New Year's Looming

It's the end of December! We finally made it to the end of the year. I feel like I'm the only one who has been ready for 2015 to come to a close pretty much since it began, and feeling like it's dragged on for ages! Just me? I know most people I talk to are still going through the annual "it was May five minutes ago" phase, but I have to say I disagree...

This year has been very much like the year that shouldn't have happened, for me. I spent 2014 thinking so much about 2016 (the year I finish my A Levels and start university), that when 2015 came along, I didn't know what to do with myself. I thought, considering I was faced with 12 months of the year, I would get used to it and be back on the right time; no such thing has happened!

Iceland, October 2015

I always look forward to December, because there's obviously Christmas, but also because of all the lights, and the atmosphere, and the way everyone seems to get an extra little boost just for the end of the year. I tend to hate to think that I'll reach the end December and think "I've done nothing this year", which is part of the reason I'm quite a driven person - I have goals and I'm determined to reach them. I think, much as I've felt like a misfit this year, I have at least achieved some things...

Madeira, August 2015

Firstly, and possibly most obviously, there's this blog! I'm also pretty proud of the amount I've written on my book this year, currently at around 50,000 words. I finished 5 AS Levels in summer, reducing it to 3 A2 Levels since September. I've been to Iceland, Kent, the Cotswolds, Madeira, and Ireland. I've seen Mamma Mia and Sunny Afternoon at the West End.

The new year is always full of resolutions that never get filled, so most of the time I don't set myself any. I like to set smaller goals throughout the year, as well as the more long-term ones (get into uni, finish my book, read etc...). I'm so excited to see what 2016 brings, and I hope for both you and me it'll be something brilliant. See you on the other side!

Week 52

I sit here at my desk, in my fluffy new dressing gown I got for Christmas, having just finished work for the day. To be honest, I barely remembered it was a Sunday - does any student really know the days of the week outside of term time? In my head it really works as 'today is this day, tomorrow is the day I'm doing that... I have this many days until something else...' - no wonder I'm confused!

Week 52 is a strange one. People get motivated, there's a lot of food, many people drink far too much, and everyone wants to sleep.

Actually, that sounds a bit like Friday nights.

Anyway, I've always thought the week between Christmas and New Year was a strange time. The festivities fizzle out after Boxing Day, and then suddenly leap back for one night as we enter the new year. Everything's dark, the weather's usually pretty naff. It seems like a week where nothing seems like it should be happening. Like a limbo period. Just me?

I hope all of you had a great Christmas and spent it with people you love. If you've been working over the festive period too, I truly sympathise - it's so depressing!

I also just want to apologise for my blog posts being all off-schedule right now, I've been given quite awkward shifts recently. I'll be back to 5pm on Thursday if all goes to plan, with a bit of a meatier post. Thanks for reading, see you soon :)

Happy Christmas!

The time of mince pies, family, crackers, terrible jokes and more food than is really necessary is here. Tomorrow will probably be quite a quiet day for me, just spending it with my parents and my brother, but sometimes cosy Christmas days are nice. I'll be spending boxing day with some extended family, which will probably be the more festive celebration.

Lots of people like to think back to the origins and the 'real meaning' of Christmas, and recount the tale of Jesus' birth, and I always had to go on the school church trips at this time of year through primary school, but being a non-religious person, I like to think of it in simpler terms. To me, Christmas is just a time when people get together and set aside some time to be happy. I feel like, surrounded by the right people, it should be the time when the year's troubles can be ignored for a while.

I do sort of wish it was colder outside (weather-wise, England is still stuck in early November... it's weird), so it would feel a bit more like a real Christmas, but hey-ho. We can celebrate in any weather. I did read the other day that outdoor ice rinks have had to close because they can't stop the rinks from melting, though. And we had a wasp buzzing around the house yesterday. Regardless, blankets and cosy clothes are still on the agenda.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, I wish you a merry Christmas. Whether you celebrate or not, whether you're religious or not, have a great time.

