Oh so many things!

Sorry for not posting last week! It was my first week back in school, and I was absolutely dreading it. Like, I was just so ready to graduate and leave, you know?

Then it started and...I loved it. All of my classes were perfect, the new people I met were hilarious, and my teachers rocked. So far it's great. I couldn't be happier. The highlight of my day is French 5. There's only 6 of us in there and we're all really close and always have a blast.

Anyways, life has been good all around. I learned the slip jig in dance, which I was thrilled to do. I'd talk more about it, but I don't want to bore you with details. And violin has been progressing wonderfully. I'm playing things I never would have thought.

Also, I have been very college/uni crazy these days. I'm desperate to find the right school for me, but I don't know. I have a whole year before I need to apply, but I just want to KNOW WHERE I'M GOING. The one thing I'm positive about is that I'm double majoring and French will be one of my majors. It's cool, because I've taken so many French classes that I'll finish out the major by my second year at uni.

This weekend is my birthday weekend as well! I'll be turning 16 finally! Now I'll be able to drive myself to and from school and all that jazz. But 3 of my close friends and I are going out to eat on Sunday to celebrate, even though my birthday is Monday, then we'll have movie night. It's ironic, because another one of my best friends turned 16 yesterday (we're five days apart).

So my question now is this: what are you doing for uni? I'm pretty clueless, but hearing other stories always make me feel better.

Well, I'm going to go now. I am supposed to be studying for an AP Environmental Science test that's tomorrow, so...yeah. Talk to you guys later!

Lots of Love,
~Emily

My results are in

I know its not my day, but because my exam results came out today, last night was just a night with friends to keep me from stressing.

But I shouldn't have worried.

I got more then I needed to get to the uni I wanted and in September, I'm off.

When me and one of my friends found out we were in, we didn't do the cliche scream, we didn't jump up and down and we didn't cry.

We both just stared at the computer screen.

Because now its real, now its happening, and now we have to get ready for it.

I mean obviously, we've been getting ready in bits and pieces for a while, but now we have to pack and actually go.

I've only lived in one town in my life, and for the 18 years, its done me very well. I'm just nervous about having to learn a new town and how to get around on my own.

The main thing is to make friends, learn to cook and not break ANYTHING. No seriously, the university is very sure to tell us that :)

In response to your post Emily, I did watch the opening cermony of the olympics. And apart from the really long parade full of countries i'd never heard of (and the realisation that my parent's atlas is older then me) I really liked it.

And I'm not the kind of person who would love it because its english and I'm english. Believe me, I was already to mock it. But as soon as Rowan Atkinson started on stage, I was hooked.

I watched a huge amount of it, regardless of the fact that in the weeks prior i was getting so bored with it. You see, in England, every second advert seemed to be olympics based... for the last, like, 6 months.

So by the time it started, I wanted it to end.

But I watched the swimming, the diving, the rowing, even the BMXing and whatever I could find on.

To be frank, I now have got to the point where I'm moaning that its not on because there's no other good tv to watch.

Wasn't so sure about the closing ceremony though, but I think i've rambled quite enough.

Emily: Its great to hear about your irish dancing. I love watching it but don't have the stamina to do it myself. Keep us posted about what happens.

Samantha and Julia: I hope you guys are ok, and hope to hear from you soon :)

School's almost here...

So it seems that everyone has taken a huge break from here, including me. Sorry. I mean, I don't even have a good excuse for why I wasn't blogging. I just got lazy.

But school is starting back in in a little over a week, which I am not looking forward to. Summer has just been so nice...

Plus, I did take up a new hobby you guys. It's not exactly what I had in mind a while back, but it's turned out pretty freaking well. For the past two months, I've taken up Irish dance!

Check out the wigs! My hair is so curly, I don't need one.

It is very tiring and takes a shitload of stamina, but I mean come on. It is so awesome. If no one has ever heard of it, look up Riverdance on Youtube. You won't regret it! Like every other hobby I have, I am determined to one day become good at it. It'll be hard, considering people usually start at a very young age.

I also got a new violin teacher a few weeks ago. My old one Sarah Beth just up and left. I was very sad...until I met my new teacher David. He is just full of so much awesome, you guys would love him. I'll tell you more about him some other time. Every time I leave lessons now I have a huge smile on my face.

Hey, let's have a subject to discuss! We never do that anymore. I got one...the Olympics!

So assuming you DID watch it, what did you guys think of the opening ceremony in London? Not to be a stick in the mud, but I wasn't too impressed by it. There were a couple parts that I enjoyed, like the huge rings that rained fire and the giant Voldemort, but mos of the time I was rather bored. My mom and I just drank and made fun of it, really. 

What about the sports? Do any of you have a specific sport that's your favorite? I adore the gymnastics, artistic and rhythmic. I looked forward to watching it each night. Naturally I was rooting for the Americans, who did outstanding in most parts. Gabby Douglas was such a treat to watch in the All-Around finals. There was a UK girl Elizabeth Tweddle I think, who impressed me as well.

Here's Gabby. Have you seen this girl on uneven bars?

I also watched the swimming (yay, Michael Phelps!). That was pretty neat. There was that one Chinese guy who was super tall in the swimming. There was also diving, which I watched. Did anyone ever notice that Mexico was in the Olympics? I feel really bad for not noticing...

 Beach volleyball was INTENSE, holy crap. I was biting my nails watching the Americans against the Chinese. The gold medal match was USA vs. USA. Haaaa...go figure? In the end, the two time--now three time gold medal team Misty and Kerri won. It's a shame Misty is retiring now.

The 3-peat champs! They are BEASTS.

So those are my two cents about the Olympics. How is it from the UK perspective? Americans are crazy about sports, is it the same over there? I'm curious. Also, what's everyone up to these days? I really miss you all. 

And I won't be exploring Your Pants for a while because I'm getting really odd messages that are borderline creepy. It might be spam, who knows? Does anyone know how to block that? Have a nice August!

Lots of Love,

 ~Emily~

Sorry guys, my lifes starting to calm down

Hey guys, I know this isn't my day, and I know that I haven't been on here for what feels like years, but everything in my life got very hectic since I was last here.

After all my exams were finished, I had a few family issues that took up a lot of my time.

And for the last 2 weeks, I've started work. Its light industry work but it pays well and hopefully will give me enough money for uni in september.

Apart from that not a lot has happened thats note worthy, just a lot of small stuff coming over and over like waves.

But its starting to calm down now and I'll try to post at least once a week even if its not on my day.

Sorry again guys, hope you are all good.

Alix

You can tell its summer

Yeah, todays not my day but I know I wont remember come tuseday that its tuseday.

So how have you all been? How's life? I want to know!

Nothing realy happened to me this summer other then my brother won free tickets to hershey park (the place that sells/makes hershey products) so im going there soon and that during this HUGE town thing where people come from all over to see i got to help out with.

In my town we have this huge fourth of july thing where they close down the park and everything. We have this thing called the queen of candles, its kinda like homecoming but its during the summer. After the Queen lights her candle she lights the next person that was in the running and so on and so forth. Then the boy scouts come and light some candles. Well this candle display is huge, when i get the photos on here i'll show you. We have a small stream going threw the park and its covered in candles. Here's where me and my friends come in, at the head of the stream theres this small area where they have wodden swans and this huge candle. They needed a few people to help out so they grabbed my friends, i walked by and asked my friends if i could light a candle. Soon the guy came by and said i couldnt. Not but 5 minutes later did he say that he needed some one to light a swan. So i threw off my shoes and jumped into the freazing cold water to go light some candles on a swan. (the water came up to my knees so i wasnt realy wet.) Now i can say i got to be a part of history.

