200 Lessons

Yesterday was the much-coveted Helen O' Grady Drama Academy senior youth theatre for the Morno Peninsula... production. It was your typical HelenO play, except this one didn't have group lines (because we changed it). Held at Cube 37, and really, really short, it was lame but exhilirating. It was titled 'The Legend of Tim Sandy' and I got a 200 lessons plaque (5 years)!

Thanks to loveable contractors, the opening date of Dick Smith Frankston has been pushed back again. Last I heard, the store was being fitted on the 18th of January. Now I'm hearing that won't let the place actually be open until the end of Jan/start of Feb. Brilliant. Just when I'm starting VCE and going on VCE camp.

But at the moment I'm working Wednesday and Thursday afternoons in DSE Southland, so come visit!

Adios.

Just a lil' taste of VCE

You know how some schools have "rollover"? I hate that. We had one day of VCE today, like an orientation to all of our classes.

My classes for next year are as follows:

• English
• Maths Methods
• HHD (3 and 4, so there was no orientation)
• IT
• Media
• VETamorphus (no orientation)

So 4 subjects in 7 blocks gives me ample free periods :D OH, AND FREE PIZZA AT LUNCH TIME.

English
Well, English seems hard. A book to read over the holidays (please, just an assignment-free holiday? PLEASE?!) and complicated outcomes. Please, no. And I hope I got Rietveld instead of Creek as my teacher... ugh.

IT
Scott very much ruined IT for me by telling me I'll "have fun" and that "Dr Hopkins talks too slow". Which he does. I won't have fun at all! There's 9 people in that class, and one of which is a girl, 5 of which are year nines (10s for next year). Oh boy.

Maths Methods
Only Tom and myself are Methods people who did General this year, something Walker was not pleased about. He thinks we won't cope in Methods without doing it in year 10. He's probably right, but we told him that we chose to do General, but Curtis-Morris suggested we do Methods because we're both in IT. I bet we'll swap out of it at some point next year.

Media
I've gotta say, I'm really excited about Media. Mrs Rivera, I've never had her, but I will now. The class is fairly big, 17 people next year, compared to like 10 or so that were in it this year. Everyone has different skills in different areas of media too, so group work will be perfeeect.

Tomorrow is free dress day because of presentation night that night (I'm so not going in lieu of drama) and Thursday is a pointless excursion to Queen Vic for HHD and Food Tech people. Then Friday is a 9/10 break-up at AMF and then the year is over! Success!

My life is taking its toll on me

It's amazing. I'm only 16 and yet I have such a hectic life.

I got a job at Dick Smith. But until it opens in Frankston I have to get to Southland constantly for training. Now whenever anyone mentions Southland to me, I die a little inside.
I've got exams this week. I arranged for it to be two days instead of three because I have to work on Friday. >.<. In Hawthorn at the regional office.

It's so bizarre I think. I'm always on my phone now. Kirk pointed out that I even answer my calls in class, which are often from work now.

I half-cause a shoplifting last week on my first face shift. I put down a laptop behind me for like 15minute holding for a couple that had already bought it. I put it down there like their salesman told me to. Then we couldn't find it. Like an hour later we discovered it had been stolen less than 10 seconds after I put it on the ground. Some dude just reached over the counter and took it, and there were three of us there. How weird is that! The thing is, I got a call from the assistant manager last week (oddly enough during school) telling me not to worry about it and was just looking out for me. But according to a text message I got telling me I had a missed call from her (even though I didn't get one), and I'm just anxious that it might be to fire me. Eugh. I'm really not having a good couple of weeks.

My only solace is that after Friday I basically have not-- wait, that's such a lie.
I've still got more training at some point in Southland before the store opens on the 8th.
And my drama play is about a week after that, something we're all completely underprepared for.

Can't this year be over NOW?

101 reasons not to have an iPhone

I know that the iPhone has been out in Australia for a little while, and it's got an aurora-esque hype built around it simply because it's an Apple product. Well, I looove Apple computers and such because they kick ass compared to PCs (mainly in the won't-kamikaze-for-no-reason category) but bringing out this new, pointless phone crosses the line into "unneccesary product excitement".

Have you noticed how caveman the iPhone is in comparison to other recent phones? The iPhone is advertised as being an iPod, a phone, and an internet communications device, ALL IN ONE. That's right, an internet communications device. Not only is that a fancy way of saying "it has GPRS, just like every other mobile", but it plugs it as an iPod too - a word that doesn't even exist. There's no such thing as an iPod! It's just an mp3 player that happens to have the marketed Apple logo branded on the back of it like cattle in a barnyard! There is no justification as to why the iPod excels over other mp3 players. So what, it stores songs. It doesn't even store the most amount of songs from any mp3 player (you know, like a memory-card-changeable mp3?). When you get an iPod or an iPhone, your allotted usage is fixed for life.

Still on the basis of the iPhone not doing things pretty much every other phone can, the iPhone can't perform the simplest task but covers up for it by acquiring something else. For example, the iPhone can't send MMS messages, but never fear! It still has a touch screen (oh great, some smudgy piece of thumbprint town)! I don't get the hype about touch screens. It's just gonna get destroyed within a day anyway.

Here's another list of things the iPhone continues to fail in: smaller resolution than other phones; can't record video; can't customize ringtones; no third-party applications allowed; can't voice dial; can't record audio; can't instant message; and it can't even be recharged when the battery completely dies, instead, Apple gets to take care of that for you by you sending your iPhone to them for fixing. How useless.

To top it off, you get all these arbitrary, highly common functions in a compacted Apple product for 5 times the price of a phone that could do all this itself. I bet if the iPhone was human, it'd be pompous and pretentious.

Don't get an iPhone. I know I won't.

An incredible eight-foot heap!

