This Blog is Dead

About once every week I get home from a long day at school and I say, "today, I am going to post on my blog!" But then I see my brother watching television or I go on twitter and I forget all about my plans. I think I've come to accept that this blog died a long time ago. My aim is to post on this blog when I can, I would like to slowly bring it back to life and hopefully everything works out well.

Merry Christmas

This year has been such a big one, it seems to have gone so quickly that I can't remember half of the stuff that happened. I have a few things to say before I wish you merry christmas.

1. Thank you for reading my blog this year, it's been nice to know that someone cares about my opinions and you've all made me so happy this year. I remember seeing that I'd gotten a view from Sweden and I threw my hands in the air and scream and somehow in the process managed to punch my brother in the jaw as he was trying to ask me a question. I can't believe how well my blog has done in so little time. Thank you so much to everyone and to those who don't know me personally, thank you even more for coming back and reading my blog and supporting me.

2. Please, please buy forever yours by Alex Day on itunes, especially all you british people. He's a really funny guy on youtube and all the funds go to world vision so it's definetley a good cause.

3. Merry christmas and good luck for the new year. I hope everyone has a great christmas and that you can remember all the great things that christmas brings. Best wishes!

Word of the Day
Merry
adjective (merrier, merriest) 1. full of cheer or gaiety; festive; joyous in disposition or spirit.
2. laughingly cheerful; mirthful; hilarious.
3.  Archaic pleasant or delightful: merry England.
4.  Colloquial slightly intoxicated.
–phrase 5. make merry, to be festive. [Middle English meri(e), myrie, murie, Old English myr(i)ge pleasant, delightful]
–merrily, adverb
–merriness, noun

Short Story 2.

You'd Let Him Kill You

He possesses a strange integrity, one that keeps his mouth closed and his teeth gritted. His charm outweighs all else about him but keeps him quiet and beautiful. His probity and kindness is overwhelming and his appearance is outstanding. Yet he is strangely predatory, when he stares at you he's not looking at your figure but as he stares his tongue strokes the top of his mouth and caresses his lips. You'd let him kill you.

"He's special that one," says your friend Elaine, she looks at him as he walks past you, her eyes trailing away with him. You smile at her and laugh a little as she comes back to face you.

"Yeah, he is..." you say and take your place at the cafeteria table. He watches from his spot across the room, his eyes are smouldering with a strange kind of hunger. You wonder why he's not eating the pizza special that the canteen lady cooked specially for all of you. His stare is completely focused on you and you feel a small, electric pang in your heart. You blush and he smiles at you but he is not fixated on your eyes but your neck. He gets up from his table and begins to walk towards you. His black hair flops a little over one eye, forming a stark contrast between his dark hair and ivory skin. He sits down at your table; you look at Elaine and giggle quietly. You notice his unnaturally crimson eyes but you think it must be the light.

"Sophie, would you like to meet with me after school this afternoon?" He asks you, his tone is so shockingly formal and his voice is rich like chocolate.

"Sure thing," is all you manage to stutter out. You’re blushing more than ever now and he hugs you gently but you know he's sussing out your neck.

That afternoon he's standing out the front of your Latin class, "salve," he greets you and you laugh. He wraps his arms around you to shield you from the cold and you walk along with him. You walk out of the school and past the hundreds of students making their way to buses, trains or cars. You head for the train station. You barley utter a word to him, you're all too pleased that you managed to get together with this gorgeous guy. He leads you round the back of the train station, his hands are as cold as ice and yet you hold onto them as tight as you can. He leans in to kiss you, his hands grab your waist and you place your arms around his neck. His head leans gently against your neck and suddenly there is a small prick and he is drawing your life away. Your blood is rushing out of your body and you feel the odd sensation of a balloon deflating. He throws your body into a dumpster. You are empty, surrounded by food scraps and old magazines.

You let him kill you.

The Revival!

I've realised that I have left this blog to die... but I have plans to revive it! Recently my life has reached the paramount of busyness (yet experienced in my life) and my brain has been filled with study notes and not blog ideas. But an idea came to me recently and this was to tell you all what I had been doing while I have been so busy. Paramount is probably the wrong word to describe my busyness, because although I have had exams, year twelve have been doing their evermore stressful HSC. So now to what I have been doing over the last three months...

1. Listening to music yet again. On my first day of exams I went straight to the shops and bought this new and brilliant album, 'Mylo Xyloto' from Coldplay. This album is comfortable and easy to listen to and I would give it a 8/10. It was also an interesting move for the band to feature Rihanna in one of their songs, 'Princess of China'. The song that is inserted below is 'Every Teardrop is a Waterfall', a personal favourite from the album.

