cheered up!

Peace & Love

Of festival seasons past and present

2009-06-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

I love festival season. I've been watching Glastonbury all this weekend (Blur are on soon ♥). So here are some of my favourite gig videos.

Florence And The Machine - Rabbit Heart.

This isn't from Glastonbury since those aren't on YouTube yet but I saw them therereally liked them! This is live though. and

Nightwish - Ghost Love Score - RMJ Party Camp.

Favourite band of all time.

The Prodigy - Omen - Isle Of Wight 2009

My dance-junkie brother showed me this and I thought it was quite cool.

System Of A Down - Psycho - Big Day Out 2002

Yeah I know this isn't recent but it's a great video.

Peace & Love

Of sudden news and growing up

2009-06-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

I finished work experience today, so summer has now officially started. I learnt about teaching and music. And that I shouldn't become stupidly attatched to people in the space of five days. My supervisors were both really friendly and I didn't want to leave... but I've been very tired so I guess it was time. It's weird being at work instead of school... I've always had a fear of leaving full time education and experiencing the "real world" and I'm still in school for another two years and then I'm going to uni, if all goes to plan... so I was expecting to hate it, but I didn't! Maybe I'm growing up...

Also, a man who has been in and out of the media throughout my entire life and longer passed away either late last night or early this morning. Rest in peace Mr Michael Jackson. I'm kind of in shock because you always hear so much about him. I won't explain who he is because I doubt there's anyone out there who doesn't know. His music has never been something I've really listened to apart from the occasional song, but he was an absolute legend and changed the face of music.

So yeah. Here's Scream.

Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson - Scream

Peace & Love

Of Gamelan and new experiences

2009-06-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today I had my first day of a week of work experience. I'm kind of loitering in the music department of a relatively nearby comprehensive school for the week. The only thing I knew about it was that my employer for the week was friends with the music reacher at my school... turns out she's a former pupil so we could kind of relate straight away. The pair of them have apparently been discussing my vocal chords over the phone, ooerrr... everyone's really nice and it's a lot of fun despite sitting through three hours straight of the Gamelan project, which I remember from when I was in Year 7 :)

I'm desperate to know how everyone else got on, but my phone is temporarily out of action. I know from the facial book that Aly had to clean 86 litter trays.

Peace & Love

Of vodka and vocals

2009-06-21T03:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening I went to the karaoke bar with my family, my friend Hayley and her extended family for her 16th birthday. I sang a couple of songs, I have videos but YouTube hates me. I don't drink, but everyone else (save my Dad, my brother and Hayley's 7 year old sister) did. Well, I say Hayley's other sister drank, but it was just taking sips of other peoples when they weren't looking. Everyone else downed like six vodkas each or something. So yeah it was a fun night. Now I'm really tired and I've run out of make up remover so I kind of resemble a panda.

Peace & Love

Of motivation and inspiration

2009-06-20T07:20:00.000-07:00

It is a truth universally acknowledged that lying only brings about hurt and pain.

So I'm not going to pretend that I love you.

Or at least, I'm not in love with you.

You're just another person, another cloud in the sky over London...

... but something in the worlds you create paint a portrait of my soul.

Bearing in mind that you have no idea what goes on in my head.

May you never know.

You bring about a change in me.

The bright smoke of your eyes makes me feel like I'm drowning in pure liquid oxygen, yet having no desire to escape this fate.

The harmonies emitted from your slender fingertips make me want to scream my heart out, cry my eyes out, and grin like a psychopath all at the same time.

Every time you speak, some strange chemical is injected into my bloodstream that makes my heart ache for you. Even if you talk of something completely trivial.

I can imagine you hear crap like this all the time, but you are the only reason I get up in the morning ready for the bliss the day will bring, and the only reason I've ever cried myself to sleep.

You've taken long strands of my DNA and arranged them into the words and stanzas that light up my soul.

You provide me with an escape route, a beautiful sanctuary without violence or pain that I can use to find my release.

I visit it so often its concrete path has become worn with my footsteps.

I long for you to find what makes you happy and completes you, but at the same time am afraid that it will change you.

It's selfish, but it's true.

When I was on the verge of giving up my hopes and dreams and sacrificing myself to reality, you came into my mind, twisting your fingers through your dark tangle of hair and politely requested that I stop being such a dumbass.

I've never thought of giving up again.

Your very expression makes me feel like an over-excited three year old, an angsty teenager and an adult who's seen it all and more, all in the same instant.