O! I also went white water rafting with my girl scout troop. I fell out but the rest of the group i was with rafts flipped. At least i had 3 people there to pull me back in. I will edit this more another time and make it more epic.
Thats all my summers been like so far. You all should get on here and tell me and the rest of us about your summer.

Hope your all ok, Samantha.

HEEERE'S JOHNNY!

Sorry for the title. I recently watched The Shining for the first time. If you haven't seen it, then go watch it. So Europe was totally awesome, but I'll make a separate post for that. What matters is that I have toned legs from miles upon miles of walking and internet connection once more.

How is everyone? It feels like forever since I've last heard from y'all. The only exciting things I did today was spend five hours laying in a pool sunbathing with one friend and watched both Princess Diaries movies back to back with another friend. Those are great movies to watch too, by the way.

Also, I do have news-that-could-potentially-be-exciting, but I won't announce it yet just in case. If everything goes as planned, you will be the first to know!

ALSO...I have recently acquired a tumblr account! Yay! If you want to look at it, my username is justaddrainbowsprinkles. It's full of semi funny but mostly stupid things that give you a cheap laugh. And let me know if any of you lovelies have tumblrs so I can follow them!

Anyways, it's an hour til midnight here, so I really need to go to bed...pfft yeah right. I'm off to explore the deep depths of the internet, baby.

Lots of Love,
~Emily

I'm Still Here

Sorry for no post last week. I had finals to study for. I'm not sure how I did on any of them, but I don't care. I'm done with school for three months.

I have until Monday before I leave for Europe. I'm a little nervous, but overall, I don't feel very excited yet. It's kind of surreal, going across the ocean for two weeks. It's kind of late right now, but I'll post later to get into details.

Hope you all are well.
Lots of Love,

~Emily~

I am so sorry

I am so sorry guys. The week before last, I was really ill on the Wednesday and last Wednesday I burnt myself out with revision and just crashed.

Not a lots been going on in my life. I've been dieing to do another Vlog but I know I would feel really guilty as I was doing it that I wasn't working on exam stuff.

I've made a long list of stuff to do in the summer though as I'll have a long one this year. Hopefully I'll be able to meet some nerdfighters I found through Yourpants and Facebook in my area, which is wonderful as I thought I was alone.

Its a year today that me and my boyfriend got together. Because he had an exam today, we're going out saturday to celebrate. We're going to a local Chinese buffet resturant. I love that place so it should be great.

Not a lot else is going on so I'm going to leave it here.

Hope you are all ok.

Alix

A month without Internet = everything dies

Hey I'm it's not tuesday but it's the only day i can post without getting busted. I've been grounded the last month. I'm currently on my IPod so sorry about spelling and grammar. I won't go into a long thing about how terrible it is with out Internet cAuse it's not that bad, yea miss Facebook and inyourpants but I could live without all of that if I had to. Thing that killed me the most was not posting on here I've tried to, but failed. But Ill talk about the time I've been grounded when I'm not grounded. I hope you all fo fantastic on your exams and I'll talk to you all later Samantha

Y'all aren't the only ones with exams!

So I didn't manage to make a blog post last week. Sorry. Still busy. But it was all worth it. I have one full week and two days left of school, so I'll only be sporadic for a while longer. Anyways, last week was interesting, though.

For French, my class had to go to the local college (university for you fancy-pants Scottish/English people). All the other upper level foreign language kids went as well so we could take a placement exam and see what college class we get placed into.

The test was hard as hell. I mean, they were asking us to explain french proverbs IN FRENCH. I don't even understand English ones! Either way, I got a decent score, a 452. That means I would be placed in a 201 class, which is equivalent to a French 4 or 5 class in high school. I was proud, because most people bombed it.

But that wasn't the fun part. Afterwards, we all went to this big stretch of restaurants and ate lunch. I was in a group of six, and we had the most amazingly huge and delicious lunch that lasted two hours. We were that loud annoying table that everyone hates. Guys, it was so fun. We were really full afterwards, which makes sense considering we had two appetizers, a huge main course, and a big ass dessert.

The weekend consisted of hanging out with friends who I haven't hung out with in a long time. I went bowling, too. But I want to talk about my violin lesson today.

Proceed to random story.

So I had a makeup lesson today as opposed to my usual Friday lesson. I walked into the small room I play in and came across a small girl no older than 11. My teacher introduced her as her daughter. She was going to be staying in there with us since she was sick that day. Sure, I smiled on the outside, but I was frantic on the inside.  I didn't want this girl to hear me play. I'm not good yet.

But alas, I warmed up and she was still there. As if God had heard my biggest fear and decided it would be funny to piss Emily off, I sucked. Like, more than usual. I sucked even harder even after the initial shock of playing in front of someone new. I was fuming. I wasn't sure if I wanted to cry from humiliation, punch a hole in the wall, or slam my violin on the ground for not doing what I wanted.

I explained this to my mom, but she was no help at all. Luckily, I cooled down and was able to be happy again after some much needed yoga. I just reminded myself that I have another lesson tomorrow, so I can redeem myself. After some thinking, I came to a realization:

I played in front of someone new without fear.

Sure, it was mildly uncomfortable at first, but it wasn't scary like I thought! Now I know that I CAN play for people, even if it just means working up to it little by little. I'm kind of excited about that. Yay.

But now onto exams. Oh, how I despise them. Here in America, we call them finals (or final exams). In my school district, this is how it works: The finals spread out across 2 days. Day 1 are your finals for your first two classes during the 1st half of the day. Day 2 is a half day (and the last day of school) where you have finals for your last two classes.

I am most concerned for my Anatomy final, which consists of two finals. The first one is the fetal pig dissection. Currently, we are dissecting it, but for our final we'll identify certain structures. The other final is the written one. Next week will be dedicated to studying for that.

And last, but certainly not least, I am going to Spain, France, and London in 18 days! I'll bring back lots of pictures from that. But fair warning: I won't post for those days I'm gone, so don't think I'm dead!

Sorry for the long post. I had a lot to get off my chest. But I feel your pain with the finals, you guys. But I have seven and a half days left of school; I can do it, dammit, and so can you!

Lots of Love,
~Emily~

Getting Procrastinate-y.

Alix, I know exactly what you mean. I am incredibly worried about not being worried enough. I've got this weird kind of apathy right now. This time last year I was panicked, bursting into tears every five minutes - this year, my exams are freaking me out a little, but mostly it's just...meh.

I'm pretty sure this will be drastically different next week (my first exam is a week on thursday - English) but here is a list of the things I did today that weren't studying:
1. Went to the shop to get "essential studying supplies" (i.e - 3x diet coke, 1x Starburst)
2. Downloaded music (Got the debut albums from three Scottish indie-folk bands - The Stormy Seas, Loch Awe, and The Moth & The Mirror)
3. Dug out playstation 2 from a wardrobe and hooked it up to my TV.
4. Played playstation 2 (original sims for console, hell yeah)

Somehow, despite all the time-wasting, I still managed to get enough studying done. My procrastination methods are clearly sub-standard.

I also haven't made a youtube video in about three weeks, which I'm feeling extremely bad about. I just haven't been able to find the time and/or motivation. I have to make one tomorrow. No excuses. I have a guitar lesson in the morning so I'll film between then and lunch, and then edit at night sometime. Yeah. Plan.

