Ding Dong Merrily On A Budget

I know, I know, I haven't updated this blog for over two months now and I'm very, very sorry. Therefore, like a parent who has missed their child's school play, I am now going to ravish you with extra attention and new and more interesting posts to make up for it. Hopefully. I have actually been hoping to write this particular post for about six or seven weeks now, so it is a bit late (and out of season), but I hope you'll excuse that. Anyway, on with the show!

As you can see, today's post is called "Ding dong merrily on a budget" and, basically, the idea behind this has sprung from my desperate need, as a student, to decorate my room for Christmas on an incredibly minimal amount of money. I set this limit for myself at no more than £10 and managed to come in below this amount anyway. So, my first shopping trip took me to (where else?) Tesco; where I spent approximately a fiver(?) on decorations, consisting of:

• Tinsel, 2 (two) - gold, total of 4m
• Stocking, 1 (one) - red and white felt
• Battery powered Christmas lights, 1 (one) string - star-shaped, purple and pink alternating

I was quite happy with the way my looked at this point; I may even have a photo...

Somewhere.

For now, allow me to continue.

This was in the last week or so of November (I thought it best to get in early, although I am usually against this, as I was leaving Uni on 13th December, so wanted the full Christmas season), however, by the beginning of December my friends and I had decided that we wanted to have a Christmas party and, seeing as how my room was the tidiest/I'd done the least hosting all term/I was most open to decoration, my room became the designated party room. This, of course, required more decorations to be purchased. 

With now only £5 left in the budget and most of a room to make festive, we thought we'd have our work cut out (does anyone else think I'm beginning to sound like one of those stupid house makeover programmes?) Anyway, we decided to start thinking outside the box; the regular person, socially acceptable box...

So we spent about £3.50 on wrapping paper and we (Declan and Elena) wrapped the walls of my room.

Yes. That happened. 

See photo if you don't believe me.

Please ignore these people. They're just actors posing as my friends.

So, my plan with this post was to encourage people to get involved in the "Ding dong..." idea wot I came up wiv, but obviously it's a bit late for that. So, please consider it for next (this) year (especially those of you on tight budgets) as a cool Christmassy thing to do.

Hopefully I'll have another post soon. Much love xx

(P.S. Tom, I haven't forgotten about your letter. I have it and am in the process of writing back, but I haven't yet had the chance to send it - sorry!!!)

Pretend It's Monday, OK?

Soooooo, topical blog update for today, methinks. Obviously today is Armistice Day/Remembrance Day/ Poppy Day so I thought I’d have my two cents on the matter. I always ponder it quite strongly when it gets to this time of year, so I may as well share with you folks.

 For me, Armistice Day is a very sombre and serious occasion; not because I personally knew anyone who died in either of the world wars, nor did I lose any grandparents that way. Put simply, I completely disagree with the idea of war and think that we should remember those who gave their lives fighting for their country, wherever that may be.

Interesting phrase, that: ”Gave their lives”. It makes it sound like they had a choice at all times to lay down themselves as a sacrifice. We know, of course, that that isn’t the case, especially with forced subscription. There are some soldiers who did choose to give themselves entirely to protect their friends and comrades, but many of them had the “decision” forced upon them at one point in the process or another.

So today we are asked to remember those who died in the First and Second World Wars, as well as all wars before and since. I think this is a beautiful thing to do; so many families have been torn apart by war that it makes perfect sense to have a day on which we honour the fallen. Plus, it’s one of the few ‘special days’ in our calendar that has yet to be overly commercialised; there are the poppies (of course), but they’re for charity. There’s also the Remembrance Service on the Beeb on the Saturday night before Armistice Sunday and parade, but I wouldn’t say that was commercial because a) It’s the Beeb, and b) it’s an excellent idea for those who can’t attend a Sunday service or march but still want to remember the fallen soldiers.

I think Armistice Day is an excellent idea because, as they say, lest we forget...

Parthenon Huxley

Hopefully, this post might actually work this time...

