The Yellow Book

YES!

Oh, and GO MR!!!!!!!

-: Trina illustrated her blog at 23:34:-

Monday, March 26, 2007

Little model poses with my new (black FCUK) and old glasses

-: Trina illustrated her blog at 00:34:-

Saturday, March 24, 2007

We're all the same!

I have long known this, but especially tonight I witnessed how similar teenagers in different countries - i.e. Iceland and Scotland - are. They are pretty much the same, actually.
I shall elaborate.

Earlier tonight I went to a Battle of the Bands, at which a BRILLANT and AWESOME band that goes by the name Twisted Willy, consisting of four JGHS students - Stefan, Gordon, Jack and Steven - played. Unfortunately they didn't win, even though they were totally the very best (no, I'm not biased! They really WERE!); the band that won had singers that couldn't even sing! They totally disgraced Green Day by butchering Wake Me Up When September Ends. It was painful to hear. But Twisted Willy did win the award for best guitarist, which is a stellar accomplishment, and totally deserved!

I noticed the incredible similarity between teenagers in Iceland and Scotland when the big group of JGHS students who came to support Twisted Willy was noticably bigger than any group from the other competing school - if there were any bigger groups, they certainly did not make their presence known. The second half of the concert/event, the JGHS fans were on the "dancefloor" in front of the stage, jumping, cheering, carrying each other on their shoulders, and most importantly, screaming "WILLY! WILLY! WILLY!" between every band's performance! This reminded me of all the school/college competitions that I've been to in all my teenage years in Iceland. The school and the college that I went to, Hagaskoli and MR, are renowned for their incomparability in pretty much everything , from intellect to general talent - they repeatedly win all kinds of competitions, and they have rivals all over the city. And at the competitions - whoa, the supporters from them are always the biggest and/or loudest! And, sometimes, a bit inconsiderate towards other hopeless competitors who haven't a chance against them (am I arrogant? Well, I got it from these educational institutions, and I'm proud of it! I like to think it is part of my charm... at least it's a big part of my personality.), by booing and drowning their cheers by cheering for their own school after the other ones' performances.

So tonight, I felt immense nostalgia.

I got home relatively early, and straight away logged on to my computer to watch Gettu betur - an Icelandic college quiz show, which MR won 11 years in a row, until 2003, but is now, I am certain, going to get back the trophy, which is a statuette of an old-fashioned microphoned - pretty cool actually. During this show, I cheered (inside, seeing as how my parents and sister are asleep) when the team got a question correct - and they did, a LOT! - and sometimes even waved my arms and let out a little yelp! I was sooooo proud, and I totally felt like I was from MR. And I am! Even though it's been two years since I went there, I still feel like I belong there. This feeling will follow me throughout my life, I assume, and always when MR is on the news, wins or loses (which, let's face it, won't be happening often) a competition, I will cheer and bee proud, and say to anyone who is in within earshot: "I went to that college!"

Another thing I have noticed, which shows the similarity between Scottish and Icelandic teenagers, is that very frequent topics of conversation at house parties are stories and anecdotes about previous drunken experiences. You know, something like this: "So, like, this one time I was sooooo wasted that I..." etc etc. I'm not dissing this tradition - I do admit that I have been known to take part in those conversations. (To relatives: Of course I do not relate stories of MY drunkenness, as I've never been drunk (*winkwink*); I only gossip about other people...) It merely amuses me that people are really so much alike!

Nightie night.

QotD: Dr. Cameron: "Men should grow up."

Dr. Gregory House: "Yeah. And dogs should stop licking themselves. It's not gonna happen." - House M.D.

-: Trina illustrated her blog at 00:24:-

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

New Shoes

There's this really good song by Paolo Nutini called New Shoes (which the title of this post refers to - I unfortunately have not got new shoes!), which perfectly describes a feeling that I am sure every girl can relate to. Read:

Woke up cold one tuesday,
I'm looking tired and feeling quite sick,
I felt like there was something missing in my day to day life,
So I quickly opened the wardrobe,
Pulled out some jeans and a T-Shirt that seemed clean,
Topped it off with a pair of old shoes,
That were ripped around the seams,
And I thought these shoes just don't suit me.

