Lazy Daisy

But Wait There's More...

2011-11-21T13:31:00.001-08:00

Hey, I know its been an age...

I had my first Irish debate last week, and we are through to the next round - yay go us toot toot - and I also had a concert performance with my choir, so all in all it's been a pretty busy time.

I'm beginning to feel like maybe I don't really want to do as much diary blogging any more, I think I want to focus on reviews and suggestions for the moment. SOOOoooo, I have created a new blog! It's called The Joy Planner, and it's all about giving the list of equipment and tools everyone needs to have a blissfully happy time, whatever the occasion. I still plan on keeping up Lazy Daisy, but I will update The Joy Planner more regularly. You should check it out anyway, I hope you like it!

My Top 5 Cooliest Picture Books :)

2011-11-10T12:50:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post for the moment - my top five books with pictures, for a change. Enjoy!

In no particular order:

Peter Pan and Wendy, by J. M. Barrie - illustrated by Robert Ingpen.
I won a story competition back when I was ten, and this was the prize. I'll admit I was disappointed at first, but I grew to love the book and its pictures - small greyscale ones interspersed with the text, and truly magnificent full colour spreads.

The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Anderson - illustrated by P. J. Lynch
These warm sunny pictures at the beginning of this contrast eerily with the frosty beauty of the Snow Queen and her palace - a hauntingly magical book.
Misty Annual 1986: I found this in my Grandmother's attic, it must have belonged to one of my aunts at some stage. I adore the comic strip stories and the familiarly comfortable creepiness - kind of like those Babysitter's Club Mystery books, only with pictures.
The Tokyo Look Book: I absolutely adore the quirkiness of the Japanese "street style" pictures in this book, I love flipping through it for inspiration.
The Adventures of Little Mouk, by Wilhelm Hauff - illustrated by Monika Laimgruber: The illustrations in this are done in a strange, dotted style, giving them a fleeting and exquisitely embellished appearance. I remember begging my parents to read it so I could find out if the story was as good as the pictures, but they very rarely did as it was too long to constitute a bedtime story.

MindMaps and Bookishness

2011-11-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

Hi, once again,

I promised myself I would do some work this mid-term, but with Halloween, my birthday and a trip to England to visit relatives, my time has unfortunately been minimal. I had to do my history essay on the plane, so it has loads of splodges where my hand jerked because of the turbulence.

Anyway, today being the last day off, I figured I'd better go back the grindstone. So I've been practising piano for like two hours, sorting out notes and flashcards for my school subjects, and making this fab-yoo-luss collage/MindMap of the American Presidents (in History we have to learn from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan). I'm quite proud of it, in case you couldn't tell:

Click for bigger picture

I was researching all these study websites for tips and I came across both MindMaps and the Cornell Note-taking Method many times, so I figured there had to be something good about them. Sure enough, they do seem like very effective ways of studying. So yeah, I'm feeling pretty cool right about now :)

I got a new book - Paper Towns by John Green. I thought his novel An Abundance of Katherines was really original, so I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into this one. I also came across a book on amazon called Steering the Craft by Ursula le Guin - it sounds like my Writing Magic book, so I think I might get it. Has anyone read it before?

Well that is my life in a nutshell en ce moment, I'll leave you to your own entertainment now.

Byeee!

Final Blooms

2011-11-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Hi peeps, how's it hangin'?

Sorry about the lack of proper postage recently - I will be fully back to normal by this weekend!

Just as a general note: I finished the book Room that I had down as a Challenge - it was morbidly fascinating, I have to say.

Anyway, I really ought to go now, so catch ya later, friends!

Heroes Needed

2011-11-02T05:56:00.001-07:00

Heroes Needed by lazyd featuring gothic necklaces

Hello again to all my friends, I'm glad you came to play - the fun and learning never ends... here's what I did today! :)

2011-11-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

I guess people probably thought I was dead at this stage... sorry to disappoint guys, but I've been so busy with stuff going on that I just haven't been able to find time to post - a lame excuse I know, but a truthful one.

Luckily for me, the tap shoes are off, the musical is finished, so I can blog away, and I no longer have to look like this every night:

Grim, I know.

Unluckily, I don't think the greasepaint was good for my skin, I've started to break out all down one side of my face. I just hope it isn't a return of my acne - I noticed some spots on my back as well, which is a worrying sign. I used to have absolutely, miserably awful skin, from about eleven to fourteen. I used roaccutane, and that seemed to clear it up, though the dermatologist said there was some chance of a relapse. Anyway, I'm basically praying that this is not the case at the moment.

I used to be so depressed about the state of my skin, and I just adore having a clear face now. I never really knew how to cover my acne back then, and I was very self conscious about it at the time. I was perusing youtube recently though, and I came across this amazing video on how to cover up breakouts.

"Be prepared", as the scouts in the movies say (I wouldn't know, I was never involved in scouts). Hopefully it won't come to this though.

It's actually my birthday today - November1, and I am 17, which means I can officially learn how to drive now. I think I'm more apprehensive than enthusiastic about this at the moment, but oh well. I guess I had to learn at some point. I had a great birthday, my friends came over and we did the usual - consume massive quantities of junk food and watch a hilariously stupid movie - in this case, Bad Teacher. It was actually funny in spots, plus it had Jason Segel in it, and I have a nerdish, giggly love for him since I watched Freaks and Geeks this summer. So yeah, life is good.

A tribute to Writing Magic

2011-10-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

I've been interested in books about how to write for a good while now, and this is one of my favourites:

I've been in love with Ella Enchanted and other books by Gail Carson Levine since I was really small and my mother was still reading book extracts out to me before bed, so when I saw this on Amazon, I thought: why not? And I wasn't disappointed, I can tell you that much.

The book is a concise but inspiring guide to improving your writing skills, from coming up with ideas, to learning the tricks an author uses to tell a good story, to ploughing through: figuring out ways to stay writing your story even though you might want to give up. I found loads of great hints and lessons in this book, and it is written in an informal, chatty manner that makes me want to pick it up again and again.

The only flaw that the book has is that it is geared towards younger people - I would say age ten to early teens. But while I had some reservations when I first started reading it, I found that the Writing Magic has something for everyone, and any tips in the book are important for writers of all ages to learn. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I constantly reread sections from the book to keep the information clear in my head, and because of the informal colloquial language used, it doesn't feel strange to do so, it feels almost (cheesy moment here) like greeting an old friend.

General ramblings

2011-10-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

I have finished The Kite Runner, just so you know. I'm now about a third of the way through Room. So in all, the challenges are progressing nicely, I think.

