Nuclear War

I finished the book last night. (Actually some time this morning). I've been tired all day at school, but it was worth it. Its a really, really, really good book.

So, as promised, I'll tell you about the ending.

One of the main characters dies because he gets so freaked ot about England being nuked that he goes wondering around barefoot in the rain, goes missing for 2 days, and is eventually found dead in a ditch outside sheffield. He's the one who listened to drum'n'bass, so its not surprising he went a bit mad. It was still sad though... and his parents didnt care that much which was even sadder...
The other character (who kept getting beaten up for no reason) did join the psycho movement, and he stole a gun from somewhere and then accidently shot the ring leader of the gang who kept beating him up. That guy was a bit laid back about the thought of nuclear war breaking out. He said that if it happened, he'd be on the roof in a deck chair wearing sun glasses and swimming trunks so that if he had to die, at least he'd die with a great tan.
The character who may've killed his ex girlfriend's mother didn't actually kill her. She died of a heart attack while she was with him, and he didnt know how to help her, so it wasn't really his fault. Every time he trys to talk to his ex, she beats him up, but eventually they make friends again, and the book ends with them together on a hill watching the sunset when the nuclear bombs finally explode.
His new girlfriend got all mean and jealous when he made up with his ex again, and she was at a peace protest where all the pacifists started...erm...fighting. For some reason... Anyway, I dunno if she died at the peace protest, or when the bombs exploded. But she did die. Incidentally, her Dad was air lifted out of Russia as one of the few survivors, and he was taken to Australia. So it was nice he ended up safe, but kinda ironic that as soon as he's OK, the rest of his family die...

I got really upset when I finished the book, and today I've been a bit nervous about nuclear war breaking out.
But I've decided that if anyone bombs England, I'll run towards where its about to explode. Coz I'd rather die in the first phase than have to live through the rest of it...
Thats a nice cheerful thought...

endgame

I'm reading a book called 'endgame' by Chris Wooding at the moment. Its about the end of the world, and at the moment its a toss up between world war 3 (with nukes) or an ice age.

Shock Horror.

There are in fact several things that are shocking about that. The first one is that I'm reading a book. I haven't done it in a long time, and I thought I might've forgotten how, but its slowly coming back to me...
The second thing is that the book is about the end of the world. If you all cast your minds back to the time when I used to read books, they were normally about teenage girls with dysfunctional friends/family/lives in general. Basically, what you'd expect a girl my ge to read. I did read a few slightly more 'intellectual' books. One was called Crossfire and I cant remember who it was by, but it was about racism destroying a small town in the wasteland part of England where nothing much seems to happen. But I'm not talking about that book right now.
The final shocking thing isn't actually very shocking. Its just interesting. The book is quite scientific, which is one of the main things I like about it. Its also quite political. Which I also like. And it has emotions in it as well. There is a massive emotional conflict between one of the main characters and his ex girlfriend, and I'm still trying to figure out what actually happened (so far, he's supposed to have killed her mum, but I dont think he'd do that). Also, the guys new girlfriend's Dad is a soldier in Russia where the war is starting, so she's really freaked out that he could be dead. And another main character keeps being beaten up for no apparent reason, until he gets rescued by a skin head in some fascist sounding movement and I think they are trying to make him join their little club. And the other main character is really cool, except he listens to drum'n'bass which is very irritating.

Anyway. Nothing interesting has happened in my life for a while, and I thought that reading a book was major enough to write about for now....

I'll tell ya how it ends....
By the way, I haven't ignorantly been leaving the 'e' in 'endgame' in lower case. Thats how its written on the book, and I'm leaving it like that in case theres some deep significant meaning in the lacking capital letter.
Or maybe they just thought the word art would look nicer like that...?! It really does look like they went into word and used the word art thing you know... I'll see if I can find a picture next time I post...


Oh, also, I started gym in PE today and the fitness trainer is a guy with a pierced eyebrow. But I'm still trying to work out whether he's interesting enough to blog about. I'll tell you next week. Even though I've already kinda blogged about him coz of what I just typed...and still am typing...