You Gotta Have a Plan

This is one statement I agree with wholeheartedly - though only to an extent. I'd never plan my whole life out; everyone should keep some element of surprise and willingness to try something they'd never thought of, but if you want to achieve something, you need a plan.

Plans are great. Some people think they're weird, or constricting, but believe me, plans are great. You have to know where to start to achieve a goal, or else it'll never get done. It's like splitting a huge task into little, achievable chunks.

Think about the new year's resolutions you made at the end of 2014 for 2015. Did you stick to any of them? Or were some of them too big to achieve?

If you want to do something, think of where you want to start. If you don't know where that is, work backwards: say you want a certain career, think of what qualifications you might need to do that career. Think of where you'll get those qualifications, how you'll get there, and what you need to do between now and then. Your plan will be to follow those steps.

I know far too many people who are rolling around to the point where they need to make important decisions, but they don't even know where to begin. They haven't thought far enough ahead to figure out where they want to be, let alone how to get there. They end up rushing into decisions they aren't ready for, or missing opportunities they should have taken open-handed. Get a plan, and don't do the same.

P.S. Comment if you get the Roswell reference ;)

Thoughts on Orwell

In my English Lit course, we get to choose three texts for the coursework section of our grade. We've just started to look at our comparative coursework, which uses two of our three texts (we already completed the other one). I decided to look at Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World.

Now, I've already read both of these books, but I read BNW for a project I did last year, so I had a good grasp of that novel from certain angles already. I read 1984 over summer with the intention of using it in my coursework; what I hadn't bargained for was how interesting the lives of Orwell and Huxley actually were.

In order to do this coursework, we have to have background knowledge of the context etc. of the novels, so it makes sense to know a bit about the authors. Now, I studied Animal Farm, another famous Orwell book, for GCSE, and to be perfectly honest, I thought it was a terrible book. Terribly executed, weirdly structured, and definitely boring. It made me very hesitant to read 1984 just because I thought it might be the same, but I decided that it was probably a book I ought to read.

I'm very glad I did.

Let me just say, this isn't a review of 1984. Choosing this book led me to quite an interesting history lesson. The first thing I found out, researching for my coursework, was that Huxley and Orwell actually knew each other. I don't know whether this is common knowledge or not, but my English teacher didn't know this either. There's a lot similar between their dystopian books, yet they're still extremely different works.

Photo from www.penguin.com.au

Orwell, considering my first impression of him being that of a terrible writer, has turned out to be a very interesting man, whose real name was Eric Blair. Upon learning more about him, not just the basic 'he was a communist' garble that most people say offhand, he seems like a much more complex individual than I gave him credit for to begin with. To write a book criticising communism in such a way as he did in Animal Farm is slightly confusing for someone who is generally known as supporting the movement, but his perceptions on the way humanity will descend into madness in 1984 confirms his complexity as a person. He seemed to reject all political ideals - capitalist, imperialist, communist, totalitarianism (although it'd be disturbing if he supported that one...).

I've also grown quite a respect for this man. I think a lot of people know he died of tuberculosis, but he wrote the entirety of 1984 with TB, bedridden for the most part. He tried experimental drugs which did look like they worked, but had a relapse. I read an article the other day quoting this book as the book that killed him. He claimed he didn't have some strange compulsion to write his last book the way other writers claim, but he's still remembered as having worked tirelessly, even feverishly, on 1984.

Before that, though, he'd worked on propaganda for the BBC during WW2, unable to fight because he failed the medicals. But Orwell seems to make it very clear he hated propaganda. He is labelled as having been anarchist, but he also pointed out the flaws in that, too.

When I consider all I've learned about Orwell, there are a few words which come to mind: he was complex, as I've already said. He was definitely intelligent. Driven. He may have been opinionated. To some he may have appeared indecisive or silly for rejecting so many political ideas and changes. But I think he's someone who should be respected, even now, for being who he was. Huxley once labelled 1984 as 'profoundly important', which it is. It's infinitely better than Animal Farm, and full of ideas which have heavily influenced the time since - Big Brother came from it. People are sceptic about how close to reality the CCTV aspect of his book has become. It's a strange and wonderful book, and I think he was a strange and wonderful person.

