*jumps gleefully*

I got As in my January modules! :D Yay. Which makes straight As at AS in the end, plus I only need a B or a C in my last module of further maths to get an A overall. *is happy**leaps* :D

Frees awaiting results...

Hanging around at school wasting several hours awaiting the collection of January module results at 1.30 in the school library. After: to Starbucks! (Yes, they are world-dominating, but they make good coffee and it's all fairtrade at least. Waste of money too, I know, but hey, I like coffee.)

New mouthpiece

So, I got my new clarinet mouthpiece on Saturday in the post (yes, I bought it through ebay. Yes, I know there are dodgy people on there, but this seller was all sweet and kept emailing me, even after I said I'd received the mouthpiece and gave me advice and stuff... which was nice. :) I also know that ebay can be unreliable, but so far my buys have always been reliably delivered, although this was the first relatively expensive thing (when I say that, nothing has come to over a fiver in the past). Also, I know one is supposed to try out different mouthpieces before buying them, and I did, including the model I bought, which was a Vandoren 5RV lyre (I don't know where to find a lyre symbol, but it is a symbol, not the word)) and the first time I play it it sounds as if there's air leaking out and the tone colour isn't all that great. Which was rahter a dampener on my spirits. So then I play my clarinet lots over the weekend and try out different reeds (and more reeds on Monday night too as I bought a new box of them) and finally find some good tones and colours and sounds, which made me happy, and I continued playing for the joy of playing as opposed to trying to save my clarinet playing as previously. And then there was orchestra today, and when playing my solo bit in 'December' (yes, I know it's March, but we're taking part in the Music for Youth festival tomorrow and for some reason we're playing that piece and I have a solo in the middle section) I kept squeaking. And squeaking just isn't a good sign. I'm going to have to play lots this evening to try and discover the reason for said squeaking and to remove the problem. *hopes to be able to* Hmph.

Ooops

Overslept this morning again. I woke up when my alarm went off, but somehow managed to fall asleep again, and then didn't wake up 'til 9.40ish. Tubes and trains were then treacherous trying to get to orchestra, and so I arrived in Euston around 11.15ish. The fact that I was waiting outside Hillel House (where I have orchestra each Sunday) for about 10/15 minutes until someone actually opened the door is minor. Well, not really. It was rather cold. :S

All rather strange (the oversleeping thing) considering I woke up yesterday really awake, if you know what I mean. Most mornings I just want to go back to sleep, which clearly happened this morning, although I recall no conscious decision to do so. I just think I thought at the time that I had 15-30 minutes to stay resting and not having to get up yet... and then I must have nodded off. *looks guilty* Ah well, I was punished by TfL and Silverlink Metro in return: darn engineering works. (Although it was rather comic sitting at Baker Street this morning waiting for a train: the announcements about engineering works on the tube this morning actually didn't stop. It went straight from engineering works to safety and back without a pause. Normally they wait a minute or two between announcements. I think there were problems on the Metropolitan, Jubilee, District, Circle, Northern, Central and Bakerloo lines as well as Silverlink services. It did make me laugh.)

I found the data for my chemistry coursework in my notes from class a few weeks ago. Doh. Ah well, it's just as well as I can't find any data regarding the order of thiosulphate and HCl in the required reaction in any books or websites... I'll just state the books as my sources, as well as knowledge from school lessons. That way there are no lies, and it isn't my fault that our chemistry teacher told us what our results are supposed to be for our investigation.

Mechanics test didn't happen today, which is always good I suppose. Gives me a little more time to not bother revising and realise that I don't know any maths. (Was tempted to use double negatives, but then got confused. :) They are confusing and shall not be used. :) Nor are they good practice if used.)

It's cold and snowing outside.