I did like really The Kite Runner. It was beautifully written and definitely deserves all the praise, though it seemed a little far fetched in some places, and my Mam kept tutting at me, saying A Thousand Splendid Suns is better. Have any of you read these books? What do you think?

As you've probably guessed from my lack of posts, I've been utterly swamped this last week - with rehearsals, english essays, and higher level maths. The weird thing about maths this year is that for some obscure unknown reason we are beginning with the last two chapters of the last book, as opposed to what most people would routinely consider the "right", straightforward order. Don't ask me. All I know is that it is pretty difficult to do algebra-type questions in co-ordinate geometry when you haven't yet gone through the chapter on algebra. Anyway.

My goal for this weekend is to tidy my room, the floor of which currently looks like this:

The problem is that when I have little/no time, my room is one of the easiest things to neglect. But unfortunately it is now at the critical stage where if I don't do something soon there will be mushrooms or something equally vile growing on the walls. So that is my mission.

Just thought I'd share with you a couple of videos by the Heathers - I don't know whether you'd have heard of them already, but I think they have a gorgeous sound, plus they're Irish, so I'm like "Yay! Some people here actually have talent!"

This song is on a Fáilte Ireland advertisement that is shown without fail at every single Irish cinema...

And THIS is it actually as gaeilge: because the Heathers are that cool!

You like? I certainly do :)

Bye for now

2011-10-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well, first off I want to thank all my stupendously awesome readers who have bumped up my total views to over 400 in the last month and a half!

After completing my wall and getting all those positive comments, I think it's time to add another Plucked Chicken Challenge to the mix. This time I plan to write three short stories by Christmas. I'll publish them on the blog when I'm done - and of course I'd really appreciate comments and criticism.

So yeah. Whew, I'm going to be busy! Luckily the musical will be finished in another three weeks, then I'll have time to myself again.

I would now like to draw your attention to a sensational website I came across - http://smarmyclothes.com/ Run by someone I like to imagine as being Martha Stewart's evil twin, the site sells and displays the coolest diy clothing and accessories. The styles range from quirky everyday pieces to insane goth and punk subcultural works. I'll show you a few examples so you get the idea:

Unfortunately, everything on the site is a bit out of my price range, but one day I will own one of the outfits. I will! And I'm just in love with the Harry Potter hoodie on the top right hand corner - speaking of which, is anybody lucky enough to be a member of Pottermore yet? I cannot wait until the let us plebs join - and you can bet I'll be joining!

Ok, I'll talk again soon. Bye! (Yes, I spelt it right this time!

The Life Cycle of Loneliness

2011-10-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

LONG post today people (didn't I warn you?). So if you want you can just watch this Rihanna video - the topic of choice in classroom discussion at the moment.

Picture from http://www.singersroom.com/news/7579/Rihanna-Tops-Madonna-as-Fastest-Solo-Act-to-Score-20-Top-10-Hits

Anyway.
These days I'm totally cool, obvs guys, :)
Well, these days I'm happy.

I'm not a sob story. I never had much in the way of complaints. I was always happy, healthy, clever and reasonably well adjusted. I accept and embrace this fact, and I could never ask for sympathy.

But up until a couple of years ago I used to be all Mean Girls and spend lunch in the bathrooms. I'd shut down the plastic lid of the toilet seat, and get out the book that had been hidden under my jumper. I remember moving silently, furtively, like a snow leopard; my camouflage the disregard of others.

I hated belonging there, and yet it was a home.The harsh black marker scrawl left behind by many years' worth of outcasts greeted me like the friends I then lacked. Of course they did - I read them day after day after day after day.The bathroom was pale yellow, with yellow cubicles and yellow tiles. Such a nauseatingly futile feminine colour. The contrast between the frothy decor and the terrible functionality of the room made bile pool in my mouth.

I think my place on the pecking order was determined before I even entered the secondary school, though. I remember being an angsty eleven year old, wearing skulls and black, trying desperately to beat the everyday uniformity of life. I went against the grain in every way possible, truly believing that my peers admired my relentless, unwavering originality. How wrong I was.

I guess that's probably why subcultures tend to annoy me. People don't seem to comprehend how much fitting in means to them until they find themselves floating away from others, on an awfully high cloud, with awfully few people left to catch them should they fall. That was how I experienced it anyway.

Having few friends in primary school did not set me up well for secondary. I had never learned the communication skills - the sassy replies, the slang, the hand gestures, and all so fast, so heart-stoppingly rapid that it seemed no-one ever had to think about how to act any more. And this without even mentioning the touching - I was not a "huggy" tween, and suffice it to say that this was a significant lack in a hormonal all-girls environment.

Still, I had friends the first year - a group thrown together mostly because we happened to sit together in the alphabet-arranged classroom. We held carefully pre-meditated conversations about classes and last night's programmes. We pored over magazines, scrupulously making sure to agree with each other on the "hot or not" aspect of the images. We were happy, for a while at least. We just... didn't really fuse. It was like someone had taken a handful of odd jigsaw pieces and tried to connect them, like cake mix without the eggs.

In truth, though, I probably would have stayed with this group, had it nor been for the particularly and oddly poisonous sentiments of one of the girls towards me. For the sake of a quiet life, I'll call her X.

I never understood what X's problem was with me - we had the same interests, same opinions - altogether, we should have had a compatible friendship. But X hated me. She never said it outright, but her snide "what are you doing" comments, her withering expressions, her derisive snorts after every remark I made, and above all her habit of standing directly in front of me, blocking me out from the group made her feelings pretty clear.

X was very good at getting the message across. I may not have understood her at first, but it didn't take long before I realised that any of my efforts to be friendly to her would be coldly and abruptly halted. The worst part was that she was the better liked in the group. Hard fact would hit me any time I wanted to struggle - if I was to fight back, no-one would come to my side.

What did I do, you ask? Did I contact a teacher? Tell my parents?

No, readers. I did nothing at first... and then I dropped out of the group. I did it quietly and without fanfare or drama - at the start of the year I stopped talking to them save for a few friendly greetings, stopped talking to X completely. It was cowardly, it was failing, giving up - but it worked.

I made new friends, joined clubs, talked to different girls in my year, and gradually built up a set of real, close knit allies who like each other and like me. I was nice, I was interested, and to my surprise, they were nice and interesting back to me. We clicked in a way that only people who seek out friends, handpick people with personalities to suit their own, can do.

And now, life is good. Life Gets Better, like those videos. I sit in the lunchroom, with enough other people that we sometimes push two tables together to fit everybody.

The lunchroom is a glorious red.

