And finally... no, wait, this is not the end

I know this is a bit late (OMgosh! I’m turning into Terrie!) but this is the last EVER DFTBA Terrie blog challenge. I’m going to have to make it epic. So amazingly awesome that Terrie will faint in amazement and you will all petition her to not punish me for being a few days late. You see, it seems weird to think that this is the end: no more titles, no more compulsory blogs... (At least until I get given a new challenge.) This has to be good. So good you’ll be giving me a standing ovation and linking all your friends here.

* Time passes whilst trying to think of something...*

The thing is I’m not sure how to make this awesome. Maybe if I break it down a bit. Starting with a list of awesome things (in no particular order):

- YouTube
- Rubik’s Cubes
- Vets
- Friends
- Twitter
- DFTBA records
- Charlieissocoollike, Nerimon, Vlogbrothers, all the other YouTubers I’m subscribed to
- Doctor Who
- David Tennant
- Computers
- Mobile Phones
- Tetris
- Solitaire
- Music
- Summer Holidays
- Camps
- Pianos
- ...

This isn’t really helping. *Puts thinking cap back on*

I was sort of hoping this blog would fall on my 100th blog. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. I’m ten blogs short but as I have a special(ish) blog planned for that I can assure you that, although Terrie’s Challenge is ending, my blogs are not. I also have another blogged planned in the style of Charlieissocoollike’s Wine Gum experiment however that requires time, money, and the ability to bring home ten (or more if they’re on offer) packs of Randoms without eating them.

I really enjoy blogging and I think if Terrie hadn’t given me this challenge I may have given up blogging. However, I have filled one and a half notebooks with blog drafts (and they’re just the ones that I don’t type straight up) and I’m counting down in single figures to my 100th blog. It still amazes me that I actually get people reading this (even if it’s just through Facebook). I really don’t want to give up and I don’t want to end up stopping when I get to 100. I would love it if you gave me suggestions for new challenges, even if it seems like a silly suggestion or is only one blog long. I can always combine them!

Either way, thank you for reading and I’ll end in the words of Trock:

“We’ve reached the end, but this is not the final curtain. In fact I’m almost certain, a new world’s opening for me...”

Love Hannah

Dear Terrie,

For this blog I have given you two options. Both of these are over 300 words long so they should not break any rules.

A letter to my future self

A letter to my readers

Have fun reading and get ready as the end is nigh!

Love Hannah

X

1/5th Life Crisis

Generally, life crises come in the middle of your life. However, Terrie decided that her teenage “Who am I?” was a 1/5th of a life crisis. (She was assuming that, at the age of 16 at the time, she would live to 80.)

I’m pretty sure Terrie isn’t the only teenager to have a 1/5th of a life crisis but seen as Terrie’s has got in the way of blogging, I’m going to moan about that. Terrie has done the almost unmentionable thing of not blogging for over a month. Seen as I’ve been a good girl, I think I can moan about the fact that Terrie has been going out to gigs and parties and neglecting her duty to Terrie-kind to blog. However, I’m sure she’ll fail me if I make this a Terrie hate blog.

Teenage “Who am I” type life crises haven’t really been the sort of thing I do. I may occasionally have an internal confusion but I’m not the sort of pers9on to have an all out rebellion. Maybe it’s because I’m so sure in what I believe or because I’ve got to the stage where I know who I am in a fairly gradual way.

Maybe my rebellious 1/5th of a life crisis is still to come. You’ll miss my blogging for maybe a month or two. The last activity on my Youtube, Facebook, Formspring, and Twitter accounts will remain the same for days on end. You’ll hear rumours of my gallivanting around the world, my large debts and wonder if I was the girl who hijacked the Michael Jackson memorial celebrations.*

However, I think this is very unlikely. I’m pretty happy being an English Nerdfighter with a Christian faith and a love of all things that DFTBA.

This challenge may be nearing the end** but I’m not going to give up. I’m going to try to continue blogging, hopefully long into university life but we shall see, we shall see...



*Apparently I was possibly a cause of his death by saying, on the news that a friend had a ticket to see him, “What would you do if it got cancelled or something?” I’m yet to be questioned on the matter...
**Two more titles left! I’m not sure if Terrie will give me a new challenge or not.

Nerdy Personal Ads

“Timelady looking for Timelord. Preferably member of Nerdfighteria and must never FTBA. Animal lover preferred, Christian faith compulsory.”

Apparently fish are linked to everything. (When I say apparently, I mean Matt told me that “Fish are connected to everything” when I asked him for blog ideas; so here it goes...) Fish goes to fish fingers which go to fish custard which goes to Doctor Who. Fish goes to the sea which goes to everything salty or watery. Fish goes to baby fish which goes to mating which goes to courtship which vaguely ties in to my topic. However, unlike Siamese fighting fish, human males do not construct a bubble nest made from bubbles held together by mouth secretions to attract a female.

Instead, humans have a wide range of techniques to find their ‘mate’ with varying success rates. Also, we tend to worry much more about looks, personality, height, hobbies, beliefs, whether they squeeze the toothpaste in the middle or at the end, than most animals do. (When I say most animals I mean all animals. Their courtship displays are pretty much only about discovering the counterpart animal which will be the best at producing healthy offspring.) Generally, our first question isn’t “hi, will you be good at giving me kids?”

However, most of us have a mental list of things that we would want our idea partner to be, whether we admit to it or not. Taking some examples from my list: they have to be a Christian; like animals; smart; have a passion in something I think is interesting. We also tend to have those options that would be nice if the person met but insisting on all of them would be a bit superficial and probably leave us with no options: taller than me, a vet, looks like David Tennant...

Some people get their perfect person early on and first time. Others have to wait, just dreaming about them and modifying them as they go while others meet the perfect opposite of their ideal idea and marry them instead. Others are perfectly happy to just dream and not worry if someone exists for them and I say good for them.

