Monday 11 June 2012

I've left.. why are you still overtaking my life?

It's been a month since I last posted but I am happy to say the majority of my exams are now out of the way and over with. I have 2 left - Statistics and Resistant Materials (Tech). The other exams went ok I guess. Except English. English was hell - I'm so glad I never have to do that again. I've split up the exams into days which is why there is a group of 3 - this day I labelled 'Hell Day'. I was in isolation all day - it was tedious but never mind, we got cake at lunch.

Citizenship - easy. Over in an hour, simple question. Good start

Biology - ok. Best it could've been. Questions about Olaf the farmer.
Spanish Listening - not good. Everyone came out of that and went "what was that?". So hopefully they'll lower the grade boundaries. Questions on Olga. Made me laugh as Biology and this were on the same day.

Chemistry - nice exam, nothing too difficult, didn't finish but never mind, I answered all the high marked questions and I only had one question left so I don't think it'll affect my grade too much
English Lit - awful questions in a stuffy sports hall full to the brim of bored year 11s with aching hands. But at least I never have to look at 'Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha' ever again.

Spanish Reading - much better than the listening exam. Hopefully I will have pulled it back from the depths of awful to the the acceptable.

English Language - a resit from year 10. I think it went ok but the texts were some of the most boring you have ever read. I mean, seriously, who cares about Urban Foxes? The writing section wasn't too bad so hopefully it'll all balance out. The best mark goes through so if I do really bad, I can always use last year's mark. Which is a positive at least.

Business Studies - surprisingly ok. Some decent questions and not too many long essay ones. I reckon I did ok and a definite bonus is no more Business Studies!
Physics - again, a nice one. I think I did well but I'm worried that it seemed a little too easy. I'm hoping the grade boundaries aren't too high so I'll get a good grade in Physics overall - I am taking it for A-level after all
Additional Maths - could've gone better but what can you do about it now? Some very tricky, complicated questions but in the past boundaries have been low so maybe that'll continue this year. I suppose, in the end, it's just an extra qualification - I've already got Maths in the bag, Ad Maths is just an added bonus.

There's a quick rundown of the exams. Most of this was crammed into 2 weeks with lots of full days at school. This is part of the reason I haven't posted since I left school. Exams and revision.

Now, on a less academic note, I have found my prom dress! It's really pretty but now I have 17 days to find shoes, a bag and transport. I'm cutting it a little fine but I've got some free time now so hopefully it'll all come together.

This whole post has been about school and school-related things. I've left school so why is it still overtaking my life? After the 28th June, I've got 2 whole months off to do whatever I want before returning to sixth form. Exciting. Until next time - hopefully the gap will be shorter this time.

Friday 11 May 2012

Leavers Day at Chellaston Academy

Today was a happy but sad day for me. Today was the day I "left" Chellaston Academy. I've made so many friends over the five years I've been there but I'm hopefully going back in September for Sixth Form.

Form was definitely the worst. It passed so quickly and although I have complained about them in the past, I've seen them every day for 5 years and that creates a bond whether you like it or not so it was sad knowing that it was the last time we would ever be a form. Long live SBK! (SBK is my form tutors initials - her name's Miss Starbuck)

My shirt is full of signatures and messages. I've taken a ridiculous amount of photos and been in a lot more above that. It was a lovely sunny day all day and only ruined by a small group of immature people. But no need to dwell on them.

The whole of Year 11, Class of 2012
Now all I've got to do is pass my exams. No pressure then. Until next time people.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

The Grand European Tour

If any of you follow me on Twitter (@charly_sedici), you'll have some idea what this is about but if you don't, I'm going to explain.
 However, before we get onto that I need to quickly warn you that posting over the next few weeks may be a little on the sparse side due to lots of revision sessions, exams etc. but the majority of exams (10 out of 12) will be completed by the end of May so it should go back to normal after that. And now on to the point...

The Grand European Tour
My parents and I have decided our holiday for the year will be a bike holiday because they are amazing fun and a lot more interesting than sitting on a beach for a week. We'll be going in August but we are fully booked for the three ferries and train we have to take.

We'll be gone for 15 days and get back a few days before I get my results for my GCSEs. We start the journey at Portsmouth and take an overnight ferry to Santander, Spain. After arriving in Spain, we'll be riding across Spain passing and potentially stopping (dependant on how long we want to ride for, light) at Jaca before crossing the Pyrenees into the South of France, passing through places such as Narbonne and Nice.

We will then cross over the border into Italy for a brief period, past Milan for a quick stop at Venice hopefully. After the brief crossing of the northern part of Italy, we intend to enter the edges of Switzerland before heading south through Zagreb, Slovenia to Croatia where the final destination is Split.

From Split, we will take another overnight ferry to Ancona, Italy. We will then ride around central Italy for a couple of days. We are hoping to visit and ride through Pisa and Parma (it all sounds rather food-y doesn't it?) before heading to Livorno.

At Livorno, we will be catching an overnight train to Den Bosch in the Netherlands. We will then ride from Den Bosch to Rotterdam where we will catch a final overnight ferry to Hull, England and ride home from Hull.

If this all goes to plan and we don't have to cut any of the proposed route out because we want to stop somewhere because it looks really nice or we just can't be bothered to do any more riding, we will be crossing through 7 countries, excluding England. We wanted to go further, however we had certain time constraints and my parents didn't feel that they could close the business for any longer than two weeks.
They sell soft motorbike luggage and accessories if you were interested. (www.windingroads.co.uk - this is the website, if you're looking for something, we'll try our best to help you find it) and being a small business that ships out all over Europe, we can't afford to close the business for too long but I think the route looks good for what it is and it should be a good holiday.
I'm planning on taking lots of photos to provide a pictographic representation of our trip as we go - Europe's scenery is beautiful so I reckon it'll make a great collage.

Anyway, I'll try not to post about motorbikes for a couple of posts unless something major comes up that I really want to post about. I hope that you enjoyed your long bank holiday weekend (if you live in England; if you don't, I hope you had a good weekend) and I'll post as soon as time allows. Until next time..

Monday 30 April 2012

My Top Ten... Films

I chose to do another list type thing today, much like the post entitled 'My Life in Letters' posted on 19th March (in case you were interested). But today I have chosen to do my top ten films which is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever done because I've watched and loved hundreds of films and been moved by others too. So I'm not sure how this is going to work but here goes, I'll put an explanation after each and I'll write it in reverse order, so the tension builds - not really, I just thought it'd be a little more interesting.

My Top 10 Films.
10. Love Actually. It's the classic chick flick, what more can I say? It's a brilliant Christmas film too, all about people finally getting together (which is cute)
9. Never Been Kissed. I love this because it's about a journalist who goes back to school and changes from being a nobody at her original time at school to a 'popular' when she returns but she realises it's not all that and pulls through at the end. There's a little bit of a chick flick twist. This film is good for teenagers I think because it shows that being super popular doesn't really amount to much in the end despite everyone pining to be someone is secondary school.
8. Step Up. I just liked the cross over between ballet and street (personally, I think street dancing is much more impressive) and the determined attitude of Tyler (the main male role) to turn his life around and actually make something of it.
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I hated the end to this film but it was so moving. I almost cried and that's saying something because I never cry. Well not never, but not at films and books and things.
6. Mean Girls. The ultimate sleepover film. Every time me and my friends have a sleepover we watch this film. We've seen it so many times, I'm pretty sure we all know the majority of the words. Another great sleepover film is Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.
5. Grease. It has to be the cheesiest, most feel-good musical ever and that's exactly why I love it. The songs are all really catchy too. Apart from the two when Danny and Sandy are being all sad and mourning the loss of the other one.
4. Monty Python's Life of Brian. Funniest film ever. 'He's not the Messiah, he IS the Messiah' Cracks me up every time. Hat's off to the Monty Python crew. It's a different look on religion but you can't take it seriously, it is a comedy after all.
3. How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. Another chick flick but my mum and I watch it all the time.
2. Top Gun. The opening sequence to this film is the best I've ever seen and my dad agrees (it's the only part of the film he likes - he hates chick flicks). The rest of the film is a little patchy admittedly but I still think it's good.
And finally, number 1 on my top 10 films list is...
Harry Potter. I would name a specific film out of the eight but I can't. I love the series as a whole, I've grown up with the books and the films and have been one of hundreds, maybe even thousands, who have eagerly awaited each book and film release. When I went to the cinema to see the final instalment (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II), I found it immensely annoying that there was small children there who clearly just didn't understand the pure magic that J.K Rowling created for us all growing up, they just thought it was a merely good film. I doubt that they'd seen the whole series or even read one of the books.

