:S

I'm worried this is going to happen to some of my friends :S

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5173755.ece

Probably Dan.

Half Term

I wish half term was longer because then I would have time to get all my work done and study! Trying to learn all my latin...and I haven't even started on the document, which I am supposed to have memorised (haven't even learnt the first sentence :S) by Tuesday for a test. Also have a test for Biology on Thursday, which I haven't been able to study for either. And then there's the upcoming Maths test too...

Right now I'm trying to memorise the nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative and ablative tenses for all three declensions in Latin, not to mention the 5 imperfect verbs esse, posse, ire, velle and nolle. I had been planning on doing all my Latin and Biology this weekend, but instead got caught up finishing my chemistry (which I was very rudely distracted from on Friday!) and revising some more maths.

I just hate sigmas...so much.

Ooo, just remembered ARC too :(

Apart from the revision and homework, it's been fun though :D have just been generally socializing, which has been quite fun, and am totally sleep deprived. Which is normal, actually, but now I am just more sleep deprived. Which is partially because of the sleepover I went to on Thursday (we watched the strangers, which was not very good) but mainly because of Grey's Anatomy, which is the most ADDICTING show EVER!! Only thing I can say is thank God it's ended now, at the end of half term :)

So, all in all, half term has been pretty fun! Although it wasn't much of a break, it was a little one, and we all had lots of fun, especially going out for yum cha which was yummy ^_^

Public Transport

Following Andy and Bigs, I thought I'd just rant about public transport.

Andy has been known to say, "The only problem with public transport in Britain is the public. And the transport."

Firstly the transport. The buses are always late, the bus drivers are rude, they are crowded, uncomfortable and generally quite crappy.

Today I was about to get off the bus, so I pressed that little bleepy button that you press when you want to get off. (the name escapes me) Well, attempted to press, anyway. The button was broken, as were the all the other buttons I discovered, so I had to run downstairs from the top layer and stand near the front so the busdriver knew I was getting off. He looked like he was about to pass my stop, so I asked him, very politely, 'Can you please stop here?' Obviously this offended him, because he glared at me and snapped, 'I know where the bus stops are, love.' Unfortunately due to my deafness I couldn't hear him, so I asked him what he said, which anatgonized him even further to say, 'Like hell am I going to take orders from you where to stop and not to stop!' (evidently forgetting I am a PASSENGER on the bus, and HAVE to tell him where to stop or not to stop) and sped up and dropped me off at the next stop. Seriously, WTF? And it was cold, and dark, and miserable out, and I was already late home!

And this is one of many busdrivers who have been rude to me and other passengers. Another experience was when me and my friends got on a very crowded bus to go home from school. Anyone who takes the buses know how extremely packed they get. I was the last person of about 5 of my friends to get on, and the busdriver very quietly said, 'there are seats up top', but we couldn't hear him because 1) he was too quiet and 2) we had already walked past him. I thought he was speaking to the other people getting on. So we just stayed up near the front of the bus. Because it was so crowded, my friend sat up on the place where people put their stuff. Once we got to the train station, a very stressed passenger came down and started having a MASSIVE go at her because she had, and I quote, 'sat on my f*cking new books, what the F*CK do you think you're playing at, I'll send you the f*cking bill if you think you're going to get away with this!' before stomping off. And then the bus driver also had a massive go at us, saying, 'You kids are blocking up the bus! I have a hard life too, I want to go home too, why can't you make it easier on everyone to just sit down where I told you to, at the top, but NO, you have to just ignore ME and EVERYONE and stand where you like, god knows this is a sh*t job for the amount I get paid, f*ck you all...'

Anyway, I don't think that's very good customer service.

Secondly, the public. I've had lots and lots of experiences with people on buses, but today was probably the worst two experiences I've ever had.

The bus I got on was extremely crowded and very late. I sat across from a very mean, stressed looking man who was obviously late to go somewhere. The bus driver wasn't very good and kept on stopping abruptly, and we stopped at ALL the red lights so we were making very slow progress. The man kept on swearing loudly and gesticulating aggressively, so every time he did I looked up. When I was unfortunate enough to catch his eye, he shouted loudly, 'what the F*CK do you think you're looking at, you nosey b*tch!?' and then, when I timidly replied, 'nothing' he proceeded to have a massive go at 'kids these days' for the entire bus to hear.

On the same journey, a retarded man, after putting his hands in his mouth, wiping his very gooey nose with his hands, scratching all different parts of his body with his hands, forcefully grabbed my face and my chest when I stood next to him, after eyeing me the entire bus journey. Anyone who knows me knows how EXTREMELY germophobic I am. I had to put antibiotic stuff on my FACE. It BURNS.

I also nearly got hit by two cars and a bicycle, and was sworn at twice.

Fuuuuun.

:)

I like chocolate. It is taaaaaaaasty.

I wish I could make money baking things. That would make me happy. It would solve many, many of my problems.

It would:

• relieve stress
• make money

Okay, it would only solve two of my problems. But still. I just love baking. :D

Lolz. I nearly fell off my chair when I was typing. I think I had better go to bed, as I am sleep deprived.

Incidentally, it's really hard for me to go to sleep now because I looked up 'the strangers' on wikipedia and saw the trailer and stuff and now I'm terrified.

And it's based on a true story! :'(

I'm sad...

My headphones died. Really, really badly. First, the the inside of the actually earpluggy things came out, so I had to tape them together. Then the wire-y bit inside came out. Then it died.

I just downloaded a bunch of new music too. So unhappy. :(

I'm also sad because the Roman family I have been following have died. I'm so upset I could actually cry. Okay, maybe not cry, but I was still quite sad. They practically TAUGHT ME LATIN. It was just the little kid's birthday, for christ's sake!! He can't DIE after his birthday! And the worst thing is that I thought they were going to be okay...

Here's the translation:

(Caecilius's final words)

'ego te iubeo. de vita mea despero. Metella et Quintus perierunt. nunc ego mortiturus.'

Caecilius, postquam Clementi anulum suum tradit, statim exspiriat.

'I give you orders. I despair of my life. Metella and Quintus are dead. Now I die.'

Caecilius, after he gave the ring to Clemens, soon died.

WTF!? How could his death be so ABRUPT? It wasn't even a HAPPY ending! His family died in a VOLCANO. This is how they described the volcano:

in urbe pavor maximus erat. cinis iam densior incidebat. flammae ubique erant.

In the city there was a massive panic. The dust cloud was falling more densely. There were flames everywhere.

I don't want to think about them dying in FLAMES. They were so HAPPY before. Metella had just gone shopping for her son's birthday!! And the story makes you think they'll be alright. Before they were talking about how certain Caecilius was about his family being okay, and then they made a big fuss about him looking for them. And then he died. Very, very abruptly.

And that's only Caecilius and Metella and Quintus. I don't even want to think about Grumio, and Poppea, and Melissa, etc. Grumip and Poppea had just gotten together. What if one of them died too? That would be HORRIBLE!

Okay, maybe I'm getting a bit into the story. But I've been following them for a MONTH and they just DIED on me. This is the family who taught me all the Latin I know. I know our teacher's going to try to replace them with another family, but who knows? Something bad could happen to them too, and then TWO FAMILIES would have died! THEN what would happen!?

I'm quite upset by this. And by my headphones's (?) death. I've been through 4 in a year. Maybe I should start looking after them better. Hmm....

Wonderwall- Oasis

Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

Backbeat the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now

And all the roads we have to walk along are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you I don't know how

Because maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall

Today was gonna be the day
But they'll never throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you're not to do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do
About you now

And all the roads that lead to you were winding
And all the lights that light the way are blinding
There are many things that I
Would like to say to you
But I don't know how

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall

Said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
You're gonna be the one that saves me
You're gonna be the one that saves me

Little by little- Oasis

We the people fight for our existence
We don't claim to be perfect
But we're free
We dream our dreams alone
With no resistance
Fading like the stars we wish to be

You know I didn't mean
What I just said
But my God woke up
On the wrong side of his bed
And it just don't matter now

Cos little by little
We gave you everything
You ever dreamed of
Little by little
The wheels of your life
Have slowly fallen off

Little by little
You have to give it all in all your life
And all the time I just ask myself why
You're really here

True perfection has to be imperfect
I know that that sounds foolish but it's true
The day has come
And now you'll have to accept
The life inside your head we give to you

You know I didn't mean
What I just said
But my God woke up
On the wrong side of his bed
And it just don't matter now

Cos little by little
We gave you everything
You ever dreamed of
Little by little
The wheels of your life
Have slowly fallen off

Little by little
You have to give it all in all your life
And all the time I just ask myself why
You're really here
Hey

Little by little
We gave you everything
You ever dreamed of
Little by little
The wheels of your life
Have slowly fallen off

Little by little
You had to give it all in all your life
And all the time I just ask myself why
You're really here
Why am I really here?
Why am I really here?

These are the only two songs I've been listening to for the last few days. The lyrics are so touching...

I love these songs :)

Oooo, awkward...

Damn. I really didn't make a good first impression did I?

