Chocolate Baaar.

This afternoon, I decided to pop into Matalan before catching the bus home: I had a spare twenty minutes and the shop is right next to the bus stop. It wasn't an idle visit either. I needed to buy the Secret Santa present for the girl I've been given in mentor and I thought I might as well treat myself to something at the same time. I found a nice stripy cardigan (even if it was a bit expensive for Matalan: £18!) and while waiting in line to pay, I saw some Christmassy socks. I thought these would be great for Secret Santa. Some other socks also caught my eye: Chocolate smelling sheep socks (with the caption "Chocolate Baaar") that I just could not resist!

Eventually, I got to the till and asked if I could use my student card. The guy on the till asked "Is it an NUS extra card?" This left me thinking 'It's definitely an NUS card, but what's with the extra bit? Did I have to pay a bit more to get the extra bit? But, hang on; it said Matalan was on the list of discounts in the little booklet thingy!' Thankfully, I finally noticed the 'extra' written under 'NUS' and meekly said yes and handed over the card. "YAY!" I thought: £2 off my little bundle of goodies and then straight to the bus stop with plenty of time spare. Except it wasn't that easy…

Firstly, the guy called over one of the other members of staff before filling in a form using all the details on my card while this lady watched the proceedings from over his shoulder. He then asked me to sign it which was fair enough. But then, on the discovery that I did not own a Matalan store card, he informed me that I can't activate my student discount without it.

By now, I'm worrying about the time. From a glance at my phone, I established that I only had five or so minutes to make sure I was at the bus stop in time. (Unfortunately, I was catching the bus from a stop that is between the stops written down on the timetable so I only had a rough idea of when it was meant to come.) I was then assured that the process would take no more than a minute. At this point, I still hadn't even handed over any money yet so I decided that it would be just as quick to fill this out as make them undo and redo my discount and purchases. Also, this way I would get a 10% discount!

After filling in my name address, age, etc etc, I finally handed over my money and escaped the shop with my stuff. I also managed to catch the bus (which is good because I didn't fancy waiting another hour for the next one!) Nevertheless, I had left the shop with more than I bargained for. As well as the stuff that I bought, I had another discount-style card that I will hardly ever use, the knowledge that my house is very likely to now get two copies of the Matalan catalogue, and strong sense of defeat. All I wanted was a few items of clothing and to abuse my rights as a student! Maybe that £2 off wasn't really worth it after all!

Wonderful/terrible/bad/good/odd weather we’re having today! [Please delete as appropriate]

As my friend pointed out, England is one of the few places you can properly discuss the weather. You find, in other countries, the weather is always predictably hot, predictably cold, or predictably wet. In England, we are genuinely shocked when we have more than a day or two's worth of sun or if we get an amount of snow which is actually enough to make a snowman bigger than a football.

In England, it is not the range, but how we lack extremes in the weather which makes us want to go on to holiday! With rain, we don't always get much at once, but it does always seem to be raining constantly. A drought in England is a great shock and even when one is officially announced, we never take it particularly seriously. We know autumn will most likely make up for where summer lacked.

There is always someone moaning about the weather. In the summer there's a lack of sun for a tan, a lack of water for plants (if you're a gardener like my mum!) Even if there is sun we moan that it's too hot to do anything! Autumn brings rain which evokes grumbling about the impossibility of functioning in trousers soaked up to the knees. Furthermore, umbrellas are no good at this time of the year because it will, undoubtedly, be too windy to use it without breakages or a re-enactment of Mary Poppins. Winter is too cold, or no snow. Instead we tend to just get even more rain! Spring generally brings the same mix of wetness, coldness and windiness but at least there is the warmer summer to look forwards too. And more recently, we've enjoyed the possibility of a freak pile of snow around Easter time. Nevertheless, when summer eventually decides to show itself, the sunny times seem to choose to appear in late May to June time. This is just not fair because it leaves us students sitting in exam halls and classrooms gazing longingly out the window at the sun we can only get an hour of at lunch. Without a doubt, as soon as the final bell for summer rings, clouds will come rolling in, ready to set us off moaning again.