But there you have it, I am a Harry Potter fan - and a proud one at that. It is a film series that has captivated me since day 1 and even though it is all over now, the films (and books) still hold a place in my heart which is why they, as a whole, made it to the number one spot on this list.

Wednesday 25 April 2012

A Proper Talent Show. At last.

I have a legitimate reason for not posting since the 17th April which I know was over a week ago - the reason is that I have had no internet for over a week and on the 17th we had a spark of internet which I used. It came back online yesterday but it was late on and I had quite a bit of work such as revision to do as I only have 11 days left now! Scary thought.

Whilst my internet has been off, I have been trying to think of something, a specific topic, to write about and I had an absolutely amazing idea but because I've been busy at school, home and every other aspect of my life, I forgot it. So instead you're getting a bit of an outpouring of thought with some parts of what's been happening in my life at the moment coming through. Sorry.

I have fallen in love with The Voice UK - I think it's great that we finally have a talent show that judges people on their voice not how they look, what their story is or what their personality is like. As much as like The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, the amount of unbelievably shocking people just gets a little monotonous after a while and although there are some true gems, they barely get any air time because they're too busy showing all the crap ones the judges said no to. However, The Voice UK have pre-screened everyone to see whether they're actually good or not and only the good ones actually get onto the show. The set-up of the show is also really original too with the blind auditions followed by the battle rounds and then the lives so the public won't end up voting for the joke acts who have been put there purely because its amusing to watch these people humiliate themselves on national television but they will vote for good people that they actually like and want to see do well in the competition.
I'm not the only person who thinks this either. The fact that the week before last when Britain's Got Talent and The Voice UK overlapped for 20 minutes, The Voice had 4 million more viewers than BGT. 4 million. If that doesn't support my theory that more people like The Voice and think its a great format for a talent show, I'm not sure what does. The Voice UK's viewing numbers have been continuously growing from week 1 as more and more people tune in to find out what all the hype is about. They tune in, then they get hooked.

Ok, I'm sure you're all bored of me going on about The Voice now but if I have managed to get you even a little interested it is on BBC1 at 7pm on Saturday and you can see all of the blind auditions and the battles on youtube. Vince Kidd, Becky Hill and Jaz Ellington are brilliant - well I think they are. I'll stop talking now - until next time (no TV, promise!)

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Complete with daisies, grass and white spots

Ooh my last post was on Friday 13th! Sorry to any superstitious folk out there. I've been trying to learn my script for my Spanish speaking exam. I have about 10 sentences left to learn by tomorrow. Hopefully I will manage it and remember it all. Tomorrow is also the day when the final Year 11 photos will be held. There will be a whole year photo with all the form tutors, senior leadership team (head, deputy heads etc) and the other staff that are connected to our year. Also, there will be an individual photo which I will have to get my grandma a copy of because the most recent photo she has of me is from Year 6 and apparently seeing me almost every day isn't good enough. Surely she knows what I look like, why does she need an up-to-date photo? I mean, seeing me in the flesh is the most up-to-date you are ever going to get. But hey, that's my grandma.

I have finished my technology project! For those of you who didn't know, I took Resistant Materials for my technology (RM is like woodwork and metalwork) and for my coursework I had to make something that I have designed following a chosen brief. I chose to make a lamp based on a design era. My lamp is based on a toadstool (you know, the little mushrooms fairies live in) because I thought it would like quite good.

My Mushroom - complete with daisies, grass and white spots
I'm quite proud of it to be honest. All of my group's finished projects look good and you can tell everyone is chuffed with the finished project and relieved that its finally over - it did get quite stressful towards the end as people, myself included unfortunately, were rushing trying to get things finished in time and it seemed like everything was against you and everything that was possible to go wrong did go wrong. Let me know what you think please - I would love some feedback from people who aren't bias towards me, like my parents.

Anyway, I'm off to a netball match in a minute so I best wind up this post now. Hey, I said I'd write a longer post next time - promise kept I think :) - also I think said it would be a little more interesting so I hope this is.

Friday 13 April 2012

Easter Holidays Week 2 Half 2

I haven't posted because I've had nothing of much interest to say. I went to an English revision session on Wednesday then went to town to watch The Hunger Games but it was sold out - almost an hour beforehand - so we went to see 21 Jump Street instead. I'm very glad it was sold out actually, 21 Jump Street was brilliant. If you get the chance, go see it.
On Thursday, I did some work then went to a party. It was good, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Today, I went to the cinema again, with James this time and saw The Hunger Games - another brilliant film. Quite graphic though and I'm not particularly a fan of things like that. However, I might have to read the books now. I hope they're easy to read because I should really be concentrating on the play and novel I have to learn for my English exam.
I'm working again tomorrow and then it's back to school on Monday. I will think of something interested to write about soon, promise. I realise that after Life in Letters I've not really written much of interest. This will change!

Enjoy your weekend if I don't post.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Unbelivably short and gnomes

I didn't break my promise! I said I'd post again this month and I have albeit not on Saturday and Sunday like I said I probably would. I hope you all had a good Easter weekend. I worked for half of it but I can't complain. Money's money after all.

I'll post a longer one tomorrow hopefully as I am quickly running out of time. I apologise for the patheticness of this post. On a different note, I saw a girl who looked exactly like a gnome! A garden gnome! It was weird.. she had the hat and everything.

Friday 6 April 2012

April so far (all 6 days)

I can't believe I haven't posted since last month!!!! Ok, I know it was less than a week ago. Ok, six days ago but I felt like I should start the post with a bit of drama.

I've been at work, all week. That's it, I have no other excuse. I got home from work (at about half four on average) then chatted with my parents then got changed out of my bike stuff (i.e take my jacket off, change my bike jeans for normal jeans/a skirt) then watched a bit of TV. My poor laptop has been totally rejected until yesterday when I turned it on to update my iPod. I have over 96 hours of music in my library now! Plus, I actually listen - and like - 99.99% of it. So I reckon that's an achievement.

 Other than that, I've not really done much. I probably should have done some school work or revision or something but quite frankly, I really couldn't be bothered. My bag hasn't moved since last Friday. Oh well, I'll do the work at some point.

I'll post soon - this month, promise! It should be soon, either tomorrow or Sunday. Definitely. Probably. Yeah, lets leave it as probably for now.

Friday 30 March 2012

School Holidays! Finally...

I apologise for the 5-day gap however I have been super busy. However, it has not been having a life. It's been school work. All week. I've been at school doing work then coming home and doing more school work. It hasn't been a particularly interesting week. In fact, I it has been so tiring that I almost fell asleep on my table in English today.

But anyway, it's officially Easter! Well, not quite but it's the Easter holidays which means two weeks of school however, I'm working during the first week (not for very long though, 10 till 3 every day) and I'll be doing revision and school work in the second whilst trying to cram in some sort of social life in and around the edges along the way.

Tonight, I'm going out with my boyfriend and his family to the Annual Cricket Dinner. James, his brother, his dad and his sister all play cricket so they're going with the club and invited me. There is a slight problem though, I don't know all that much about cricket so conversation with people I don't know could be limited unless, by some very happy coincidence, they like motorbikes. Or netball. Or listen to the same types of music to me. Ah well, maybe I'll learn something whilst I'm there.

Now, I'm off because I need to shoot off to James' house so we can go to this dinner. Toodle pip.

Yeah, you read it right, I just said toodle pip.

Sunday 25 March 2012

Welcome to... British Summer Time!

