Culture

In the two days since I last posted to this blog, I have been feeling rather cultured. It's a feeling I rather like, because it's something that people think sending their children to Public School will make them. Well ha. Ha to all the snobs out there, with that pale skin, stinky perfume and constant "this person has just stepped out of a skip filled with rodents and excrement" expression etched across their comfortable, rounded faces. Ha to all the kids who have quite obviously never had to do anything for themselves except complain about the quality of the restaurant they've been dining in. Ha to the kids who have grown up in houses with more than two bedrooms, slept in rooms bigger than the instrument store cupboard at school. Because us state schoolers can be just as cultured as them - if not more so.

Yesterday I went to a fabulous piano concert, on the request (perversely) of my violin teacher. The concert was given by one Masa Tayama, who is the most awesome (in the true sense of the word) and inspiring pianist I have seen live. He opened with Mozart's 12 Variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It still amazes me what a sense of humour Mozart appears to have had when you consider his somewhat tragic life. I must watch Amadeus again at some point. It's a really exciting film about Mozart, and is all about how Salieri may or may not have poisoned him... It also has quite a lot in it about his Requiem, which particularly interested me last time, before I sang it with Swavesey Community Choir last summer.

Also in the concert were pieces by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Gershwin. The Chopin pieces were heart-achingly beautiful (typical of Chopin), the Rachmaninoff was completely mad and incredibly exciting (ditto), and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue really shows of the piano in everything it does. And what a piano. A 9 foot Bösendorfer!!! Wowee! And I had a look at it properly at the end when we were getting the CD signed by Masa Tayama. The great thing about it was that it was shiny enough to give a clear reflection of Tayama's hands as he was playing, so I could see exactly what he was doing (astounding control and touch noted particularly).

And then today, I went with my parents to see Frost/Nixon at the cinema. It was a wonderful film, and I very strongly think that Frank Langella's performance as Richard Nixon deserves the Oscar it's been nominated for. But it made me feel very cultured going into Huntingdon Cineworld, standing around loads of chavs/yobs/sweaty people, then going into the most sophisticated film in the whole place. I felt suddenly extremely grateful that I've been brought up properly, that I've been lucky enough to go to the best school in the region, that I've got friends who are interested in more than the clothes I wear.

So, I'm feeling good. Will post again soon. x

Superb

Superb is a great word. It's superb in fact. I don't know why it's so underused compared to "super" which, unless you say it in a squeaky American voice resemblant of Bumper from Bambi, is nowhere near as amazing. Maybe it's not used because nobody has enough good things in their life to warrant another adjective to describe them. Well at the moment I think I just might do.

I've had the most superb day, in particular the last hour of it. I hope the person involved knows just how hard it was to do piano practice when my mind is so firmly fixed elsewhere. :D

My iPhone has been very useful recently. I have a very satisfying morning routine of getting up at 6.30, getting down for breakfast by 7, watching BBC breakfast, and using the iPhone. I like to check Twitter, Facebook and my inbox in the morning, and it's good to be able to do it from the sofa in the living room.

I'm sure I will find more to blog about very soon. Watch this space. x

Inauguration

This is my first blog post under the presidency of Barack Obama. I'm extremely pleased. It's the first inauguration that I can remember seeing in my lifetime, and I'm so pleased that America can change for the better now Bush has no control or power. Right now I'm pretty jealous of the way America has an indefinable kind of collective joy presently. The hope and triumph of Obama's victory is something that the UK could do well to relish and share in. It would be wonderful to watch an unknown rise out of the obscurity of the general public to lead Britian into a new era. But I don't think that's going to happen, at least not any time soon. Obama is just about the only beacon of light to be seen through the thick smog of the current economic downturn.

When I think about it in my head, I see Britian as depressed and grey, and America as big, bright and colourful. I don't want to emmigrate or anything - everyone I know and love is here - I just think that when I'm working I will want to travel there regularly. I think everyone should have more sun in their lives than what we get here.