Sorry. Listening to Len.

It's been a while since I've posted a blog. I kind of planned on doing one in October, but couldn't be bothered. Now it's the FIRST of November. What are the odds?!

If you missed the epic LAN party, you are a shameful human being. Scott, Andrew and I organized a LAN party in my church's hall - an incredible two days of food gorging, prize winning, player-beating and fire starting. Oops! Did I say fire starting?
Anywho, for the whole of the two days, I set up my camera (yes, I got an uber 8.1mp camera for my birthday, which was the 2nd, and the lan was the 3rd-4th) to take a photo of the room every 30 seconds. Dare I say, mission accomplished; except when my camera died and needed charging. Here's a video link of what the time lapse ended up looking like:



It was my sixteenth birthday on October 2nd. :D I had such an incredibly hectic day. Let me see if I can remember everything I did...
Had to be in Southland at 9am for a 2nd interview for Dick Smith (not the Southland one, the new one in Frankston) and I brought Katherine with me, something she was not happy with, having to get up so early. :D Buahaha.
Then, I went for my Learner's test at about 1:30 that day. Totally passed by one question I believe. But for some reason, I needed a doctor's certificate because I'm on medication before I could get my actual licence; something I didn't get t do till the following Tuesday, when I then got my L's, but came back the day after because the girl didn't give me the log book. Goth, don't you just hate VicRoads?
Continuing on my birthday day, I donated blood that afternoon at about four. Dare I say, that was the funnest experience I'd had in a while. I highly reccommend it. I got a blood donor card back a few days ago, where I found out my blood type is A-Pos. Same as Casey! Woohoo!
Then that night I went out for dinner with the family, and then had to be in bed early so I could get up at 5 and go to the LAN party early the next day.

Phew. Speaking of things involving Andrew and Scott, they roped me into joining them on the recent Science astronomy assignment, where we filmed an 8-minute movie over 2 days about the sun (another occasion involving a time lapse that my camera did). Here's another YouTube link to my time lapse:



Quickly, last week I sang at church for the first time. Something Mason got me into doing after hearing me sing at the school's music night. :D it was exhilirating.

Ah. Sorry about the really long blog.
Adios!

11 Hours of Katherine

Okay, so the term ended on Friday. To commemorate, Katherine, Mollie and I began an old tradition of going to the city constantly for no reason!

Sunday morning, I met Mollie at the station at 10. Then we caught the train towards the city and Katherine got on at Seaford. Once we got to Flinders Street, we took a leisurely walk along the Yarra and found the Melbourne version of "the place". If your name is Zoe you'll probably get that.

Anyway, I was sorta hungry, so by around noon we were at Southbank but didn't eat anything because I'm a cheapskate. Sooo we walked out of Southbank, back to the Yarra and Katherine reeeeally wanted to go through the market, although it was teriffically boring. After escaping the packedness that was the Yarra market, we could've either turned around for 10 metres and crossed over the bridge above us over the river but for some reason kept walking and got to the ferris wheel on the other side (that was pretty much adjacent to the previous bridge) like 15 minutes later. Snore.

Funny story: on the ferris wheel (that Mollie paid for, thanks!) Mollie decided we should rock it, so her and Katherine in particular kept rocking it around as I talked to the people behind us as often as possible and Vega played on the speaker in the gondola. Vega was soon interrupted with the control man's voice telling us to stop shaking the thingy. o.O Oops.

So we passed by Federation Square and texted various jumping-related and Helga-related messages to the wall, NONE OF WHICH EVER CAME UP. How stingy is that? So we went and got Subway (well katherine did) then we got the city circle to the Docklands park.

I really don't think there's any better park. Mollie was dead or tired or something so Katherine and I had fun and took pictures on those big metallic circles. Afterwards we went to the State Library and had some learning fun!

So it's about 3:30 now and we caught the train back to Frankston from Melb Central and got there at about 10 to 5, though it was packed with Melb Show scum people. After stalling for half an hour and having Mollie go home, katherine and I decided to walk to church.

We were rostered on welcoming so we stood at the door saying hello to people. Kirk and Kate eventually showed up (they are totally going out) and Katherine and I persuaded as many people as possible to come to La Porchetta's with us afterwards. Eventually, Kirk, Kate, Alex, Evan, Katie, Zac and Dave Bailey came with us and we had lots of pizza and funtime. :)

So at 9 the PCC church group also showed up which was really obscure as most of them are from Bayside. Now there isn't much of a story after this, so we all went home and I spent 11 hours with Katherine yesterday, not a minute of it at each other's houses. :D

Aloha.

Aida

Woo! Last night, Katherine and I went to see John Paul College's final show of Aida. It's somewthing written by Elton John I think about Egyptian love affairs. I knew like six people in it so it was pretty awesome. :D

Katherine and I were at my place then Brittany's dad came and picked us up. We went inside eventually, and Charlee and Miki were in it at the start, and about everywhere else as dancers. It was intense! Haha. Afterwards, Miki was crying so much it became really awkward.

I want my school to do Aida!

Baby Alicia

Baby Alicia. She's tough, she's loud, she's new. She's plastic.
Her name is actually Grace Faith Bayside, but I hate it, and already told Alicia Backholer I'd name it after her.

Yeeeep, a few days ago I had the renowned Health and Human Development baby to take care of. This year the school got a new state-of-the-art model, 2008, full pro. I had it on Monday and Tuesday, until Wednesday morning. 48 hours of epic fake baby.

Gone are the days of the key-in-the-back-to-make-it-shaddap thing, we got a waterproof wristband this time that you have to sensor to the baby so it recognizes you as the parent. I got 96% of good care over the two days - missed a feeding, a diaper change, roughly handled it and let its head drop back. Oops.