At the moment, we are having an unreasonable amount of rain. We've had so much that Cumbria (whose name I managed to muddle with Columbia...) was flooded and there was even a major bridge washed away. My house even ended up developing a moat which is just not right! Vast amounts of rain should not require me to use a boat to get from my front door to the car. To be honest, I wouldn't mind so much if I had the right sort of house to go with it, but I think I've been short changed: What happened to the turrets, the large rooms, and the handsome princes that normally come with a moat?

Unfortunately, this is the curse of living in a country whose weather system and seasons thrive on a diet of teenage mood swings. Today it was raining one minute then bright sunshine the next! Maybe someday I'll move to a country with a more predictable weather pattern... or maybe I'll just be English: I'll put up with it and just moan!

Really? You think we’re gunna concentrate in Chemistry?

Monday's chemistry lesson was one of the dullest I have ever been in. (OK, slight exaggeration, but you get the idea!) The teacher was mostly just going over stuff we'd done before and when you combine that with her rambling teaching style, it is no wonder that me and my friend found doodling in my notebook so much more interesting!
So I thought I'd share with you the insanity that this double period of chemistry led us to: enjoy...

Well, my dearest...

• Cold potatoes aren't hot.
• Mud isn't clear...
• The sky is blue.
• Sheep baa.
• Blind men don't see very well.
• Timey Whimy detector go 'ding' when there's stuff.
• Bananas are good.
• Bananas are yellow.
• Bananas are yucky yummy.
• Something that is positive isn't negative.
• Pink isn't blue.
• Hannah is not Maryam.
• Maryam is not a sheep.
• Sheep are not bananas.
• Hannah is not a banana.
• A banana is not Maryam.
• Maryam is not yellow.
• Hannah is not Hannah... oh wait... she is.
• Chemistry leads to odd conclusions.
• The dark makes people sleepy.

Word link:
Chocolate
Milk
Cheese
Mice
Rats
Gusteau's Restaurant!
Puppets!
Ventriloquists & Horror movies...
Zombies
Resident Evil (The Nintendo Gnome)
Mario
Mushroome             [here on the page is a cute little drawing :D I may add it in another time!)
Spaghetti Bolognese             [I originally spelt this spaguette Bolagnase... worrying isn't it!]
Forks
Spoons
Twilight        [This link always needs explaining. My friend and I are always joking that if there is the place Forks as in Twilight, there should be a spoons too...]
TAYLOR LAUNTNER!
Sharks
Jaws
Swimming!
Floating
Stars
Moon
Rhinoceros
Judoon Platoon upon the moon!
TARDIS
Big Blue Box
Big fish
Big cook, little cook
Wooden spoons
Cooking
Disasters
Chemistry
Bridge        [This does link... honest! It's our teacher!]
Meccano
Lego Land
Rollercoasters
Vomit
Over eating
Fat     [with a bizarre little drawing of a fat/pregnant cartoon to the right...]
CHOCOLATE!

Dr Who words for each letter... [This was actually completed after the lesson eventually!]
Alons-y Alonso!
Binary
Chameleon Circuit
Dimensionally Transcendental
Exterminate
Fragment links
Gelf
Huon energy
Ianto
Judoon
K-9
Lazarus
Moon
New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York
Other Doctor
Platoon
Queen Elizabeth/ Victoria
Raxacoricofallapatorius  / Rose
Spatial Temporal Hyperlink
TARDIS
Utopia
Vashta Nerada
Wolf (Bad!)
X marks the spot
YANA
Zeus Plugs

Feel free to be worried =)

I now pronounce you husband and wife.

Everyone has an idea of where they'd like to see themselves in the future and you would be hard pushed to find someone who doesn't see love as part of their plan. Relationships and marriage are, more often than not, put forward in films and on TV as the best state to be in and singleness is often just seen as part of the journey to finding a partner. Most songs are either of heartbreak or a declaration of love and every film contains romance, even if it's just a minor sub-plot. Those who have never had a boyfriend or girlfriend are often subject to a response of disbelief and if you've not been kissed by the age of about eighteen, popular media suggests there is something wrong with you.

The thing is: singleness is so undermined. I'm not saying that I don't like the idea of getting married to a nice Christian bloke sometime in the future, but I'm learning to understand that singleness isn't always a bad thing; singleness is not an inferior second option.

