A few days left until term begins.

College has really come upon me today, I've spent most of my afternoon and evening elaborately decorating my folder for college and then weather proofing it with sticky-back plastic, so that finally the hours I spent covering books during my work experience came in handy, and I've now a creation any Blue Peter presenter should be happy with.

I'm also sat here like the creature from the deep, courtesy of the blue-ish face mask I'm wearing as part of the beauty detox regime in preparation for looking as fresh faced as I should on the first day of college. Tomorrow shall bring them same, in addition to a light trim from the hairdressers at an obscenely early time in the morning. Finally, Thursday brings another face mask and a pin curling session in the morning all before the next day. However, everyone knows that the more effort you put in, the more likely it is to go wrong, so for those who venture to New College on Friday, my look shall be very brown with thin black features. Or a paper bag with a marker pen smiley face emblazened upon it, over my head.

xxxx

A first time for everything.

Those of you with a good memory shall remember the cynicism I hold when watching childrens movies. Today, however, I thoroughly enjoyed a film specifically aimed at the younger generations: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. This film just made me smile, from the funny quirks of the main character, Mr T playing a frankly awesome police officer, to the amount of bowler hats the film makers think us British actually wear. This shall be the first childrens film I have and will enjoy in a very long time.

Now today's post will be short (and hopefully sweet) because in seven minutes is a brand new Marple episode, and those who know me will understand how important watching it will be to me.

xxxx

A soppy post about life in general.

You may believe I'm about to reel off some of the cliched beauties of life, but in fact this shall be more of an admiration of what nature has concocted. Starting off with nature itself, I struggle to wrap my head around how perfect life is really, in the scientific sense. For example, we have evolved from a few cells here and there into a cornucopia of species that have mastered land, sea and air. Then us complex animals, which in turn are made up of trillions of cells, each of those has a destined purpose, from the ordinary to the bizarre.

Arguably the most complex of all animals, ourselves the humans, have then go on to create a vast array of cultures, each with its own style of theatre, cooking, social rules, style of dress, music, a huge variety of languages, religion. The idea that nature has created something really so awe-inspiring in itself and then that awe-inspiring thing has in turn created its own legacy is really mind blowing.

Then there is the strong possibility that there is similar circumstances elsewhere in the universe. That such wondrous things are not merely coincidence and one off really is astonishing, in fact if you told someone, were the evidence for it not constantly surrounding us, they wouldn't believe it.

To think I thought of all this whilst brushing my teeth.

xxxx

A contemplative look at college.

Ask any sixteen year old what is occupying their thoughts, and the majority would answer with college. It'll be our first new learning establishment in five very long years, and we shall no longer be the innocent creatures we were either. Instead we shall be filled with preconceptions and stereotypes and despite my head currently being filled with the idyllic image of making new friends no matter who they are, I shall shy away from the stereotypes I think of as threats. That is why I shall have to make a conscious effort to talk to everyone on my induction day coming up in a week.

College also brings the sudden importance of keeping up appearances, due to the lack of uniform, which means you have to fight for your own style and identity in a sea of similarly aged people. Although I personally feel that myself and my friends shall be alright in this area, but in fact I think it might be the people who follow the trends that will get lost, there is only so many black leggings with gladiator sandals and a long top combos you can see before they all look the same. In my case I try my hardest to keep up with a 40s vibe style look, though inevitably I slip into jeans and a t-shirt every now and then, particularly when all my tights are in the wash!

xxxx

A tiring day out yet much was accomplished.

Today was my little jolly to college to finalise my courses for next Friday, and everything was fine and dandy, except I'm now doing express A level Maths, which means cramming two years into one year and I already have three exams this Christmas. It does however mean I can boost my grades and I'm still keeping to my original plan of finishing Maths in one year.

In the afternoon, I went into town to do some shopping and for once in my life I began to dread it, because for once in my life, I was struggling to find any clothes I wanted. I eventually picked up some gems and all the stationery I needed (which wasn't all that much anyway) which tomorrow I begin the effort to decorate.

xxxx

I apologise for this horrendously mundane blog, but this was my excitement for the day, says a lot about me doesn't it?

A late night edition.

Well today's blog is a little later than usual, due to a family night out at the cinema and a mexican restaurant. Therefore the offering today shall be like a filling but light meal, so you won't feel stuffed after reading it.

