the gods must be crazy.

Yes, craziness is here, yet again.
But, shockingly, it's at the BEGINNING of the year, barely past halfway through the first term.
this following week is a reality check: english essay + scuba!! =O
and then after that omgsh: history test, maths test, SRP, english wide reading
why so crazy!?

i have this whole study guide planned out for me because i'm awesum like that. yes, i'm trying to be a goody two shoes and be organised with EVERYTHING

haven't been reading any books lately, because i was focusing on science and english. for pd we got this book, The Story of Tom Brennan, and well at first its like ehhhh this book sucks. simple language, plotline is typical etc etc. as it progresses however, it still sucks but not as much as it did before. everything is quite predictable and it's relli slow moving. i'm finished with the book, it was okay...cliched ending though and it also didn't give an insight to all the other problems of the protagonist, it was like okay the protagonist is happy whilst everyone else is still sad. -end-

after this i really must read Lord Sunday, Life of Pi, Cloud Atlas, 1984, together with a whole lot of other books ive been meaning to read since last year.

btw, ask me anything on my formspring site =D

oh and have you guys been watching dance?! =D
and yes, my study guide compensated for dance so it's alright. i'm pretty organised so i got my essay pretty much memorised and my SRP pretty much good to go, i did some research at the library on saturday, so yeh that was cool.
history...well i'm not too sure but luckily we don't have an extended response or else i would be soo stressed right now.
maths...i think that's alright too except we haven't started consumer so i'm a bit worried about that.
english wide reading...oh gosh, i haven't been able to get a hold on that dvd. i reserved it at the library and its due back 3rd of March, which is when we have scuba and i just want the guy to return it like right now! I already did half of it though but i need to watch it again because i don't remember any of the techniques. argh.
and history site study...well that's ages away, i don't need to worry about that until these two crazy weeks are done with.

seriously, i don't want to be studying at scuba camp. that's retarded.

also, before i got a job at Michel's Patisserie, Winston Hills, but then I had to quit due to transportation problems, but then i went towers and handed in resumes to like four places and today they called me and i'm going in on tuesday!!

Thank you God so much.

Anyone catch or knows someone who catches the 3503? cuz that's the bus that goes to towers right?
let me know, i need more info, like wat time it gets there and stuff.

oh, last day of summer today.
bring it on, mr. coldness.
won't be blogging till after camp, then crazy studying/assignmenting mode.

ecstatic.

I finished Murder in Mesopotamia!
I wouldn't have guessed the ending; it's a bit (way too) far fetched. I don't believe anyone can be that.......crazy? desperate? insane?
Yeah, you know what I mean. But it's still good, it's crazy how authors of detective novels can think of these. I wonder if any of them were actually real murderers who thought out everything and got away with it, I mean they certainly had the brains to carry out a nice murder.
Okay, now that's just a scary thought: Agatha Christie running around and stabbing people.


Anywai, my next book is The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, the book that the movie (2008) of the same name was based on, with Kate Winslet as the lead actress. After this I still have another book I borrowed from the library, but I borrowed it based on its appearance so I might end up not reading it, since a) the books are due in like next week, although might be able to renew it, b) we have that English wide reading assignment to do, and even though the novel part is due in Term 2, I still need to prepare for that, c) I need to find a time to read Lord Sunday, at this rate- a very long time away.


Okay, so so far I'm about 2/3 of the way into the book and let me just say: don't read this book. I haven't seen the movie, but I thought it sounded good, and well, the book...it doesn't suck suck, but I definitely do not want to read it again. It's hard to explain, but the author just carries on and on, like overall the story is interesting, but each chapter is not at all interesting by itself. Like maybe every 5-10 chapters are interesting, but the bits inbetween the interesting parts are just homicide. seriously. I really need to ge tthis book over and done with. I'm so close to the end I think I have onli 6 chapters left? Yeah...don't read it.


So, what's up with this avalanche of assignments lately?
English Practice Essay, English Essay Test, my science class's Spinal Cord Research Assessment, Science Research Log, English Film Submission, have to read the PD book, and our History Site Study, which I can delay until after week 7.
But still, all the others... that's crazy. How am I gonna cope?


God...please...help me.

Persevere in prayer. Collosians 4:12.
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O Lord, you alone are my hope. Psalm 71:5.
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You are the God who performs miracles. Psalm 77:14
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Anyone who believes in him will not be disappointed...Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:11,13.
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God blesses those who realise their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them. Matthew 5:3.