I’ll leave you with the video that inspired this title:

"From Margate to Moldova"

Exams... Yes, I’ve got exams and I’m using that as my excuse for the lack of blog under the title “From Margate to Moldova” and why this thing here is in its place. However, I’m not going to totally give up. Terrie may have seemingly totally forgotten about my challenge for her and failed to blog since the 7th May (yes, a whole month!!! Comment possible punishments down below please!) But I’m not going to give up. If I could, I’d somehow use the TARDIS or Bernard’s watch to combat my lack of time and terrible preparation but neither of those actually exists....
(Although I can change the publishing date and as Terrie hasn't been checking, she will never know whether I actually changed it or not...)

I was going to try and get someone else to write my blog for me. However, that didn’t really work... I sort of left it too late for them to write anything sane as well so instead you have to read my nonsensical rambling.

So, where to go with this blog... I haven’t really travelled much, and although this is a line from a Trock song, I talk way too much about Doctor Who. Although, talking of music...

My parents had lunch with my Uncle and Aunt today and apparently they were asking about what I like. According to my Dad, they were fine answering until asked this: what sort of music do I like? Now, my taste in music is pretty bizarre and even I have trouble explaining what sort of music I like and my Dad’s comments about Coldplay and trock may have been true, but not the full picture.

You see, I like quite a wide variety of music, I like to think. I won’t say I like everything because I most certainly do not. I can’t stand half of what’s in the charts but anything with good lyrics, a good tune, and generally sounds good, I’ll probably like. At the moment I mainly listen to artists from DFTBA records but within that you have a total range of genres. You have your more typical love ballad type (very loosely) songs (Erase This), you have more electro music (Tom Milsom), there’s some lovely piano and vocal pieces (Mike Lombardo) and some which have just truly amazing but geeky lyrics (ALL CAPS such as ‘Don’t Unplug Me’ or “World of Warcraft”, Chameleon Circuit with their songs about Doctor Who and Hank Green with ‘A song about an Anglerfish’ and ‘Farmville’). As my Dad said, I also like Coldplay and Snow Patrol is another more mainstream band that I enjoy listening to.

I think, the most general way to say what sort of music I like is with this: I like songs that tell a story; Songs that, without the music, could stand alone as a decent poem and also songs with a strong melody and good harmonies. But as with anyone, this is bound to change and develop over time...

Harry Potter and a little bit of fail...

Quite a while ago, I wrote a blog about Harry Potter as part of Terrie's challenge. In it I did my uttermost best to avoid complimenting Harry Potter and this led to Terrie giving me a fail. Not only did I fail this blog but I also posted another blog a day late and the combined punishment was to read the first 111 pages of the first Harry Potter book.

At the time, I told Terrie that I would do a video about it and, although it has taken me much longer than it should have done... HERE IT IS!!

Please try not to laugh too much at my terrible vlogging skills....



DFTBA, Terrie, I have not forgotten!
Oh, and your book is fine! I promise!

The Really Awkward One

The due date for this blog lies right in the middle of exams. (Literally. I’m 6 exams down and have 6 to go.) I could claim that this inconvenience is why this blog is “the really awkward one” but, in truth, exams haven’t really hindered my blogging.


In reality, the only reason this blog is awkward is because Terrie called it awkward. The word has this odd ability to turn any situation sour, make any situation feel just that little bit awkward.

However, some people are immune to ‘awkward’. You can place them in any odd situation and they will never feel awkward. You could stick them between two people who aren’t talking to each other or between two teachers in the cinema and they won’t blink an eyelid.

Others are not so immune and for you I advise combating awkwardness such as awkward silences with randomness. To cry out “sheep!” or ask someone whether they’d like to have a cup of tea (regardless of tea availability) are sure ways to get some sort of conversation flowing. You may end up with some people thinking you’re a bit odd but I think people should enjoy the little eccentricities of life. Rather than sit there in silence, random phrases to brighten the conversation are much better. They bring the sort of awkwardness I thrive on!

This blog is still really awkward and I’m not sure how to change it. To be honest, I probably can’t just because it’s been labelled with such an odd name. Usually the 300 words fly by but this one is just dragging on... Maybe, to make it fully awkward, I’ll just end it with random words until the limit is fulfilled...

Blob; chimpanzee; buffalo; green; table; stripes; chair; exaggeration; paper; apron; cockroach; paint; procrastinate; elastic; smile.

Do you like candyfloss?

“Yeah, it’s alright.”

YouTube music is concentrated awesome. It’s so awesome you actually have to dilute it with the occasional mainstream song. The majority of my playlist is made up of songs written and sung by YouTubers and I have a number of their actual CDs. I think the great thing about these YouTube musicians is that they’re not very well known so they’ve not got too big for their boots. They’re still essentially “normal” people. Also, they write pretty good songs!

YouTube music also means that I don’t have to put up with what the radio stations are trying to call “music”. Most of what they play (when it’s not classical music or old stuff) is absolutely appalling. GCSE art lessons were (besides art time) mock-the-radio sessions. Occasionally a good song would come on but mostly we were mocking lyrics and deciding that so called famous singers had ruined a perfectly good song. As you may have gathered from this, I actually rarely listen to the radio. I just end up getting annoyed at the appalling nature of the songs in the charts: either the crude lyrics or the fact that it just isn’t good enough to be called “music”.

To prove my point, I’m going to go look up what the current UK number one is.

*Types “current number one” into Google...*

Ok, this shows how out of touch I am. I have never heard of this song or group. Yet, according to Radio 1 it has been at number 1 for three weeks. Right, let’s have a listen...

Yup, this weird, electro-rap stuff, just as I expected. Good Times by Roll Deep. It’s not that I don’t think they can sing, I mean, they’re probably really good but I have issues with both the video and the lyrics.

First, the video: I’m barely 10 seconds in and the screen is full of scantily clad women and drink. What is this meant to say to young teens just immerging into the world of music? Ooh! In amongst the inappropriate clothing, some of the male band members have cup cakes on their t-shirts! Now that’s pretty cool!

Now to dissect the lyrics:

I’m gonna leave the day behind,
don’t you worry cause I’m a have a real good time (right, don’t you get me started on the grammar!)
We’re gonna have a real good time
I’m gonna leave the world outside,
spend my money, oh it’s gonna be a real good night
Were gonna have a real good night
Go late night shoppin,
high street bobbling,
let’s go west end clubbin,
champagne poppin,
let’s keep it rockin,
party ain’t stoppin,
let’s keep it keep it rockin,
party ain’t stopping

(So far, nothing absolutely terrible. I may not always agree with the whole clubbing scene and all that goes on but at least there’s nothing crude yet.)

