Films and Firing

'Films' should be pretty straight-forward, but what I mean by 'firing' is that I played Battlefield Heroes. As in, firing bullets? Eh, nobody said titling was easy. Occasionally it is, but not often. I was considering titling the post like 'All Hallows'Eve '09,' just to be different (if you don't know what that is, then you do now.). But no, I won't. It doesn't really matter. Anyway. Let's have a look at my day.

I woke up at about 8, and I went out to watch TV. I also had to clean my room, but as that was quick (I keep telling people that it only looks messy. It's organised, it just doesn't look organised. Sort of like strange attractors. ...that could quite possibly be the nerdiest analogy I've ever made and I'm quite proud of it.), I watched TV and went on my computer for a while. And by a while, I mean, well, over 2 hours. I mean continuously, not just for the whole day. It was fun. I did a bit of blogging. Actually, it was mostly blogging, as I'm trying to get back on schedule. Doesn't look like the weekend will be able to do it for me, as I input a redeem code for Battlefield Heroes which increases my XP earned, and it only lasts a few days. So if I don't use it this weekend, that's it. Wasted. Anyway. Eventually, I got lunch, and then continued on my laptop, attempting to blog as much as I could. Of course, there was a lot of procrastination. Well, what do you expect on a weekend?

Soon, at around 1, EJ, Mum and I watched a movie that Dad had seen before, called 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas,' which is about a German boy in World War II who befriends this other boy, who is in a concentration camp. You really have to see it; it's a very confronting film, in Dad's words, who I think has got it spot on. See it. After it, I ended up getting into a political conversation with my Mum, as we have quite different viewpoints. I mean, we're basically on the same side as each other, but it's just some things that we really disagree on. We also spent the day hiding from trick-or-treaters. Halloween really isn't our thing, and according to a poll I saw, 84% of Australians agree with us (Wikipedia seems to feel the same. See?). Anyway. I then went to play some Battlefield Heroes, until Dad and Mum got us to watch another movie. This one was called 'I Hate Valentine's Day.' I watched the first half, but I never really got around to liking it. It was... unimpressive. About halfway through, I really just gave up, and started to play some more Battlefield Heroes. I've finally used the short range MG after the buff, and it is very good. So now I use the short and long range MG. Anyway. When the movie ended, I went into my room, to blog.

And that was my day. It's a short post (well, short-ish), I know, but sometimes you just can't help that. Also it's a late post, but then that's normal. Even though it really shouldn't be. I'm trying to catch up, believe me. It's a bir difficult, though, trying to catch up while not spending your whole day on it.

I'm slowly catching up (very slowly),
AB

A Great Day For Freedom

It's a Pink Floyd song. I use it in context for the fact that we are finally free of exams. That out of the way? OK. Soon, I shall get back up and I will be able to post earlier. This post, however, this post is late. ...I'm running out of things to say in this first paragraph. You know what, let's just skip to what I actually did in the day, shall we?

Period 1 was Maths, which was rather strange, as no teacher showed up to two classes. So our class went into A2's class (Eric's, Kevin's and Shafi's), and did completely random things. How random? Does Tri putting 'Pokemon Evolution' up on the whiteboard and then drawing pictures of the Geodude evolutionary line count? (The answer is yes.). Eventually, though, their teacher got to class, and we went to a spare room that was open next door, and did even more random things, like pretend to shoot things with a broken chair leg and draw the hangman evolutionary line (as in, every time you get a letter wrong, you add something to the hangman.). And then added puns, such as 'Quit while you're a head' to one with just a head, and 'Need a hand?' to one with only one arm (most of that was me. I love puns.). Faulds did get to the class in time, though, and we got our marks back. I got 74/80, which is pretty good. Mango got a bit less. Only because he ran out of time, though. I originally got 73, but they didn't mark a question correctly. Then, it was Drama, and Kolodziej officially gave out the marks. 3 other people got 40/40 (besides me. I'm sorry, I just enjoy mentioning that.), including Cam. We exchanged a high five at that point, with good cause, I believe. We also did some more of the plays, and prepared for a new one that we will do on Monday. Soon, anyway. At Recess, Cam and I went to the food tech rooms, as Eric and Shafi had made too much beef stroganoff in class. Yes, their minor is cooking. One time, they made chocolate brownies. I had much beef strog. Lots of noodles. I love to eat.

Period 3 was Commerce, and Kearney was away. So we had a sub, who I think was Spies. For the class, I pretty much just read, though I did do some questions from the textbook. I also talked to people about electives, and I came across something rather freaky. Jenny Tran (the one in my Commerce class) has the same electives as me: Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Legal Studies, Advanced English and Maths offline. It was rather strange. Period 4 was Science, and Robson was finally back. In the class, we talked about the difference between mass and weight, and other stuff pertaining to gravity. It was pretty interesting, and I learnt stuff I didn't know. Lunch was talking, as usual.

Period 5 was English, and we got back the multiple choice and short answer questions for the Trial School Certificate. I got 50/60, and I think I did well. There were a few questions that were, let's say, contentious, as most of the class had one answer for a multiple choice (even Lana), and the real answer was something else entirely. It didn't make all that much sense. It was strange. Anyway. I'm sure there will be questions like that in the actual School Certificate, so, might as well get used to it, I suppose. Period 6 was History, which was actually Geography, as we have apparently fell behind. All the classes have. I'm not entirely sure how, considering we're supposed to have the same amount of History and Geography lessons (and, indeed, it is equal in the cycle), but we did. When the bell went, we went to the local shops, where I saw Jessie at the shops. Long story short, she did exactly what she did last time. See this post for details; I've also put it in labels. Anyway. I then went home, and blogged and played some Battlefield Heroes.

Comments now, two from presumably the same person, who I'm going to guess is Shafi:
*Anon: You can be a part, I've got nothing against it. The more the merrier! And your story seems a bit similar to mine. Maybe. I think the comment about 'The Five Greatest Warriors' goes without saying.
*Anon: Sorry Shafi, Lana asked first. You can read it after her though.

And that was my day. I'd apologise about the late post, but I'd be doing it for a while. Just appreciate I'm trying and move on. I'm thinking that when I get back to schedule, I'll do a list. But not until then (so, not for a while, at this rate). Anyway.

Bring on the weekend,
AB

Trial School Cerificate: Mathematics and HSIE

I would have said 'History and Geography' instead of 'HSIE,' but that would mean that the title would be 'Trial School Certificate: Mathematics, History and Geography,' which is way too long for a title. Anyway, on the sheet they gave us, they actually said 'HSIE.' So, I have an excuse. Anyway. Let's have a look at my day, shall we?

I got up, of course, and packed my bag and stuff like that, making sure to include my History textbook, because History was one of the three subjects I was most worried about out of the three I was doing (History you have to know stuff, whereas Geography is more a skills-type subject, meaning you can cope with knowing less facts. Mathematics is almost nothing but skills. Do you know what I mean? I think I do... Anyway.). When I got to school, I showed John something I'd been talking to him before: the tale of the Squish (confused? Not any more! Well, less confused anyway.). Then the bell went, and we all went up to the room, but not before borrowing one of Cam's protractors, because mine broke. A while ago.

It was, I must say, a fairly easy exam. I mean, it wasn't incredibly easy, but it was fairly easy. My guess is that it's because the exam is designed for the average person, and we're in Hurlstone. And I'm in the top Maths class (I don't want to seem like I'm bragging. But, you know, it's true.). So I finished with 30 or so minutes left, out of something like 80. So I pretty much just doodled and daydreamed. It was fun (the daydreaming part, not the exam part. Exams are rarely, if ever, fun.). I think I did pretty well on the test, considering I checked and re-checked.

It was then time for the break, which, as in Tuesday, was a sort of combined Recess and Lunch (which it seems I did not mention on Tuesday's post. How strange.). There, we discussed the exam, and eventually got on to Battlefield Heroes. It's almost inevitable. We also watched the local school dog, a border collie called Hallie, chase the balls of people playing handball in the main quad. Tennis balls, that is (I just want to make that clear). Ian also showed his skills with dogs, which is rather fitting as he goes on about them all the time, and he was able to grab the dog, and lead it away on a number of times. I now call him the dog whisperer; it's just spooky. Soon, though, it ended, and we all had to go back and do the last exam of the week.

It was HSIE, which is pretty much just History and Geography, as I mentioned before. I wouldn't say it was easy, but it was easier than I expected. Of course, I've been saying that about almost all of the exams and it's unlikely that I'm right about all of them. Unless, of course, I ace every test, which I doubt. I mean, I went well in Drama, but we'll have to see about all of the others. With some of the questions in both of the exams, though, I had to think on my feet and use a bit of common sense, which I don't usually have but seems to work well for me in exams (it's what I used in Drama, and that certainly worked!). When I got home, I blogged, though certainly not enough. I also watched an episode of 'FlashForward.' It's taken a big twist, let's just say that. I didn't catch up though, in blogging.

Retro comment replies time, this one from Ebony about Tuesday's post:
*Ebony: Gnomes and fairies, sounds like a fantasy. Hmm. I do care, though; I like seeing how people find different ways to do the same question. It's pretty interesting with these open-ended questions, like writing narratives.

That was my Thursday. Sorry about the very late post, but, well, you know. I'll get back up, you know the drill. I'm not going to repeat myself again. It would be superfluously superfluous (intentional. I like jokes like that.).

Exams over; for a while, at least,
AB

Rest and Results

Could it be? Another alliterative post? I really had to, though, because I couldn't think of anything. Anyway. Rest means a break with no exams, and results means, well, I got some results. Pretty straight-forward, really. So, without further ado, to my day.