It is now officially the British Summer! Well as of 2 o'clock this morning. I'm very happy to say that today has somewhat resembled summer as the sky is practically cloudless and the sun is shining bright. As I sit here typing out this post it is 6:43pm and at the moment the sun shows no sign of setting for a couple hours at least.

I don't know what it is about the sun, but it just makes everyone immediately happier and slightly more pro-active. People have been out at barbecues today and I've heard lawn mowers going since about 11 this morning. It's lovely.

Hopefully, this weather (sunny, very little breeze, no clouds and relative warmth) will continue right through now until October, when it will begin to get colder again. Obviously a little more warmth would be nice though. However, warmer weather does have some consequences. For example, as soon as it gets above 12 degrees boys (major stereotyping here; be warned) seem to think its perfectly acceptable to walk around without t-shirts on. It's not acceptable at all. It's 12 degrees for goodness sake! Of course, sun burn will soon become a topic of conversation because no one ever wears quite enough sun cream (myself included - that idea of a perfect even tan is just way too tempting). Despite this, I love the summer. Everyone just seems a lot happier to be around other people and all your photos automatically look a lot better because the sun makes everyone glow.

Now, I'm off for a brief evening stroll (I would say walk but that implies some sort of purpose and an idea of pace which is definitely not going to be happening) whilst the air is still warm and the sun is still shining. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and I hope you all have a good week.

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Too. Much. Work

Sorry about not posting yesterday but I'm buried under work at the moment (this is the main reason I didn't post a lot last week as well) and at this moment in time, there is very very little light at the end of the tunnel as my teachers, oblivious of all other subjects except their own, keep giving me more and more work to do.

I've still got quite a bit to do yet, so I'm not sure about how high the frequency of posts will be for the rest of the week so I'll apologise in advance.. Sorry




p.s Sorry about the really short post

Monday 19 March 2012

My Life in Letters

Today, I wanted to do something slightly different in my post so I decided to do my life in letters. Basically, I took each letter of the alphabet and linked it to something in my life. I will write a brief sentence afterwards to explain what it means. Enjoy..

A - Aston Martin. My favourite car is an Aston Martin, I'd love to have one, in Aston Martin green of course.
B - Big Bang Theory. Best TV program ever, shown on channel 4 and E4.
C - Chemistry. What I want to do with the rest of my life and the course I plan on taking at uni.
D - Dogs. I used to be terrified of dogs after a bad experience when I was younger involving a giant Alsation and a lack of signs, I now like dogs and they don't frighten me whatsoever.
E - Exams. Major part of my life at the moment.
F - Friends. The ones that keep me sane, I have a close group of friends and they are all brilliant in their own way.
G - Guides. I was a Rainbow, a Brownie, a Guide, a Ranger, a Young Leader and now I am becoming a Leader.
H - Harry Potter. I am part of the Harry Potter generation, I absolutely love it to pieces.
I - iPod. I cannot live without music.
J - James. My boyfriend.
K - Keyboard. I used to play the keyboard but I gave it up last year because I had other commitments.
L - Love. Possibly over-rated and over-commercialised with it but I still believe in the Fairytale idea of love.
M - Motorbikes. Always have been and always will be a massive part of my life, if that makes me a petrol head, so be it.
N - Netball. I play and train around 3 times a week, I am currently completing an umpiring course in netball and I've been playing it since I was 7 and still think its brilliant. Plus it keeps me fit.
O - Origami. There's something soothing about folding paper and creating birds and flowers and boxes.
P - Pasta. That's about as far as my culinary skills can stretch too.
Q - the Queen. I'm proud of our monarchy in Britain.
R - Russia. I have always wanted to go to Russia, preferably travelling across it on a motorbike.
S - Super Ted. The teddy I was given as a baby.
T - Travelling. I love visiting new places and would like to take a gap year to go travelling around the world.
U - Uganda. I fully support the trip my school runs to Uganda every year and think its a great cause. I would love to go.
V - Vimy Ridge. The most beautiful place ever.
W - Wishing Wells. I always used to make a point of throwing a coin over my shoulder into a wishing well and making a wish.
X - Xylophone. I love the sound it makes.
Y - Youtube. The growing Internet sensation, I think it's brilliant.
Z - Zzzzzz. Sleep, the best medicine along with laughter.

And with that I am done. Until next time.

Sunday 18 March 2012

Forgetful me

I haven't posted since Tuesday! Oops, sorry everyone. I would give you a brief overview but I can't remember what happened on Wednesday, I don't remember much of Thursday either except that it was non-uniform day at school to raise money for Sport Relief and that I thought it was an easy day. Friday was an inset day and I did my CBT and...... I passed!! I was super tired afterwards and couldn't stay awake for much past about 9 which on a Friday is pretty ridiculous.

I watched my first ever rugby match yesterday. It was a 6 Nations game, England vs Ireland. Everyone I was with was supporting England and I'm English but my family originate from Ireland so outwardly I was supporting England (who won - sorry if I just spoilt the result for you) and inwardly I was supporting Ireland. I don't get rugby in the slightest but oh well, it provided some entertainment for a while and its a lot more interesting than cricket.

It was Mothering Sunday today but I failed at making my mum a cup of tea as I woke up really late - I was still really tired but I'm not really sure why. Still, she liked her card and present and we just sat chatting for ages so it wasn't too bad.

Sorry again about the 5 days without posting, that really is bad. I would say I'm determined to post tomorrow but Sod's Law states that that will not happen so I hope I have the chance to post tomorrow, if not don't get too depressed about the fact its Monday. Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there and Happy Mother's Day to my own amazing mum!

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Easter plan no.1 - Learn to cook

I'm planning on cooking over the Easter holidays. It should prove to be interesting as its not very often I step into a kitchen with the intent of actually cooking something. The most I do is find food I can munch on and put toast in the toaster. Exciting, I know. But this Easter I have decided I should learn how to cook properly so I've been looking for things I can cook, like egg fried rice and sausages on penne pasta. I'll let you know how this plan progresses.

My bedside lamp broke this morning when I was waking up. I turn my light on to help keep me from drifting back to sleep. It works. Kind of. I think it was a sign personally but I'm still unsure of quite what it symbolises. It'll present itself in time I guess. Maybe dark times lie ahead? Or of course, I could have just blown the bulb, but I'm going with a sign.

That's all I've really got time for today and I rambled on for quite a while on Sunday so I've tried to keep this post down to minimum for you. Enjoy your Wednesday, just think we're on the run up to the weekend now!

Sunday 11 March 2012

Too much Music

Before I get on with the actual point of this post I thought I'd tell you a little bit about my daily living recently.

I've begun making another bracelet. I made one a few months ago and I just had a random burst of spontaneity so I started making another. It's only got 3 strands, a teal one, a mustard yellow one and a brown one. I think it looks quite nice. I will let you know how I get on with it as I'll be doing it when I have a few minutes to spare. If I was working continuously, I think a 16/17cm bracelet (my wrist size is 16cm so I normally make them that size) would take me an evening. You've got to make them neat and tight see. That's what takes time.

I've got my CBT on Friday. I'm super excited. If I pass, hopefully I will, I'll soon be whizzing (that's probably not the best word, its only a 50cc and the top speed is about 35mph) around. The idea of a CBT is to train people who want to ride motorbikes how to be safe on the road and what dangers to look out for on the road. I'll spend the morning on a car park weaving through cones and doing various manoeuvres and then if the instructor thinks I'm competent and that I wouldn't be a danger to myself or others on the road, in the afternoon I can go out on the road with an instructor who will tell me to do various things via a radio connecting my helmet with the instructors. It should be good fun, especially if I pass.

I don't know whether anybody else has this problem but my iPod only holds 4GB (supposedly) of data but I have 1531 songs in my iTunes library which is 8.5GB of data and choosing what makes the cut and what does not is really difficult as I listen to the majority of the songs a lot. I try to keep updating it and changing the music on my iPod but my library isn't getting any smaller, in fact its growing by the day as I add more and more music to it.

