Pinwheel

Pinwheel

Wednesday 28 December 2011

Wattpad

Okay, this is going to be an extremely quick update, but I thought it fair to let anyone reading this blog know, I also have a Wattpad page you are free to look up. I only have one story so far, I have to admit, but I welcome constructive criticism, and I truly love writing. If this appeals, please look up my Wattpad page at www.wattpad.com and my username is:

time_lady

Hope this helps, please feel free to check it out, however briefly. Thank you!

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Debating Club Christmas Charity Raffle

Well, it's the run up to Christmas now, and not long to go until we break up from school for our last school Christmas Holiday. Obviously, I'm looking forward to it, but there are a few other things I have to look forward to before then, as does anyone reading this blog who knows me.

First, we have our Weekly Debating Club meeting on Monday, which I always enjoy (I like to argue my case on topics I feel particularly strongly about, and doing it with friends is even better if you ask me). Monday, after school with BISCUITS. Of course, that isn't the deciding factor (and I mean that - I go even without biscuits), but it makes a nice little addition. The topics and the people are what really make a debating club what it is. Our debating club is great, because not only are the people extremely nice and friendly, but we always end up having a lively and engaging debate on topics that really interest us. One week, for example, we debated the important, if slightly controversial topic of abortion, and on another occasion we debated about the protest outside ST Paul's Cathedral, and whether they should be thrown out or not, though of course we have our slightly silly moments, like the time we ended up debating Doctor Who... But that is a completely different story...

Anyway, the point is, the debating club is great, and I love it. So, on to the next event of the week - The Debating Club's Christmas Charity Raffle. It's the first one we have organised, and we're hoping it will be a great success - all proceeds are going to charity, after all. In fact they are going to be donated to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. A wonderful Charity cause if I do say so myself, and so we hope plenty of tickets will be sold so that GOSH will get a fantastic Christmas surprise! Unfortunately we have only been able to organise to open the raffle to years 11-13, but we hope that this won't be a setback.

And then, of course, there are the Christmas Holidays themselves, which, although they'll no doubt be full of revision for many of us, will be fun all the same. So, that leaves me with one more thing to say:

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
Have a fantastic time, stay safe and ENJOY!

Thursday 13 October 2011

Blackberry meltdown

So, Blackberry users face yet another day of being unable to use their phones. It isn't because they've updated the system, it isn't even because it's a temporary fault. No, instead this is the fourth day of global disruption to the BBM, internet and email services. Some areas appear to, as of last night and today, regained their full usage capacity, but others are facing disruption up until, and perhaps long after, this weekend.
You may well be one of those unfortunate people, so how is the Blackberry meltdown affecting your service?
But it isn't just individuals being affected by the meltdown in Slough, which has so far hit users in Africa, America, Europe and of course, Britain. Some of the biggest banks in Britain rely on the blackberry service to allow their business to function, and without it, they are left struggling. In an economic climate already struggling globaslly, and one of the biggest mobile phone providers in meltdown, what happens next? Well, unless they can solve their problem quickly, Blackberry will be a victim of their own success, as they risk being overtaken by their biggest rivals, the new iPhone, launching this weekend, and the Android phones which have become so popular.
On a lighter note, however, perhaps this could all have been avoided if we had listened to comedy writers when they predicted this just weeks ago. If we had listened when they had told us Blackberry would freeze, maybe we would have all listened and been prepared. Maybe we would not be so reliant on our phones if we had known this was going to happen. Who knows?

For all those interested, by the way, this is the clip in which they predicted Blackberry's troubles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI&noredirect=1

Monday 10 October 2011

Exam season

Well, now the exam season is over, but another is fast approaching. But how much confidence do YOU have in the exams system as it is? With so many exams being written with wrong questions that cannot be answered, or examiners missing out marks, can we really believe the grades we see on a bit of paper after all our hard work? Personally, my marks went up 24 points in one exam. I haven't got much trust in the exam boards now. So what can be done to reverse this problem?
Currently, there are fines in place if the same problem occurs next year, but is this enough? I don't think so, I think we need to be tougher on exam boards, but feel free to let me know what you think

Friday 2 September 2011

Mistakes, Changes and Apologies

Well, on my "about me" section, I have mentioned that I am a keen writer, and so I would like to take this opportunity to add a small piece of Original writing on here, and ask you, the reader of my blog, to take a moment to read it, and possibly add a comment as to how I could improve. Any opinions are welcome. I am not claiming to be a natural at this, and I know it is nowhere near perfect, but it is a bit of practice, so please, any comments are welcome. It's the first time I have done this, so here goes:


We're all human. We all make mistakes, right? So why do I feel like whatever I do, it's wrong, it's... bad? Sitting here, on my bed, phone in hand, screen bright with a new message flashing up, I bite back tears. What have I done now? That is a stupid question. I know what I have done, and I know it was wrong. I cling to that knowledge; that we ARE all human, and that it is in our nature to make mistakes, and that I am sorry, but it does no good.
It doesn't feel right to just sit here, but all I can do is wait. I know she is on the other end of the phone, I know I've done wrong by her, and I know I'd do anything, absolutely anything, to make this right. I just don't know if that's enough anymore.