I got to school, of course, and before school, we talked about a whole range of stuff, mostly BFH related (isn't it always?). I also lent Shafi 'Five Greatest Warriors,' as I had finished it yesterday. It was epic, plain and simple. Anyway. First, it was Role Call, which was reading, of course. I was reading 'The Genius Wars,' by Catherine Jinks. I really don't like her 'Pagan' books, to be honest (having had to read them in English in Year 8 may or may not have had anything to do with it. Seriously, I don't know, but I don't think so. I can appreciate good novels. Anyway.), but her 'Genius' books are very good. Period 1 was Drama, in which we were making plays from prompts. Cam and I were in a pair, and we ended up doing this thing where Cam is selling stuff in a cosmetics store, and I am the guy buying it who is getting steadily ripped off. It's a bit like the scene with Rowan Atkinson in 'Love Actually,' if you've seen it, which is actually where Cam got the idea. Ours was apparently really funny (or so people told me; Cam did come up with some really good lines, such as the finder's fee in a shop: 'Well, I found this for you, sir.'), though I think Shane and Oscar were better. I mean, they're Shane and Oscar; they're hilarious (proof. Possibly conclusive.). Shane did the best American accent. He was a pretty good Basil Fawlty too. Period 2 was Maths, and as Rawson was late, we played hangman for a while (my skill in the game lies in three letter words, like 'dog.' But harder.). He did eventually get to class though, and we mostly talked about the format of the School Certificate, and to make sure that we avoid overthinking things, which I sometimes tend to do. Recess was talking.

Period 3 was PE, and in that, we got our assignment back (remember the one I handed in on the last day of term 3? That one.). I got 18/20, which I think is pretty good, considering how much time I spent on it (read: it was still getting finished after dinner on the day before it was due. What we were supposed to do in the period was work from the orange book, but instead, Wilson put on the computer, and (get this), went on Youtube. I had no idea the staff were able to go on Youtube, although I probably should have guessed. So the class pretty much just watched that. Lunch was talking, as usual.

It was then time for School Sport, and it seems we are getting lazier and lazier (I'm all for it, by the way.). We didn't even leave the main quad. No, really. What we did was cricket in the main quad, and I unfortunately got picked for the team of boarders. There were two teams: the Asians and Ebony, and the Boarders and AB, originally called Asians vs. Boarders before it was realised that Ebony and I counted for something. Our team won, and I had to bowl underarm, because it seemed nobody could actually play cricket, except for the occasional boarder who lost balls smashing them over the roof into the donut quad. Or maybe they just got stuck on the roof. Either way, they got lost. I think we lost 2 or 3. While playing, near the end, Kolodziej came by, and told me what I got for Drama. Which was 100%. No, really. I think that's the first time that has happened in an exam (not an assignment. That's been done before. But with exams.). Damn, that was good. After school, I talked to Ebony about string theory (I think it started with the Science exam from yesterday, and just kind of evolved from there. I'm just surprised that it happened.). After I got home, Dad did, and he had brought his friends from Canberra, Alan and Pixie, though I'm not entirely sure why. Around 7, we left for hapkido.

Shirisha wasn't here, but Grandmaster Geoff was. He tired us out a lot, and to top it off, Grandmaster Geoff doesn't give water breaks often. In an example of how he worked us, he gave us 20 of the 'Super Set of Six,' which involved tricep dips, wheelbarrow push-ups, and clap push-ups. No, really. It's a lot of work. I collapsed more than once. 20 just pushed me a lot. Anyway. I also got help with my reverse bear hugs, which I was sucking at. We ended up fixing it up, though, so that's out of the way (for now, anyway.). And when I got home, I tried to blog, but not enough. Ah well.

And that was my day. Sorry about the very late post, but, well, you knew that. I'll see if I can get back up on the weekend. There aren't any exams then, which is good. Tomorrow is Maths and HSIE, so be ready for a post similar to Tuesday. Except, maybe a bit longer. Who knows.

One more day of exams to go,
AB

Trial School Certificate: English and Science

Now, what you may notice is that I did not put an '09' in that title. Well, that's because I'm not going to be doing another Trial School Certificate. So '09' seems a little redundant. The same will go for the School Certificate, in a few weeks' time. Anyway. Let's have a look at my day, shall we?

I got to school, and we talked about stuff before the bell went, and when Shafi got here, he was transfixed at the sight of 'Five Greatest Warriors,' which I had brought to school as I had started it. Of course, you'd probably expect that, considering who he is (Shafi reads like I do) and what book it was (I mean, it is a bloody good book). When the bell went, we all went to our separate rooms, to do the English Trial School Certificate. We were given, to start off with, 4 booklets and an A3 sheet of paper, which is pretty big as you can guess. So I did one, the multiple choice, and that didn't take too long. We then had to write both a speech about one of the texts they gave us and a short story using one of those prompting phrases that you have to start off your story with. I think I did well in the short story part, however I finished it sorta quickly (I can't write short stories in two pages. Not in an exam, anyway. In the half-yearly, I got four in. It was well-written, but... anyway. You know what happened.). I finished with some time to go, and when the bell went, we all went outside.

There, we talked about the exam, and it seemed we all had different stories. Way different stories. I did sort of a science fiction story that probably would have crossed into a disaster movie territory (I didn't get that much time to develop my story), and a lot of other people did a lot of other different things. Soon, the conversation crossed into Matthew Reilly territory, and what he did in his books (it's been said before, but I'll say it again: it reads like an action film. That's because Reilly cuts out a lot of the unnecessary stuff, and the end result is nothing short of awesome.). We also talked about Battlefield Heroes, and what potential videos we could make, as Eric, John and I are considering making a video on Battlefield Heroes. I hope we do, but we'll see. We also studied for Science. More as an afterthought than anything. Then, at around 12:45, we went back to the room to do our next Trial School Certificate: Science.

We got the room, but after the teachers got to the class late, and then couldn't open the door, we got in really late. So late, in fact, that we had to skip reading time, which was a major inconvenience to say the least. I wouldn't say that the exam was difficult, because it wasn't. However, the problem was that every so often a question pertaining to Year 9 stuff popped up, which was very annoying considering we weren't even given the chance to study it in class, because Robson has been away. I don't think this is fair. I finished with a few minutes to go, and when the bell did go, we all went down to the station, where, thanks to the new train times, I was able to talk to Eric, Ian and Kevin about the exam. The jury's still out on one of the questions, which was a pretty bizarre one if you ask me. I don't know what the answer'll be. And when I got home, I blogged, but not enough, of course. So here I am.

And that was my day. There aren't any comments, but hey, that's life (the universe, and everything. Dammit, read Douglas Adams, people!). Or at least exams, getting in the way as usual. I mean, I haven't even gotten back to schedule yet! Soon though, soon. Keep an eye out.

2 for the Trial School Certificate down, 2 to go,
AB

Yearlies '09: Agriculture

The second of the most worried about exams has arrived, my perpetual concern for these last few years, Agriculture. But, after today, it was done, it was finished, and Ag had essentially finished for the year. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. So, let's get to my Monday, and see if I can try to beat this late post streak. Probably not, but we'll see.

I was driven to school today, as I was for Friday, just in case the train was late and I miss part of the exam because of it (Mum insists, but not unreasonably.). I went straight up to the library, where I saw Eric, John and Shafi sitting around a table, where they were studying for Ag. I joined them, of course, and we discussed many things and anything from our Ag books, in an attempt to get ready for the exam. I also told Shafi that I had 'The Five Greatest Warriors,' at which point he sat bolt upright, checked his watch, exclaimed that the book was already out, and begged for the book. It was quite funny to see, but also predictable in a sense (Shafi is like that with books.). When the bell went, we all went down to our rooms, to start the Ag exam.

It went for 80 minutes, as it usually does. I wouldn't say that it was easy (they never are; you have to memorise a lot of facts for Ag), but it was easier than I expected. Probably because of my study, though: it did help quite a bit. Without that, I would have been in severe trouble in some parts. I think I did well, but we'll have to see. I finished with a few minutes to go. Here's hoping the Ag exam comes up good. Recess was talking about the exam.

Period 3 was Maths, in which we did a non-calculator exam. So we did that for 30 minutes, and then we marked it, because that's just the sort of thing we do in A1. I got 22/25, which is pretty good (only one person got 25, and Mango got 21.). It was stupid mistakes that tripped me up, as they so often do. They get very annoying sometimes, as I can, say, miss one word in the question, which is so often one of the most important ones, giving me the wrong answer. Damn. Period 4 was Science, which was doing study for the exam tomorrow. Do these exams ever end? (Yes, on Thursday. That's not soon enough.) I also finished 'And Another Thing...' It's good, to say the very least. Lunch was more talking.

Period 5 was Commerce, where we too had a study session. Apparently, we aren't going to start any new work until the exams are over, which seems fair to me. Now, if some of the other classes were like that, we'd hopefully be going better. Ah well. Period 6 was English, where we got a copy of the Year 11 exam for Advanced English, and we went through one of the sections together as a class, just to have a look at it and maybe prepare for next year. I think. It wasn't really too clear (you'd reckon with an English exam tomorrow... anyway.). And when I got home, I did some study, blogging, and then it was time for hapkido.

Shirisha wasn't there today, and neither was Grandmaster Geoff. Not entirely sure why for the latter, but he doesn't have to come. So we had Manuel (I think that's his name) for the first half of the lesson, who works us a lot, and Tina for the second half, who is equally as tiring for us, maybe more so. One thing's for sure: you get a good exercise in hapkido. I learnt how to get out of a bear hug, for one. And when I got home after a time, I blogged, but not enough. So here I am.

That was my Monday. I am really sorry about the late post, believe me, I don't like it. It's not fun trying to remember two days back, and doing a decent sized post about it. But I'm trying, and soon I'll get back up to schedule. Soon.

Yearlies down, Trial School Certificate to go,
AB

Seeing, Read

OK, maybe that wasn't the greatest pun, as I wasn't actually angry (as in, seeing red). I just couldn't think of a decent title, and I wanted a title, any title, to do with books. This one worked. Anyway. Without further ado, to my day, as I am having severe posting issues to do with lateness.

I was woken up at around 7:30, as we had stuff to do in the day, of course. I was a little reluctant, as I am on doing things on Sunday (It's not that I'm religious or anything, no, I'm atheist, but I'm lazy.). I wasn't going to go before (which would be a pity, as you'll soon see), but with the new revelation that the shoes Dad brought back from Canberra were actually his, not mine, it has become evident that I have lost my shoes (no idea how you lose shoes, but I did), so we had to get new ones. Me being me, I just basically found any set of white shoes that would fir me (not as easy as it seems, as I have huge feet. Size 12, or something.), and brought them to Mum. This was in Big W, and so while Mum had to go look at something, I looked around the book section, seeing if they had anything decent. And then I saw it.

