That life lark!

Well...fuck me. As blunt as it sounds that's how I'll describe this summer in 10 years: suddenly taking the plunge to travel round Europe, turning 18, and getting those result things, was absolutely nuts.

Europe was a complete laugh! Expensive, yes, but a laugh. There were, of course, times when i was lonely; yet as i was alone this was always going to be the case. I found the best times i had were when i found people to hang around with. In Prague, for example, i met this 26 year old Canadian banker. Just walking around bantering with this bloke we stumbled on pretty much all of the tourist attractions in Prague, by accident. It was honestly the best way to spend the day. Ironically, i think, the best experience as a tourist is when you don't mean to be. Just wanting to stroll around the city would have been good enough for me, but instead we found this huge bridge thing which apparently everyone goes to.

So yeah, the trip was highlighted, not by what i saw, but by who i saw it with. Venice, Dresdon and half of Krakow weren't that good, not because they were horrid places...more because i was lonely....awwwww. It's ok, i'll give you a break from my troubles to allow you to dry them eyes, becuase last week mr Jon obtained his A level results.

'As i opened the packet "fuck me" again fitted the bill'. For all its ineloquence it was suprisingly fitting. I had just managed to scrape an A in german....that's D to A in a year. I'm still certain someone screwed up, until i find out otherwise though i shall wallow in my new title as God of German grammar and all things sad. haha.The thing which worries me, is that i really don't feel fluent in German. I still worry about things before i say them, and whilst i can have a conversation..i'm pretty sure i still make mistakes and such. It just makes me think a little bit. bah never miiind. I will be fluent in German some day. That's a promise :).

B's in English and History weren't too bad, was pissed of though having just missed another A. If i'd have got 2 A's and a B i swear i would have renamed myself 'Jon - only got 2 fecking A's! - Quirk' Maybe this is for the best then, although as an afterthought it'd make me stand out on job applications,

"hmm this guy looks eligable, i wonder what exam resul...ahh thoughtful chap has included it in his name. He's saving us man hours already, quick pick him up now!!"


Anyway, this means i'm off to do law at that university place. In Swansea it seems. Grand. Cheap, and they have a good languages department. Score! Looks like law with German grammar on the side then...I'm such a fecking geek!

Being 18 is a laugh. The other week the last of my mates turned 18, so, in the spirit of health and safety, he called for a bike pub crawl. Being that there aren't actually that many pubs down the themes it also called for a few drinks in each one. Being Oxford it was, of course, not cheap, nevertheless as soon as i remortgaged the house, sold a kidney, and donated sperm i was ready to go. Having a pocket full of tenners with which to afford a couple of those ever so yeasty drinks which seem to royally shit on any hope you had of saving cash for a rainy day. It had to be one of the best days i've had in a while, arriving late (heavy night before) i took it upon myself to down a pint at the start to catch up...only to find that they were only on the first pint. Needless to say, the cycle was eventful. No one fell in the Thames though...gutted i think.

Tagged

7 things I approve of

Semicolon tagged me, so here goes:

1. Banter
Just sat somewhere chatting about bollocks for several hours. Awesome way to spend/waste (with the amount of work I have to do probably more the case) time

2. Germany
This goes without saying really, heh. It's part of when you put a huge amount of effort into something, then you're bound to love it. But the country is equally as awesome. Everything is clean, beer is awesome, drinking is at 16 ^^, girls find it cute (not to mention endearing)when you try and speak German and the people there are so nice. Plus the grammar (yes I know I'm a geek) is really really interesting. I won't even start to go into it here :P

3. Waking up in the morning and realising you don't have to go to school
The combination of panic, and then sudden realisation that you have nothing to do today is one which I wish I could have more often. Enough said really, It's just really cool.

4. Guitar
It's such a chilled instrument that you can play it (almost) anywhere with no fuss. Sounds great, and you can make up your own songs easily enough. Plus it's fairly easy to sound like you're amazing when what you're playing isn't really that hard.