OH AND AND THANK YOU GOD SO MUCH FOR GIVING ME THAT JOB AT MICHEL'S PATISSERIE!! ARGH IT'S SO AWESUM I CAN'T BELIEVE IT (actually I can) BUT ARGH THE OVERWHELMING EXCITEMENT THAT SEEPED INTO MY BODY WHILST THEY CALLED ME OVER THE PHONE WAS JUST UNBEARABLE!! YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FATHOM HOW I FELT, SERIOUSLY...IT WAS A VERY NOICE FEELING...GETTING A JOB YOU RELLI LOVE.

so I'm working every tuesday after school... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so happy.
so ecstatic.

life isn't long enough

Animal Farm (novel by George Orwell)
A few days later, when the terror caused by the executions (of traitors/spies within animal farm) had died down, some of the animals remembered-or thought they remembered- that the Sixth Commandment decreed: 'No animal shall kill any other animal.'
...Muriel read the Commandment for [Clover]. It ran: 'No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.'
Somehow or other the last two words had slipped out of the animals' memory.
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They had thought that the Fifth Commandment was 'No animal shall drink alcohol', but there were two words that they had forgotten.
Actually the Commandment read: 'No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.'
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There was nothing up there now except a single Commandment. It ran:
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.
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The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which.


Ahh, politics. What an interesting subject.
This site says that Napoleon, the main pig, is meant to resemble Joseph Stalin; Mr. Pilkington, a neighbouring farmer, resembles the US and UK; and Mr. Frederick, another neighbouring farmer, resembles Nazi Germany and Hitler.

"Like Napoleon, Stalin was a master at pulling strings behind the scenes. He grew a secret police force, the NKVD (later the KGB), which behaved a bit like Napoleon's dogs, ultimately proving its effectiveness by assassinating Leo Trotsky, Snowball’s double and one of Stalin’s chief rivals."

"The narrator tells us that Mr. Pilkington is “an easy-going gentleman farmer who spent most of his time in fishing or hunting according to the season”. He is on bad terms with the other neighbor, Mr. Frederick; “These two disliked each other so much that it was difficult for them to come to any agreement, even in defence of their own interests”.
The antagonism makes much more sense when you realize that Mr. Pilkington is a symbol for the West – both the United States and the United Kingdom – and the neighbor he quarrels with is a stand in for Germany."

"From the start, Mr. Frederick is described as “a tough, shrewd man, perpetually involved in lawsuits and with a name for driving hard bargains”...
His role in the story makes much more sense when you realize that he is a stand-in for Adolf Hitler, and for the Nazi Party in general."

Also, the animals made a flag for Animal Farm, described in the book as a horn and a hoof:



Look familiar...?



Yeah, that's right. It's JUST like the communist flag!!!

How interesting.


OHOH!
Murder in Mesopotamia is getting interesting now =D
Finally, someone died and finally, Hercule Poirot came into the story!

Murder in Mesopotamia (novel by Agatha Christie)
"You know when anybody says to me of some one, 'It's just nerves,'
I always say: but what could be worse? Nerves are the core and centre of one's being, aren't they?"
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Wherever women are cooped up together, there's bound to be jealousy.
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(When first seeing Hercule Poirot, the narrator is shocked)
I don't know what I'd imagined- something rather like Sherlock Holmes- long and lean with a keen, clever face...
When you saw him you just wanted to laugh!
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There are things that my profession has taught me. And one of these things, the most terrible thing, is this: Murder is a habit...
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"I'm not often bored," I assured her. "Life's not long enough for that."

unfailing love fills the earth.

I'm having withdrawal symptoms from watermelon.


Yesterday, something relli weird happened.
I was watching So You Think You Can Dance and I poured a glass of cold water for myself.
I was standing up, and I was just about to drink the water when the bottom half just fell down! I was so confused because I thought I was so unco to drop the glass and spill the water, but I was still holding the glass, and I didn't realise the bottom fell down.
I was like wow I just dropped the glass, but why is there a pool of water on my carpet? WHAT just happened?