(This is me meeting one of Poppy's friends for the first time)

Rowan: So, how do you know Tom? Or Poppy?
Me: I know Tom through Poppy, and I know Poppy from Biology.
Rowan: So you knew Tom, and then you met Poppy?
Me: No, I met Poppy in Biology first, and then I met Tom, so now I know both!
Rowan: Oh right. So, what's your name?
Me: Bernie!
(he shakes my hand)
Rowan: (says something I can't hear, and leans over)
Me: (thinking he's trying to do that gangsta thing where you sorta half-hug the person, awkwardly does it, and ends up stabbing herself in the eye with his shoulder)
Me: Owww!
Rowan: uhh...no, I was just leaning over because I couldn't hear what you said your name was.
Me: oh, right. (laughs)
Rowan: So, how do you spell it?
Me: What, your name? I don't know your name.
Rowan: No...your name.
Me: What?
Rowan: HOW DO YOU SPELL YOUR NAME?
Me: Oh, right! b-e-r-n-i-e.
Rowan: What?
Me: B-E-R-N-I-E!
Rowan: Oh right!
Me: So, what's your name?
Rowan: Rowan. Like the tree.
Me: A tree?
Rowan: Like Mr. Bean. Rowan Tree.
Me: Mr...Bean?
Rowan: Yeah, Rowan. Like Mr. Bean.
Me: (forgetting Mr. Bean's name is Rowan Atkinson, not Rowan Tree, laughs) I thought you meant like an actual tree! We keep on having miscommunication!
Rowan: (puzzled) I do mean an actual tree.
Me: Like, a breed of tree?
Rowan: Yes.
Me: Like, a tree with leaves?
Rowan: ...yes. Ha, I keep a list of things named Rowan in my mind so I can compare it.
Me: (now really confused because I think that Mr. Bean's name is Rowan Tree) ....What?
Rowan: my name, Rowan, like Mr. Bean's name and like the tree.
Me: So, like the actor and like a breed of trees?
Rowan: ...yes. Mr. Bean. And there are some Rowan trees in the school. I'll show you some.
(Tries to show me the trees, unsuccessfully)
Rowan: see the one with the pale green leaves?
Me: (points) that one?
Rowan: No, that one.
Me: That one?
Rowan: No! No, look where I'm pointing...that one.
Me: What? I can only see one tree.
Rowan: (frustrated) No, no...right, stand where I am and look through that gap. Right there. That tree.
Me: So, not the first tree, not the tree with the big trunk, not the tree with the dark green leaves but the tree with the light green leaves?
Rowan: Yes.
Me: ...I can't see it. Sorry.
Rowan: How can you not see it? It's right there.
Me: I can't see it! There are only four trees!
Rowan: ...No, the small one.
Me: :S Right, I'll just look it up when I get home. It doesn't matter. But now I know your name is Rowan. Like the tree. And the actor.
Rowan: Yes. Yes, it is.
Me: Wow, we had some serious miscommunication for this ENTIRE conversation.
Rowan: Yeah.
*awkward silence*
Me: Well, see ya around!
Rowan: Bye...(cycles off)

So, all in all, that conversation was FUBARD. And I looked up rowan tree, and got a TON of different trees that all look different but are all apparently called rowan trees.

I hope I never, ever see him again.

Yawn

This is what I did today:

• maths
• chemistry
• some latin

Here is the Latin I've learned:

amo -> amare -> amavi -> amatus
capio -> capire -> cepi -> cepitum
regi -> regere -> rexi -> rectum (LOLZ! that was my amusement for today)
moneo -> monere -> monui -> monitum
audio -> audire -> audivi -> auditum

It goes in the order:

present tense for I -> infinitive -> perfect -> past tense something

I also need to apply for some volunteer positions, but haven't been able to do that yet.

Argh...I'm so tired. Last night I stayed up until 12.30-1ish doing my maths, and then for some reason I stayed up for another hour or so. I think I'm a little sleep deprived. I woke up this morning around 8, making for 6 hours sleep? which is not too bad, but combined with late nights all this week, quite bad.

Anyway, I think I've been thinking about science too much. This is why:

• last night I woke myself up by shouting, 'K is a plus ion! So THAT'S how you solve it!'
• I think chemistry jokes are funny
• I think things like, 'you're the proton to my electron' and 'you neutralize me' are romantic
• I compare people to elements

Yeah....XD

Oh, also...

Forgot to add that it's about completing the square! And this is supposed to be the subject I understand in maths! This is the subject the nice guy is teaching, not Mr. Thomas (who hates me because he thinks I'm stupid. Well, guess what, Mr. Thomas? I think you're an ENORMOUS TWAT!) This is how I thought I solved it:

ax^2 + bx + c = 0

so a(x + 1/2b) - 1/2b^2 +c

Now, normally when you square a minus number, it becomes positive. Well, imagine my shock and horror when I found out actually, in this equation, it doesn't become positive- so really, it should be written out like this:

a(x + 1/2b) - (1/2 b)^2 + c

DO YOU KNOW HOW ANGRY I AM RIGHT NOW!?

And another thing...I am now constantly being told to 'organise! prioritise! get a grip! do you think the amount of revision you are doing will get you all A/A*s?'

I am aware that I need to get into one of the top 25 universities IN THE WORLD.

I am aware that I need to catch up with my schoolwork.

I am aware that I need to do better in school.

I am aware that I need to start volunteering.

I am aware that I need to start organising the information to start my society.

I AM AWARE that it is hard to get into university, that I need to prioritise, that I need to do my homework, that I need to revise, that I need to volunteer, that I can't socialize all the time, that I will not get into the universities I want to if I don't start doing better.

I AM AWARE that most of the people in my classes are smarter than me, are doing better than me; I am aware that these are the people I am competing with and I need to do better. I am aware that I don't have that much free time anymore, and that I need to organise it better.

I am aware that I need to do better. You don't have to tell me that. I think about it all the time. I know already.

Yeah, I'll go and complete my maths now that I've ranted.

On the plus side, Fresher's was AMAZING (knees are completely shot, however), the social side of school is great! (work is a tad bit stressful) and today was lots of fun!

Also: I am not a dai tao har! One: my head is not big for my body. Two: my head is not made out of shrimp. Sorted!

Maths

I am so annoyed right now I don't think it's even possible.

I have a very busy weekend. Today I went out to celebrate my friend's birthday. It's not exactly a pressing issue, but I felt obligated, and I also thought it would be nice to have some time off.

I got home around 7. I've been doing homework for nearly 4 hours.

I have gotten stuck on a difficult question.

I have realized that the work I have done in the last 4 hours is almost completely negated.

I am very annoyed.

I was planning on doing half of my maths today, the other (harder) half tomorrow, as well as revise for chemistry and biology.

I'm still going to stick to that plan, because I AM going to finish my maths homework tonight no matter how long it takes me.

Right now I'm posting because 1) I haven't in a while and 2) it helps relieve my stress, just a teensy little bit.

I also forgot about buying folders for my notes. This is also very annoying.

I'm worried about how well I'm doing in school. I guess I'll just have to try harder.

Maybe I should just give up all of my social time and start revising 24/7 again.

Hmm...

Umm...

I don't really know what to say, except that today's the end and beginning of everything that's wonderful and painful.

Lol, no one's going to understand this post but me!

20/9/08

Lol. My titles are so unimaginative.

Today I went into town with Ollie and spent my last 10 pounds, although my mom owes me a fiver. I didn't even get any credit for my phone :( Bought some new jeans today for 5.99 which I'm happy about although it is very expensive for me. They're a little bit big on me though, but ah well. I should really look for a job. I think I will. I'm much, much too lazy. I did most of my homework, though, which I'm happy about. I only have one more piece of chemistry homework to do tomorrow, and then I'm free!

I might start working out on Monday. I haven't exercised in forever. Yay :D

Again

I gave up on homework after I did my biology and latin. ARRRRGH so much stuff to do! And I am ill. Which is SO unhelpful, considering I have so much to do tomorrow. And I'm socialising. But I don't feel like it. I might just cancel and lay around all day. Blargh.

Anyway, today was good. I'm really jealous though. All my Chinese friends have mooncakes, but do I have any? NO. Not even a tiny one. I would just like a little one to eat so then I could say I ate ONE MOONCAKE, but I am actually deprived. Classes were quite boring as well, as per usual, and I am embarrassed to say that I am TERRIBLE at Mandarin. I have a horrible accent (Shing was laughing at me, evil >_>) and I cannot remember anything they say. Anyway, after school I went with Poppy and Sian (who I ran into) to Costa, and we had a very interesting chat and then I went home and attempted some homework and now I am here. I had SO MUCH MORE I was going to write about, but I have forgotten due to fatigue.

Argh, I ate a Fuji apple today, it was enormous, I feel even more sick...

Argh, homework!

I have lots to do, plus revision. I have to wake up at 7.30 again tomorrow, though I may wake up earlier to do stuff. I'm only posting right now so I can briefly distract myself from my homework. I have a lot.

My tendonitis is starting to act up again so my wrist aches. And I'm really tired. Maybe I should have some more caffeine, though I'm starting to get addicted...

In other news, I joined the gym which is uber cool. Yay :D

I'll probably post later, after I get bored of doing homework, to distract myself.

:)

Yay!

I got home early today so I'm not starting my homework yet :) but I will soon. In like...5 minutes. But right now I'm distracting myself by writing on here.

This week has been absolutely great! The work is a little bit easier...not much, but a little bit. I just hate my DM teacher SO much. As does the rest of the class. These are my problems with him:

• I can't hear him
• When I do hear him, I can't understand what he is saying
• When I can hear him and understand the words he he is saying, I don't understand the point he is trying to make
• He doesn't tell you if anything is right or wrong, but just keeps on talking
• He makes maths jokes I don't understand which make me feel dumb
• He has no teaching method
• His voice is like Mr. Chappells, which makes me sleepy
• He moves onto really hard stuff without explaining it when I'm still stuck on the first thing

And it was really bad because I had ARC right before him, and I had eaten all my chocolate then to wake me up, but it just didn't work so I was really tired but couldn't space out because the caffeine made me have this weird buzzing in the back of my head...

Otherwise everything is really fun! I've met loads and loads of new people and have made lots and lots of new friends, which is really, really great. I'm having so much fun it's excellent. The only problem is that I'm really bad with names, so now I've started this little string of people whom I call the last person I've met's name. Like, I met this guy called Cameron, and then another guy called Tim who I then called Cameron (he hates me for it :( evil!) and then I met a guy called Adam who I now call Tim, and...then it gets really confused, lol. Ah well. The classes are a little better this week, I went to a chemistry surgery today and MR. CHAPPELL, YOU WERE SO WRONG! The teacher was appalled, lol.