Short Story Sunday | 2

It was the first snowfall of the year, and the sun was still far from dawning. The regular street lamps shone brightly down, the crystals glinting in reflection. She looked up and down the street from her front door. Absolutely silent. This was her favourite moment of the whole year, when everything was peaceful and quiet. The snow was still falling.

Sticking her hand out gently, she watched a few snowflakes drift into her hand and melt; a beautiful sight. The cold water made her shiver, and she clutched her coat tighter around her. Leaving the door ajar behind her, she stepped away from the house, breathing deeply in the crisp early morning air.

The snow had set perfectly, and it had yet to be disturbed. She envisioned the morning to come, children stomping, having snowball fights, cars trudging down the snow-covered road. It would be a shame, she thought, to see this beautiful scene so harshly destroyed. But, then, it left a new canvas. The snow would fall again. She would wake up early again, just like she had tonight.

She dug a hand into her pocket, her fingers clasping around her camera. It clicked as she took her photos. These would be good for a canvas, she thought. Or a calendar. She'd probably submit them to a magazine, see if she could win a competition.

Placing the camera back into her pocket, she trod softly down her path, further from the door. She spun slowly on the spot, and caught a glimpse of a cat scurrying a way down the road. An involuntary shiver went through her again, and she breathed deeply, watching her breath dissipate in front of her. This was true peace, she thought.

A voice called her name quietly from behind, and she turned to look at her boyfriend's head poking out from her abandoned doorway. He was clutching his coat tightly round him against the cold, and motioned for her to come back inside. She nodded, taking a deep, shuddering breath, grinning. This was when she felt at harmony with the world.

15 days to Christmas!

 Finally, the run down is upon us - school finishes on the eighteenth, I have no lessons from the 16th... Count me excited.

We've had our tree up since the first week of December (naturally), which makes me super happy. There's nothing like some good fairy lights to give a sparkle to the grey days of winter! Apparently last year we had a real tree (I have literally no memory of this...) but we're back to our 'temporary' tree, which is quite sparse, but it does the job. Growing up we had this 7ft fake tree, but it was ginormous and bushy and brilliant, but a few years ago it finally broke. That was a sad time. I'm hoping to persuade my parents to buy a new tree for 2016!

This is probably the first year I've been organised and finished my Christmas shopping already, which does give me a sense of accomplishment. I'm actually awful at wrapping though, so that'll be fun. Seriously, I can't even wrap a square box without it looking like it was done by a five year old.

I've bought my parents a stocking filled with a few different presents this year, because I thought that would be nicer than just one thing. Buying them alcohol was the first time I was asked for ID in a shop - they didn't do it the first time! I don't drink myself, so I just pay attention to what everyone else likes and might buy it for them.

Thanks for bearing with me while I change things around on my blog. There's a chance it'll move to a different server, but I haven't made any decisions yet. Whatever I do, the content will remain the same and I'll be sure to let you know, don't worry!

Mamma Mia at the West End

On Thursday night, I finally went to see Mamma Mia at the West End, in the Novello Theatre. I grew up listening to the bright green ABBA cassette tape (yes, I am actually old enough to have used cassette tapes) on my colourful kiddie tape player, and when the film came out I loved it to no end. 

I've managed to see a fair few theatre productions in the last few years (War Horse, Les Mis, Matilda, Jersey Boys, Sunny Afternoon and possibly a couple of others), and this was hands down the most ridiculous one I've ever seen. The atmosphere in the theatre is just amazing; everyone knows the ABBA songs are just a bit cheesy, but they're so fun that you can't help but love them and dance along in your seat.

Photo from novellotheatrelondon.info

Where I was sitting, I could see a group of girls in the dress circle who were dancing and singing along the entire duration of the production, which normally would be frowned upon, but it just seemed like the thing to do! They provided quite a bit of entertainment, actually, with the facial expressions they were pulling...

I have to say, though, I have immense respect for any woman who can dance, frollock, jump and prance around in heels, let alone on stage. And there were a lot of dancing women in heels in this play! And the same goes for all the guys (with impressive abs) doing the scene with the diving flipper thingies on their feet (I have no idea what those are called!), because that had us all rolling around in fits of laughter.