2. I made the unfortunate discovery that both Irn Bru and Marmite have released new products. Fiery Irn Bru, which is a spicy and "fiery" version of original irn bru, was recently released as a limited edition drink. Marmite XO was also released, this spread is extra old, meaning it has a stronger, more mature taste. I am very dissapointed that I will not be able to try these products for a while yet as I am trapped on a far away island (Australia).

3. I admit that I watch 'Friends' to an extremely dangerous amount (I may even be addicted), I watch it without fail every morning and night. I'm not even exagerating.

4. Of course I have been studying, Latin, Science, Maths, English and just about every other subject constantly seemed to need my attention.

Sadly, now I look back at my time over the last three months, all I've done is study, watch exessive amounts of television, listen to Coldplay and sulk that I can't by food that I want, all this and some time to hang out with friends (my real ones not the ones on the television).

Please give me ideas for the next post by commenting below, I've changed the setting so everyone can comment now so I want to see comments!

Thank you for reading!

Word of the Day

ameliorate (say uh'meelyuhrayt)
verb (ameliorated, ameliorating)
–verb (i) 1. to become better; improve.
–verb (t) 2. to make better; improve; meliorate.
–ameliorable, adjective
–ameliorant, noun
–ameliorative, adjective
–ameliorator, noun

How George Orwell's 1984 Shaped the World We Know

Most of you probably have never read 1984 by George Orwell. I must admit, neither have I. I have started reading it twice but I can't get past the main characters Varicose Ulcer. Anyway, ulcers aside, 1984 is a brilliant and well written classic that has greatly influenced the modern world.

Basically 1984 is about the life of Winston Smith in the year 1984 after a global nuclear war. Winston lives in Airstrip 1 (Britain) where they are ruled by a mysterious and moustachioed Big Brother. It also features a romance between Winston and a lady called Julia and Winston's large and apparently rather annoying ulcer.

1984 influences us in more ways than I'm sure we think;

1. Since the release of 1984 words, terms and concepts from the book have been coined in modern language such as;
Big Brother: A dictator, especially one who tries to control people's private lives and thoughts.
Doublethink: The postulated ability to accept two contradictory facts simultaneously, especially as it is assumed to be demonstrated by politicians and businesspeople.
Thougthcrime: An illegal type of thought.
Newspeak: word or expression, especially one coined as the latest jargon of officialdom, which is usually euphemistic or attempting to put a gloss on an unpleasant fact, as in downsize for retrench.
Memory hole: A mechanism for the disposal of embarrassing or irrelevant documents or any other records.
Orwellian:  "Orwellian" describes the situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free society.

2. The TV show Big Brother which is heavily influenced by the character Big Brother in 1984. It is easy to tell this because of the nature and plot of the show. In Big Brother contestants are constantly watched by "big brother" as are the people in 1984.

3. Several bands have written songs or albums based around the ideas and concepts in 1984. Songs such as 2+2=5 by Radiohead, 1984 by The Kooks, Citizen Erased, Resistance and United States of Eurasia by Muse and Testify by Rage Against the Machine. Albums written about 1984 include Diamond Dogs by David Bowie, The Resistance by Muse and Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails.

4. Several other elements of popular culture feature idea and concepts from 1984 such as the films 1984 (1956) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1984). Several books such as 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and 1985 by Anthony Burgess. Several television shows such as Room 101 and an Apple add called 1984. Several video games, comics, films and art pieces have also been influenced by 1984. Even to my surprise the popular computer game Sims Societies is ever so slightly based off 1984!

If you are interested in finding more out about how 1984 influenced the modern world and popular culture I would advise you visit this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four_in_popular_media and pick up a copy of the book.

Word of the Day

Discombobulate: (say diskuhm'bobyoohlayt)
verb (t) (discombobulated, discombobulating) Colloquial to upset, confuse (a person). [Mock-Latin formation.? from discompose or discomfort]

Thanks for reading

Short Story

Recently I've taken an interest in writing short stories, whenever I have a spare moment I can almost always be found attached to my phone or iPod tapping away at the screen. So here goes, my first story... it doesn't have a name but if anyone wants to suggest one please comment.

Short Story 1.

"Do you always do this?"
 
"Do what? You mean talk to myself, yeah I always do that when I'm alone."
 
"You don't want to be the odd girl who dresses like a boy and talks to herself, do you now?"
 
"So what if I did?"
 