The fresher's ball is coming up! A lot of people don't want to go to it, but I am because I like dancing. I wish I could go to the pirate party on Friday :( but I can't. Ah well. It sounds a little bit dangerous, anyway. Uhh...was going to write more, but now I've forgotten. I'd better get a start on my homework anyway. Sob :(

Moon Cakes

I missed the mid-Autumn festival :( which means I didn't get any moon cakes :'( which makes me sad. I love moon cakes. My family won't buy any because they're cheap. Which means I won't get any until maybe next year. Damn. :( Shing said that he's getting some on Wednesday, but he'll probably eat them all himself. Grr.

Andy asked me what moon cakes are. This is the link to a picture:

http://torontoist.com/attachments/toronto_karen/2007_09_21mooncakes.jpg

This is the wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake

Wikipedia is wicked.

In other news, I have suddenly gotten really into Depeche Mode and the Teriyaki Boyz. Woot :D

Homework

The only reason I'm posting is because I need a reprieve from my homework. This is what I have done in Latin so far. It is very difficult to learn. It may not look like much, but I have dedicated several hours to learning it in various different ways:

I - amam - sum
You (sing.) - amas - es
You (pl.) - amatis - estis
We - amamus - summus
They - amant - sunt
He/She/It - amat - est

I have also done a lot of hard biology, lots and lots of Maths and a lot of chemistry. Argh...stress! I miss the relaxed days of St. Bedes Science lessons :P But it's been a lot of fun anyway, apart from the work. I've met lots of new people who are really nice :) so that makes me happy. I need to go to sleep now. I'm too tired to stay up.

If anyone knows about nuclear fusion/fission and isotopes, please let me know! It would be a massive help. Thanks! :)

Hills Road

Today I had SO much fun! It was an absolute blast. I met tons of really lovely people, and am in debt due to going to the cinema :( by 10 pounds! I don't know how I'll recover. *sob* Anyway, this morning I got up, got myself all sorted, and then got on the bus. Got off in city centre, topped up, then went on the bus to Hills which was absolutely PACKED full of people. I chatted to this really nice Chinese girl called Lara who got 12 A* in her GCSEs! I was astounded. Anyway, got off, ran into Laura and some other St. Bedes people. Captured some other lonely people (more successful than Mamood!) and then went off to form. Luckily I had Mikey in my form, so that was good! Our tutor was really fun, and we got to meet everyone in our form and everyone was really friendly so that was also good :) Afterwards we went of to assembly, and then to work out the ICT stuff which is rather confusing. I wish I was a computer whiz. That would make life so much simpler, especially because Hills relies completely on their Intranet. After that I went up to the library to get my library card, and then ran into Brier who had Kirsty and Jess with her, who are people from her form. Kirsty is the first person I met doing Latin, so I was happy :) Brier then ran into a girl she knew from my form called Ruby who was really, really lovely, and we wandered around the school getting our bearings running into various people who were also very lovely, and then we decided to go to lunch. At lunch I ran into Nayim, who was one of the various people I had talked to at the beginning of the day, and him and his three friends Michael (who's Chinese, yay!), Chris (who's in my DM class, double yay!) and Fraiser. Sim and Abbotts also joined us, which was good. After that we went outside and stayed on the benches for a looooong time. Jess left, Ruby had to go and Kirsty stayed with us for a while before leaving. Then Abbots left, and the remaining people me, Brier, Nayim and Chris decided to go to the cinema. Unfortunately Sim couldn't afford it, so we went by ourselves and it was fun :D except I'm really broke now. We watched Babylon A.D which made no sense at all, but it was a really good movie. Ummm....I'm tired now so I won't post anymore. All in all, I had an absolutely brilliant time today and love it. :D

Oops, I did it again...

Yesterday Ollie invited me over and- guess what- we watched more scary movies :( They were Hannibal, I Know What You Did Last Summer and the Blair Witch Project. They weren't scary at all when I was watching them, and at times they were downright hilarious, but it was only yesterday at midnight when I got off the phone to Brier that I became rather frightened of the Blair Witch Project. The bit that especially scared me was when they're in the house and Mike is just standing their, blank, facing the wall...argh! And I kept on waking up in the middle of the light to turn the light on by my bed because I would suddenly get really terrified. So, as a result of this, I am exhausted. And ill a little bit too, which is rather inconvenient right before Hills. I feel better now that I've had a bath and sorted everything out for tomorrow, but still. Ah well, it's only a little cold!

I am really, really excited about tomorrow. The holidays have just been way too long, and I'm broke anyway so I wouldn't have been able to go out even if I had a few more weeks. It'll be really nice to go to a new school, with new people, and have a fresh, shiny new start :D Only problem is the workload! I'm going to expect 20-25 hours of homework a week! Well, I guess it'll be hard but fun. I suppose that I'll have to concentrate in Science nowadays, not like Mr Chappell's lessons in St. Bedes :P Tomorrow's induction day, so we just get to meet out tutor and our tutor group, sign up to some societies, just generally get a feel of the school and see where everything is and meet some new people, etc. Then right away on Tuesday we properly start! I think I'm really going to have fun there, even though my time will definitely be more restricted. I have four free periods a week, which is good :) and I'm definitely going to join lots of clubs and societies and I'm definitely joining the gym! Yay :D

I keep on getting distracted and forgetting what I was writing. Anyway, at Ollie's house I was so bad and ate a bunch of cookies. Ah well. Digestives ftw! I walked about 6 laps around the field though, later, so I should be alright :) It got really dark and thunderstorm-y at one point, and it started sprinkling which was wonderfully exhilirating. I'm going to try to get really fit in Hills, with help from the gym :D I just hope I have enough time to go there! Anyway, like I said I keep on getting distracted so I'm going to stop writing now and finish my movie. It's called The Island. It's about in the future, the Earth gets contamminated so everyone is rounded up and put into this 'pathogen free' zone. However, every once in a while some lucky person gets randomly chosen to go to 'The Island', a pathogen free area. However, one person finds out that it is all just a big conspiracy and the people who do get chosen are actually used for organs, etc to sell to the people in the real world (I think, it hasn't finished yet) So that's where I am now. And it's very interesting. It's a little bit like Gattaca :)

Yay, Autumn!

Like the title says, celebrations! Autumn is finally here. The weather is cold, it rains a lot, I get to wear all my nice clothes, shoes and coats again, and- best of all- I get to wear my Autumn pyjamas and use double duvets! I love it. I've been feeling rather happy the last few days, partially because I'm determined to, but also because despite the bad a lot of good is coming my way. It doesn't counterbalance, but just because one area of my life is deficient doesn't mean that the others have to be as well. The best news is that my favourite blogger is back, with perfect timing! After about six months, she's here again and it's just wonderful. To be so disciplined in such a difficult area is just amazing. I can only aspire to be like that, and it's just great because now that I've been so determined I can focus almost all of my energy into doing that. I'm also revising lots, and am getting a lot better at Latin :D I need to revise some more chemistry and maths, though. I feel like I just can't remember it. Maybe I will when I'm next free, though I think I'm busy until Sunday. So I guess I'll have a lot of work to do, then.

Anyway, in other news, met up with Sim whom I just adore :) He's such a lovely guy. We went to Clowns and stayed there for the entire day just chatting. We have so much in common it's ridiculous! We got our hot chocolates and cream which are astoundingly tasty, and just talked about stuff. He's also terrified of loud noises, cracks in the pavement and weird images. All in all, it was a really nice day and it was really lovely to see him. Think I'm busy tomorrow too, and Ollie wants to meet up on Saturday as well. The only problem is that I've spent almost all of my money. I don't think I even have enough for the bus. :S I'll figure out a way to get around it.

I've also been researching loads of stuff, and have decided to start cooking. I've also been baking loads, and my family are starting to eat what I bake now as well which is good ;) my optimism worked! I might also look for some sort of job, because I'm awfully poor nowadays. I think I might go and get a job at Sainsburys or something after they close, so I can stock the shelves. Apparently it pays really well, and it's nice because I can just listen to my ipod or whatever while I do it so it's not hard work. Um...I just went away for a little while so I forgot what I was going to write XD Anyway, basically have been having fun the last few days despite everything, and am feeling quite disciplined and happy. I was going to write something a lot more important but have forgotten...ah well. I haven't reread what I've just written, so it may not make much sense. Either way :)

Endorphin high!

I love exercising. It's so great. After dinner, I hadn't been planning on running because it was supposed to storm soon, but I decided to anyway. It was so brilliant! I ran 4 times around the field, listened to my music and just felt generally awesome. I'm also upping my exercises at night too. I am determined to get really, really fit really, really fast. In Hills I'm definitely joining the gym and I think some of my enrichments are exercising too. The endorphin high's gone down now, unfortunately, but it'll go up again when I exercise tonight. I've been so lazy this summer, I need something to throw myself into. Before it was, as usual, revising. But I've finished pretty much all my revision except for latin, which I will never finish. There's five books I should learn, and I'm halfway through book one. Not bad, considering I've never done latin before! However, it is really quite boring and I'm broke so I can't go out (as much) so, exercising will be my new compulsion. As is baking, actually. Weird mix, eh?