Dare I say, that one of those weren't my fault? The missed feeding happened on Tuesday during Maths when it cried and wouldn't shut up, so Clare and I took it outside because my wristband wasn't working. When it's recognized, it makes a chiming noise, and the chime didn't take, so I didn't know what the hell was going on. Also, I think the diaper change may not've been my fault MAYBE. Because on Wednesday morning I managed to chime it, but it was still crying, and nothing worked, but I think I may've been half asleep and tried changing it and putting the same nappy back on. Oops.

The simulation was supposed to start at 9, but after Fiona had it on the weekend, it charged for two hours and it started at 11am on Monday. It didn't make a peep till 12:30 and Mrs. Cooper kept poking her head in and telling me off for not holding it properly. Haha! Oh well!

I eventually figured out what cry means what, as you do, and that after lots of feeding/changing, which is almost ALL it does, it'll be silent for a few hours and go to sleep. It made really weird breathing noises every 8 seconds. On Monday night, it only woke me up once, at four, which I think was really peculiar. It was silent for 5 hours.

Tuesday night was a bit different, it woke me up 4 times and cried 10 times during that block, but I didn't really mind. It's just annoying when you're in the shower and have to turn it off to feed it for 20 minutes, naked. Judging by the hours of silence thing I mentioned, I figured it'd do that again when I showered Wednesday morning, so I showered at 4:30 again. I agree with Casey - you eventually just give up on sleep.

DO. HEALTH. AND. HUMAN. DEVELOPMENT.
IT IS SO MUCH FUN.
^____^

Is this jumping the gun a bit?

I just rearranged my room for two hunger-inducing hours to get a 2nd desk in here to plug in and utilise my new Macintosh computer. I don't even have the monitor(s) yet. Is this jumping the gun a bit?

The dresser's in my wardrobe to make room for a desk; moved some boxes under my bed to make room for the dresser; moved my bed (vertically, temporarily) to slide the boxes under there; moved my mattress to move my bed; moved my chair and vacuum to move my mattress... it goes on.

I'll need to buy some monitors off Andrew for el cheapo.
Arrivederci.

S Block

It's the second day of the semester. I'm not at school today cos I'm fairly sure I've pulled a muscle in my back.

That building that spent an extra 2 months in the making (finished by May, my foot) at school was finally ready... at the last second yesterday morning. Early morning. It's been named S Block, although the woman who organizes the building names and timetables and such didn't realize that we already have an S Block. It's the sport shed. So bye bye, sport shed! You're becoming part of Q Block!

Anyway, the building is pretty radical. It's mostly a senior science block, with a large science room in the back, two smaller ones, and two general purpose classrooms with a foyer. Nobody took into account that the foyer needed a room number as with the other rooms, so now a lot of the rooms have changed after they printed the timetable, although it says 'final'. As all Bayside kids know, a 'final timetable' is never final.

Past, Present and Future Plans

Here's a quick update on my nothingness

Yesterday was an exciting day I suppose. I burned a CD for Mason and walked to Leawarra station to collect Zoe. We walked back to my place, wrote a letter for her and AB, and tried putting it in her car, but eventually ended up in AB's letterbox. I wonder if he's checked it...

kinda pointless as we saw them about 20 minutes later while we were waiting for the bus.

Also, I've been trying to get my hands on Lost Season 2, but it's so hard! You can only ever find 1 + 3! But not 2! It's awful. Also I'm going to try and convince my mudja to change our crappy Bigpond internet plan, cos I found out last night we're on 256k... eugh.

I decided about a week ago what my plans are for my 16th birthday, although it's not till October. :D
I'm gonna go get my L's in the morning. I've been doing the practise test online occasionally and it's pretty easy; most of it is common sense anyway (if you're feeling tired, the incorrect answer would be to wind your windows down and crank the radio up). Then that afternoon, I'll go use my newfound ID to donate blood! I was on the donateblood.com.au website last night and apparently you have to BOOK a donation?! Feh! I just wanted to rock up!

Lufwaffle.

How's your son doing at school?

My mum's is doing pretty well. Due to my awesome semester one report, I've been bugging her every single day about buying me something as some parents do for their kids when their reports are good. I've never asked or anything. It's not abnormal if my report is fine cos they usually are. I only had 7 subjects this year after I totally dropped PE. The school got a new report system this year so the old thing with the X's in the approripate box (that didn't always line up when I typed it out) is a nogo. I like it better this way. Eh, find out yourself:

ACEDEMIC PROGESS REPORT for
JOHN GLOVER
Semester One 2008
Year: Ten

- Home Group Report
Just the first 10 minutes of the day. Mr. Woodbridge likes to ramble, but it's okay. Stef asked after a devotion recently, totally misleading thinking that she'd ask about the devotion, but said, "can we get out before the bell for once?"

Uniform: Excellent
Punctuality: Excellent
Manners/Attitude: Excellent
Involvement in Class Devotions: Satisfactory

John has been in the following activities this semester:
Open Day Guide

"Home Group involves marking the attendance roll, listening to relevant Daily Bulletin notices, and participating in a short devotional time. This semester our Home Group has addressed the You Can Do It concepts of Getting Along and Confidence, and each of the students has been given the opportunity to lead a devotion. John shared with the Home Group about his baptism."

Days absent: 7
Days late: 0
(as if I haven't been late, just never brought a late pass to class :D)






- Dramatic Media
Overall grade: C+
This particular subject involves drama and media in one. I miss having Shad to teach this, but Ms. Sayer is still pretty awesome. We share it with the year 9s though.

Academic Learning
Personal journal reflections: C (I never really did them)
Group docudrama performance and production: B
Monologue script and performance: A+
Written test: C
Docudrama script: C+
She didn't put the Exam on there for some reason, but if I recall, C+?

