Riding Elephants

What is cracka lacking? Ah, the hidden depths of improper grammar and pronunciation, I do so love them. What's crackalackin', people!? Hope you're all okay!

I've not started to pack yet. Went for dinner with dad last night. We got onto the subject of dating and other halves. We had a bit of an argument. Dad is only pissed off because the man I'm dating is older than his girlfriend. Apparently she has invited him to learn to ride elephants in September and October in Thailand (hopefully not a euphemism). "This'll be a learning curve," he says. More like learning perv, dad. She's 24. I look forward to meeting her, I said (oh so casually of course). He said no. Bastard.

My dad and I have never got on. While you're in Thailand riding elephants, daddy dearest, I'll be starting my second year of college and enjoying not being harassed for pointless conversations every day or so.

Currently I'm planning lessons for September... Thinking of taking scrabble in as a means to teach more kids how to spell and to be sure of themselves. This evening is filled with a game called boxes... I love it but my little sister (of sorts) is very competitive! We get on now, we never used to but recently she's alright and I think I'm less stressed, leading to a (somewhat) harmonious bond. Back to the game!

Still stunned by Thomas Harris' use of description in his Hannibal novel... insanely good.

Happy reading, folks!

Shenanigans

It's the summer holidays for me! I'm not sorry to see the back of school for a few weeks for many reasons. Here are a few-

Gym, ice skating, free time, no homework, no teachers, family, friends, meeting a really lovely guy at ice skating, hair dye, sun, France, travel, swimming, Aggie. In no particular order.

Okay, so I have a date on Saturday (whoo!) and tomorrow I'll be dying Aggie's hair blonde. The bottle says "decolourant"- very reassuring as I'm sure you can imagine. It's enough to strike the fear of blonde into anybody not familiar with the lightening/hairdying process. So far we've given the hair one bleach and it ended up orange,,, So we'll be soing it again. This is in preparation for blue or green hair dye, which is much more permanent and vibrant if you bleach your hair first. I'll probably streak mine too.

Went out with Ross today, he's back from Spain (and very tanned, bastard). We went to town to get a new phone charger - fun stuff - and I was wearing my new teeshirt. It says, "Nobody gives a fuck about your facebook status". The guard of the carpark came out of his booth to photograph it. It's surprising that I get so many smiles when facebook appears to be somewhat dying out to Google+!

So yes. Date on Saturday. Should be fun, I haven't dated in a while now. I like to wait between relationships, otherwise it feels wrong and rude. And slutty, that too. This new suitor is lovely from what little conversation we've already had.

In other news, I cut my hair again- shoulder length. I hate it longer because it's so difficult to care for. try streaking an afro, though. Tiring work! (I attacked my little sister with the remnants of the hair bleach).

Trying to catch some sun... Difficult, it's England. I got about five minutes today, am very impressed with non-existent tan! I love and am very pleased by my new teeshirt, you can buy it here.

Going to France this coming Tuesday/Wednesday! Excited, check. Packed, nowhere near check. Hoping to look good in a bikini by means of recent gym sessions, they're very effective because I am a mesomorph :D (for explanation see mesomorph post, type it into the search box)...

Happy reading, folks!

Stage two of treatment

Well, hi again! There is a stage one post, it explains what's going on with my treatment in general.

Yesterday, we began stage two of treatment- the jaw wire is now affixed to my teeth. I can't pronounce Tees, Esses, or Gees correctly. It kind of sucks. The main problem is the pain because it's forcing my jaw to grow apart at the roof of the mouth. Which is painful enough to, as I found out yesterday, knock me out if I bite down hard enough. Thankfully I was lying in bed at the time but still it freaked me out a little bit!

I am confined to yoghurt and soup for the moment. Hot and/or hard food hurts because my mouth is tender, so I can't eat loads of stuff. I basically can't chew at the moment; I'm not happy about this!

However, an upside: I can have icecream and cake. WOOO!

This lisp is seriously annoying. My tongue hates me if I try to speak properly so there's no chance of that happening for a while yet. We go to France in two weeks... And I can't eat anything. GRAARAHAHHAHHAAHHHGHHHHH!
To take my mind off the pain I'm reading more and more. I love losing myself in a book so I'm happy. :)


happy reading, folks!

THE GORILLAS!!

I noes not (really) how many there are in total, but I noes for sure -FO SHO- that there are around sixty painted gorillas in and around Bristol. I keep finding more and more of them. They're beautiful and have been created to coincide with Bristol Zoo's 175th birthday. I think they're brilliant! The one in Sainsbury's at Clifton Down is spray painted a beautiful blue colour and it has orange spray-strokes on it. They'll be for sale at the end of the exhibit (the auction will be September 10th if I recall correctly) and we want one for our back garden. The proceeds will go to Bristol Zoo. This is one huge HUGE exhibition!

More in terms of art, I went to the museum today to have a look at some Beryl Cook paintings firsthand. Her style is very unique, instantly recognisable (yes, even for a youngster like me!). After the museum visist I carried on up to the RWA to see the Jack Vettriano exhibit, more stunning stuff. He didn;'t start painting until he was twenty-one; self taught, many images of dancers... His paintings sell for up to £744,000 nowadays at auction. Incredible.

Perhaps I ought to pick up a paintbrush? Any of you who know me will be cringing involuntarily in horror at this point...I don't blame you.