Exams always make me want to take up all these bizarre hobbies. I don't know. Like, I spend so much time studying that I want to do pretty much anything that's not studying. I started making youtube videos around exam time last year. This exams, I jump from idea to idea. Last week I decided I was going to take up roller skating. I don't even know...what even was I...God. I can barely walk without falling over. (Incidentally, I googled roller skates one time and now I keep getting ads for them. Ugh.) This week I'm pretty sure I want to take up street photography. We'll see how long this one lasts.

I finally bought a prom dress. Not that prom is a thing I am particularly interested in, but, somewhat surprisingly, clothes sort of do interest me. I like looking nice, I guess. Prom is just an excuse for me to wear something pretty. (Like, I don't even know what kind of dancing you do at prom. I'm used to school ceilidhs and stuff, with country dancing and whatnot. Gah, Google, why can't you just accept that I know how to spell ceilidh? I don't need that red line, thank you very much.) But anyway: I had to take the dress to get altered (and wasn't that a nice surprise, I was afraid it would be too small for me and it ended up being too big) and I'm really in love with it - it's dark blue and floor length and awesome. I still need to find shoes. I might be interested in clothes but shoes are a grey area. I'm not very good with them since I technically take a size six and a half, so I'm never sure what size to get.

So yeah, fun and games. And now, inexplicable exhaustion is overtaking me. I bid you all the best;
Julia x

Worry

Hey guys,

I'm not quite so theoretical today.

I know what you mean Julia about being between Easter and Summer. I don't think the English system is that different. But these exams are the difference between my uni life and having to come up with a back up plan.

I'm not as freaked as I thought I would be. Probably because I could get E grades in 2 subjects and still get what I need in them. And even though there is a real possibility of failing in biology, I don't feel panicked... yet.

Don't get me wrong, in a few weeks time all I'll write in these is "I'm so stressed, I hate everything."

Usually by now in exam periods I'm running around like a headless chicken and wanting to give up. And its probarly not that I have it all planned out now in a time table (which I have stuck too for the last 3 days, which is more then any other one has lasted).

I know I don't know the stuff I need to.

And I can't make myself worry about that.

Still to me, getting this blog in, or making time for my boyfriend or going to see the new avengers movie Saturday, they all take presidence.

So in case you guys need a summary, I am worried that I'm not worrying enough.

Just another little piece of my crazy to share :)

Hope you are both ok
Alix

I'm not sure this ice cream analogy works the way I hoped it would.

I'm not sure how much you guys know about the Scottish exam system (because goodness, the English and American school systems baffle me no end) but basically, the real, proper, incredibly important exams fall between the Easter holiday and the Summer holiday. The best way I've heard it described is by a guy I've met once or twice at gatherings: it's like someone gives you an ice cream, and when you've eaten half of it, they take it away and punch you in the face. Then they give it back. I'm at the face-punching stage. My exams start in three weeks, so that's a bit scary. I think I'm getting enough done but there's still a lot I have to do and things I'm worried about, but I'm sure it'll all work out. I hope.

Gosh, I'm incredibly tired. I was going to go to bed early last night but my friend Declan was waiting for a youtube video to upload and wouldn't let me go to sleep, so I ended up in a Skype call with him for almost three hours. Which leads me to what Alix was talking about: I think the what keeps you going/what keeps you happy thing is really interesting, and I think my friends keep me going because they keep me happy. I mean, if we're talking about my real, actual friends rather than people I just hang out with.

Like, Declan in particular I think I became friends with mostly due to mutual dislike for pretty much everyone else, but he's definitely one of my best friends now. And there's a girl who started at my school less than a year ago, I was friends with her from day one due to our shared love of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, and now I don't know what I'd do without her. Those two more than any of my other friends probably keep me going, because they're the ones I can trust to talk to about my problems, but they also keep me happy, because I laugh a whole lot when I'm with them. I have other awesome friends too, but yeah, that's what mostly springs to mind.

My parents keep me going, I would say, and music, however cliche it might sound. But music is one of those one-category things - like, sometimes it can make me feel better without actually making me feel happy, if that makes sense.

Emily, you sound super busy! Gah, I don't envy you with those kids - I really don't do well with children. They infuriate me beyond belief. I know I sound awful, but seriously, me + kids = screaming and crying. Anyway, I'm glad you're back! ^.^

I don't have much else to say this week. I just bought myself Jack White's new album, so I'm going to go and listen to it for the fourth time.
Best wishes,
Julia x

When all is said and done

Well, today was my final teaching day. I thought I would be happy to get rid of the munchkins, but in reality, I miss them already. They were so sweet, even though they did get on my nerves.I received cards, hugs, au revoir's, among many other wonderful goodbye gifts. It's sad, but it was certainly a wonderful learning experience. I feel so blessed to have been able to connect with such bright little minds over French.

Ahem. Excuse the epic cheesy factor. I had to get that out. But little by little, my weeks are becoming less chaotic. While I know for a fact that this calm period won't last forever, I'm going to enjoy it fully.

Oh! I won highest grade in French for this semester, so I get to go to some French teacher assoc. award ceremony on Monday. Yay. There's more French related stuff going on next week, but we'll discuss that when it comes time.

Let's see. I have a paper due in Anatomy next Wednesday (not to mention a test tomorrow). I'm not looking forward to presenting it too much, but it's nothing a little brain programming can't fix! Do any of you guys get a little stage fright? Mine is improving, just at a pace slower than a snail...

And about what Alix said with that phrase. I think there is a separation between the two for some things. Like, school keeps me going. Do I like it? Not really, but I've changed so much from it, and it keeps me motivated. Friends keep me going, even when they don't keep me happy. That means I always strive to be a good person for them and help them.

It's a very fine line to walk, because many things tend to blur that line, but there are definites to each side just as there is exceptions.

Well, I'll stop short because I really need to study for the test on the Cardiovascular system. this is like our...6th body system? I'm not sure, I lost count.

Whatever. Good night.

Lots of Love
~Emily~

Keep you happy, or keep you going?

Hey guys,

Despite being back at college and having teacher point out time and time again how close our exams are, I've had a great week.

I'm planning out the next few months of my life, week by week with enough time to get all my subjects sorted. Its taken hours already and I'm not done, but it doesn't start till next week. I must say your own revision situation Julia inspired me to do similar time frames to get it all done.

I've also spent a lot of time with my boyfriend, which always makes me slow down when I'm getting wrapped up in my college life.

Julia; thank you for your kind words on my vlog, always great to hear and I've very glad that you resolved your head girl/house captain situation.

Emily; its great to see you back regardless of the day you come back on :) Well done on your tests and all your other achievements since you've been busy. Hope your good luck continues.

Right, so I guess I need to actually make a point.

I overheard someone talking about things in their life a while back. They were going through things they thought they needed and what she had. Mostly boyfriends stuff. (Just so you know, I don't usually pry, but she was being so loud). The friend she was talking to said one of the most profound things I've heard a stranger say at our college.

"Do they keep you happy, or keep you going?"

It's something I made a note of, and then promptly forgot about till earlier today. I started to realise, its hard to define the difference. Some things feel like both and blur the lines.

Lets try something basic. Food. Keeps you going, keeps me happy. I love sitting in bed with chocolate. The little comforts in life.

Then there are other things, friends for example. There are times when you need them to keep you happy, days your not low but just need that extra smile. And then there are times you really, really need them.

I cannot tell you how many times I've texted my friends crying, asking for their help on guy issues.

The more you try to define parts of your life into either of these categories, the less it becomes possible to do.

What do you guys think, can something keep you going, without keeping you happy? Or is there anything in your lives that land in either category?

I'm ALIVE!!!