No clear good times are here,
when I come round the good times appear,
the good times are near,
I like to live life like where they all gone, good times are here
where, late nights hoppin on the Thursday and I pull out more than a birthday, (now I’m starting to wonder whether this is really appropriate.)
I’m always flying abroad,
when I wake tomorrow I’m gonna be in the 1st place
9 to 5, when it’s over I can come alive,
I’m in the mood to live a higher life,
now when the DJ drops a song of mine, I’ll be satisfied

I’m gonna leave the day behind,
don’t you worry cause I’m a have a real good time
Were gonna have a real good night
I’m gonna leave the world outside,
spend my money, oh it’s gonna be a real good night
Were gonna have a real good night
Go late night shoppin,
high street bobbling,
let’s go west end clubbin,
champagne poppin,
let’s keep it rockin, party ain’t stoppin,
let’s keep it keep it rockin, party ain’t stoppin
I want everybody on the atlas, to feel this fantastic thing,
if you see a good, grab it, have a laugh,
don’t let it pass, you only get 1 life and it goes quite rapid,
bad times can’t match it, it’s the best way to live,
non stop party, all round the clock with no negatives,
have a good time and stay positive.
9 to 5, when it’s over I can come alive,
I’m in the mood to live a higher life,
now when the DJ drops a song of mine, I’ll be satisfied

Ok, so this song isn’t as bad as some of them. It’s not so overtly crude. However, it’s still not got amazing lyrics. It’s not got much point to it and it suggests that all there is to life is partying. I much prefer songs with lyrics that tell a story; lyrics that properly convey emotions and could stand their own as a poem. So you might like the songs in the charts but they’re just not my cuppa tea. Maybe the charts will one day thrill me again but if Lady GaGa and other such singers continue to thrive then that day will not be any time soon.

Cliff Diving

I could take this blog on a number of paths. I could bore you all with a rant about the Twilight Saga or depress you with stories of failed relationships and suicide but I’d rather not leave you suicidal yourself. Instead I’m going to rant about some of the cool activities I’ve done on the camps I’ve been on.

Considering the title, I think I better start with the obvious: abseiling down a cliff. I love activities that involve heights but there’s always that moment before you start where you wonder if the harness is going to hold you. You spend a while with a mix of emotions that includes excitement, curiosity and a sense of trepidation before you finally take the plunge.

When I went abseiling a few years ago, it was cold and wet and the cliff face looked very steep. I just couldn’t fathom how I would get from the top to the bottom. Usually I’m pretty good at suddenly just deciding to get on with these sorts of activities and make myself stop being scared but I think the failure of a demonstration did not help.

One of the other campers offered to go first and the instructor talked him through walking over the edge. This was managed and, while the instructor talked to the rest of us, the camper waited patiently. After a while, someone noticed that instead of a head poking over the edge of the cliff, two feet were waving at us. This sight was hilarious; just two feet, peaking over the edge. The instructor promptly righted him, allowing a comparatively uneventful decent to the bottom.

Eventually, it was my go. I had been both dreading this and looking forward to it but now there was no way out. Tied tightly into the harness, I lowered myself over the edge of the cliff at the instruction of the instructor. My descent was more of a snail’s pace crawl than a dive but I was moving. I was abseiling.

Suddenly I slipped. My foot lost grip on the sodden rock face and I found myself hanging. Somehow, my fingers had got caught between the rope and the rock. My fingers were scraped and although I couldn’t really feel them, my knuckles were starting to bleed and I hung there, unsure how to proceed.

Eventually, I got down to solid ground. I managed to get back to the minibus and take off the instructor’s coat - Ok, I forgot to mention that. Basically, I was so cold the instructor lent me his coat - without getting blood anywhere and while ignoring the sting as my fingers warmed up. On arriving back at base my fingers got given a good clean and were bandaged with some fetching yellow and red patterned kids’ plasters.

I know, this is really a bit pathetic but it gave me some of my few scars. If you asked I could go “look there!” at my knuckles and make you squint at my miniscule scars while I retell the story of my cliff dive...

Trockette! Yes!

There is this genre, they call it Trock.

To such songs I listen a lot.

In my room it is played loud,

Fluffy like a cloud.

This really doesn’t make sense

But Trockette is the title. Hence

I will write a poem for you

And it will taste like stew.

Trockette is a term to describe

A Trock obsessed female who doesn’t hide

Her undying love for Chameleon Circuit:

A Trock group who know how to work it.

Doctor Who is so cool

And David Tennant made some girls drool.

The Doctor said “I don’t want to go”

But Matt Smith carries on the show.

Some people hate the new direction

Stephen Moffatt has now taken.

But stone angels are so ace

And wouldn’t want to put spitfires in space?

Sitting on the bus is a bore.

I wish I could spend just a little more

Time writing blogs for you guys,

Unless the 400 actually flies...

This idea I will not see,

As flying buses just will not be

A reality any time soon.

Instead I’ll just look at the moon.

My poetry skills are not that great,

Like my ability to not be late.

I’m rarely on time but I’ll not miss

A Doctor Who episode; don’t boo, don’t hiss.

Do not blink or look at their eyes,

Even when a main character cries

“I’ve been sent back to 1852”

As they might not be so kind to you.

So many plans and so little time,

Even another day could be fine

To write a blog and film a vid,

Or visit a friend (but no, not Sid.)

Some extra time would be great

But I just can’t communicate

With the TARDIS or the Doctor,

Even with help from a police helicopter.

 

I end this now with a quote

From a YouTube guy who thus spoke

A magical phrase a previous day:

“Don’t ever FTBA!”

Ha Ha... wait, what?

How many times have you started to laugh at something and then realised you don’t get it? Or that the thing you’re laughing at is actually at your expense? Yeah, me too. And then, quite often, people start laughing at your confusion and you never actually get to understand what happened.