My music library is at least double the size of all of my friends' libraries and the main reason for this, I think, is the fact I've not only got all of the stuff from when my lifetime and all the music I like (which is pretty varied in itself), I've also got the stuff I have grown up with which is all my dad's music as well. For example, I've got George Harrison's album All Things Must Pass and multiple Beatles albums featuring alongside bands like Busted, R.E.M and Oasis. Crosby Stills Nash and Young have also recently been uploaded along with Simon and Garfunkel and Ed Sheeran. So most people say I've got an eclectic music taste as I've got almost 50 years worth of music in my iTunes library whereas most of my friends have the latest music on theirs.

Obviously, this then becomes a massive problem when you try and decide what songs and albums to upload onto my iPod. The only solution I can see as a logical way forward is to get a new iPod with a bigger memory but I can't get rid of my current iPod as its got that worn look as its been bashed and dropped and it fits perfectly into my hand unlike any other iPod could. So for now, until I get up the courage to exchange it for a newer one (and also the money to actually buy a new one), I've made a load of playlists which I mix and match and I update and sync my iPod as often as I can. Which isn't actually that often as I always forget to do it.

My library will of course keep on growing as I get older, I still listen to songs from my childhood, and I recently emptied out my dad's CD cupboard and took about 40 odd CDs and I also bought another CD yesterday as I thought the band looked quite good.

Currently, I am searching for a record player as the family one has mysteriously disappeared and no one seems to remember what we did with it. My dad has around 200 vinyls and they are coming back into fashion it seems what with the Kaiser Chiefs and Coldplay amongst others releasing their latest albums on vinyl as well as releasing them on the Internet and in CD form. Please let me know if you see a cheap one going.

Until whenever folks. Keep listening to music, especially the words. The lyrics are more often than not the best part of the song and some songs will be linked to a memory you have making them even more special. Keep tuned in and stay on the lookout for old or new songs that you could fall in love with!

Thursday 8 March 2012

You'd never think 3 things could make your week super busy..

Today I got my results for the exams I did in January, granted it was only 4 which is barely registers next to the amount some people did. But hey, it's their own fault they chose those subjects although everyone appears to have done alright in the exams they took though there were several disappointed faces and I definitely saw a couple of people crying (I think that was a little over the top personally).

The four exams I sat were Biology, Chemistry and Physics Unit 2 (I'm doing the Triple Science Award) and English Literature Unit 1. I'm pleased to say (write, whatever) that I got high A's in all except Physics where I got a high A* which I'm totally chuffed about as that has boosted my overall grade up towards the A/A* I'm working towards. I found out later in the day that in Chemistry I was 2 marks of getting an A* and in English I was 3 marks off but never mind, A's are still A-mazing in my opinion (pun totally intended).

I've been umpiring the Year 7 interform netball all week (at our school, you are split in to 10 forms in your year and in years 7 and 8 they like to do interform competitions to help you get along better) which has been interesting. Some girls are a bit patchy on the rules though; at one point they ignored my whistle so I ended up walking onto the court and taking the ball off one team and giving it to the other team whilst attempting to explain what they'd done wrong. Not the easiest of tasks. I think I've got to repeat the same next week but with the Year 8s which could be worse as they are much more likely to backchat. On a happier note, the form I've been working with won today which was a great confidence boost for them.

If you've read my last few posts you will know I have been attempting to complete my Statistics coursework and I am delighted to announce that I have finished it! I must have spent about 14 or 15 hours on this one piece of coursework and I have slightly neglected other school work so I hope that I get a good mark. Fingers crossed, eh?

I'm not sure if I'll get chance to post tomorrow but I'll try my best. Enjoy your Friday everyone!

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Motorbike count now equals 4

I'm still attempting to finish my Statistics coursework. I'm still failing. Majorly.

My dad has sold another bike today, the man has just been to pick it up so it was goodbye to the Yamaha Teneré. This brings down our total to 4 (including my scooter) as we also sold the Moto Guzzi last week. The four we have now are: Mum's Kawasaki Versys (she picked it up on Thursday as she's got a 12 plate), Dad's new Ducati Multistrada 1100s (its new for him, but its a 10 reg I believe), the ever-faithful BMW F800R (in orange - its beautiful) and the wonderfully amazing 50cc scooter, Noah the Neos. Yes, I named my scooter Noah. Its a Yamaha if you were wondering. That's the past month (ish) in motorbike terms for us.

I had a bit of a rant yesterday whilst watching Top Gear when Jeremy Clarkson, who knows nothing about bikes and completely detests them (you will know this if you've ever watched the Vietnam Special), said motorbicycles. I mean, seriously, motorbicycles?! That's unheard of. I doubt its even a correct name for them. Motorcycles, fine. Motorbikes, fine. Motorbicycles, so not fine.

Anyway, to replace the Teneré, we are currently looking at a Triumph Scrambler. In green. Its a nice green though, Google it. A lot of you are probably now thinking 5 bikes? For 3 people?! But that's a good amount of bikes to have. I know you can only ride one at time but its about having the choice. Anyone that has never been linked with bikes or never ridden a bike won't understand this concept and I don't think anyone can ever explain it properly, so I won't even try. Just trust me on this one.

Just a final note on motorbikes - they are not dangerous! More motorbike accidents are caused by car drivers than riders. Bikes aren't dangerous, bad drivers and riders are. Please watch out for motorbikes on the road and treat them as you would any other vehicle. Don't try and squeeze past us because we're 'only a bike', its that sort of mind set and impatience which means that we end up in a ditch or gutter with broken bones.

Now I must get back to this Statistics coursework, until the next time...

Monday 5 March 2012

Success and failure in one day. Impressive

So, I attended a meeting today and it turns out that Race Night was a massive success and has broken all the records (even without an extremely generous donator who remains anonymous). Not much else happened today to be honest. Megan broke a test tube in Chemistry and I saved another from breaking with my awesome reflexes.

Tomorrow, I am starting my umpiring for the Year 7 interform netball. I have been attached to a form and I have helped organise the team and I will be umpiring their matches. I won't be bias, of course; even though I would love the form I've been assigned to to win.

On a side note, I strongly dislike Statistics coursework - it's really not going well for me. Totally going to fail this GCSE. But never mind, I've got to do it so I will. Even if I am grumbling and moaning all the way.

That's all I've really got time for today, I've got a school netball match tomorrow so I'll let you know how that goes. Until then folks, its adios!

Sunday 4 March 2012

Half a week, double time

Wow, no post since Wednesday! I'm so sorry, I'm an epic fail. But my life kicked off and went a bit hectic.

Thursday - I can't even remember what happened, it seems like so long ago!

Friday - Really busy but amazing! Race Night was a brilliant success and I have decided that I will never EVER be a chef. Waay to stressful. Full respect to all the top chefs. On the plus side I didn't poison anyone with any dodgy food and everyone said it was really nice. However, there were about 200 people there so maybe everyone on my table thought it was horrible but just didn't say anything.

Saturday - Work was pretty average, the phone rang, enquiries came through etc etc.

Today - Homework. Well, just Statistics coursework really but that was bad enough. We seem to be attempting to complete an impossible task with no teacher guidance. Our chances of success look pretty slim, right? This is for a GCSE as well so its looking like good grades all round... not.

Sorry about the unbelievably basic post, I'll try and dredge up something more interesting tomorrow.

Wednesday 29 February 2012

All seems well

My Tech coursework officially looks amazing! I'm so proud of it. It's not actually finished yet but I've got a good feeling about it all. My teacher bought her baby in today, she's called Isabelle (the baby, not my teacher) and she's absolutely adorable! It was really good to see her again and she looks well too so all seems to be good.

Had another school match today. I'm glad to say we won - yay! The final score was 28-6 which we reckon was a flattening. Two other teams from my school played the same school we did and they won too so the atmosphere in the changing rooms afterwards was joyous. I was also voted player of the match by my team which I was really happy about - it doesn't happen very often but today it did!

That's all I've really got time for today, sorry. Oh, just a quick heads-up, I don't think I'll be posting on Friday as I'll be helping out at Race Night pretty much all evening. Until next time folks..