*Gasps for breath* Oh dear god! These past few weeks have been a living hell for me, you guys! I truly do apologize for not posting anything. There was just so much going on, I don't even know where to start. Well, I'll try to explain myself.

SO right after I finished my Nervous system test AND project, my lovely teacher assigned us ANOTHER project, due in a week, on the same day as ANOTHER test. But that's not all--oh no! Teaching all of those seven year olds has proved to be a very time consuming and exhausting task. I teach two more classes this week before I'm done, thank god. I also fell ill with the most awful cold I have ever had.

And after I FINALLY finished my project and test for anatomy, I get assigned ANOTHER FREAKING PROJECT. Not to mention that I also have a research paper for English. I have had almost no time at all to even breathe. It has just been a whirlwind of papers and lesson plans and sneezing.

I only picked up my violin three times in the past two weeks.

Now after that lovely pity party I just had, things have been somewhat calmer, and there are some positive things to all of this. Lets look, shall we?

1. I made an 88/100 on my Nervous System test while over half the class failed.

2. I made a 101/101 on my bone test.

3. My students love me.

4. I am eating healthier.

5. I have finally caught up with all of my TV shows.

6. I saw Celtic Woman again. They were fantastic.

So I think the good outweighs the bad if I look at it now. Sadly, it's not over yet, for I still have about 6 weeks left of school before summer. That means there are still projects to make, tests to gripe about, and finals to study for.

But now to everyone else. Alix, I'm going to take a look at your vlog as soon as I stop typing this. I have no doubt that it will be enjoyable. And about the whole choice about moving with your boyfriend or staying for a career, do what feels right in your heart. I can't make any decision for you, and neither can anyone else, even your boyfriend. Life is all about making these kind of choices. So what if the choice you make doesn't turn out the way you expected? Those are the kind of things that you grow from, and everything in life happens for a reason.

And Julia, good move on your part with the whole prefect thing! I know how it feels to be swamped with work--and it doesn't feel pretty. I'm a big believer in having a little bit of free time every day to just relax. And here's the deal: you don't need to do everything at school to get into uni. Notice how complete idiots who barely pass make it. In the uni's eyes, you are both just two more students who are both going to graduate with the same piece of paper and get the same job. The only difference is that you probably put excess stress and worry into the whole process while the idiot parties the whole time. Now I'm not saying totally slack off, but just don't worry about getting into uni. You will.

Okay, so this week, I'll be back to my normal schedule and post on Thursday, which it my last day of teaching! Yay!

Thanks for being patient and awesome!

Lots of Love,
~Emily~

Situation resolved.

So I handed in my head girl application.

And then I went and asked for it back.

I was sitting in physics after I'd handed it in, and I was thinking about what you said, Alix, and then someone in my class said to me "you know head prefects have to go to all the school board meetings, right?" and gosh, I certainly did not know that, and then I may have started panicking and wondering what in hell I'd gotten myself into. So the second school was over I went down and asked for my application back to "change something" on it, and then I re-handed it in yesterday, but instead of applying for head girl, I applied for house captain, which is a) less work, b) more fun, c) less competitive, and d) still looks good on a CV. So things have worked themselves out, I guess.

Alix, I watched your vlog, and I really liked it! You don't seem awkward in front of the camera at all, which is good, because that happens to loads of people when they start vlogging, like they're not sure if they're crazy or not and they're eyeing the camera like it might turn on them at any moment and maul them to death. But yeah, you don't have that problem. In terms of what to talk about, I'd say just go for something you're interested in and that you think you can make interesting or entertaining.

I woke up yesterday feeling really ill and it only got worse today, so I totally missed out on Record Store Day, which I am not pleased about in the slightest. I spent the day trying to study (I've adopted Charlie's Don't Break the Chain system for studying - four hours minimum per weekend day and two hours minimum per week night, it usually takes longer but the chart is keeping me motivated) and also reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which is the last John Green book I need to read in order to have finished all of them (so far).

I also bought myself a new Depeche Mode album last night and listened to it four times this morning. I love, love, love Depeche Mode. I'm not even totally sure why. I just always seem to go back to them. Now I've switched to an old We Were Promised Jetpacks album, and I just realised I'm both listening to them and also wearing a shirt I got when I saw them play live that one time (I waited five hours just so I could be at the barrier for that gig. I waited through a dubstep support band. If that's not dedication I don't know what is).

Maybe Emily is just busy? At least, I hope she's just busy.
Best wishes,
Julia x

I finally did it!

I finally made a vlog. It only took me almost 2 years of being on youtube. I felt great after it and even enjoyed editing it. I thought hearing myself talk over and over again would make me want to give it up but it didn't.

If your interested, I'll post the link here but don't feel any pressure to do so, its quite long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI5hb_cQJtY

Even if you guys don't want to watch, I was wondering if you had any ideas of topics to vlog about in the future. I decided just to go for it and about half way through recording I realised I really should have at least typed out a few ideas for a topic for when I got to a lull in my thought process.

If there's anything you like to watch people talk about, or anything you want to know about me, I'd love to hear it.

Julia, about your head girl problem. I had a similar problem when I was made a prefect. Although I was sure I wouldn't get head girl, I did wonder if deputy would be appealing to me.

If its just something to put on your cv and your heart wont be in it, it may not be the best idea. There are other ways to beef up a uni application as I found, even general stuff like volunteering for charities or part-time jobs.

However, if its something you'd be really good at and would put your heart into, then it would be worth considering further. And even if you do get deputy, it would show on a uni application that you could be given responsibility while taking direction from someone above you.

All in all, it boils down to how much you would want and work at it vs the other work you will have to do.

Hope that helps in anyway.

We do seem to have lost Emily though. Hope she's ok.

Bye all
Alix

Mostly just hypothetical speculation.

Gah! I almost totally forgot it's Saturday! In my defence, not having to go to school just makes me lose track of time...and days...so yeah.

What have I done this week...I've tried to study. Stared at the walls a lot. I was meant to go into town with some nerdfighter friends yesterday but they cancelled on me, so I ended up just wandering about by myself. I bought Will Grayson, Will Grayson, the only John Green book I've yet to read, and volume three of Fullmetal Alchemist and volume five of the Sandman. That last one was on the top shelf in the comic book store - and that shelf is really high! I ended up asking a random, tall stranger for help. He looked really surprised but was very nice about it. Afterwards, I had to explain my Pizza John shirt to the comic book store guy, who didn't look like he understood at all. I go to that place so often, I swear, it's only a matter of time before I know all the staff by name.

I'm a prefect at my school and just before the holidays they gave out application forms for head prefectship, and I can't decide if I want to be head girl next year or not. See, my issue is, I think if I applied I've got a reasonably good chance of getting it. Like, it would by no means be a guaranteed thing. I'm not sure who else will apply and depending on who does the chances of me getting it are even doubtful. But I can't decide if I even want to apply. For one thing, I'll already have a lot of work next year and I don't do very well under a lot of pressure. Also, if I didn't get head girl, I might end up being deputy head girl, and that's just a slap in the face - all the responsibility, and none of the rewards.Another thing:  I have absolutely no authority. Zero. I'm just not a very authoritative person. I could tell some first years to do something and they'd just laugh at me. So I don't know how good I'd be at being head girl. And furthermore, I sort of dislike having responsibility.

So you're probably looking at this list and thinking, Julia - if you've got all these objections, then why in hell are you even considering it? And the honest answer is...I have absolutely no idea. The logical part of my brain is screaming no don't do it this can only end badly, while my more egotistic brain is being all, no one is getting my head girl badge!