Anyways, nothing much has been happening recently. Like I've said, I'm broke, and bus fare and snacks just whittle the remaining away. Was planning on meeting Ollie, but he starts Long tomorrow so can't. I killed a big spider today, which I was proud of, and was going to meet Brier but unfortunately she couldn't. Baked some banana bread today, and some cakes a few days ago, but no one eats them. I think my family is so used to me baking, they don't appreciate what I do for them. Or they just don't like what I bake. However, I will remain optimisitc and say the former, and I will continue to bake until they are forced to eat my food. Because I like baking. :)

I've also been researching a lot of stuff on wikipedia, like always. The articles are always so interesting. I've been watching this series called The Tudors, based on the life of King Henry VIII. I've always been interested and actually know a ton about the Tudor Dynasty, but I thought I'd go look at it a bit more. So I'm learning up on that. I also read some crazy articles in the paper, the most aggravating being:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/2672878/British-woman-accused-of-Dubai-beach-sex-tells-of-ordeal.html

ARGH! It makes me so annoyed when I read that article. Although six years does seem harsh from a Western viewpoint, they are in a different country and they should abide by that country's rules. She says they weren't having sex. One, I don't believe them because they must have been out of their mind drunk if they're willing to behave that way in a public place with someone they didn't know, and the person who caught them isn't likely to lie because they have no reason to. Two- although it is one of the issues in the problem, it's not the main issue. She's saying that they drew the line at sex, and that they shouldn't be punished so severely because of that. They may not have had sex, but it's a very thin line. What they were doing was inappropriate by any standards, and especially inappropriate by the standards there. They both lived there and knew the rules and should be punished for their behaviour. Because they're both expats, and British, and because this has gotten so much coverage, it's highly unlikely they'll get a very harsh sentence. Nonetheless, it annoys me that they're so upset about what's happening to them. It's funny, actually, because I just read another article about how badly the English are viewed by other countries because of their partying ways.

I guess I should also mention that me and Bigs broke up. I don't really know what else to say, except that it's amicable and we're still just as close as we were before. We're just trying to tie up the loose ends ends now. It's sad, but all break ups are sad, and as far as break ups go, we couldn't ask for a better one. He says, c'est la vie merde et bon, but I say c'est la vie de merde et magnifique (because life can be wonderful rather than just good, and I have better grammar ;) )

Otherwise, that's what's been happening. I really need to go out tomorrow, because I'm going crazy in the house. I'm going to wake up at 7 tomorrow, so I can get in schedule for Hills and don't have sleep issues like I normally do. I can't wait to go to Hills- I'm so, so excited. These holidays have just been much too long. We were on study leave since the beginning of April? so that's five months. Nearly half a year off from school! Now that I put it that way, it seems just crazy. I'm not looking forward to the hard work, but on the other hand, the work will probably be quite interesting. I need something to stimulate my mind- despite my revision, it seems to have grown dull and lazy- so that will be good. Hills is such a nice place...it'll be so much fun there. It'll be fun to meet new people, start a new schedule, go to a new building and start new classes (as well as drop the boring old ones like...*shudders*...geography. It'll just be fun because it's new, and I'm bored and it'll be exciting. So yay! Anyway, off to go exercise now...endorphin high! Woot!

Crap!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/health/26real.html?ref=science

I do that ALL the time. In fact, recently I've been having absolutely tons of problems with all my joints. My neck and shoulders are really achy and crack all the time, my wrists are constantly sore and my fingers crack all the time. So I've stopped stretching for a while.

Anyway, in other news, met Brier one or two days ago, I can't remember. It was nice because we haven't seen each other properly in a while. We talked about a lot of stuff which was really, really great; we both had a lot to get out of our systems, so it was really good to talk to her about it. She broke her bike on the way there so we met at Parkside Pool, went to Clowns and talked for a while, then went to Costa because the seats are more comfortable and then, even though we were exhausted, travelled all the way to that Chinese restaurant we went to before with Sim and found it closed! Which was very, very depressing. Fortunately the lady was really lovely and opened it early for us. We had some really great food there- and only for 4.80! Maybe in Hills I'll go there :D

Unfortunately I've been feeling a little sick; like I said before I'm really sore, I've been getting awful headaches and stomachaches and am feeling really fatigued. This is probably due to my terrible sleep schedule, as every night I've been getting less than 8 hours and just because I've caught something. It's nothing terrible but it's enough to stop me exercising and revising so much for a little while. But I've started again as I'm feeling a lot better, and also because it's the first of September! Which means a new routine. I'm continuing my Latin and doing pretty well at it, and I've also finished almost all my maths! Also, I walked a mile in the morning before breakfast, walked a mile after lunch and ran 1.5 miles before dinner! So I'm quite happy :D Also I'm upping my exercises at night starting from today, which is great. I love exercising. It's so much fun. And it makes me more healthy, so yay!

I have less than a week less until I start Hills :) I can't wait to start going, it's so exciting. It'll be so much fun. I've been so bored at home and unfortunately I have spent ALL my money. I have 10 pounds left for food, credit, bus money, clothes, revision stuff and anything else I want to buy. So I'll have to be frugal this week! Why does everything have to be SO expensive? In Costa, tea costs 1.60, which is riduclous. Hot water + tea bag = tea. How can that cost 1.60!? Then again, we do sit there for hours, so I suppose it's a good idea. It'll be nice to get out of the house soon, because it has been really very stressful here. I feel quite lazy because there's not much to do. I'd been going out almost every day, but now that I'm broke I can't as often. The last two or three days I stopped revising and exercising as much, but now I am again because it's a new month and I'm feeling better. I've been researching lots of things on wikipedia though, which is quite interesting and sometimes very, very gross! So now I know lots of facts about lots of stuff. When I get into Hills I'll be able to see everyone again without spending so much money, meet lots of new people and get back into proper schedule. Yay!

Hills..

...was pretty good, except me and Sim tried to make friends with this lonely kid and scared him off :( ah well. Humourous, though. Anyway, didn't do much except enter some data into the computer, etc. Afterwards me, Sim, Dave, Dan and Brier went and got some food, and Bigs met up with us. The food was really good, but when we sat down there were tons of flies around. After that I went over Bigs's house which was fun. And that was pretty much it. I'm really tired though. I should exercise, but right now I cba. I'll do it later. We watched a bit of Amelie today, which was very good. Anyway, I thought I'd write about some things I like and dislike:

I like:

• the smell of autumn leaves
• parallelograms
• waking up before the alarm clock goes off
• watching good movies when the weather is bad inside
• perfume and mini alcohol bottles
• comfy beds
• going to sleep when I'm really tired
• Digestives
• surprises
• feeling really blissful when I first start running and listening to good music
• perfect symmetry
• circular or curved objects
• the smell of good food cooking
• feeling really proud and relieved when you complete something
• Bourbon Creams
• really cold yougurt
• finding a song that exactly fits my mood
• putting on clothes with good material
• complete darkness
• having a fluffy duvet
• being really tired and collapsing into bed
• soft material
• having really good conversations
• looking at the sky
• cold weather
• really nice coats
• shiny things
• shadows
• crunchy, spicy or soft food
• anticipation
• really nice shoes
• when people are friendly and helpful to you
• seeing pastries
• tea in the morning
• cool showers
• when people are thoughtful to you for no reason at all

I don't like:

• when it's light out when I go to sleep
• oily things, especially oily crisp packets
• loud noises when I'm tired
• knowing I need to do something
• forgetting something and nearly remembering it
• not working hard enough
• grass getting in my shoes
• hot, humid weather
• when things get out of control
• being hungry and not knowing what to eat
• feeling guilty
• arguing with someone who I think is stupid, and them refusing to listen
• forcing myself to exercise
• waking up too early
• when people rub their eyes really roughly
• when people embarrass themselves
• pressing the stop button on the bus and holding my hand out for the bus
• when things are not aligned properly or symmetically
• seeing drunk people
• dirty toilets
• losing things
• mood swings
• disappointment and feeling frightened
• waking up feeling scared and not being able to turn the light on
• flaky pastries
• being scared at night

Once again...

...I feel obligated to post. Anyway, met up with Ollie to go swimming. Swimming was fun, have a bump on my head from going down the water slidey things. I used to be a really good swimmer, but now I'm really slow :( Ah well. Haven't been since I fainted last time! Went for about an hour, and then went to Nandos to get something to eat. Had a salad, which was really, really tasty, but it was really not as spicy as I expected. Then I went through the bus routine through Hills a few times, which was actually not that boring, and then I ran into Jasmine and Dora so I went with them to Costa where Kaisa met us later, which was a pleasant surprise! Then I went home, and jogged 3 laps, had dinner, talked to the LAN party crew for a bit and am now watching Inuyasha :) It sounds like they're having fun, and apparently my cookies were well-received, yay! I don't think I'm allowed out tomorrow which is a shame, as I was hoping to meet up with Brier, but I'll see what happens! I haven't seen her in ages properly :( but if I'm not allowed out tomorrow, then I should be able to see her next week! I also thought it would be a good idea if a big group of us met up and went to the pool on Saturday, as it was actually really fun swimming today, and I thought it would be a nice last bigish event before going to sixth form :) But I'll have to see. All in all, pretty good day!

Today..