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Phobias

Phobias. There are endless amounts of phobias people have, we looked them up during IT today. For example, a fear of going to school is Didaskaleinophobia; a fear of long words is Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (ironic isn't it?); a fear of being tickled with feathers is Pteronophobia. But all this talk about phobias got me thinking and I can't think of anything I'm scared of.

I'm not trying to sound tough or anything here, I genuinely cannot think of anything. Katie is scared of cows and Caitlin swears she has Taxidermophobia (a fear of stuffed animals in particular stuffed heads e.g deer heads). But I don't suffer from any of these. I'm not afraid of spiders - I'll quite happily pick them up; snakes, cows, deer and other animals have no effect on me; darkness and thunderstorms have always fascinated me; I love being high up off the floor; and growing old/being forever alone is something I couldn't care less about.

I'm perfectly aware that all this makes me seem a bit odd but I don't mind as this is what makes me well, me. However, discussing this with friends is pointless as they are all afraid of something (some are extremely irrational) and refuse to believe that there is nothing that bothers me, scares me or terrifies me.

Personally I think that phobias are for people who are afraid of confronting things. If you're scared of the dark, go and sit in a dark room for a bit. If you're scared of bats, learn about them. You can always conquer your fears and if you can't, then maybe there is an underlying issue that you aren't willing to discuss with other people which is sad. You need to talk to people, irrational fears inhibit you.

James Dean once said 'Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.' The last sentence is the best part, and also my favourite part, of the quote. Very few of us have the fortune of knowing exactly when we will die but you can be damn sure you will at some point so why waste the time we do have worrying about things and fearing things when you could be enjoying life? Think about it, you know it makes sense.

Monday 27 February 2012

I Believe In Sherlock and excellent planning

School was unbelievably mundane. Actually, it's school so maybe 'unbelievably' isn't the right word. Maybe 'believably' would be a better one.

Anyway, I saw a piece of graffiti today saying 'I Believe In Sherlock, Moriarty Is Real'. If you don't understand this you missed a fantastic television series. The BBC aired a series written by Steven Moffat called Sherlock based on Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The second series ended on a massive cliff-hanger which left everyone desperate for the next series. It also cast a lot of doubt into people's minds as to whether Sherlock (played magnificently by Benedict Cumberbatch) was a fraud and whether he'd made up James Moriarty, his fiercest rival.

Of course, this left poor John in a mess especially as Sherlock appeared to have committed suicide at the end but he was adamant that Sherlock was not a fraud. He believed in Sherlock and this lead to a mass following where people would stick up posters, graffiti and post things saying things like 'I Believe In Sherlock', 'We Believe In Sherlock', 'Support John's War', 'Moriarty Is Real' and 'Sherlock Isn't A Fraud'. So, I now show my support.

I BELIEVE IN SHERLOCK!

I decided to make a stencil to put onto a canvas with 221bELIEVE (Sherlock Holmes lives at 221b Baker Street if you didn't know). The original plan was to give it to a friend for their birthday but then I realised that I'd actually quite like it so I'm now undecided. Maybe I'll make multiple canvases.

Oooh, maybe I could make money from them! Now that's an exciting thought to end on

Sunday 26 February 2012

A fantastic Saturday

Sorry about the 2 day gap. I spent Friday at school and then I went to James' afterwards. We made pancakes - I know it wasn't Pancake Day but apparently having 5 or 6 just isn't enough. Either way, I didn't get back home until about 10 and I had an early night as I had a busy Saturday ahead.

Saturday was fun! I got up early, almost school day time - which would be depressing normally - to go to a scooter taster session for an hour. This was my first (third technically but I'm not going to get into that) time on a scooter. I went with a friend, Caitlin, we learnt about the controls on the bike and then got to ride around a car park turning and stopping etc. It sounds boring but it was so much fun, we both had smiles on our faces for the rest of the day. Caitlin has never had anything to do with motorbikes before and she loved it. She has now applied for her licence and is planning on taking her CBT (Compulsory Basic Training). I booked my CBT on Saturday because I'm pretty much destined to ride a motorbike. My dad has always had at least 3 bikes in the garage and these change regularly and my mum passed her test last June. I've been going on motorbikes since I was 6 so I love it to pieces and they are nowhere near as bad as people make them out to be or think they are. Yes, you could die on a motorbike but you could also die driving a car, walking across a road or even along a pavement, on an aeroplane or even on a train. And lets face it, we're all going to die someday anyway.

Anyway, after the hours session, I went into work and stayed there until about 4. My parents and I then visited my cousin as it was her birthday and we stayed and chatted to my aunt and uncle for a bit. Afterwards, we went to see my Granddad as another aunt and cousin had come down from York to see him as my cousin, Roisin, is moving back to Sweden as she has accepted her old job back. We stayed at my Granddad's until about half 7. Firstly, I talked with my cousin and my aunt as I haven't seen them for a while then I helped my Granddad with his puzzle for half an hour. He's been trying to complete it since Christmas and boy could I see why. The bit he had left was pretty much all the same colour with ever so slight variations in hue. He then began to make dinner, we weren't staying but I helped because he does it all by himself normally and only having one side of your body that works can impair you. So I had my master class in cutting up vegetables from Granddad. It was one of those rare times when you could quite happily work in silence without it being awkward. After we'd finished we went back to talk to my parents, cousin and aunt.

On the way home we got chips from one of our local chippys. They were lovely, we watched a couple of programs on TV together as well. All in all it was a really good day even though it seems incredibly mundane.

Back to school tomorrow, 44 days left now. Enjoy your evening and I'll update you tomorrow.

Thursday 23 February 2012

Today was unbelievably, absolutely...

We didn't win the regional match last night - *cry* - but we did get half score so we still get points.

Today was unbelievably, absolutely... average. The afternoon was ok, finished with Music Tech listening to some Caribbean calypso as you do. We are currently doing a unit of Word Music hence the Caribbean radio stations. Jamaican reggae is also very good if you were wondering.

At Guides we made pancakes on tins but it didn't work too well because there wasn't enough air getting to the candle. I made one in a frying pan because I'm a leader and I could - most of the Guides also made one in the frying pan in the end.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better and it is also Chicken Burger Day (at our school, we get delicious chicken burgers on Fridays at lunch) and the start of the weekend.

Not sure if I'll post tomorrow but if not enjoy the last day of the working week!

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Chemistry + Skiing + Netball = Great Day!

I have a very short amount of time before my regional match with my U16 (under 16) squad so I thought I would write a brief post for you.

Today I had a grand total of 1 and a half lessons, I didn't count double PE in this, I have double PE every other Wednesday afternoon for 2 hours, as I was skiing and it doesn't really count as a lesson although it is fun. I only had that amount of lessons as a lecturer came from the University of Salford to talk to us about Chemistry - as a bit of a Chemistry geek, I found this highly interesting. Especially when we got to blow things up with liquid Nitrogen. It was really interesting and you could tell the guy had done it before as it had some brilliant, if slightly gruesome, anecdotes and was able to keep a group of 90 odd students entertained for an hour and a half which is no mean feat.

After school, I had my second netball match of the week. I am delighted to say that we won! We all viewed it as revenge for when we played them about 2 years ago and they beat us by a considerable amount so we were happy when we beat them by a considerable amount. This bought it up to 2 wins in 2 matches and I hope it becomes 3 after tonight's match. I play WD/GD (Wing Defence/Goal Defence) in netball but I do occasionally play GK (Goal Keeper) if we are short on defence in the circle. I would explain the rules of netball but I don't think you'd find it particularly interesting but please look it up on Google or another search engine - this is totally off topic but today's Google logo is brilliant, it is celebrating the 155th birthday of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (Rudolf is a fantastic middle name), the guy who invented Hertz I presume.

Anyway, I need to stop my (almost) daily rambling now as I need to get ready and find some water and Lucozade to keep me going during my match. Regional matches last for an hour so you do end up quite tired by the end. Until tomorrow when I'm sure I will be full of more babble to share with you all, my Twitter is @charly_sedici so feel free to follow me.