Every person on the stage was brilliant to watch, and it was definitely one of my best theatre experiences. I was surprised to see how much the film had stuck to the narrative of the play, despite changing the odd bit here and there, I wouldn't say the film is any substitute for seeing it live, though, because it's just a brilliant experience.

Before I saw the play, I stopped off at Covent Garden - this was the first time I've ever seen the Covent Garden Christmas tree and lights, which were pretty cool. We were wondering where to have dinner when we stumbled across a place called Franco Manca; they're a small place, but it was bustling inside. It's a sourdough pizza place, and they have a limited menu, but it was definitely good value for a tasty pizza - under £6 for the one I had, and I think the most expensive was under £8. They were served under ten minutes from our order, which was great on a time squeeze, and I'd definitely recommend them.

All in all, it was a pretty great night (I even got a uni offer in the interval, though I did smash my knee and have been limping since...), and if any of you are thinking of booking a trip to the West End, Mamma Mia should definitely be in the running.

My Revision Tips

Taking heavy, essay-based subjects, I've had to learn how best to revise - this year is especially hard because for English Lit, I have a closed-book exam. If you don't know, this means I have to know two novels and a collection of short stories inside-out, memorise a variety of versatile quotes and know the exact structure and sequence of everything within the stories.

Our teachers have this idea that if we simply read the books enough times, then we'll have somehow magically memorised them. I'm pretty sure that only works if you have an eidetic memory. Me and a friend are spending much of our revision time making our own revision guides, kind of like the ones you buy, but the benefit of doing it yourself means you can put in exactly what's relevant to you and your course and get rid of the other stuff.

I don't think giving advice about my course in particular would help anyone, especially with the changes to education happening at the moment, because my course doubtless won't exist next year. But the revision tips will still hold.

Obviously there's the old method: flashcards/index cards. I have tried this, but it can take a really long time to do this. If you have the time to go through every topic you have and make a card for each set of key words or subtopic, or whatever it is, then that's great. But what I found was I'd have enough time to get them written down, but then I'd have no time to look at my cards to revise from them. If that happens, you're then just stuck with a load of cards you're never going to read again that didn't really benefit you; by the time you've written the last card, you'll have forgotten the contents of the first.

If you go on Microsoft Word (I use this as an example because it's what I use), they actually have template designs which I'm finding increasingly useful. Most of these I've never used, but the Report Design (Blank) is a staple. If you're picky and English like me, you'll have to change the language at the bottom from English (US) to English (UK), or you'll start wondering why it's trying to tell you 'travelling' only has one 'l'. On this template, though, it gives you a good framework for writing a structured guide. It has a neat way of numbering topics according to your heading (screenshot, right).

The screenshot is one of the texts I'm doing this year, and I've got 15 pages on this revision guide. Surprisingly, it didn't take me too long, which is a good thing. Once you've printed one of these you always have a concise, tailor-made guide of everything you need to get you through the exam, and you can annotate it/highlight it/read it or whatever. Much faster than index cards.

Another tip is to use Audible, or another method of listening to audiobooks. It's a great way of saving time while still learning the content of the novel, but in a different way to the conventional method of actually re-reading a text. Plenty of people prefer listening to books than actually reading them, and I tend to do a bit of both. Put it on at night before you go to sleep, if you want. Anything helps.

When it comes to my other subjects, history and geography, then pictorial and colourful guides are what I find most useful. Detailed timelines are great for history, but writing concise summaries or important details about different events as they're listed instead of simply names of battles etc. Having the image of the sequence in which events occur is sometimes equally as helpful as having the knowledge about what happened. In geography, if you can visit the places and features you're studying (as I did in Iceland), then that's a brilliant method. If not, then try to find them on google images - the cheap way!

If any of this was helpful, I'm glad - I just hope it makes some sense... I would try to give advice regarding science/maths, but it's been a year and a half since I studied any of them. I doubt it'd be helpful! See you on Sunday...