Melon Starter- Over this past holiday I have put on a small elephant in weight and therefore have resolved to start swimming for healthiness, and to join a yoga group when I get back to college in an attempt to shift any excess Rachel.

Summer Chicken Salad- I am very excited for my enrolment trip to college and then the following college shopping trip, I have even planned which paper I'm having! College is creeping up fast and it won't be long until we'll be on a half term either, and even though it'll be a lot of hard work, I've a feeling that this first term will be pretty fabulous.

After Dinner Mint- I just saw a pair of earrings I own being worn on Ugly Betty, which just goes to show what a fashionista I am.

xxxx

A quiet sigh of relief.

So my results were pretty good, I was by no means the worst, nor was I the best, but I got what I had been predicted. And now, for your enjoyment I shall list my results here:

A*- GCSE Mathematics, Geography, BCS, Chemistry, Physics
A- GCSE English, English Literature, German, Drama, Biology
C- GCSE Applied Science

AS Maths- Core 1, B; Core 2, C; Statistics, C

Admittedly, I was a little disappointed with the C's (not the applied science, however, that was forced upon us with 6 weeks or so to complete a heap of coursework and revise, just so we would satisfy our science teacher) as it now means I shall have to retake the Statstics module to up my grade. However the others by far make up for it, and I am very content with my haul. I am also very content with the £100 spending money it has earned from my parents!

Now I'm off to go numb some of those brain cells with the Big Brother final- yes, I know I'm an awful person for watching it, but in the meantime why not list your own results in the comments, you clever, clever people?

xxxx

A relaxed apprehension.

Tomorrow brings the results of my GCSE examinations and I am strangely relaxed, so much in fact that I'm worried about my state of mind. Currently I have come up with three reasons for my lack of nerves:

1. My mind is being kind to me and keeping me calm until I need to panic, like tomorrow morning, or when I open a failure certificate.
2. My mind has realised that I already have the results I need for my courses in college and therefore theres no risk of me losing a place.
3. My subconcious is being a silly muggins, and being overly confident and thinking I'll have done fine.

Safe to say, I hope it's not number three, because we all know pride comes before a fall. Well all will be revealed tomorrow, come what may.

In other news, I came home from my holiday on Saturday to a letter, which told me I had been successful in my application for an £150 "High Flyer" scholarship, which means I now won't have to dig into my saving to buy all the books, calculators and lab coats I'll need this coming year. Yippee!

xxxx

A wonderfully super extra full bumper holiday edition.

Yes, I am back from my holiday in the nether regions of England, which was very amiable, has left you all feeling lost and bereft I'm sure, without a daily dose of my blog. Therefore to satisfy you, I shall describe to you my week in Plymouth, in hopefully the least tiresome way possible. Brace yourselves for a tale of firsts, turtles, bees, and plants.

We set off early Saturday morning only to become caught up in a horrendous traffic jam, caused by a caravan overturning, more proof that caravans are sometimes a little silly. We eventually trundled our way to the guest house, and spent the rest of the evening exploring the area, and playing tennis. Take a moment to just imagine my family and I playing tennis badly. Just thought I'd add a little humour into this story!

On Sunday, we visited the aquarium, which was pretty decent, despite some horrific acting from characters on the interactive videos. My favourite attraction had to be Myrtle the Turtle, although that wasn't her original name, I thought Myrtle was better, who had eyesight problems and kept crashing into the reef. We then spent the afternoon on a historic tour bus which gave us some nice views of the city sights, in spite the slightly less horrific acting of our video historic tour guide and the painful dialogue between said video and the real life tour guide.

Monday was a trip to the beach where my use of sun cream that was meant to help with my tanning ability brought about a tan line of underwhelming proportions, although the sunburn line on my back was very apparent.

Tuesday brought about the event I had been dreading, swimming. Now keep in mind, I had not been swimming since early in year eight, I was petrified of finally unleashing my freshly white legs on the general public. But, sticking to my resolved plan of keeping my legs below the water's surface, I even managed to break in to a sprightly, if a tad rusty, breaststroke.

Mid week we visited the county of Cornwall, for a trip to their famous attraction, the Eden Project. The plants were all really beautiful, and some of them smelt amazing, unfortunately I couldn't enjoy one of the main attractions for the most English of reasons: it was too hot, I sped through the Rainforest biome, like Voldemort was chasing me. The Eden Project did supply me with a new family member however, in the form of a pot Sensitive Plant (mimosa pudica) by the name of Jeffrey.