The other thing is where you think of something funny but nobody who understands the reference is there. It’s like if I start going “driving, driving, passenger on” at school, everyone will think I’m crazy but anyone who went to Easter 2010 will know what I mean. Or I can slip in a reference to Paper Towns or An Abundance of Katherines in the presence of Terrie but most other people would be utterly clueless. “Look for dead superman under the tree” leaves the majority of you utterly confused but somewhere out there, James knows exactly what I’m on about.

Jokes and funny comments lose their meaning when they have to be explained but it’s equally frustrating when you don’t get why someone is in hysterical laughter at what they just said to you. “You had to be there” is sometimes just a cop out for a failed joke but other times you honestly just had to be there. Even recreating the “driving, driving” chant from Easter would not be quite the same as being there watching the original. You just wouldn’t be part of the original fun and excitement. It’s like if you get a strange hair cut for a joke: it’s funny at the time with your friends but when you get back to school everyone just thinks you’re odd. (Well, I will!)

Inside jokes are great if you understand them. If I’m talking about road trips or beer cans with anyone who’s read Paper Towns, the names Ben and Radar could certainly get a smile, if not a laugh while to anyone else they’re just names inserted illogically into a conversation.

So I leave you with a list of random comments. Feel free to pick which one you understand!

• Ben, beer cans and superglue
• Big cow under a tree!
• Marcus Brigstocke (in a hat!)
• Driving, driving, passenger on
• I have an eyelash in my papillary sphincter
• Soooo... sheep!
• France!
• Hannibal
• A Muslim, a Christian and an atheist...

And if you don't get any of these comment with your inside jokes 'cause my comments are now working! (There are some bonuses of changing the layout!)

For the Love of Tennant!

As the mechanics class filed into the TARDIS they all gasped in amazement. The centre console loomed large in front of them and the boys longed to run around the vast space, pressing buttons and pulling levers. The Doctor strolled up to the consol, flicking the occasional switch and talking over his shoulder to the speechless mechanics group.
“Don’t forget to close the door! So, where do you want to go? There’s this planet called Twilight where it’s never quite night... or 5997! Harry Potter fandom’s still going strong and some guy set up a real Hogwarts on the Planet Horrux. Or...”

“Wait!” Hannah interrupted. “We have to pick Terrie up!”

The Doctor paused in thought as if he was reliving a pleasant memory before jumping into action. “Terrie’s it is!” He exclaimed, pulling a few more levers. “Hannah, can you hold this button down? And Rosanna, this one aaand Ellie, this one. Boys, erm, just stay over there... Right, Alons-y!”

The TARDIS screamed into life before silencing a few minutes later.

“Is that it?” One of the boys piped up.

“Sssh!” Hannah rebuked. “You’re spoiling it. Doctor, can I go get Terrie?”

“Why not?” The Doctor replied, grinning his trademark grin.

Hannah peered around the deep blue of the TARDIS door to find herself looking at her reflection in Terrie’s bedroom mirror. She almost forgot to breathe as she took in the sight of herself in the TARDIS. The Doctor noticed Hannah still standing, unmoving in the doorway, and walked over to the door putting his hand on her shoulder.

“I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to contact her telepathically for another few hundred years.” He whispered in her ear.

“Ok,” Hannah whispered back, taking a deep breath. “Urm, maybe you could come with me? I’m not sure she’ll believe me ‘cause I barely believe it myself.”

The Doctor slipped his hands into his pockets instructing Hannah to lead the way. Following the unique beats of Tom Milsom’s Song for the Painfully Indie, Hannah led the Doctor out of Terrie’s mess bedroom, down the stairs and through into the kitchen where Terrie, oblivious to the large blue box that had landed in her room, was dancing around and singing in her loud but slightly off key voice. She was obviously feeling a lot better than she had that morning and was now busy making herself lunch. Watching Terrie butter some bread before raiding the cupboards for something to put in them, Hannah made her way over to the other side of the room with The Doctor.

“For the love of G...”

“Language, Terrie,” said Hannah, interrupting Terrie’s loud exclamation at seeing both Hannah and The Doctor standing in her kitchen.

“For the love of Tennant, what are you doing here?!” Terrie corrected herself for Hannah’s benefit while still baffled at the presence of someone she thought was at school and someone who she thought was only fiction. “How... what... when... ... wait... ... How comes you’re real Doctor and why on earth have you come here, to see me, with Hannah?”

The Doctor’s eyes momentarily lost their gleam at the realisation that Terrie couldn’t remember their previous meeting but neither Hannah nor Terrie noticed. The Doctor quickly corrected himself and answered Terrie’s question.

“I’m real because I may have given my story to the BBC. I was getting too much attention and people were looking for me so I thought if I convinced the public that what I do is fiction I’d get a bit of peace and quite. Well, I’m not really that keen on fan girls and some of my fans just have a habit of getting in the way. And why have I come here? Because Hannah asked if we could pick you up. You managed to miss the mechanics lesson where the boys create a machine that attracted the TARDIS! I’m still not quite sure how they did it. Huon energy is so old and there’s not really anything special about mixing pulleys and string and a table... Perhaps the particles arranged themselves into a huedron kaleidoscopic arrangement aligning the alpha and beta hutrons and galvanising the cacoethes of bombilation before converting the heat and sound energy into huon energy. Except that usually requires a clithridiate hole in the main body...” The Doctor trailed off leaving both Hannah and Terrie totally confused and lost for words. Huon energy was certainly not covered in their GCSE physics syllabus and they were pretty sure it wasn’t in the A-level syllabus either.

“Urm...” Terrie said, breaking off The Doctor’s train of thought that he was still following in his head. “Not that huon energy isn’t interesting but does this mean I get to travel in the TARDIS? With you?”

“Quite possibly,” the Doctor grinned at Terrie, “You, Hannah and the rest of your mechanics class. I couldn’t very well leave them all behind and only take Hannah, Ellie and Rosanna. Although I’m beginning to think that bringing those boys wasn’t my best idea...” The Doctor ended as a loud thump resonated down the stairs followed quickly by Ellie telling the boys to stop mucking around.