Nothing much happened. I just feel obligated to post. I'm annoyed again, because like last time, I forgot to set the alarm so I didn't get to jog this morning. However, I did do 4 laps and ran a quarter of a lap before dinner. And I ate pretty healthy too :) well, relatively. Well, actually, no, not at all. But for some reason I feel like I did, so that's good. I've started drinking lemon water because apparently citric acid helps digest food better, am eating spicy food because it helps with arthiritis, (which I have in my wrists and am getting in my fingers and toes, it is painful) speeds up your metabolism, stimulates your brain so it makes and also helps with depression. I don't have depression, but it's always nice to feel happier. It releases endorphins, supposedly. I'm also trying to eat more fruit and vegetables, eat less food, drink more tea (speeds up metabolism), etc...and I'm trying to eat less junk food, which unfortunately I have been eating quite a lot of recently. So I'd better get back on track! I'm swimming tomorrow, which is uber healthy, so that should be pretty fun! I like swimming. I haven't been in ages, maybe years, and after seeing Michael Phelps (whom I love) I really wanted to go again. So it shall be fun. Ollie came over today, which was also very fun, it was one of those lazy and relaxing days. We watched the Terminator, which was actually really, really good, and then we threw a ball around for a little while, and my wrist got scratched up because he pushed me into the spikey bush. Grr. Then I went jogging and me and my brother wikied some very...disturbing...things. That have scarred me. Permanently. Then Bigs came and picked up the cookies for their LAN party tomorrow. I hope they don't get really hyped on Mountain Dew and sugar and stuff, but I know they will. So I hope they have fun :) and I hope they like my cookies. There weren't that many left though because we have been nibbling on them. Ah well. Then we watched Sopranos again, which is a great show, and now I'm writing this post before I exercise and stretch and go to sleep. So, all in all, pretty good day.

I'm annoyed...

...because I woke myself up really early to go jogging, and it was raining. However, that isn't the worse bit- I set my alarm last night for 8.30, but I accidentally changed my clock so it was one hour forward. So I ended up waking up at 7.30, not realizing it, and then waking up every 30 minutes afterward because I kept on setting my alarm back. So when I finally realized my clock was one hour ahead and it was actually 8, not 9, I slept for an hour and then woke up to find it was raining heavily. So that was very aggravating. I did run in the middle of the day, 4 laps around the field, but by that time it was really humid and not nice out. Grr.

Other news...I've been trying to revise Latin, but really cannot be bothered to learn. However, there's not much to do around here. I was looking at J-horror on wikipedia, so now I'm very scared and going to have a pretty restless night :( Having that movie thing tomorrow and used the excuse to make cookies! I love baking, but don't have much excuse usually to make anything. Damn. I've also been looking at other things on wikipedia, but they're a bit gross so I won't write about it here.

In conclusion, I'm bored and wish I was allowed out more.

GCSEs

Finally it's all over! I got all As, 5 A*s in English, Maths, Science, Geography and History and 2 Bs in French and ICT. I'm a little disappointed with the French and ICT, but I am very pleased with the A*s in Science, Maths and Geo, especially since I only expected an A in Geo. Apparently I was shaking before I got them, and really, really started shaking afterwards! Today was a good day, I was relieved to get my results (you were right, Bigs, I was alright after all!) and of course got there straight at ten. It was good because all my friends were there, but we had to wait until the end (12, 2 more hours!) for Brier to get there. Then we all went into town. Everyone split up, so I ended up staying with Bigs, Brier, Zac, Sim and Ollie to go to get tea which was rather fun except I spent a lot of money. Then we went around Jesus Green for a little while before going to a pub for a snack, and then we went to Clowns and Ollie left. We stayed around Clowns for quite a while, which was very relaxing, and then Bigs left to go to the airport and me, Brier and Sim went to this great Chinese restaurant and got wonton soup for only 4.80! It was really good, too! Normally the soup we get here is really watery and not very good, but in this one the noodles were really tasty and everything was really flavoursome / flavourful (depending whether you're English or American). Brier got something else that was the same price that was also really good! But ugh, spend waaay too much money today- 6.85 + 2.00 + 3.00 + 4.80 = too expensive. Ah well. It WAS a celebratory day. I do regret not being able to see the Dark Knight though- apparently it's really good. Ah well. That would be waay, waay too expensive!

Good news- I got my results and they are good, except for French and ICT. I'm very, very relieved. Phew :) Also, I'm allowed to have movie day! Yay!

Bad news- I have to get shots tomorrow. I hate shots. They just puncture your skin...*shudders* it's awful. I hate, hate, hate them. And I have to get a lot I think too. It's very upsetting. Also, I just have to watch them inject the stuff, so it's really awful. I don't mind getting cut, or bruised as much, but getting punctured...is so upsetting. Bleugh.

General

It's really getting very hard to think of post names. Anyway, tomorrow's practically our last day because we leave on Monday. I don't count Monday really as a day because we'll be too busy doing last minute packing and it'll be too stressful to be enjoyable. Anyway, what have I been doing...I went into NY last Thursday which was quite fun. We wandered around Soho, the Village and Chinatown all day which was very enjoyable. I went around Chinatown trying to find gifts, but couldn't find anything which was extremely, extremely annoying! I really liked the Village; there were a lot of nice shops including this place called 'le petit puppy.' Silly name, but adorable shop! Here is the link:

http://www.lepetitpuppynyc.com/

I got to hold one of the little pomeranians and I am SO in love with it. I think we might be close to getting another dog, which is just great! My dad is thawing... :D We want another pom. That would be great. Fuji might be a little mad though...anyway, unfortunately we didn't buy anything, but it was fun just walking around. We went to a really great diner which was, once again, very good and very cheap. We also went on the subway and there was this group of buskers walking up and down the train singing which was quite fun to listen to. Altogether it was a really great day. I love NY. What else have I been doing...

I haven't been revising anymore; it's the last few days and I've packed my stuff away. We also have tons of junk food to eat, and I've been having a hard time exercising. But who cares? Today's the second to last day so it won't make a difference anyway. This morning we went to Ihop which was really, really tasty, but I've found that after eating healthy and exercising so much for so long I find that I can't eat much of it anymore. Which is great. I'm quite happy with that :D Tomorrow morning we're going to our very last yum cha for a while. I have to remember though, there's a new place in Cambridge that does it that's not as expensive as Charlie Chans! Where was it...from that big place where cineworld is, right near Hills, down that long long road into town. I'll have to go search for it. I have no money, but it might be fun to go with some people when I have enough money. So that's good.

I've also been watching the Olympics. I am such a huge Phelps Phan :) I am so in love with him :P I just watched him do the 100m butterfly last night and it was SO AMAZING! He won by one 100th of a second! It was so stressful, but so brilliant! It's his last race tonight- and his last gold medal! I am praying for him and will be cheering for him when he races and hopefully wins!!

I'm sort of looking forward to coming back, but at the same time I'm really not. I've stayed here for too long really; there's been nothing to do except revise, I have no human contact beyond my family so I miss everyone and it's getting stressful. However, I will be very, very, very sad to leave my grandparents and I am also really freaked out about getting my results. I know I can't worry about it now and I probably- no definitely- should have revised harder, but still...stressful! And I'm starting Hills soon, which although undoubtedly will be a lot of fun, it will also be a lot of hard work. I've been looking forward to it for a long time, but now that it's here it seems rather intimidating. Weird. Well, we still have a little while before sixth form, so I'll be able to see all my friends and everything. Fun fun fun :) As long as I get good grades...

'Tis quite depressing

I just had my last meal of bagel and lox :'( The thought of it is just so depressing I can't even comprehend it. Ego non laetissimus.

I will be back in England next Tuesday! The visit here has been quite fun, if a little bit boring. I'm still revising Latin (Latinam nimus odiosus) and I'm learning it quite quickly, so yay! I'm going into NY again tomorrow I think, which will be quite fun. I've been exercising lots, which is quite fun, and have now started going on the treadmill for an hour every day :) The Olympics have been really great, America just beat France in the swimming which was just amazing to see. Go Michael Phelps! And China got the gold in the gymnastics, which was brilliant. Go China!

The bad news...I'm completely broke. I have spent $102 in the last two days (it sounds really bad, but that's the most I've spent so far in this trip! I want to keep everything I've bought, but if I don't return something I'll be completely broke for a while. :( ARGH! Why don't I have more money!? Ego ammodum iratus! GRR!

Ipod

My ipod is fixed! Well, not really my ipod, but I got new earphones so now I can listen to music while I jog again. And it helps SO MUCH! I haven't jogged for the last 3 days, the first because it was my rest day, the second because I went into NY so I didn't have time, and the last day because I was too tired. Anyway, today I went back and partly because I was well rested, and partly because I had my music I was able to jog the whole 3 miles again! And, not only that, I was able to do it a lot better than I have been recently. I've been finding it hard to run because my legs have been so sore and because I have no music, so I could only do these really weird little steps which of course made it a lot harder. Today I could do it normally, like I did when I first started, so I am a lot happier :)

On a second note, I'm watching the Olympics right now and revising latin. The opening ceremonies were AMAZING!

中国加油!!!

My computer is fixed!

Finally, my computer is fixed after much hardship, time and money. Anyway, nothing much has been happening here- my aunt, uncle and cousin left on Sunday, the day after my mom's birthday. Me and my dad had stayed up way, way late into the night preparing her gifts, until 2am to be precise, and she didn't even like them! We spent hours and hours writing 'Happy Birthday Hil' on these little pasteries she likes, and she said she didn't like the icing and that we ruined the stupid pasteries! Grr! She did however say she liked my birthday card (which I spent 1 1/2 hours on) which is good, because it took a lot of effort. It was 3-d and homemade, and it had colours and borders! Which doesn't sound like a very big deal but it was. I was very proud of it :) I think she was being sarcastic, though, when she said she liked it, which is really not funny when you spend so much time on something! :P I am quite pleased today because I finally finished my maths book- all 121 pages of it- so now I'm onto Latin and Cantonese! No time for rest, lol. I also have been exercising, but unfortunately I'm down to 2 laps because for some reason by the end of the first lap I usually have stomach cramps, and by the end of the second they're really intense. I don't know why. It's weird. I hope they go away. Tomorrow we're going into NY to wander around a little bit, and then we're going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which is also nice :) I bought some new stuff recently too, but haven't spent as much as my brother! Bought a nice Ralph Lauren jacket yesterday for $20, suggested retail $176. Bargain, and I love it! My brother says it looks like a straitjacket, but I love it. So I am happy. Forgot to mention I also bought some of my favourite chinese candy- mung cookies! They taste like sawdust :) but I love them. We also bought some green cake, my custard bao baos and these enormous soft yellow sponges, as well as DURIAN CANDY and, amazingly, PHOSPHORUS WATER!! I tried the durian candy and now I realize what the big deal is. We got the whole family to try it :) and now I realize...well, I'm not going to write about it here because some of the people who I want to try it read this blog. Just assume it's either mind-bogglingly good or mind-bogglingly bad. You'll find out! Anyway, about the phosphorus water, it's lime green and iridescent and I love it. Well, the look anyway. I hate the taste. I just bought it because I wanted to display it. I'll put some pics up later just because I'm so happy I bought it :D Anyway, that's basically what I've been doing recently. I probably left out some stuff because I'm too tired to think of it. Oh, I've been researching Confucianism and Taoism too, and reading a bunch. Just finished Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov. Really, really, really good. Just brilliant. Incidentally, my brother wants to name his future son Vladmir. Isn't that weird?