We spent Thursday perusing the small museums of Plymouth, made in real Elizabethan houses, with some pretty awesome items, like a penny farthing cycle, and real Victorian medicines. This obviously says something about me that this is my idea of awesome. We then went to Buckland Abbey which was the previous home of Sir Francis Drake and was really interesting, and the cherry pie I had in the cafe was delicious too. I also was really interested in my honey smoothie from innocent which came with some flower seeds and a leaflet on how to build a bee home, in their plight to save the bee, giving me a new project to do before summer ends.

Friday was Tonya's birthday, so the morning was spent opening presents and perusing some more small museums. In the afternoon, we went to a matinee performance of Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat at the Plymouth theatre. I must admit, it had never been on my list of musicals to see, but I was truly surprised by how funny and entertaining it was, Lloyd Webber really is the genius they say he is. Unfortunately, after the performance a girl in the row behind us, stood on an unfinished ice cream pot, sending ice cream splodges over my mum and I! After a calming count to ten, which lasted to twenty-eight, I soon saw the funny side and we even reworded some of the songs to suit our dairy tragedy.

Finally on Saturday before coming home we went to Plymouth's big museum, and had a good look around the exhibits before starting our long car journey home.

A few extra points to make, first of all I have finally found my cup of tea! Surprise, surprise, it's Earl Grey, as if my parents needed another reason to tease me for being posh, but it was the nicest I've tried so far. And secondly: Applaud yourselves, youths of Swindon, for you are not as stupid as youths of Plymouth. There are probably lovely Plymouth teens too, but I saw none of them, from snapping off plastic leaflet holders, to terrorising tourists, to drag racing, and tombstoning (yes that sport where you dive off a high rock into shallower coastal waters, and then appear on the news either paralysed or dead from hitting a rock under the surface), Plymouth's teens were ghastly.

Tired from all the reading? Take a break.

xxxx

A full suitcase and a sweet farewell.

Well tomorrow I shall be up far earlier that most folk, in preparation for the long journey to the exotic Plymouth. The contents of my suitcase is currently spread across my bed, as I await to hear how much room I have to squeeze my garments in, as I am sharing a large suitcase with my younger sister. I am a big fan, as many a friend of mine will tell you, of packing for every eventuality and being full prepared for anything. So for those who are interested the tally currently is:

4 dresses; 4 pairs of shoes; 3 cardigans; 5 tops; 2 pairs of tights; 1 skirt and a playsuit. Needless to say the list doesn't end there but if I am honest typing everything else from sun cream to the various pairs of earrings would bore even myself!

Our looming departure meant my dearest Mitzy went on her own holiday, to the cattery. It'll be her first experience of staying away from home, and I am unashamed to say I teared up a little at the thought of her possibly being unhappy.

This will also be a farewell to your good selves, as I have calculated that the credit on my phone will not stretch to the obscene mobile internet charges and therefore there will be no blog until the 22nd. I do however have enough money to text everyone, so if you'd like to stay in contact, feel free to drop me a line.

xxxx

A brief good evening and a little redemption.

I am well and truly stuck into this second book in my trio of treasures from the library, so much so, that I do believe I'll finish it tonight, despite only starting it the night before. Admittedly, it's a little predictable, I could pick out who's husband would die and then who would be falling in love with who, but this time round I actually like the the characters; its simple plot makes it all the more refreshing after the dragging week induced from the last book.

I have also just watched for the first time in a good while, Pimp My Ride (no, I never thought the word "pimp" would feature in this blog either!). It is unashamedly scripted, but the awful puns make it all the funnier, plus the reaction from the lucky car-owner, is either horrendously over-the-top or awkwardly underplayed, making for interesting viewing.

As indicated in the title, today's offering is a little measly, and I'm afraid it'll only be worse this next week as I'm away on holiday, with only my phone for internet access.

xxxx

A disappointing book or no taste?

Today I finished A Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, and if I'm honest I felt a little let down by it. It's blurb spoke of unspeakable scandals, and while I knew that 19th century scandals are timid compared to today's fare, I knew of Oscar Wilde's reputation and thought I'd be in for a treat. But instead of a fast paced account of a wild soul-less man, parts of the story were slow, the characters weren't at all lovable, and the ending was a bit of an anti-climax. It's mere twenty chapters took me over a week to read, purely because I would read a page and then my attention would be drawn elsewhere. The book definitely improves as it goes along in my opinion, but its redeeming quality is ruined the poor end Gray comes to, which leaves the story almost unfinished.