CHORUS:
Hey, I put some new shoes on,
And suddenly everything is right,
I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling,
It's so inviting,
Oh, short on money,
But long on time,
Slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,
And I'm running late,
And I dont need an excuse, 'cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes.

Woke up late one thursday,
And I'm seeing stars as I'm rubbing my eyes,
And I felt like there were two days missing,
As I focused all the time,
And I made my way to the kitchen,
But I had to stop from the shock of what I found,
A room full of all my friends dancing round and round,
And I thought hello new shoes,
Byebye them blues.

CHORUS

Take me wandering through these streets, Where bright lights and angels meet, Stone to stone they take me on, I'm walking to the break of dawn.

CHORUS (x2)

Take me wandering through these streets

You've felt like this, haven't you? "Put some new shoes on and suddenly everything is right"! SO TRUE!

QotD: Dr. Eric Foreman: "I think your argument is specious."
Dr. Gregory House: "I think your tie is ugly." - House M.D.

-: Trina illustrated her blog at 20:35:-

Thursday, March 15, 2007

YESSSSSSSSSSSS

I sat the German oral exam today. So I'm done with that. YESSSSSSSSS. I am so effing relieved! I'm actually not quite sure how it went, but I think I passed. I hope. I did feel that it went alright, so I'm just going to imagagine that I passed and forget about it. Which is a sensible plan, seeing as how I'm not going to find out until August, anyway! So I'm just happy that it's over with, not to mention that I'll never have to think about Der Besuch der alten Dame again (well, I've still got to complete the bibliography for my essay, but otherwise...), and I've only got to redraft the Tonio Kroeger essay, and then I'm done with that as well! Which creates a bit of space in my brain for worrying about redrafting my dissertation and personal reflective essay before the holidays... and Dublin!!!!!!!! Gosh how I'm looking forward to that!

I'm celebrating tomorrow night by going to see Becoming Jane with some friends, and then dinner at either Pizza Hut or Old Orleans (the only two restaurants at FountainPark). That'll be good, I'm sure.

Well, that's about it for now. Got little to say these days aside from school stuff. So I'll leave you with a good quote of the day before I go watch GoodFellas on Channel 4.

QotD: Principal Wood: "There's only three things these kids understand: the boot, the bat and the bastinada. (Laughs. Buffy remains deadpan) It's the... it's a bad joke. It's the bastinada. No one ever knows what that thing is."

Buffy: "Wooden rod to slap the soles of the feet in Turkish prisons, but the made-with-the-crack wood makes an awesone billy club."

Principal Wood: "I think you're gonna fit in just fine." - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

-: Trina illustrated her blog at 21:42:-

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Pass

Well, I passed the German speaking NAB. That's a relief. Now I've just got the exam next week...

I finished the Tonio Kroeger essay - although after my German friend Alina read the book (she offered! She actually wanted to read it! It took her only one afternoon, and I bought her a muffin as a thank you) and she told me loads of stuff that neither I nor any of the people that wrote about the book on the internet figured out, and realised that I had got one part hugely wrong. Like majorly. But it's fine, I'll fix it in the second draft. Obviously, that's gonna be easier.

I also passed both English prelims/NABs (just scraped Shakespeare; 15 marks out of 30, but Mrs Maciver told me to day that I "did very well" on the Joyce one. Phew. Don't know how many marks I got for it, though. I'll find out tomorrow) and it is just such a relief to know that I won't have to resit either of them.

So now all I have to worry about is the German oral exam and redrafting my English dissertation. Add some litererary terms here and there, and "fix my expression", whatever that means. I'm gonna have to talk better about this to Mrs Maciver, seeing as how her handwriting is pretty much illegible. She's written some short remarks about this and that here and there, and the same abbreviation of something is all over the dissertation - and I have not a clue what letters those are excactly, or what they mean!

Sorry for all the boring school blogging - it's just that right now my life is basically just worrying about school, actually studying (yes, I spent all morning revising for the NAB, even though I should have been at home in bed, seeing as how I have a severe cold, a massive headache - dulled with some Ibuprofen, albeit - and possibly a temperature. Whatever. I sat there for approximately 4 1/2 hours, reading, and everyone who came and went and I talked to told me that I looked really bad (as in ill-bad, not ugly! I hope...), and should be resting), with a bit of weekend entertainment of course. But that's it.