Upside down, on a shelf, but still perfectly recognisable: the new Matthew Reilly book had finally hit bookshelves. The final book in the Jack West Jr trilogy (for want of a better name), known as 'The Five Greatest Warriors.' I could hardly believe it. I grabbed it and held it tightly to my chest, not caring who saw me. I rushed to see how much it was, which was $25. For that price, it was mine. As I repeated several times, to get it they would have to pry it out of my cold dead hands. So I got the book, very pleased with myself for spotting in, and by sheer chance, after we got out of Big W, Mum let EJ and I go into Angus & Robertson. Where I came quite possibly the closest I've ever been to a religious experience (I may be exaggerating there. But not much.)

I stared at 'And Another Thing...' the sixth book in the 'Hitchhiker's Guide' series even though Douglas Adams passed away in 2001 (Wikipedia explains it better than I could), written by Eoin Colfer, and 'And Another Thing...' stared back. I'm surprised I didn't drop to the ground on my knees. I picked up the book; and goggled at the price. $44, it was. I was in two minds about getting this book. On one hand, it was from 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. On the other hand, it was $44 (the fact that 'Genius Wars,' the end to the trilogy by Catherine Jinks, was out wasn't helping.). What ended up happening was that I figured that it would be cheaper in Dymocks, if they had it, but just in case they didn't, I made sure we could come back to Angus & Robertson. So we got to Dymocks, and because 'Genius Wars' was cheaper there, EJ bought that. I put the points on my Dymocks card, leaving me at $7 worth of points. 'And Another Thing...' was $40 at Dymocks, but I got it for $33, which for buying books is an acceptable price range. After we got that, we went happy, and I was quite happy with my day so far.

However, all good things must come to an end (this being a semi-accidental reference to this song), and when we got home, I had to study, as tomorrow is the Agriculture yearly, which I'm not too happy about. Mainly because it's bloody Ag, and Ag exams and I have never gotten along (as opposed to English exams, which was only really the half-yearly. Still, what a half-yearly it was...). So I studied for quite a while, but every so often, I sneaked a peek at 'And Another Thing...' which was the book I chose to read first. I really couldn't help it. Once I was done, I blogged for a while, trying to keep up with previous posts. It's hard. I tried to get a lot done, but I didn't get all of it done. So here I am.

And that was my Sunday. Again, sorry about the late post, it's mainly because of Saturday, and how it threw me all out of whack by putting me two posts behind instead of my usual one. Believe me, I'm trying to get back up, but with exams, I am having difficulties. Just bear with me and soon I'll be back up to schedule. Hopefully.

Books, wonderful books,
AB

AFL Presentation Day '09

Yes, with this, the AFL season, from my point of view, can come to an official close, as the actual AFL season was really ended last month, and this presentation day is the last thing of my brother's season (as I was sorta affiliated with that, what with Dad being the President, Mum managing, EJ playing, me boundary running unofficially. So on and so forth.). It was also responsible for throwing off posting in a massive way, considering how long it ran. Also, yes it's a very late post. I really hope I can get back on track soon. And there is an arguable titling problem.

I woke up at 6:30, and once I'd got stuff done, I adjourned to my room, to play some Battlefield Heroes. I was doing pretty well, until about 8:15, when Mum and I had to leave to go set up for the presentation. I read in the car for a while, but soon we actually did have to go and actually do stuff. We started by unpacking seemingly endless supplies of bread rolls and seven boxes (seven!) of donuts (I could say 'doughnuts,' but I won't.), as well as much sausages, salad, cutlery, serviettes, and so on. Say what you like, but we were ready to feed an army. We then all went inside, to set up for the presentation itself. We moved tables, organised chairs, and did more unpacking, this time of trophies, as essentially everybody who plays gets a participation trophy, as well as Best & Fairests, Coach's Awards (possibly Coaches Award, I'm not too sure) and Most Improveds. Every single one of these was packed in cardboard and foam, so until about 11:15, I was a human conveyor belt, transferring packing materials to a large bin outside, coming back, and repeating. It was repetitive, tiring, boring work, as you can guess. Not particularly fun at all. Anyway. As I said before, at 11:15, we left, so that Mum and I could get lunch and be ready for the presentation.

When we did get home, I had a big lunch, and packed some stuff to go to the presentation. However, at about 1 when we had to leave, Mum put her foot down and said that I couldn't bring my laptop, which was a shame because I was told when we were going to get home, which was about 9. So instead, I grabbed my iPod and a book. We were the first people at the presentation (again), so for a while we just hung back and did whatever. When people started to arrive though, I went to my table, and read for a bit. Soon the actual presentation did start, but before that, I happened to see some old friends. Nicole, Darren's brother, and her Mum were there, and we talked for quite a bit. After that, Shaylee and Jess got me selling raffle tickets, as I took the box and thought we were all doing it together. I was wrong, but I didn't mind. They got me fair and square. I went around for a while, selling tickets, when I was called up to give out my own trophy (well, it's named after me, for no other reason than that I had been playing for a while when they thought up the idea for it. Still, it's pretty cool to have a trophy named after you.), which is the goalkicking medal for Under 12s. But after they handed that out, I went out to the canteen.

There, Shaylee and Jess were preparing for the feast that we were all to have after the presentation, which means that they were cutting open bread roll after bread roll. It didn't look particularly exciting, but they had music on and they didn't seem too bored. After I got there, I ended up showing them some hapkido stuff, because Shay left and she wanted to see some orange belt stuff. They laughed at my fall, which I do admit looks a bit strange, but it is pretty cool nevertheless. So I talked with them for a while, and soon people began to file out of the room and outside to near the canteen. The presentation had evidently ended, and people were ready for dinner, as was I. I had a sausage roll, a bread roll, and much potato salad (mmm, potato salad...).

After that, Shay, Jess and I wandered around, until we came across a game that most of the kids were playing. I can't say what it was called, because it seemed like they made it up. But, from what I can guess from playing, you get a goal by putting it in a goal, like in soccer. You can use any part of your body (not just feet or head, like in soccer), and if it goes out of bounds, then people just run after it, and bring it back into play. Tackling is grabbing someone until they let go. Basically, it's utter chaos contained in a theoretically limitless playing field. It was fun. I scored a great goal at one stage, pushing many people out of the way, then throwing it sideways with only a slight inclination as to where the goals were, while being tackled to the ground. Damn, it was good.

Soon after, they broke out the donuts, all seven boxes of them. A lot of people didn't notice. I, however, did. And as there were many more donuts than people (and even then, quite a few didn't take any), I decided to gradually take some. I then went to go and talk to people who were there, and even as people left, we talked to others. Soon, a game of cricket started, and I was called upon to be the umpire for some reason. And so I did, and we played until it was dark. Then, we went to sit down, and I talked and played Solitaire on my iPod (by this time, it was about 8:30). We also ate donuts, but soon nobody could eat anymore. So we went inside, where there was a group of retired (or, so I guess) people dancing. In there, we started handing out free donuts, and almost everyone took some. I thus learnt one important lesson: It doesn't matter your age, sex, race or religion, everybody likes a free donut. After more talking, and drinking (alcohol by some, Solo by me), we left at about 10 (not 9, as I expected). And when I got home, I blogged a bit, but only a bit, considering the time. Which should hopefully explain the very late post.

And that was my day. I can't complain about shortness of post, seeing as this one is over 1100 words (whoa), but that could have been a contributing factor as to why this one is so late. Others are shopping on Sunday, and study and hapkido on Monday. However, if you are still short of things to blame, well, you know who to blame (society. It's society.).

So long AFL season, see you next year,
AB

Yearlies '09: Mathematics and English

Yes, they've put arguably the two biggest exams of the year that aren't for the School Certificate (Maths and English being two of the most important subjects, and the yearly being big for both of these. Of course, if you do IPT, you've done your biggest exam. But I'm not, so I haven't. Anyway.) on the same day. Is this intelligent? I don't think so. So, without further ado, to my day, as I must post quickly. I'll explain next post.

I was driven to school, as I had an exam on the first period, and I went to borrow a book from the library. When school actually sounded, we went to our exam, but apparently, we had to have Assembly, instead of before Recess. I'm not entirely sure why, but we ran with it. In the actual assembly, the microphones didn't work (there was a blackout), and at one point we were left for 15 minutes as all the teachers (I mean, every single one there) went to go and get Norris, who wasn't there. The word 'disorganised' comes to mind. We did eventually get around to doing the Maths exam, and I went for almost the whole time allotted. I went over my work, and I think I did pretty well. Some people actually didn't finish (even Mango didn't!), so I'm thankful I did. All in all, I think that exam was, if not easy, then at least not mind-bogglingly hard. Recess was discussing the exam.

Period 3 was Drama, and in that we had a sub, as Kolodziej was evidently not here. Our sub was Hackett, who was good enough to let us study for our English exam, something which was much needed and much appreciated. So, I checked over that, and thought up a few techniques for the extended response. Period 4 was Commerce, and Kearney, like Hackett, knew there was an English exam, and he also let us study. I mean, it is the English exam, and teachers seem to realise that you really have to study for that. Which is good, because I don't want to completely stuff it like the half-yearly (I really should stop mentioning that.). Lunch was doing some last minute reading up on my texts, as well as talking about jokes and Battlefield Heroes, simultaneously at some points (as in, jokes about BFH. Very rarely were they funny.). And, then the bell went.

I got to the English exam room with a sense of major worry. I was nervous about the exam, and I wanted a good mark to make up for... well, you know. I went through the comprehension in about 25 minutes. It wasn't particularly difficult, as the texts weren't ambiguous like that bloody 'Walter' story from the half-yearly (it just keeps coming up in conversation, I'm afraid.). Soon, I got to the extended response, and after looking through the question, I started to write. And write. So you can imagine my reaction when there's only 20 or so minutes left of the exam, I've done only four and a half out of eleven paragraphs, and I've already used up half of the allotted space for writing. I started to panic, and thus began to write like there was no tomorrow. I finished with about three minutes left; and then the bell rang. And with having to catch the train and everything, I had really no choice. I quickly went over the stuff I'd written, and said to Wilson (who was taking us for the exam) that I had to dash. So I handed in the exam and ran for dear life.