It's raining

It's pouring, the old man is snoring. Ooooh, sleep. Mmm. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

I love trainee teachers' enthusiasm. Extra notes, typed and ready to be highlighted. :D Except they do at the same time need to learn that when Chaucer is read with an accent that can be understood pretty much as modern English, with the exception of the odd strange word which needs translating, a translation of the three lines that have just been read does not have to be given, nor repeated three times. All the way through, so that whilst we read 130 lines for homework, we only reached about line 80 or 100 in the lesson. Going through what we had just read for homework. Gah. What a contrast to last week's lesson by the same teacher, which wasn't so bad, despite the fact that it was an introduction to the language, which I've experienced before when I read the complete tales. (Or complete up to where Chaucer wrote before he died, anyway.)

Still trying to find the order of thiosulphate and hydrogen ions for chemistry (when they react with each other), as it isn't in any of the 23 or so chemistry text books that I happen to own. (Don't ask why I own quite so many, I don't really understand why myself, but they sit on shelves around the house and I do have them. No-one in my family is a proper chemist or would really have reason to have these books either. Strange.)

Photos

There are now some delightfully awful photos (one could even say pretty ugly- oh I do love that oxymoron) (I'm only referring to photos of me being ugly, I wouldn't insult others in such a way and I did look awful) up from Thursday night, Friday afternoon and motzei Shabbat (Saturday night) on the BAUK website. (BAUK is Bnei Akiva UK, which is my youth group. We had a big thing on Shabbat which rather tired me out if you hadn't already gathered. Photos are now up from said event plus from preparation. Most of the ones of myself are rather awful, as such things always are. My excuse is this: most of the ones taken with me in (if not all) were taken after Shabbat, when I was already tired, but kept going on adrenaline.) www.bauk.org, go to photos and I'm in some of the ones under 'Kenton Shabbat Ha'irgun'. I personally rather like the photo of Raizl sleeping. I'm impressed that Shmu managed to take a photo of her. Well done Shmu. :D

Snow! Again!

Okay, I know it's actually becoming annoying before we've had a proper several-inch-thick snow day, but it's snowing once more on a Monday evening! And this time I am very glad that I did not go out after my leaders' meeting, as the snow had started to settle. I decided to drive home as quickly as possible in high gears and hope it didn't become treacherous before I reached safety. I was fine. :) It had started to settle on the pavement in my road (I live on a road off the top of a hill, so it tends to settle quicker due to being higher up I believe), but fortunately not in the road.

Possibly a snow day tomorrow? We can hope I suppose. It would give me more time to write my first draft of my chemistry coursework. (*grumbles* Why with such little notice and without having really taught us the theory behind it? Eh? Eh? At least it's all mathematical stuff this time and shouldn't be too bad. The hard thing is finding the data to use to predict my results. If anyone finds data on the order of hydrogen ions or thiosulphate ions w.r.t. rates of reaction and initial rate, I would appreciate it greatly.) A snow day would also give me time to do my two English essays for school (one is the one I complained about yesterday, the other isn't quite so bad and is on 'Othello') as well as reading up on other stuff and generally teaching myself organic chemistry again.

Ah well, that's life.

Tired

Rather tired from yesterday. Every year I forget how tired I'll be, and it's not even like I was tired last night after the tochnit ended and we finished clearing up the shul, it's when you wake up the next morning. Ach. I really haven't been feeling like working or doing anything at all apart from lazy (or procrastionatory) things like blogging or checking (and replying to) emails and the like. Not work, anyway. Especially the poem crit with reference to 'Translations'. It's a strange enough poem on its own, never mind having to relate it to a play. I thought up the trivial "both authors are Irish" point, as well as the loss of origins and culture. There are things to write, it just takes the crit to a different level which I can't be particularly bothered to do. (The poem is 'Hercules & Antaeus' by Seamus Heaney. I still hold that I prefer Heaney's essays to his poetry. Strange, I know, but it's my preference.)

I did that mock.

Right, well it did snow and there was snow on the ground on Tuesday, but not enough to make school closed. Apparently lots and lots and lots of snow is forecast for today: all the local councils have been told to grit the roads really really well. Which makes it seem like I won't have to go to my hour and ten lesson and assembly at 8.40, but rather have a day at home. Which will give me plenty of time to prepare for Shabbat Ha'Irgun (a weekend thing at my youth group this weekend) as well as do my essay... which I am still avoiding.

