Waiting For A Light That Never Comes

Well, 2016… What a year it’s been!

It’s only just occurred to me that it is in fact exactly a year ago to the day that I published my last post, so I thought I’d break the prolonged AWOL and with a hint of optimism attempt to write a brief few paragraphs. So, without further ado! (Please excuse the lack of formatting/images).

2016

It really has been a strange one, on so many different levels. I think I’ll keep this post purely anecdotal, otherwise I fear it may take me a large proportion of the upcoming 365 days to summarise but a few of the major global events of this past year.

Roundup: 2015 Style

Well, hello there stranger. It's been far too long.

So where did I leave off?

...

Ah, yes! All those concerts.

All I have to say on that front is that Van McCann is a God, and the moshpits were absolutely mental! I was honestly not expecting that much energy from one crowd in response to a catalogue of songs from a single album; and yet despite the inevitability of the setlist, the performance was incredible!

*insert super awesome, mind blowing photo here*

This post had initially been intended to be a roundup of 2015, reminiscent of last year's best bits, (which I quite enjoyed re-reading actually) however there was a slight hitch. A rather annoying, frustrating, infuriating, life-destroying technical hitch.

Dying To Survive

I started this post way back when my AS exams had drawn to a conclusion, but never found the time to finish it. I thought I'd (finish and) share it anyway, since I haven't gotten round to blogging at all this summer - this typically British summer - which I guess is pretty sad. I think it's fair to say that I've had a lot on. But hey! Kick back, relax, and enjoy.

Hitler reacts to AQA Biology Unit 2 BIOL2 Exam June 2015

I've been meaning to add a further edit to my Island-inspired post now that the series has officially concluded, but I haven't quite gotten round to it what with my few remaining exams.

So for now, sit back and enjoy round two of biology-related rage:

Edit: I've just realised the terrible typing error I made in the hurry to make this video, and it's annoying me beyond belief! *necessary

Half Term Update - May 2015

So that's it! I've now no more exams until the first day of June, thank goodness.

It feels slightly surreal that I've just about made it over half way, plus that these results actually count towards university applications and overall A2 grades.

Half term is certainly a welcome break. Of course, I have tonnes of mechanisms and conditions that need to remembered in just over a week's duration however I'm now slightly more confident, having had at least a couple of decent exams.

I'm sure that I can speak for us all when I say that me and my siblings are super excited to see our cousins this coming Monday. It feels like an absolute age since we saw them last!

To be perfectly honest with you, today's been a pretty damn good day!

Hitler reacts to AQA Biology Unit 1 BIOL1 Exam June 2015

Despite myself feeling that today's biology exam didn't actually go all that badly, Hitler has other opinions. Therefore I thought I'd have a go at making my own video! (Instead of revising CHEM1).

He has to resit Unit 1 next year, after failing, but finds out that he can't drop because he's already failed physics! Anger ensues...

What Goes Up Must Come Down

As we all already know - or maybe not of you haven't read this post - my first board-timetabled exam didn't go all that well. However, there is a but...

In what appeared to be a dramatic turn of events, toady's unit 1 physics exam was going so very well I almost couldn't believe it. Oh it was going so well. So well in fact that I wanted to thank the monsters at AQA for on this rare occasion going easy on us - maybe in pity of our assured dire EMPA performances.

It was going so well,..

My Ultimate Guide to Surviving The Island, Bear Grylls-Style

Having only five days ago butchered my first AS maths exam, I've come to the realisation that I'm in desperate need of a drastic change in career path - preferably one that doesn't involve reading, numbers or square roots. Seriously! I mean, who obtains an answer of 5√2 for the radius of a circle but then decides to Pythag 2√5?

You guessed it... Goodbye academic dreams, hello Jobcentre.

As it just so happens, with the return (or rather conclusion) of Ch4's BAFTA-winning 'The Island' I thought I'd surprise you with my ultimate guide to desert island survival, as inspired by the midweek television programme narrated by none other than extreme-survival expert Bear Grylls. I'm no professional, but I can safely say that I have the ability to start a cracking fire and would probably even drink my own urine - if push came to shove of course!