I thankfully got to the station in time for the station, triumphant if a little out of breath, and I got home soon. When I did get home, I played some Battlefield Heroes for a while (I was messing around with abilities, but once I got it down, I was going pretty well), and then Mum and Dad called me in to watch another episode of FlashForward. It's going pretty well; I advise you to watch it. And for the rest of the night, I pretty much just watched TV, and blogged a bit.

And that was my Friday. Before you say anything, I know, this is very late (it's bloody Sunday afternoon), but that's for reasons that were not under my control. So I'll try to get back up to schedule as quick as I can. But with the Ag exam... let's just say I won't make any promises.

5 down, 1 to go,
AB

Yearlies '09: PDHPE

I was tossing up putting just plain 'PE,' but I figured that in the half-yearly posts, 'Mathematics' wasn't 'Maths,' so it's 'PDHPE' instead of 'PE' (yeah, I checked past posts. I won't really bother with linking, because it's only a title. Also, I should really stop with the apostrophes.). So, before too long, let us all have a look at my day, on this 256th post (that's sort of a nerdy computer joke, to do with binary. I will link you the Wikipedia page, as Wikipedia somehow has a page for the number 256. OK, enough binary nerdiness.).

Period 1 was Maths, where we did some study for the Maths exam tomorrow. Faulds actually didn't get to class until about 10 minutes after the bell, and for the whole of the class I pretty much just played Sticks with Justin (we're about of even skill), as well as doing dice rolls with the random integer function on my calculator (I can say it's not really random; there's a clear favoritism for some numbers. Though coin flips are evenly distributed.). Period 2 was Drama, and we had more groups doing their 'Fawlty Towers' scenes. Shane made an excellent Basil Fawlty (as I said, I sorta wish I'd been Basil, but Mr. Hamilton), and Tansy made her appearance as Mr. Hamilton in classic Tansy fashion, that is, in mock-promiscuous nature (or, rather, I think it was mock). Recess was talking.

Period 3 was the exam, and we got in, as we do, and we read through it. And there was quite a bit of chuckling. The PE staff, geniuses they are (no sarcasm intended), had taken 'at least one incredibly wrong answer in multiple choice' to a hilarious level, with some answers being 'Chuck Norris was born before his father' for which is the most true and 'A fully sick car' for road safety. They also had repeated mentions of Mr. T, proving once and for all that the PE staff are the funniest in the school without a doubt (they even had cartoons in last year's yearly. Cartoons!). Period 4 was Science, in which we got a sheet saying absolutely everything we had to know for the Science yearly, and I thankfully knew most of it, except for the stuff we hadn't been taught, which is quite annoying. I also, with the help of a stopwatch on my iPod, was able to find out that I could do the periodic table in about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Which is pretty good, I say. Lunch was more talking; we will return to cards soon.

Period 5 was English, and in that we discussed potential for the exam tomorrow. By which I mean that we talked about what the question could be (Hancock obviously knows, but he wasn't telling us. He was more telling us what we should do so we could be prepared for all manner of eventualities.), and he told us things to do for the essay: the basic structure, substructure, technique, quotes and so on. Basically, doing what he could to prepare us for the yearly, which I need; after the half-yearly, I need a good mark. Period 6 was History, which was watching a video on Gough Whitlam, as we have been for quite a while now (we got back into the swing of things in a new term like we never left.). In it, I also talked to Hewie about the English thing, which most seem to be worrying about rather than Maths, with good reason (not to say Maths is unimportant. But English exams...). And when I got home, I did some study, and blogged for a while.

And that was my day. There aren't any comments, but that's understandable, since most people are studying like crazy (me, I figure that you have to have some balance, so I do hapkido and blogging. It works.). So, this is the last paragraph. Tomorrow brings the two biggest exams, and one of the two I'm most worried about: English (the other being Ag.). So, I better finish up on this post, as I have time problems. As usual.

3 down, 3 to go,
AB

Yearlies '09: Commerce

Yes, it's the second exam in this session of many, and this is the post talking about such a fact (I started that sentence having no idea where I was going, and so I got caught in the middle of the sentence having no idea what to do. Damn, I suck sometimes.). Yeah... Anyway, it's a late post, but that's because the bloody schedule has been thrown off yet again. I have no idea when I'll get it back up. Probably when exams are over, but we'll see.

Before school, I looked for my shoes (this does have a point), and after some searching, it turned out Dad had taken them to Canberra (yes, my feet are that big). So I used his. They fit. When I got to school, there weren't that many people in our group, as a lot of our group does IPT, and they had the option to not go to school to study (it was the same yesterday, but there was an exam yesterday. Today, it would be IPT. Anyway.). First, it was Role Call, which was reading, as well as doing some studying for Commerce. Period 1 was Science, and in that we started a new topic, which was evolution (which, you can probably guess, due to my atheism and self-confessed science nature, I am all for. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that there wasn't any religious objections, although, in all fairness, we aren't that much of a really religious school.). That was pretty fun, and I actually read through the whole chapter in the period, as well as reading up for Commerce. Period 2 was Computer Maths, or, rather, it would have been if we actually went on the computers. Instead, we did a non-calculator test, and talked about the School Certificate (which, according to Rawson is sorta pointless. Certifiably pointless. ...OK, even I thought that pun was bad.). The non-calculator test was pretty easy, really, and I spent the remainder of the time doing more Commerce revision. The more the better! Recess was talking, as I'm yet to bring cards. After exams.

Period 3 was the major exam (that's not to say it was the major exam, except it was an exam on my major. That's still confusing. Anyway.), which was the Commerce exam. It was long, it involved a lot of writing for 40 minutes, and it was... easy. Or, rather, it was easier than I expected. I expected long questions needing statistics and knowing in-depth stuff about employment. Instead, we got questions that just needed far-reaching answers, ones that didn't need that much detail. And, from what I heard from other people who did Commerce (such as Kevin), they thought the same too. So, yeah. I got good luck on the Commerce front, and I hope I get good marks. Lunch was more talking, with the only people there: me, Kevin, Victor and Ebony, the latter two having come down from study (I have no idea where Andy got to.).

After Lunch, we had sport, or that's what we called it. What we actually did was go down to the computer rooms (they said it was because it was too hot. I'm not entirely sure, but I'll run with it.), and mess around for a while. For about half an hour, I went on the school's version of Pivot, which, if you don't know what it is, is a program that lets you create animations with stick figures (here, let Wikipedia show you). However, we soon actually had to do sport, as a teacher came in and said we had to do it. So we went down to the oval; and he promptly said that we only had to play sport if we wanted. So 7 people did it, and the rest sat down. Pretty much pointless, really. When 'sport' eventually ended, I went and read for a while, and once I got home, I did a little study for PE tomorrow. And at around 6:45, we left for hapkido.

When I got to hapkido, I talked to Amadeus for a while, on a whole manner of things really. Shirisha wasn't there today, but that's understandable, as she goes erratically anyway (it's not her fault.). It was another tiring session today, and coming up to summer that means a lot of water being lost. Today, I learnt a bit of a new technique, which was a way of getting out of a bear hug, I didn't get to try it for long though. I was also Grandmaster Geoff's training dummy at one point when it came to doing stretches, and damn did it hurt. I mean, jees. And after hapkido, I blogged, but not enough.

And that was my day. Next in the line of exams is PE, which should be pretty straight-forward; you don't need to know that much. You just need to memorise a few choice facts, use common sense, and you'll most likely pass with ease. And we don't have much to study, since we didn't have many periods (hell, that was why the half-yearly for PE didn't go ahead. Not enough classes.). Anyway. Soon I will post on time. Until then, I'll keep trying.

2 down, 4 to go,
AB

Yearlies '09: Drama

I have chosen the title in accordance with the rules set down by myself in the half-yearlies (I was going to say 'in accordance with the scriptures,' but it seemed a bit religious. So I put it in brackets.). And if you don't believe me, then do (by clicking on that link.). Because it's right there, in the first paragraph. Anyway. Let us all have a look at the second day back to school, and the first day of exams...

Before school, I attempted to do some work on Monday's post, but since I had to catch the bus, I didn't get much done. Ah well. Period 1 was Geography, where we did work on synoptic charts, which is basically another word for weather charts (which, if you want to get technical, I would call meteorological charts. I suppose they all have subtle meaning differences, but it all amounts to the same.). It involved looking at sheets, and, on some occasions, pointing out the interior flaws that were present on them (I mean, you can't say that winds move anticlockwise and then show them pointing clockwise. It just doesn't work. It's confusing.). Period 2 was Science, where we went down to the computer labs in the DT block (it used to be called DT, now it's called TAS. Does it honestly matter?) near the dance studio (I haven't been in there in ages), and we went on the net and looked up stuff for the Science exam, which is next week for the Trial School Certificate. Apparently we have to know stuff we haven't even been taught, so I'm not too hopeful. With any luck, I'll be able to wing those parts. Recess was studying.

Period 3 was the first exam, which, if you read my title, was Drama. We got in, and once we'd unpacked, we went straight into it. It was a fairly long exam, and Kolodziej packed a heap into 40 minutes. I think I got it done with about a minute to go. It wasn't hard, I'd say, and I suspect people will lose marks for two reasons: because they didn't finish, and because Kolodziej put questions into the exam that he didn't teach us the answers to. Or, so I think, as everybody did seem to not know the answer to one of the questions. Anyway. Period 4 was PE, and Wilson pretty much said that we're not going to have that many theory PE lessons for the rest of the term, so he gave us a booklet and essentially said (in fact, he did say; there's no 'essentially' about it) that we just do whatever we want from it for the rest of the term. Which was pretty cool. In the end, we went around the class saying professions beginning with each letter (hard ones included K, Q and X. I didn't get around to saying 'Quantum Physicist,' which I think was a good one.). Lunch was talking, as well as paying some money to the cash registrar for the formal.