5. Meeting new people
I really love this. Especially when you just click with them. Whilst it doesn't happen so much any more, when it does not only does your self confidence shoot up, but you just feel really really good.

6. Laughing and making people laugh
Yeah yeah an obvious one I know, but a good one nonetheless. Laughing until tears run down your cheeks and until it's hard to breathe is something I'll never get bored of. Making people laugh is just as good. I guess we evolved so that laughing was to show that you were at ease and not a threat, but still it's still great when you can make someone laugh. There's a feeling of acceptance there which is thoroughly satisfying.

7. Finding new music which I enjoy
This happened loads when i was younger, my brother would just dump copious amounts of music onto our family PC at regular intervals. This would then mean that every so often I'd come across 20 - 30 new albums I'd never realised I had. Going through each one was always really fun. Even if I'd only like 1. It sound sad, but it was fairly exiting hah.

So there we are, my 7 things. I could probably go on, but after a huuuuuuuuge break (again) from blogging I'm assuming I'd kill you from an overload haha

Ok taggage, I'm going to tag Logic Gate and Mutual induction . Hopefully this will push them out of their slumbers...


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Now for a post:

Exam results were fairly mixed actually. Was dead pleased with my English results.

For my English reset I received the fairly flattering mark of a...D. Haha it's not a big problem though, in short I only retook it because I only needed a few more marks to push my AS level B up to an A. Scoring 10 marks lower this time was irritating but it's really not a big problem because....

For my English A2 synoptic paper I managed to get an A! This was a real shock, almost everyone in the class got C and below, even the Oxbridge candidates (except for one person who got full marks *shakes fist*). Although the disbelief of my teacher was a little bit annoying, I'm chuffed as anything. The teacher now wants my paper back to see how I did it....which will be interesting because I clearly remember putting a joke/pun in there somewhere to make life less boring for the examiner.

History A2 paper was alright I suppose. I managed to get a middle C, retake is in order though I think. I came out of the exam thinking that I didn't do amazingly so I'm not too fussed. Especially seeing as I don't have to do this 3 hour English synoptic paper again

History retake was good. Got an A in that. Which means I'll be well on my way for a B at A2 level if I behave myself. Depending on my coursework I may even push for an A....but we'll see.

So yeah, not bad, some bits were really good. Others adequate.

Random mumblings

Sometimes, you just have that longing to write. For me, this longing is at ten to twelve on a Wednesday night, shortly after my English literature exam. I'm not sure what it is, if anything I probably should feel that I've written enough for today (anyone who's sat through an English exam and spurned out complete utter bollocks will know what I'm on about). Still, i feel like it, so there we go.

For anyone who cares, my guitar playing is still going strong. Seems like yesterday when i was on here bitching about how buying one before my exams was a stupid idea. Still, i like to think of it as one of the most worthwhile things I've done in 2007. It most certainly stopped me thinking that i was currently stagnating in a pool of self pity. So yeah, 2008 and how do i feel?

The word, I'm afraid, is ambivalent. I just don't really care. Of course I want to go to university, of course I'll continue to revise set facts which i will be expected to discard in place of whole new facts months later, but these last few months just seem....well pointless. If i was the master of the education system, god forbid, I'd probably have the last exams now. Still, only two more left and then we get that sweet relief which I've been longing for since December. Only it's not quite like that. Coursework has of course come along again, the bane of my life.

I've got 3000 words in History and English, which in themselves isn't much. It's the research which gets me. The two 700 word essays in German i can live with...then again, 700 words on the controversy of cloning is hardly going to stimulate my love of the bloody language.

University choices are nearly done and dusted. Just waiting for Swansea. Other than that I've got 4 other offers. BBB from Surrey, and ABB from Keele, Sussex, and Kent. I'm expecting ABB from Swansea as well to be honest, it's what they said in their prospectus...and my personal statement was hardly mind blowing.

I think my new years resolution is probably to dust the cobwebs of this blog a bit more often. Hopefully this way i can get some readers.