The spag bol I made at school today was delicious. I made the dish simple this week because I did my showy marinated chicken breast complete with diced carrots and dauphinoise last week. I'm not very impressed with the way the food department is run. We've been given a half term to cook anything we feel like so long as we photograph two of them for coursework evidence. We don't have set times to cook, so in theory we could just take 2 weeks to cook and the other 4 to do absolutely nothing. That's why it's useful to have a cooking-mad mum - she is teaching me more about the subject than I'm learning at school. That's why I'm not going to do Food for GCSE. 

Josh is wonderful: he is typing out some science for me because I didn't take a sheet by mistake. I really value things like that, and I'll repay him very soon in some form or another. Maybe I could give him a free piano lesson! No, perhaps not. Anyway, I will find a way!

Love.

I'm just going to warn all you lovely readers that the beginning of this post contains a lot of writing that some of you may find a bit too lovey-dovey. If you don't want to read it, skip on. I don't care.

Becky is the most wonderful thing ever to have happened to the world, not least to me. I rang her today, and we had the most lovely chat ever. My life wouldn't be complete if she wasn't in it, and I can not find fault with her. I love her to bits. I just absolutely can't believe that she feels the same way about me, and wake up and go to sleep feeling like the luckiest person in the world.

Maybe you're wretching silently where you  sit now, maybe you're not. But I started this blog to write down what I was feeling, and that's what I've been feeling overwhelmingly today.

There is something strangely and yet incredibly satisfying about doing piano practice with slippers on. I did 1 hour today, which for a Monday is brilliant. Woop woop! I do at least an hour a day on weekdays and 2 hours a day at the weekend. I really have caught the practice bug. I want this distinction extremely badly. I think I will never stop grinning if I get it.

I'm going to go and watch Mock the Week on Dave with my mum now. Dad's asleep (he needs to get to bed early to get up at 4...) and I really don't know what my evenings would be like without Dave on. It's great - I can watch QI, Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You all in a row. Only I've missed QI tonight because of my compulsive blogging. Oh well! 

Extended Curriculum Day tomorrow! Something about jobs, apparently. I will let you know what it's like very soon! x

Crowds

Last night I went to see Oliver in the west end with my parents. It was, on the whole, great. The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, is the most renowned theatre in the world. My dad was company manager there for 4 years, so it was kind of odd for him to be going as an audience member. Rowan Atkinson was fabulous as Fagin. He got a massive cheer as he made his first appearance, and stole the show with "Reviewing the Situation." Burn Gorman (Owen Harper in Torchwood) also impressed me as the flawed and foul Bill Sikes, especially considering this is is first musical. Gwion as Oliver was as good as he could be, since Oliver as a part is a complete wet blanket. Although the title role, Oliver's only there as a pawn for all the other pieces to move around. The Artful Dodger was far more interesting to watch, and in my opinion the boy playing him had far more charisma and charm.

The only slight let-down was Jodie Prenger as Nancy. It was quite funny that in the programme there was so little to say about her past career they wrote "and in 2005 Jodie won first prize in a weight-loss competition: Britain's Biggest Loser." She wasn't appauling, but "as long as he needs me" wasn't nearly as moving as it should have been, and she actually couldn't sing the end of Oom Pa Pa. At least she didn't completely mess it up though, but my mum was saying how being inexperienced vocally means she doesn't have the stamina to carry all the big numbers off every night, which was shown pretty clearly last night. And, even funnier, they've got another actress to play Nancy for 2 nights every week, because Jodie can't manage the full 8 shows! (like everyone else can and does.)

I don't like the London commute. I don't know how Dad does it every day. Everyone is so grumpy! It was so crowded in Covent Garden tube station they had to shut the barrier so that people wouldn't start falling in front of the trains. I found an effective way of dealing with this though: When we were all crowding around, trying to get in the lifts that would take us up to ground level I started loudly and frequently mentioning the opening sequence of "Speed." (a lift gets sabotaged and almost blown up.) People gave me a wide berth from that point on. I was tired on the way home so my mum bought us some Yum Yums from M&S in King's Cross to eat on the train.