General

Just went to the Manor yesterday which was, as always, brilliant. My brother ate something like 23 lobsters, and I ate tons of the desserts which were really, really tasty. I'll put up some pics as soon as I can. Today was so much harder jogging, though- everyday I try to jog farther, but by the first mile I was exhausted. I still made it, though, so...go me? Anyway, what else has been happening...the computer is broken so I'm writing using the on-screen keyboard, which is really, really annoying. My uncle, aunt and cousin are here which is really nice as I haven't seen them in about 2 years. Also bought tons of stuff :D which is extremely cool and cheap too! Anyway, what else am I thinking about...did you know papaya is a natural tenderizer, and if you put it in a bag with a slice of meat for 24 hours, it turns to mush? Also, I think I am addicted to things I don't like, such as scary movies, marmite and showers. I don't like showers- I have sensitive skin, and the water always seems so pointy, but I just can't take baths anymore, because they seem so slow. Oh, also I just remembered I saw Transformers yesterday which completely rocked. Anyway, I just wrote this to distract myself from doing revision, so I'd better get back to...chemistry! woot :(

America

The US is actually really boring right now. Today I saw some adorable rabbits, but they made me sad because I found out they're meant to be eaten. They were black and fuzzy and floppy and they galumphed around and I was in love with them :) but soon they will die which makes me very unhappy :( I also revised today a lot, about six hours, and wrote down all the biology notes from year 10-11. I then watched Cloverfield, which was surprisingly boring, and now I am writing on my blog for lack of anything else to do. Tomorrow my aunt, uncle and cousin are coming over, which is exciting because I haven't seen them for a while. Although it's not too late, i wonder if anyone else gets emotional when they get tired? Using my limited scientific knowledge this makes sense:

Serotonin=happiness. I am tired and am not doing anything, so I am not reacting to any stimuli, so none of my neurones are working. This means there is no need to release transmitter chemicals, so there is no serotonin and therefore I am feeling quite sad right now. So...yeah. I really doubt this theory makes any sense. but I suppose it's best to think about these things, eh?

Anyway, what else is there to write about...I have been feeling quite cooped up in the house. It is really annoying that every time I go on the computer I get kicked off because I am too 'lazy' and I am constantly being told to lose weight and just am generally criticized and looked over, but my brother gets to laze around the house 24/7 and I am expected to help him with revision, make him food, entertain him, etc and I still am constantly yelled at while my brother is fawned over by everyone for simply liking to dress well. I don't mind not being overlooked, as its my parents choice and it's not in my place to judge their opinion; however it is not fair to be punished for doing nothing wrong and I really despise the double standard. There is nothing to do here except to go shopping, which is especially boring because there are no clothes I want and the ones I do want are too expensive. I am going jogging tomorrow morning, which is exhausting but somehow fun, although I get the feeling I will not be very inspired tomorrow. There's also some other stuff happening which is a little painful, but c'est la vie! I should probably go to sleep soon, because sleeping always makes me feel better for some reason. I also feel very lonely, which is really not fun, and I...still have a while to go! Ugh, I sound just a little bit miserable, lol, but otherwise there is no one or nothing to talk to or about.

Plan for tomorrow is to get up early, jog, shower, revise lots, go to Loehmans and revise again, see Uncle Ben, Auntie Denise and Adam, entertain Adam, watch a movie, go on the computer if I'm feeling up to it, go to sleep sometime. This is pretty much my plan for the entire time I'm here.

Now I think I should write about something scientific because my post so far is really ridiculously stupid.

I don't understand why different people like different types of food. We are all made of the same DNA. bascially, with different combinations of alleles. I wonder, do the alleles have anything to do with us liking different types of food? Your body's main interest is survival, so technically you should eat the food you like and not eat the food you dislike because your body is telling you what it wants it to do, which is basically to survive. However, this also doesn't make much sense because I like these really fattening Italian cookies better than carrots, which are healthier than you. My theory is that we once had to survive on very little food and lots of physical activity, so we have not yet evolved enough to deal with having lots of food without needing to do much physical activity. Therefore, we naturally crave fatty foods and do not crave vegetables, etc because we are used to having to eat a lot of them. Anyway, that's my theory.

Well, I'm done ranting, even though what I ranted about is absolutely nothing except a waste of space that should not be read by anyone except for me as it is bollocks. So...if you read it, you really shouldn't have because normally I would write this in my journal, but I didn't bring it on holiday with me so I had to write it here! But no one reads my blog anyway so meh :) At least I'm thinking science!

Re-cap

Right, haven't written anything since before DofE, so here I go:

DofE was pretty good up until the last day, when me and my two friends got in a big fight which was nicht zu cool :( but I think it's sorted so now I am a lot happier :D However, the other days were quite good. One day we walked 25 miles, which was basically the day everything went wrong. Brier got ill, Kasia lost her phone and camera (although the camera was found after a long, arduous search) and we had to walk up and down a very steep, painful and prickly hill with many ferns that were taller than me and many spiky, painful bushes which attacked me a couple of times :( The next day I thought was a lot harder, as we had to walk up this really, really steep mountain and the weather was just horrific. Otherwise, everything was pretty alright; I was quite proud that I was able to walk so far and Bigs called me pretty much every day which really encouraged me. However, it did bring up my OCDness about toilets which has now spread to everything. So I am a little bit nutzoid about germs :S I wasn't too tired after DofE; I went to sleep at 11 and had to wake up at 4am the next day to go to the airport for America which sucked immensely. The flight was good; I watched the Exorcist which was really very funny and some other movies, and ate these awesome chocolate brownies :D Nothing much has been happening in the US; we went shopping and my bro spend a ridiculous amount of money on clothes, something like $345 and I bought two dresses for $30. My uncle and his family are coming on Wednesday, and we are going to the Manor on Thursday which is really, really exciting. I started jogging yesterday, and ran 2 miles, walked to miles and sprinted up a few hills which is quite good, I think. I am trying to stay healthy and slim here, especially since my family keeps on bothering me about it, grr! I have been quite lazy and have not been revising much which makes me feel very indolent and bleugh, so I will try to fix that tomorrow! My mom has been really grumpy at home, so I am feeling quite cooped up here but fortunately I have been talking to Bigs and Brier which is really, really saving me lol. What else has been happening here...nothing much, other than lots of good food, good movies, good shopping and being quite lazy. :D

Just thinking...

...you know 'x' means kiss and 'o' means hug? Why is that? I was thinking about it yesterday, but I haven't found any answer. You can sort of see how x looks like a kiss and o looks like a hug, but who thought of that? :S

Gifts

It's my friend's birthday soon, and I really don't know what to get her. We always buy each other expensive gifts, but they never seem to be quite suitable. Even though I know her really well, our gifts never seem to be quite right for each other so :S- this year I will try again!

http://www.linksoflondon.com/dynamic/eshop/product_images/thumbnail_cache/360x360/657-red-heart-charm-bracelet-image-1.jpg

Personally, I love charm bracelets. I think that they're a really thoughtful gift, and you can wear them all the time with anything because they can be both casual and dressy. Also, you always remember who gave it to you because they're so unique. So...maybe a charm bracelet? But then again, it may not suit her so I don't know. I'll buy her something nice in the US anyway :)

?

I'm really having trouble titling my posts. Anyway, met up with Brier in town again. Got some revision guides for next year and spent over 40 POUNDS! Ho gwai or what!? Went back home again and practiced some of my Cantonese, which I'm remembering better. Bigs and his friends called me; it sounds like they're having a lot of fun camping and are being very, very silly and boyish. Watched Devil Beside You again for a long, long time as well. I love Devil Beside You, it's so cute! Asian dramas are adorable. Ahmon is so sweet to Qi Yue in it as well! In this episode, for Christmas Ahmon makes her a handmade Christmas tree, and in the next episode, he bought her a really pretty bracelet to remember him because he was leaving to go to Italy and he wasn't going to see her for a year :) sweet. And in the next episode...well, here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMuUWuGNMyw&feature=related

I really need to start watching a new show, though :( I finished Devil Beside You last Christmas but I still haven't found another one to replace it. I tried watching Smiling Pasta but Cyndi and Nicholas are NO WAY as good pairing as Rainie and Mike. Also, Nicholas is really mean in Smiling Pasta. In Devil Beside You, Mike is cool but really sweet, whereas in Smiling Pasta Nicholas is just plain mean! When I'm in America, maybe I'll buy some dramas to watch :D and it will help with my Cantonese too! Although Cantonese dramas are no way near as good as Taiwanese ones...