K. I'm gonna shut up now. =D

I'm 16!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went to see a Cinderella Pantomine on Saturday night which was REALLY funny! Especially the ugly sisters, who were played by drag queens and were called Britney and Beyonce (geddit?!)! The whole thing was really funny, and really well done.
It had all the components of a good pantomime: men dressed as women, a fairy godmother, a Prince Charming, an opportunity to scream "Oh no he isn't!!!" and "He's behind you!!!", political jokes, celebrity insults and the chance to sing songs together.

Anyway, look what I got:

DARTH TATER!!!!!!

(see www.storewars.com )

I cant find a picture of a cool monkey thing that Emma got me...and its hard to describe, so you'll have to come round and see it! She got me some funky monkey socks too!!!

But, IM 16!!!!

.........guess what I can do......?! Buy a lottery ticket! (why....what were you thinking?! =P)

I can also drink alcohol in a pub as long as it is with a meal, buy cigarettes, leave school, get married (with parental consent?!), engage in 'sexual activity', get a full time or part time job, and leave home. In some places, I'll also be able to get a tattoo or body piercing without parental consent.

Its a pity I dont really want to do any of those things, otherwise it might be really exciting!

Hamsters

I got this e-mail from Emma, and I thought it was so funny, that I'd share it with the rest of you!

If you have raised kids, and gone through the pet syndrome includingtoilet-flush burials for dead goldfish, the story below will have you laughingout LOUD!!!

Overview: I had to take my son's hamster to the vet. Here's what happened:

Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me there was "something wrong" with one of the two hamsters he holds prisoner in his room. "He's just lying there looking sick," he told me.

"Oldest trick in the book, son," I informed him. "You go in to see what's wrong with the sick one and the other one sneaks up behind you and bonks you onthe head. Then they change into your clothes and escape."

"I'm serious, Dad. Can you help?"

I put my best hamster-healer statement on my face and followed him into his bedroom. One of the little rodents was indeed lying on his back, looking distressed. I immediately knew what to do. Call the professional.

"Honey," I called, "come look at the hamster!"

"Oh my gosh," my wife diagnosed after a minute. "She's having babies."

"What?" my son demanded. "But their names are Bert and Ernie, Mom!". I was equally outraged. "Hey, how can that be? Ithought we said we didn't want them to reproduce," I accused my wife. "Well,what did you want me to do, post a sign in their cage?" she inquired. (I actually think she said this sarcastically!) "No, but you were supposed to get two boys!" I reminded her, (in my most loving, calm, sweet voice). "Yeah, Bert and Ernie!" my son agreed. "Well, it's just a little hard to tell on some guys," she informed me. (Again with the sarcasm, you think?)

By now the rest of the family had gathered to see what was going on. I shrugged, deciding to make the best of it. "Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience!" I announced. "We're about to witness the miracle of birth."

"OH, Gross!" they shrieked.

"Well, isn't THAT just Great!" what are we going to do with a litter of tiny little hamster babies?" my wife wanted to know. (I really do think she was being snotty here, too. Don't you?) "Well, when my parents' dogs had puppies, I took them up to the grocery store in a cardboard box and gave them away," I recalled. "So what are you going to do, go up with a pair of tweezers so people can pick out their hamster?" she asked. (Gotta love her!)

We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what looked like a tiny foot would appear briefly, vanishing a scant second later.

"We don't appear to be making much progress," I noted. "A breech birth," my wife whispered, horrified. "Do something, Dad!" my son urged. "Okay, okay." Squeamishly, I reached in and grabbed the foot when it next appeared, giving it a gingerly tug. It disappeared. I tried again, with the same results.

"Should I dial 911?" my eldest daughter wanted to know. "Maybe they could talk us through the trauma." (You see a pattern here with my females?)

"Let's get Ernie to the vet," I said grimly. We drove to the vet with my sonholding the cage in his lap. "Breathe, Ernie, breathe," he urged. "I don't thinkhamsters do Lamaze," his mother noted to him. (Women can be so cruel to theirown young. I mean what she does to me is one thing, but this boy is "of herwomb", for God's sake.)

The vet took Ernie back to the examining room and peered at the little animalthrough a magnifying glass. "What do you think, Doc, an epidermal?" I suggested scientifically. "Oh, very interesting," he murmured. "Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?" I gulped, nodding for my son to step outside. "Is Ernie going to be okay?" my wife asked. "Oh, perfectly," the vet assured us. "This hamster is not in labor. In fact,that isn't EVER going to happen... Ernie is a boy."