'Soldiers Poem' by Muse plays in the background of my mum's car. I'm old enough to drive but I don't care. Mum takes me everywhere except school; most of the time I just don't go. I used to care about 'education' but now I just thinks it's a waste of my bloody time. My mum says that sometimes it takes time to get where you want to go but I don't see anywhere I want to go. Matt Bellamy's strong voice and the bands steady beat accompany me as I turn to talk to the voice that echoes from the back of the car. It's my sister but then again it always is; often I wish I wasn’t a twin because having a twin is liking have a voice in the back of your head all the time. I look at her, she's pretty and even though I look exactly like her I'm not. Her hair is brown, so is mine but hers is shiny and soft to touch whereas mine is oily and all clumped up in knots. Her eyes are hazel, so are mine but hers are brighter and always compliment her smile whereas mine are dull and do a pretty good job at frowning. Her skin is olive coloured, so is mine but hers is smooth and golden whereas mine is pimply and has a lot of scabs on it. She's a prefect at my high school and I'm the kid who never turns up. She's the one my parents know will succeed and I'm the reason they are glad they had my sister as back up. She's the one with the boyfriend who loves her and I'm the one whose parents think will end up in an abusive relationship. She's the one who is trying to get into Oxford and I'm the one who's trying to get a job at Macca's. She's the one that when we were kids would sit inside and play Barbie's and I'm the one who climbed the tree, fell out, broke her arm and was dumb enough do it again the day I got my cast off and the doctor said I was better. I guess I already knew that my parents were certain I'd fail at life along time ago. My sister leans over from the back seat and turns off the cd player. I glare at her and she moves her finger across her mouth and then smiles to show me that I should be smiling too. I don't but she can't help that, no not my sister, she's perfect. She hates my music, she likes everything else and I just have to put up with it. She always talks about how if I liked what everyone else liked then I could go back to school and be cool like her. But her plan is flawed mostly because I don't bloody like what everyone else does. I don't know when I made the decision to stuff life in a draw and do something else. Maybe it was when I fell out of the tree. Maybe it was the second time I fell out of the tree. It could have been the time I nicked the fiver out of my mum's purse to buy ice cream. Possibly the time I chucked that coke can at my sister and now she has a Harry-Potter-style scar on her forehead. Could it have been when I skipped school for the first time. No, they're all wrong... I know when it was. It was when I was one, a long time ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember pushing my little body up towards the sun in our backyard, my parents ran over to me. They loved me, they were proud of me but no that was when I saw my sister out of the corner of my eye. My sister sat up and lifted her body up on her insy legs and they all went, my parents rushed to her... my moment disappeared and that's when I gave up on life.
 
"Oi Kate put the music back on!" That was my voice.
 
"No way Amelia!" The way she said my name almost pierced my heart like an arrow. I fiddled with the dial on the stereo, mum got in the car and suddenly Kate was switching seats with mum and I was sitting next to Kate. I slapped Kate with my hand and watched as my sharp nails scratched her perfect skin. She started the car - of course she was bothered to learn how to drive. Kate revved the engine and then proceeded to drive down the main street of our home town. I remembered when I was a year seven walking down these streets. I pulled my socks up and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I sent a text to Kate, I told her to run and catch up to me because she was further down the street. While I waited for her I thought about my friends, Kayla, Marie, Sylvia and Hannah. I came out if the flashback and settled back into reality. I looked down at my feet and saw my sisters practice graduation sheet. It read;
Kayla Murray - Head prefect
Sylvia Darlington-Smith - Music captain
Marie Mertastorlis – taken from us (2015)
Hannah Strosspiper - Dux of school 2015
 
My eyes watered for all of them, I shed a tear and almost wished that I was still with them. But then Kate swerved, the car hit a streetlight and the back swung round from the pressure and banged up against the car next to it. Kate screamed and her foot pressed down on the accelerator by accident and we sped forward into the window of one of the main shops, dragging with us a long row of bunting that had been hung across the bottom of the window. I was shocked but I knew what to do as I reached over two Kate and shook her - no response.
 
I blinked my eyes and woke up. I bounced out of bed and shook Kate, it was the first day of year seven and I was pumped. I remembered the dream and shook, I can talk to myself and be who I am but I will never let that come between Kate and I. Kate's eyes opened and I pulled her out of bed and we danced around the room screaming at another “the first day of year seven”.

Word of the Day

 Debonaire–adjective

1. courteous, gracious, and having a sophisticated charm: a debonair gentleman.

2. jaunty; carefree; sprightly.

 

Thanks for reading!

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Doctor Who Rating Mistake

I found out today that there was a glitch or something simliar with Foxtel that resulted in its TV Guide reading that this weeks episode of Doctor Who was rated MA. I would like to apologise and to tell my readers that this weeks episode of Doctor Who is rated PG and then Doctor Who will take a two or so month break.

Thanks