Attitude to Learning
Effort: Very Good
Homework: Very Good
Behaviour: Very Good
Organisation: Very Good
Self Direction as a Learner: Very Good

"John is a well mannered and enthusiastic contributor in class and usually strives to do his best. He has produced some good individual results this semester and consistently demonstrated an attidue of co-operation and positive engagement within the group context. John is a pleasure to teach."






- English
Overall grade: B+
English was pretty tough this semester. As Mrs. Cooper likes to call it, "introduction for VCE English." We did stuff like persuasive essays, speeches, film breakdowns, yadda yadda... I enjoyed it. :D

Academic Learning
Reading: A
Language: A+
Writing: B+
Speaking and Listening: B
Exam: A

Attitude to Learning
Effort: Excellent
Homework: Excellent
Behaviour: Very Good
Organisation: Excellent
Self Direction as a Learner: Very Good

"John is working consistently to achieve pleasing results, overall a very high B+. John's writing is wonderfully expressed as he manipulates language to convey a clear message. he domestrates a sound ability to write in different forms, following the criteria set in class and his exam result of 88% clearly displays his excellent grasp of the concepts and skills covered this semester. John is encouraged to engage more in class, seeking assistance when needed, to ensure he is fully prepared for VCE."






- Bible
Overall grade: C+
At school, Bible class is kinda boring. We did a lot of the chapter John. The assignment on it, I never actually finished... oops. I believe during the exam Casey and I were passing notes. She wrote me a full page one cos I did it to her earlier, and I gave the note back to her with all the spelling, grammar and punctuation corrected in red pen. :)

Academic Learning
Test: A
Mid-Year Exam: D+
Gospel of John Assignment: NA

Attitude to Learning
Effort: Very Good
Homework: Satisfactory
Behaviour: Very Good
Organisation: Satisfactory
Self Direction as a Learner: Satisfactory

"John has worked well in Bible throughout the semester, obtaining good results in formal testing and passing the difficult mid-year exam. His behaviour has been consistently good. Our Gospel of John assignment was too late for inclusion in this report. John has completed a good semester's work in this subject."






- Science
Overall grade: A
I'm loving this subject! Physics was hard as ever, but Chemistry was really simple. We did a lot of stuff about learning the periodic table, which was simple enough when we had to know the first 20. AJ made this subject such a pleasure, he's such a blast.

Academic Learning
Physics Theory Work: S
Chemistry Practical Work: S
Physics Test: B
Chemistry Theory Work: S
Chemistry Elements Assignment: A+
Exam: A+

Attitude to Learning
Effort: Excellent
Homework: Satisfactory
Behaviour: Very Good
Organisation: Excellent
Self Direction as a Learner: Excellent

"John achieved excellent marks this semester in Science. He was quiet and diligent, working consistently and showing competency. His theory work for both Physics and Chemistry was at a very high standard. The Physics Test was quite hard, yet John managed a very good mark of 70%. John excelled in the Chemistry unit, showing a great grasp of the concepts explored. His elements assignment was terrific, in which he produced a representation of Neon. His mark for the Chemistry Test (96%) and Exam (92%) were very pleasing. He is to be commended for such a good effort this semester."







- History
Overall grade: C
Admittedly the worst subject I ever had, have or will have. Sif I'm doing it in year 11. I hate History! It happened! Get over it! Mrs. Hooper is awesome though! Too bad History totally sucks nard... We did a lot on WWI and such. I don't get the timeline of wars, AT ALL. I finished my exam so early that I wrote the lyrics to two songs on the back.

Academic Learning
Breaker Morant Film Assignment: A+
Western Front Newspaper Article: A
Boer War Essay: B
Gallipoli Response: B
Exam: D+

Attitude to Learning
Effort: Very Good
Homework: Very Good
Behaviour: Very Good
Organisation: Satisfactory
Self Direction as a Learner: Very Good

"It has been a pleasure to teach John this semester as he is a co-operative pleasant student. John has achieved consistently pleasing results in his assignments and essays, particularly his review of Breaker Morant. Unfortunately John's exam result did not live up to the standard that he has achieved in his assignments this semester. Although he completed the exam 40 minutes early, he did not use his time constructively and as a result did not achieve a grade comparable to his ability. It is hoped that he will displa a more mature attitude in the end of year exams."






- General Mathematics
Overall grade: A+
I AM SO SICK OF WRITING THESE THINGS. But I really have nothing better to do. Even though my teacher is well-renowned youth leader and radical dude, AB, I keep accidentally calling him "Mr Backholer" cos other people occasionally do. I suck at Maths, big time. Must be something about having AB that made me do well. :D

Academic Learning
Tests: A+
Bookwork: S
Assignments: S
Exam: A

Attitude to Learning
Effort: Excellent
Homework: Excellent
Behaviour: Excellent
Organisation: Excellent
Self Direction as a Learner: Excellent

"John is without a doubt the leader in academic excellence in his class. His test results are consistently near-perfect and his homework is consistently up-to-adte. He was the only student to hand up both components of the assignment on the due date. John aims to keep inappropriate classroom discussion to a minimum, causing no significant problems within the classroom climate, and he often uses his class time to assist other students who may be struggling. John's first semester result is very pleasing."