Period 5 was Maths, and we pretty much just did some revision work. Nothing particularly hard, just really using basic algebra and geometry, and occasionally getting your calculator out to go over some stuff. It wasn't really that difficult. Period 6 was Drama, which was pretty fun. Ours was the only group that actually did the run-through of the Fawlty Towers skit. Kolodziej asked if I was going to be Basil, but I said that I was Mr Hamilton. It would have been pretty good to be Basil, though (but if we are doing another one, I am going to be Manuel. Just because he is awesome.). And when I got home, I studied for Commerce, and surfed the net. But I didn't get to post that much, so here I am.

And such was the beginning of exams for Term 4. I know this is a late post, it's mainly because hapkido got in the way for Wednesday. Ah well. Tomorrow's exam is Commerce, and, well, I'll get to that when I get to that. Until then, enjoy the late posts (because I'm definitely not.).

1 down, 5 to go,
AB

Back and Fourth

You know, there are some titles I don't like. This is not one of them. This is a good title. Why? Because it means that I went back (to school) and it is the fourth term. Also, it's a play on words on 'Back and Forth.' Really, this is a kickass title. Anyway. Yes, I went back to school today, as well as a few other things. So, let's see, and just this once, let's cut the theme music. Because, I didn't make it on the holidays. Ah well.

I woke up at 6-ish, as it turned out my alarm forgot to go off. Luckily (or, unluckily, depending on how you look at it), EJ got me up, and I spent the morning getting ready for school, and finishing Sunday's post. I mean, it wasn't on time, but it was near enough that I'm starting to get hopeful about posts that are actually on schedule. When we left, we dropped by the local shops to put credit on my phone, which was playing up and made us think there was nothing left, when there was. Oy vey. When we did get to the station, I listened to my iPod, and at school, I caught up with the guys at school. Which sort of evolved into tales about Battlefield Heroes (evolved may be a bit of an overstatement; the whole conversation was basically BFH-centred. It's something that we pretty all have in common, except Ian, Cameron and Mango. Everyone else, I'm pretty sure plays it. Oh, and Ebony.).

Period 1 was Science, and Robson was away, and Bruce was our sub (no offence to the guy, but I prefer Robson. He's nice and everything, but...). To top it off, a minute into class all the lights went out. So yeah, we were having a fantastic start to the lesson. The period itself was going through notes and flicking through the textbook, as well as trying to remember stuff from last year. Period 2 was Geography, in which we did more study, as Johnson gave us a book which had all the skills in it (and I would like to say here: I finally know the difference between longitude and latitude. Latitude measures north and south, and longitude is the other one. Yes!). Recess would have been cards, but I forgot to bring them (you would think I would have remembered something as important as that. But, no.). So it was yet more talking.

Period 3 was English, in which we talked about the right way to do an essay, and specifically, the right way to do the yearly. And from what I hear, you have to remember stuff (which we've already done an assignment on), and not read a page and a half about some random guy called Walter which, if you get wrong, amounts to a shocking English fail, even if you explained it well and wrote (even the English staff admitted) a good story! (Sorry, that really touches a nerve. Goddamn English staff.). Period 4 was Maths, where we traded rooms for what turned out to be no reason (yeah, it was just one of those days.). We just basically did revisional work (revisional is a word, right?), and looked at different topics we had done. I'm fairly confident about the Maths exam, if only really because maths is a fairly logical subject and, well, I'm good at Maths. I don't like to brag, but I am. Lunch was talking, as well as going up to the library to print out my Science assignment and hand it in, as well as see if they've got the sequel to 'The Colour of Magic' by Terry Pratchett, called 'The Light Fantastic,' which they didn't. Damn.

Period 5 was Drama, in which you would think we would have studied (I mean, it's the first bloody exam!). But no, we did something which was more fun, if perhaps a tad less sensible: we got into groups, and Kolodziej gave us a script from a scene from a great episode of 'Fawlty Towers,' called 'Waldorf Salad.' (Wikipedia article included, of course.) I played the part of Mr. Hamilton, the American who stands up to Basil. If you've seen the episode, you will know what I'm talking about. If not, then you will mostly likely be confused. Ah well; it ain't my fault if you haven't seen it. Period 6 was Commerce, and we got our assignments back. No, not marked: they're our new study guides. Apparently, in the exam, we have to write about whatever we wrote about in the assignment. Come to think of it, that's what we have to do for English too... Anyway. When I got home, I studied for Drama, played some Battlefield Heroes, and at about 7, we left for hapkido.

It was a pretty tiring class today, considering we had Tina and Grandmaster Geoff. They make for a very good combination for class, but it really takes it out of you. I was partnered with Dom today, and he helped me with a new technique, which starts off with a cross hand grab, and ends with a sort of karate chop to your tricep that can put you flat on the ground if you do it well enough. Hapkido is awesome like that. In fact, in multiple grabs, when Amadeus said something, I was able to hurt him (I forget what he said.). After class, we nominated people for hapkido awards (I had never heard of these), which are things like 'Best Effort' and 'Best Technique.' I can't say who I nominated, as it's a secret ballot and I somewhat forgot. And when I got home, I blogged, but not enough (I got halfway through the post.). So here I am.

And that, my friends, was my day. Sorry about the fairly late post, but things got in the way. Most of them study or hapkido related. Ah well. Also, if you haven't noticed, it's a rather long post. I really thought that once I got back to school, I could post longer; and I did. The system works! Anyway. I'll try to get back to schedule, but with exams, promises really can't be made.

The final term of Year 10 begins,
AB

Already Gone

I saw this song in my iTunes, and I figured that that suited what I thought of the holidays (It's a Kelly Clarkson song. Wikipedia, back me up on this! ...Thank you.). Yes, they are already gone. Now, the term starts, and exams begin. Oy vey. Anyway, to my day, and this post just might herald a new era of posts that are on time.

I woke up at about 8, and I found that Dad had already left for golf, which I think he was going to for a fundraiser for EJ's footy team (I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that that is what it was for.). On another look, EJ was gone too, and Mum told me he had gone with Dad. So I took the opportunity just to relax for a while. However, soon, I had to get into my assignment, considering it was due on Tuesday. When I did get around to it, though, I was relieved: I had done more of it than I had thought, which meant I only had something like one and a half paragraphs to do on it before it was finished (allow me to say one thing about that assignment: it was really strange and I don't know why they set it. Anyway.). When that was done, I went on my computer for a while, and watched TV. Around 12, though, Mum and I went in to watch the first episode of 'FlashForward,' which we had taped on Foxtel. In fact, the first episode was so good that we watched the second one as well. We were going to watch the third, but we had to wait until Dad got home, as he hadn't watched it. And I know I'm reviewing stuff a lot lately (just see Friday's post), but I would like to say this: it is a very good show. I mean, the concept is just out there, but they're doing really well with it (though it does raise some paradoxes about free will and knowledge and fate and that type of thing. It's best not to think about those things when you're watching; you just confuse yourself.).

When that was finished (and it was about 2, give or take), I went back and went on my laptop, where I figured that I'd had enough of severely late posts (by that I mean, starting it the next day, and doing most of the work in the hour before I go to bed on the day after I want to get it done, at least.), and I started posting for Saturday. I ended up finishing that about 4 hours later, due to a long series of events involving mistaken times for dinner, getting distracted because of TV (what's new), and smashing my knee into a doorframe (goddamn, that hurt). Then it was dinner, and while eating dessert, Mum, Dad and I watched the third episode of 'FlashForward,' thus getting us up to date. And when that was done, I did some blogging, and packed my bag for school tomorrow (oh, noooooo!). I got halfway through this post before it was time to go to bed.

And that was my day. I know it was a late post, but it was completed in the morning of the day after rather than the night. So, with any luck, I can begin the posts on schedule soon. Anyway. It was the last day of holidays, and I'm sorta nervous about the exams. All study can't make people not be nervous (grammatical difficulties just ensued).

Goodbye holidays, I shall miss you,
AB

We Will All Mow Together When We Mow

What a comforting fact that is to know... If you're wondering where that title came from (and I do admit, it does seem a little strange at face value), it's a take-off of a Tom Lehrer song called 'We Will All Go Together When We Go,' which you really should listen to: it's a very good song (some people don't really get Lehrer. Here's the song, at any rate.). Anyway, let's have a look at my day, as I want to try to get back to my schedule.

I was woken up at about 8:30, but for a good reason: we were having pancakes. We had maple syrup on them, but, and call me crazy here, I much prefer honey on them. And the problem with that is we only have a jar of Hurlstone honey (gotten from the country fair; it wasn't in a squeeze bottle, though. Hard to spread across pancakes, is what I'm saying here.) and a jar of creamed honey, which has the same colour and texture of, say, wood putty but according to my brother is actually quite nice (don't microwave it though. Dad tried that, and it became slop, which has same colour and smell of vomit. And taste, according to EJ.). When that was done, we went to go and mow the lawn. The whipper-snippering was done, of course, so we just went to mow it (Dad had already left for cricket by this time). The grass was short, so it didn't involve that much work, and for the most part I just listened to my iPod (do I have to tell you that it was Tom Lehrer? Really?). We finished at about 11.

When that was done, I decided to blog a bit, as Thursday's wasn't even done, on account of being at Shay's for the afternoon, which came as a surprise. So I did that, and once it was done, I decided to play some Battlefield Heroes. Well, by play, it was mostly getting a heap of screenshots, such as saluting the flag (that took a while to get right), and, in the tutorial, I finally got one of me facing a rocket at the camera while on the wing of a plane (that involved having to get in the pilot's seat, then manoeuvring the plane so that I could get on the wing, and take a screenshot as the plane is falling. I've been trying to get a screenshot like that for months now.). And when I was done, with that, I pretty much just blogged for the rest of the night, though I did get to watch an episode of 'Invader Zim' on Foxtel. Damn, I love that show.

And that was my day. At this point, I might apologise about late posts, but it might seem a bit hollow. So I'll just say that I will hopefully get back very soon. Also, I really like this title. Don't ask me why, I just do.