Actually, tomorrow is Diversecity, and I'm a bit excited for that. Time to semi-dress up and watch my schoolmates do multicultural dances and performances. I've been told that this year's show isn't very good, though, but I intend to judge for myself. And I'm actually pretty interested to see the sixth year's dance - about 70-80% of the year are doing this ballroom dance taught by Mrs Chetty ; this should be interesting. The song that last year's S6 danced to, Bamboleo by Gipsy Kings, became a sort of a theme song for the year. Which was kinda neat.

I sometimes wish I had a really really boring non-life, so boring that all I could be bothered to do was studying. Now THAT would get me A's. I'd like that. I'd also like to have some (more) motivation to actually work for A's. Today's stressing out not withstanding. It's just a bit daunting having to sit in front of a teacher/external examiner, and have a conversation in a foreign language, talking about stuff from the course that I've completely forgotten about - even though I'd revised it for ages. Written exams are so much easier, when you have actual time to figure out the answers/what you're going to write, and you can erase and fix any error you think you've made. Not to mention the dictionary! No such thing in an oral exam...

Anyways, enough worrying. Time to chill, watch the latest Heroes episode, maybe The English Patient, which Channel4 is showing in an hour, and just "focus on getting better."

QotD: Harry Burns: "You know, I have a theory that hieroglyphics are just an ancient comic strip about a character named Sphinxy." - When Harry Met Sally

p.s. I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been using the word "actually" quite a lot. This is influence from my pals here in Scotland. I like the word, but I think I might be using it too much. I had to edit this post a bit, in fact, and rephrase stuff so as not to make it incredibly repetitive with all the "actually"'s.

Labels: Diversecity, English, exams, German, Joyce, school, Shakespeare

-: Trina illustrated her blog at 21:12:-

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

YUM

-: Trina illustrated her blog at 20:52:-

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Teachers

I went to see Notes on a Scandal with Alina on Friday. The reason I wanted to see it was partly that it had been recommended to me, because apparently Judi Dench's character bore a striking resemblance to our German teacher, Ms Malcolm. Well, I'll say this for that comparison: as far as teaching methods go, the character was exactly like Ms Malcolm. The rest, her personal life and all... that lady was waaaaay creepy, and I cannot imagine Ms Malcolm being like that. (I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it yet but want to.)

-: Trina illustrated her blog at 23:51:-

Lazy

I'm a lazy blogger these days. It's been more than a week! And I don't intend to make this a long post... or can't be bothered, I should say.

I do have an excuse, though; I've been a bit busy. Last Tuesday I had my English prelim/NAB, and I have no effing clue how I did, and truth be told, I don't really want to know. All I wanna know is whether I passed or not - I hope I passed, because I cannot be bothered to do a resit, and besides, it's not like I'm not already up to my elbows in worries about my German stuff; I have to finish the Tonio Kroeger essay by Tuesday (felt inspired today, though, and wrote more than a hundred words, plus quotes! Yay! Only 530 words to go...), and then I have to prepare a presentation for the oral NAB on Thursday (SHIT!), and then I have to be more than ready-steady for the oral EXAM on Thursday 15h of March (FUCK!). And then for English I have to do that re-draft of my dissertation. That shouldn't be too hard...

I'm counting down to the Dublin trip, which is from March 31st to April 2nd. Really looking forward to some chillin', after all that stuff. Mum's told me that I have to live in the now, and not always be just waiting for things that are yet to come (e.g. finishing all that school work, Dublin trip), and I've taken her advice and been going out a bit. I have photos from Thursday night, when I went out with Emily and some people to celebrate her 18th birthday (I advise my relatives, including parents, not to look at them... the rest of you, feel free!), and also from the Thorrablot last Saturday. That was fun, by the way.

Well, I said this wasn't going to be very long; time to say goodbye and good night.

QotD: Brodie: "No, no, there is something out there that can help ease our simultaneous double loss."

T.S.: "Ritual suicide?"

Brodie: "No, you idiot, the fucking mall!"

T.S.: "I'd prefer ritual suicide." - Mallrats

-: Trina illustrated her blog at 20:50:-

DUBLIN!