Study study study

Number of hours until my English exam: 32

Number of quotes I need to know for my English exam: 44

Number of times I have stopped studying to check my emails/blog/play minesweeper: Too many.

I have a secret ... I'm not very good at studying. People assume I must be, because I get good marks, but I think it's more to do with the way I think, and my memory, than studying hard. I tend to get distracted (like right now!)

I'm currently surrounded by pieces of paper with things like "The horror! The horror!" (Conrad's Heart of Darkness) and "A shudder in the loins engenders there" (Yeats' "Leda and the Swan"). My room looks like a cyclone hit it - schoolbooks, pens, university prospectuses, eraser shavings and previous exams are everywhere, and I can't remember the last time I put any clothes away (although I have a theory that it is easier to find clothes on the floor than in my even-messier chest of drawers).

I know that this probably isn't the best environment to be studying in. I actually had plans to get a bit of a filing system going - Chemistry crap goes in this draw, Maths crap goes in here... it seems a bit late to do it now. So I'm soldiering on.

I've been told by every single one of my teachers that I should be studying for AT LEAST five hours a day. I know people who do eight hours a day. Me? I think I managed three yesterday.

I think that, at this point, I just can't let this get to me. There's no use cramming, for one. Also, I know that everyone learns in a different way, so it's possible I don't need to study that much (I've been getting good marks all year like this). It's also possible that that's just wishful thinking, but I'm sticking with it. And hey, it's too late to worry about it now.

Here's hoping this tactic doesn't fail me when it matters.

*

A shout-out to my new readers! It's great so see some people I don't actually know on here. Keep up the wonderful comments! I promise I'll try to reply to them all.


Quote of the day:
Hermione - This year I plan to study a lot--
Ron - Well, that would be cool if you were actually hot!
"Goin' Back", A Very Potter Musical

The End: Part II

An update on my end-of-schoolness: I've handed in my last piece of work EVER (my Composing and Arranging folio and major work). That just leaves three exams and my final Music Solo Performance moderation.

I've had so many "last"s recently. My last test (matrices, five weeks ago), my last assignment for an examinable subject (a chemistry prac), my last day of classes (on which we actually did quizzes and went out for lunch), my last actual classes (a few days earlier), my last day of school... it's exciting, frightening, a huge relief and sad all at the same time.

A huge relief, since this year has been tough at best (and torturous at worst), and I really need it to be over for the sake of my mental health.

Exciting, because a new phase in my life is about to start - adulthood.

Frightening, because I don't know where that will lead me.

Sad, because there are lots of people that I probably will never talk to again... plus I'm a big softie and will actually miss school once it's over, even the hard bits, and the teachers.

As a celebration of my wonderful life at school, I'll leave you with a quote from my hysterical chemisty class of '09, the day we were learning about cleaning agents.


Quote of the day:
Random kid #1 - What's hard water?
Random kid #2 (with a totally straight face and without missing a beat) - Ice.


EDIT: Whoops, forgot to wish a VERY HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY to CC!!

Testing, Testing...

Just a quick post to try out my new signature... I've seen similar signatures in a few blogs now and really liked them, so I thought I'd get one myself. Let me know if you like it! (And I finally fixed the background colour!!! Yay!)

I also thought I'd mention that I've signed up to a couple of hit counter sites. This means that I know when you read my blog, even if you don't comment... but it makes me sad when I get all these hits and no one has bothered to let me know they were here! I mean, now I do know if you were here, but that doesn't help me to know whether or not you like what you read. I don't mind if it's constructive criticism - help me make StorkSpace better! Please, please, please comment when you read, even if it's just to cheer me up. (And trust me, I need that right now - my first exam is just over a week away!)



Quote of the day:
"I don't know what that means." - Dr Temperance Brennan, Bones.

The End

I have, in some ways, officially finished high school. Forever.

Please excuse me while I freak out.

Today was the last day of school, in which we took part in the usual Muck-Up Day Final Day activities - dressing up, putting on a concert, pulling pranks, and generally being outrageous (okay, I wasn't outrageous, but a lot of people were! By the way, just in case you are interested, I was Ms Pacman). It was AWESOME.