Animal Farm (novel by George Orwell)
...[Squealer was] a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.
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It was about this time that the pigs suddenly moved into the farmhouse and took up their residence there. Again the animals seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been passed in the early days, and again Squealer was able to convince them that this was not the case.
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"Muriel," she said, "read me the Fourth Commandment. Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed?"
With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out.
"It says 'No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets' " she announced finally.
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For the first time since the expulsion of Jones there was something resembling a rebellion.
(This is ironic because the expulsion of Jones was supposed to be the start of a Rebellion against the Humans)
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...When the key of the store-shed was lost the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well. Curiously enough they went on believing this even after the mislaid key was found under a sack of meal.

THANK YOU DIWAN for getting me Lord Sunday!! =D
But first I have to finished reading Murder in Mesopotamia, by Agatha Christie, which is actually moving along RELLI SLOWLY and I'm only like barely reading 1 chapter a day! =[ BUT i have to turn it up a notch and read like a million chapters a day so that I can finish off my other library books then read Lord Sunday!!!

Indeed, it's time to get CRAZYY!

Speaking of crazy,
Did you hear on the news; that 28 year old man was rescued from the Haiti rubble about a month after the earthquake! Doctors said that he was in a state of confusion and kept mumbling stuff about how a man in a white coat came to give him water at different periods of time.
Hallucinations?
Or an act of God?
YOU! be the judge...

Love...endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7
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The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my victory. Exodus 15:2
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He loves what is just and good, and his unfailing love fills the earth. Psalm 33:5

happiness can be found anywhere.

Animal Farm (novel by George Orwell)
Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever.
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The Seven Commandments
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.
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War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.
(Don't forget this book is from the perspective of animals)
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The two (Napoleon and Snowball) disagreed at every point where disagreement was possible.
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He said, life would go on as it had always gone on- that is, badly.
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Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well.
This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.

By that you can already tell that the farm is going to be corrupt under the leadership of Napoleon. At this stage, the rations are very little so reducing them by half will practically mean death, so you tell me, is it really strictly voluntary?


A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.
-Theodore Roosevelt


So since I finished Animal Farm, I started reading Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie, because I love detective stories!
This was also borrowed from the library and I was actually looking for Sherlock Holmes, but there were none left so I was like awww =[
And then on display: Agatha Christie! yayy =]
By the way, for those of you who don't know, Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot can sort of be compared to Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, as they were both really popular and were created around the same time (I think).
But I reckon Sherlock Holmes owns Agatha Christie's novels.
But yes, they're still awesome books but it just seems weird that death seems to follow Poirot like EVERYWHERE! Like he's on a holiday somewhere and then someone randomly dies and it's his responsibility to figure out who it was.


On the topic of books, I REALLY want Lord Sunday (by Garth Nix)!
I have all the other books in the series and this is the last one! =O
Can't wait to read it!!!
The ending of Superior Saturday was so...*facepalm*
Basically, imagine the main guy falls down this pit, and the fall might kill him, and then you're like OH NO HOW IS HE GOING TO SURVIVE?!
AND THEN, anticipating some heroic feat, you turn the page only to find out that he -END-

yeah, it was very much like that. Actually it was practically just that.
I hope Garth Nix did a really good job with the ending of Lord Sunday, because I don't want it to be like those overly cliched endings like Harry Potter. Because we all know how much I hate happy endings, except in non-fictional stories, of course. Real life happy endings are the best.

Oh, and also, a while ago, I think in the holidays?, I got so bored I rearranged all the icons on my desktop and the result:



just to prove that happiness can be found anywhere.

until you believe that black is, in actual fact, white.

Alice: Through the Looking Glass (novel by Lewis Carroll)
"I see nobody on the road," said Alice.
"I only wish I had such eyes," the King remarked in a fretful tone. "To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too! Why, it's as much as I can do to see real people, by this light."
...
"Who did you pass on the road?" the King went on, holding out his hand to the Messenger for some hay.
"Nobody," said the Messenger.
"Quite right," said the King: "this young lady saw him too. So of course Nobody walks slower than you do."
"I do my best," the Messenger said in a sullen tone. "I'm sure nobody walks much faster than I do."
"He can't do that," said the King, "or else he'd have been here first."
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(Alice wants to cut a plum cake and hand out slices, but every time she cuts a piece, it rejoins to the rest of the cake)
"You don't know how to manage Looking-glass cakes," the Unicorn remarked. "Hand it round first, and cut it after wards."
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(The White Queen to Alice, after promising her jam 'every other day')
"The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday — but never jam to-day."
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"I beg your pardon?" said Alice.
"It isn't respectable to beg," said the King.
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As large as life and twice as natural.
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Ever drifting down the stream —
Lingering in the golden gleam —
Life, what is it but a dream?