As many of you who have me as a friend on the beautifully renamed Facepoke will know, I recently posted a picture of a tiny poster I made for the Rewind Henley festival which Liz and I attended at the weekend, which said "I <3 and="" confused.="" explain="" feel="" generally="" hux.="" i="" p.="" p="" should="" the="" this="" to="" u="" undereducated="">
Parthenon Huxley is the guitarist for the Orchestra, which is what's left of ELO (the Electric Light Orchestra) now that there's no Jeff Lynne or Bev Bevan in the line-up. Apart from having one of the best names in the world, Huxley's key claim to fame (in our household at least) is his excellent album "Homemade Spaceship", on which he sings (and has arranged) several covers of ELO hits, my favourite of which is probably "Don't Bring Me Down." (Not, as Ella claims "The day my toaster killed your grandmother with a cat".)

Unfortunately, P. Hux's work is virtually unknown in the UK. This means that it is nigh on impossible to find anything by him online, but here is what I could find in the YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glsawak-ceA -  (10538 Overture, another excellent cover.)

[SIDEBAR:] Yes, I am aware that P. Hux can be read, deliberately or not, as "phux", but I am not that immature (usually) and I ask that you aren't either (except when I am). Yes, Dad, I know you think it's hilarious and that's why it's like it on iTunes...

Anyway, this man is amazing. If you ever want to see me fangirl with the best of them, take me to see the Orchestra with P. Hux in concert; I will be the only one there excited about this guy, but it's so worth it :)

Soooooo...

No need to look surprised, Roy -
I've been talking about it for years!

... I haven't written for a while. I've been meaning to and wanting to, but I've just not had the time. Anyway today I am pondering dying my hair, once again. Anyone who's known me for any length of time will know that it is currently one of my five life dreams to dye my hair bright pink. At the moment, I am looking at which is the best place to buy the colour from.

This particular ponderance has been brought on by seeing my old friend Sally for the first time in ages at the weekend (Happy Birthday, Sal!) Sally now has blue streaks at the front of her hair and they are super-awesome, they really suit her. When I asked her about it, she told me it was part of her new "Art College persona", which is fair enough. My plan since my parents said "not in our sink, sunshine!" is to change my hair once I get to Uni.

But Sally isn't the only reason for this particular strive to change my hair. My last A Level exam is on Wednesday, so naturally I am looking to the future. Hopefully from September onward I'll be talking to y'all from a small room in Nottingham, rather than an even smaller room in Hertfordshire! That's got me thinking really, what sort of person do I want to be at Uni? I want to be the same as I am at the moment, except for the enormous pile of onlookers who only remember how awkward I was for the first three years of my secondary school career. But I also want to be interesting to talk to; intellectual. Not that I want every conversation to turn into some massive political or ethical debate, I'd just like to be able to discuss things a little more interesting than the weather and who's going to leave the Apprentice this week.

Maybe that's why I like Radio 4 all of a sudden...

Anyway, I've spoken to a lot of you about this I know, but I'd like to hear other people's opinions too. At the moment, I'm agreeing with Leila on the shade of pink (there are thousands). I don't want pastel or baby pink, as I think my face will look round and the overall effect would be babyish. Plus, it's not the look I was going for. At the same time, I'm not planning to go for something too bright; I was at one point, but I think it's become too overused by trashy girls and people who just make it look tacky (this is in no way meant to offend anyone with pink hair - I love you - but there are people who have "dirtied the name" of pink-hairedness.) So my plan at the moment is to aim for a sort-of-magenta shade and pray that it turns out OK. Of course, my icon in this whole shenanigan is Roy Wood, King of the Pink Hair Brigade* (having famously gone prematurely pink) and his hair is that sort of colour, primarily because I guess he doesn't bleach it beforehand.

Thoughts?


*The Pink Hair Brigade is in no way affiliated with or similar to the Tolmers Pink Triangle, or any other Pink Triangle for that matter.

Arbeit Macht Frei

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for any offence caused by the title of this post. It hasn't been meant in an offensive way or as a reminder of the past, but as a way to grab attention and make a point. Last Wednesday was my last proper day of school at Owen's and this phrase (translstion: work makes freedom, originally written above the gates of Auschwitz) will be one of my overriding memories of the day. So I suppose today's pondering is why some people have to spoil things.

