"Do a U-ey! DO A U-EY!"

Thanks, Rob Brydon, for the quote of the day...

So, Cardiff was megafun and needs a supermassive black bloghole to prove it.

- Started off at 8am and no maps. Left at 10am, and spent three hours singing and dancing to The Audition.
- "HEEEY, MISS MERTHYR CAN I? HEEEEY, MISS MERTHYR CAN I? TAKE MY SHEEP!"
- Deciding to make video diaries every hour (fail) and trying to get as many people as possible in them (more on that later)
- Arriving at the venue in the middle of a fucking blizzard and standing with about 7 other people
- Going to Wetherspoons for cheap as chips... well, chips and warmth!
- There were drink holders in the cubicles!
- Vikki's gormless "I'm putting on my makeup now" look
- Hearing a beep,and then jumping when we saw something moved. It was the airfreshener.
- Seeing Susie for the first time since September and meeting her crazy friends
- Chatting to The Blackout while we were cold - lots of warm hugs, and Bob recognised me and sight and asked how my arm was, then cutched my head.
- Giving Matthew the evil Blackout cupcakes
- Going to Costa... and having Bob stalk us there.
- Getting out Sharpies in the middle of Costa and sharpie-ing tattoos on each other!
- Talking to the Blackout while freezing (seriously, Gav stood on my foot and I didn't notice)
- Getting into the venue and standing by the heater to unfreeze
- The guy at the desk being blind enough to miss A. Luff and Vikki panicking
- Walking up three flights of stairs with dead feet
- Getting Jay in the video diary
- Showing Jay all the sharpie tattoos and seeing him eye up Vikki XD
- Ispystrangers were pretty good, lead singer was epic...
- Meeting Marianne Harris in the gig
- Dopamine being interesting
- One of the techs looking like Matthew's nerdy little brother
- The fucking Blackout finally getting onstage
- "We'd really like it if you'd sing along to this one. If you don't know the words just make them up. And if you can't make it up then just mime it, or snog the person next to you"
- "Naah, Goffs don't enjoy Christmas. They only enjoy being sad."
- The immense pain of Save Ourselves where Vikki got stood on the head.
- Ringing Sam for the last three songs and having Sean hang up by licking my phone (eewww, STIs)
- Vikki getting a solo in Children Of The Night
- Matthew looking dead (he had a lethal cupcake?)
- "Come and party like a chav!"
- Fucking crowdsurfers trying to kill us >.> They did our heads in (literally)
- STAGE INVANSION! On stage, next to Sean, screaming into his microphone with him
- Getting massive Jay hugs, and Vikki bagging free badges
- Snoz and Rhys on the video
- Showing Snoz the tattoos and him looking confused.
- Getting a picture with Rhys: "Cuddle me, bitch!"
- Giving out presents to Panda, Ashleigh and Bee (who I didn;t really get to talk to... but hopefully things aren't too bad)
- Failing at sneaking into the afterparty
- Walking back to the TraveLodge and meeting Rhys and his girlfriend on the way back, who asked if we had enough money for our rooms and was really concerned.
- Bending the truth... "Yes, Dad, we're at the hotel now. Hi". And then leaving the hotel ten minutes later.
- Kettle Chips: Saviours
- Trudging back to the venue feeling anticlimactic
- Waiting outside with Frances and a Polish girl
- Everyone loading into the van and giving us warm cuddles
- Snoz: What're you doing here?
Rhys: I thought you went to the Travelodge
Me: We did... we came back. My dad thinks we're in bed.
Snoz: Good stuff, good stuff!
- "Jay, can you pan the camera around in the back for the diary?" (me) "Nope, they're all having sex." (Jay) "True." (*sex noises* Bob) "Do you remember when you nearly got arrested for making sex noises?" (Jay)
- Elton John getting stolen by the Polish girl from Jay, who offered her silver hairspray (spray paint) and a punch in the face is she gave him back
- Singing allong to The Fratellis as Jay drove off and nearly crashed
- Waiting in the venue - yay, heater!
- Homeless dog outside ripping apart paper bags
- Rupert/Mikey White, from Ispystrangers, hanging out with us.
- Being selfconcious with the kittyhat and wanting to see the picture
- Befriending a gay cloakroom manager, called Rhys Lewis (or Slug) - ("Is that a homeless snail or a naked one?")
- Slug writing V + Vikki: FABULOUS on his hand
- Being little meet and greeters to improve the ambiance and making lots of friends, shaking hands and getting hugs and wishing everyone a happy new year
- "I never take off my beanie... but I will for that kitty hat!" and talking about the guy he chucked out
- Learning Welsh words... "Caerdydd" is Cayer-deethhhhhh"and learnign the Welsh for "up the bum no baby"
- Vikki convincing Slug she was from Glasgow (he guessed she was Scottish)
- "Now, stop with all this self-depreciation, we're all fabulous people"
- The careful description of a blue Barber jacket for a guy who'd lost his ticket
- Seeing the security guard turn his back and legging it into the party!
- The bloody empty bottles against the wall
- Seeing Ian and Sean DJ... hahahahahahaha
- Finding the girl who bit Meg
- Aled "Le Tramp" Phillips on the tour diary, and "Calvin with a Klein"
- Back to Slug for chats
- Missing Yan because of Slug
- Mobbing Sean in the alleyway
- "Your phone number is 0800-STI-STD"; "Don't rape Sean!" "I won't, I don't want the STIs!"
- "Put a serious face on, we're Goffs and we hate life"
- The silver sharpie being a source of fascination. Well, simple minds...
- Mikey hugs (he picked Vikki up and ran off with her, then picked up Panda and felt her arse) and Slug hugs (he picked me up and swung me round)
- Eyeing up Sean's car:
Vikki: Oh you don't earn much then.
Crowd: Oooh!
- Vikki getting the last hug, with a hug face-off and a My Passion Simon impression
-Sean actually trying to run me over. It was terrifying. He had his teeth gritted and looked like someone had just told him Ian Watkins was straight.
- Racing Sean down the road and winning, and him either waving at us or swearing... then realising he had gone the wrong way and reversing up the road again
- Profusely singing "4AM FORRREVEEEERRR!" walking back to the hotel
- Being unable to open the door due to early-onset zombification (or concussion)
- Quick snooze
- The mental images... Snoz as a bouncer, them all as waiters serving us Sean and Rhys stew, and working out which of the guys was the best big brother (Snoz)

