I don't like drunks

Here in Australia, its pretty customary for all those of school-leaving age to hire accommodation out of town, or sometimes out of the country, for a week of fun away from the constraints of rules and most importantly, parents.

You'll never guess where I am right now xD

I'm sitting in Matt's bedroom, on his laptop, in a rented house in Seabird, Western Australia. The wind hasn't stopped since we got here on Saturday and neither has the drinking (for the other 10 of them anyway) The walls of this house are paper-thin and everything can be heard. Right now, someones iPod is blasting crappy metal-dance music mix while most of the guys are running around in dresses. I am the only person in this house who has not even been tipsy this week. I haven't had many good experiences being around others and alcohol, so I feel a little uneasy when they start doing shots and drawing abs on each other. In fact, I'd never had an alcoholic drink before this week, and I'm taking my alcohol slowly and responsibly. I don't see the point in getting piss-drunk on purpose, as the rest of them are doing. And I've sat back and watched every single one of them get drunk and make the biggest fools of themselves, which is not a very good advertisement for getting drunk. I have lost most of my respect for the people I call my friends thanks to their drunken antics, but they're still my friends and I still love them. At least I'm leaving with my dignity.

I don't really want to give a full rundown now, I think I'll wait til I get home for that. Besides, someone has to video they're most embarrassing moments xD and the saddest thing is that they actually want me to.

P.S I don't remember ever being this cold in summer. I hate the wind!!

Severe Blog Neglection Disorder

Yes....Blog Every Day.....that's working out pretty well, don't ya think?

In my defense, I've been busy passing my exams, turning 17, attending parties and graduating (in that order!), but that's probably not of interest to anyone.

I'm going to tell you about it anyway!!

I finished my last exam of high school last Wednesday. It was Dance Theory, it was fairly easy and it was fairly short. More than half the students taking the exam left before the end, but being the Nerdfighter I am, I stayed behind, checking and double checking my answers. Leaving an exam early is just wrong!
Thursday was my birthday and as far as birthdays go it was pretty good. I was at home by myself most of the day so I was able to watch "The Boat That Rocked" (which I got for my birthday) without fighting over the TV. As a plus, I didn't have to work! Yay!
On Saturday night one of my friends had an 18th birthday party, which was, in a word, awesome.

Homemade wood fired pizza + vodka and rum slushies + sleepover = A very good party
(Don't you just love my flawless maths?)

Sunday was a lunch with the family to commemorate my Aunt's lost battle with cancer, followed by another birthday party (or un-birthday party as was the theme)

And Monday I graduated high school! Everything Maureen Johnson ever said about Graduation is 100% true. I started falling asleep after about 10 minutes, which is, coincidentally, about the same time the Principal began talking. I'm proud to finally be able to say: F you Ms Lorimer!

Honestly, this whole freedom thing hasn't fully sunk in, but I sure as hell am loving getting used to it. All of a sudden I feel about five times more independent than I was even a month ago, and I think my parents are encouraging it. Everything is ending and changing and I am loving every second of it. I'm ready for a change; ready to start afresh. I really want to move out, just so that everything can be new and different, or at the very least, I want to move house again. My parents have actually been looking at this fantastic house, but the only problem is that the bedrooms are tiny. I'm sure I could survive with a room barely able to fit a bed and a desk, just for the opportunity to start the new year, new school, new life in a new place.

Oh well, I'll just have to deal with that when I come to it.

P.S my cookie dough roll count is up again - my best friend, Ashleigh, bought me one for my birthday. She knows me too well. xD

I Don't Really Care Anymore

So, this blogging every day thing is a lot harder than it sounds, especially when your computer decides to keep screwing up on you *sigh*
And I had a really good idea lined up for the Friday 13th post as well.
Oh well.

Nothing interesting to report other than I have decided to preserve my sanity and not continue NaNoWriMo. I might, however, try to write every day in December or January. And also, I spent yesterday afternoon walking around the campus of the University I will be going to come February/March next year. It's pretty and I've already scoped out all the best places to just sit and hang out - the best place is right outside the humanities buildings. Yay! I don't even have to walk anywhere between lectures.