Our last day at school, traditionally known as Muck-Up Day, is always a bit of a joke. We are expected to come in early and decorate the school based on our theme, which we choose, and also dress up accordingly. Our chosen theme was "Neverland", as in Peter Pan, and about seventy of us had agreed with the Head that we would come in at 6:30 and make the school lunch hall into a pirate ship, complete with statue of Captain Dame Alice Hook*. It was an absolute masterpiece and everyone who was involved was really proud. (At this point I'd also like to thank and congratulate Joanna and Aisha on their amazing organisation of the whole thing.)

However, when we went to look at the rest of the school, we got a shock.

The front of the school looked great; Nicole has decorated her car to look like an island and there were big banners saying "Welcome to Neverland" and "Never Grown Up Since 2006". That was really good. But the further into the school you got, there worse it got. Classic pranks, such as buttered door handles and handrails were there but there was also writing on all the walls. Some of it was almost funny but some of it, like the Nazi slogans, Swastikas and some incredibly rude messages about teachers and one about one person in our year, were just completely unacceptable. There's no need for that sort of reaction to seven years of excellent education.

Later we heard that half the year had been in since 4am and had drunk considerably beforehand, leading to the ridiculous actions we witnessed. I would like to stress to any teachers that have wandered onto this blog that it wasn't all of us acting like this and that those of us who weren't involved are very sorry it happened. And in future, you might like to know that butter works very well at getting chalk off of walls. Butter, water and bare hands.

This isn't my only memory of that last day; the Assembly we had was very nice, with messages from the teachers and the award ceremony (Best Accessories!) It was all very touching and I cried a lot (and not just for the injustice against the teachers.) And after a disappointing 'social' at Old Owen's, a group of us went to one of Potters Bar's many pubs and had a lovely chat, which was nice. And of course, I have the memory of Jason's face when I turned up for my lesson with a bright green face... (I was a crocodile!)

*Our school has a statue of Dame Alice Owen, the foundress, in the lunch hall. She is traditionally dressed up for Muck-Up Day. In previous years, she has looked lovely in tin foil, bikinis and bubblewrap.

Exams (Yes, it's that time again...)

Dust off the revision guides and get out those massive (and incredibly cool now that hipsters are a thing)  reading glasses, it's revision time again! Yes, the time of year where we ponder the previously pondered is upon us. We all know what this means; it means that we should've all been relearning what we've already learnt before we've even learnt it since about February, because otherwise WE WILL ALL FAIL AND NOBODY WILL EVER LOVE US EVER AGAIN!!!!!

Just me? Oh, OK then :)

For myself and my peers, this year holds a much greater threat than any other previous year. As Nicole said in RS the other day: "Before, if we did badly, we could just resit. Our pride would be hurt, but that's about all. Now, if we do badly, we don't get into university and the rest of our lives are ruined." Ok, so I don't agree with the ruined lives bit, but this is effectively true. Whilst there are some universities (apparently St Andrews is one of these) which prefer to offer places to people who have already secured their grades and have gained a little life experience, the fact that one is required to retake some A Levels does not sit well with many places of study. Plus, as my Dad points out on every available occaison "taking a gap year and traveling the world is one less year in which you could be earning." Unless you work through your accidental gap year (yay), but then again, who would want to employ someone who doesn't even have A Levels (or at least good A Levels) in this day and age?

Grade inflation has a lot to answer for.

Plus, if you do get a job during your gap year, it can only really be part time because, of course, you have to revise for those fabulous exams again. And this time is even more serious because there's no way you'd be considered for anything if you had to redo your A Levels twice.

Or maybe none of this is really a possibility and I'm just panicking because at my school we're all expected to be able to recite Pi to several thousand digits by the end of year seven.

The Royal Albert Hall

Those of you who attend (or probably who have ever attended) Owen's, my school, will know that Tuesday night was the huge accumulation of this year's celebration of four hundred years of the school with the concert at the Royal Albert Hall. So of course, I am pondering that.

Now don't worry, I'm not going to go on and on about how amazing it was to be able to play/sing on such a famous stage in front of so many people, and how fantastic it was being in the Soul Band, who got the biggest cheer of the night by quite a long way. And fret not, for I don't plan to talk extensively about the school because it's quite boring. Except the balloons, that bit was cool.