Music was still blaring out of Terrie’s speakers and in the lull of the conversation the track moved on to another of Terrie’s many YouTube songs. “Hey, isn’t that a song about me?” The Doctor asked curiously as Chameleon Circuit started to play.

“Trock: Time Lord rock. Basically songs about the TV series Doctor Who so yes, I guess it is about you. Technically,” Terrie replied, smiling as the song reached the line ‘we’ve got galaxies and planets and moons, and an awful lot of running to do.’ “How about some galaxies, planets or moons then Doctor? I’m ready for an awful lot of running.” Terrie smiled up at the Doctor and glanced over at Hannah who was also grinning broadly.

“That’s why we came!” The Doctor smiled at Terrie. “Where do you want to go? The TARDIS is up in your room - I’m hoping I didn’t squash too much of your stuff - so she’s ready to leave when you are.”

“Alons-y,” Terrie whispered, smiling uncontrollably. She switched off her music and together the three of them made the short journey up the stairs to the TARDIS where the rest of the mechanics class were waiting patiently...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"So... Physics! Physics, eh? Physics! Phyyyysics! Physics, Physics, Physics, Physics, Physics Physics, Physics, Physics, Physics... I hope you're getting all this down!" [mark 2]

So my last blog under this title was a bit confuzzled and full of tiredness. I tried combining the Easter Camp blog I’d promised with Terrie’s challenge blog I owed her and my high tiredness levels sort of made it suck. However, Terrie was nice and has given me a pass on the premise that I rewrite this blog. So here I go...

If David Tennant was teaching me physics, there is no way that I would be getting everything written down. I have enough trouble taking good notes in lessons as it is. However, either David Tennant or the Doctor as my teacher would certainly bring my note taking levels to an all time low.

Exams are coming up and having the Doctor’s brains would certainly help. It’s impossible to remember everything I need to know and it feels like every time I fit a new bit of information into my head, a slightly older but equally important bit of old information falls out the back door. I’m not saying I’d use the TARDIS to cheat to find the answers, but a little bit more headspace would be great. A little extra room for all the A-levels and a little extra time to fit in work experience and this funny thing called life. Having a life is quite a foreign concept to many teachers but I’m guessing that wouldn’t be true if the Doctor was your teacher.

Imagine history lessons with the Doctor. It would take practical lessons to a whole new dimension. Learning about the Tudors wouldn’t mean watching historically inaccurate TV programs but it would be walking the floors of the court with Catherine of Aragon or playing croquet with Elizabeth I. (Although don’t get me started on the whole “no longer the... never mind” business.) Physics lessons would be going back to discuss theories of relativity with Isaac Newton and biology lessons would involve talking to Edward Jenner about his smallpox vaccination. Spanish, French and German lessons would all be totally redundant as the TARDIS could translate everything. Maths lessons would be visiting Einstein and English lessons would be visiting Shakespeare, Marlow, and Jane Austen.

Obviously, this is totally implausible and I’m going to have to struggle on through exams without the assistance of The Doctor. But girls can have dreams... eh, Terrie?

"So... Physics! Physics, eh? Physics! Phyyyysics! Physics, Physics, Physics, Physics, Physics Physics, Physics, Physics, Physics... I hope you're getting all this down!"

Yesterday I arrived back from a week away and although I wasn’t taking physics notes from the awesome Doctor, I did spend a lot of time taking notes on talks and getting exhausted. I spent a week either in the middle of nowhere or the centre of nowhere having an awesome time.


After the epicness of seeing everyone I hadn’t seen in ages we went into the school we were staying at. It was an actual maze. We spent ages running around the place getting lost and discovering all the different corners in the place including a very randomly placed ladder which we discovered was actually a fire escape. (Thankfully it wasn’t needed and there was no reenactment of last year’s shower horror but that’s another story…) After this manic rush and room allocations we were led down to one of the many fields surround our little patch of ‘middle of nowhere’ to play the classic ‘get to know each other’ games. Running round trying to find people who have drunk Marmite and playing a strange version of ‘rock, paper, scissors’ where you go from an egg to a chick to a dinosaur to a king/queen is certainly a different way to get to know people!

Being a Christian camp, we spent a lot of time talking about God, learning about the Bible and praying. Don’t get the wrong end of the stick here: I enjoyed it. Being with other Christians my age was amazing and I wish it could be like that all the time. The only way I can describe it to non-Christians is to imagine your greatest passion in life and then imagine spending all your time being able to be with others who share that passion and talk about it whenever you want for however long you want. A week looking at the book of Daniel was a real eye-opener. This guy stood up for his God, my God, despite the risks and his friends refused to worship anything other than God even though it meant they could have died. They had such strong faith in God above all and it made me think, what do I worship in this world? Surely if I’m to call myself a Christian I should put God and telling others about him above looking ‘cool’ or not getting a fail from Terrie, above fitting in and above money, TV, internet and gadgets. I need to put everything in his hands and although some of you by this point might be thinking I’ve gone totally nuts, I tell you this. We’re all sinners. We’ve all done something wrong that damages the perfect standard that God requires from us. This means we deserve to be punished. We deserve to be punished for reject God, rejecting his laws and even rejecting he exists. However, God sent Jesus. Not just some preacher dude who did some ‘good stuff’ but God, as a man (yeah, hard to get your head around, I know) living a perfect life and dying. Not because of some tragic, uncontrollable accident but because he was taking our punishment for us. He did this for us so accepting this and putting him first is like saying thank you. We can never earn our way back to perfection, but we can show God that we believe in what he has done for us and that we accept his gift.

Although the Christian aspect of the camp was the main bit and the part I miss the most, I also had some pretty epic time doing ridiculous games and activities. Like climbing a ridiculously steep mountain (something that I rarely do voluntarily) and chasing leaders dressed up as old people around a quite village. Getting members of the public to pose for captions such as ‘Regular naps prevent old age, especially if you take them while driving.’ is certainly different although some old people are rude! One other camper got told to ‘get stuffed’… and they complain about youth of today!