NaBloWriMo Posts Left: 14
Cookie Dough Rolls Consumed: 3
Exams Left: ONE!!!!!
Days until my Birthday: 3

Procrastination Station

What? I'm supposed to blog again? Really?
Ok. Here's a list. I like to call it "The Top Five Ways To Procrastinate Just Hours Before An Exam When You Haven't Actually Studied For Said Exam And Really Just Can't Be Bothered." Feel free to try these out yourself!

5. Start a blog! If you already have one, why not try to blog every day for a month? Or post random rambling blog updates about nothing in particular? Its great fun and it takes up most of your time, if you perfect the art of the rambling nonsensical blog post! And if you do update your blog here's a tip: for even more time-wasting fun, type a sentence (like perhaps... the top five ways to procrastinate just hours before an exam when you haven't actually studied for said exam and really can't be bothered?), then go back and capitalise the first letter of every word! (See title of this list for finished results) Yes, it would be quicker just to capitalise the first letter of every word the first time round, but that's the whole point! Its Working For Me!

4. Subscribe to tons of new people on youtube. It's a great way for these people to be encouraged to make more videos, leading to you having more videos to watch! Or sign up to youtube yourself and spend hours editing crappy footage you took at last years school dance of your friends doing something stupid so you can spend hours waiting for it to upload to youtube! It sure worked for me!

3. Pick up that musical instrument you haven't played in weeks/months/years. Now's the perfect time to re-start your learning and develop an obsessive need to play this instrument every waking hour! Just ask my guitar and the blisters on my fingers!

2. Internet window shopping. If you have a birthday coming up or are just excited for Christmas, why not search online for anything you could ever possibly be even remotely interested in! Now I know what I don't want for my birthday next week!

1. Join a social networking site that you always thought was kind of pointless, or maybe you just thought you'd never have the time....coincidentally, who wants to follow me on twitter?

So there you go! You should be all caught up now on the best ways to waste your precious study time. No need to thank me. Really.

NaBloWriMo Posts Left: 18
Exams left: 2 but soon to be 1 !!!
Days left till my birthday: 7
People who care how many days are left till my birthday: 0

Another one?

Oh good lord. How many more days can I exist on such boring nothingness?

Lets make a list of all the things I've accomplished today:
- Getting out of bed (trust me...very hard to do this morning)
- Getting dressed
- Brushing my hair
- Eating some sort of breakfast-y type meal
- Emptying my youtube subscriptions box and STILL finding videos to watch
- Baking brownies
- Playing guitar

Now here's a list of things I should have done/been doing today:
- Cleaning up for my very stressed mother who needs a break from life
- Eating healthy meals instead of this non-stop snacking habit I've formed
- Exercising - yep, that's a big one
- and oh, yeah ....studying for my final Drama exam!!!!!
*sigh* I really hate myself for being such and effective procrastinator.

NaBloWriMo Posts: 19
Pages left to write: 180
Exams: 2
Cookie dough rolls/brownie mixes consumed this month: 3

My Literary Achievements

So I've decided, as fun as the whole "write nothing that is even remotely interesting every day and pretend like you'd actually read it someone else wrote the same thing" was, today I actually have something to talk about.
Really, I'm just pulling at straws right now.
On this morning of my final ever English Literature exam, I will be recounting the history of my interest and achievements in the area of Literature.

I suppose, it all started at age seven when, already the avid reader that I was of books with sentences like "Jack said 'No'.", my older brother (age 12) came home raving about some book called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", insisting that I read it. I promised to read only the first chapter and if I liked it perhaps I would continue to read it. It was far away from anything else I'd read with big, "grown up" words. I took me hours to read that first chapter, but I walked away begging for more. I finished the whole book. Then the next book (I actually read that one in 4 days at the age of 8!) until I'd read The Goblet of Fire and was eagerly awaiting the first movie. Needless to say, I have developed an almost unhealthy obsession with this series. Not just the books, but the movies, merchandise and Wizard Rock. I even wrote my all important final Drama Practical Exam ever piece on a girl who was a little too obsessed with the Harry Potter Franchise. (I managed to include Hank Green's Accio Deathly Hallows in there, too! Harry Potter Nerds, be proud. I am spreading the word!)