Lolita

Today I read two articles that really upset me:

- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2115077/Heelarius-high-heels-for-babies-go-on-sale.html

- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1032029/Mummys-little-Lolita-The-11-year-old-girl-beauty-treatments-cost-300-month-make-look-like-Barbie.html

In the second article, the girl looks older than me, and she's five years younger! Both articles are appalling and obscence, and very frightening. The West is so oversexualized! Every day you see tons and tons of girls tarted up completely indecently; STDs are rampant, divorce is higher than ever and it just keeps getting worse! What I'm really worried about is that the East is going to follow this path just because it is more 'modern' and 'cool' to be Western, especially after the Edison Chen incident which was very, very shocking. SO MANY PHOTOS! I was astounded when I learned that Gillian was involved. Certainly the Twins are a lot less popular than they once were, considering their main market was tweens. The only good point I can think of about the scandal was how horrified the public were when they found out, and all the negative repurcussions they received. Sure, celebrities should be allowed to have some privacy, but they are models for society and should act like it. Sometimes I think that Leehom, Jay Chou and Rainie Yang are very popular and very, very good role models, so Easten society should still be innocent, but then I think about Jolin Tsai and Edison Chen and think that it is becoming corrupted. Even the end of Devil Beside You was shocking! Well, I suppose that the East will also place more value on innocence than the West; natural beauty and sweetness is still prized there, and a 16 year old in HK is about the equivalent to an 11 year old, or younger considering the second article, in England. I'm disgusted and appalled with the way 'beauty' is represented in the West. Although I love my boyfriend and friends in England, I do detest the chavs who unfortunately make up a very large part of society here. I am definitely more Chinese in my way of thinking and my values. I can't wait to go to HK again...

Recent Stuff

Wednesday was prom, afterparty carried on until Thursday morning, Zac's was on Friday, just met up in town with Brier today and tomorrow we're having a last Prom 6 meeting to say goodbye to Anna. So, quite a fun-packed week!

Prom was quite fun; the decorations were a bit lacking, but dancing was really cool! First I went to Bigs' house and took some photos, then went in a really cool car (with free Belgian chocolates, whey!) to the school. Spent about half an hour taking photos of everyone coming in, then went inside and danced the night away! Although the songs weren't so good, it was still really fun.

The afterparty was a lot more fun than the prom, everyone just had a really fun time dancing and socialising and playing videogames and, for some, getting really, really drunk. Everyone stayed up for pretty much the whole night, probably due to the Mountain Dew; I dozed a little but that's really it. Got some great pics and photos which I'll have to load on facebook. Awesome night altogether!

The next day we all went to Zac's house for the luncheon. That was also really fun; Zac cooked us a feast and then we watched a really cool movie called 'School for Scoundrels' which was hilarious. We waited for the bus back to town for about an hour, which was really boring, and then we went and played for a while in the playground at the Jesus Green. Also very fun, the food especially was delicious!

Today I went into town with Brier which was quite fun, but now I feel sick from the coffee. Clowns really is the best place ever!

Tomorrow we're saying goodbye to Anna, which is very sad. It'll be the last Prom 6 meeting ever!

Not a great post, as I'm quite tired, but that was pretty much my week in a little detail.

Tomorrow...

...is the Prom! I'm so excited! Recently I've been feeling really bored and awful and lazy because I haven't had the energy to do anything productive, yet am too hyper to relax. Today I need to paint my nails and stuff, which is not too bad, and tomorrow will be the final touches. I still need to see how we're getting there, so I'll talk to Bigs later, but he's probably still exhausted from his LAN party. Some people still haven't arranged their transport to my afterparty, but really at this point it's their own fault! So now I'm a bit more laissez-faire about arranging. I've been walking around today in my heels, which is quite impractical since I just had to clean the house, but I need to break them in a little before tomorrow. They're not too bad; they're just a little slippy so I need to rub the bottoms with sandpaper or walk around outside to roughen them up. I've bought all the afterparty stuff which really was quite expensive, and I need to try to blow up a hundred balloons before tomorrow! That's going to be really hard, because it is absolutely impossible for me to blow up balloons, for some reason, so that's my dad's responsibility now. What else is there...nothing much, really. I just need to do some little beauty things for tomorrow, but nothing huge- some people are going to the salon! I think it's waaaay too expensive. I'll just make sure I look nice :)

Baking

Went on a total baking frenzy yesterday! First I made a bunch of cookies for my family, and then I thought it would be nice to make some cookies for Bigs and his friends because they're having a party tomorrow so I made an absolute TON for them. Altogether I spent about seven hours in total baking, which was tiring but fun! The funny thing is I don't even really like cookies, I just enjoy making them! I especially like stirring everything together, which is a little weird I suppose. Tomorrow I'm going to be too busy beautifying myself before the prom to do anything, and then Wednesday's the prom so I'll be busy then too, and then I'll be exhausted on Thursday because I'll be tired after the afterparty! I know I have to make something for Zac's dinner party, so actually I'd better get back to baking again!

Even more...

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=191
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=206
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=216
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=223
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=226

The first one is total sacrilege against Inuyasha. He is sacred. Everything else is hilarious! I really like the last one, too. It's so silly it would be romantic!

Comics

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=88
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=107
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=114
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=118
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=125
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=126
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=146
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=154
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=260
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=261
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=169
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=176
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=182

I just found this site and I love it! Even though it is proof that I play waaaaay to many videogames...

Prom

I'm really looking forward to it! I've got my dress, my shoes and my hairclip (only a pound!), so my outfit is finally complete. Currently we don't have a ride, but I still think it would be really, really fun to bunk anyway. What's really annoying me is sorting out the afterparty. People don't seem to understand how difficult it is to arrange things! For one, not everyone has RSVPed, despite me continuously nagging them. Secondly, almost no one has arranged how they are getting here, which is even more annoying! I don't mind too much if a few people I hadn't expected turn up, but I do definitely mind if a lot of people who has said they would come don't turn up because they haven't arranged how to get here! I sent a group email to EVERYONE I invited telling them to tell me how they are getting here, which is about 30ish people, and so far ONLY ONE PERSON has replied! It's really getting on my nerves! I spent a lot of my OWN money on the food and spent a lot of time organising it; you'd really think people would have the decency to tell you whether they are coming or not after being nagged, reminded and scolded about a billion times! ARGH! Well, anyway, I'm really looking forward to the prom and the afterparty, it's just the organising for everything is a little bit stressful.

Tourists!

Yesterday I went into town for Jasmine's Birthday party, which was rather fun. We all met up at the Lucky Star buffet and ate and chatted, and then I went into city centre with Zac, Sim and Brier. Oh, it was so much fun! We were so silly; first we split up because I needed to get a hairclip for the prom, so I went with Brier, and Zac wanted to try on a suit so he went with Sim. Then we all met up in Costa and chatted for a while, before we decided to try out being tourists! So we wandered around for ages taking lots of photos and videos, and we even got some free Red Bull which made me and Sim a little hyper. Then Zac had to leave, so me, Brier and Sim went to the Jesus Green little kids park and played there, which was really fun- we let our inner children out! Got loads of brilliant photos and videos- my favourite one is me, Sim and Brier holding hands and skipping down the Backs! Though Zac wasn't too happy about that...

Cantonese

I've decided to try to start learning Cantonese again before I go to see my grandparents. I decided to listen to my 'Lonely Planet' CD, and I'm glad to say that it's all coming back! I'll just write out a conversation of what I've learned:

jo tao fu yun!
jo tao, ngaw hoi ee bong lei ma?
lei sic mm sic gong ying man?
sieu sieu
hoa. ngaw yau ma fan. ngaw dong sut low. ngaw sheur yieu BP yun ze low.
maan maan! hoa, lei chee hi lee do.
dojei!
um sai hat hey.

Well, it's not very good I suppose. Anyway, I was watching Devil Beside You last night; it's so funny! The best scene:

Ahmon: "let's go make some sticky rice"
Qi Yue: "sticky rice?"
*run together to art room where his friends are*
Ahmon: "now, go make us some sticky rice!"
Qi Yue: "you jerk! I thought you meant the OTHER sticky rice!"

You won't get this if you don't know the slang, but if you do, watch Devil Beside You and it's hilarious!

Flying...

...was AMAZING! Only word for it, really.

Grr!

I have developed a really, really extreme fear of toilets now, which is really inconvenient. Every time I think of them I feel physically ill. I have to brush my teeth outside the door now, which is really annoying, and every time I go in all I can think is GERMS! GERMS! GERMS! I've gotten really OCD about washing my hands now, and I don't even like opening the door handle anymore. I have to stop thinking about it, now, because I'm starting to feel really queasy. Ugh...

D of E

ARGH I AM SO ANNOYED MY POST HAS DELETED ITSELF TWICE NOW!!!

Anyway, rant over. Just finished D of E practice and am feeling quite pleased with myself as I am not too tired. Our group walked about 15km at the least less than the other groups, which shows as comparatively we are not too tired. However, I am now really, really dreading the Peak District which will be a lot harder as we have to walk 48km uphill compared to the 34km we walked flat this time, and I have also developed a severe phobia of campground toilets; so much so it makes me feel teary and nauseous every time I think of them. So I'll stop thinking about them for now. I have big, black bruises on my collarbones which is annoying and painful, especially since the prom is in a week exactly and my dress is halter necked, and I have invisible bruises on my hips. The Good News: I exercised a hell of a lot, and I didn't get eaten alive by mosquitoes. Yep, not one bite! So that makes me feel a little happier. Also, I am going flying with my boyfriend tomorrow, which I am really excited about. But that's off topic. Anyway, in conclusion:

-First day was pretty good, we set a good pace and I walked the entire way with the Dans which I am quite proud of, especially since I am smaller, thinner and am a girl. Unfortunately me doing this annoyed Brier and Kasia, which I understand and feel quite bad about now, but at the time I was too tired to care and was feeling rather cool for being able to walk at the same pace as two well seasoned campers for an ENTIRE DAY! Yeah, baby! Got into the campsite quite early and tried to set up the tent, which failed the first time as it was inside out which was rather annoying. Then I made dinner, which was really, REALLY annoying because I used about a billion tablets and the water didn't STILL didn't boil for about an hour. However, in the end it was quite tasty. After dinner my boyfriend called me, which was really quite sweet and made me feel quite cheerful for the rest of the evening. Then I went off into the Dans's tent and we played Black Jack until about ten at night, which was fun and for some reason I got really, really addicted to Black Jack and have cravings to play it which I will in two weeks at the Peak District. After that I left their tent and went to say hi to Andy's group, and I helped them make their curry by stirring the pot. I really love stirring things, which is really odd of me I know. Come to think of it, that may be why I like baking things so much- I don't really enjoy eating the cake, but I do really enjoy stirring everything together and eating the cake mix. Yum. Well, anyway, after that I went to sleep which was horrible because I was cold and sad.