There are two things about it that appeal to me, the first being that it will look good when I apply to universities and stuff later this year. And I could probably use that, especially since I don't even know what I want to study, my life lacks direction, etc. The second is that a head girl makes a speech at the end of the year - a speech to the whole school and teachers and parents and stuff - and I really want to make that speech. I like public speaking, and I think I could do it really well. Leave an impression, I guess. Give them something to remember me by. Something funny, inspiring, and ultimately hopeful. I'm pretty sure I could pull that off. But getting to make the speech carries with it the disadvantage of having to do head girl type stuff for a whole year. And all of this is working under the assumption that I even get chosen.

Maybe I'm overthinking. I'm hoping for some kind of epiphany either tomorrow or the next day.

Alix, that sounds like a really tricky decision! I wish you the best of luck with it. I'm also really jealous that you have a concrete idea of what kind of career you want. Right now I'm thinking starving writer, or maybe lottery winner.

I hope you guys are all doing well! Best wishes;
Julia x

Its 11:20 pm, so this may not be the most articulate

Hey guys,

Its still a holiday week where I am. I haven't done any homework yet and I know that by friday that's going to panic me. But I've spent most of the holiday with my boyfriend and eating chocolate.

Wouldn't take back a moment of it.

Yesterday, I decided I was actually going to make a vlog. I recorded myself talking to my webcam for about 30 minutes. And then spent about 2 hours editing and it wasn't even half done.

So I might go do some more of that in a moment but when I have it done I'll tell you guys and you can actually see what I look like now.

I've been thinking a lot about my future recently. Between knowing I should do more work and my boyfriend talking about how our life will be if we stay together, thoughts haven't really left me.

About 2 years ago, I decided i wanted to do music as a career. Then 6 months later my ears started having issues. They ring when its really quiet and it hasn't gone away.

So I've been looking at careers in music that I can do without putting myself in the way of more loud music incase that is the cause (which the doctors don't think, but I'm not so sure)

My boyfriend has always wanted to live in Canada and the problem is that they have quite a small music industry compared to USA and UK.

I just wonder if I might have to sacrafice one for the other. And I'd hate to drift around jobs in Canada and make him support me.

And I know it sounds weird for a 17 year old to talk like this relationship will work out, but I've had relationships before and this is so different and is working so well. I can't see either of us not fighting for us for as long as possible.

I don't even know if this is making any sense. I've been awake for about 19 hours now and kinda NEED to sleep soon.

I promise next week I'll have more point.

Hope you are all alright :D

Alix

Better.

So I cannot thank you guys enough for all your advice. It helped a lot. And I'm feeling a lot better about this whole situation, or at least, I've had a chance to distance myself from it a bit. I was out with my friends and it was such a lovely day and we were laughing and I just kind of thought, why would I need anyone else? So although I'm still a bit sad and stressy, it's better.

I've spent the week trying to study, but I haven't got as much done as I'd have liked. Yesterday I went to see the Hunger Games for the second time with my friend Declan, who is easily one of my favourite people in the world, and two of his friends from his drama class, who are both terrifically nerdy. It was nice, and also I bought volume 4 of Sweet Tooth, which is quickly becoming one of my favourite graphic novels. Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley is my favourite graphic novel ever, if anyone's curious.

Prom is right after my exams and I need to buy a dress, but I'm struggling to find anything that I like. I'm not really one for, y'know, conventional prom-type stuff. One of my friends mentioned to me that someone is throwing an after party that apparently "everyone" is invited to, but I really hate parties, so I turned round to the rest of my friends and suggested we all got together for a My Little Pony marathon instead.

I don't want to wear anything floor length because I feel like that would just be inconvenient and irritating, and I also kind of hate glitter and gaudiness. I mean, is it too much to ask for something elegant, yet bold? Unusual, yet classic? I'm going back and forth between just settling for something that I don't really mind, or throwing caution to the wind and going all out steampunk or Lolita or something.

On Monday I went to Alex Day's signing and I just had the nicest day. Declan (he's my only friend who likes youtube, you see) and I went into Edinburgh early and sat in the station for a while, waiting for Alex's train to get in, which is a bit stalkerish, I realise. While we were waiting, we met up with some lovely people I know from previous gatherings, who we ended up spending the day with. We saw Alex's coat through the crowd and all rushed over to him, where we were confronted with a horde of fangirls.

Then he had to leave for an interview or something, so we waited in the station a bit more for our friend Jenny to show up, at which point we headed over to HMV, where a line was already forming. We went in and bought our copies of Lady Godiva in case the store sold out (which, in fact, they did) then went to Waterstone's to leave nerdfighter notes, and then went to McDonalds. We were standing on the pavement waiting for the lights to change when suddenly we notice that Alex Day is standing right next to us. I kind of creepily reached out to touch his coat, but he started running for a taxi so that didn't work out.

We eventually joined the huge line outside HMV and I got out my new Uke, Roderick, and we sang a Forever Yours and a few (a lot of) Chameleon Circuit songs, and also Friday. And we finally got in and Alex signed Roderick for me, and I was horribly awkward. Anyway, here's a picture:

I like how pleased Danny looks in this.

After the signing we all went for Pizza and it was really nice, just sitting, chatting. It was genuinely sad saying goodbye to people, I think we all had a really amazing day. 

Okay, I'm sleepy. Thank you again for all your kind words and encouragement, you guys are the best <3 

See you next week.

~Julia x 

Stay Strong!

So I know it's not actually Thursday, but oh well. I had a bunch of studying to do this week for a huge a test in Anatomy. I can't believe I actually studied though. It still feels so weird.

Oh, and happy Good Friday to everyone! I'm not sure what it is, but I have a day off from school today. It's something Christian, though. Well actually, we have a weather day, but it just HAPPENED to fall on a Christian holiday. Coincidence? I think not. But I also don't have violin lessons tonight, since I go to a Christian school, what a big surprise. This seems to annoy my mother to no end. I think its because all the magazines they have are about the bible and stuff. But hey, they give out free snacks, so I'm not complaining!

Anyways, I had an Anatomy test, as mentioned above. I heard from former students that it was the hardest test, so I studied my ASS off for the past four days. It was intense. SO the test went by smoothly for the most part. I blanked on a couple of questions, but I think I still did pretty well. But the pressure to finish everything is SO not over yet. I still have an Anatomy project due Monday, an oral test where I have to name all of the bones (I have a skeleton in front of me, though), a teaching unit where I go to elementary schools and teach little kids french for three weeks, AND a research paper! It's a shock that I haven't exploded yet.

Well, that pretty much sums up my week. Moving on to Julia's issues.

Really? They're making fun of you over a fanfiction? How old are we, seven? Why do they even care? It sounds to me like they're just really immature. Well I agree with what Alix said about clearing your mind over the course of the next two weeks.

Go jog, walk, or whatever makes you feel good. Eat your favorite foods and stay in bed longer, anything that'll make you happy! That way, you'll be able to think clearly and objectively about the whole situation. If you can, talk to a parent or someone close who can tell you the best way to handle it. I don't know the inner workings of your brain, so I won't tell you how you can and can't do things. That's up to you.

But whatever happens, don't let the kids teasing you know that this hurts you. If they think you couldn't care less, they'll eventually go away. Always appear to be strong, even when you're dying inside. That's how I've survived.

So use this break to your advantage. Visualize yourself happy, confident, and totally unaffected by negativity. Absolutely nothing can get in the way of your happiness except yourself, if you let it happen. As Henry Ford once said: Believe you can; believe you can't. Either way, you're right.

I hope that made sense, if nothing else. I wish you the best!

