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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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!
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
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
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 ;)
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.
- 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
