CONGRATULATIONS II !!!!!!!!

So, I'm back with the rest of that list, starting with 2013 and bringing us up to date :)
Here we go:

• The entire of this - 3rd January 2013
• I'd like to apologise for the accidental pun on the title of my previous blog post. It was not meant to be in any way funny and (to be honest) it isn't. - 7th February 2013
• when the revolution finally comes, I'll be close behind Miss MacNeill in the line for the Tory Fox Hunt. - 17th April 2013
•  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!!!!! - 2nd May 2013
• 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. - 2nd May 2013
• "Jumbo Jumble" sounds like a kids' game, in which you have to untangle elephants - 4th May 2013
• Maybe that's why I like Radio 4 all of a sudden... - 17th June 2013
• *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. - 17th June 2013
• Any other band that I'm ever in, no matter how mind-numbingly boring and tedious, will never quite be as fun without being fun, if you know what I mean. Which you probably don't. - 10th July 2013
• Hello, today I have been painting a shed - 14th July 2013
•  I stumbled across half a documentary (well, a documentary which was halfway through when I found it) about Meat Loaf. The singer, not the food - how sad do you think I am? - 11th August 2013
• Frogs apart, Margaret is the funniest thing to have happened in my time working at PhatPocket. - 29th August 2013
• the other benefits of this new job are excellent, but more about them another time... ;) - 29th August 2013
• There's Graham, who works for "the agency" (dun dun duuuun) - 9th September 2013
• My bedroom is orange. Very orange. Special orange. It's so orange that it's like living inside an orange. Or Ginger Chris, one of the two. - 22nd September 2013
• my towels are coral, although I don't think I'll ever understand why that is the case. - 22nd September 2013
• it's by a group of girls called Law Revue, who appear to be highly feminist to the extreme. And American. But that is irrelevant. - 30th September 2013
• So I have come up with a solution. Many of you will think it childish, but to you I say "Ner ner ner ner ner!!!" - 3rd October 2013
• I am still waiting for him to realise just quite how crazy I am, but (mercifully) that time has not yet come. - 14th November 2013
• 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 - 24th January 2014
• Please ignore these people. They're just actors posing as my friends. - 24th January 2014
• I have a lot of friends who bat for the Owen's team, who like to exfoliate and whose favourite film is Moulin Rouge. Is this getting the point across at all? Basically, I've been nicknamed the Fairy Gaymother - 1st February 2014

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.

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.