Snow snow snow

It's snowing! And I don't mind it snowing and settling now, as I am safe at home and not about to go out driving (although I was thinking about it this evening, but am glad I didn't as the snow started before the time I would have got home) and there is a possibility of no school tomorrow, which means no chemistry test. Which would be good. One week's reprieve.

Beginning to feel guilty about a certain essay. And reading through all those 'Othello' notes. Or not finishing reading through them, even. But, there are just so many. And so many people make such useless handouts too, that you end up reading pages of prose about total crap, without even any small basic facts worth higlighting. Gah.

But, we did start 'The Merchant's Tale' today in English, which is good. Well, not good in the sense I'm worried we won't finish our texts in time, but good in the variety and change sense and also good in the sense that we're finally moving onto the last text, which means we might finish... or at any rate we are closer to finishing. Not that we've finished 'Othello'. Gah.

But back to happier thoughts... snow snow snow! Settling snow! Pretty big big flakes swirling outside and settling and a white blanket covering the area around.... eeeeee. :D I like snow.

Back to school tomorrow

Brrrr, it's cold this evening. I just hope it doesn't snow overnight. Or if it does, that it doesn't settle. I want to drive to school in the morning, and I'm not going to in the snow! Plus, it'll mean my parents will have difficulty flying back into the country. Which can be taken in different ways, I guess, but I wouldn't wish hassle when travelling on them ever.

But snow is fun. Snow angels and snowmen and snow fights and just it being all beautiful under the smooth white blanket. I love the snow too, I guess. Plus it's a reason to wrap up all warm and cosy and sit by a fire with a warm drink and mmmmm...

I'm beginning to feel rather guilty about the amount of work it would appear I've done over the half term... but one week is so not enough time to do all the extra work that's given and relax. And I don't want to die of stress or anything.

Hmm, well, I'm going to find another jumper to put on on top of the one I'm wearing. Hopefully I might warm up a bit.

I don't like how this thing insists that there is "1 comments". Is it that difficult to have it being able to change between singular and plural dependent on the number in front? Evidently it is.

I did all my chemistry homework from one of my teachers (we have two). (Waits for applause, and then realises that this isn't actually that great a feat. Damn procrastination making it one.) I like chemistry at the moment, as it's possible and doesn't require too much teaching to make sense (well, if they continue it starts to stop making sense, so it's just as well. Although some people consistently don't understand, and so they continue re-teaching it. At which point I usually plug my ears)... well, it's all calculations (for both teachers oddly enough) and I can do maths. So all is good.

I also climbed up shelves and found my sister's old A-level notes on 'Translations' (which we're studying in English at the moment) and discovered some rather handy articles and essay questions and general stuff to note down. Despite the fact that she insists she had awful teaching (which she tries and argues with me was worse than mine), she still has plenty of questions, model plans and articles. Naomi likes articles. :D

Note:

I do not like it when people start up an instant message conversation thingy with me and before I even have the chance to say "hi" (or any form of greeting), they say "g2g, bi". Please note, there are two things I dislike here: (i)why did you bother to start up the conversation if you had to go that second? and (ii)"bi"? Please, at least learn to spell "bye". Not that much more effort is involved: one whole letter more. Come on, I mean I know I'm lazy, but even I bother to write "bye" if that's the salutation I wish to use.

Also, I've discovered I dislike (or just don't overly like) those silly drinks where there's about 5% alcohol and lots of sweet, sugary flavoured stuff, like Archers Aqua and WKD and stuff. You can drink lots and they just have no effect. And you end up wasting more money I'm sure of it. The pure shots in smaller quantities are much better. *nods* And WKD blue tastes of blue ice-pops.

I mean, I have no objection to drinking them when they're on offer or around, but I prefer to have a smaller, stronger shot of something instead I think. They're ever so sweet too. Especially the blue ice-pop flavoured ones.