Short Story - because I can't be bothered now

2011-10-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

My good readers, how do you do?

An rud is annamh is iontach as the saying goes, and lately this unfortunately appears to be the case when it comes to my posts. Sorry people, but I'm swamped.

So for today, I'm afraid, my paltry post consists of a short story I wrote two years ago that just happened to be saved on the computer. I apologize for my 14 year old self's writing. I'll have some good posts lined up for the weekend - never fear!

Rockstar

Mr. O’ Rourke wascomposing an email. This was something he did multiple times each day as he satin his cubicle surrounded by three blank grey walls. The floor was tiled inneat black and white squares and his desk was, as usual immaculate, with hisdocuments and files arranged in alphabetical order, just the way he liked it.Mr. O’ Rourke himself was dressed in his usual smart black suit, his shirtcollar starched and buttoned up to the last and his black hair combed sleeklyto one side, neatly covering a growing bald patch. His colleagues referred toit jokingly as “funeral chic” nudging each other in the corridors as he wentpast – in his sombre stride as always. However, no-one ever said this to hisface. Mr. O’ Rourke had the reputation as the most respectable gentleman-likeemployee at the Brookestein’s Financial Management firm, and nobody would evertreat him unkindly.

The name’s Daniel –Dash if you’re cool enough to know me. Chances are you’re not though, becauseme and my mates are the wildest, most rock ‘n’ roll kids you’re ever likely tomeet. We’re in a band – Bloody Midnight – and we don’t take disrespect fromanyone. There’s me on guitar, Lenny on bass. Mad Harry on drums and Max doesthe lead vocals. What age am I? Seventeen – not that it concerns you. I droppedout of school last year. It’s not like I’m going to learn anything importantthere for what I want to do. Me and my band, we’re going to be rich and famousone day, living the rockstar life, making something of ourselves. Not like myDad, the old fart. He’s a financial manager – can you imagine anything moreboring than that? No, my life is going to be fast-paced, exciting andultimately cool – I just know it.

John Smith appearedaround the wall of the cubicle.

“Sir, the Boss has called a meeting for after lunch today, and he wantseveryone to attend.”

John was at the samelevel of employment as Mr. O’ Rourke, but Mr. O’ Rourke was the kind of personwhom everyone called ‘Sir’. He sighed. Unscheduled meetings bothered him. Heliked to have everything planned out in his diary beforehand - there was no room for spontaneity in hislife. Still, Mr. O’ Rourke smiled, at least lunchtime was something he couldcount on. He fished the Tupperwarelunchbox out of his briefcase. Ah, splendid! His wife had prepared hisfavourite sandwich – tripe with pickled onion and mustard. He chewed itcarefully, savouring every bite. When he was finished he walked briskly over tothe meeting room. He liked to be tenminutes early for everything.

“Please let it betrue,” I moaned. I was sitting in Lenny’s basement the letter from Shiny Inc.Brookestein’s biggest recording company in my shaking hands.

DearBloody Midnight, it read,

We were very impressed with thedemo we received and would like to offer you and audition at our studio, on thecondition that you change your band name to something that would appeal to awider audience.

Was I excited? Heckyeah! However, I stayed cool, casual. Rep is everything after all.

“Well that’s not to bad, huh guys?So, what’ll we name the band?

Mad Harry grinned,rubbing the stud in his nose.

“Well, we were thinking of ‘ThePiercings’,

“‘The Piercings’? Deadly! Just oneproblem guys – I don’t have any.”

The three of themloomed over me. For the first time I noticed that Lenny had a needle and alemon slice in his hands.

“Hey, no worries Dash, we can fix that…”

The Boss was theclichéd ‘fat cat’ employer one would see in any cartoon – short, red-faced andbald with a fondness for brandy and large cigars. As Mr. O’ Rourke and the restof the team sat down he gave one last puff before discarding the cigar in theglass ashtray beside him. Mr. O’ Rourke liked the Boss. He was practical,reliable, and best of all predictable. He could always count on the Boss tomake everything run smoothly, like clockwork.

“Now everyone, let me see… Ah, yes! First on the agenda, I believecongratulations are in order. Mr. O’Rourke has, for a record eighteenth time ina row, become Employee of the Month!”

Mr. O’Rourke smiled.This was something he could also depend on.

“Now listen here, Mr. O’Rourke. In recognition of the excellent effortyou have for so long put into your work, we would like to award you with aprize of a two week holiday in Majorca!”

Yeah, so the earringdidn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. And I’ve got some serious streetcred now. I bet you anything, the ladies are going to be all over me from nowon! Best of all, the record company loved us! At least, they didn’t say it inso many words, but I could tell that’s what they were thinking. They saidthey’d be in touch! Man, all my dreams are going to come true. This deal isgoing to be my ticket out of this Brookestein dump. There’s no way now thatI’ll ever end up in a job as boring as Dad’s. Watch this space, guys!

Mr. O’Rourke lookedaround at the smiling, expectant faces of his colleagues and boss. He clearedhis throat slowly.

“Wow, thank you everyone this is areal honour, and I am truly grateful.” He paused for a moment.

“However,” he continued, “I’m going to have to politely decline youroffer. You see, I’ve had enough experience to last me a lifetime. I justcouldn’t take any more.”

With that, DanielO’Rourke sat down, fingering the small diamond stud in his earlobe as he didso.

Picture from http://rock-n-roll.tumblr.com/

It's (finally) DONE

2011-10-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

I'm finished guys!

A lot of hard work and a serious amount of bluetack went into this, but I'm totally thrilled because that is one challenge down. I'm about a third of the way through The Kite Runner too, so that shouldn't take long either. Yay, go me!!

It feels weird looking at the wall now because it used to be pale yellow, but I love it for the moment anyway.

Oh, and I've been working on my "old man" makeup that will be needed for my part in the school show. Whaddaya think?

I used this tutorial - from the same guy as the zombie make-up ones. It's obviously not as good as his though :L

Ok, so buy for now guys!

Update: *bye
I'm sorry, that has to be the stupidest spelling mistake I've ever made :(

And the challenges begin!

2011-10-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! Sorry for not posting yesterday, I was sleepy and zombified and I had a ton of work to do. I'm still not really finished actually, so this is going to be a fairly short post, I'm afraid.

On the plus side, I'm making great headway with my wall collage. I think I may get it done tomorrow, providing I don't end up having rehearsals or yet more homework(Remember when I said fifth years didn't seem to get much homework? It turns out I was slightly mistaken). I didn't fully comprehend just how many photos and pictures I would need, though, so I'm going to have to photocopy some of my picture books I think, and maybe print out some new pictures of me and my friends.