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Its been a busy Tuesday... bring on tomorrow!

Yesterday I had nothing to say so I didn't post. However, today is Pancake Day (or Shrove Tuesday) and is the last day before lent. Also I've got things to write about so on with today's post.

I got my MENSA results this morning and I'm in the top 4% of the country! I was really happy and although I didn't get into MENSA, I'm happy with my IQ and also I don't think I could deal with being a genius. I'm sure it brings lots of pressure. One of my best friends, Ellen, got an IQ of 162!! Which is amazing and officially makes her a genius and a total nerd in our eyes (when I say our, I am referring to me and Ellen's other friends, who are also my friends), a fact she isn't overjoyed about.

Also, I continued with my tech project today. You know, the lamp, in the shape of a toadstool. Anyway, I finished the third foot today and marked out and drilled the holes for them to be attached. I also began polishing them - they look amazing when they're polished!

At lunch, I had a meeting where I was asked to help at 'Race Night' which is a massive fundraiser event the school hold every year to help raise money for the trip year 12 students take to Uganda to help with a project our school has been doing for the past 5 years - the first trip was in 2007. I was asked to help as I am part of the Year 11 Uganda Junior Committee (UJC). You get the chance to go to Uganda and help maintain the orphanage we own and another one we co-own with the Ugandan government, build sections of the orphanage if needed and help the orphans and the people in that area. It looks like such an amazing trip and it helps people too but the school can only take 28 people so its tough to get in to the team. I'll be working in the kitchens with other members of the Yr11 UJC for the majority of the night and also working with one of the Uganda Team that are going in the Summer. I can't wait, it should be good fun.

As it is Shrove Tuesday today, a fact I pointed out earlier - I did, have a look, its in the second sentence I wrote - I have been thinking all day what I am going to give up for Lent. My dad unhelpfully suggested that I give up texting or just my mobile in general. That idea was shot down in flames. I think I may give up Coca-Cola because its unhealthy and also having that first glass after Lent is sooo nice. I may also give up chocolate because it is also unhealthy and I'm pretty sure I eat way too much of it. But on a different note, pancakes for dinner tonight! I love them so much and I really do wish that we had more pancake days because they're tasty!

I have 2 netball matches tomorrow, a school match and also a regional match with my club, Pennines, for the U16 squad. This means that my post will be super brief or non-existent so I shall apologise in advance for that. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday, your pancakes and think hard about what you're going to give up for Lent - it always tastes better after 40 days of not having it.

Sunday 19 February 2012

Planning is key. Apparently

I've spent the day doing homework which cleverly I left until the last day and other school related things. An example of another school-related activity I have done today is making a countdown for the number of school days I have left until I go on study leave. I looked up the holidays and inset days - not to be confused with insect days - and worked out I have 48 days left now. Which isn't a long time if you think about it.

I'm going to pack my bag in a bit and make sure I've got all my uniform ready. Yeah, our school has a uniform. For girls, it consists of a plain white blouse that can be buttoned all the way to the neck (not that many people actually do their top button up), a black tie with green and white stripes - some people, myself included, wear different ties that we have earnt by playing sport at county level or above and they are a sign of recognition, I guess; they are green with yellow stripes with the school badge on - either plain black trousers or a skirt that should not be more than 3" above the knee (most girls don't adhere to this rule) and a plain black v-neck jumper if you would like to wear one. No cardigans are allowed but, once again, most girls wear a cardigan occasionally - they still look smart so personally I don't see the problem. To top off our uniform, we have to wear a hideously unflattering blazer which cannot be fitted so you end up looking like a boy with huge shoulders. Needless to say, girls often don't wear their blazers. Come to think of it, not many boys do either.

Anyway, I'm off and if you enjoy reading books please don't read Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. It's slow moving and repetitive. Also the ending is a massive anti-climax. If you want to read it, that's fine but don't say I didn't warn you if you find it boring.

Saturday 18 February 2012

So I'm fail..

Sorry! Wow, I'm really not very good at posting during the holidays. So once again, I'm going to just give you a quick run through of the past 3 days without the usual ramblings.

Thursday: Went to Lincoln, lovely city, to pick up Dad's new Ducati 1100S Multistrada. Spent 2 hours in a car on the way there. Had some lunch in a quaint little cafe but Radio Lincoln is awful - the presenters are really irritating. Picked up the bike and signed all the paperwork (well I didn't, obviously) and got a Ducati t-shirt, it's really nice actually. Then spent another 2 hours coming back from Lincoln in a car.

Friday: Went to work from 9 until 2 because it was really busy due to an email promoting a VIP event. Afterwards, I met up with my boyfriend in town and had a really nice afternoon.

Today: Went to work again, ended up working for an extra hour and fifteen minutes as it was still busy. Logged a record of 74 enquiries which is impressive as I only work on Saturdays and everybody else works all week for a lot longer than I do. Then I went shopping with my mum in Westfield. I bought a skirt (it's for school so its black and boring). Completed my first bit of homework which was a quiz on homophones; I scored full marks which is good.

I can't promise I'll post tomorrow as clearly I've not done very well this week but I'll try my best. Enjoy your evening

Wednesday 15 February 2012

How paper is going to make me money..

I've made it to the middle of the holidays. If this was a school week I would begin cheering up considerably as it means the weekend is on its way. Unfortunately this week it means school is on its way so its having the opposite effect; cheering down has commenced.

This morning I spent about an hour and a half on the Wii. Firstly on Wii Fit Plus to get my exercise up as during the holiday I generally eat but then make no effort to burn any of it off. Then Just Dance 2 - a word to this wise if you live in a busy street, don't do it in your front room (this isn't from personal experience by the way, just what I've heard). Personally I think it was a good workout.

I then started making another flower because that's what I do if I'm bored and have paper lying about. It can't be boring plain paper though. Today's flower was made out of Strawberry Chewits wrappers. I think it looks pretty good. Whilst I was gluing it together, I had a thought - this is modern art, therefore I can make money out of this. I mentioned it to my mum, who laughed but I reckon it's only because she's jealous as she can't do it.

So I dated the back of the flower and then went around my room locating the various other flowers I have made over the years (I don't have all of them as I've given some away and others were made out of plain paper which isn't as good) and dated them too. Some were from 2009 and I don't have an exact date for them which is a shame but I've got the month and year on all of them.



 The one on the left is one I made out of last year's Uniform Card from school on some graph paper. The middle one is my exam entry list from Summer made into a flower after I finished my exams as it gave me great joy to rip up my entry sheet. The final one is from 2009 and is made from a school newsletter called The Causeway and a slip I had to get filled in so I could leave part way through the day to play in a netball match. These are all school-related as that's pretty much made up my life so far but I have made a few others over the years.

My plan is to continue making these flowers out of bits of paper, like Chewits wrappers or pieces of paper people have doodled on and collect them - like a scrapbook of memories, kind of. I almost always stick them on some sort of backing, like the graph paper, where I can write the memory/what its made of and the date.

My friends are currently decorating a 'petal' for me so I can make flower out of them. This will probably make the most random flower as I've got a mixture of biro, felt tips, pencil crayons, wax crayons and highlighters so far.

I'm going with my family to Lincoln tomorrow to pick up my Dad's new motorbike. He's getting a Ducati, a white one though - our family don't do obvious or typical, especially when it comes to bikes. This will bring our total (including my scooter) back up to 4 as Mum is waiting until March to replace her bike so she gets a '12' reg. Then we will have 5 so we might sell another bike. There is only 3 of us after all.

I'll hopefully be back tomorrow so until then goodbye and keep creative! <-- I've not seen any motivational quotes yet this week so I thought I'd make one up, being creative is great for the mind and apparently it broadens it and widens your horizons. Make of that what you will.

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Un-Valentine's Day

Once again, my blog posting has slipped so for that I apologise. Yesterday I felt a lot better - I refuse to believe that paracetamol is the cause of that. It is not a wonder drug. Anyway I went to watch a Superleague Netball match last night - it was televised live on Sky Sports if you want to watch it - it was Loughborough Lightning versus Team Bath. After four 15-minute quarters of fast play and some amazing passes and interceptions, Team Bath were victorious with a final score of 56 to 31. It was disappointing for the home crowd at Loughborough but there's always the next match.