Firstly, going out with someone takes up so much of your time! You have to find time to see them and spend time with them along with the ordinary complications of life. I am honestly amazed at the teens who managed to juggle a long time boyfriend/girlfriend, school work, a job, family life, and social life! Sometimes I feel that some teenagers rush into relationships, forgetting the impact that it will have on the other aspects of your life. I'm not saying that people don't get caught up in the moment: I've been there and done that (and will learn from the experience). Nevertheless, we do need to be reminded that real life isn't like the movies. We won't bump into the perfect guy who's both handsome and smart, find love at first sight, and get married into a lifelong and happy marriage.

Secondly, as a Christian, being single gives me more time to focus on God. I don't have a boyfriend to distract me in services (even if he's doing so unintentionally) or cause me to stay up late talking on the phone rather than reading my Bible. I admit there are also advantages: he could encourage me in my bible reading and quiz me on the service after to ensure I was listening, but the two sides cancel each other out.

You think I'm insane: admit it. Who'd want to be single when there's the option of being in a relationship? Honestly, I would love to have a boyfriend to share everything with, but I think we so often need to stop elevating relationships to such a high level. Being single can be good. We need to embrace that and stop pining for that "special" guy or girl to come along.

I can’t love you because you’re not [Carlisle] Cullen...

Last Thursday night, (well, technically Friday morning) a few friends, me, and enough other people to fill three screens, went to see New Moon at my local cinema.

I'm a pretty big fan of the Twilight Saga (as in I've bought all the books, read them a couple or three times, and seen both films as soon as they came out) but I'm not a squealing fan girl with all the merchandise and a cardboard cut-out of Edward (aka. Robert Pattinson). And through this love of Twilight, I have discovered that the series is like Marmite: You either love it or hate it. Most people claim that the author Stephanie Meyor is an awful writer and either love her writing despite that, or give that as their reason to avoid her books like the plague. I read a comment online somewhere saying they thought Twilight reads like a sixteen-year-old's diary. The thing is: that's pretty much what it is. To be honest, I think that's why so many teenage girls love the series so much. It's written exactly how they think and about something almost every girl longs for: love. (After typing this, I also read a blog by John Green and he encapsulates EXACTLY what I'm trying to get at. So I'll link it right... here =])

Furthermore, amongst Twilight fans, you tend to get two groups: team Edward; and team Jacob. That is, the ones who hate New Moon because Edward breaks Bella's heart; and those who just want Bella and Jacob to get together. The thing is, I'm not really either. I guess on a superficial level, the films have made me sway to team Jacob what with Taylor Lautner's unignorable hotness, but I'm generally Switzerland. I'm not like Bella in that I'd want both of them, but I would have neither of them. Or, to be more precise, I only want small bits of each of them. I don't even understand why I love the books half the time! Edward annoys me with his possessiveness and protectiveness and Jacob annoys me for just how long he takes to try to get on with the Cullens. Thing is, I'm more lenient with Jake, he's just a young boy (and he does understand it in the end). Also, I guess I'd be fine with the Edward that emerges at the end of Breaking Dawn after Bella becomes a vampire. But I've decided to start my own new team... Go team Carlisle!

I think Jacob needs to borrow Marigold.

Everyone has particular things they do when they get bored in lessons. Lots of people doodle on their work, some (in the presence of a hole punch) punch holes in paper, others just count ceiling tiles (or some other equivalent!) Usually I can be found doodling over the back pages of my homework diary or drawing up the margin of my notes. However, recently, I decided to name the contents of my pencil case. Every bit of stationary has a name.

This can lead to some odd conversations:

Friend: Hey, Hannah. Can I borrow a pencil?
Me: Sure! Do you want Rachel, Claire or Jacob?
Friend: Urm... Jacob’s fine...
Me: Oh, hang on; I think Jacob needs to borrow Marigold.
Friend: Marigold?
Me: Yeah, sharpener!
Friend: Obviously... *surreptitiously switches places*

Amazingly, this ‘craze’ is spreading. Well, my friends have allowed me to name their stationary with my specially bought Sharpie. (Yes, I specifically bought my Sharpie for the purpose of naming my stationary... if you didn’t think I was mad before, I’m sure you do now!) Many pens, pencils, sharpeners and highlighters in the sixth form now have more ‘original’ names than “blue pen” and “black Biro”.