I love making collages, as it's the one thing in art that I am actually somewhat ok at. It doesn't take a high degree of skill to arrange pictures in an aesthetic way after all. I really like the polyvore website, because I can make collages without having to worry about glue or paper bits, but since the pictures only really exist on the internet, I sometimes prefer just making hard collages on book covers or in scrapbooks or whatever.

ColaDays by lazyd featuring white jewelry

So anyway, I'm just going to leave it there for the moment because of the aforementioned reasons. Talk tomorrow, bye!

ZOMBIE TIME!!

2011-09-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know I said I'd be taking a break from reviews and stuff but today is of course a very special occasion (!). So without further ado, let the zombieness begin!

Hey, does anybody remember this video, or was it just on in Ireland:

It was banned from daytime TV in Ireland because it was deemed to scary for the young'uns. What do you think?

Oddly enough, the only zombie film that gave me nightmares as a child was Scooby Doo on Zombie island. Don't ask me why.

Three great zombie links!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_apocalypse Just about the whole idea
http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/ How to prepare yourself for a zombie apocalypse
http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/ ditto

Zombie books (that I've read, which is admittedly very few):
Generation Dead by Daniel Waters: A startlingly original novel about how in a science fiction America, teenagers no longer stay dead when they die. There is a zombie romance going on - but the author manages to stop it from becoming too twilightesque, by giving us details of prejudice against the zombies (or "living impaired" and "differently biotic" as they are known), and the resistance that has therefore sprung up. Note: Do not waste your money on the sequels - they are just not as good.

Zombies - A record of the year of infection by Don Roff and Chris Lane: My li'l brother owns this picture book which is really quite morbid for a children's piece of literature. The pictures are cool, though being intended for children doesn't lend itself well to horror fiction.

Gone by Michael Grant: Best thriller series ever. I love these! I'll admit the zombieness is a little thin on the ground but from book two (Hunger) onwards there is an undead character. (I don't want to give to much away!).

2.5 scary zombie makeovers:

I don't know who the guy doing all the zombie tutorials is, but he is seriously obsessed [in a cool way] :)

And Lastly...

Happy walking all you zombie bloggers!

Ghost Hunting Theories Above the Norm: Bizarre Arizona Zombies Everywhere Holly's Horrorland Little Gothic Horrors Anything Horror Katy Bennett Horror Writer and Poet Bubba's Place Horror Smorgasbord Gnostalgia Monkey Man Words and Music Red Shoes Chronicles The Wolf's Eyes My Day in a Sentence Pixie's Horror Galore Strange State The Misadventures of HalloweeNut Halloween Blues Kweeny Todd The California Blogging Massacre Horror Shock Lolipop Vanessa Morgan Improbable Frontiers No Really, You Can Eat It Art By Living Dead Girl Nicole Two Gory Chicks A Dust Bunny in the Wind A Ghoul's Best Friend Zombies Are Magic Cherry Neko Saves the World Tall Tales At the Mansion of Madness The Haunted Rose The Rotting Zombie Halloween Overkill Out of the Shadows Creepy Glow Keyhole Gallery Creepy Glowbugg Bifocal Univision Haiku-Koo-Koo Sherry Soule Anchors and Roses Paranormal Researchers Group Whispering Pines History Lovely Miss Megs Sean Thomas Fisher's Blogwash Rise and Fight Stump Town Horror LoliClown's Little Blog of Horror Zombies Can't Love Books and Beyond The Grave Bandits Screaming Goregasms Icky Monster Pretty in Fiction Ivy's Closet Justine's Halloween Annie Walls Just Johnny

The (soon to be) Plucked Chicken Challenges

2011-09-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, my grandparents had the - let us say, "unusual" - idea of running a seasonal goose farm for just before Christmas time.

I hated it. The yellow down of the cute squalling little goslings soon moulted into straggled white feathers, the birds temperament drastically transforming to an equally crabby, rough, hissing fury. It was a battle of fear between them and my four-year old self, one from which the geese invariably came out victorious, despite all the stamping I did, my little green wellingtons pounding the floor in vain warning, before I would give up and pelt away to some corner where they were unlikely to discover me.

At least I didn't have to pluck them though - however, a few years later and I could have told a different story. Plucking was a job invariably left to the women of the household. I don't think anybody could truly comprehend the impossibilities of the plucking task without seeing it for themselves - the newspaper laid out on every kitchen surface , greasy feathers flying up around the air, landing on the floor, on clothes, on hair - everywhere. The dead geese lay raw, naked and bloody on the counter-top, and everyone panted their relief at it being over for one more year.

Thankfully most people shared my sentiments, and after a few years even my grandparents lost heart and gave it up, though still to this day keep a few ducks and chicken - though we would just take them to a butchers now, thankfully.

I imagine we all still look back on it as an experience, though - "The Plucked Goose Challenge", you could say. I am starting to realise that no experience can really be a completely bad one - at least you get a good story out of the more "unique ones".

I write this because I have decided to use this blog to try to benefit myself - there is no point in my writing of experiences if I simply never have any. Therefore, I am starting my own "Plucked Chicken Challenges" (chicken sounds catchier than goose) - tasks I am going to set for myself, so that I shall have new things to talk and write about.

At the moment I have four goals:

Short Term: I will finish decorating my bedroom wall this weekend. I have musical practise but I am just going to suck it up and get it done.
Medium Term: I want to read these three books over the next month - as in, the time limit is until October 29.

Room by Emma Donoghue
The Kite Runner (yeah, I know, I really need to read it)
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Long Term: I want to take up jogging for a half hour after classes are finished, more for social reasons than anything else, as all my friends have gotten really into fitness and have started together.
Long Term: I want to finish Grade 8 piano by March next year so that I'll only have one exam left to do before I can start teaching lessons myself (and make money!).

They won't be as difficult as plucking a goose, I know, but they will serve to better me and inspire me, and in the immortal words of Polly Baker from this year's school musical - Who could ask for anything more?

Maths and Musings

2011-09-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

OMfeckinG guys, I had a maths test today on my entire chapter that we were told about YESTERDAY. You may have noticed that I am not happy. Amazingly though, by some feat of sheer serendipity I happened to be revising the exact same question that came up in the test literally minutes before the teacher handed out the paper. So yeah, I think I might have aced it. *Nerdgasm!*

On the plus side, I thought I did fairly well on my English test on Tuesday - I've already moved from a B- to an A- so now I just have to wait and see what the results are. Scary!

Uggh...
I need to think of something that will get me out of this block of boring events and reviews/picture posts - some new idea or something.... I'll mull it over (yes, I will mull), and hopefully return with a better blog.