As I'm sure you are all aware, today is Valentine's Day. One of the most annoying days of the year - I realise I touched on this briefly last week but I felt the need to remind you. Today is the day when all single-tons post either depressing or overly enthusiastic and obviously fake Facebook status' and tweets (on Twitter for those of you who are not following the craze). Also it is the day when all the couples who have only been together for a short amount of time are all loved-up in public engaged displays of affection you don't see for the rest of the year.

I don't like Valentine's Day much. I think it's nice that there is a day set aside in the year where you can show your partner some affection or post a secret Valentine's to the person you have a crush on but does it really have to be so commercialised? And sure, the Google logos are cute but I'm positive that Valentine's Day actually ruins some relationships as people feel the need to impress their partner and then regret it later. All the cards/balloons/presents/chocolates etc just imposes a threat to people in a relationship and also the people who are not in a relationship. They are everywhere displaying their cheesiness to the world like its the most normal thing in the world - and people actually believe it! People swallow the age old line about how Valentine's Day is the day when you're supposed to show your love for another person. What about the rest of the year?! Eh?

I have a boyfriend, but this year I refused to celebrate it with him or let him buy me a present. I would quite happily meet up with him but I didn't want us to be any different than we were normally purely for the purpose of fitting in with the Valentine's Day facade. In the end we compromised by just getting each other cards and we are meeting up in a bit, just like we would on any other day.

As for all the people who are not in a relationship, Valentine's Day is just a stark reminder that they are alone. Some people, like me, don't mind being alone but most feel that they have to be with someone - come to think of it, that's probably why there's so many people in pubs and bars all day, they're looking for someone they can be with. Which, of course, completely destroys the point of Valentine's Day.

I personally agree with the article Charlie Brooker wrote in 2008 for The Guardian. It may be 4 years old now but it still rings true. Plus, its funny. He describes how millions of people celebrate the "crippling delusion known as love". But he also makes a good point about the perils of celebrating Valentine's Day, it can be quite nerve-wracking deciding what to buy someone. What if you spend more than they do? What if they have clearly thought about it more than I have? What if they hate my present? Should I buy a card as well as a present or is that overwhelming? All these questions race around people's heads on the run-up to Valentine's Day and all the shops don't help much.

As soon as the Christmas decorations are down, up go the Valentine's Day decorations. Red and pink adorns all shop windows and walls. Lots of sickly hearts dangle from the ceiling and there's always that giant teddy bear right at the front of the shop hugging a heart with the word 'I Love You' written across it.. 'Tell your partner you love them this Valentines' says the sign next to the flowers. Flowers don't talk! They can't say it. 'Valentine's Day February 14th 2012' That one particularly annoys me because St Valentine's Day is on the same day every single year. We are celebrating a Saint, its like St George's Day or St Patrick's Day, except a lot more commercialised because businesses can make money because some people expect gifts. Which is just wrong.

Brooker suggests the idea of having a day that readdresses the balance. He named this idea Un-Valentine's Day. A day that "actively celebrates love's festering undercarriage". Basically it's a day where you express your hate for people or that one particular person or try desperately for that one person you've always had feelings for despite the fact you've been rebuked numerous times by said person. No one can pity you if you stand outside their window looking like a sad sap being desperate. He believes that February 15th would be a great day for this. A festival to celebrate the death of existing loves and also the loves that never were.

He also says their should be cards, much like Valentine's Day cards but with bitter messages for ex-partners. Or somebody in a couple desperate to get out could send a card with something like DYING INSIDE to their partner, just so they get the message. All the restaurants can join in too. They could have meals for couples who want to break up or someone departing news such as the fact they've been cheating. It would be civilised of course, no red wine to stain the other person's clothes.

I think all this is a bit over-the-top but Brooker does have a point. Valentine's Day can be unhealthy for people. So if you want to, you can mark Un-Valentine's Day in your diary, on February the 15th. To all the people who are happily in a relationship, please spare a thought for the people who are not. I have and am continuing to because some people have branded it Singles Awareness Day because it is so blindingly obvious who isn't in a relationship today.

Happy Tuesday to everyone! Also I hope I haven't offended anyone - Valentine's Day is a great idea but it is dealt with wrongly. It's a day to celebrate love and make it special. You do NOT need gifts and cards for this.

Sunday 12 February 2012

Scooter!

Hello again!

I still have a cold which is depressing but I got a scooter today so I'm really happy! My parents got me a scooter! It's only a 50cc but its transport and its a little bit of freedom. The Taming of the Shrew was good, I understood it too so I recommend it to all.

I've spent the entire day doing absolutely nothing. Well, I've been watching TV but I don't think that really qualifies as an activity.

Anyway I need to go, sorry about the short post but a post's a post. I should have something vaguely more interesting to say.

Until next time then.. Bye

Saturday 11 February 2012

Half-Term and Motivational tactics

Firstly before I start rambling about my life, I'd like to apologise for my shocking lack of posting over the last couple of days. It all went a bit hectic and I couldn't write my blog *cry*

So I've decided to give you a quick overview of Thursday and Friday...
Thursday: Sat through 4 average lessons and had one good lesson, Maths. That makes me sound like a total nerd but I'm not. I like Maths as a subject plus we have a good teacher and a small class (there's only 10 of us, 40% are girls so we're representing the girls during the lessons). But the best thing is that it was Biscuit Thursday. We have biscuits in lesson, in case you hadn't worked that bit out. Then I ran my night at Guides, celebrating Waitangi Day and it was a success! The ANZAC biscuits were really nice, as was the ginger beer. Over the half-term I've decided to make some more ANZAC biscuits.
Friday: Good day, had Maths first and we had some more biscuits because we had some left over. Discussed strange names, as you do, obviously. Did another experiment in Chemistry - clearly the best science - and it went ok apart from Ellen got a nose bleed due to the chemicals we were using. English was pretty boring. Currently we are studying An Inspector Calls, it's ok I guess but I've definitely read better plus plays are supposed to be performed not read. Spanish and Music Tech made up my afternoon - Music Tech was better, I spent the hour listening to Jamaican Reggae streamed live over the Internet from Kingston. I now have a bit of a liking for Jamaican Reggae. That was pretty much my school day, visited my Grandma again after school (she lives in the same village as me so I see her most days after school) and then went home and watched TV with James (my boyfriend). And that's Friday.

So onto the point of this post.. It's half term!

This is potentially the one thing I have been looking forward to this year so far. School has got to that stage where even getting up in the morning stresses you out. All the teachers continually remind you that your GCSEs are coming soon, or to coin a phrase that's an apparent favourite of the school, 'the clock is ticking down'. As of today, I have 45 days left of compulsory education. Then that's it.

I'm not going to lie, that's a scary thought.

45 days. 225 lessons. In some cases, I'm unbelievably glad that the end of school is so close, it means I no longer have to sit through monotonous pointless classes like Business and Citizenship. I liked Business until this year when we got a new teacher, who I strongly dislike - hate is too strong a word, even for him (the teacher that is).

I know I should really study during this time but realistically, this is the last proper holiday I'm going to have before all the real stress of exams kicks in when I'll be spending my holidays inside like a hermit revising and writing blog posts to distract myself. Also, I have no motivation, I'm the Master of Procrastination - I really am, I reckon I deserve a certificate or a medal at least. I'll always find a ton of things to do before I actually do any revision and then - "Oh! Was that mum calling? Best go check, maybe I'll help her out with dinner today..." And so it continues..

For once, Valentine's Day has fallen in the half-term so I don't have to endure all the depressing faces and comments people make if they're single on Valentine's. The same applies for those couples who act overly loved-up on this one day. So that's another bonus of this holiday. The first being I get to sleep to my heart's content which I really need to do at the moment as sleep helps with snuffly noses and head colds.