You motivate my life.

You inspire my words.

You give me the hope I can always cling to, no matter what.

And yet all I can possibly do in return is say two words which in this context mean the world.

Thank You

Peace & Love

Of epic journeys and orchestral masterpieces

2009-06-18T09:00:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Hayley, Becky, some of Hayley's friends (Issi and Ellen) and I went out for the day to Hastings.

The day started with the train getting cancelled. Since we had to make one train change and people were getting on said train at four different stops, you can imagine that this caused no end of trouble. Hayley and I had to wait for half an hour at our local station, frantically trying to call people to let them know not to get on the train orignally planned. Then we wait ANOTHER half an hour with Becky for a train to Hastings that passes through the stop where Issi was getting on. THEN it emerged that Ellen had got on the train we were supposed to get in the first place so she had to get off at Issi's stop and wait for like an hour for Hayley, Becky and I to get there! On the train, we killed time by sorting Becky's massive collection of train tickets into alphabetical order, and watching the guy who was standing outside scratching his crotch.

Eventually we got there, bought chips and sat on the beach. Hayley went paddling and Becky picked up several pebbles. We also found an empty beer can and what looked horribly like a severed hand (we came to the conclusion that it was a glove but nobody wanted to touch it and check.) Then, we went on some rides at the fairground - the ghost train and the kiddies caterpillar ride, in which Becky got too "intimate" with everybody.

We also went shopping, where Hayley and Issi bought collosal lollies and I became the proud owner of a dinosaur t-shirt and purple tights from New Look. Hayley also bought a t-shirt, and Becky bought one for her and one for her boyfriend. We spent I don't know how long trying to figure out what size he was (in which time we texted him to ask) and eventually decided on small. Two minutes after leaving the shop, he texts back to inform us that he is medium. However, we couldn't return it since there were no mediums in stock, so Becky said he'd have to live with it.

--Music Junkiness--

I absolutely love the fusion of heavy metal with orchestra -coughnightwishcough- and I am actually addicted to Serj Tankian's voice (he's a solo artist who used to sing for metal band System Of A Down). So you can imagine how ecstatic I was when Youtube greeted me with the following teaser from his upcoming live DVD.

Serj Tankian - Feed Us

Peace & Love

Of the arts and System Of A Down

2009-06-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my friend Aly and I went to an art convention at Kensington Gardens in London.

It was a day of drawing, writing, getting blisters, chatting to random people, navigating tube stations, eating croissants and walking through subways singing System Of A Down.

Peace & Love

Of movie days and facial books

2009-06-12T09:40:00.001-07:00

Had a great day today - my friend Hayley came round and we... ate pizza and watched various movies and Lee Evans! It was seriously funny! I was happy because I'm always bored(it's when both my parents work) and she was happy because in an empty house on Friday she got to use my internet since hers doesn't work and she hadn't been on thefacial book for months... and we were happy because meeting up is always happy times so it was a win-win situation!

Peace & Love

Of summer plans and end of eras

2009-06-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

My exams are officially OVER. I had physics today (and I think it went really well), and now I'm officially in the summer holidays! (They start early for my year.) I have work experience soon, but other than that, I get to do f*ck all until 15th August when my family and I are going on holiday to Spain.

Hmm... I'm a little unsure what to do with myself now. Over summer, I plan to do the following things:

.Get another set of ear piercings

.Get highlights done

.Go Camden-ing with Emi

.Have a birthday picnic!
.Write some music to go with lyrics

.Give up several bad habits
.See Blur! (2nd July here I come!)
.Get my exam results... somehow or other (I'm away on results day)
.And... various other things. (Hayley and I have plans to have a teapot decorating session!)
.Get the band started up

Peace & Love

Of For My Pain and supermarkets

2009-06-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

--Music Junkiness--

Today I FINALLY took the time out to give For My Pain... a listen, and wasn't disappointed. Autumn Harmony was on the brain like all day and I was singing it while walking round Sainsbury's.

For My Pain - Autumn Harmony

Speaking of Sainsbury's, I swear those trolleys are waaay too hard to steer. I nearly ran some kid over with it. Oops. There is now actually a reality TV programme over here which is based around random workers going and running Sainsburys. Inventively, it's called "I'm running Sainsburys." Excuse me, but I'm running Sainsburys! (In my own head anyway...) It's my friends birthday today but I've been either sleeping or revising practically all day... need to find my phone and text her... more tomorrow when I can actually say how physics went.