Have a lovely week, you awesome people!

Lots of Love
~Emily~

Not a lot to say today

Hey guys, how are you all?

Going to jump right in to what Julia said.

I honestly couldn't give any advice based on prior experience. Any problems like this I've had I usually kept my mouth shut, took the higher ground and then spent evenings imaging all the things I wanted to say to them. It was my way of releasing those thoughts.

But, in response to the options you said you had, getting angry or getting upset, I have found that in those moments on my own where I let a mock fight play in my head, I get upset, get it all out. It usually means that if anything actually happens I don't get as upset about it.

Like I said earlier though, I don't have alot of experience in confrontation. Usually the person or people are being so petty that I can just let the frustration build inside of me and ignore them.

What you want is a moment of clarity over this holiday. A time where the anger has started to dissipate and you can think about it all crystal clear. This would be the time to work out what you want to do, how to handle it and how to get the outcome you want.

Hope that helps but I get the feeling that didn't make any sense. Sorry.

I enjoyed reading all your opinions on religion. I love that we're open minded.

Anyway, hope you are all ok.

Have a good week

Alix

Mostly a rant with a bit of fangirling thrown in.

Ok, so I know it's not technically Saturday, but I've got time right now, and I'm going to a gathering tomorrow and will probably be so tired when I get home, and I have a feeling this is going to be a long post. Besides, it's going to be Saturday in an hour and a half.

I've had kind of a horrible day. It was my last day of school and we now have a two week holiday, which should make me feel awesome but kind of doesn't, because a) I need to study pretty much all of that time, and b) it means I need to wait two weeks to confront, threaten, and maybe punch certain people.

I found out last thing today that some people in my year have been talking about me behind my back. So this wouldn't bother me very much if what they had been saying wasn't completely untrue. They were pretty much dragging my name through the mud, and while I hadn't really considered us friends, we speak quite often and I'd thought they were decent guys. I guess I was wrong.

So maybe this requires some explanation: a while back I wrote a fanfiction. I cannot stress this enough - it was not smut. It wasn't. It wasn't even remotely explicit. It had a bit of making out in it, I guess, but that was all. Anyway, someone I used to trust knew about my fanfiction account and found it, whereupon she showed it to a group of guys I occasionally speak to on skype, who all go to my school. Of course, they blew the whole thing out of proportion, but it wouldn't have been nearly as bad if she hadn't sent another, very smutty fanfic to them at the same time, and as stuff got passed on and more people found out, someone apparently started to believe, and tell others, that this terribly smutty fic was mine.

And it didn't matter how often I told people it wasn't. It didn't matter one bit.

So now people are talking about me. And it sucks and it's not okay, because as well as claiming I write that kind of stuff (which, by the way, I don't have a problem with other people writing, I think it's totally fine) they're also saying other stuff about me, stuff that is so ridiculously untrue and also damaging to whatever reputation I had.  I'm really sad and angry, because I've been nothing but nice to all of them. I've never said anything mean to them or made up any rumours, so it gets to me. I don't understand, and I need some advice. See, I don't really know what to do about it all. I have to wait two weeks to confront them in person, and I'm not sure what'll happen - I'm not one for confrontation really, and either I will lose my temper and get violent (it can be dangerous, no one's seen my violent side and I'd prefer that it stay that way) or I'll just burst into tears. The latter is more likely.  I don't even know. I feel like I've ignored this kind of stuff too long. I'm tired of it. I sort of want to send one of the guys a facebook message just telling him that I know what he said and that it hurt and it wasn't nice of him, but I feel like he would just tell people about it and that would make it all worse.

This all feels so hideously juvenile. They're all so immature. With every passing day I find myself liking the people at my school less and less, getting more and more frustrated with them. I'd just like them to think about what they say and how it can affect people. I want them to imagine others complexly. I don't understand why they don't feel bad about doing this kind of thing! Ugh.

On a happier note: I have a gathering tomorrow! It should be fun. And also, I'm going to Alex Day's signing in Edinburgh, and I'm super excited. I've already met him once, at a trock night in Glasgow, and he was really lovely. My fangirl side is emerging, I'm afraid, and I've gone as far as trying on different outfits and thinking about what the best options are for different weather scenarios. I have precious little life, clearly.

And now, onto the subject of religion:
I like to think that I'm very open minded. Recently I had a bit of an existential crisis and swung away from a sort of Christian faith to a kind of Christian-leaning agnostic state. Basically, I would like to believe in a God but I'm struggling a lot right now. I don't know what I believe, really.

Other people's beliefs have never really troubled me. I don't care what religions my friends subscribe too. I don't mind religion and I don't mind atheism, what I do mind is pushiness and closed-mindedness. I know a lot of pushy atheists: I'm right and you're stupid for believing what you do. Like, seriously? Also, religious fundamentalists, the kind who believe the same as the arrogant atheist types, but in reverse.

I don't get it. Live and let live. Different people believe different things. It's something I like talking about, I like hearing about what other people believe and why, and how they keep their faith, but you can only have this kind of discussion with certain people, while the closed-minded ruin it with scoffing and insults and stuff.

I feel like a lot of people who have that kind of mindset are the same kind of people who will decide whether or not they like someone purely based on one aspect of them. Like, they will decide they hate all Christians because of their predetermined notions about them. But it's ridiculous: you wouldn't say, I'm friends with that person because they're a Christian, it's more like, I'm friends with that person, and they're also a Christian.

So basically what I'm saying is: I totally respect everyone's right to believe what they want, but I don't like being told flat out that I, or anyone else, is wrong, nor do I like people insistently trying to convince me that they are right. Okay, that's all. I've quite enjoyed this, and have so far agreed with everything you guys have been saying.

I desperately hope I haven't offended anyone or anything.
I hope you're all doing good! You're excellent!
~Julia x

Presentations and Other Equally Tiring Things

Ah, I'm SO happy today is over. I had yet another busy week. What a surprise. I also had a dermatologist appointment and violin lessons today. I'll get into detail about each thing later. I also had a huge project that I did in French today. That's what I want to talk about first.

So we had a how-to speech to present and it had to be at least five minutes. I decided to teach everyone how to do yoga, since that's about the only thing fun I can teach. Well, I dreaded having to present because I usually get terrible stage fright. I tremble, my heart is pounding, my mouth it dry, and all that good stuff. But last night as I was stressing out over it, my mama sat down with me, and we had a huge talk. She put everything into perspective for me! I totally calmed down afterwards and was able to sleep peacefully.

If I started getting nervous, I would just remember what my mom told me. When time came to present, I was a little jittery, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. It went by smoothly and I got a perfect score! YAY!

So after school, I headed straight to the dermatologist. I used to have pretty bad acne, and I went on medication for it, but now I just go to get face treatments every two weeks. I love going, because it's my time to relax while Mrs. Rebecca shoots my face with lasers. Sounds awesome, right y'all? My face was a little sore afterwards because she kicked up the power level since I'm highly tolerant of pain.

Then right after that, I went to violin. I hardly had the chance to practice this week, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I may have shouted in frustration a couple times, though. I did awesome on the sight reading, which was rare. It also reminded me that I need to cut my nails.

Afterwards, my mother took me out to dinner at this Asian restaurant as celebration for my French project. That was an enjoyable dinner. We were able to just relax and talk. It really felt like Friday today, but alas. Just one more day. We just have to push through.