Be intrigued. Be very intrigued.

But until then:

(I know it's an ad, but I still think it's pretty funny)

One And Only Dolls - A really cool website (I am too lacking in scribal skills to think of a superior title)

2011-09-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!
I saw a really excellent post over at My 2 Pesos exhibiting cool/bizarre/morbid dolls (check it out, seriously - especially in light of the Zombie Walk happening this week), which made me recall a site my aunt told me about - http://oneandonlydolls.com/

Wow, there were a LOT of links in that paragraph. Anyway.

This site is a collection of images of Barbie and other fashion dolls that have been revamped by artist Renée Coughlan, to create an altogether more satisfyingly aesthetic appearance. She remoulds the ears into elvish designs, repaints the faces and creates new clothes and identities, until the original dolls are unrecognisable.

I just think the dolls are the fabulousest creations I've come across in a long time. If she was still making them I'd almost be tempted to buy them, despite the hefty price tag. I'll show you a few imagess, but you should deffo go to the site.

All images sourced from the One And Only Dolls website, obviously.

Hope you enjoyed, have a nice day!

Out there in the dark... there's a beckoning candle

2011-09-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

I am, as is only right, one hundred per cent in love with Elvis Presley. Pre-drug addiction, that is. And by the end of this post, dammit, you're going to be in love with him too.

From where did this infatuation with the moves and the music of The King come, you ask? Well I'll tell ya. Whether or not you want to know (that's the beauty of blogging). Last year, being the total drama queen I am, I was in the chorus of the All Shook Up musical in town, which is basically a retelling of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night set to the songs of Elvis. It's pretty hard not to fall into l'amour when you're listening and singing along to songs like his every day. And then I had to play an Elvis impersonator (I know, right?) in a play my class were putting on for a drama festival, so I looked up a few videos to get an idea of the moves.

And my mind was blown.

Elvis ROCKED!

How can you fail to crack a smile watching these videos? I mean, come on!

And before you start thinking I'm some sort of crazy cat lady (actually, I guess I sorta am - wait till I do a pet post), I'll have you know that other people think Elvis is cool too.

The Pink Ladies - they know what they're talking about!

Scouting for Girls: another band I adore

Heheh, oops. When I start putting up videos I don't know how to stop. Isn't he the greatest though?

So go spread the Elvis love everybody! Bye!

image from 8notes.com

Hey... Is this thing on?

2011-09-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

I looked up at the blogger posting screen and happened to notice the the title box at the top of it... which led me to notice that I have never actually given my posts titles before... which made me think that this was really something I ought to do.

So I did.

Anyway, today was a gloriously free day for me, readers, where I lounged around watching Gilmore Girls, blissfully abandoning all hope of revising for school tests, and figuring out a complicated hairstyle:

I have discovered what it took Victoria Wood until motherhood to realise: that I am crap at plaits.This took a full hour of work - one part stamina, two parts hairspray, and an unholy amount of bobby pins. And it kinda looks like I have short hair from the front, which is cool since I've been wondering whether I should just lop the whole lot off and now I have some sort of reference. I'll wear it to school on Monday. If I get up early enough, that is. So yay, happy days!

I've spent so much of the last few weeks thinking/writing about Elizabeth Bishop's "exquisitely intricate descriptions" that I have very little left in my fatigued writing store. So I plan to rant for a little while:

The Top 3 Things that Annoy Me

People who use the word "random" to describe experiences. Just don't, ok? Random should be used to say something like "we tested a random selection of samples to see if they were contaminated", or maybe, just maybe, "I randomly bumped into Paul yesterday" (and sparingly even then). Just don't say that something that happened to you was "so random". Use another friggin' adjective already! It's not that hard - here's a few: abnormal, unusual, bizarre, astonishing, rare, refreshing, remarkable. Go look them the fuck up, they mean the same thing and you won't sound like a 13 year old wannabe cynic when you use them.
Uptalking? Yeah, just a little tiring? And hard to listen to? You know what I mean, right?
The use of double vowels, a trend created by (I can only assume) an especially moronic breed of human. I actually got a text sent to me by a friend where she used "yhuu" instead of "you". y. h. u. u. THAT'S NOT EVEN A GODDAMN ABBREVIATION! It takes more letters to write it! Use some sense people, and don't do this. Facebook cured it for a while, since the people on it were at the start older and in college, but now all the younguns are joining and it's cropping up again. (Yes, this is my biggest pet hate)

Thanks for listening, those of you who made it through that pile of fury. What things irk, peeve, provoke or irritate you? Let me know!

2011-09-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

No show rehearsals today, which means I'm not at quite the same level of exhaustion as I have been the past couple of nights. Definitely a good start!

Something I've been struggling with in school lately is French. See, I used to be pretty good at it, but after my "relaxed" year last year I completely forgot any scrap of recognition I had of the language. I never stopped to think ahead - to foresee that I might one day open a french book and see the nonsensical squiggles in front of me, and be like what's that under the c? a tadpole?

My aunt pulled through for me though. She had a whole load of French Marie-Claires that she gave to me (so handy that she's fluent), so now all I can do is make my way steadily through them, and hope that something sinks in.

I wouldn't like to have to speak a foreign language all the time though. We had a new girl today (I was part of the impromptu "welcoming committee" was called by a very stressed out teacher) and she was from Latvia and I felt so sorry for her because I can't imagine trying to negotiate my way around a busy school in French - not to mention going through lessons.

Sometimes I don't see eye to eye with my maths teacher - well ok, I like never see eye to eye with my maths teacher, but today she gave us these sheets with problems to work out, and they were so beautiful. I love looking at a maths question and seeing ways to come up with the answer, the dawning light of comprehension, as it were (I know, I know, total nerding out there but anyway, go read An Abundance of Katherines and start appreciating the beauty of mathematics yourself if you think I'm weird).

We had to hand up our English essay today, which I was feverishly finishing during my free period. Test on Tuesday. Whoopee. I don't mind writing essays on poets or whatever, but getting it done in the one hour time-limit will be something of a challenge.

So that's my school life right now. What subjects do all of you like/dislike?

2011-09-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

I am so exhausted right now - I would probably crash at this very second, but I feel the insane need to post every night, so there you have it.