Oh, and Yasmina Siadatan won The Apprentice.

Peace & Love

Of revision and romanticide

2009-06-08T05:44:00.000-07:00

Made some physics notes today. The exam is on Wednesday, and then I have no more exams for like, a year! 3 months of summer holiday (& a week of work experience) here I come!

I can't freakin' believe that the BNP have two seats in... whatever it was people were voting for. Are they mad?! I mean, I don't blame people for not voting labour, they've made a royal fuck of things, but the BNP are still a bunch of bloody racists! Grrrr... at least they're still pretty small, and I hope it stays that way.

--Music Junkiness--

I love this band so much. This is a video of them at a recent festival in Finland, they look absolutely freezing!

Nightwish - Romanticide live at Sauna Open Air

Peace & Love

Of a great big fat hairy rant ですね。

2009-06-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

I made the hideous mistake of watching the news last night. Among all the "omg-we-don't-know-who-will-be-running-the-country-in-the-morning" political turmoil stuff, they had some guy who was saying that some people who visit holocaust memorial sites claim that it never happened, and worse, some people think that it happened and that it was right?! How, exactly, can the mass slaughter of that many innocent people be right? Some people are delusional I swear. This is why all the genocides need to be officially RECOGNISED, so that people can learn why it was wrong and prevent it from happening again! Ugh. This world makes me sick sometimes.

History does not fade away.

Ok rant over. But people need to be alerted to this kind of thing.

Peace & Love

Of musicizing and vocalizing

2009-06-05T04:13:00.000-07:00

Microphones are awesome.

I've been singing since I can remember and have been having lessons for four years. My first teacher taught me for most of this time, but she moved to another country and now I am being taught by a classical soprano. Saying that, I don't have a classical voice at all. I'm a mezzo-soprano. Anyway, here's a couple of covers.

Nightwish - Mother & Father (From The Poet And The Pendulum)

Evanescence - Breathe No More

And here's my crappy attempts at composing (it was meant to be minimalist but it really isn't.

Moi - Tunnel Vision

Peace & Love

Of James McQuillan and exams

2009-06-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

James McQuillan got fired from The Apprentice last night! I was like "nooooooo!"

Ok, so he may not have been the best business man, but he was so sweet and came out with some hilarious stuff. WHAT A LEDGE! At school, me and a couple of my friends were practically in tears! When he got fired, he gives Sir Alan Sugar a huge grin and goes "It's been BRILLIANT!" AAAAAAAAA!

Ok so here is my mini tribute to James with the ledge quotes from last night.

"I look after people who spunk money up the wall"

"I bring ignorance to the table... but it's a good kind of ignorance"

"I don't want Sir Alan to kick me so hard up the arse that I have his toes for teeth"

James, you have been a LEDGE.

In other news, I only have one GCSE left to do! I had my last ever Chemistry exam today, and English language. Just physics left. Joy.

Peace & Love

Of hayfever and giant covalent structures

2009-06-03T03:45:00.000-07:00

I've tried everything. Tablets, eyedrops, Olbus Oil, nasal spray, you name it. However, pollen still insists on trying to make my face melt. Ugh. Puts a real downer on summer too.

"These allergens, or air-borne substances, cause the body to produce antibodies which release histamine. Histamines cause allergic reactions which produce hay fever symptoms such as sneezing, itchy eyes, sore throat, nasal congestion, running nose, fever, headaches, chest congestion and wheezing."

Why the hell do I get like... all of these?

I have my second English Language and Chemistry GCSEs tomorrow. Today will be dedicated to learning about giant covalent structures. I spent like all June's pocket money on a new sketchbook. Now I have none. And school finishes next week. Oops.

Peace & Love

Of daytime TV and freaky people

2009-06-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

I have been watching too much TV lately. Like, WAY too much.

Especially Mock The Week. Hugh Dennis is the funniest man alive. And Russell Howard. And Michael McIntyre.

The Mighty Boosh will always be tops though. Jurgen Haabermaaster (Julian Barratt with a Danish accent) sounds uncannily like Serj Tankian.

I've also been semi-watching semi-ignoring Ashes To Ashes. Yes, bullet-induced comabeing transported to the eighties. can result in

That's like all I watch, but in an attempt to be more social I've been going on the internet in the front room. Where my Mum likes to watch Bargain Hunt. All I can say is... the presenter kind of freaks me out.

Peace & Love