There is only one day left until the fourth term of school begins,
AB

Many, Many Movies

Three, to be exact. Also, it's sort of an alliterative title. As well, it's sort of a sucky title. Ah well. These things happen. It was a Friday today, which means only the weekend now separates me from Term 4. Oh, well. It had to come around sometime. It's also my 250th post, which I don't really count as much of a blogging milestone, though it's worth noticing. So, to my day.

I woke up at about 8:45, and for a while I just watched TV and read. I did go on my laptop a bit, but really I didn't do much. At about 11:30, after messing around for a while, I decided to go into the lounge room with Dad and EJ, after Dad watched 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop' as well, after we had bought it from Wednesday. He liked it, and after lunch, we all went back into the lounge room to watch a movie that we bought on Foxtel (because why not?). The movie was 'New In Town.' I wouldn't recommend watching it; the word 'formulaic' springs to mind. I don't want to sound like a tired old critic, but I guessed the ending pretty much before the first scene involving the protagonist was over. And I worked out who her love interest would be in his first scene. Quite frankly, don't watch this. At least 'Knowing' was worth watching, at least if not seriously. Sort of a 'so bad it's good' movie. 'New In Town' doesn't even get to that stage. About halfway through the movie, I actually gave up and started playing Battlefield Heroes (I got MG IV, which is 15 kills with a machine gun in one round. It was a very successful round.).

After the movie was finished, we decided to get another movie, which was 'Confessions of a Shopaholic.' Yes, it's a bit of a girly movie, but I still say it was a good movie. I would recommend this movie, even though it's a movie about shopping. I'm quite surprised it got negative reviews (although, the opinions of critics should really be taken with a grain of salt. 'Knowing' got fairly good reviews. Enough said.). By the time it ended (and I wasn't gaming while watching), it was about 4:30. And about one and a half hours later, after Mum had gotten home and we'd packed up, we left for Shay's place.

I hadn't seen Shay in a while, on account of her quitting hapkido and school and that type of thin. So we caught up (she got me to show her some of the new orange belt techniques. It's fun teaching people techniques.) by heading off to the local shops, mainly because Jo wanted lemonade for mixing a drink. We walked and talked, going on about friends at school and a lot of other random stuff. When we got back, we got dinner, and eventually everyone except EJ and Lachlan settled down to watching another movie that was on TV: 'Love Actually.' I've heard of it, but I've never actually watched it before. I would also recommend it, though I'll have to see it again later. I also found out that night that the Gunner guide that I wrote was featured on the front page of Battlefield Heroes! That was good. But, I did not get to post, as I was at Shay's. So here I am.

And that was my day. I'm sort of getting up to schedule, although it might take a bit. I'm sorta hoping I can take a day off just to get back. I would really love to. Also, it's finally a fairly long post, which I like as the last few have been something like 500 words.

Happy 250th post,
AB

I Need A Hero

I refer to a song that's properly called 'Holding Out for a Hero,' by Bonnie Tyler. Why? Because I needed a title referring to the fact that I played Battlefield Heroes in great quantity today (about 40000 points of experience, if I'm not mistaken). And now I've got that song stuck in my head. Thanks, me! Anyway. Let's get to my day, shall we?

I woke up at around 8:30, but I didn't do much for a while. When I did finally get around to doing stuff, though, it was mostly just watching TV and reading. At about 10 or 11, though, I decided that I would play some Battlefield Heroes. And in the course of playing that, I got to Level 15, which unlocked a whole new set of missions. I got MG III (in that, I had to get 1500 points of damage in one round. I got it in the first one or two rounds of working on it.), and I also messed around a lot on pre-game servers, trying to get up on top of the windmill in Coastal Clash (I didn't get it, not even when I was trying to use rockets and kegs. It just doesn't work for me.), trying to combat snipers over at Riverside Rush (bloody hell, that was annoying. Fun, though.) and just doing random stuff over at Victory Village (I apologise if all of that before made absolutely; no sense to you. But I understood it, and because it's my blog, I can write what I want. So, there.).

At around 3:30, Dad got home, and soon after, he started playing PS3 with EJ. After that, he left for his team's cricket training (the team that I would be if I had traded in hapkido for cricket. But I didn't, and you know what? I don't regret it.). When he got home it was about 6:45, and there was a footy meeting coming up. And there would be no kids my age. And so, following Mum's advice (which I really had to agree with), I went to my room, and I played yet more Battlefield Heroes. Around 8, though, I went out of my room for pizza and garlic bread (mmm, pizza and garlic bread), and at about 8:30, I went back in, where I did the practical part of Part C of my Science assignment. When that was done, I did a bit of the theory, and then pretty much just blogged and surfed the net.

Over to the comments now, with one from an anonymous commenter, possibly Shafi (though that cannot be proved. I just think it because he plays Battlefield Heroes and comments anonymously.):
*Anonymous: Thanks, it did take me quite a while. I'm glad you liked it, possibly Shafi!

And that was my day. Sorry about the very late post, it will be explained tomorrow. Anyway. Hopefully I'll get back on track with posting, but we'll have to see. I might be able to, but any promises I make might be soon broken. So, yeah.

Titling is still a problem, and probably always will be,
AB

That's Write

OK, it's not the greatest title. What I mean is that I wrote quite a lot today. It's all laid down in the first paragraph that isn't this one. I can't really think of a better title; I'm sorry. Anyway. Let's get straight to my day, as I'm having trouble keeping up this paragraph.

I woke up at around 8, and got ready for the day. After stuff had been done, I settled down, and surfed the net for a while. I was on the Battlefield Heroes website, looking up stuff and just basically messing around, when I came across a forum post by one of the moderators (basically just the guys who run the game. They call them moderators or mods for short.) getting Gunners to write guides for the forums. And of course, after I saw that, I decided I might write one. However, I didn't count on how long it would take. 2 hours, 4 pages and about 2500 words later, I had completed my long, tiring guide, covering everything from countering commandos to capturing flags. Here it is, if you want to have a look at it. It took a while, and it's very comprehensive. I hope it gets put on the front page! While I was doing that, EJ bought a movie on Foxtel. It was 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop,' and while it wasn't the greatest movie, I'll admit, it was still quite entertaining.

I also actually played some Battlefield Heroes, but only a little. After I'd done that, though, I figured that I needed to get some study done. So I went into my room, where it was fairly silent and peaceful, and I looked through my English book, as well as doing some Science stuff and going over Maths. That's not to say I won't cram, of course, but I will certainly do some study. I figure that some study is better than none, so why not do at least some study. After I did some study, I went to watch some TV, and I got ready for hapkido. We left at 6:45, as we had to make up for EJ's cricket training.

When I got there, I was given the new hapkido workbook (it's where we put signatures; I'm not entirely sure of its name), and I spent about 15 minutes beginning to put it all together. However, I did soon go into class and warm up. Shirisha wasn't here today, as were a lot of people. Including the teacher (who wasn't Grandmaster Geoff, but Tina), there were 14 people in class, and I stood in the second row. I learnt a new technique today, which is a fairly complicated one, and one I'll have to practice a lot more to get it right. However, I do know the basics of it, and once she showed me the way to do it, the incomprehensible became... comprehensible. It was a very tiring class, but a good one. I left at about 8:30, but not before having to go back inside to replace a book that I accidentally took that wasn't mine. Oy vey. I then blogged, but not about Wednesday. So here I am.

And that was my day. Sorry about the fairly late post, all to be explained in tomorrow's post. Also, it's a somewhat short post. You can mostly blame me on that one. Society too. Anyway. Only a few days left before term starts: bloody hell.

Learning new hapkido techniques is fun,
AB

Shop 'Til You Stop

Yes, I suppose this is a little play on words. Not as good as the other one, I think, but I still like it. It's also a bit of a tautology, which I love, because it makes you a double-take (I mean, of course you shop until you stop! Or, does the stopping rule out the until... see, stuff like that can make you think.). Anyway. Yes, it's a late post again, and I'm not going to blame anyone. Except society.

I was gotten up at around 8, as we had stuff that needed to be done in the day. At around 9, after getting ready for the day, we went out to go shopping. Now, as I so love to do, I brought my iPod. I try to put this in if I'm doing something else which doesn't involve much thinking, and more doing. In shopping, for example, all I really did was walk around. So I decided to get out my iPod, and listen to who other than Tom Lehrer. Soon I will probably become bored of it, like I did with Queen (that's not to say that it will become bad, but I'll be able to sing all of it off by heart, and something else will come along. Still good, though: I'm not saying Queen is bad, god no. Queen is epic.). So for something like one and a half hours, I walked around, mouthing the words of many songs, getting strange looks from at least one person, possibly others. But I only noticed the one person (most people don't seem to understand, I've noticed, me mouthing the words. I figure that I love to sing along, but I'm a bad singer. So I compromise. Anyway.). We got home at about 10:30.

When I did get home, I decided I would play some Battlefield Heroes, as I hadn't played any at all yesterday. I played for about one or two hours. In one memorable occasion, the top three players in the National team (I was one of them) towered above the rest, getting a total of 42 kills (42! It lives!) and 10 deaths, and over 7000 points. Yes, we won that round. I got 15-2, and one of those was a double death, in that the guy I was shooting and I both died at the same time. I finished up at about lunch time, and after that, I worked a little on Scratch and watched TV. At around 3, we had to move the garbage that we moved into the garage on Sunday out to the front yard for the council to pick up. Then, Mum told us something: the council would only pick up so much (it's by volume, not by mass). It was slightly annoying, but partially understandable. I say partially because if we had just a little more (or so I was told), then they wouldn't pick it up. And they only have two pick-ups a year. Is that a little ridiculous? Yes. Anyway. So we put down what we could, and the rest was taken back around to behind the house. And so essentially the rest of the night, I blogged, as well as doing some study (yes, it begins. The yearlies start on the second day back, after all.).

Comments now, 1 from Ebony.
*Ebony: By you, I meant the hypothetical you who gets up at 2 in the afternoon, who I still say is crazy. And only a small amount of talking to Victor? I would have guessed it'd be a lot (lol). Also iPod listening is not time wasting. Garbage moving did serve a purpose.