Four particular pens are called Chris, Charlie, Alex and Liam. I possess Chris and Charlie, my friend has Alex and Liam. These four pens are actually named after the Trock band Chameleon Circuit. My friend and I absolutely love their music and their Youtube Vlogs and she refused to let me own the whole band myself :(. Additionally, we unintentionally used colour to divide them by where they live. Charlie and Alex are our blue Biro’s and those two members live in England. However, the other two members (represented by our black pens) live in Scotland. This was - I assure you - completely and utterly unintentional! Although this did lead to the irony of Scotland being represented by black and then the question of whether there were actually any black people in Scotland by another friend. Sometimes you wonder how we all got into a grammar school!

In the process of naming, one of my pencils obtained the name Mundungus. Not being a Harry Potter fan, I did not realise this was not just a bundle of letters and sounds until someone in my history class pointed out that my pencil was named after a character in the books. Somehow, this pencil has now gained the corresponding surname and I am still none the wiser of quite who Mundungus Fletcher is.

There has also been a long debate over the gender of my stationary. I have four mini highlighters with (limited edition!) faces on them. Naturally, I gave them names: Blue – Luke; Orange – Stu.2 (Stu.1 unfortunately ran out of ink); Yellow - Marvin.2 (similar fate befell Marvin.1); Green – Fred; and Pink – Lucy. However, my friend insisted that Fred and Luke were girls. Apparently, the presence of eyelashes made them girls despite the colours (in my mind) suggesting otherwise. In response, I decided to rename them Fredica and Lukette. Nevertheless, friends in my history class said that they should be boys! Maybe highlighters were never designed to have a gender...



Right, for those of you who are wondering what Trock is:

Trock is short for Timelord Rock. Therefore, they are songs about the TV show Doctor Who. Simples :)

"You have one new message..."

Don’t you just love it when you get an actual, proper email? Not a reminder that so-and-so has put up a new vlog, or that a band has ‘got a new single out now so go and download it’; an actual, electronic letter from a real person you know. What’s even better is when that electronic letter is the only email in your inbox. You don’t have to go through deleting spam mail to find this gem but instead it’s waiting there patiently for you when you open your inbox.


After school today I got home, logged on to the computer and opened my inbox to find a solitary email waiting for me. The fact that there was only one was a shock in itself, but for it to also be from a real person just made my day! A nugget of niceness from a friend rather than an inbox full of Facebook comments from people I don’t know, just because I “like”-ed a particular post or status.


Unfortunately, my bubble of joy has been burst in the past five minutes. Firstly, I received an email from Facebook with a friend’s reply to one of my comments. OK, that’s not too bad. It’s from a real person, even if it is delivered second hand through the medium of Facebook. Nevertheless, this was quickly followed by an email from “Minekey” informing me:

Aziz wants to know if you agree with this:

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination."

87% users agreed to it, 108 comments so far!

Do you Agree / Disagree?

Join the conversation on Minekey.

Fine, one piece of junk: I can handle that. Until less than a minute later:

The new Swedish dance-pop sensation - Agnes‏


At just 21 years old Agnes Carlsson is set to have the music world at her feet. The talented Swede has the voice to match her stunning good looks and following on from her top 3 summer-time smash hit, Release Me, Agnes is all set to cause a further storm in the charts with new single I Need You Now and album, Dance Love Pop.


I Need You Now is sure to be the dance-pop hit of the season, subtle synths and violin strings provide the musical canvas for Agnes’s soaring vocals and heart-felt lyrics.


Agnes may have found fame as the first female winner of the Swedish version of Pop Idol but she has gone on to prove that she’s more than just a pretty face off the reality TV conveyor belt. On Dance Love Pop Agnes has co-wrote several of her songs and has a clear sense of what she wants to achieve with the album; “Artistically the goal is always to evolve on all levels – vocally, the song writing and the on stage show are all important for me.”

If you stopped reading half way through that, I don’t blame you. I’ve never heard of ‘Agnes’ before and being English and not Swedish, I’ve never even heard of the Swedish version of Pop Idol. In fact, to be totally honest, I’ve never even watched the English version!