As the phone beeps again, I open the message, my heart pounding, my head spinning, my eyes watering.
What's written inside scares me, but it gives me hope. At least she replied, I tell myself. With this in mind, I stand, and pace to the window, then back again, fingering the pale purple wallpaper where it peels off the wall. I think, as I do this, that this wallpaper is, in some strange way, an inhuman representation of Us. Of me and of her. We are peeling around the edges, and whatever we had, whatever friendship we had, what I want us to have again, is fading and peeling, it is tearing and ripping, and taking more than a little piece of me with it.

Dull grey clouds blanket the sky, but they are too harsh, too bright. Something about them makes my puffy eyes sting, so I look back at the peeling wallpaper instead. This, at least, does not burn. It may be a cruel reminder of what I am in danger of losing right now, but still there is something comforting about it.
My house would not be a home without this wallpaper.
I cannot live without her. She is my best friend. She is what keeps me sane when things turn bad.
I close my eyes. It is nearly midday on New Years Day. Is that too late for making Resolutions?
I decide no.
It is not too late to change.
It is never too late to change. And so I resolve to change. With five minutes to spare, I make my promise:

This year, and every year beyond, I will not do wrong by her. I will change. I will be a better person.
I will apologise, and I will change.
I will fix this.
I will fix this.

She is my sister, and it is not my place to break her. I am sorry.

Monday 22 August 2011

Much Ado About Nothing; a fantastic theatre experience

Much Ado About Nothing has been running at Wyndham's Theatre since June this year. It finishes in September, but this week I was privileged to get the opportunity to see this adaptation of William Shakespeare's famous play, staring David Tennant and Catherine Tate.
While the setting and costumes have been updated, the original language has been used, and the mix of the two is original and well done. In my opinion it has refreshed the play, and introduced an entire new generation to the works of Shakespeare.
Of course, many people will be familiar with both David Tennant, the ex-Doctor Who star, and his co-star Catherine Tate, famous for the Catherine Tate Show, as well as playing Donna in Doctor Who. However, most of the Cast have also appeared in several films, television shows and radio, as well as performing on stage. In addition, may of the cast are making their acting debut, or stage debut. Watching the show, you would not know that many of them had not been in a stage show before, because all of the cast is superb throughout.
It isn't just the cast that has excelled in bringing this classic of Shakespeare's to life. Though, of course, the actors have brought it to life with the performance, and the wit and humour throughout, as well as the skill they use, it is also the directing which allows such comedy to shine through. Several moments shine out in my memory; the moment when, without spoiling anything, Benedick, played by David Tennant, bursts on stage in uniform, in a golf buggy, and the moment when he hides behind the pillar, accidentally covering his hand in white paint, and then emerges, minutes later, covered in it; and when Catherine Tate hides under a sheet, whilst listening to a staged conversation, not realising that the other characters knew she was there all along.
Even the very end, when the lights go out, and you realise it's the end of this fantastic play, is pleasing to see. Not because you are glad for it to be over, not by a long way, but rather because it is when you see the cast bound back on stage and take a bow with as much energy as the cast of this classic, it is particularly satisfying, because you know just how much they enjoy what they do, and you know how much you enjoyed it too.
Overall, it was a thoroughly fantastic experience, and I'm sure it will bring a new generation to enjoy Shakespeare and keep the classic alive for years to come. 

Welcome!

First off, I would just like to welcome you all, and say thank you for taking a little time to read this blog. Secondly, here's a little information about me: I am now at Sixth Form, and hope to get the grades I need to go to university next year. Of course, with rising tuition fees and not knowing what grades I'll get, who knows what will happen? I can hope... And I can study, hard. So that's what I am doing. And, hoping to become a journalist, I have a keen interest in writing, and also in the news around me. Considering this, and knowing I would need some experience in the field, I felt this blog would be a brilliant way to get my thoughts and ideas across on the issues in the news, and to share them with you, the people reading this blog, in the hope that you will at least understand, if not agree with me. Of course, you can feel free to comment at the end and let me know what you think, and suggest what other topics I should write about, or, what I should do to improve my blog! Anyway, I hope I'm not waffling, and I hope you will come back and read my blog again when I have added a some more. Until then, Thank you.