And that was my day. It does seem that comments are starting up again, doesn't it? Although this time around, I won't take them for granted. Also, I'm messing with titles a bit, as I'm trying to avoid using alliteration. I hope it's working.

Maybe it's the stopping that makes the 'until' redundant, though it's still confusing,
AB

Houses and Hapkido

Houses mean Monopoly, and Hapkido means Hapkido. Sometimes I can't title well, OK! And that means alliteration. Ah well. Good titles don't come naturally to all posts. But, that's to be expected. Anyway. It's a late post, of course. But you'd be used to that, of course. It's not like it's a new thing.

I was gotten up at around 8, and by 9-ish (give or take), I was already playing Monopoly with EJ (yes, I know.). It's the only game we've actually completed all the way until the end for many months; possibly years (the other games, if you read back, were never finished. I did surrender one game, but it wasn't actually done up until the end.). And guess what? I won! I was doing really bad in the beginning, but after EJ offered a trade that let me complete the orange properties in exchange for completion of the green ones (and according to statistics that I trawled from the net looking for strategies to win at Monopoly, that is a really bad decision. Orange is the best property economically, green is the worst.), the tide of the game changed a lot. I put many houses on orange and yellow properties and watched the cash roll in. I ended up winning after about two and a half hours later, by something on the magnitude of all the properties and $3000.

By that time, it was about 11 or 12 (I'm not that good with time when it comes to holidays, and I therefore could be off by a bit.). I then got out my laptop and watched TV for a while. At about 1, though, I decided that I should really catch up on my posting, considering I hadn't even done Saturday's yet. However, during my frequent tangents (which is probably the main reason behind the late posts), I found an AMV (which according to Wikipedia, means Anime Music Video. See?) by the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged. It was called 'The Origin of Love,' and, well, I'll let you see for yourself. Me, I had that song caught in my head for quite a while. Then, at around 7, it was time for hapkido.

Shirisha was there again, which was good. And today, for the first time as an orange belt, I was partnered with another orange belt: Dylan, who is about my age, maybe younger. I learnt two strikes, as well as another self-defence technique. Dylan also showed me this thing that hurt like crazy. I grabbed his shoulder from behind, and suddenly I've been karate chopped in my arm and it hurts like hell. Luckily, though, I traded it back with some of my new orange belt techniques. Martial arts: where pain isn't just frowned upon, it's rewarded. And when I got home, I posted, but about Sunday.

To comments now, 1 from Ebony.
*Ebony: I don't move garbage and go on the whipper-snipper every day. And besides, I can listen to my iPod while I'm doing it. Meanwhile, you've already wasted most of your day, and you've missed lunch. I can't do that.

And that was my day. I will try to catch up on posting, I swear, but trying may not be good enough. But, still, I will persist. No promises, but... anyway. It also seems I'm getting more comments, which I think is good. It's always nice to see what other people think of my posts.

Only a week until it begins again,
AB

Seinfeld and Snipping

OK, not the greatest title. But today wasn't very friendly (I was going to write conducive, but I don't like to put words like that on my post. Don't ask me why.) towards titling. Ah well. By snipping, I mean whipper-snippering (it's a funny word.). Anyway. To my day.

I was gotten up at around 8:45, which is probably the latest I've gotten up for a while (I'm not sure if that's early or normal. I do know that some of my friends have gotten up at 2 in the afternoon. Now that's weird. Anyway). So I had breakfast, and eventually, while doing chores, I was called out with everybody to come help move stuff. In essentials, we've got a heap of junk at the back of our house, and Tuesday is when the council comes to pick it up. But, to save time, we were all going to move it into the garage, so we don't have to haul a gigantic amount of garbage on the one day. Well, if you can get it out of the way... At any rate, about 20 minutes in, Dad asked if I wanted to do the whipper-snippering done now and get it out of the way for later. I figured I could grab my iPod and listen while doing that (Dad, knowing me, actually suggested this. Guess he knows I love music.), so I agreed.

We then, naturally, spent 10 minutes attempting to get the actual thing working. You would think that there would just be a button on it saying 'Start.' Well, (get this), there is, but it doesn't actually start it. After some experimentation, some heavy profanity on my Dad's part, and a feared repeat of the smashed snipper (I have linked to this already, in another post, but here it is again.), we finally figured out how to do it: you hold two switches on "on" for about ten seconds, flick down a lever, then pull another lever which you have to hold down to make the actual thing go. Then, if you take your hand off the second lever for more than an instant, then you have to flick the first lever again. Is this mentioned on the whipper-snipper? No. Is it obvious? No. Anyway. We did end up getting it to work, and I thus put on Tom Lehrer. I had to replace the little clippy strings (you know, the strings you put through the whipper-snipper that are the ones that actually cut? I don't actually know what they're called.) twice. The second time, I considered calling it a day, but I figured no, considering I could do the front later, but I decided to do it. So of course halfway through whipper-snippering the front, it ran out of petrol. That's when I gave up.

By this time, it was about lunch time. And so after lunch, EJ and I watched the final episodes of 'Seinfeld.' I'm not entirely sure why they ended the show, but I do say it continued strong until the end. I also played some Battlefield Heroes, and I had fun rocketing people from up on the cliffs in Buccaneer Bay. Then, later on in the night, after EJ had gone off to bed, Mum, Dad and I watched 'Rove.' It is a very good show, I must say.

That was my Sunday. Can you believe that now we're heading into the last week of holidays? Damn, it goes quickly. Anyway. I am partially making up for the very late post of yesterday's. I mean, this is still late, but it's less late. Comparatively. Well, I'd better just end the post; I'm beginning to rant.

Halfway through the holidays,
AB

AC In The Hole

OK, now this is a good title, in my opinion. I do love plays on words, so much. In case you're wondering, AC means air conditioner and not the person who used to comment on my posts. An alternate title was 'AB and AC,' but I decided not because that was awful. Also, yes, it's a late post extraordinaire. I have noone to blame but myself. Or, society.

I got up at around 8:30. I wasn't woken up per se, but I was lying in bed in that state of being awake, yet barely moving and having little incentive to do so (actually that's what mostly happens on holidays...). Anyway, I was told to get up, and I did. Dad had already left for cricket, and Uncle Jason had arrived at our house. He had come to install our air conditioner, as ours is broken (right when summer is coming, too), and, by a happy coincidence, he works as an air conditioner installer (or at least, that's part of what he does. He does install them, at any rate.). So after breakfast and so on, I went to see what he was doing, and ended up, somehow, looking inside the roof of our own house.

It was a novelty, certainly. What it is, if you can imagine, is a large, fairly empty and dark space, with a point for the roof. There are numerous wooden beams spanning the emptiness, and there is padding on the floor of the ceiling (if that makes sense). We (Mum, Uncle Jason and I; EJ was doing barely anything) then spent quite a while putting wires and pipes through holes (twice I put them through minuscule holes which they could barely fit through without even meaning it with apparent ease, but had trouble putting them through normal holes. Oy vey.). We worked on it until around 11-ish, when we went to get morning tea. After that, Uncle Jason went outside to actually install the machine that cools the room, and EJ and I had to take Mario for a walk down at the park, just to get him out of the way. So we did that for about 30 minutes (give or take), and then we came home. And so for the rest of the night, I pretty much just did some Scratch and played Battlefield Heroes. It never gets old.

To comments, but first some retro (as in retroactive) comments from Thursday's post.
*Shafi: Well, OK... first, there's no vehicles, and so it's harder to get around (it's bigger than Victory Village.). There are also some really good strategic points, and there's a lot of obstacles. It's hard to actually explain it; you really should play it.
*Shafi: I have no idea; and a Dell Inspiron 1520.
*Ebony: Hmm... maybe. I will have to keep that in mind for a possible future title.
Now, comments from last post.
*Shafi: Umm... what?

And that was my day. Sorry about the incredibly late post; I'm trying to get back to normal here. But, it doesn't seem to be working. I guess I'll just have to try harder. Anyway. Soon I will, actually, get up and get back on track. But no promises when.

I do so love puns,
AB

Airports and Assignments

Yes, it's another title (with alliteration, mind you) that has "Assignments" in it; the second in not even one and a half weeks. Ah well. These things are inevitable sometimes. Hopefully soon, better titles may arise, though it depends on what happens in the day. Also, earlier posts, although let's not go nuts here.

I was woken up at around 8:30, yet again. I hope one day to just sleep. Ah well. These things happen. After getting ready for the day, I figured that I had to get the experimental part of my Science assignment some time, and today was as good as any. So I started off by trying to figure out an experiment in which I would be able to measure my face relative to a mirror, while being at least 50 cm away from the mirror at all times. I ended up sticking bits of tape to the mirror 5 cm apart, then checking how high my face was relative to the bits of tape. Then the hard part came in, and I had to convince EJ to be at least slightly cooperative, so I could measure the reflection of his face. I did make it work, thankfully, and I thus completed Parts A and B of my assignment.

When I'd finished that, I decided to reinstall Battlefield Heroes, just in case it actually did have a virus. However, Trend Micro said that the new one also had a virus (and of course it didn't; think what that would imply. EA Games is a worldwide company.). So I had to spend over 20 minutes attempting to get it to shut up, which it eventually did. When that was all sorted out, I played BFH for a while, as I was able to without it messing up on me. That did get boring eventually, however, so I went on Scratch, and continued with the Monopoly game I was attempting to make. Then, later, after doing some more gaming and TV and what-not, Mum, EJ and I went to the airport to pick up Dad.

I brought my DS, and EJ and I played some games on it in the car waiting to pick Dad up, as he was flying to Sydney. We drove around for a while, and we eventually found Dad in a carpark. On the ride back to home, I read some, using my iPod as a torch. Call me many things, but unresourceful I am not. And when I got home, we talked to Dad, and I blogged about Thursday.

And that was my day. Yeah, it's a late post, but you've gotta be used to this. That, or you're new to my blog, in which case, welcome to AB: A Blog! Anyway. Soon I'll get back up to schedule; that is, if I can avoid procrastination.

This makes it 7 days of holidays,
AB

Lounging Around

How can you title posts when you barely do anything at all in the day? Answer: not well. So I wrote something that expresses the "barely-anything-ness" that I did throughout the day, as well as signifying the fact that I stayed in the lounge room for the majority of the day. Probably the best I could do under the circumstances. Anyway. To my Thursday.