More on the average side of life, I've realised the homework I had a week to do (it seems I always have so much time until I have none!) is now due in tomorrow. An essay on... Well, "Assess the contribution of different feminist theories to our understanding of society". Thirty-three marks of pain, I kid you not.

Currently reading (HOW do I find the time!?) James Patterson's CROSS COUNTRY. Also I picked up the Oxford Dictionary of Dentistry at the Library, it's got some amazing information in it. I make it sound like a novel... Well, when you've got as much mteal in your mouth as terminator, you want to know why and how it's working. Teeth-gnashingly interesting stuff, methinks!

Happy reading, folks!

LEARN

I've had an idea which I hope will really take off come September and the new year.

I've always had quite good grammar and spelling-literacy and numeracy in general, to be totally immodest... But I know that for many children this is not the case. While they are somewhat tested and truly helped regarding basic issues at primary school, once pupils are in year seven and above they may sometimes receive little or no help in these areas, and when they do receive help it can be a bit fleeting-for the following reason.

Teachers often don't have the time to help with these skills. I've always felt that teachers have it hard- we dislike them generally (even the nerds do at points) because they set us homework and they often set us to work with (often) a focus on their subject and the homework associated. Some students/pupils don't think about is the effort that teachers put into helping them succeed. Teachers mark everybody's work-you only do your own. They have twenty times as much work to do as you. During school holidays, they're planning lessons and trying to catch up. As a result, they can't always help us. The problem is that sometimes between a teacher and a pupil there isn't the most friendly relationship.

So, my idea is called "LEARN". I figure there are lots of pupils who want help but don't want to ask for it. Teachers can be very condescending, leading to a lack of enthusiasm in the pupil to learn and to go to lessons. In my time in secondary school I've seen huge amounts of truancy and many people with attitudes that are (at best) less than productive.

So, I'm not a teacher. I'm a pupil. And I want to help the others, for free, in order to help them with their GCSEs. If children are willing to learn but haven't been able to, for whatever reason, reach their full learning potential. I'm not an authority. I'm not above them. I'm just in possession of more knowledge and willing to share it for free to anybody who wants it.

What do you think? I hope to start the first LEARN group in September. I'll be focusing on speaking, writing, reading- spelling, grammar, and diction.

Happy reading, folks! Comment with your suggestions if you like.

Zombie Attack

What to do in the event of a zombie attack is something I have been thinking about for a long time. I mean months... What I've really thought about this! There would be a lot of security at my places of residence to protect me from zombie attack in the night... or the day. My main concern is what I would live off. Zombies would probably steal a lot of the food, and especially that which I grow myself. What to do, what to doooooo....

I think... Maybe I might die, you know? It seems inevitable. I don't think I'm very prepared.

This latest thought was heartily reinforced over the weekend when I slept at my friend's house. I went to sleep at about one and woke up at four....with something clamped down on my foot. It was painful, it was sharp, it was moving. My mind immediately deferred to ZOMBIE ALERT MODE and I pulled my legs up into the safety (!) of the bed. I sat up and... Wait for it... Cried for ten minutes, considering the possibility of asking my friend if he had let the cat in. I figured the answer would be no, but I was too afraid to get out of bed and look around for myself. I had no weapons to hand! What would I do?
The answer was I would become aware that my friend was giggling slightly and then become MORTIFIED to find it was, in fact, his overweight cat after all. Which had bitten my foot. Which I had then kicked off the end of the bed in my panic. Which meant I was now sat, in the dark, in the cold, looking like an idiot, crying over a cat.

Bloody wonderful.

Just so you know: Mimsy, I hate you. You scared the bejeesus out of me and for that you will never be forgiven. And you're fat. You look like a furry bowling ball with legs. Hell, you even sound like a furry bowling ball with legs. You roll around, thinking you own the place, but you're wrong. Mothertrucker. I will never sleep in that house again.

Happy reading, folks. Keep a knife under your pillow, it might come in handy. You never know.

A room with a review

Well helloo! Once again I have updates. I've just been to an art exhibition (surprised I could make it as I fell on the ice yesterday and hit my head) and I have to say that after much consideration it was rather good! The YAAC (Young Arnolfini Artists' Collective) are staging their collaborative artwork in the centre of town, opposite the Apple store, all weekend. I have to say that even for someone who isn't that into art I could blatently see their talent! They've done very well particularly on the raising money front.

It costs nothing to go and see the works of art, which include laser-cut wood and a wonderful back room (I'm not telling you what's in there for two reasons- one, my words won't do it justice and two, I want you to goand have a look yourselves). My friend Connel, whom I have known for six years now, has toiled over this for a solid three weeks. I know it may not sound like very long but when you've got exams and new work to juggle at the same time things can be very challenging! Congratulations to all those in the YAAC for their fantastic work.

I've had a good day, one of those days where you feel you've genuinely achieved something (however small). This feeling was reached after two and a half hours in subway with some friends. Once again, all male. Henry, John, George and Tristan (the last of whom wears sandals every day to school because he doesn't see the point in buying a new pair of shoes just for the sake of education) are all lovely, if a little opinionated (George! :D ) Nevertheless it is a wonderful feeling to be able to argue and chat genuinely and openly every now and then.

I think I might go to Canada for my gap year, if I do choose/become forced to have one, as the country is lovely and one of those places I've always wanted to visit. The weather here has been quite lovely and I look forward to the weekend. Also I've just found my phone charger (euphoric moment!)

Happy reading, folks!