Mission Complete

I think it's about time I wrote a post that I'm sure teenage boys all across the country, all across the world even, can in some way or another relate to, plus it ties in nicely with the open-armed welcoming of the completion of our engineering project.

Girls.

Regardless of whether you're a genius computer programmer or social prodigy, it appears almost impossible to crack the code that's responsible for these puzzling enigmas being so very esoteric by nature, but hard-wired with personalities that are just as cryptic.

Now, I've never been one to go out 'on the pull' as such, however my attention was yesterday drawn to an attractive and rather unfortunately unnamed young lady. What's more is that she was a brunette, which you'll think is fairly strange if you've read this post here.

I'll start from the very beginning.

Untitled: Miscellaneous

"Gio, are you going to write about this on your blog?"

I've had this question posed to me in a somewhat strange frequency over the last couple of weeks, and some of you may too be wondering where I've been Although, having said that, it's not unusual for me to disappear for months at a time, quite like Kim Jong Un - North Korea's self proclaimed world hide-and-seek champion - if you squint hard enough.

But likening the situation to that of our younger selves when we 'forgot' to hand in homework by the set deadline, my excuse story this time includes moving house, working and mock exams I'd rather not be reminded of. But of course, I never failed to complete my homework on time and similarly never once had to resort to the use of the classic 'my dog ate it.'

I did today, however, swear blind that we were never set work when it was this morning demanded by one our two biology teachers. Now, I'm not one to exaggerate, but either she is out of her mind or 90% of our class have developed some sort of degenerative disease that wholly affects our hearing. I'm not joking, it couldn't have been more than three people who got out of lunchtime detention.

Embracing Change

Having this morning been told that it was exactly a year ago today that I was competing at the 16th annual Euro Meet in Luxembourg, it has finally hit me; that is, the extent to which certain circumstances can change over the course of a mere 52 weeks.

Fulfilling Potential: You Are Not Special

An absolute favourite phrase of my school's previous headteacher was 'fulfilling potential.' This is an idiomatic expression that he tirelessly plastered around the school grounds before he was sacked. Sorry, he left on 'mutual agreement' with the school governors. On a Tuesday.

So anyway, these 'motivational' plaques were accompanied by giant canvasses embodying a number of obedient students who appeared to be unusually enthusiastic towards learning and in a strange trance I believe is meant to represent a young person being deep in thought. I'm honestly very surprised that they've lasted this long without being vandalised. Not a single cock and balls! Apart from their erection in the first place, of course, but that's a given.

Time Bending: Work To Live

A brief update, as I'm totally exhausted, after watching a TEDx video at the weekend my friend and I have decided to undertake a 100 day challenge. But this is no ordinary challenge. In order to succeed we must involve ourselves with at least one completely new experience every single day. It doesn't have to be anything major, so long as it's something that stimulates creativity, but more importantly joy.

Yesterday, for example, I walked to school in reverse while Ned had his hair cut, and the ends highlighted. I couldn't wait to see peoples' reactions at school today. If anything, in my opinion it doesn't look that bad - it almost suits him. Emphasis on the word 'almost.'

Back to my unorthodox method of travelling to school, I quite understandably received a number of strange looks from numerous onlookers, but funnily enough I'm not even bothered! If you knew me well enough, you certainly wouldn't believe it.

Get Fit Quick: It's a State of Mind

I've decided that I'd like to blog a little more frequently this year, if at all possible. That does mean that some future posts are likely to be a little shorter than the norm, but I don't necessarily think that this is always a negative trait in an entry. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes.

To keep the ball rolling, I thought I'd share a few quick thoughts on my newly devised training programme. Schedule. Whatever you want to call it. For those of you who are interested in the specifics, I hope to publish three similar pieces - one for each activity - so look out for those, but for now I'm just going to give you a brief overview of the timetable itself.

Escape Plan

That feeling that follows knowledge of an unexpected day off school. It's absolutely beautiful.

Yesterday evening after a full day of playing guitar, not wanting the Christmas holidays to end, I reluctantly navigated to our school's website in order to confirm that this week's lessons follow the B timetable.

What I found was better than even the best of gifts - "students return on Tuesday 6th January (week B)."

So seeing as I have another day at home and a little time on my hands, I thought I'd write one last post while I can, before returning to that crazy normality. But this one's going to be a little different.