"What!?"

"You see, Ernie is a young male. And occasionally, as they come into maturity,male hamsters will, master, er, er, ah..." He blushed, glancing at my wife."Well, you know what I'm saying, Mr. Cameron."

We were silent, absorbing this. "So Ernie's just ... just...Excited?" my wifeoffered. "Exactly," the vet replied, relieved that we understood. More silence.

Then my viscous, cruel woman started to giggle. And giggle. And then even laugh loudly. What's so funny?" I demanded, knowing, but not believing that the woman Imarried would commit the upcoming affront to my flawless Manliness. Tears were now running down her face. "Just ... that ... I'm picturing youpulling on its ... its ... teeny little ... " she gasped for more air to bellowin laughter once more. "That's enough," I warned.

We thanked the Veterinarian and hurriedly bundledthe hamsters and our son back into the car. He was glad everything was going tobe okay. "I know Ernie's really thankful for what you've done, Dad," he told me. "Oh, you have NO idea," my wife agreed, collapsing into laughter as I gave hera dirty look.

(And women have the gall to go though the marriage ceremony with a straightface!)

Abandoned Trees =(

On the way to school, I've been seeing more and more cast-out Christmas trees.
It makes me feel really sad by the time I get to school.
They aren't even dead yet. They still need love and human contact.
But if I stopped and gave every tree a hug on the way to school, I'd probably get called, well....a tree-hugger. Ironically.

Today we had mass at school, and the priest was telling a story about a man who was unfortunately called 'Willy'. Every time the Priest said 'Willy' loads of people cracked up laughing. I tried really hard not to, coz I know its inappropriate during mass, but I couldn't help it! It was partly the way he said it.... haha

Sinead is really odd.
She'd said something really wierd to me (can't remember what) and I said, "Pigs might fly...". She spaced out for a few seconds, and then said, "Actually, my brother has."
WHAT?!?!?!?!
And then when Emma was about to eat her chocolate mousse, Sinead said, "You're not actually planning to eat that diarrhoea are you?!"
And she still does the *boob* thing. She came to hug me the other day, and I went legging it down the corridor screaming "NOOOO!! NOT THE BOOB THING!!!" and now my french teacher thinks I'm really strange. =(
The boob thing is quite terrifying actually... Especially since she is the same size that Jordan was before her reduction surgery.
We are so immature at school. We're always talking about boobs. And laughing about willys.
It would probably be very different if we were in a mixed school.
You know what?! The other day I was thinking, "Wow...theres a lot more girls than boys in our class..." And then I remembered that its a girls school.

"It all keeps adding up, I think I'm cracking up..."

Popcorn Gas hurts my eyes....

I just made some microwave popcorn, and I burnt it a little bit (no as bad as last time...dont worry!) but when I took it out, the steam (not smoke!!!) hurt my eyes....
Occupational Hazards....
When are we ever safe?!

Today school was quite funny... I cant remember doing much work though.

Mr Champion picked on Dumb Blonde again. It was really funny.... Shes just had an operation on her ears, (Allegedly it was cosmetic - apparently she thought her ears stuck out), so she said she couldn't wear eye protection in our practical, coz of the recent operation... So Mr C said, "Oh...were they trying to find your brain?!"
hahahahahahahahahahahaha
OK...maybe you had to be there....

I learnt a new phrase in french. I now know how to say, "You're not going out dressed like that, are you?!"
That should be handy...

Oh, btw, we got our chemistry results back, I got an A. 5 marks below A*, so hopefully I'll get that in the real thing. My chemistry's improved! =D

Me and Emma were discussing chick flicks, and non-chick flicks, and we decided that American Pie would be a total chick flick if the boys were trying to get girlfriends before the end of school, rather than just *action*. Boys wouldn't watch it otherwise...What does that tell ya about the average guy?! Scared. Of. Commitment.
Haha.
Just kiddin, I know you're not all bad. I just have a habit of attracting the wrong ones!
From now on, I'm only going out with guys who like chick flicks! Fool proof!