I'm looking forward very much to tonight. My friends are wonderful. I only wish Becky could come, but it's not my decision! Becky spoke to me briefly this morning. It was good to see her (her dad has a webcam) and her hair looks great. Actually, why do I always talk about Becky in the third person? She's one of only about 10 people who read this, so I'll write this too. Becky, your hair looks great! You are wonderful in every way. :D  

Izzy's been talking to me this morning too. She is an amazing person, and my longest-standing friend (11 years now!) It's good that I have such strong friends (and I think particularly of Izzy, Helen, Josh and Jamie here) to rely on. Thank you very much.

Wow, haven't I waffled! You all love it really! ;)

Auditions

It's been two days since I last wrote a blog post. That is simply because, for the last 2 days, my days have pretty much been a haze of voices, violins and verisimilitude. Ok, so I'm on the Variety Show committee, which at first made me a bit nervous, as everyone in it is over 2 years older than me. But watching the auditions have been great fun, and I feel totally at ease. My opinions are being taken extremely seriously, which is always good, and we're having a laugh too (not AT the auditionees you understand...no really... Well, moving on...) I'm really chuffed for Becky particularly. Everyone else on the panel kept telling me what an amazingly talented girlfriend I have, and by heck: they're right. Officially I'm not allowed to say yet, but let's just say 3/3 is pretty  incredible.

I watched Derren Brown last night. That was incredible too. I find the psychology of it fascinating, and he is a great showman, very slick. It was good to relax to that from 10-12 last night, because I hadn't stopped properly until that point. The auditions yesterday took me to 7. It comes to something when you leave school after Mr Bacon. Then at 7.30 I had my piano lesson, which I must admit I wasn't looking forward to, but in actual fact was great. Paul says I'm making real progress with my Bach, so the hours I've put into my practice this week have paid off well. Choir was not so good, but still took me till 9.15, and put a strain on my voice that I really don't need right now. But all in all, yesterday was great.

Today I got my Christmas present at last from the lovely Jamie! I know everyone in the whole world but me already knew this, but it's a mandolin case, which I've been needing for ages. I felt ultra cool walking around school with that in my hand today (though admittedly minus the actual mandolin...)

Becky could not be a more wonderful person. Can you love someone too much? I hope not, because if you could, I would have a problem. Not only is she the best person ever; she is amazingly talented at everything, from music to dancing to languages. I can't see myself without her at all.

That's all for tonight, and frankly, I'm tired. I'll find something to blog about tomorrow - I always do. x

I wonder as I wander.

I like words. I like wordplay. That's why the title of this post is "I wonder as I wander." It's the name of a song my mum sings, but it caught my interest. My dad and I have always played wordplay games, like calling people by their names backwards, or trying to have whole conversations using only questions. I think Xela Floow is a pretty classy name to be honest. Some others I've thought of (to save you time because I know you're all trying to work them out now) are Accaber Notgninnip, Lebasi Yecats and Eimaj Wolebmur. Pretty cool, eh?

I've also realised something else today. I think I would die for Becky. Except I wouldn't because she probably wouldn't let me! However, you get what I mean. There is a lot of stuff that I've been thinking these past few days that I don't want to put on the internet. It's all good! It's just the fact that it is so immensely good that I feel it should be kept between me and whoever is concerned.

Mrs Freer was pleased with my maths revision book. I think she thinks I'm a complete nutcase, but then again: she IS a maths teacher. St Cecilia was good today - the problem is I already know Tequila Samba pretty well, so hearing all the other parts being learnt endlessly is a bit dull. Oh well, at least Reza keeps me entertained with his pear fetish.

In the immortal words of Loony Tunes: That's all folks!

For now.