Somehow, though, I feel a little... anti-climactic. I've been looking forward to this day since I saw my first one, back in Year 8. Now that I've been there, and done it, I've already started forgetting things about it.

Sure, I won't forget the sight of the Footy Boys dancing to "Single Ladies" in leotards, or my friends dressed as Pacman Ghosts, or the feeling I got when I realised that bloke in the long black wig was my ex-boyfriend, and I hadn't recognised him. But I probably will forget most of what happened today.

In a lot of ways, this makes me sad. After all, I expected this day to be one of those Big Moments in life that you will always remember. It was the end of something huge, and I expected to feel a sense of triumph, of elation, of loss. Somehow, I don't.

I suppose it shouldn't be surprising. After all, I still have two and half weeks (yes, I'm counting) until my final exam is over. Today, in that sense, was not the end of anything.

It was, though, a day for us to celebrate the time we've had at high school, to thank our teachers and each other, to chill out and have fun before the final crunch time. And it definitely was that. Instead of taking the piss out of the teachers and the other year levels, like other Year 12 groups have done, we took the piss out of ourselves, and celebrated our school community. Despite the fact that I don't feel like this was a Big Moment, it was still a fantastic day. And hey, now we have the internet to record these moments. If I ever forget this day, I can just read back on this blog, and find the photos on Facebook.

CLASS OF '09 FOR THE WIN!!!!


Quote of the day:
"Miss Pacman, I would sex that bow right off your head. Eat those dots, you naughty, naughty girl!" – The Todd, Scrubs

Long time no see - I've been to the movies a lot

Whoops, it's been awhile since I was here. I hope you all missed me!

I've finally got my last assessments out of the way, and my trial exams, so the stress-induced freakout of my last post has abated. In order to pass the free time (heheh, what is the 'free time' you speak of?) and/or procrastinate from studying, I have seen not one, but three excellent films in the last couple of weeks: The Young Victoria, UP, and Mao's Last Dancer.

The Young Victoria is an absolutely beautiful film. The impeccable cast, led by the wonderful Emily Blunt, is only one aspect of the film's achievement. The cinematography (not that I pretend to know anything about cinematography) was beautiful. I'll admit that I'm a sucker for love stories, royalty and history, and this film excels in all three, so perhaps I am a little biased. I really did love this film though. Highly recommended.

UP was, as always, a wonderful Pixar achievement. I've decided that Pixar films are always perfect because they take so bloody long to make, that any tiny imperfection in plot, character, animation, etc is picked up. UP is very different from it's predecessor, WALL-E, and certainly had big shoes to fill, but the film manages to go above and beyond what we expect from a children's movie. Like the first Shrek movie, Finding Nemo and other giants of this genre, UP makes adults and children alike laugh and cry (including one memorable moment where my friend CC managed to do both at the same time). I loved the fleeting nods to the "Dogs Playing Poker" series of paintings and the Star Wars X-Wings. I can also assure you that I will be yelling "SQUIRREL!" randomly in the middle of sentences from now on. Anyway, if you haven't seen this movie yet, you really, really should. Don't wait for the DVD.

Finally, we have Mao's Last Dancer. I really wish I'd read the book before I went to see the film, but that's just because I'm a Reader with a capital R, not because the movie didn't make sense. It was a really lovely film; it didn't have the breathtaking beauty of The Young Victoria (although the scenes in China were stunning), or the hilarity of UP, but it was definitely one of the better Aussie films I've seen in awhile, and it very nearly made me cry (which is definitely an achievement!). The knowledge that every word of it was true made it even more poignant (Li Cunxin, whose autobiography the film is based on, has recently been named Australia's Father of the Year). Also, the dancing is spectacular. Again, I highly recommend this film.

So there you have it - my last couple of weeks summed up in three films, and three exams. That's seriously all I've been doing. My life is boring (or should I say average?). Props to M for seeing two of these with me :)


Quote of the day:
"Hey, I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says, 'I forgot to store acorns for the winter and now I am dead.' Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead." - Dug the dog, Pixar's UP