Back 2 School

First day back....
Not as bad as it could have been though.
I've decided that I quite enjoy many aspects of school. Mainly the social aspects, but theres always the chance that you will learn something interesting. I didn't today, but you know...we live in hope!
It was really good seeing all my friends again. I MISSED YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

By the way, you know I wrote about Alexander Flemming in my last post...?! Is he the same Flemming who invented the Left Hand Rule (Motors...)?!

ANYWAY.

Guess what?! You know how my MP3 Player broke a while ago?! Well Dad managed to fix it. I had some really random music on it by the way.... If its really true that you can tell a lot about a person by looking through their MP3 Player, I must be really odd. Kind of Alternative/Rock with Emo tendancies. (Wow...that sounds even wierder now I've typed it out in front of me...)

But guess what?! Mum and Dad have got me a new MP3 Player for my birthday!!! =D
I went with Dad to get it tonight, and I was planning to get a 1G one, but in the first shop they were out of stock... So we went to another shop, and they had 1G MP3 players there, but I saw some pink ones... They were only 512MB, but one of them started calling out to me. So I picked it up, and then I kinda bonded with it...so I couldn't put it back down. I won't need more than 512MB though, Ive decided. Coz it can fit 160 songs on it, and when I get bored of them I can just change them! Easy! Thats why I didn't want an iPod in the end... They don't have as much capability as MP3 Players... this MP3 Player can record stuff! (Actually I think my old one could as well....?! Who cares. My old one isn't PINK!!!)
They arent giving her (Yep: 'her' not 'it') to me til my birthday though. I have to wait another week. =(

I got some more Mock results today: RE = (92%)A* Maths Paper 2 = 57% (Overall B)

I'm really pleased with my Maths results! I've definitely improved - moved up a grade! =D

Also M has been going on at me all day about someone. I'm not putting his name on here in case he ever reads this, but she over reacted to a slightly ambiguous txt I sent her, and now she thinks I'm crazy about him. All I said was 'I think I'm in love...'. She should know better than to get carried away by things like that. Anyway...more of her plans - about how I'm gonna go out with him etc.
Never mind the fact that I don't want a boyfriend right now. If I had one, I'd flunk my GCSEs for sure. I wanna make sure I get good grades!!! Its not easy to become a doctor!!!!!!!

Someone told me that most doctors are closet alcoholics. Surely that can't be true?! Doctors should know better than that. Anyway. I wont be an alcoholic. If I make it as a doctor. Sometimes I think I'll never get there...

Me and M were talking about someone who will remain nameless during Maths, and she said, "You should tell him to get back into his biscuit tin!!!" Geddit?!?! Hes a 'ginger nut'! (Can you guess who he is now?!)
hahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa
Well, we thought it was funny. We were still laughing about it when we got to physics.

When we were going through our RE exams, I was looking at a question paper that someone had annotated, and it said 'freederm'. Isn't Freederm some kinda spot cream?! Its not that hard to spell freedom.
Then on the way out of RE, a girl in the class said,"My boyfriend got me a baby kitten for Christmas", I said (sarcastically - I think it was ovr her head though...), "I thought all kittens were babies...!". She stopped, thought for a minute, and said, "Erm...I dunno.... but this one is a baby kitten.".
Maybe it was her exam paper I was reading...

Alexander Fleming, eat your heart out!

I have grown some penicillin!

Remember the Marmite sandwiches that I thought I left in my locker at the end of last term?! Well, I found em!
They weren't in my locker though.... they were under a pile of junk on my desk. I found them when I tidied my room. Which is quite fortunate really. Coz if they were in my locker at school, I'd still have another few days before I find them. And then what would I have done with them?!

It was actually quite interesting, coz they were in an (as good as) air tight container, and there was condensation on the lid of the box (on the inside obviously...).
Here are some pictures:

The lid is still on in this picture. You can kinda see the condensation on the lid.

Heres another picture, with the lid taken off. Its not too clear in the photo, but there were 2 different colours: Greenish mold and whitish mold.

Very interesting.....