As for Alix, I'm so happy you brought up religion. I was thinking about talking about that! I definitely combine science and religion. I love both topics dearly. I always feel angry when people never think about science with religion. I mean, if God is all-knowing, surely he's good at science? Just saying. Now I'm not a super-Christian or anything, but I am very religious in my own way. Not a day goes by that I don't pray. But I'm also very open to other religions and find them all beautiful and apart of God. I try not to judge like so many Christians do, but say they don't. Ugh.

I wish I could talk more, but I'm really tired. I invested all of my energy into today and I am worn out. Good night you guys.

Lots of Love,
~Emily~

A rant, but a point I've been dying to make

Hey guys,

Right I’m at my boyfriends house so this will probarbly be short. It doesn’t seem far to be typing away on his computer without him.

So it seems like you’ve all had exams and things. Mine are done in January and June so I have a little time till my next lot, although they will be my biggest yet and mean the difference between getting the university I want and the one I am ‘ok-to-attend’.

But there is something that’s come up a lot recently, something I want to talk about without sparking the usual debate it causes. I don’t want to insult anyone and I don’t know you’re opinions on it but I thought I’d just get some of my point off my chest.

Religion vs Atheism.

Now, I would say that I personally have faith, I believe there’s more to this world then just what’s here. But I have a lot of belief in science too. My general, condensed version is; for me, God started the big bang and then has guided evolution.

Now, in my Biology class, this makes me a bit of a freak. In fact, one guy has proceeded to call me a Schizophrenic person who talks to a ‘mythological’ creature in the sky. Some are more tolerant but he’s the main reason that I bring this up.

I can fight for both sides of the debate of God and Science, but because of faith in the former I get automatically labelled into the religion camp, even though I am really not a fan of the layout, hierarchy and overall selectiveness that religion brings.

A lot of my friends are Atheists and I have no problem until they tell me ‘You’re wrong’ and then don’t try to make a logical argument against me. I hate that.

Anyway, sorry this is becoming a rant. Its just this has come up a lot. And while I can usually just leave it and walk away, because of it being in a class, I’ve had to endure it and try not to lunge over my desk to swot him.

If you guys want to talk about this you can, but like I said, I don’t know your opinions and you might agree with the guy in my class. In which case, I’m sorry and I’m sorry if I’ve brought up anything that is a touchy subject for anyone. I just don’t see why people can’t say “I disagree with you, but you’re still the same person you were before this debate started.”

Hope you are all ok and look forward to hearing from you all.

Alix

My class is screwed for life...

Hello! Sorry about last week, I remembered right as i was crawling into bed. :/ But thats because I've started track. I'm 99.9% shure everyone knows what track is so I won't explain. I'm a distance runner and I just ran a 7:17 mile that I am very proud of. WOOT! But track as taken over my life so I've been eating, sleeping, going to school then track then going on the computer. Such a fun life.
I realy want to talk about the hunger games so I'm going to ask if you have all seen it before I start picking it apart, cause i unfortuenly do that.
About the title. Teachers and my school district have got to understand that my generation dosn't care about stuff like we should. They yell at us to do better at school and to do our homewrok. (We should do it but now adays, we don't care) They also don't jump on the ball with stuff, last week a few cell phones where stolen from track and the coach didn't do anything about it at first. Idiot. Also in my school several kids are on there way out. I'm just in 9th grade and a kid has gotten suspended. Now I like to think I live in a nice area, or thats what my parents told me what the case was when we moved here. Now a days, kids have been busted for drugs, drinking and all sorts of other stuff.
With all of this going on most kids need a good education in order to do anything in this life. even your basic jobs need some sort of education. So needless to say, my classmates are screwed.
Anyone else have school districts like that or am i the only one???? I'm tierd, goodnight!
-Sam I am

Things have been happening, but they're not very exciting.

Exaaaams.

I woke up this morning tired beyond belief, so tired in fact that I couldn't remember how to turn my alarm clock off. So I'm just hitting it and begging it to shut up and it's just beeping merrily away. Eventually I unplugged it, rolled over and went right back to sleep. When I woke up again, I remembered where the button to turn it off was and mentally cursed myself.

You see, last night I went to see the Hunger Games with a group of forty or fifty nerdfighters which, yes, was just as awesome as it sounds. And the movie itself was unbelievable. So good. I read the book way back when it first came out, totally by chance. I just picked it up in a bookstore, read it in a day, loved it, then promptly forgot about it. Then everyone started fangirling over it and I was like, hey I've read that! So I happily joined in. And now here we are.

Anyway, fun and games aside, I have two exams next week, Latin and maths. I'm feeling okay about the Latin, not so much the maths. The maths course was going okay until about two weeks ago. It seems like all I do in class now is stare at my teacher and wonder what the hell she's saying, and think what is this dark magic? 

My wonderful, amazing plan involved studying all day today, but it was unseasonably warm, and since I live in Scotland and therefore spend most of my time wrapped up in jackets and scarves, I decided that I simply had to go outside. I'm a big fan of walks, so I ended up going out for about an hour and a half. I live in the country, near a river, so I went down the footpath next to it and walked for a bit. You eventually come to this place - there's a raised wooden platform to walk on, like a bridge, but if you jump down onto the kind of marshy land and walk away from the path you eventually get to this sandy place, right next to the river. Someone put up a swing there, and there's a bench, too, and it's really peaceful and beautiful. I found this place a few months ago when I was out walking. It's about forty minutes to get there and then forty minutes back, but it's totally worth it.

While I was out I kept passing all these serious-looking hikers in their waterproof, fleece-lined jackets and their walking boots, and there I was in a t-shit and converse and a cute little floral skirt. I haven't been able to wear a skirt without warm, woollen tights for months. It was entirely warm enough today, I don't know why everyone was looking at me so strangely. The way they were glaring, you'd have thought I'd killed someone or something.

When I got back I sat and studied outside for an hour and a half and ate Haribo (which apparently you don't have in America? How do you survive? I remember giving some Haribo Tangfastics to two American girls at camp, and their faces. They said I should've warned them how sour they were. I didn't think, I'm just so used to it) and then I studied a bit more at night. Oh! And I also wrote a song about the Hunger Games and uploaded it to my channel, so that was productive, I guess. 

It was a nice day but now I have a lot to do tomorrow. Further Calculus and the wave function make me want to break things and slam my head against walls. 

Wish me luck!

~Julia x 

Busy, busy, busy.

As the title says, it has been a tiring week for me. Jumping back into school right after spring break is no easy feat, and I certainly felt the effects of it. It takes everything I can to just somewhat pay attention in class, especially Anatomy. It doesn't help we're studying the oh-so complicated nervous system. It wasn't until today that stuff we learned on Monday started to click. Yeah.

Plus, the week is graduation exam week. Graduation exams are mostly taken by sophomores (like moi) and if you pass, you graduate. If you fail, you keep taking it in hopes you pass before everyone else graduates without you. I had to take 3 out of 5 (the other 2 I passed as a freshman). My last one is tomorrow, and to make things worse, it's the history one...yay. I don't remember a damn thing from my history class, but here goes nothing!

And I have a speech to write for French, as well as an essay, which I really should start on this weekend...considering they're due next week...Eh, I'll finish them sooner or later.

Oh, and you know about my violin complications? Well, I'm even more confused because I enjoyed my classes last week! My teacher was LAUGHING AND BEING HAPPY. What the hell? And to make matters worse, I went to my favorite music store (it's this super awesome log cabin place, and everyone is ultra chill and awesome there) to buy some sheet music and asked about their violin teacher. It turns out, he's classically trained by a famous violinist and has received AWARDS for his performing. And get this: everyone loves him! My head was spinning when I left the store.