I'm just going to do a picture post today, because I seriously can't muster the effort to do any more. So here goes. I've been making this scrapbook of pictures I like from magazines, and trying to arrange them so they look prettiful. It's just something I try to do when I have time, since it's relaxing, but (I like to think) creatively stimulating at the same time. So I'll just put up a few pages from them. (Uh, I don't own any images by the way. I found them in a mixture of Elle, Vogue, Marie Claire and other publications my mother refers to as "picture-trash")

The awkward industrial girl page - I got all obsessed with people wearing socks with stilettos and mary-janes for a while

Very smooth, natural like rose petals (hence the roses)

I think this is my favourite one, though the colours didn't come out brilliantly on my camera

And lastly, this one is all trinkets and gauzy fairy nighties, (fairies from Jean+Ron Henry calendars)

Well, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed :) Bye .... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2011-09-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hi people :)

An unfortunate result of having a part in my school show is that I now have a 14 hour school day. In a few weeks that's going to mean leaving home in the dark and returning in the dark, which will be depressing. I should just become a boarder and have done with it at this stage.

Anyway. I guess it's only for a month (our school gets musicals done super fast) and it's not the end of the world. But I suppose on weekdays, my posts will mostly be later than usual. Soz guys!

I got my script for the show. I had a LOT of highlighting to do as happily my character has a pretty sizeable part, with lines in quite a few scenes. Rehearsals are on most nights at 7.00pm so us cast members have about an hour to shuffle out town in search of food. Which is fun, in a way.

All hopes of starting up running after school today were dashed when the rain fell so hard on our prefab classroom the teacher had to stop talking because no-one could hear her. It seemed like a bad idea to get soaked in a school with no showers. I shall have to leave my critical fitness shortages to another day.

I think I shall have to leave you now unfortunately, as my panic over the English essay is reaching critical mass right now. I'll do a longer post tomorrow, I promise!

2011-09-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well, howdy. Yer lukin at the noo Everett, for this here moosical Crazy for You. (my pitiful attempt at a wild western accent laid out for your ridicule in print)

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am playing a man in my (convent) school musical. You have permission to laugh.
Because, to be honest, I'm happy to have a part at all. I'm playing the father of the female lead, Polly, and I intend to rock it in a way that only a 70 year old dude from rural Nevada can. Despite the fact I'm only like 5' 4" and most of the girl characters are going to be taller than me. Oh well, I guess they can put it down to osteomalacia or something.

So we dutifully handed up our English essays yesterday and were rewarded with... another English essay. I started the draft and then collapsed from exhaustion and boredom. I've gotten really good at judging what 5 A4 handwritten pages looks like on a computer though, so I won't have to make too many length adjustments to my first draft - once it's actually done.

Since people seemed to like my book recommendations last Thursday, I'll just do a quick set of funny books I've enjoyed recently.

Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini - featuring a tiny supercomputer that teaches people how to be cool, an unholy interest in the monetary values of BeanieBabies, and the death of Eminem by way of a freak street hockey accident, this book sparks the following conversation any time me and my brother are in the car:
My Brother: Remember when....
Me: Oh yeah and then (dissolve into hysterical laughter)
Mam: What book are you guys talking about? Can I read it?
Me + Brother (panicked): NO!!!!!!
Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down: Articles from columnist Dave Barry, who lives in Miami - a place where "you can get drugs just by yelling out your window 'Hey, I want some crack!' but you can't even sell your soul for a decent flushing toilet". That's about all you need to know about this one.
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby: The story of four very different people who meet by chance when they each inadvertently decide to kill themselves at the same time in the same place. Ok, this one doesn't sound very funny, and indeed it doesn't have the kind of humour apparent in the previous two books, but Nick Hornby is skilled enough that he is able to bring a certain black comedy to the story. I surprise myself by shaking in laughter at some of the passages.

So there you go. Enjoy!

2011-09-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

Very little to tell ye today I'm afraid.

Piano lesson tomorrow, for which I have no clue of the piece due to spending all weekend blogging/writing my English essay rather than practising. So that should be fun.

The show auditions officially finished this evening. Parts are to be announced tomorrow, apparently. I'm a bit of a wreck about that at the moment, but maybe, (just maybe) there'll be a small part in store for me. Tomorrow shall tell.

I'm feeling a bit anti-climactic at the moment, like the flat basketball we tossed around in P.E. today. I arranged my ornaments in the hope that it would spark my "creative interests" (I know, what a thrilling life I do lead):

I used to have a morbid fascination with porcelain dolls when I was younger, hence the numbers. People used to by me them for Christmas/birthdays since they knew I liked them. I know some people get creeped out by the blank eyes and all, but I thought they were cool. Don't ask me why. It could be worse though. I heard of one guy who was given a stuffed owl for a present, for no particular reason - and then everyone assumed he collected them and for the next ten years all he ever got as presents were stuffed owls. So I think I came off as the lucky one really.

(That did happen to me sort of, actually. From the age of 9 till I was 13 I was in this quiz team at my primary school, and we used to do really well in competitions, getting to the all Ireland 4 years in a row- not that I'm bragging or anything. But anyway, everyone used to buy me quizbooks, and I really got sick of it after a while. I mean, I was really grateful, and I did use them, but it was like "not another one!")

That'll be it for the moment.

2011-09-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

In a feverish state trying to finish my question on Elizabeth Bishop for English. I think my arm may soon drop off from exhaustion.

At the moment in school I do English, Irish, Maths, French, History, Biology and Art. We also do made-up subjects like:

Career Guidance (where we sit around pretending to fill out questionnaire sheets)
Computers (35 minutes trying to point out that my neighbours "broken" computer is in fact not switched on)
Gym/PE - (10 minutes changing, 4 minutes standing around, 6 minutes throwing a frisbee and 10 minutes changing back)
Religion, where we learn sex ed and health education (seems like a faulty system to do this in religion, but whatever)

At the moment my top three subjects are History because we're doing the cold war, which I find fascinating (no, seriously), Art because it's mostly practical and the learning work isn't too taxing, and English which I've always really loved. I wouldn't even care about having to do the essays if it wasn't for the fact that they have to be handwritten. It just seems so so pointless when you consider that in two years I'll never have to pick up a pen again.

I had a cross, strict but absolutely brilliant English teacher for my first three years of secondary school. She was really inspiring and improved our vocabulary and taste in literature no end. I now have an almost as inspirational, but less strict one who is basically just as good. I've gotten so used to getting homework done to as high a standard as possible that I don't really need the scare factor to push me anymore.

I like my school really, in spite of annoying rules and manic teachers and scary students and such. It does scare me to think of college in two years, and how big and different it's going to be. I can't imagine not being pushed to do well, having to rely on my own self control to stop procrastination.

I guess I don't really need to worry yet, but sometimes things just enter my head and echo around for ages for no apparent reason.