-Second day was alright until the end. I kept up the same pace with the Dans, but by the end I was quite tired. I was really angry with Kaisa and Brier at the beginning when we got to the campstite because they refused to set up the tent and kept on changing their mind about where they wanted to pitch, so in the end I had to set it up myself which was surprisingly fun. After that I started texting Bigs, but then one of the teacher's caught me and yelled at me and said I was a 'Mommy's girl' and I stupidly retorted, 'I'm not texting my mom!' before I realized how dumb I looked. I hate Rita. Everyone else thinks she's really nice, but she's not. She's evil and ingratiating and sickly sweet. Grrr. Anyway, I texted him later anyway, except it was really difficult to because the connection was crap so I got frustated. He texted me a really sweet message though, which made me happy and encouraged me when I felt tired for the rest of the trip. Then I ate my dinner, which was tasty again except it took really, really long to boil and I used up 18 out of 24 tablets and it still took about an hour. Then it went really, really bad as suddenly I became really, really ill which was not only an awful experience but was also inconvenient. Blergh. After that me and Brier sat outside and rated all the boys' backs in the campground, which I think freaked the Dans out a little. Dan C had the best back in the campsite, but we didn't tell him that. So I holed up in my tent with Brier, which was quite fun as we chatted and chatted for absolutely ages except I didn't get to play Black Jack which made me a little sad. Kasia came in a little later, but then- which was really annoying- said she had to go to the bathroom, took her sleeping bag and left. Brier had also needed to go to the bathroom, so she went soon afterward, but for some reason Kasia wasn't there. So Brier came back to the tent, and we waited for about 30m minutes- and it was about 12 by then- before we got out of our tent even though we were tired, cold, damp and it was extremely inconvenient to search for Kasia. Brier at the time was quite hysterical, and she was doing this combo of laughing and crying at the same time, and she refused to go near the toilets to look because she was frightened. So, we went to Jasmine's tent and quietly asked, even though we knew they would be annoyed as it was MIDNIGHT if she wasn't there, if Kasia was there and lo and behold she was! So we were really, really, really, really angry at her afterward. About an hour and a half later, I woke up after being dead asleep and was ill again, which completely sucked and made me feel really, really crap. So then I went to asleep and was all blargh until the next morning.

-Third day was a lot better, except Dan1 really annoyed me because he was worried I wasn't going to be able to do the real D of E because it would be too hard. I was really, REALLY annoyed about that even though I knew I was being irrational and irritable, because really I had been really good for the entire trip and had walked with the Dans for the last TWO DAYS waaay ahead of Brier and Kasia, even though they walked really fast. So yeah, I had been quite proud of myself for keeping up with the Dans even though I'm the smallest person in the group and they had walked at a really fast pace! But anyway, apart from that the third day was pretty good; I walked with Brier for most of it and we didn't have very many breaks so we were early going home! As soon as I got home I had a shower and then a bath, so now I'm uber clean, and then I ate a huge plate of lo mai fan which was yummy good! Now I'm tired and am going to go play videogames. Yay!

D of E tomorrow

Ugh, I'm going to be exhausted afterward! I've got three days of walking ahead of me, but it's nothing compared to the real expedition! My pack is unfortunately quite heavy, and I haven't even added the tent. I'm bringing oatmeal, some nuts and dried fruit, and pot noodles for dinner which should be alright. I'm going to miss my bed and good food, definitely! Now I'm feeling rather sad about it...

Hollywood Golden Age

Finally I met someone who shares my taste in movies! It seems today that no new actors or actresses can compare to actors and actresses like Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Audrey Hepbrun and Elizabeth Taylor. My favourite movies are:

-Streetcar named Desire
-Gone with the Wind
-Breakfast at Tiffanys
-Belle de Jour
-Love in the Afternoon
-Sunset Boulevard
-Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
-Wait Until Dark
-Sabrina
-Philidelphia Story
-A Place in the Sun
-Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

And lots more! I'm really looking forward to visiting my grandparents because they have a really good collection of old movies at the library there. I've seen nearly all the Audrey Hepburn movies, and I want to see some with Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe in, especially Cleopatra. I also really like Catherine Deneuve, especially after Belle de Jour, and I'm hoping they'll have Repulsion as well. I've been wanting to see Whatever Happened to Baby Jane too, which I know they have, so I'm really excited! My favourite genre of movies is probably horror, which I would class Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Repulsion in because they're about mental diseases. I also like romances, like Breakfast at Tiffanys or Love in the Afternoon. Best combo is horror and romance, but at all the sleepovers I go to I'm the only one who likes to do this...:(

Paul Graham

http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html

It's a good article.

China

Recently China's had a huge amount of bad luck, which is really quite ironic considering this year is supposed to be its luckiest, with the Olympics, growing economy and number eight and all. First the winter storms, then the incident with Tibet, then the earthquake and now the flooding! It makes me feel sick to think of all the earthquake victims in Sichuan. Leehom talked about helping the victims in his birthday video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1s5xBJOoLs
Compared to Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina, China was really very adept. China's response to the earthquake was positive for three main reasons: it dampened the criticism they were receiving about Tibet, it showed the world that China was becoming less restricted (especially compared to the Gang of Four's glaringly different actions in 1976 in the Tangshan earthquake), and it showed that they were able to effectively handle disasters and that they cared about the public. Wen Jiabao's actions were in particular very touching. I just hope that nothing worse happens to China before the Olympics.

Duke of Edinburugh

Finally, our group has sorted it out and we are actually going next Monday! I'm actually getting quite excited about it now, although it'll be hard work the memories will be fun. :D

Just wondering...

Hmm...last night I was thinking...your receptors react to stimuli, which travel along your sensory neurons, which transmit the information to the CNS, which then sends the response via motor neurons to the effectors which are either muscles/glands. I was wondering, the more sensitive an area is, does that mean there are more receptors, or is it just that the receptors are just trained to be more sensitive? Just wondering...

:S

Every time I go on here, I've been meaning to post about something really important, but when I log on I just forget. Anyway, I've been feeling ill for the last few days, but I think that's just a result of eating too much, which is disgusting. So now I just feel bloated and ill and I want to sleep all the time, and I have a slight cold which really, really is quite awful. Recently I just tend to float through the day doing things that are absolutely meaningless and time wasting until I go to sleep. I was going to meet up with some friends tomorrow, but can't because I haven't revised all week, which is terrible because I need to get an A* on my science exams. Just feeling terribly unmotivated; probably because I know I should be revising but I put it off by doing things like going on wikicrawls and drawing little stick people and their communities all over my revision guides. Right! Some stuff to get off my mind...I'm really annoyed about the D of E because our group has organised NOTHING which means I have to go in tomorrow and sort it out, even though I don't know anything about camping. Another thing...I had such a hard time beating the Water Temple in Zelda, which was really, really annoying and I think raised my blood pressure enormously. For one, Dark Link is a complete bum to beat, and I had to leave a bunch of times to fill up my magic and try again which irritated the hell out of me. Also, in the hallway before Morphea, I couldn't get past those moving blades, which also annoyed me. Thirdly, I am almost completely inactive which is really, really irritating me because I feel like I should do something, but am not because I think I should be revising. Fourthly, I am organising an afterprom party, but no one is responding at all!!! And also a bunch of other things which I don't really want to write about and also can't explain. I suppose it's making me feel better that I'm writing this, even though nobody's going to read this. I need to go exercise after this post, but it's really not doing anything at all. What I should do is start eating healthier...I'll post what I ate today:

porridge + fruit
1/2 slice of bread + some cubes of ham and cheese
1 grapefruit
1 bowl cereal
1 tortilla wrap+lettuce+potatoes+sausage (yum)
handful of bombay mix

and I walked my dog twice, and am going to exercise later. Right! From tomorrow I've got to remotivate myself, because I've been so completely lazy and let myself fall into this routine. Anyway, I'm going to stop pointless ranting now and exercise and go to sleep because I am so ridiculously exhausted :(

Just thinking...

I really like these poems:

The Raven; Edgar Allan Poe (too long to paste here, look at the link):

http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html

Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire

Si le viol, le poison, le poignard, l'incendie,
N'ont pas encore brodé de leurs plaisants dessins
Le canevas banal de nos piteux destins,
C'est que notre âme, hélas! n'est pas assez hardie.

C'est l'Ennui! —l'œil chargé d'un pleur involontaire,
Il rêve d'échafauds en fumant son houka.
Tu le connais, lecteur, ce monstre délicat,
—Hypocrite lecteur,—mon semblable,—mon frère!

If rape and poison, dagger and burning,
Have still not embroidered their pleasant designs
On the banal canvas of our pitiable destinies,
It's because our souls, alas, are not bold enough!

It's Ennui! — his eye brimming with spontaneous tear
He dreams of the gallows in the haze of his hookah.
You know him, reader, this delicate monster,
Hypocritical reader, my likeness, my brother!

Quite morbid, I know, but I'm in a weird mood :)