Are You Prepared?

August last year, I wrote about  my AS results day, and the frantic feeling I had on that dreaded day, however, I failed to write about how I felt just before the exams I had taken the two months previously.

This year, however, I am writing this the day before my first A2 exam, and to put it bluntly, I am feeling less than prepared.

Despite the fact that I will start answering a past paper, and after about 5 minutes on the question I'll suddenly stop, put my pen down, and squint at the paper and think "I've done this before...", in my head I need a lot more time before I'm going to be ready for this exam. Actually, I am never going be ready for any exams.

I realised this a few weeks ago, after learning some of my, what feels like, 4000 definitions. Despite completely ticking off your list of things to learn, there's always that nagging feeling inside you that there's something that you've missed out. Your mind then skips to that one question you did on that mock paper once, that you simply couldn't do.

Panic sets in and you spend the next hour staring blankly at your textbook desperately trying to see inside the page to scour for that secret fact that will get that you extra mark, when in fact, it's not there. It then dawns on you that you've just wasted an hour of your day and learnt nothing, an hour which could have been used more productively doing useful things like sleeping or making brownies.

At which point, you make those brownies, eat them all in one go, explain why you and the kitchen is covered in cocoa powder to your mum and then proceed to sleep for four hours, or perhaps that's just me...

The number of stupid marks I have lost when doing past papers these past month would add up to a good solid A at A-Level now. Although it is daft and I know that I am not the only one experiencing these last minute silly errors, now is the time to make those mistakes and hopefully next time you'll remember that 2x2 is in fact 4 and not 2. Nice one me.

So, just before your exams, don't panic, get enough sleep and if that's not working for you, eat brownies until you feel better.

Snowy Spring

If you’re expecting a detailed insight into this year’s unconventional weather, with quotes from learned meteorologists as to why the white stuff is back in spring, then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.

Britain is currently on its third bout of winter weather. The first was welcomed by teenagers and children everywhere as the possibility of school closures emerged and parents went into panic mode. Shouts of “You’ll be fine, there’s only four inches!” and “See it’s not that slipp—Ouch!” rang out across the country as parents struggled to get their children out of the house.

The second, longer spell of snow arrived in February, and teenagers and pupils everywhere thought themselves the luckiest people in the world, and once again parents despaired. Park hills were worn down even more, with countless numbers of sledges turning hills into sheet ice, again. The makeshift tobogganers with various sizes of tarpaulin sheets, bin lids and, once I spotted, a garage door arrived in their masses, only to be very much out done by the snowboarders.

We thought that was it, no more snow: hooray! A month later, however, on spring equinox, the weather reporters predicted snow, and then went into hiding. They were right.

Three days solid, the white stuff fell from the sky. Scotland had power outages, there were abandoned cars and crashes everywhere. Twenty to forty centimetres fell in the peak district, prayers were said for anyone going on D of E, and everyone shut the doors, windows and curtains and broke out the hot chocolate. Snow is fine, just not when the seasons say it should be spring.

Not only was there snow, but poor south west England had landslips and floods. “This is it. The apocalypse is upon us. Everybody hide!” was what everyone was secretly (or not) thinking. Alas, no apocalypse, just an unusual numbers of colds for March.

So is it that it for poor Britain? I seriously hope so. I’ve run out of hot chocolate.

Motivation is a hard thing to find

So, it is half term and I have piles of work to do, but instead, I am sitting on my laptop writing about the piles of work I have to do, rather than doing them.

The art of procrastination is a fine one, which I seem to have mastered to a level never known to man before. I procrastinate in many different forms, such as writing, which isn’t too bad because at least it is a form of work, but I will also do things I hate.  I will offer to help with the gardening, which is unheard of, tidy my room, which is even more unheard of and spend at least an hour washing my hair.

Yes, it’s a bad habit and I really need to buckle down and get some work done. I have my first AS exams in January and it’s probably a good idea if I start revising now, judging by my recent grades on my tests.

The motivation however is extremely hard to muster. I am one of those people who can work continuously for a good two of three hours once I get started, but getting started is the thing I find the most difficult.

There are websites which suggest different methods of getting started such as doing the work before you go out, so you have an incentive for doing it. Starting work first thing in the morning so nothing else can distract you, came up on quite a few websites.

Unfortunately, mornings aren’t really my thing and all my friends live quite a way away so it’s difficult to arrange something to encourage me to do work.

Maybe having my computer right next to my work isn’t the best plan. Twitter and Tumblr just seem to call to me when my German grammar book sits open waiting to be written in.

If you are one of those people who can get started on work easily, I applaud you, to me you are a hero.

Big News!

I am so, so, so, so sorry for not posting in a very long time but things have happened that I couldn't help such as GCSEs, A-Levels and Sixth Form (which is a bit scary...).

My big news, however, is that I am no longer just a humble blogger with big dreams, I am also a bone-fide journalist. I am no longer that faceless girl sitting at her computer writing a load of rubbish for the internet. I am now a girl sitting sitting at her computer writing a load of rubbish for a newspaper.

I still haven't quite got used to the whole 'opening the paper and seeing your own face thing'. It can be quite scary at times to think that someone has been reading what I have been writing and nodding, shaking their head, laughing or tutting at something I have written. I realise this has been happening on here for a while but now there is something physical to hold.