I was woken up at 7:30, though I think mainly because everyone else was already up (that can be very annoying sometimes). EJ had already gotten breakfast, so he went into the lounge room. By a happy coincidence, 'Family Guy' was on at the time. EJ can't watch it, but as he was in another room, I was able to watch the whole episode. I do love to do that. However, when I was done, I did go into the lounge room, where I was able to put on 'Seinfeld.' We're on the last season, and as far as I can see, it's still going as strong as ever. Not like some shows where you can really see the quality begin to slip ('3rd Rock from the Sun' sadly comes to mind; I never watch the last season. It's just not that good. Seasons 1 to 5 are still pretty good though.). While in the lounge room, EJ got me to play Monopoly. That went for about an hour, after which there was a mutual agreement of boredom. The game just starts to get dull after a while, and slightly repetitive. I reckon it's better with more than two people, although I haven't done that in ages.

After the game, I went on some Scratch. I am going to try to make a game of Monopoly on Scratch from scratch (no pun intended). It's hard, but I reckon it's possible without being almost incurably difficult, unlike chess. I took a break from that, however, once it got a bit boring. So I went to play some Battlefield Heroes. I ran into some problems though: Trend Micro (our antivirus software) got a bit temperamental, and started to stop me playing BFH for more than one round at a time. Oy vey. I don't think it has a virus, but I'll have to make sure. At about 2, after some lazing around, Mum burst in the door from work. What had evidently happened (and with the benefit of hindsight, I can tell you) was this: EJ had the phone in his jacket pocket, and he got hot, and he threw it onto the jacket. The phone landed on the 'ring' button, making the line busy and thus making it impossible for anyone to call. Mum then called up, and started freaking out because she couldn't get on. Ah well. I don't think it was anyone's fault, but just one of those things that happens. Later, I blogged, and attempted to play some more BFH, though it was still messing up. I also did not get to post about today, so here I am.

Comments now, 1 from the Anonymous Aeroplane.
*Anon: Thanks, and Riverside Rush is a very different map. You really need to get used to it. Thanks also for the orange belt thing, and to top it all off: mmm, oranges...

And that was my day. Sorry for the very late post, that will be explained yesterday if I can remember it, and I damn well better. Also, I will attempt to improve on schedules and so forth; you've heard this all already. You know what I'm gonna say.

A return of comments, perhaps,
AB

Monopoly, Moving and Martial Arts

To explain: Monopoly refers to the board game, moving is a way of saying we moved lounges (hard to fully explain; it will make sense when I get to that), and martial arts (I almost wrote marital arts. That would make for a rather different post, don't you say?) means, of course, hapkido. Now that that's out the way, I can get to my day.

I woke up at around 7:30, and soon EJ got up. We then, somehow, started to play Monopoly, and I ended up losing after about an hour after I got caught up in a hotel. After that, though, I decided that I'd had enough Monopoly for a while, and I settled into some Battlefield Heroes (prepare for some going on about the game which will make barely any sense if you've never played the game). Now, I went on an utter rampage; it was the best 2 or so hours (from about 10:30 to 12:30, though I could be wrong) I've spent on the game in my whole length of playing it. I got another 50-0 game (with John, of course); and I also won a game when it was 2 Nationals (I'm a Nat) against 4 to 6 Royals (some quit after we started; we were doing very well). I got something like 5500 points, and considering that 1000 is slightly above average and 2000 is quite good, you'll understand that 5500 is bloody awesome.

At lunch time, though, I figured I'd pack Battlefield Heroes in for the day, and I went out to play yet another game of Monopoly, after being convinced by EJ to play another game. This one was interrupted halfway through, however, as we (Mum, EJ and I; Dad's still at sea, and should be until Friday, I think) all had to get the lounge in the Kid Zone (I'm sure I've gone through this; it's just like a mini-loungeroom for me and EJ) through to the garage. We had to take off the cushion, because that was way too heavy, and then manoeuvre the actual frame of the lounge through the side door (which involved rearranging furniture and much twisting). Once that was done, we took the lounge cushion and put it back onto the frame in the garage. After that, we got about 20 minutes of Monopoly in until the new lounge came; although they had workers who put it in for us. We had to take the wrapping off and place the lounge into place after they had left, though it wasn't particularly strenuous. We thus got back to Monopoly, which sorta just ended in a draw after we both stopped playing after it got boring (there were houses, but cash just kept being transferred back and forth.). That took us until 2 or 3, and so for the rest of the day, I just watched some TV and surfed the net. And at 7, we left for hapkido.

It was my first lesson under the orange belt, and naturally I was rapt and ready to learn (I'm even alliterating in the actual posts now... though I must admit it works better this way). Shirisha was there, and it turns out she was on Monday too. Hmm. I was partnered with a white belt, whose name is Maudhri, or something to that effect; I am awful with names. While I was doing striking and such, Grandmaster Geoff came over and showed me some of the orange belt techniques. And it was like being let into some sort of secret club (bear with me here): From the outside, it looks like all of their rituals and that type of thing are utterly incomprehensible, and you couldn't possibly work out how to do it. But, you get accepted into that club, and suddenly it all becomes clear. It was like that. I learnt the basics of some of the strikes, kicks, self-defence and the side fall. I really like the orange belts techniques: they're fun! When I got home, I blogged for a while. But not much about today, so here I am.

And as there are no comments, I end with this paragraph (hey, sometimes I like to change things up a bit when I'm doing the closing paragraph. It's good to avoid being repetitive.). Orange belt is really good; I like being considered to have at least some experience when I'm out at class (and believe me; you see a big difference between white and orange belts. Or at least I did.).

Hey, a fairly long post!,
AB

Books and Board Games

Ah well, back to the days of alliterative titles. This one is fairly straight forward, in that books were involved (more than usual I mean; we went book shopping, my favourite kind of shopping), and EJ and I played board games. Which is rather unusual, but we did. Hmm. Anyway, to my day.

I was woken up at around 8:00, as there, unfortunately (or not so unfortunately; we were doing something good, I suppose.), were things to be done in the day. And so, to that end, after getting ready for the day, we headed off to Westfields. Mum had to go and do some stuff (clothes and that type of thing; nothing particularly interesting), but EJ and I were allowed to go into Dymocks and get some books. Now, in case I haven't already mentioned this (and I'm mentioning it now, just in case), Dymocks is quite possibly the best bookshop in the whole of Westfields. There is also an Angus & Robertson, but their prices are higher and they have barely any physics books, although their range otherwise is slightly higher (but only slightly). So Dymocks it is (Borders is amazing, of course, with two floors of books and very reasonable prices, but the problem is it isn't in Westfields. I might live in there otherwise.). We spent quite a while in there, with EJ finding something like $80 worth of books (he originally had $100, but he was getting one of them for Christmas), due to the fact that he has many series (is series the plural of series?) of books and they have books coming out very quickly. Me, I mainly have authors, and they don't publish books that often (though I am looking out for the new Matthew Reilly book, and the new Hitchhiker's Guide book by Eoin Colfer. I'm not sure whether he'll be as good as Douglas Adams, but I'm still getting it.). However, I did still buy a book: 'The Colour of Magic' by Terry Pratchett. I hear he's good, and I decided I would try him out.

After buying, Mum got here, and we then went into Spotlight to get some stuff. Once that was done, we had a quick look inside Angus & Robertson (we didn't get anything), and we headed home. When we got home, it was about time for lunch, and I decided to play Monopoly with EJ (there was an Xbox 360 at the house back in Canberra, and EJ played a game on there a lot, which was a virtual Monopoly game). We played for something like 2 hours, until I started to get bored. That's a problem with Monopoly: it can just go for ages and ages. So we packed that up, and I then adjourned to my room to blog, as well as do some of my assignment (Science assignments...). I got through Sunday's and Monday's post and thus published every single post from Friday through to Monday (I wanted to put it all out there in one big hit; I don't know why). To end the day, I read some, but didn't get to post for today. So here I am.

That was my Tuesday. Sorry about the late post; blame a back-up of posts as well as hapkido. Society works too. Anyway. I will see if I can get my schedule back, but we'll have to see. Holiday procrastination may kick in.

Ah, books, how I love thee,
AB

On The Road Again

That's a song by Willie Nelson, which I'm sure most of you have heard of, but if you haven't, then here is the Wikipedia article. Anyway. I am actually quite happy with this title, although this makes it three of the past four post titles being references to songs. Ah well. I still like it. Well, yes, we drove back to Sydney today, and you can find out all about how it happened in this edition of AB: A Blog.

I got up at around 8:30 (why rush?), and we began to pack up. Once we were sure that everything was gotten (and we were definitely sure), we headed off for Sydney at about 9, maybe 9:30. At first, I read, and that continued for about 45 minutes (I'm just having a wild stab in the dark here. I could be way off. After that, though, EJ and I decided to play our DSs (that's the plural of DS, as in Nintendo DS. Seriously, how do you pluralise something like that?). We went underground (oh, we're playing Pokemon. Might as well mention that.), and we battled. The first battle ended in a narrow loss by me (only because I used the wrong things), and the second ended in a win by me, because I strategised (hooray for strategy!). After that, though, my brother's DS died (what a coincidence; that's what happened to mine), so I played a single-player game for most of the rest of the trip.

When I got home, I had to unpack, and then clean my room. And by clean, I mean a big overhaul: move stuff, throw stuff away, dismantle the stuff in various drawers, and essentially, rearrange most of the contents of my room. That took quite a while, and after it was done, I was happy just to kick back for most of the rest of the day. I didn't go to hapkido, mainly because I just wanted a break. Instead, I did some blogging (as I did barely anything and am now paying for it with a lot of time), and watched TV, such as Rove. As days go, it was a fairly relaxing one.

And that was my day. Sorry for the fairly short post, everyone, but in all fairness, nothing much happened, and I have been trying to get back on track. Ah well. Once in a while, I suppose, a short post is inevitable. I might prefer long posts, but sometimes they are really hard to write.

Such ends the Canberra saga,
AB