- Health and Human Development Unit 1
Overall grade: S (VCE subjects are out of S and NS for some reason)
By far, my favourite subject. With my favourite teacher, Mrs. Hooper! Well, I don't know if I like her or AB more. But still, she's awesome. We've covered a lot of the lifespan and forms of health and development, particularly on adolescents. I'm so glad I chose this for my VCE subject. :D

Academic Learning
Outcome 1 (Ryan's Health and Human Development Case Study): A+
Outcome 2 (Casey Study - the transition from Childhood to Adulthood): A+
Outcome 3 (A written report - Youth health challenges): A
Exam: A+

Attitude to Learning
Effort: Excellent
Homework: Excellent
Behaviour: Very Good
Organisation: Very Good
Self Direction as a Learner: Very Good

"John has been an enthusiastic member of this class, contributing to class discussion with some very interesting insights. In the three Outcomes this semester John achieved 46/50, 46/50 and an A. For Outcome 3, john chose the topic of "Depression". His report was well researched and informative. For the mid-year exam John achieved 100%, he had studied well and wrote some terrific answers. Teaching this class has been one of the highlights of my teaching career and John has been among those students who have contributed to this."





THEN, at the end of my report was some little thing Rebecca from FremantleMedia filled out about my time on work experience. Really not important. :D

Certificate of Achievemeeeeeent *harmonious*
What a semester.



---------------------------------


Uh, yesterday, Katherine, Mollie and I went to Southland (among other places) and I printed 55 6x4 inch photos that are now all over my wall. Loving it.
I should really get a picture of it.

I'm so light-headed...

as I fainted for the first time today!
About an hour ago, I was standing near the window to get some sunlight, because I was digging at my palm with a pin cos I think I have a splinter in there from Lachlan dragging me around on the floor Friday night. That crazy boy...

Anyway, blood doesn't spook me at all. My hand wasn't even bleeding, but I could see it building up under my skin like a bubble. Gross. I gave up cos my hands got sweaty and I put the pin down, then my vision started to fade... so I put my hands on the ironing board and stuff to get some leverage. Mother's expression was all like "wtf" and she came over to me and tried to stand me upright, but I pretty much fell unconscious in her arms, swooning. :D Kinda awkward, as her leg is still a bit stuffed, and she was trying to hold me up. How unpleasant for her poor kneecap!

By the way, she's coming along nicely. She can walk really well without the crutches now. She doesn't even have to put both her feet on the one step to walk up the stairs!

Apparently I was out like 30-40 seconds, of course to me it felt like five, and when I came to I had no idea what was going on. Took ages for my vision to kick in again. Fainting is amazing! And disturbing! But exhilirating!

... Wow. Am I that deranged? Except for the headache I have afterwards, it was pretty exciting. Get the blood pumpin'. Pretty sure I would've left a sweat patch on the couch, lying there afterwards, I was so sweaty and my lips were white.

Let's change to a new topic, shall we? Last night was the school's trivia night, "Are you smarter than a Baysider?" There was only like, six, I think, people from my year level there, and our table came second after the table with our principal, head of the sub-school and a pile of other teachers on it.

Mrs. Cooper was going nuts. Casey and I decided that she was drunk. We'll remind her of the evening on Monday when she's sober... unless she works while intoxicated. We also couldn't find Ms. Sayer, and just assumed she went outside for a cigarette, so we gave her an ashtray later (even if it was a candle holder that looked suspiciously a lot like an ashtray).

So anyway, it was a hilarious and fun night. Agh, you should've been there.

Maybe it's not just a phrase...

The epically bad luck day: Friday the 13th. My mum fell UP (yes, up) the stairs and shattered some bone on her kneecap. She'll be on crutches for a while. The spooky part is that on the February Friday the 13th in 2004 (that's how I remember) she fell up the stairs and stuffed her arm up; it was in a cast for a while. Want it tog et SPOOKIER?! Both 13ths in question here, there were injections at school. In the wise, wise words of Jo Leddy, "I think your mum should stay bedbound on Friday the 13ths."

She also said that it dates back religiously - Jesus dying on a Friday, and that there were 13 people a his death/resurrection (I forget which one).

Anyway, today is a Monday, and although I have no plans for the whole day, I'm STILL too lazy to write about SYG, even though it was a tremendously fun experience. I will, however, show you what awards I got afterwards at the Soggies:
*The best gloves - and not giving people ideas
*Most philosophical and best quote - "I've been coming here 3 years and I've never seen those hills before"
*Best as doing the Nutbush whilst walking
*Most random person (Josh Clover).

That first one, I seriously have no idea who could've wrote that. I think someone was bugging me about what to write on the encouragement wall and I had no idea. That quote, was quite possibly the first thing I said to Sarah Keel all camp, and it's pretty dumb of me considering there are pretty much hills in every direction you look. Zoe and I were doing the Nutbush outside the radio station cos that song was on, then tried doing it as we walked back to Frankstonland, and my Frankston lanyard quite clearly says "John Glover" but the guy at Sacred Space thought it said Josh Clover. Admittedly, not a terribly bad name, considering I'm Irish and all...

Random anecdote. I've started saying "bueno" when I answer my phone now. Mother called me on Friday and after I said bueno, nothing happened. *Pause* "I said, 'bueno'?" "Oh! I thought you said hang on."
HAH. What a story without a plot that was.

Peace out, baby.

Friday the 13th

Stupid Sarah Lay. Totally stole my idea for a blog title.
I kept reminding everyone it was friday the 13th today. Haha, take that random year 9 & 10 girls who had cervical cancer injections! :) Bad luck, much?

Anyway, despite the terrible coldness (quite possibly the coldest school morning in all the realm) I had a terrific day. Got the results of my first VCE exam I ever did, Health and Human Development - 100%. YEAH BABY. I'm so proud. Totally not gloating or anything...

Only Zach and I got 100% out of everybody, and he technically got 84.5 out of 85 (actually, I was recounting mine like everyone else did, it was actually out of 87, and he got 86.5) but as a percentage it's st00pad to write 99.5% so, hey, why not do what we all love to do, and round up?

