Last Wednesday, this was celebrated:

It was so good to see friends being friends. A lot of work had gone into pulling off a big celebration for the two people. I helped out in the celebrations, handing out party poppers, which was fun.

Nothing else needs to be said.

Next week, tests and assessments. Go well in them everyone!

Well, the title does not say it all. To reduce the amount of writing I have to do, I have recorded a podcast instead.

Link

It has been two years since I’ve done this. So therefore, I’m a bit shaky, but it will do. I talk about the last few weeks, its news, and what is ahead.

Today was the maths exam.

I must say, it was really fun. But I know I dropped a few marks though.

How did you go? Sound off in the comments!

Short post from me.

Today was the final English Exam for Standard and Advanced.

Is it just me, or was the exam hard/worded badly/something bad?

Friday July 25. It’s Barker Swings night, and the choir will be performing.

Tonight felt special, not because I was wearing the red and black for the last time, but because it was the last time we were performing from our ‘battle’ repertoire. JAllington, our conductor, called it “the ridiculous”, but we all loved it. That night started at 5pm, the rehearsal.

Nostalgia filled the room, as we were all moving to the music that we sung, what felt like, many months ago. Then, the choreography was changed to fit the longer version of “Say a Little Prayer”. For an hour, we went through moves with O’Brien, but in the end it was what she described “three songs mashed up into one”. We all felt good, now it would be up to the performance.

Five hours later, we were just about to enter the hall for our part of Swings. Everyone was hyped; it couldn’t get better than this. The Big Band started to play; we ran on, the crowd loved us. About five minutes later, it was over. Our last performance as the ‘battle’ choir was done. As we left the stage, I felt happy and slightly sad. Battle of the Choirs had been a great experience for all of us. Now, it was back to our normal repertoire and schedule.

Working for TV is very different to what many people think it is. On our filming days, there were many rehearsals to get the best camera positions, basically to get everything right. Filming 40 minutes of footage took about three hours! I can’t stress how unique and fulfilling this experience was.

So, it has been two weeks since the start of the holidays. And how do I feel? Really lonely.

I hear you asking, shouldn’t holidays be restful, fun, enjoyable?

Yes of course, but there is an underlying problem. It’s so bloody quiet around town and on the tubes. No one is in Sydney, everyone has gone away, and no one is online! On weekends, its worse.

This raises a lot of questions. Is it normal for people to go away at this time? Is my image of what holidays should be outdated? Or am I too closed up to know what really is happening?

I believe that I am getting out of my way to find out what people really do nowadays during these few weeks. What do people do? I think I am just forgotten about these holidays.

Please help out my mind to rest by commenting and answering my questions!

Last night was the formal. I thought it was going to be a great night. Unfortunately for me, it  mostly wasn’t.

To put it simply, the formal was a great idea at first, but it quickly loses its panache as the night progresses.

We started off with a three course dinner. Entrée was a green salad, then the main course was a steak. The steak was done really well. The atmosphere was very positive (as it usually is). Once dinner was over, things went from good to bad.

I was asked to nominate someone to ‘cut the cake’ symbolically and to say thanks. That was slightly surprising to the special someone, but the speech was terrible. (Almost) everyone cheered their head off every few seconds and I felt the spotlight taken away from me. Then came the dance.

In my opinion, the DJ really didn’t satisfy anyone. The music was this new stuff, I couldn’t tell. It did get better towards the end, then it was the end of the night.

I was beginning to question whether the night was worth it, but I didn’t let that get in the way. It is a problem of being under-recognised when you do so much for everyone.

On a lighter note, if you are reading this via Facebook, don’t feel offended. I thank you very much for all your support! In my opinion, the best form of recognition in this situation is a thanks, and a nice hug.

Link to photoset on flickr.

I sat down yesterday evening and thought about how interesting my life is. It wasn’t.

It seemed that my life was made up of too much sitting down. Sitting down in front of the computer, doing school work, or just messing around. I wasn’t getting out much at all. Hey, think about the number of night outs and parties I’ve been to in the last year: 0. Nights are really boring for me. Even looking at Facebook photos makes me feel weird.

This makes me feel really bad, as it is a sign of becoming a social outcast. It feels like as if this is a death spiral; work work work and no play leads to “more devo”.

I think the reason that I feel this is that I am too different to everyone else. I’m not the type of person that goes to these “doing absolutely nothing” parties. I have my own style, but no one else likes it.

Do I need to change? Am I too different for this society?

Do I make sense?

PS: On a happier note, Coldplay’s new album Viva la Vida is out. Review soon (yes I am serious this time). Battle of the Choirs is on 7:30pm Sundays on Channel 7. I am in the Barker choir.

Today was mufti day. The Student Council (which I am part of), raises money to put to a cause. Also there is usually a positive vibe around the place, as people can express themselves truly. I’m really tired after counting lots and lots of money.

I was on the train that evening, and saw a few mates of mine at the station. I had my laptop with me, and I showed them photos of a concert yesterday. They were impressed, and we talked about photos for various occasions.

It is through this which I realised that having connections with even the most remote people in the year group, is key to maintaining a good relationship with everybody. Getting yourself known for the right reason is something that is a bit difficult in a large group, but that is what I have done.

Everyone and the mascots

Originally uploaded by hohohob

Last Sunday, I had my birthday party. There were five of us to begin with at Luna Park. There, we had fun for a while, before Simon left and the rest of us took a ferry. It went to Circular Quay, and after getting off, we walked to Wagamama, one of my favourite restaurants. Dinner was had, before Georgina left us. The rest of us took the train home.

That’s it in a nutshell.

You know, the party went better than expected even though the other five I invited were away or sick. It was right after a week long camp some people went to, and it rained every single day. Just a small group of people, having a good time.

Now to get on with life.

Flickr photoset