Following Harry Potter, my obsession with book series' came. I, to this day, prefer to read books that come in a series or trilogy to stand-alone books (the exception, of course, being anything by John Green or Maureen Johnson). I read Enid Blyton's "Twins at St Clares" books, "Malory Towers" books (pretty much anything by Enid Blyton - I am still a huge fan). Eventually all that reading about Boarding School began to make me write about Boarding School. An excerpt from my first "story" at age 9:
"Hailie are you sure you have every thing" Mrs Jones asked Hailie.
"Yep. I'm sure"
Hailie Jones was just about to go off to boarding school for the first time but her train hadn't arrived yet. They waited for a few more minutes and the train arrived.
"Well, I hope you have a good year," said Mrs Jones. She kissed Hailie on the cheek, hugged her then walked off.
Hailie walked on to the empty train, looked for an empty compartment and sat down. A few minutes later the train started moving. Hailie watched the scenery.
I never managed to finish that book. Nothings really changed in that area xD

A few years later, we were asked to write a book for a class project. I was extremely excited about this and wrote "Under the Spotlight" a story about all the lies and sabotage that goes on behind the scenes of play performances. I was ambitious for an eleven year old!

A few more years have passed since then, and try as I may, I have not been able to stick with a story long enough to finish it since "Under the Spotlight". I have completed many essays, and much to my horror, poems. I have nothing against people who like poetry, but I don't really have much fondness for it. So to be told I had to write it, and have it marked. Well, I hated that. And thus, I was never very good at it. My best poem to date, written earlier this year, called "Taking Flight":

The stage is set, bright lights
Searching for a subject.
Obscured from view I wait,
Head pounding, heart racing,
I wait with nervous excitement coursing
Through my veins
Like venom, restricting my movement.
I take sharp, shallow, unsatisfying breaths,
Remembering my task, my mission.
My head spins, my hands shake and
The audience fills in, faces blurred
By adrenalin.

House lights dim, the confusing buzz
Of many speaking at once, dies down.
The venom forces my throat closed;
I am almost blind with anticipation.
Against my will, my limbs move, one step at a time
Until I regain control and stop.

I find myself at centre stage staring
Dazedly into the blurred faces,
Colours running until-
The searching lights find me.
Now I see nothing.
My nerves make me shake so badly I
Step forward and hold onto the microphone
As I would hold onto life.

Music...
Am I imagining it?
Are the smudged faces hearing it too?
Autopilot kicks in.
Air flows through me like water.
My lungs open, soaking it up joyfully.

I am ready.
I begin.

The first note never sounded sweeter.
Piano and vocal chords wind together
Unbreakable, links in a chain.
My mind bursts open, my eyes
Are thrown into sharp focus.
No longer is my head throbbing,
Pulse thudding noisily in my ear.
No more shaking of the hand or racing
Of the heart.

I can hear.
I can think.
I can see.

And I fly.

In July of this year, my Lit teacher offered the class a chance to participate in an event called "Write a Book-in-a-day", an event that takes place every year to raise money for Children's Hospitals across the country. Basically, you spend twelve hours locked up with about five or six other people trying to write a children's book. As you start (at about 8 am) you are given two human characters, one non-human character, a setting, an issue and five words to be included somewhere in the text. It was seriously the most fun I have had in years and I was so eager to recreate that intense joy we felt once we'd finished the book, that I decided to do NaNoWriMo. We finished with about two hours to spare, each writing about a chapter and collectively editing each chapter. It was cold, it was rainy, but it was the best feeling in the world when we bound the book together, handed it to our teacher and ordered ourselves pizza from the English Department Staff Room. I have never felt so alive.
The prize giving for this competition was two weeks ago, and we had been told we'd one some sort of prize. Five of us turned up to receive the award for the Best Book in the Secondary School category. The description of the book that was read out surprised us:

It is a judge’s delight when presented with so many wonderful stories, any of which could claim the title of the best book, to come across one that instantly makes he/she want to wake their children – and/or the children next door, and all the way down the street – to share the magic. This is one of those books. The central character is a mischievous, manipulating and fun loving sprite who is telling her story of how she changes a mean and miserly Aunt into being loving and considerate – for that was the sprite’s job, to change people for the better. This is a story, in the words of the judging criteria, that can engage all 10-14 yr old readers beautifully and has that special goose-bump factor. It is well planned, without any glaring faults, full of humour, and contains a delightful value-system for how life can work better for everyone with a bit of give and take. The descriptions are tight and vivid – the aunt’s grim house, for example, “It was like someone had taken all of [the homeless person’s] loneliness and built a house of it”, and the monster against whom a game of chess has to be won “a gigantic blob of tangled arms and legs was emerging from the shadows, saliva dripping from its fangs” who is won over by being addressed as “Sir”. He’d never been called “Sir” before. Eventually the Aunt’s niece is rescued from the island where she is being held, thanks to some duck that carry them over the river in exchange for yellow gumboots and marzipan. By the end, everyone, including the sprite is happy, and the aunt discovers the advantages of expressing the love that is really inside her. Congratulations to the Team Flobo with its book Fiddlesticks.

In short (well actually, it was really long) that is my history of literary achievements, (ending with having "Fiddlesticks!" published before I turned seventeen!) all of which lead to my decision to do NaNoWriMo. I am still unsure as to whether I should continue NaNoWriMo, but writing this post has certainly put in a good word for the "yes" case.

Sorry this is so long, but I actually wanted to post a remotely interesting blog entry today!
NaBloWriMo Blog Posts Left: 20
Pages Left to Write: Still 180 (approx 45 000 words)
Exams Left: 3...but soon to be 2...gah...exams!'
Cookie Dough Rolls consumed this month: 2

I'm Trying

Yeah....
So....
Second week, and I don't actually have any interesting things to say.
Sorry. This is one boring post.

Well, I did do my final maths exam EVER, and it went well. (I'm still in awe over the easiness of the Venn Diagram...they never make Venn Diagrams that easy!) I never, ever, have to do another maths exam...EVER. (Can you tell I'm excited by this prospect?)
And now I'm on the interwebz watching Little White Lie by StarKidPotter and reading Maureen Johnson's blog instead of studying for my English Lit exam tomorrow.
PROCRASTINATOR 4 LYF!

Anywho....let's wrap this extremely boring, nonsensical blog up, shall we?
NaBloWriMo Posts Left: 21
NaNoWriMo Pages left: 180 (approx 45 000 words)
Exams Left: 3
Procrastination count: don't even ask
Cookie Dough Rolls consumed this month: 2

Yeah, I know.

So I missed yesterday. Sue me. Sometimes this thing called life happens, and you kind of have to pay attention to it, even if it does force you to lose NaBloWriMo.

My word war went well. 5000 words by the end of it! Not nearly as much as most people but who cares? It's brilliant for me!

So last night I had a major freak out, and while it was only semi-NaNo related, it left me seriously considering quitting NaNoWriMo. I slept on it, but this morning quitting still seems like a good idea. I'm not deciding anything right now, though. I have three exams this week to study for, so NaNoWriMo is going on hiatus around here until Friday. I'll see how I feel about it then.

NaBloWriMo Blog Posts Left: 22
Pages Left: 180 (approx 45 000 words)
Exams Left: 4
Freak Outs: 2
Moments of Inspiration: 1

Not Now.

Can't talk now. Entered 24 hour Word War. Need to WRITE.

Be back tomorrow.

NaBloWriMo Blog Posts Left: 24
Exams Left: 4
Pages left to write: 194 (approx 48 500 words)
Procrastination Count: just take it for granted that there always procrastination.
Freak Outs: 1
Word Wars: 1
Caffeine Count: 1
Moments of inspiration: 1

I Promise I'll Write My Novel...Eventually

Wow, this is the first day I've had to actually remind myself to blog, and I'm glad I remembered because if I hadn't I would now be failing at NaBloWriMo almost as badly as I'm failing at NaNoWriMo.

Yep, still haven't started my novel (actually that's a lie, I've got a sort of Prologuey thing - it is too a word- and now only need another 23 chapters), though to my defense, the planning is coming along nicely. This is the first novel I've actually planned xD And if I get it finished it will be the first novel I've actually finished (lol, Hello, Department of Redundancy Department! I haven't got a novel so you're going to infiltrate my blog posts?)
Nothing else to report here today, other than the fact that I have burned all my history notes and am now studying math (ugh)

NaBloWriMo Blog Posts Left: 25
Exams Left: 4
Pages left to write: 198 (approx 49 500 words)
Procrastination Count: all day, every day
Freak Outs: 1
Moments of inspiration: 1

Urgh.