Just found all the guys on Facebook and added them, and Mikey has come said hi to us already :) And we sung The Audition and Lostprophets all the way home XD And "A Little Piece Of Heaven" as a tribute to the Rev.

Scrooge time!

Huzzah, Christmas has ended for another year. All things in bold are things I didn't ask for, and all things in italics were things italicized on my Xmas list, ie things I really wanted:

Present haul:
- This Is War by 30 Seconds To Mars
- Absolute Boyfriend manga, volumes 5 and 6
- The Sims 3 World Adventures (not useful... see below)
- Laptop carry bag
- £40 in cash, £15 cheque, £15 gift card (to be exchanged for cash)
- An Abundance Of Katherines by John Green (finished)
- Rainbow legwarmers
- Purple leopard print tights
- A mini slab of dark chocolate + 6 dark chocolate rum truffles (I hate rum truffles)
- Deathnote manga boxset, volumes 1-12 (I own volumes 1 and 3)
- Purple spray-in hairdye
- My laptop fixed in time for Christmas (hasn't happened... but at least it's being fixed. However the CD of The Sims 3 was still in there, meaning not only can I not play it but I can't install it on Dad's computer either)
- The Blackout in Portsmouth with Vikki

Yeah, about that last one... The gig got cancelled.
£120 in hotel fees, £40 in train fairs and £60 in gig tickets... gone. Unless I get refunds and I have no idea if half the places even do them.

I also discovered my dad's edited version of my Xmas list (which was written in order of what I wanted, and italicized items were what I *really* wanted)

The Betrayed by Lostprophets and Hold Me Down by You Me At Six preorders - nope, they weren't done.
Crash Love by AFI - no.
7 gigs which I wanted tickets to (won't list them all, but there were 7, all italicized) - no (seriously? Not even one?)
Paper Towns by John Green - no (fair enough, not sure if it's out in the UK yet).
The Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger - no (Oh come on, you can get a used copy from Amazon for about 50p)
Fruits Basket manga, volume 10 onwards - nope

You know why I didn't get much? Because my main present was Portsmouth with Vikki... which has just got effing cancelled.