What I really want to talk about is the amazing comradery which I felt between the old and "new" (I guess) Owenians last night and how amazing the atmostphere was backstage. Despite the enormous overheating in the Concert Band girls' dressing room and the constant feeling of being underground (sort of in a Churchill's-war-bunker-esque way), the morale backstage was kept really high throughout the day and practically everyone was amazingly nice. I have to make a special mention here of Ben, Ashely and George's impromtu marching band, who performed "Teddy Bear's Picnic" and "Tequila" on loop for about an hour. Really kept people smiling, guys. :)

The Old Owenians, in my experience at least, struck up a fantastic relationship with the current students. Leo, who had been roped in to play the bari sax alongside me all night was really great; he was evidently a much better player than I am (being a professional and all), but he still treated me like an equal and talked to me more in two days than the entire Soul Band did for the whole of last year.

As for the School Song at the end, well that was just beyond words. But you know me, I'll try anyway. Despite not having any music, I was on stage for the School Song; the excitement in the orchestra was massive and I think that everyone in the hall felt the same. When the brass section stood up with their hands on their hearts for the chorus, we were all in stitches. Only Seb could get away with leading something like that and live. Well, Seb and Peter...

Anyway, as Dr D said last night, Happy Birthday Owen's. And thanks everyone, for such a memorable evening.

Soul Band

My favourite people in the entire world (minus one). Except that several of this year's members (Chris, Harry, Harry, Hugo, Asa, Irene) are missing, so pretend they're there too :)

Another fantastic night last night guys, especially the choreography of the trumpets! I am going to miss you so much next year, but I'm sure you'll be glad to see the back of me (especially Jack, who has to put up with my playing at the closest range!!!)

Am I The Only One...?

OK, so Valentine's has been and gone (And I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise for Oliver once again) and I'm pondering its aftermath. For some, obviously, their relationships have been strengthened and for others it's a beautiful beginning. For me, I always find Valentine's Day a little bit creepy.

I mean, I got a card from someone, who I'm still not convinced isn't my parents. But if it's not my parents, then I find it a bit creepy, to be honest. I can't really think of anyone who knows my address that would send me a card, which means that someone else went out of their way to obtain my address and send me a card. Am I the only one who finds that a little bit odd if this person isn't willing to tell me who they actually are? I would much rather that whoever this person is (providing it's not a joke or something) just told me if they like me.

Anyway, I found this picture the other day, then lost it, then found it again. And I thought you lovely people would like to see it because it made me smile. This is how I feel about people when I do things for them. Happy Valentine's Day, person.

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter (or Tweeter as I saw it called today) at @EmPernilla and I sometimes say things. It can be quite nice.

Thanks :)

Pointless Holidays

Today is Valentine's Day. Therefore I am pondering it. Congratulations to anyone who has a Valentine; from what I can tell, it's more common for people to be breaking up in the last few weeks than getting together. Which is really quite disillusioning for a hopeless romantic such as myself.

Anyway, it might just be me, but Valentine's Day doesn't seem to have been such a big deal this year as it has previously.  The only couples I know who are still together appear to be playing it down and not doing anything together this year. I know that Valentine's Day is just the "celebration of a guy who had his head chopped off for marrying Christians" (thanks Sophie!), but it's a little bit sad that so many people aren't using today as an excuse to be soppy and loved-up.

Which got me thinking, why do we expect so much from this particular day when so many other days go past without even being noticed? There's not really anything different about today compared to yesterday, except that it's Thursday. But anyway, what can you do?

And now for a shout out. On a day such as today, it is fair to gaze upon those less amorously fortune with a favourable glance, and thus I offer the opportunity to indulge temporarily in charity and humanity. As strong and as muscular as an ox, Oliver would act as a valuable asset (with a number of other valuable assets) to any life. If you think yo ready for this jelly, Move yo booty up and downn, make your booty touch the ground for this man filled with ennui.
(Sorry, he wrote it himself. I just think it's funny)

Now, I must go, for Peter Andre awaits (not in a weird way), and Mrs Compton is yelling. Very loving.