So, I was freaking out about my novel just a little bit yesterday, and then I got more and more freaked out and depressed at the lack of quality in my writing. I know NaNoWriMo is about quantity over quality, but I seriously had no ideas for plot and no idea how to even keep going in my novel. My character's were flat, I had pages of dialogue pretty much giving a history of a place rather than actually adding anything to the story other than more crap which wasn't needed because it was crap enough already. To top that off, I didn't really have much time to worry about it because I had my History Exam this morning and actually needed to study.

What happened next:
On a study break I went to Seventh Sanctum and ended up in a story prompt section that gave me the prompt : present the legend of the Jack 'O Lantern as a conspiracy.
Not being from America or any other country that seems to know a lot about Jack O' Lanterns, I decided to research the legend (which was surprisingly not that interesting, to me at least) and ended up in an article on Wikipedia about the Origins of Halloween which told me that is had some basis in the Pagan/Wiccan holiday Samhain which is on the same night.
Now the last part I already knew because I've been interested in the Wiccan religion for a while and have been studying it's history and "basics" for about three years now.
That's when I started looking for as much "first hand" experience of this holiday as possible, which lead to me trying to find out the difference between Celtic and Gaelic (Turns out Gaelic is like a sub-culture, for want of a better word, of Celtic) which lead me to the most popular places in the world that Gaelic (the language) is spoken.
Which lead me to research the history of the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia.

Yes, it was a productive afternoon, and while I wasn't studying the history of Australia 1900-1945, I was at least studying history. :P

All in all, it was definitely the most productive internet-tangent I've ever been on because it gave me a pretty amazing idea for a story. The only problem now, is deciding whether to continue with NaNoWriMo and write that story instead (the only problem with this is that I'm afraid I'm going to end up butchering this idea), effectually starting three days late, or to keep planning out this story and write it later.

Anyway, my history exam went pretty smoothly (the only history exam in which I've ever finished answering all the questions, and also the only history exam that actually counts for much) apart from a question including something that wasn't even in the syllabus!!!!!!!!

NaBloWriMo Blog Posts Left: 26
Exams Left: 4
Pages Left To Write: 200 (50 000 words)
Procrastination Count: 3
Freak Out Count: 1
Moments of inspiration/ ingenuity: 1

Reflections on Day 2

I am never going to finish NaNoWriMo, the rate I'm going! It's only day 3 and already I am very behind. I said I'd need to do about 6 or 7 pages a day to stay on track (and thats hand-written pages, as I am handwriting it) I managed four pages on day 1 and only another 2 on day 2. To stay on track I need to write 12 pages today! and study for my History exam that is tomorrow morning! Despite how this post may read, I actually haven't started panicking about how in the world I am actually going to get to 50 000 words (or 200 written pages). I figure the last week and a half of November will be for writing furiously as I will have no more exams and will be at home all day, every day (unless work decides to give me 10 hour shifts every day - then I'm screwed.) Oh well. I'll see how many pages I get through today. Oh, and I still have no plot or idea what my novel is about! xD

NaBloWriMo posts left: 27
Exams left: 5
Pages left to write: 194
Procrastination count: 2
Freak out count: 1

NaNoWriMo Day #1

When last I blogged, real life had taken control and was locking me up as its prisoner. After hours of study I was finally allowed to start my novel!!
I still don't know what its about, and am still unable to give a synopsis or anything even remotely similar. But it has characters (or one anyway) and it has a setting!

In other news, I'm really glad Sticking To Your Schedule isn't one of the subjects I'm currently doing exams for. If it were I would FAIL. I didn't study or write nearly as much as I'd hope yesterday, because I kind of burnt myself out before midday and instead of doing all the wonderful and wacky (read "boring") things my schedule demanded....I watched a marathon of Friends. Sue me.

Word count: 1001
Exams left: 5
NaBloWriMo posts left: 28

Kick Off!

So, it's currently 7:45am Nov 1st and therefore time to blog before the rest of the house wakes up!

After I got home from work yesterday at 6pm, instead of planning and creating a plot, I just decided I'm going to "wing-it" plot-wise, and instead spent four hours on the NaNoWriMo Forums.