I had planned on writing a whole blog on the following, but I'm not sure if I could be bothered. The Lost season four finale last week. Anybody that watches the show - best episode ever, right?! I'd totally spoil it, but... actually, I may. Highlight the following to see what happened... The island was finally moved under Jacob's instructions, but Ben did it to sacrifice himself, because the person who moves it can never go back. Cept, he moved the island and it completely disappeared, leaving nothing but a tabula rasa of ocean. The freighter exploded, killing Michael and possibly Jin. We finally got to see the Oceanic Six escape. What the hell happened to Claire? She's not gonna be in the show next season. :( Locke became the leader of the Others. In the flashforwards, a man named Jeremy Bentham kept visiting the Oceanic Six and telling them to go back to the island (although they all knew that wasn't his name). Turns out Jeremy Bentham is Locke's alias - and he was the guy in the coffin in Jack's depressed flashforward. I LOVE THAT SHOW SO MUCH. If it were alive, I'd buy it things.

I'm such a slacker. I still haven't written about SYG. One day I'm gonna forget everything about it before I documented it. I'll have to brainstorm with people tonight... and after the SYG awards, the Soggies, are presented tonight. Eh... I'll write it tomorrow.

Walk Like An Egyptian!

Sorry, I was listening to that song. Gotta love The Bangles.
and pardon my postage of two blogs in one day. It's so unlike me! But somehow, I'm in the mood, and I just felt the need to.

For my baptism (just over a month ago) Digger and Masonagall gave me this awesome book called Total Devotion, with a little devo in it for every day of the year. If I was the type of person that didn't ahve a problem with defacing books, I'd so have put little notes in it and stuff. (Oh, and I need to get a bookmark.)

Admittedly, I've only read three or four pages of it so far, although Mason gave it to me at school like 2 or 3 weeks ago. For a little while it was in my locker, then my bag, and it's been out into my house for about ten days now. Hey, whenever I realize it's there on the coffee table, I have a read!

Anyway, I read one earlier on today that seemed to stick into my mind. It was called "To Die or to Die". It was about (excuse me if this is way off, this is what I took out of it) how the choices we make affect our involvement in God's plan for us. The thing I love about this book is that it doesn't just spell things out in black and white and expects you to understand it - it gives you Bible verses, it elaborates simply, gives you examples of what teenagers do and stuff (it even givs them names!)

This one featured a kid named Tadd, whose friends were encouraging him to beat up some random "wuss" just cos he could, and for acceptance, although Tadd felt super, super bad about it. And just like a soap, the story LEFT WITH A CLIFFHANGER ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT HE PUNCHED THE GUY. How frustrating.

"Read Mark 8:31-38. What did Jesus say was the toughest thing about following him?" Here's Mark 8:34: Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Allow me to explain what that means just like the book had.

Man, I love this book.

Now in dilemmas like Tadd's you're faced with two choices - One that will give you social acceptance but disappoint God; another that makes you a recluse but hey, God's proud of yah! I believe the point this story was making was - what's the point of picking the wrong path? Either way we die and into God's hands. Jesus had said that anyone devoted to him must imitate him. To "deny yourself and take up the cross". Swap your way, for his way, totally.

And I know, me, picking out those last couple of sentences, kinda of hypocritical, as I'm no Jesus. But hey, I'm getting there! You can't"imitate" him overnight. It's still been a month since my baptism and I feel more religious than ever.

The last sentence in this tale reads, "Daring to stick with jesus sometimes feels like you've been hung up to die. Tough stuff. But Jesus promises that his way leads to life."

Switched blogs to Blogger

Having all my blogs on MySpace was really starting to bug me. So I just transferred them all here. ... Like I had anything better to do.

Anyway, I'd so write a blog about this year's my 3rd, SYG, but I won't. You know, I totally would, if I werren't so sick of the sight of this thing. I'll do it tomorrow sometime.

I spent a few hours today cleaning the house because it's a mess. It was actually noticeable until mum came home with the shopping and put it on the once-clean kitchen bench. Now it just makes the room look like crap again, because I did most things like the dishwasher and making beds and doing the bins and stuff. I love cleaning. And storage. *Twitches*

Something I noticed while moving my blogs; I've grown up so much! All of my 2005/6 sorta ones are really, really sadistic! Don't bother reading them... they as dull as dishwater (what a lame simile). But I am anew! I'm refreshed, renewed, this semester's exams are over... I so could've gone to school today and gotten the marks for them but I was so tired. I still haven't caught up from the lack of sleep I had at State Youth Games.

See you later. =]

Beau Femelles

LIKE WHO?! you ask.

Well, like:

Madalyn:
Oh baby. Damn you're fine. :D It's amazing this girl. She has all these terrific characteristics. And she's always smiling and upbeat. I feel like I've known her forever, and will forever. Couldn't stop loving you. If I could cry, you'd make me. YEAH. That made sense.

Amber:
I really wanted to write a thing about Amber. Yes, you're a total bitch. :) I KID I KID. It's our thing. You're mean to me. And I love it. By the way, you're super adorable. So short and big-eyed... :) It's great. We have such stupid conversations on MSN. And I wouldn't trade them for any other conversations with... I dunno, someone boring. It's touching, really. I feel the connection.

Sara:
Oh Saaaaara, Sara, Sara, Sara. I feel like words can't express. And yet I should try anyway, but I know I won't get very far. :D Let's see. You just, majorly brighten up my day. To its maximum. I couldn't love you more. And I like hugging you the most. Out of aaanyone. :D

Zoe:
Rawr! This is one fine-ass sex machine. Haha, well, she doesn't work in St. Kilda or anything. I love how warped Zoe is. Like, in a good way. She'll laugh at the super funny slah really stupid yet funny things. But she can also be full srs. Snap!

Shezz:
Shezz is so very much my connection. To what? No one knows. But I get the sense that we have many adventures to come, although right now I never get to see her. She is destined for great things, and I would be remiss if I didn't have her in my life anymore.