The Gay Marriage Proposal

Hello Internetty Folk! Today I am pondering how very strange society is. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Only a few days ago it was finally decided that homosexuals should have the same rights to get married as the rest of us "plebs" (the Government's word, not mine) which, to be honest, doesn't really make any sense to me.

I really can't see why people have such a problem with this whole shebang. If two people love each other and want to spend their lives together and never be with anyone else then it shouldn't matter who they are. And by that, I don't just mean whether they are both men or both women. Throughout history, similar problems to this have arisen, where some duke or other has given up his fortune and run away with the scullery maid, or a perfectly respectable white woman has fallen in love with a black man. Looking back at these so-called "scandals" even fifty years later, we can see that there's really nothing wrong with them, so why should homosexuality be any different?

To be honest, I struggle to comprehend why so many people have such an issue with all this stuff. If you believe that all love is just chemical reactions in the brain and nothing to do with emotions (which are, after all, merely triggered by the release of chemicals in the brain) then it shouldn't be an issue to you because it's all superficial and nothing more than a positive response to a person anyway. If you believe (as I am inclined to) that there is the perfect person out there for everyone and that we all have the potential to find our soul mate one day then does it really matter if somebody's soul mate is the same gender as them?

I know that many of you are now wondering whether I am about to announce that I actually support this so strongly because I am myself a lesbian. No, I'm not gay (and even if I was, I would not use this as a platform to 'come out') but it disturbs me that it matters as much as it does. As a very wise German (Mr Gaertner) once said "does it really make a difference?" Would it make you think differently of me if I were? If not, why does it matter?

I know by posting this that I have opened myself up to abuse from the ever-reasoning and all-knowing voice of the Internet, but I'm not sure it matters. This blog is here for me to tell you what I think, so I have.

Explorers

Today I find myself with a free half an hour and very little to do. Over lunchtime I have been pondering the Explorer Meeting that Jess and I have planned for tomorrow night. It's epic. So I think I'll write about it.

The evening is called "Confessions" and is a partially group-organised, partially surprise meeting based on embarrassment and getting to know each other a little better. So far the planning is going quite well, but my co-conspirator, Jess, has GCSE exams this week, which she has to take into account in her role in the planning. Fortunately, I have been able to take over from most of the planning she is unable to now do and she is preparing another activity instead, which will take less time (hopefully).

So, to get you started, I have posted a couple of embarrassing pictures which come up when you search "Cuffley Explorer Scout Unit" in Google Images. The above one is Mr Robbie Williams himself (Teej) with Broke The Goat, on one of the rides at Southend. The one opposite is some crazy fool, who thought it would be a good idea to dance like a teapot in a kebab shop. Honestly...

Finally, this is a picture from the Southend trip of another one of our Explorers riding a pink elephant whilst carrying Broke. (You can't say we're not diverse in our madness!)

SNOW!!!

(Meant to be posted last Friday, but delayed :S)

So, once again I find myslef with nothing else to do and, once again, I find myself wandering back to the internet. My final lesson of today has been cut short because of the HUGE AMOUNT OF SNOW which is currently falling.

Anyone reading this who is from a cold country which is not Britain may think "Snow, so what?" Well, apparently it is a big deal here. But not a big enough deal for our school to be closed; only a big enough deal for every other school in the county to be closed (well, near enough).

But what really gets me (and it's not even something I'm pondering, just something that's made me annoyed) isn't that the school is open, because of some level I think that shows a dedication to education. What annoys me is that the Headmaster has spent the last three hours telling children that tey are not allowed to wear their coats, even outside, when travelling between lessons.

I mean, seriously.

It has been snowing for six hours straight now and the heating in the school switches off automatically at lunch time. Therefore, in my opinion, it is completely unreasonable to ask anyone to wear only a thin shirt and blazer/jumper in this weather. Especially when the Head himself is walking around in a long coat and scarf whilst telling people they should not be wearing their coats. That cannot be considered fair on any level, surely?

OK, maybe I'm overreacting, but I'm cold and bored and in about half an hour, I may have to walk the seven miles home. So I think I have a reason to be a bit crazy right now ;)