After deciding to make my novel up as I go along, the next question (one asked a few times on the forums) was "Do I stay up until midnight to start writing, or just get up tomorrow and start writing at 9:30 as my elaborate schedule commands?

I really wanted to stay up and start at midnight, write for about an hour and then go to sleep, just because then it would feel like having two chances at writing on November 1st. But doing that would make me very sleepy come 7:00am when, according to my new daily schedule, I would need to wake up and get up to BLOG. In turn, it would affect my whole schedule and I would have failed at sticking to my schedule (trust me, not the first time - I NEVER stick to schedules!) before I even gave it a chance!

So instead, I slept. Not very well, and I'm exhausted anyway, but I slept. I'm kind of refreshed and have to fit in an hour of studying the Cold War before I am even allowed to start my novel.

Good luck to all the other WriMo's and BloMo's out there counting down til midnight!

P.S If you need help with pretty much anything in your novel head here.

I'm a Liar

Ok, so I lied....

This year, I am going to be doing NaNoWriMo (or my own personal equivalent, anyway)
I've been getting so excited about it, and even though I promised myself I'd do something similar between high school graduation (Nov 23) and the start of University (March?), I'm was too worked up about this to miss it!

Instead of the general "write 50 000 words in 30 days" challenge using a computer, I'm going to attempt to write 200 pages by hand. Why by hand? Because I know I'm not always going to have access to the family computer (the only computer, currently) and I've always preferred writing my stories by hand; it just feels a lot more personal and comfortable for me (Plus, it stops the internet from draining my life force and study-time). And why 200 pages? 200 pages it what I (roughly, very roughly) worked out to be the equivalent of the usual 50 000 words, which will be hard to count if I'm hand-writing it. Plus it seemed semi-attainable.

I have no plot (although I do have a list to choose from) , no characters, but I think I've got a genre (Fantasy/Adventure) but I suppose that will change depending on which plot I choose.
If I go with Fantasy/Adventure I have to create my own world for this story to take place in, which I have limited time to do.

Instead of actually studying for my History Final Exam (currently re-writing my class notes on The Cold War - up to the Berlin Wall, so I'm not too far behind in my studies) I've been sitting at the computer since about 9:30am (its now 2pm) reading and reading and reading about NaNoWriMo, watching A Very Potter Musical (seriously, check it out!) on youtube and creating a strict and regimented time-table for the next three weeks of my life (the ones in which I'm doing exams). Needless to say, its taking a little while.

Anyway, I will still be here every day on November as promised (I've even scheduled in half an hour every day for blogging!), but now I might actually have something interesting to write about rather than the mindless waffle that might otherwise have been present!

Now! To finish my schedule, plan my novel and get the heck away from this computer before it steals my soul as well as my study-time!!

National Blog Writing Month

So...two posts...this blog is going well...oops...

Well, I'm here to say that there will be a lot more action on this blog from now on!
Last year, I heard about this thing called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), but November really isn't a great time to be delving into stuff like that when you're still in high school, and you're in Australia where the school year ends in December. November is the month where everything is wrapping up and all of your teachers are putting oodles of pressure on you to, well, pass. To heighten this feeling, I had to do seven final exams during November, so I decided it was probably in my best interests to, I don't know, not fail my exams?

I'm a huge youtube junkie, so naturally I've been watching all of my favourite youtubers, and one of them mentioned NaNoWriMo. Now here's the catch:
I'm less than a month away from graduating high school, and starting November 2nd I'm going to be doing THE MOST IMPORTANT EXAMS I'LL EVER DO IN MY LIFE, EVER!!!!!
So, alas, it looks like I'm going to be skipping it again this year.
BUT, I joined up on the website and I've been reading blogs written by some of this years participants and I came upon NaBloWriMo - National Blog Writing Month.

So, I'll be here every single day of November!

Domestic Bliss

I feel totally domesticated right now, like I've finally lived up to that 50's/60's housewife stereotype.

One of the most important things you should know about me is that I am the least "girly" person I know. I've always been described as "one of the boys" and I'd rather hangout and play video games than go shopping.

I spent the entire afternoon knitting and baking.
Yes.
Me.
Knitting and baking.

And I totally enjoyed it.

Let's see how long I can keep this up

Me?
A blog?

This should be interesting....