Emily:
Dude. Your mum is awesome.
But moving on. I feel like I haven't seen you in so long. I'm missing you to greater lengths every day. Your family is like a second family to me. You're that sister I miss cos she lives elsewhere. :D Like, across the main road. But still. I love you so much honey.

Katherine:
WE NEED MORE STUFF ON OUR LIST. If it weren't for a little bit of Katherine in our lives, I'm certain we'd all be like. Mediocre. It's that Katherine-esque influence that keeps us all optimistic and daring. It's such a major lift when I greet you and you give me a massive hug.

Nicole:
Like Zoe, Nicole is pretty freakin' warped. I like Nicole's general quirkiness. :) It's so amusing. And Nicole is definitely one of those people that you see and just feel the need to put your torso in contact with hers. Does it look lonely? I don't know, but you just feel the urge to hug her.

Bridget and Erin:
My goddesses. Erin's my little English crumpet. She's so cute and amusing. Bridget is so awesome. I don't know who is awesomer. Bridget and Erin can both make you smile, but in entirely different ways. It's amazing. I miss you both more and more each day.

Alex:
It's like we were separated at birth. I feel as if I know so much about Alex in a way I cannot explain (but not because my hands are tied). I love you Alex, so so much, and I feel an overwhelming comfortness in everything that's rushing through my head when I come into contact with you. She's like my anti-depressant.

Cassie:
I love how Cassie and I rely on each other that we've formed so much of a bond. That time she called me at 5am (her 3am), I didn't care. I'd be pissed, but it was her. I seriously didn't care that she woke me up. Instead I thought, "I love that Cassie and I are so close to each other that she knew I wouldn't be bothered if she called me at 5am." I feel so compelled to marry you.

Kari, Jordan and Lorin:
My favourite Sunbury scum. You guys are my trio of randomness and perfection. We have to meet up much more often. The Angels to my Charlie. :D What a bad joke. Still, these guys are so brilliant that it takes your breath away every time you greet them.

Melissa:
I haven't known you very long, but I feel like we have some random connection. Melissa is so beautiful and sweet. When you meet her, you feel an impact. I just can't describe it. But it's a good one. :D








ahh. love.
<3

Work Experience

Well, being that it's just Tuesday night when I finish the non-boring part of work experience, I may as well write about it now. Two days somewhere, then the rest of the two weeks at school. Eugh.


Anyway, I went to the set of Neighbours for the first two days of work experience. I remember what Mrs. Hooper said in HHD a while back about youths taking risks, and what was the answer to some question, "Why is it important that youths take risks?" twas, "So they can build up the confidence to take a bigger risk." DADADAAA, YOU CAN FIGURE OUT HOW THAT APPLIEEEES.


Monday, 21st of April, 2008.
So, I've been staying at dad's in Ringwood since Saturday night (gotta love the 901) so he could drive me to Forest Hill easily. :D Oh how I enjoy Knox City also, mainly for it's Amber-related resources.

Yah. Went to Fremantle Studios that morning and met Rebecca, the executive producer. She introduced me to the AD, Sharon, whom I used for bag-storing purposes. :D

The whole day was watching rehearsal for an episode, airing in like, August or something. It was still exciting, but pretty damn slow. :P

Uhh... who did I meet... Matthew (Zeke), Caitlin (Rachel), Sam (Ringo), Ryan (Toadie), Eloise (Bridget), Carla (Steph) and I think that was it for the first day. I also watched Steve (Steve, haha, what are the odds), Natalie (Carmella), Stefan (Paul), Dean Geyer (Ty), David (Oliver), Blake (Ben, Libby's kid), James (Declan), Kym (Libby), and Jackie (Susan) rehearse their scripts.

Now their building is one damned confusing place. Every corridor looks IDENTICAL. The only place I could find the first couple of hours was Rebecca's office cos it's pretty close to the front. :D In the studios, I was observing rehearsal in the Kinski house (where off-camera, all the cast kept debating whether or not Caitlin wears any underwear), the General Store, the Vet and Steph's house.

At the end of the day I had to sign a disclosure saying I wouldn't let out any storyline secrets. D:

Tuesday, 22nd of April, 2008.
Okay, so the second day is a little more exciting. The previous rehearsal's episode was getting filmed that day, so there was a lot more going on.

I spent a bit of my morning upstairs in the control room where the cameras were viewed and switched and stuff for recording. I went back down to the green room eventually and such before I went and watched some filming in the studio.

During lunch, after I had eaten in the courtyard (as I did the previous day) I was sitting in the green room and Cooper arrived to check in on me ;D. Haha, we sat around talking for a bit, and she whispered to me, "I HATE NEIGHBOURS." Made me lolz. It's a bit surprising actually, I kinda figured she'd love it?!

I managed to meet... let me remember... James (Declan), whoever Erin McNaught plays... Sienna, I think it was? Meh, I also had a brief inter-change of verbal verbiness with Kym and Jackie because I accidentally walked into the table they were sitting at :P. Oh, and Imogen Bailey, who plays Nicola or something.

Wandering around between things, I was sitting in the couches in the green room watching Dr. Phil after Erin made Imogen change it from the studio's live feed, I ran into Imogen a lot. But, I ran into her always at the times I was in the same seat of the same couch, and she was always there when I was. :P Really made it seem like I didn't leave the room all day. Haha!

Which reminds me, so much weird crap happens in the green room. They're a really weird bunch.

Anyway, last scene of the day (for me anyway, left at three, TAKE THAT) at the General Store, I got to do something! Yaaay! I brought the extras some prop drinks. :P Oh, and got the director some coffee which I was shit at making. Pretty sure he threw it out. LMAO.