I have sooo much more to talk about including quad biking, Timmy’s glow sticks, Matt’s auctioneering, our re-vamp of the 2012 Olympics campaign, Tim’s affiliation with throwing water and food at people, laser questing, great discussions, hiding in bushes… I could go on but I am totally tired from my week away so I’m hoping that Terrie will give me the benefit of the doubt and not fail me on the promise of more Easter camp news soon!

"So long and thanks for all the fish"

 

Just like the dolphins in Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy said goodbye to the earth with a fond farewell, we have officially come to the end of the Russell T Davis era of Doctor Who. David Tennant has left with Matt Smith taking his place, the companion has changed, the TARDIS has changed (inside and out), the logo, titles and music have changed and even the sonic screwdriver is different. However, the end of the earth also brought Arthur Dent a world of adventures from meeting a man with two heads and three arms (namely Zaphod Beeblebrox), experience a Babel fish (“The Babel Fish is small, yellow, and simultaneously translates from one spoken language to another.”) and transporting to a cricket match on a sofa. Similarly, the new Stephen Moffatt era of Doctor Who brings with it new adventures...

Tonight I watched “The Eleventh Hour”, the first in the new Doctor Who series. In short, it was amazing. Everything may have changed but it has all been changed just the right amount: enough to show that it’s a new era and to let Stephen Moffatt make his own mark, but little enough so that you can still tell that it is Doctor Who. The TARDIS looks amazing, inside and out and I think the new logo is really clever. I love the fact that everything seems to be harking back to the classic series with that eccentric olde-worlde feel without looking tacky at the same time. I know it will take a while to get used to but I’m ready for that. Sometimes it’s good to break from tradition and I think that after the success of Tennant, breaking from tradition was the only way to go.

Right, specifics so SPOILER ALERT!

Firstly, I want to say that the only thing that truly annoyed me was the fact that the sonic screwdriver glowed green. I have two issues with this. Firstly, half the definition of a sonic screwdriver is that it glows blue! The green just doesn’t work quite the same. Secondly, the sonic screwdriver from River Song in the library glowed blue, I’m pretty sure. Seen as that’s a future sonic screwdriver then it must turn back to blue at some point and if that’s the case, why did it change in the first place? Either way, it’s a bit petty to pick this out but that seriously is my only big moan. I’m suspecting there will be future moans but that is it for now!

Next, I want to talk about the monster. (Yes, I know, I’m not doing this in any sort of logical order.) I think how it worked was classic Stephen Moffatt: making mundane things like cracks in the wall scary and cleverly messing with the whole ‘wibbly wobbly timey whimey’ stuff. I didn’t think the monster, Prisoner Zero, was majorly scary but then the focus of this episode was much more introducing the new companion-to-be and letting The Doctor find out who he is. Either way, any monster than can blend in as a human is scary on one level or another.

Amelia Pond (or Amy Pond as her older self is called) is just right as a companion. Half my issue with Martha was the fact that she wasn’t so much a partner as a follower and I still don’t really understand why she wanted to leave her life. Fair enough one or two trips but it still just didn’t quite fit. In contrast, Amy is like a younger Donna: Confident and nothing to lose by going with the Doctor. (Except maybe a fiancé but that is yet to be clarified.) I just hope that the short clip of them kissing isn’t going to ruin this complex and turn her into another Rose. I really don’t get why the Doctor has to kiss all his companions!

I also loved the references to the extra rooms in the TARDIS. Russell T Davis rarely mentioned other rooms and only the massive wardrobe was ever shown but Stephen Moffatt mentioned two in the first five minutes. I love the idea that the TARDIS goes on forever, that there’s much more to it than just the console room, and Stephen Moffatt obviously agrees! The idea that the swimming pool emptied into the library is hilarious and the Doctor having to climb up through all the rooms is amazing. You rarely consider this as the TARDIS usually has an amazing ability to always land the right way up but this time the crash land flung it on its side. Unfortunately, knowing that the box used to film with doesn’t go on forever slightly spoils the effect but that’s my imagination being tainted, not Stephen Moffatt’s fault. I just hope that in this series we get to see much more of the TARDIS interior. The new interior is massive with so many parts and I so hope that it is used to its full potential.

I could go on but I didn’t take any notes while watching the episode so a full review will have to come another time but I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the series. Maybe more reviews will follow... you never know...

If you were a shape, what shape would you be?

Circle.

I could leave it at that but Terrie would fail me for not writing enough words. I could analyse why I’d want to be a circle but to be honest that would probably be a bit boring seen as I don’t really know why I’d want to be a circle. Or, I could talk about the song that starts with this quote but seen as I’d literally heard it once when Terrie played it to me, that too would be a bit boring. Instead, I’m going to talk about our mechanics lessons.

“Mechanics?” you ask, “In a girls’ school?” Well, yes. Not car mechanics exactly but a type of maths which is a like an awesome form of physics. But don’t be fooled! Our mechanics lessons are awesome and although we do eventually do the work, we also have a lot of fun. Last lesson we spent a lot of it just asking each other weird and wonderful question and, yes, you’ve guessed it, “If you were a shape, what shape would you be?” was one of them. There was only one of the boys in this lesson and the poor guy had to put up with us girls talking about who are our favourite celebrity and other such girly shenanigans.

One of the craziest lessons we had actually didn’t deviate from what we were learning. There was one question involving pulleys that we didn’t think quite make sense so the boys decided to test it out with a table, some books, a pulley, some string and some weights...

"As the rest of the class chatted amongst themselves the boys fiddled about with the pulley system they had created. Books were piled up underneath one end of the table while the other two legs rested on another table. Threading some string over the pulley the boys watched the weights slide down the table.

‘I’m going to build a time machine!’ one of them joked, sliding the weights once more. Again the pulley span round making a quiet buzzing noise that was easily drowned out by the class’s loud chatter. The boys continued to play with their large makeshift pulley system, unaware of the Huon energy gradually building up.

A strange, inhuman noise broke into the chatter and the girls all glanced at each other in disbelief. It couldn’t be. The boys had only been joking when they mentioned time travel. It couldn’t be. Nevertheless, a blue box started to materialise in the corner of the classroom and everyone stared in awe. The boys hadn’t created a time machine but they’d done something (in the girls’ view) much better. A cold breeze swept around the room rustling the pages of the forgotten maths books and everyone’s eyes locked onto the police box that had appeared in their room.