Elizabeth Bishop was quite a cool poet btw. Most of her poems were free-verse but she did one called "Sestina" which is (aptly enough) a sestina - a poem with six stanzas of six lines.and a final triplet, each stanza having the same words to end its lines but in a different order. The final three lines must introduce all six words which end the six preceding stanzas. It's kind of like a poetry puzzle pinnacle. :)

Ok, I guess that's about all I have to say for the moment. Bye for now

2011-09-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

Just a few images of the Jane Eyre movie I thought you might enjoy. The film was excellent - beautifully shot and it managed to combine the gothic creepiness of the novel with the dreary lives led by those in stately homes. Obviously they had to leave a huge amount of the story out of the film, and I can't really judge what your reaction would be if you haven't already read the book. I can only implore you to read it - everyone should get the chance to experience Jane Eyre.

All photos sourced from google images

2011-09-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

I'm going to see Jane Eyre tonight! I loved the book so I'm hoping it will be good It seems like it would be hard to fit all the story in but my favourite film critic Paul Whitington - he writes a column for the Irish Independent - gave it four stars, and he usually gets it right so I live in hope.
Can't Wait - I was going to post the Horse Outside video but I figure I'd be flagged as inappropriate so I'll just put a link here, Don't click if you're too easily offended (yes, this is what we listen to in Ireland).

On a less distasteful note I thought I'd share some of my current favourite music, since I haven't really done much today. (English essay - what can you do?) So here goes:

The Slow Club: I only stumbled across this song recently, so I know very little about the band and their other songs, but I think this hits the right notes of cheese and quirkiness

(It was on an advertisement back in 2008 apparently, though I don't remember it)

The Real Group: We did "Chilli Con Carne" in choir at school. I love a cappella songs. Oh, and as a general warning, you may NEVER get "I Sing, You Sing" out of your head.

Rocky and Balls: A ukulele and piano duo from Britain, these two have written some sweet and hilarious tunes together. One of my favourites:

And lastly, Yiruma: He's this amazing piano player/composer from South Korea, and I don't really know how to explain it without sounding all Hallmarky - I find myself singing along to the music because it says so much I almost believe it actually does have words. Absolutely breathtaking. That's my opinion anyway. (just click the YouTube link on the video)

(Apparently this piece was in the running for Bella's Lullaby in the Twilight movie, but don't hold that against it)

So there you have it. I hope you enjoy!

2011-09-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

So. Glad. It's. Friday.

Lately I've taken to just doing my make-up in the toilets before school seeing as I get in so early. The awkwardness is pretty much worth the extra ten minutes spent curled up in bed, at this stage. Plus with refurbishments going on our school bathrooms have new mirrors, so it's way easier to spot mascara mishaps or streaky concealer than it was in the chipped grey glass we had before. I don't really wear much slap to school, just a bit of concealer and mascara to make it look less like the sleepless zombie I truly am.

I guess it's a good thing we have a uniform at school really, cos things could end up a hell of a lot more complicated and sleepless if we didn't. I can barely stay awake on Friday as it is.

That said, I adore my Friday classes. I have double Art at the end of school, and in all honesty there could not be a more perfect way to conclude a week's work. We had a mini field trip across the street to the gallery this time. They have quite an interesting (and expensive!) horse themed exhibition at the moment. I think my favourite was a life size model of a horse rolling on the ground - made from cardboard and brown tape. But at €5000, I was rather afraid to go anywhere near it, really.

Speaking of which, (or, you know, not at all) I was totally thrilled to get another comment yesterday! That brings the total comments I have received (and not made by me) to three. Three whole comments! I am on my way UP! Seriously though, thank you so much, talk about a morale boost.

On Fridays I just sleep in a block until at least eleven on Saturday, catching up on whatever snooze I've missed in the week I guess. So I guess that's what I'm going to do pretty soon, now.

Update: ok, more than 4 comments. Thanks guys!

I tried to find the real Mr Eastwood version, but it's not on Youtube :(

2011-09-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

I should really be practising piano now, but this is more fun :)

I've been reading Anne Frank of late (first time! I am so Angela Chase) and I think I have come to concur with her that it is sort of great to have somewhere to write the general musings and idiotic thoughts that appear in my head. I thought it would be hard to blog most days and think of something to say other than I went to school or it's raining outside, but in fact I am finding it really quite enjoyable.

Even if there's like nobody reading it.

Some other good books I've been reading recently:

We Need to Talk About Kevin: I probably won't watch the film of this, as it's so chilling. A gripping plot told from the unusual perspective of a teenage mass-murderer's mother.
Jurassic Park: (yeah, it's a book!) This is actually by Michael Crichton, the man we have to thank for the epic 15 season Sunday-night saga, ER. It's a similar story to the film, only with a few more deaths (!).
Don't Eat this Book: By the Supersize Me guy. Best. Appetite Suppressant. EVER
The Book of General Ignorance: By the QI people. It's a little too smug, so I couldn't stick reading it in one sitting, but it's a fun one to flick through sporadically (anyone else hear that word for the first time on Clueless?).

And I just started Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything on the recommendation of my English teacher, but I'm not very far yet. I hope it stays as good as it is as the moment though, as I'll be in a state of beatific reader's bliss for the next week or so if it does.

So, yeah, I'm really starting to love writing in this blog everyday. It's like a regimen, like in that Julie/Julia film. Now I just need a bit of piano practise and my day will be complete!

Thanks Guys!
Over and Out

P.S. After the "rambunctious" celebrations by the ex-Junior Certs last year our religion teacher gave us an emergency information course on alcohol this morning. I can't say I've ever seen that many sheepish sleepy faces in one room before. It was an experience, that's for sure.

2011-09-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Junior Cert Results today so surprise, surprise, no homework. Having done Transition Year I obviously wasn't feeling the hysterics myself, so I happily sat back and watched the manic ecstasy unfold.

The general belief that our year was "the bad year" was only reinforced after hearing the results this time round, but being mature and experienced fifth years we naturally didn't care. Not even a little bit. At all.

So well done all you ex Junior Certs out there. As a (slightly) elder person I am legally obliged to impress upon you how hard fifth year is in comparison, but to be honest it's genuinely not so bad. I was terrified about the amount of work we were going to have back three weeks ago, but then I actually started school and was like 'Oh - is this it?'

And also, in the words of som newlyex JCs overheard in the hall today:
"Are yiz puttin on tan fer da disco??"
"Ah sher twill be dark boyshz, so I'm not gonnta."

Quite.