As I was leaving, the only people I ran into/said bye to were Sharon and Erin, so I went and waited for dad outside. But I went back inside once he came to say bye to Rebecca and not-so-subtlely drop hints that she should call me if they have auditions or wanting extras. :D Hopefully she will.

All in all, pretty damned fun two days. Heaps of the crew asked me who I was related to. I'm like wtf... not related to anybody... apparently you need to know someone there to be there. :P I must've been the first person to just write a letter and get in. CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T GET PICTURES. Oh well, I don't even have a camera. I need a job.

Amber & Jee-Jee G's Socioeconomic Funtime Sunflower Fully Sick Various 1/24th Median Earth Day!

Previously on Amber & Jee-Jee G's Socioeconomic Funtime Sunflower Fully Sick Various 1/24th Median Earth Day!...
John demanded that Amber come to Hastings Day this weekend, to which she refused because she had to work. This is what followed once this information about earning money at certain times of the week was released...



John says (7:28 PM):
disappointing. get back in your cage and don't come back out until night time.
- amber. says (7:28 PM):
IT IS NIGHT TIME.
John says (7:28 PM):
NUH UH
- amber. says (7:29 PM):
YAH HUH.
John says (7:29 PM):
LALALA./
- amber. says (7:29 PM):
LOL.
- amber. says:
yo.
would you consider 7.30pm night time?
{GOLDY} MELBOURNES MOST WANTED says:
yes
- amber. says (7:30 PM):
YEAH. SO YOU GET IN A CAGE AND WAIT TILL MORNING. BITCHHH.
John says (7:30 PM):
BUT IT'S NOT DARK
- amber. says (7:30 PM):
ITS STILL NGIHTTIME.
AND ITS ONYL COZ ITS DAYLIGHT SAVINGS.
John says (7:30 PM):
Amber. Seriously. You take things too far. Just take a rest. It's over the edge. You're breaking the fourth wall here, Amber. Stop it, Amber. STOP IT AMBER YOU'RE TAKING THINGS TOO FARRR
- amber. says (7:31 PM):
jee jee needs a mental hospital.
YOU'D BE LIEK THE PERFECT PERSON TO OWN A MENTAL HOSPITAL SERIOUSLY.
John says (7:32 PM):
HAHAHA. OMG. *checks off box 'career options'*
- amber. says (7:32 PM):
LMFAO
John says (7:32 PM):
Honestly. What would make someone actually think, "I'm considering opening up a mental hospital"
- amber. says (7:33 PM):
dude. its YOU.
John says (7:33 PM):
no no, I mean sane people.
- amber. says (7:33 PM):
hahaha
ummm.
- amber. says (7:34 PM):
next time you come by a sane person ask.
John says (7:34 PM):
okay uhh.... hmm.. where's kirsty when you need her. I guess the genetics stopped there
- amber. says (7:34 PM):
kirsts not sane bro.
- amber. says (7:35 PM):
xDD LUCY CALLED ME INSANE TODAY.
John says (7:35 PM):
stop talking gangsta you equal-opportunity slut.
- amber. says (7:35 PM):
i was like.
shhh. dont tellthe customers yet. you'll scare them off !
John says (7:35 PM):
Hah, LUCY of all people!? I'm liking her more and more
- amber. says (7:35 PM):
brobrobrobro.
homie gggg.
John says (7:35 PM):
jee-jee ggg brahh.
- amber. says (7:35 PM):
xDD
thats right !!
homie jee jee g brahhhh.
John says (7:35 PM):
LULZ.
John says (7:36 PM):
so ah. why is there now a sun in your name as opposed to the amber-related coffee cup we've all come to welcome as our own?
- amber. says (7:36 PM):
im shorties sunshine.
yuhhh.
John says (7:36 PM):
haha... THE EARTH SAYS HELLOOOO
- amber. says (7:37 PM):
xD LOL.
John says (7:37 PM):
I wrote the lyrics to that on my health outcome today. I couldn't stop laughing.
... you're right. I need to open a mental hospital
- amber. says (7:37 PM):
yes. im always right.
duhh.
John says (7:37 PM):
I feel like calling you amber dear.

- amber. says (7:38 PM):
dontyou dare.
John says (7:38 PM):
you know I hate you.
- amber. says (7:38 PM):
only old people call me dear.
or darling.
or whatever.
;D
ofcourseyou do.
John says (7:38 PM):
no I mean, I feel like telephoning you, amber dear.
- amber. says (7:39 PM):
oh xD
nah tv. =]
John says (7:39 PM):
betch.

Welcome to 2008!

My annual stange blog thing... only this time I stole it from a bulletin. Last night, Emily, Sami and I were running around Somerville at like 10... and met up with some randoms as well as Alex, Callan, Davey and Jacqui and spent midnight at the beach. Quite fun indeed.

-------------------------------------------------

1. First song you listened to?
That one that goes 'WE WERE ON THE PATH TO THE HOLY GRAAAAIL'

2. First person you talked to?
Sami

3. First drink?
Water

4. First thing you ate?
Umm.. toast?

5. First thing you said?
WOOHOO NEW YEARS!!!

6. First movie you watched?
Haven't yet

7. First TV show you watched?
The Nanny

8. First text message?
Dad

9. First MySpace message or comment?
Bronwyn

10. First thing you touched?
Dunno, Sami?

11. First place you went to?
The beach? Although I was already there...

12. First thing you made?
A phone call

13. First thing you laughed at?
The fireworks, in a good-hearted manner :P

14. First person you IM?
Zoe

15. The time you went to bed?
2:30am

16. The time you got up this morning?
About noon?

17. First person you commented?
Hmmm... Callan I think

18. First game you played?
POKEMON CRYSTAL. :D

19. First person you thought about?
All those people I was with in Frankston

20. First person you said Happy New Year to?
Sami