I get thoroughly fed up with all these emails. Yes I want updates on new stuff out, but surely I never signed up to receive newsletters about Swedish Pop Idol winners? Maybe someday I’ll get round to unsubscribing to all these pointless emails!

The end of an era

As I sit here at the computer, to my left is a pad of Narrow Ruled A4 paper. Initially there were 200 sheets in it, but now I am only down to two. You're now wondering why I'm ranting on about an old, almost empty pad of paper. Well, my friend, this is not just any almost empty pad of paper, this is a Woolworths almost empty pad of paper!

Yes, I still own Woolworths branded stationary. However, I do believe this is my last officially Woolworthian item. The last thing remaining to remind me of a shop that dictated my pick 'n' mix intake for all my life until it decided to go bust. It must have been the only place in my town that sold stuff for under £30 and the only place where you could buy something that wasn't an antique (the expensive, fancy way of selling second-hand stuff really if you ask me). Woolworths had been around forever and now there will be a whole generation that will have grown up without knowing this 'great' store.

As a kid, I would go in with my mum or dad and make it my mission to press as many of the buttons in the toy section as possible. I would feel that my trip was incomplete until I had ensured my parents were sufficiently embarrassed by the number of singing, beeping, barking or meowing toys that I had set off. As I got older, I discovered the pick 'n' mix section and whenever I had some money, I would get pick 'n' mix. One of the big changes in Woolworths was when they changed over from paper bags for the sweets to set price tubs. I remember how I went in with one of my friends and we squashed as many sweets as possible into the tub! There were so many, the lid was almost coming off! I also soon discovered the CD and video section. (Yes, the 'good' old days of VHS!) I often casually browsed the shelves making a mental list of all the music and films I would buy if I had an endless supply. Obvious, still being under the age of ten I didn't have enough money to buy anything, plus I would still prefer to spend the money on pick 'n' mix!

Late Night Shopping in my town is one times when I will miss Woolworths. One year I went in about three times in one evening! That meant I went up to the counter about twice and both times I was served by a guy in a snowman outfit. And that's sort of about where the story ends...

My Woolworths was replaced by The Factory Shop. Yeah, it's cheap. Yeah, it sells similar stuff to Woolworths. But what can really replace Woolworths: the childhood memories, the pick 'n' mix, and the cheesy adverts with a sheep (a.k.a Wooly) and a Dog (a.k.a Worth)...

wizz-bang-fizz-aaaaah!!!

Today's the nearest Saturday to bonfire night, and normally, I go out to see the fireworks display that the local Scout group hold in a nearby field. However, this year, I stayed at home writing an essay. Why are you doing that? I hear you ask. Well... I took history and this essay's deadline is Monday.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate history, I just hate essay writing. I think it's fascinating finding out how different people changed how we see the world, how people used to live before they discovered electricity or flushing loos but putting all that into an ordered essay is a totally different story! Having to decide how much you agree with a statement, and then putting it all into an order that make sense to someone other than yourself. Thing is, I find it really hard to stick to the point that I set out to talk about at the beginning of the paragraph. I'll start talking about one thing and then start talking about something that is linked, but not really what I should be talking about in that paragraph!

Technology doesn't exactly help either. The teachers ask us to type our essays up on the computer so that they're easier to read which is fair enough. It also means that I can get the computer to filter out the majority of my spelling mistakes so that my teachers don't think I'm quite as unable to spell as I am! But doing that means that there are so many things to distract me! YouTube, Blogger, msn, my emails, iPlayer, facebook, you name it, it is bound to be on the list of things distracting me! Not that handwriting would be much better. Ignoring the fact that my essay would end up being more crossings out and spelling mistakes than actual essay, I would get just as distracted. I'd start writing a sentence then find myself doodling a little drawing in the margin!

Admittedly, I've had quite a while to do this essay. Over two weeks to be honest. But I do have a few excuses! Well, one proper excuse. We did have to write up some extra notes before hand. Also, some of that time was half term. Do you really expect me to get on with an essay during half term, my week off of school?! But then again, I'm now here, almost midnight, and I've still got around 600 more words to write.

Anyone want to finish it for me?!

I think we're alone now...