2011-09-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

The musical auditions were for the main female role today - something tells me I didn't quite get it:

Oh well

On the positive side of things, NO HOMEWORK!! I have spent my time blissfully decorating my wall. I'm making a collage of photos and posters of films that I like, or in the case of Marie Antoinette and the Virgin Suicides, (absolutely two of the dullest films I've ever sat through) at least enjoy the aesthetic appeal of.

I can't tell you why it came out sideways, but you get the picture (Ha!)

I had way more shells up on the wall but the blue tack wasn't really strong enough. I want to cover the entire wall but the effort is killing me.That's my mission anyway.

I guess now is a good time to inform you of my slight... obsession with Spiderman. You'll note the top right hand corner of the collage. It was the first superhero movie I watched and I drool every time. It's not really Tobey Maguire (though James Franco, on another note, is mighty fine). I think it's just the costume. Although I don't see how Spiderman 4 will live up to Tobey Maguire's shy brilliance. And while I totally agree with the Very Potter Musical cast and the rest of the civilised world that Spiderman 3 sucked, I still can't control myself. It's an affliction, I'm afraid, one I'll just have to live with.

I begged to go see Captain America, it sounded right up my street, but I guess I'll just have to wait for the DVD at this stage. Sigh...

2011-09-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

Woooo I made Irish debating team... I personally think it still counts even if only four people audition so everyone gets in. Musical auditions aren't starting until tomorrow evening.

From my posts so far I suppose you have most likely concluded that I am one of those drama geeks. You probably aren't too far wrong - the annoying affected hipster (check out her video, it's hilarious) thespian person would be a stereotype I've fought hard not to become, but as you can see from my extra-curriculars, I seem to mostly descend into depressingly obvious hipster tendencies. At least I'm not vegan (Ha! can you imagine?)

Anyway, this year my school is doing Crazy for You - a musical I had never heard of before last week. The songs seem to be cheerful enough though:

(being a convent school, we can audition for both male and female parts)

Hey, like this school! Sort of...

Apart from the stress I always love doing the musicals, even in the chorus. Because in our school, the musical is big. There's a chorus of over 200 girls (not joking) and we get the whole show auditioned, casted, rehearsed, produced and staged in under a month. Panicky but groovy (yes, I used a thesaurus to find a synonym for enjoyable :b) people, panicky but groovy.

2011-09-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

Just had one of those days where you feel the urge to pig out on everything in sight, and am now lying like a beached whale in bed feeling all saturated and bleh...

Two tests tomorrow (Maths and Biology) plus Irish debating audition plus audition for school musical (possibly, our school's higher powers evidently have a theory that not telling us exactly when important things happen will force us to be paranoidly prepared for everything)

I think I would be more stressed out if I wasn't so full right now. All the stuffing has mellowed me out, I guess. Probably my brain can't concentrate on anything but my digestive system at the moment.

Night

2011-09-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

I'm crossly writing this in a state of genuine discomfort due to the fact that I appear to have twisted something in my left... buttock, if you will, so apologies for any displays of grumpiness you encounter.

I've been doing this Jillian Michaels workout, which is really challenging, but really reeeally good (or at least I thought so before I was laid up). It's the 30 day shred video, and it's only 20 minutes long so I find it easier to fit it into my day, not that the workout is any less tough than most of the one hour+ videos I've tried.

Speaking of schedules, I think today may be the best to complain about my own weekdays, what with me in such a peppy mood and all. So I get up at half six to get ready for the bus which leaves my village at 07.40 (we have to drive to the village first). I am then in school at 08.15: FORTY-FIVE FECKIN MINUTES BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS. I have school until ten to four becaue for some inexplicable reason my school finishes later than the three other secondary schools in town. But I'm not done yet. Oh no. I then either have to wait fifteen minutes in the generally pouring rain for the bus, or go to supervised after-school study, where I quite likely will have nothing to do but read since we have free periods during school-time to do study anyway. I then arrive home sometime after seven o' clock having spent almost twelve hours away from home (and this isn't counting the days when I have things like show rehearsals from 19.00 to 21.30).

I realise plenty of you probably have way worse days than me but dangit I'm miserable, so I'm going to moan. And it sucks to feel like a vampire during because you leave home in the dark and don't come back until it's gone dark again.

Bye guys. Sorry for the self pity.

2011-09-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

Hey hey all you miserable people out there! Do you feel like avoiding stress and unnecessary upsets / mortification? I bet you do ;) (Yes, I just used a winky emoticon. I'm that badass)

Well, I thought I'd let you in on a few events from my personal experiences today which, had they been handled correctly, could have served to make me calmer - or at least have prevented a severe loss of cool. Take heed, friends, because surely someday you will be on the verge of having as much of a humiliation day as I have had.

Do not tell people you can play an instrument if you cannot play an accompaniment to at least one chart song - this will save you an "Oh cool you play piano? Hey, can you play [insert song title]? Oh, too bad, never mind. Hey what about [other song]? Oh .... well, uh.... I need to go do this thing..."
If you want to listen to a piano piece that you are about to learn (most likely with great difficulty), do not go on youtube. Why, you ask? Because nothing will kill your confidence faster than watching a six year old (who is probably still too short to sit at the piano without a special seat) play the piece flawlessly. Oh, and also, THEY WON'T BE USING SHEET MUSIC. Smug little brats. You can here them going na-na-na-na-na now.
When you have to introduce a person at the 5th year "making friends" session, its probably best not to describe their gymnastic skills as "spreadin' their legs". Just saying.
It's also best not to forget the name of the other person you're introducing.
Lastly, if a friend tells you that when a fish opens and closes its mouth it looks like it's saying "gullible" . . . just don't answer.

And take comfort in the fact that whatever faux pas you commit, you will more than likely never lose your dignity in quite the way this poor beast did:

2011-09-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

Golly gee guys, this must be like at least the fifth time I've started up this blog. I will keep it up this time. I WILL, Goddamit!

On the optimistic side, I'm studying Elizabeth Bishop in school and it apparently took her 45 years to finish writing one of her poems. Forty-five. Years. Sylvia Plath didn't even live that long. So things are looking good for me by comparison. (Note: Just looked my book and it was actually 25 years. Oops, guess I need to do some more revision)

Ok so this time I'm embarking on my blogospherical journey due to a surprising but definite lack of homework this Fifth Year. So much for the legendary threats teachers make about how impossible the workload is and how much we'll pray to be back in the JC exam hall - it's turned out to have all the let down of the Irish modh coinniolach.We'll see whether things get tougher, but in the meantime this blog may be the regimen I need to prevent mindless boredom and the general descent into lethargy that usually accompanies my back-to-school weeks.

Yes. We shall see.