The squeak of a door broke the silence and two Converse clad feet stepped out onto the carpet. The tall figure that stepped out scratched the back of his head before pulling out a pair of dark brown rimmed glasses. After studying the outside of his blue box he turned to face the room, almost knocking over the boys’ bizarre contraption.

‘Whoa!’ he said, grabbing onto the table before it fell. ‘Health and safety problem that. Better not let your head teacher see that. On the other hand, this thing looks pretty ingenious; fancy contraption that seems to be creating Huon energy.’ Fishing out a strange metal tube-like contraption he pointed it at the boys’ pulley system and a gentle blue light emanated from the end.

Coming to her senses, Hannah elbowed Ellie muttering two words: ‘He came.’ Suddenly Ellie jumped to her feet startling both the elusive man and the rest of the class.

‘Doctor!’ She exclaimed excitedly. ‘It’s actually you! And not regenerated Matt Smith style you, proper David Tennant you! Please tell me I’m not dreaming!’

‘No, you’re not dreaming.’ The Doctor replied. ‘But I feel like I am. Who are you and, urm, how exactly did you create huon energy?’

‘Long story,’ Hannah piped up, finally finding the courage to speak. ‘We were having a mechanics lesson, you know, the maths sort, and there was this question that didn’t quite make sense, well, sort of half made sense, so we thought we would, like, try it out so the boys made this pulley system to model it. They were measuring the angle exactly and everything and the pulley worked like the book said even though we thought that the heavier weight moving up the slope didn’t sound quite right and then you sort of just turned up. Urm... would now be a bad time to want to hug you?’

‘Hang on, slow down. Yes, you can hug me in just a minute but who are you all?’

A nervous voice piped up from the end of the table. ‘I’m Rosanna; the one who wants to hug you is Hannah. Ellie is the small but over excited year 13 standing over there; Alice is sitting next to me and Terrie seems to be off sick today but I think you’ve met her. Or if not you’re going to meet her soon. Scott and Ali were the boys making that pulley system and Liam and George and the other two. Our teacher went to get something just before you arrived...’ Rosanna tailed off.

‘Well then... Hi everyone!’ The Doctor looked round at everyone giving a big grin. ‘You still want that hug, Hannah?’

Hannah smiled back, suddenly becoming incredibly shy. ‘Thanks.’ She said quietly, walking over to the Doctor’s outstretched arms. After an awkward but warm hug the Doctor turned back to the rest of the class.

‘Right then, how’s about a mechanics lesson Doctor style?’ Skipping over to the projector he zapped it with his sonic screwdriver. ‘Time for a software upgrade I think.’ He winked at the girls sitting nearer the back. ‘Alons-y! Mechanics. Mechanics, mechanics, mechanics, mechanics. I hope you’re getting all this down!’

Over the next fifty minutes the Doctor gave them an unforgettable lesson. The sonic screwdriver made numbers and letters dance over the walls and the class was mesmerised. Half way through their teacher slid back in but a flash of psychic paper was enough to let the Doctor continue.


In what seemed no time at all, the end of period pips went brining the class back to reality.

‘Weeeeell, I better get going.’ The Doctor said, glancing around the room.

‘Do you have to go?’ Ellie asked hopefully. ‘Or can we come with you?’

‘Why not?’ The Doctor replied, giving a massive grin. ‘Just one trip, mind you! Just this once. Alons-y!’

They all scurried into the TARDIS ready to face whatever adventure was to confront them. But that’s another story..."

Gus has Fuzz

I’ve always loved reading and when I was very young I loved being read to. One of the picture books that got read over and over again was “Where’s Spot?” and even now I can recite half the book!

“Where’s Spot? Naughty Spot, it’s dinner- time. Where can he be? ... Is he behind the door? No... Is he inside the clock? No... Is he under the rug? No... Is he behind the plant? ...”

My parents must have become absolutely sick of this book by the time I outgrew it and I’m pretty sure it was starting to fall apart!

John Green of the Vlogbrothers has recently had a baby and was talking about a kid’s book about a bug called Gus. I had never heard of this book before but it reminded me of “The Hungry Caterpillar”. However, I never really liked that book finding the holes in the pages to be the only vaguely interesting thing. I’m not quite sure why that was the case because I was usually fascinated by any book with animals in. Maybe it was just the fact that the main character in this book was an insect rather than a cuddly dog like Spot or a nice farm animal likes those in Apple Tree Farm. (Again another book, or series of books, where the repetitive beginning is still engrained in my memory! “This is Apple Tree Farm. This is Mrs Boot the farmer. She has two children called Poppy and Sam and a dog called Rusty.” These books often also contained a naughty sheep. Maybe that was why I liked the series....)

As I’ve grown up my love of books has certainly not diminished. I went on to be totally obsessed with the Animal Ark series. I collected many of the books and a whole bookshelf was dedicated to my obsession. I was even so absorbed by the whole concept of being the daughter of two vets that I dressed up as Mandy Hope for one World Book Day in about year three or four. I even still had the little name tag my dad made for me until not so long ago!

Admittedly, I now realise that the whole series had pretty much the same basic storyline for each book. Nevertheless, they certainly fed my veterinary interests and my love of reading.

I still love reading but I just wish I had more time for it. I have a long list of books on my ‘to read’ pile and I get just as obsessive about terrible books as I did when I was younger! Oh dear Terrie, why do we love the Twilight saga?!

Why oh Why did she write this list? [Part 7]

Terrie turned back to the notebook. The Doctor may have gone but she was not going to let him down. Determination raced through her veins and blog titles gradually began to fill the page. As she wrote down the last rule Terrie noticed the noise appearing around her that was gradually replacing the previous silence. Looking around Terrie saw the flicker of movement creep back into the bodies around her and once again the library was full of students studying and whispering quietly.
Looking up at the clock Terrie began to wonder when Hannah would return from her flute lesson. So much had passed since she’d left and Terrie couldn’t wait to tell her about meeting The Doctor. Most of all she couldn’t wait to tell Hannah that she was going to meet The Doctor in 2020. However, her memories were fading. The running, the hora navashta, the kiss: they all began to feel like some elaborate dream. Terrie was beginning to think that they were just another product of her frequently over-active imagination. Only the two pages of blog titles and challenge rules remained clear in her mind. Looking back over the two pages she had just written Terrie dismissed these thoughts. Not enough time had passed. Once again, Terrie concluded, her imagination had got away with her. Turning back to homework, Terrie awaited Hannah’s return.