I didnt eat them though....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well, its already the 1st January 2006!!!
So heres a list of my highlights from 2005:
- Canada this summer. It was my first time on holiday outside of England on my own. (My first time having to fly on my own!!! Also the longest I've spent away from family - 5 weeks.) and I had a GREAT time!!!
- PEEING ON THE CAMPFIRE!!!! Probably one of the most skillful things I've done this year.
-The 'Paperclip Challenge'. I know that it's sad to put a science competition on this list, but it really was cool to be able to represent my school and to do something I enjoy and know I'm good at. And we did really well, considering we were competing against people who were a good few years older than us! And WE BEAT THEM and got through to the county championships - the final 5 in the country! That was definitely my most genius moment!!!
- The London Bombings this summer will have to go on the list, but not coz they are a good thing. I think that on that day I grew emotionally, spiritually and politically. If I hadn't been in London when it happened, it probably wouldn't have effected me that way...

Uhhhhh...... I'm trying to think of more highlights... I cant actually remember much of what happened this year. I'm getting tired now, and my whole life has kinda merged into one year...

Anyway, 2005 has probably been one of the hardest years of my life, and also one of the most worthwhile. I've come a long way, and learnt a lot of lessons that will help me in future (unfortunately many of them were learnt the hard way. Which is a lesson in itself...).

But WOW!!!!! It seems like only a few weeks ago I was celebrating the start of 2005!

Although soooo much has happened between now and then, and I feel like a totally different person.
I remember thinking that I was so old this time last year because I was nearly 15. I thought it meant that I was really mature, and knew what was best for me, and didn't need anyone else.
Now that I'm nearly 16, I realise that I'm still really young! (It actually scares me that I'll be starting 6th form later this year - I really dont feel old enough!!!) I definitely still need other people telling me what to do and how to do it - even if it gets kinda patronising sometimes!

Im gonna be 16 in 16 days!!!!!!!!!!
Im gonna be LEGAL!!!!! For some things, anyway...
But (and this is a sign of my new found maturity) I think the government has got it wrong, so I'm going to show self control and restraint.
It'll be interesting to see how that turns out! haha

Here's my Top 40 Songs of all time: (This is as I'm feeling at the moment - this list changes daily...) And these aren't necessarily in order - that would be too hard...
1) Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
2) Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams
3) Hear You Me - Jimmy Eat World
4) Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer
5) Wonderwall - Oasis
6) Song 2 - Blur
7) All You Need Is Love - Beatles
8) Paridise City - Guns n Roses
9) My Happy Ending - Avril Lavigne
10) Wake Me Up When September Ends - Greenday
11) By The Way - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
12) California - Phantom Planet
13) Empty Apartment - Yellowcard
14) Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
15) She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5
16) You're Beautiful - James Blunt
17) I Don't Want To Miss A Thing - Aerosmith
18) Closest Thing To Crazy - Katie Melua
19) I love Rock n Roll - Joan Jett
20) There She Goes - The La's
21) Fix You - Coldplay
22) I'm A Believer - Monkees
23) Why Does It Always Rain On Me - Travis
24) Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own - U2
25) Cannonball - Damien Rice
26) Friday I'm In Love - The Cure
27) Man On The Moon - REM
28) Wires - Athlete
29) Children of the Revolution - T-Rex
30) Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
31) Have I Told You Lately - Van Morrisson
32) The Wall - Pink Floyd
33) Lola - The Kinks
34) London Calling - The Clash
35) Breakdown - Jack Johnson
36) Cool - Gwen Stefani
37) Best Of You - Foo Fighters
38) JCB Song - Nizlopi
39) Advertising Space - Robbie Williams
40) Rain Fall Down - Rolling Stones

Hmmm.... theres probably loads more brilliant songs out there that I've missed out.

And for the record: this is a list of the top 40 tracks of all time. It doesn't necessarily mean I like all these bands... and it doesn't mean that if I left bands off the list, they aren't worthy of being on it. (But I did make sure I only used one song from each artist... )
I will definitely do another one of these lists. It took me ages, but its a lot of fun! =D
I'm off to bed now!

Ohhhh!!! I forgot new years resolutions!!!
Ahh....never mind. I always give them up for Lent. (which I think is a really good idea. If you have to give something up, why not make it something you didn't plan on doing anyway?!)

This year (as an example of my new maturity) I will make proper resolutions. I'm just now gonna do it now... I'll wait til I'm thinking properly.

Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!
...let's hope it's a good one!