Today I had my first proper afternoon at my new job (although when I say job, I mean doing housework for someone for a bit of money. Hey, I'll do anything for £6 an hour seen as some of my friends only get minimum wage!) At exactly 2.10, the lady I'm helping left the house to start the school run leaving me in an empty house. This left me in a totally empty house; alone.

Totally alone is something I haven't been for a while and I'd forgotten how much I like it! Usually I get no time to myself. When I get home my mum's there and even walking home from the bus stop I've got my sister there too. Walking anywhere alone hardly counts either seen as I'm pretty sure I would get a lot of funny looks if I suddenly starting singing along with my mp3. Even being alone in a room doesn't count if there are others in the house. Being totally alone is a rare, but amazing treat.

I love having time to myself. 'Yourself' is the only person that you're ever truly 'yourself' around. I know you'd get lonely if you never had anyone else to talk to, but a good dose of aloneness (I think) is healthy. It gives you a chance to indulge in things like talking to yourself and singing badly! And don't start telling me that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness! In fact, I think it prevents madness. Thinking things over is always good and doing that aloud prevents those almost inevitable distractions surfacing quite so soon!

Being alone, I find, also makes it easier to get on with jobs and tasks. For some reason, I'm much more efficient doing them when nobody is around! To be honest, it's probably because I know no-one is around to watch me. I can get on with my jobs in my own way without any criticism, voiced or otherwise. It can't be just me who feels that any little mistake I make, the task giver will pounce upon me and tell me exactly how they would do it and that I should do it exactly like that too. I'm generally not a particularly paranoid or self-conscious person but, for some reason, completing a list of tasks causes me to think in this totally illogical manner! Be it a teacher, a friend, my mum or my sister, I would much rather be able to get on with tasks without them watching.

Now that I've been reminded of how great being alone for a couple of hours can be I'm looking forward to next time it happens: Crank up my music to full volume, sing along to my favourite (but relatively unknown) YouTube artists, and gradually tick off the jobs waiting patiently on my list.

I'm a nerdy teen! What else do you expect?

Multitasking is the ability to simultaneously do more than one task at the same time. Well, technically, multitasking involves quickly switching from one task to the other but the outcome is pretty much the same!

I'm always doing about five things at once and the common question I'm asked my parents is "How can you watch telly while you're doing homework?" The answer? Easy. It's a talent that all nerdy teenagers possess. The complex ability to be able to write up a blog, watch Doctor Who, surf Facebook, talk on msn and do homework, is obviously a gift that pre-technology philistines do not have. Some say that I complete them all a little slower than I would if I focused on one at a time but surely the total time is the same? 1+1+3+1+4+1+2+2+1+3+4+2 equals exactly the same as 10+7+8.

What I don't understand is how parents manage to do numerous tasks at the same time yet don't understand my 'ability' to do other things at the same time as homework. My mum manages to cook tea, moan at me and my sister to do homework, talk on the phone and talk to herself all at the same time. How is that any different to what I'm doing?

I'm a nerdy teenager and I cannot function if I go more than a day or two without YouTube, Facebook, or some other internet based nerdiness. Furthermore, as a sixth former, I have quite a bit of work to do. So what is my solution? Multitasking. You could say I've adapted to my environment, but one thing's clear: I will never just do my homework alone!

Living in a Box

Being in year 12, we now get 'luxuries' including a common room. However, our common room is basically a box. OK, so its large...ish... but that's all it is: a large-ish mobile.
This morning, my friends and I were in the common and we realized we were trapped by the rain. Yes rain. We were subject to the rain tipping down outside meaning we couldn't leave the common room without getting soaked to the skin.
To be honest, I wouldn't mind it so much if we had something in the common room. If we had a drinks machine, a fridge, a microwave, or even a humble cold tap, I may be less inclined to grumble. Nevertheless, each time I crave a piece of food, a drink, or even a piece of paper (not that a microwave would solve that problem...) I must brave the elements and cross the short distance between the common room door and the school. OK, so we have a football table, a ping pong table, and a lot of chairs, but I can't eat those!