Finally, Hannah walked back through the blue doors of the library. Crossing the room she went to sit back down beside Terrie who was busy working away at biology homework.

“Al’right?” Hannah asked, sitting back down in the chair next to Terrie. Noticing that her blog notebook was open Hannah picked it up to look at. As she read through the rules and blog titles Hannah smiled. Such a Terrie thing to do and she could do with a reason to blog more often. Turning to Terrie the two of them began to discuss the challenge. Ideas and extra rules were spoken about but Terrie’s meeting with The Doctor was never brought up. Terrie dismissed all she had experience as part of her over active imagination and Hannah was never informed. The real reason for why Terrie wrote that list was never to be rediscovered, except maybe now...

THE END

Why oh why did she write this list? [Part 6]

It wasn’t long before they found themselves under the shallow lift shaft leading back up to the library. The Doctor helped Terrie clamber back up into the silent library before smoothly climbing up as well. The Doctor straightened up, looking around at the people who were sitting cold and stiff like marble statues. Walking over to the nearest student The Doctor pulled out a pair of red and blue 3D glasses and put them on. Next he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and the quiet blue hum filled the previously silent room. After a while The Doctor crossed the room to another student, again zapping them with the sonic screwdriver.

“Shouldn’t we do something about the hora navashta?” Terrie asked, crossing the room to Hannah’s notebook and picking it up absentmindedly.

“You’re brilliant!” The Doctor exclaimed. Snapping up he ripped off his 3D glasses and span around to face Terrie. “Words! Why didn’t I think of it?” Bounding over to the table where Terrie was standing The Doctor picked up Hannah’s notebook and a pen. The Doctor scanned through the pages of the notebook, occasionally pausing to read a paragraph or two more closely.

“This notebook,” The Doctor pondered, “is full of drafts for blog posts and Hannah types these up onto the internet every now and then so... no... wait, yes! Hannah types up these blogs and the hora navashta canfeed off the words. Rather primitive but it could work. How often does Hannah put up a new blog?” The Doctor asked, spinning back to face Terrie once again.

“Nowhere near as often as I’d like,” Terrie replied. “It really varies; she might put two or three up in a day and then not blog for weeks.”

“Hmm, might have to do something about that...” The Doctor tailed off and for a while the room was in utter silence. Not even the ticking of a clock could be heard.

“Got it!” The Doctor shouted. “One: we need to make sure Hannah updates her blog often enough; ‘B’, no, wait... two: we’ll have to find a way to make sure Hannah writes enough each week; three, or ‘C’: we should make sure it’s interesting. I don’t want to get bored when I check up on her posts! That’s a thing... I’ll have to make a blog account. Hmmm... Tardis_ is a bit predictable; maybe e? Yeah, that sounds good. Right then, alons-y!”

“Urm...” Terrie hesitated, not quite sure where or what she was meant to be doing. “How exactly are we going to make sure Hannah updates?”

“How about setting her a challenge?” The Doctor proposed, turning to a blank page in Hannah’s notebook. The Doctor handed Terrie the pen. “Go wild. Give her a list of blog titles which she has to use or something. I’m sure a minimum word count will cover the need for enough words and the threat of a light-hearted punishment will give her that incentive to keep up.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Terrie replied. Taking the pen she began to write immediately. Words flowed out of the end of the pen absorbing Terrie into a world of nostalgia.

“Doctor?” Terrie asked after a while, turning round. As she looked she was greeted by an empty room. The Doctor never stays to say goodbye. “Goodbye, Doctor.” Terrie whispered as the noise of the TARDIS once again reverberated around the otherwise silent library.

To Be Continued...

Why oh why did she write this list? [Part 5]

Swiftly crossing the small gap between them, The Doctor placed his hands either side of Terrie’s head. Terrie watched his head bend down to meet hers and her eyes closed automatically. As their lips touched a new sensation swept over Terrie. The cold was replaced by a fire that raged to her fingertips and the ends of her toes. As the fire subsided Terrie was once again able to move and her lips responded to the firm pressure of The Doctor’s lips against hers.
Their lips moved together knowing just what to do next as if they were designed for each other. It felt like there were fireworks exploding and Terrie smoothly wrapped her arms around The Doctor’s neck while his hands moved to her waist. They pulled themselves closer together, absorbed in each other’s reality. Terrie was hyper-aware of every sensation: every touch of The Doctor’s fingers, every brush of his lips. They fitted perfectly into each other’s arms like two pieces of a puzzle; their lips moved together in one smooth dance and their tongues teased around each other. Terrie ran her hands down to the Doctor’s chest before breaking away with a gasp.

“I... forgot... to breathe.” Terrie whispered, holding on to the lapels of The Doctor’s suit as she waited for the light-headedness to subside.

“Weeell... that was something,” The Doctor said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. “As I said, there’s something special about you.” The Doctor looked deep into Terrie’s warm eyes then lent over to whisper in her ear; “This time, don’t forget to breathe.”

Once again their lips touched and sparks exploded. Terrie’s skin tingled where The Doctor ran his fingers down her cheek and The Doctor automatically rearranged himself around Terrie as she wrapped her arms around him under his striped brown suit jacket. Fireworks exploded left right and centre and their three hearts pumped furiously. Their hands mapped out the contours of each other’s bodies and their lips moved together in one continuous string of movements. They fitted perfectly around each other and their bodies responded to each other as if their kiss had lasted for years instead of a few unmoving minutes.

Suddenly another loud crash followed by a series of animal-like grunts broke into their world. Once again they found themselves running. They sped down the dark tunnels, their fingers entwined.

To Be Continued...