A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger.
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Those who control their anger have great understanding; those with a hasty temper will make mistakes.
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A person without self control is as defenseless as a city with broken down walls.
Proverbs 15:1, 14:29, 25:28


On Thursday (while everyone was at the swimming carnival =P) I went to the library and decided to read Animal Farm by George Orwell.

I read this before in year 7 as part of that reading challenge assessment we had towards the end of the year and I thought I should really read it again because it's so interesting!

Although it's actually not one of those books where it's like "OH MY GOSH I CAN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!", it's interesting in the fact that it's got a lot to do with politics and how people change drastically over a course of time, short or long.

Oh, I'm so rude, I haven't even told you what the book is about.

Mr. Jones is a farmer who owns Manor Farm, but lately he's been slacking off; getting really drunk and forgetting to maintain/feed the animals and his once beautiful farm. Old Major, an old pig, tells the other animals that a Rebellion over the Humans will, inevitably, take place. When Old Major dies, the rest of the farm takes it as their responsibility to ensure the Rebellion takes place, and eventually they rid Manor Farm of Mr Jones and rename it as Animal Farm.
The pigs that take up leadership of the farm are Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer, who create ideals and a list of the Seven Commandments that the farm animals need to follow.
However, over time the whole farm just goes insanely corrupt and it isn't long before the ideals are forgotten.

Interesting, eh?
I know the word "politics" is relli a turn off, but trust me this book is interesting. It just goes to show, everyone has the potential to manipulate anything and brainwash you until you believe that black is, in actual fact, white.

appreciate the life you have.

Alice: Through the Looking Glass (novel by Lewis Carroll)
(Extract of the poem 'The Walrus and The Carpenter', recited by Tweedledee)
But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat;
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed;
Their shoes were clean and neat --
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.
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"Contrariwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."
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"You know," he added gravely, "it's one of the most serious things that can possibly happen to one in a battle -- to get one's head cut off."

LOL I LOVE Alice in Wonderland! Through the Looking Glass is actually the SECOND Alice in Wonderland book, which is weird because nobody even knew there was a second book. I only found out when I read about it one Wiki. I just HAD to read it before the movie came out, to prep myself and have a better understanding of the characters, because tons of people get mixed up between the two books and mix the characters, like the Alice in Wonderland Disney cartoon film. And the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts are TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE (people get mixed up with those two a lot). The Red Queen is a chess piece and the Queen of Hearts is a playing card.
Anyway, I CAN'T WAIT until Alice in Wonderland comes out...just over a month!!

This site is such a good site...
It's so sad and stuff but it really makes you think about serious issues, like suicide, death and cancer. When you read some of the posts, it just makes you appreciate your life so much, but then it kind of feels bad that some people can be so unlucky to be in situations that you'd most likely never be in.

Speaking of bad situations...I made a list!

10 Worst Situations To Be In (real and hypothetical; excludes injuries and death)

Ten. Reading a book that's really interesting, but your eyes are so sore...did I mention you're only about 5 chapters to the end? And so, you keep reading...
Nine.Paying for something in coins, only to be about 5c short, causing you to break a $50 note for something worth less than $10.
Eight.Having no food in the pantry that you feel like eating.
Seven.Rushing to get somewhere (e.g. a shop), only to be rejected (i.e. the shop is closed).
Six.Waiting several days/weeks before opening presents.
Five.Wanting to both sleep or eat, but not being able/allowed to do either.
Four.Lying in bed for hours trying to sleep. It's pitch black but your eyes have adjusted and you can see everything clearly.
Three.Losing money, seeing someone pick it up, and not being able to prove it was yours.
Two.Having a nice, juicy, watermelon in front of your eyes, but not being able to eat it.
Number One.Cutting onions.

Looking at the "worst situations" I can come up with, I think it's fair to say that the issues (except maybe seven and three) we are dealing with right now are so trivial, they won't be anywhere near affecting our lives in the long term watsoever; our lives really are awesome, and they could be much, much worse.

Stop being negative.
Stop complaining.
Take some time to appreciate the life you have.

=]