The arrival of the half-term hopefully signifies a turning point in the weather too. Normally, the weather begins to get better after half-term on the run up to the start of Spring. After the disappointment of the 10-20cm of snow we were promised by the weather forecasters - on a side point they seriously need to work on the accuracy of there predictions, we didn't even have 10 millimetres of snow! - warmer weather would be greatly appreciated, as personally, I'm beginning to miss having feeling in my finger and toes...and ears.

This morning I got up for work (Pentagon Group, in Internet Sales, everyone asks because they're all shocked I have a job. Pentagon sells cars and vans if you were wondering) and it was -10. I only had one word for it - barmy. And also freezing though technically we were way past that. This week's motivational quote from my boss was 'Don't wait or procrastinate - do it now!'. Work dragged today; there were times when it was busy but for the majority it was quiet. Tonight, I'm going to see the Taming of the Shrew, a play that I know absolutely nothing about. It's playing at the Assembly Rooms in town. By "town", I mean Derby City Centre. It's not that great if I'm honest and it gets boring after almost 10 years. Even after 10 months you begin to feel the boring-ness.

I'll let you know how the play was if I understand it. I now leave you with a quote stuck up in my Spanish room by a form tutor trying to motivate her form - 'You build a house brick by brick. You build a form friend by friend'. Yeah, it's cheesy but it makes me laugh. Especially as I know, from experience may I add, that almost everyone dislikes the other people in their form. But good on her for trying.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Nau Mai! This week has been interesting so far..

It turns out I do have time to write my blog today. Sorry to any I have now disappointed.

I did the MENSA test today, hopefully it will have gone ok. I receive my results in about 10 days and if I am in the top 2% of the country (with an IQ of 140-ish or above) I will be invited to join MENSA. If I don't get in then at least I know my IQ; that's got to count for something right? My Maths teacher (the one who refuses to wear a jumper) also did the test, so today in Maths we placed bets on who out of our class would have the highest IQ and also who we thought would have the lowest IQ. When we all get our results we might even play a 'Play Your Cards Right' style game - is it higher? Or is it lower?

Speaking of school, currently, I am making a lamp in the design of a toadstool in Design and Technology. It's going relatively well and I'm also further than most of my class. So far I've turned the base on the wood lathe out of  - surprise, surprise - wood and also turned the mould for the lampshade, which of course will be red with white spots on. I started making the feet today out of metal on an engineering lathe but haven't got round to finishing them yet. On the upside though, they are very shiny and look good and professional-ish. This should get me a better overall grade at the end - yay!

I don't know whether you were aware of this but it was Waitangi Day on Monday. Waitangi Day is a celebration in New Zealand designed to commemorate the signing of the Waitangi Treaty, New Zealand's founding document, and is a public holiday over there. The relevance of this is that I have been asked, as part of my Leadership qualification course to become a leader at the Girl Guide unit I help out at every Thursday, to organise and run an evening about Waitangi Day. The entire term has been based mainly around the Commonwealth as it is Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee this year (congrats to Lizzie!).
So I've been finding out recipes for ANZAC biscuits which are apparently slightly addictive and ginger beer (non-alcoholic as the Guides are 14 and under) and also other things such as Maori words and numbers. This lead to me discovering a new favourite word - aniwaniwa. It translates into English as rainbow which now seems like such a boring word for that pretty arc thing that occasionally appears in the sky. My Guiding unit are celebrating Waitangi Day tomorrow and I will post the recipe for ANZAC biscuits if it transpires that they are, in fact, delicious.

I think makes for a good conclusive sentence, so ka kite (see you soon - in Maori)

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Will we ever be hate-free?

It's interesting to see public displays of hatred towards people, more so when it's directed towards you and your best friend. My best friend is called Katie and between us we've got quite a few 'haters'. Some people don't like us simply for the reason their friends don't like us for one reason or another. Some people don't like me because I'm Katie's best friend and some people don't like Katie because she's my best friend. It's interesting because it's all very us and them which is something I'd thought our society had grown out of; clearly not.
I said public displays of hatred as today, our entire team, all of whom are lovely and would never receive this treatment normally, got booed when we won the Tunnelball tournament - this game was for fun and didn't actually count towards anything - purely for the fact they were on the same team as Katie and I. Understandably, they were all quite upset about the outburst but we just rolled our eyes and said "typical" as this is a common occurrence.
The boo-ers then tried to excuse their behaviour by saying that we always won tournaments (this isn't true) and it wasn't fair as we had THREE netball players on our team and that it was therefore an unfair advantage to the other teams. There are 16 players in the squad so, personally, I don't think having 3 on one team is going to give anyone and advantage. Also, Tunnelball is nothing like netball rendering any skills relating to netball useless.  Another point they seemed to have forgotten was that everybody chose their own teams before the tournament and that mine and Katie's team had 2 players less than the other teams so really it was us that were at a disadvantage.

But never mind, to repeat an expression somebody somewhere once said: 'Haters gonna hate'. I'm sure next week I'll have done something else that will provoke them, even though it is the holidays.

Tomorrow may be an off day for this as I am participating in a MENSA test - which will be a good experience for me, plus I get to find out my IQ - and then I have netball training for a regional match on Sunday. So I'll post if I can, if I can't, please continue with doing what you want to as time you enjoy wasting, is not wasted.

Monday 6 February 2012

Snow, Twitter, Frozen Peas, Snoizes and Jumpers - Sounds like a pretty average day to me

It's amazing what a difference something as simple as snow can do to people. I've spent the entire day dodging tightly packed balls of ice as I move as fast as I can, without falling, between lessons. However, the snow has now melted and turned to slush which will almost inevitably turn to ice over night which is even worse for walking in (I have to walk down a steep hill to get to the bus stop in the morning - major hazard!)

On another note, I got Twitter today! Still confused by it at the moment but feel free to follow me (@charly_sedici) and you can get more pointless updates about my views on the world as it stands (or spins.. Whatever) I did get mentioned and retweeted by Club Smith, a newly discovered band that I have fallen in love with after seeing them at a Kaiser Chiefs concert I went to on Thursday, which was exciting. I've heard mixed reviews about Twitter so I might not continue with it, I feel it could potentially end in stalking - is that paranoid of me? But hey ho, you've got to try new things in life or it would be really monotonous.

Something I definitely will not be trying is eating frozen peas straight out of the packet though; apparently they are really nice, good for you and make you feel better when you're ill. This golden nugget of information came from a friend on my bus who is a bit eccentric, so I'm always a bit wary when it comes to accepting suggestions from her. What worried me more was the fact that one of my best friends, who I consider to as sane as you can be in your final year of compulsory education, agreed with her and then told me I was weird for thinking it sounded horrible! 

This type of conversation is pretty typical during bus journeys, we once discussed "snoizes" after I said sneeze wrong when Fay (another girl I sit with on the bus) sneezed and Ellen, the relatively sane best friend I mentioned earlier, backed me up by saying that I meant sneezing noise, duh! We then talked about who had the weirdest snoize and whether your eyes really do pop out if you sneeze with them open. Another interesting conversation always stems from a hideous lime green/brown/orange cotton/leather jumper my Chemistry teacher wears at school with a pink shirt - even thinking about the combination gives me the shivers - and why mine and Ellen's Maths teacher refuses to wear a jumper and has his shirt sleeves rolled up when the temperature is in minus degrees! Barmy, I know.

Anyway, I'm sure I've bored you enough now so until tomorrow. Remember a useless (or useful if you want to be less random) piece of knowledge you hear - you never know when it can come in handy.. A bientot!




Sunday 5 February 2012

'Hello' always seems like a good word to say to start something...

So instead of playing in the snow or doing any form of work, I'm writing this because quite frankly, it's freezing outside and work just depresses me. I'll try and be as frequent as possible with posts. They'll range in things but mainly it'll be about my life and how it's all going for me...

I recently pinned up my entry statement for all the exams I have in the Summer. I was shocked originally that it filled an A4 sheet of paper! But it's all good, it turns out there's only about 14 actual exams.

That's it for now I guess, until whenever...
Bye <-- always a good word to say to end something