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If you want a bit of food for thought, check out www.questionswap.com. Ask a question, answer a question. It's a beautiful cycle. You do inevitably get the pricks, but if you answer them in a generally witty fashion then they go away. It's quite good for rants. Actually, i think I'll use that web site as an excuse from my absence from here :D.

Uni offers!

Anyone who has become addicted to Track (no this isn't some kind of drug!) will know what it's like to see that first offer. Sweet Sweet relief. At least SOMEONE wants you. In this case it's my first choice, with a lovely BBB offer for Law. I honestly don't know how i did it, as Surrey seemed to have a range of grades they wanted (AAB-BBB), still, I'm a happy chappy. And at least this shows that i've done something right woo!

Done and Done

It's an odd feeling, getting butterflies looking at a list of universities. Yet that's what I've just felt. Something strangely unnerving about putting your next 3 years down to 5 boxes. Anyone who's done this will probably relate...if not then, i guess i'm abnormal ;).

Still got this bug, which is a pain. But because i'm so "manly" i'm not moaning much... Although i have recently found joy in my new obsession; Instant hot chocolate. It's actually the dog's bollocks. I kid you not! Sad -> instant hot chocolate. Cold -> Instant hot chocolate. Want distracting -> Instant hot...you get the drift. The fact that it takes so much less effort than anything else in the world just makes it soo much better aswell. I implore all of you! Go out and buy some of this drink of the God's! (although the "you" here is slightly optimistic i feel...readers hah!)

It has in fact been, yet another, while

Hello, I'm almost ashamed to show my face again...what with after 6 months of unblogged life. I'm feeling slightly sheepish. Anyhoo, not to worry. Just finished yet another bout of work experience, and am just nearing the stage where i can push - send - on my ucas.

-Surrey
-Swansea
-Canturbury

are my main ones. Although what my exam results will look like is quite another matter. Anyway, school isn't a big enough part of me to devote my entire "homecoming" post to.

Sooo, how am i? Snuffly i think is the word of the day. Ill and stuffy. It's for this reason that i'm slightly annoyed with myself. How dare i get ill! I've done no work and i'm feeling increasingly lazy. Yet my body seems to think it deserves a day off.

What else has been going on? Become a full blown gym addict. My arms now resemble trees...(not quite but you get the gyst) i bought a new guitar, which by the way, i am (still) playing. That's it really. Well i'm sure i could rant for years on this or that. But in my current state, i think that i'd rather have a bath....

General lifestyle

I'm afraid, for those of you who, after reading the title, thought that i had turned military since my last post, you are mistaken. General Lifestyle isn't some square jawed jock, shouting at those who lead a below rigorous lifestyle. Instead general lifestyle, is a statement. How is my lifestyle?

I was tempted to go with the "fine", nothing fancy. However that ostentatious part of me, wanted to go for the super. But, there is still a part of me, for i am divided into parts, who desires to be heard. It is this part i settled on, i am..."Flumpy". It's all in the word; pretty happy, content, not worried about too much; drifting through life. In fact one might say that the similarity of "flumpy" to the sweet "flump" is indeed great. There i have it, my general lifestyle is that of a bright pink marshmallow. One which serves only to fatten both the youths and their chins and their chin's chins . I exist, enough said.

However there is one thing which serves to sprinkle salt on my tasty treat. University choices. Whilst some people are revelling in their choices, i have hesitated. Law...what does it entail. Is it worth it? Certainly the aggressive nature in which the Universities demand their A's brings this into question. Reading around a bit i have decided, is the way to go; having picked up 13 or so prospectuses from our school uni visit day, i intend to digest them all. Consuming their sugary knowledge...indeed this could well be my last chance to turn back before i plunge headfirst into the ever burning furnace which seems to be the inevitable destination for all of these damned lawyers. Destination...or solution. I guess we'll see, or if you don't, I certainly will.

I hasten to add, that this post was written after 3 hours at work.Why this then causes such sugary tendencies to flaunt their way across my page i know not. In fact apart from the rhetorical questions, this post seems to contain nothing....like the ever fatty marshme.....stop now


oh yeah, and I'm off to America soon. hahah i love my priorities in this post :D