So I just had a good class, but this awesome guy sounds, well, awesome. I'm still confused about the whole situation, but I have a vague idea of what'll happen. I'll stick with my current teacher until the end of this semester. If she gets her act together by summer, I'll stay. If I'm not happy, I'll give awesome guy a try. Oh, trop de drame! Thanks for the advice, you guys. It did help.

As for old trends I still like, I am an avid cd user. I have a huge collection that I'm keeping forever. I prefer flip phones over touch screen phones.I'll wear just about anything you see on The Golden Girls. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head because I'm pretty tired. Well, I'm off to bed, then. Night.

Lots of Love,
~Emily~

I had an interview!

Hey guys,

I’ve had a pretty good week since last Wednesday.

Sunday was Mother’s day here and me and my sister cooked my mum a 3 course meal. Prawn Cocktail, Steak and then an Eton Mess with pieces of shortbread in. It was actually quite fun. Not that I like cooking but for special occasions I like pushing the boat out.

Also  I had a job interview yesterday. The interview seemed to like me and I have a trail shift tomorrow for a couple of hours to try it out. It would be lovely to get a job before university, if only for the experience I can put on my CV when I am there. Of course the money would be nice too as a last panic pot to dip into.

This is going to be short, I have loads of coursework and other things to do before we come off school for Easter break in a couple weeks.

Emily: I’m not great at advice, but I’ll give my two cents. If you think that it might be something going on in her life that might be making her less motivating then it might be worth trying to stick it out. However if you really think she’s given all she can give it might be worth moving on. After all a teacher is supposed to try and push students and if you’re not getting this, but you want it, then seek it out.

Anyway, hope it all goes well and hope everyone else is well.

Alix

Lovely Day

So, I've had a lovely day.

I got up at seven AM, which wasn't very lovely, and then I had a music theory exam, also not so lovely. I don't know how well it went, really. I thought it was okay, but I thought that the last time and ended up failing miserably.

Anyway, then the loveliness started. I went to a youtube gathering! We all met up in George Square in Glasgow, and hung out there for a bit, and then we moved into a shopping centre food court for lunch. It was really nice to meet new people/catch up with people I'd met at previous gatherings. After lunch, we headed to Glasgow Green, where we sat on some picnic benches and made Free Hugs signs and laughed and quoted ASDF movie and generally had a good time. Following that, we set off, wielding our signs, into Glasgow's main shopping street, where we offered hugs to random strangers and made a lot of people either a) very happy or b) very uncomfortable.

Some people started to drift away after that, and when there weren't many people left I turned to the group I'd been standing with and suggested we all go to dinner. The great thing about having gatherings in Glasgow is that trains leave there for my nearest station every half our at least, and usually faster, so I don't have to worry about leaving at a certain time. It meant I was super relaxed and could stay out later than usual. Five of us wandered down the street, hit Waterstone's to look for nerdfighter notes (we didn't find any, but we did find an actual Nerdfighter and hugged some more strangers), then went to Pizza Hut for food. It was really nice, just sitting, chatting. It was really comfortable and it's so good to be able to make Doctor Who references and see people understand them. It was like being among friends. After that, I got the train home with another Nerdfighter who's been at pretty much every gathering I've been too, and is a fantastic fellow, and now I'm in bed, exhausted, but happy.

So yeah. Lovely day.

Oh! I also made a Mother's Day card for my mum. I had pictured it being nicer, but it seems I overestimated my craft skills somewhat...

Okay, our topic for this week was outdated trends that we still love! I don't know if it really counts as a trend, but I like a lot of late nineties type, indie-kid stuff. I wear my denim dress all the time, with woollen tights and converse and big cardigans in the winter, and I'm in love with my giant, colourful, striped jumper, which I call my childrens'-TV-presenter-from-the-nineties jumper.

Also, I don't know if this is a trend exactly, but I buy most of my music on vinyl. And it's not really because I think it sounds better (though it does), or because I like owning physical music (though I do, but CDs sort of count as that as well), it's mostly the superficial stuff. I like record sleeves. I like the cover art. I like that inside you get song lyrics, or information about the band, or pictures of the band on tour. And most of all, I like the free posters.

Emily: if you're not enjoying your violin lessons as they are, I think you should find a new teacher. I know how much of a drag it can be to keep doing something just because you feel obligated to. But it's totally not worth it. Your decision, but that's what I would do.

Ok, I'm very, very tired, so I'm going to sleep.
Happy St Patrick's day, one and all!
~Julia x

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm SORRY!

I can't believe I skipped TWO Thursdays in a row, you guys! I don't even have an excuse, I've just forgotten. Ugh. I'm sorry. I have pictures to compensate Forgive me? I'll just fill y'all in.

So, we had MORE tornadoes down in Alabama. Gee, what a surprise there. They were during school, too, so we were all stuck sitting in the hallways. My friends from Anatomy and I all sat together and read Dr. Seuss books to each other/cuddled/made dirty jokes/went through a whole pack of gum. It was fun.

That next week, I went to Panama City Beach. We had to wake up at like, 4 in the morning to leave. Ew. But we made it there just after noon, so I guess getting up early paid off! And you guys, I have never--I mean ever--seen a family eat so unhealthily in my life. I was so disgusted (and ashamed to be American) that I took off to the nearest grocery store and bought a bag of apples, a bag of lettuce, salad dressing, and a can of healthy tomato soup. Yum. Needless to say, I'm shocked that they're not morbidly obese by now.

We spent a good chunk of time laying out on the beach. I did play badminton with Skylar, my best friend's adorable little sister. It was windy, but we had so much fun that we didn't care. We also did a huge amount of shopping, which made my inner girly self oh-so delighted. Each night before I went to bed, I would call my mama and tell her about my day. This would last anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour. Then I would pass out in like, five minutes.

Here are some pictures.

The view from our condo!

My lame amateur attempt at being a photographer.

Uh, more beach, I guess.

I also went to see Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance. It was good, but not authentic Irish dancing, you know? And a little TOO showy for my taste, I just wanted to see good ol' Irish dancing. Oh well, I still bought the t-shirt. That means they did something right.

And I had a violin lesson today. I must say, I'm not looking forward to them as much, which isn't good since that makes me less motivated to practice. It's just that my teacher never seems to be happy, and that makes me sad! I don't want to stop seeing her just because of that, but I'm not sure. I want someone who can really motivate me and make me WANT to keep playing, isn't that alright?

So here I am, asking for advice, because I like you guys. Should I stick it out with this teacher or start looking around for another one?

I'm going to go now. See ya!

Lots of Love,
~Emily~

Trends and exam results

So hey guys,

I got me results back last week from my college exams. I got As in two and a D and an E. So I’m re-sitting the latter and hoping the D doesn’t effect me too badly later on.

Samantha asked us what trends we liked even though they were outdated. I’m not sure what constitutes a trend but I’ll go with things I like that I consider outdated.

80s make up. I love it; the bright colours, the bold designs. Things along the lines of this.

And this

I would wear make up like this everyday if I had the time and skills to do it properly. I got a pallete of 100 colour a while back and it was filled with wonderful colours so I have tried out similar looks.

I also am still very much still into the trend of motown. I get this from my Mother. But you should all go listen to a little piece called “The Onion Song”. The second it starts playing my sister and me crack the bigger smile ever.

And lastly, the trends of “Sex and the City” and “Friends”. I realise their days have been had and most people have gotten over them now. But I still love to catch them or even record them on TV to watch.

Apart from that I don’t really get into trends. I just go with what I like regardless of if others like it or not.

So, I will leave you all to your days. Hope to hear from you all soon.

Bye

Alix