As a 'hard working' teen, I need my food readily accessible, and the common room is the only place we're allowed to eat during our free periods. "What about the canteen?" I hear you cry. Well my dear, as a teen, comfort is also a necessity and the canteen lacks comfy chairs. Anyway, the canteen only serves food at lunch and break: the times where it is overcrowded with pushy younger years. (And don't get me started on the prices!) All other rooms are also a no-go. Pretty much all the rooms in the school are either offices or have lessons in them. As for the library, just like a lot of libraries, the "DO NOT EAT OR DRINK IN HERE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES" rule sort of over-rules the comfort of the chairs. Plus the "NO TALKING" puts a bit of a dampener on all fun except naughts and crosses.

Therefore, my friend, I feel my only option is to starve. Or maybe using my initiative as our head of sixth form suggested wouldn't be such a bad idea...

Dear Mr Headmaster...
I WANT FOOD IN THE COMMON ROOM! please...
Your hungry student,

Hannah =)

I'm Sorry, Do I know you?

1st day back from school after half term. For most this means getting back into routines, getting up early after a week of lay-ins, and homework due in that was meant to be completed over the holiday. For me, it means this, but it also means the termly rush at the bus for our new bus passes. The younger years push and shove, wanting to get a 'good' seat, while the older years wait patiently(ish), knowing that if someone sits in their seat, they can always scare them into moving! Usually, I just step onto the bus, say my name, take my bus pass from the driver's hand, say 'thank you', and walk on to my seat. This time was different. Before I could escape to the confines of my seat, the bus driver said six words: "Oh, I should have known that."

Should have known what?! Are you suggesting that you should have known my name? I'm sorry, but I certainly didn't feel like he 'should have known' my name. Yes, I've got the same bus since year 7, making this about the 30th time I've collected my bus pass, but we don't have the same bus driver each day. Some days we have 'the bald one', sometimes 'the grumpy one', and sometimes this one that we had today. And, unless he has amazing eyesight, I'm pretty sure he doesn't read my name every time I flash it at him as I get on.
Furthermore, how often do I talk to him? I think the longest conversation we had was:

"Ah, I see you're late again!"
"Yeah, mornin'!"
"You gunna be earlier tomorrow?"
"Erm, I guess!"

And that certainly didn't include my name! Surely that just labels me as 'the one who's always late'.

OK, so I know his name: Bruce. But that's only 'cos my friend talks to him when the bus stops and waits in town for the other buses. Apparently, he knows her name, which, I guess, is fair enough. But I can't be interesting enough for me, or my name, to come up in conversation. Even concerning my lateness, I'm pretty sure my friend wouldn't have mentioned more than my first name.
So where did his idea come from? The idea that he should know my name? My full name mind you. Not just 'Hannah', but also my surname, the thing that distinguishes me from the ten-zillion other Hannah's that are in the world and I'm pretty sure there's at least one, maybe even two more, that get on my bus. Seriously? What has come to the world?!

My Eureka Moments

I love my baths. Especially when you get them just the right temperature, (not too warm, not too cold,) and when you have just the right amount of water. But why do you always come up with the best ideas in the most inappropriate places?!
One story goes that Archimedes stepped into a bath and realized that the water level rose meaning he could precisely calculate the volume of an irregular object from the water displaced. Apparently, he shouted "Eureka!" and was so keen to share his discovery that he leapt out of his bathtub and ran through the streets of Syracuse naked.

Just like Archimedes, I'm always coming up with my best ideas (well, I think they're my best ideas...) when I'm having a nice soak in the tub. However, unlike Archimedes, I'm not the biggest fan of running the streets naked, or even getting back out of the bath for that matter! So what do I do with these 'brilliant' ideas? Paper is no good because it will just go all soggy when I go to grab it with my wet hands and the pen would probably just turn the water a funny shade of blue anyway! A laptop or mobile is no good either; knowing my butter fingers, I'd drop them in the water (and I'm not planning to test what happens when electricity and water mix!)

Although, I guess there could be one solution...  Bath Crayons!!!

Hawkins Bazaar sells:
"Pack of six 9cm crayons which can safely be used to scribble on baths, tiles etc. Produce works of art, write messages or play games! The crayon slides into its plastic case for clean storage. They easily wash off all surfaces. Clean creative fun!"
I haven't actually bought any, but surely this is the only solution to my Eureka moments. How else can I remember my 'fantastic' idea long enough so that I can write them down when I'm clean and dry?! Maybe this will have to be my next purchase... maybe...