However, this book is regarded as one of the classics, so a large number of people must've enjoyed it thoroughly, perhaps it wasn't in my taste, I do prefer crime or romance novels, and I do like a book to thoroughly describe what its characters do, rather than skimming over half a decade in an obscure way.

So, today I'm asking for a bit of interaction, if you've read the book yourself, what did you think of it? Even if you haven't, have you ever disliked a book that everyone else thought was marvellous?

xxxx

A talentless world and a foolish window cleaner.

Yes world is an exaggeration of myself, though I might argue that my world is talentless. I have no particular finesse for music, singing, art, literature or any other of the finer hobbies. I have many an art I wish to master, the piano, watercolour painting, but I am very unlikely to do so. By no means am I starved of talent, of the eight friends I hold dearest, three are fine actors, three can sing beautifully, five are talented artists and four have a way with words. All adding up to number of talents greater than the eight of them, and therefore somewhere there is an overlap of talent, making my friends very talented indeed.

In other news, today I was bequested with the responsibility of paying the window cleaners, which involved getting up at unearthly hours, and dressing suitably for public viewing. Except after finishing the job instead of ringing the doorbell as planned to collect the pre-written cheque, they posted a bill through the letterbox for to send them said cheque. This of course will delay their receival of the money.

xxxx

A trip down memory lane.

Not necessarily my personal memory lane, but the memory lane of my relatives, because today I come fresh from viewing Who Do You Think You Are? and I always watch it wondering where my bloodline falls in the tapestry of history. I could hardly say I've come from a prosperous background, but neither would I class my family as working class, which by process of elimination, supposedly puts my family in middle class. Middle class, however, is a very loose term these days, I often hear it used to describe families and situations that I would say were upper class. So I guess that leaves my family in limbo, but this uncertainty of where we fit now, makes where we used fit even more important in my eyes, to see whether my family has gradually worked it's way up in society or whether my ancestry lies in Kings and Queens. It's a shame those genealogy sites cost so bloody much.

xxxx

A few puzzles here and there.

Well today has offered many an exercise for my mind, after conversing with Keira about Professor Layton, I decided to truly finish it off and complete the entire set of puzzles, which I did this afternoon. Then, because I adore the games so much, I looked up the release date of the next one, which is in October, conveniently near to my birthday! It was during my search for the date that I found that the designers had based the games on the concept of Sherlock Holmes. Now whilst playing the game earlier I had commented to myself how like Sherlock Professor Layton is, but it hadn't occurred to me how strong the influence was, which deepened the disappointment in myself for being so blind, especially in the likeness of the supporting characters.

This leads me onto my next puzzling encounter of sorts, the final Sherlock episode, which was utterly amazing, I was a little disappointed last week because I couldn't spot any reference to the books, so I'd begun to wonder if the production team were just picking and choosing certain stories, but this week? References galore! I could go through all of them, but then that wouldn't make a very interesting blog now would it? It is, however, relatively safe to say that a good third of the programme was spent bouncing slightly in an excited manner because I recognised a little throwback to the stories. Plus the ending, which was left on a cliffhanger, just reinforced my hopes all strongly in favour of another series, which if the BBC don't take up, then they severely misjudge what the viewing public wants.

xxxx

A bumper edition: now with pictures.

Now, the more observant of you will have noticed yesterday I didn't blog, which was a tad out of the ordinary for me but I was saving all my friday information, for an extraordinary double blog today, because I went on a jolly to London town with my dear friend, Keira. (http://thisiswayboring.blogspot.com/)

Well for the very few of you who care, Friday involved a nice trip to the library where I finally replaced my three books from the first blog post for another three; Emma, by Jane Austen; As Time Goes By, by Annie Groves; The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. I've not begun them yet so their review will be in couple of weeks time.

Today also brings another new item to my blog: the use of photographs! Admittedly, they were taken on my phone, because horrifically, it actually photographs better than the camera I do have. Now, myself and Keira started the day being far too excitable in Baker Street Station because of the Sherlock Holmes tiles.