*growls at public transport*

An hour and forty-five minutes! When it usually takes half an hour, max. forty-five minutes! Grrrrrrrr. Hopped on a tube, to be told I had to get off at Willesden Junction and grab a rail replacement bus... which wasn't coming for another 20 minutes. So I jumped on the first bus that came and got off at the first tube station (White City I think). From there got on the tube, managed to go one stop and then they announce that it was a defective train and so we all had to get off. Waited another five to ten minutes for the next tube, which I then took to Oxford Circus and changed to the Victoria line for Euston. Gah. A journey and a half just to get to orchestra. Coming home was simpler: I decided to take the Metropolitan line rail replacement buses, as they are more frequent than the Silverlink and Bakerloo line ones. Journey was still over an hour in length, but nowhere near as frustrating as the one going in. Ugg, I hate public transport. Especially in London.

Doh.

I went to shul thinking rather positively, "Anthony surely can't accuse me of blanking him this week... I only went to school by public transport on Monday!"... and guess what happens? Yep, apparently I blanked him on the platform at Finchley Road tube on the way home on Monday afternoon. This blanking thing is becoming a rather bad habit. (I've now blanked him twice in not too many weeks. :S) But I was chatting with about four other people from school, so how can I be expected to notice him for sure? The fact that I apparently actually walked round him is another thing... tum ti tum. Maybe I should look out for anyone around any time I'm walking anywhere. But, it's such a bother to do that. Ach.

I had more to blog, but alas! I have forgotten what it was.

Wasted day.

Yes. That's about it. Slept lots (which was probably good for me), haven't (yet) done any chemistry revision (bad, bad Naomi), met Sara for lunch, bought a couple of papers, a book ('Down and Out in Paris and London', Orwell), a CD (ooh plus another CD on the 'net, but that hasn't arrived yet, and it wasn't in the shopping trip), a pink v-necked jumper from H&M (the kinda boring one. I would put up a photo, but my parents are in another country with the digital camera), some general stuff (cleansing wipes, etc) and a couple of presents (which I'm not listing in case the recipients read this here blog).

Umm, went to Sainsbury's this evening with my sister to do grocery shopping, etc. Bought a red nose at the same time. They come with stickers! and red hair gel! and face paints! I do like red noses. I think I have every one since I was about 6. If not before, since I have many of my brother's old ones I think. And I want to buy the pin too. I still have the 2003 one on my smart coat, so it's about time I changed it, I think, and it does look nice. We also drove a round-trip to my sister's office, to check I do know how to get there for tomorrow afternoon (I'm picking Sara up so that she gets home in time for Shabbat).

Well, I should probably go and do some chemistry revision. *sighs*

No school tomorrow!

Woo! Ms. Gooriah said she wouldn't be in, and since my only lesson on a Thursday is maths first thing, sounds like no school for Naomi. :D Plus we were told on Monday that assembly is only for year 12s. Haha. Excellent. Time to go and buy a birthday present for Saturday and perhaps some clothes too. They would be rather useful. And socks. I need new socks.

Freedom of house and car and page limits

Parents have landed in the Holy Land... they texted us to let us know. :) Just Sara and I for the next 13 days (I think... odd number to go away for, I know). :) Means I can drive to school (Sara walks to work and would have to pay to park) and life is just a tad more relaxed at home.

Just spent the last couple of hours writing up my chemistry coursework. And then writing it up again. Stupid limit of a maximum of two sides of A4 handwritten. Some of us have large handwriting! The writing just doesn't look like mine now, that's all. Last time I squished my handwriting to fit a set number of pages for a handwritten task, I remember commenting when handing it in that "it doesn't look like my handwriting", to which I was asked, "did you write it?" and when I replied that yes, I did, I was told "then it's your handwriting, isn't it?".

In the absence of MSN (yes, I have other IM media, but few others use it and so the absence is noted. Also, I do not use MSN, but trillian, so that I can use lots of IM media on the same interface), people have turned to emails, which means my inbox has a lower spam: not spam ratio... always a good thing I guess.