The newspaper in question is The Nottingham Post and if anyone is in that area, I am in on a Friday on the Youth Page sometimes and I am very excited. This is a short post because now I have to go and write my column which is due in for Tuesday and I have no idea what to write about yet...

Geeky Inspiration

I recently read my good friend Katie's post entitled "The BEST Genre of Music Out There", it claims that the best genre of music is to be found on adverts and I have to say I agree that some are rather excellent. Although I do not think it is the best place to find good music. I shall first explain that my life is rather a nerdy one, I enjoy Doctor Who marathons on a regular basis and I am also partial to a Sherlock marathon once in a while (although that does take rather a long time, nine hours in fact...). I often try to deduce things about new people I meet, taking inspiration from the original Sherlock Holmes himself. I find nothing better than staying in on a Saturday night playing video games and watching videos from this year's VidCon (which I REALLY wanted to go to) and...listening to music. This is where my post really begins.

Due to my frankly startling obsession with all things Doctor Who I have discovered a band I rather like. They  are called Chameleon Circuit and, I can put this no other way, basically, they write songs about aforementioned Doctor Who. Before you stop reading and run away from the blog never to return, please hear me out. The music is rather good, some songs are about specific episodes (Big Bang 2) and some are about characters (Mr. Pond).

I will emphasise this, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIKE (or even watch) DOCTOR WHO TO LIKE THE MUSIC. Obviously it helps, because you will understand the references to the show but you can still enjoy the music even if you do not understand what it is about. The band consists of five members, all YouTubers, Charlie McDonnell, Alex Day, Michael Aranda, Liam Dryden and Ed Blann. They are all really good vloggers in their own right but together they are BRILLIANT.

So basically what I am saying is, yes Katie, some of the best music is to be found on adverts, but in my opinion, the best music, once in a while, comes from some geeky inspiration.

Watch Charlie McDonnell's video about their album Still Got Legs here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg6b-yuabjI

Dorset

So, half term was a couple of weeks ago now, and it was pretty good, I suppose. To be honest it did not really feel much like half term, what with Study Leave, but I did go to Dorset. I had been before and I do not really want to go back, because well, it's a bit boring... I am a city girl at heart and all that green just got a bit tedious after a while... It may have been a bit boring but there were a lot of dramas during the week.

I will start with the weather. I have never in my whole life seen rain like it, or felt wind like that! The only thing that came close was being in the middle of a hurricane when I was in the mountains of North Carolina in the USA. In other words, it was like standing under a helicopter with blades the length of the Great Wall of China while having a bucket of water poured on your head. People say I exaggerate. I do, but not in this case...much. Opening the back door took two people otherwise you would be flung across the field behind the house. Closing the door? That took a Roman army prepared to battle anything, and it really was a battle. Plants were blown over (dramatic huh?), dogs chased toys that were being flung down the field (no, seriously) and umbrellas turned inside out. Ok, so just re-read that sentence. Doesn't sound very dramatic does it? Um....this is awkward.

Anyway, next drama. The beds. Oh. My. Croft. It was like sitting on a trampoline that had collapsed. You sat on the bed on the first floor and descended into the basement. I do not know who had been sleeping on there but my days they must have been BIG. My back by the end of the week must had molded to the bed I'm sure because it hurt, a lot. I tried to sit up, but ended up just rolling backwards into the wall. Oh dear. If I'm honest, I've had better nights sleeps.

Oh yeah and the big problem. Big is a good word to use because simply put, the house was not big, at all. I am 5'11" and my head wasn't a comfortable from the ceiling and I walked into the ceiling on numerous occasions. My mum had the same problem and I really don't know how the owner coped because he must have been at least 6'3". 

So some up the 'holiday' in a sentence? I've had better.

I'm back!

Hello readers! I have returned from GCSE hell and although I have not completely finished I only have two more left and they are both German exams and are bearable and plus, I couldn't leave my readers for such a long time again! I have a lot to tell...

Don't you hate it when you come out of an exam and think, "That was OK. I did it without much trouble!" then behind you emerging from the school hall are all your friends panicking about the exam saying it was impossible and they are going to fail? Yes? Well this happened to me on a couple of occasions during my exams. Unfortunately for me the people stressing about the exams were some of the cleverest in the year. They are also lovely people and somewhat modest, hence my confusion about whether they were just being modest or were genuinely worried. I just needed to forget about that exam once I had done it and simply...run away. Except that was not really feasible so I went home and ate chocolate instead while watching one of my many TV box sets. No doubt they will still get a better grade than me on those exams after panicking me after I felt fine!

The opposite also happened, I came out worried about the fact the longest question, worth the most marks, was on a topic I didn't know much about, only to find that everyone else felt absolutely fine. You can't imagine the stress... I have got to the stage now, however, after fourteen of my sixteen exams, where I am able to forget about them and just do absolutely NOTHING, and that is so lovely. I have prom coming up this week and am extremely excited to see how my friends will all look and to have a good time after exam stress.

Sorry this hasn't been a particularly funny or interesting post but I thought I ought to update you all on what I have been doing before I write anything else! I will do another post on my frankly 'interesting' trip to Dorset. I when I say interesting I mean in the sense of when you ask your mum whether she likes your outfit and she says with 'that' look on her her face - "Um, yeah, it's....interesting".