We then continued our journey to Madame Tussauds where we mixed with the stars, especially the now-named King of Swindon, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, David Cameron and Sherlock Holmes, well Robert Downey Jr.

We then lunched, in Regent's Park, al fresco where we were harassed by Barry the Squirrel who was extremely tame, and jumped onto our bench next to us in the hope of receiving some Salt and Vinegar sticks. Plus I was pretty amazed by the large number of heron in the city park, especially that I have only seen one or two in our supposed country town.


But, obviously, being the large Holmes fans we are, we couldn't leave before visiting 221B Baker Street, home of the Sherlock Holmes Museum and Shop, cue The Miss Greenhill lecture on all things Sherlock, and several gasps of wonder at all the possible souvenirs. Plus of course a photograph with the real (almost) Sherlock Holmes himself!

We finished the day off with some delectable cakes, from a delightful little corner shop and a visit to Keira's house to view her chickens and Sir Arthur the bunny, and to indulge in a professional game of Jenga!

xxxx

PostScript: I am anticipating tomorrow's final Sherlock episode far too much I may just request the entire Living Room to myself to truly immerse myself in the programme. It's nice to know I'm keeping my slight obsession in check.

A little longing and a set of pin curls.

This morning I put my hair in a set of pin curls in preparation for a trip to London with my lovely friend, and as the name suggests pins are required, yet they are either disappearing one by one, or I am growing more and more hair. When I first tried pincurls, I had enough pins, but each time I redo them, I have to dig out more pins from my sister's room or my bottom drawer, however diligently I put them back after use. Today, I even broke off the jewel on one pin, cutting my thumb in the process. I hope all those pins are happy in pin heaven, or wherever they do disappear to.

I also watched Pride and Prejudice today, having recently read the novel, and I am now even more forlorn in my lack of a Mr Darcy. Maybe that is the reason I do not watch films as often as others; they often have ridiculous and unrealistic happy endings. Now, I am by no means a miser, but for example, two parents on the brink of divorce, are brought back together by a runaway child, whilst the boy's siblings all spout loving words about how they'd never be the same without him; thank you very much "Cheaper by the Dozen" for sickening me just a little. Perhaps I am just a cynic.

xxxx

A tad more baking and some window shopping.

The pinny was whipped out again to aid me in the creation of some lovely chocolate biscuits today, and they taste like miniature chocolate cakes, which I'm very proud of as I really don't cook as often as I should!

On another note, the first days of term are looming upon us all, and that means, for those of us going to college, a different outfit everyday. Therefore today I have been browsing through digital racks of clothes and raiding computerised bargain bins. However, my job is made all the more difficult by my wish to slowly incorporate vintage styles into my wardrobe, hence I have resolved to browse the charity shops first. Everyone recommends it for a cheap and easy way to get vintage styles but no-one I know actually does, but this time I will, I have no qualms about wearing someones old clothing.

xxxx

A regular housewife and her incompetance with technology.

Today has really been a game of two halves. On one hand I've been the picture of domestic bliss, rushing to get the washing in from the rain; cleaning my room (both rare occurances as my mum will tell you!); and making cinnamon snap biscuits in an ever so fetching pinny- if I do say so myself.

However, throughout all this my laptop refused to log off and is currently in its fourth hour of logging itself off as I type. In addition to this, todays post has been typed out a second time- thanks to a unresponsive phone and as a result is sponsored by the (not so) joys of mobile internet and the stereotypical image of women being technology illiterate.

xxxx

A hot day in both senses of the word.

Well I'm fortunate enough to be blogging this evening, due to my mother burning some oil in a wok, and smoking us all to within an inch of our lives, and receiving mild smoke inhalation and streaming eyes. It was, however, an event to liven up my usual monotonous routine of university research, facebook loitering and watching and reading Sherlock Holmes.

Which brings me to my new animalistic want for Benedict Cumberbatch, a unusually old style name that a girl like myself can only dream of, plus a voice that takes me by suprise everytime he opens his mouth, and can only be likened to the rich smoothness of coffee. Believe me, if beverages from Starbucks could speak, my God, they'd all sound like him.

xxxx

A whimsical and uncertain decision.

After a few conversations on the subject and a little research courtesy of the internet, I have come to the decision that I'd like to attempt to get a place at Cambridge University. I think I shall leave today's blog at this, and instead ask you to add your thoughts to this, via the comments, all ideas, both bad and good, will be much appreciated.

xxxx