So, other miseries then:
- Getting to sleep at 3am last night, waking up six (it was more but I lost count after six) times during in the night, waking up properly at 6.45 and my brother refusing to get up till 7
- What I assumed was just a cold breaking down into a suspected throat/sinus/chest infection, which lead to all breathing, talking and swallowing being immensely painful
- Pain in my throat, chest, nose, ears and sinuses being compounded by period pains and rampaging hormones
- Not being able to eat much because my throat hurt so much, and what I did eat having no taste
- Not being able to eat Christmas pudding
- Falling asleep on the sofa numerous times
- My gran and great-aunt asking me if I ate sausage meat (hint: I haven't eaten meat for the past 4 years, nor have I eaten turkey. So no, I do not fucking eat it)
- Taking an hour to find all the relevant medication I needed before bed (inhalers, pain killers, mouthwashes, other mouthwash, cough syrup, cream for my dry skin)
- Blowing my nose/coughing up horrible yellow gunge all day. All. Bloody. Day.
- Sneezing up blood
- Portsmouth gig being cancelled

Mm. I think that's everything...

Merry Christmas. Hope you had a more fun one than I did.

Christmas Eve Playlist

Inspired by the lovely Tiernan Douieb (he's nice, most of the time, go find him on Twitter), here is my own Christmas Eve playlist... it's not very festive, mind. And it's not so much a playlist as just random songs that I thought were vaguely in some way appeo

1. I Got Love - The King Blues
2. Sunburn - Muse
3. Heartbeats - Jose Gonzalez
4. Love Like Winter - AFI
5. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid - The Offspring
6. I'm A Riot? You're A Riot! - The Blackout
7. Konstantine - Something Corporate
8. The '59 Sound - The Gaslight Anthem
9. First Day Of My Life - Bright Eyes
10. Just Like Heaven - The Cure
11. A Praise Chorus - Jimmy Eat World
12. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey.
13. Rock N Roll All Nite - KISS
14. Where We Belong - Lostprophets [or, as it's not on my Spotify, Rooftops - Lostprophets works nearly as well]
15. Reasons Not To Be An Idiot - Frank Turner
16. House Of Cards - Madina Lake

And, to sum up my sentiments and finish off my playlist...

17. Happy Holidays, You Bastard - blink-182

So maybe I'm turning sentimental...

But I make no secret of it: I love Christmas. I love feeling like a little kid again, unpacking the boxes from the attic and putting up decorations. I love stringing up tangled fairy lights all around the house. I love watching Mum get all the Christmas card precariously balanced on the sideboards. I love over-eating until your trousers are too snug to be comfortable.

I love getting up at 6am with my brother and getting the stockings down from above the fireplace and emptying them out our parents' bed while they wake up and complain.

I love tearing paper off presents with rabid enthusiasm. I love giving presents to others and seeing them beam. I love the way that my parents are so sleepy that they don't argue until at least 10am.

I love Mum's annual panic about turkey and her failed attempts at gravy. I love my Gran's insistence on doing everything, despite the fact that we stopped eating at her house because it was too much stress for her. I even love the way she always asks me why I'm not having turkey and refers to my pescatarianism as "a phase" (which has so far lasted 4 years).

I love seeing my great-aunt, who I see twice a year, makes a habit of insulting me and my beliefs, and then smiling indulgently at me and saying she loves me and is proud of me.

... No, wait a minute, I hate that bit. And come to think of it I hate being bugged about not being turkey.

And I hate getting presents I didn't ask for which I didn't ask for for a reason: because I didn't want them.

I hate the way we have to squish together on too few seats, and I have to sit on the floor or offer cake or just be a good little hostess girl and offer cake and tea.

And I hate the inevitable arguments about the petty trivial things and the way everyone just gets riled up and at each other's throats.


And despite all that, I still love Christmas. Merry Christmas, everybody, and have a fucking awesome new year - I know I will, because I'll be in Portsmouth partying with Vikki, Kelly and Annie, and six Welsh BAAAASTAAARDS!

Chin up, all, it's nearly Christmas!

Happenings: Part I

This is the first part. To be honest, it breaks at a weird place because that's just how much I can fit onto the image canvas I created. Click the picture to read the story.

A Short Story: Happenings (the process)

Here was the thought process behind this short (4,095 word) story:

2am, December 20th: I have this idea. It's annoying me. I can't sleep.
3am, December 20th: Hell I'm going to write this down.
5am, December 20th: Story is written. It's a pile of crap but at least now I can go to bed.

All day, December 20th: I must not read what I wrote or I will edit it into oblivion. I know it's crap.

Some point, December 21st: Read my story. Dear God it's so awful that I can't edit it or it'll lose all meaning.

4pm, December 22nd: Read the story again. Actually it's not too bad... just needs some tweaks.


NB - I have noticed that this blog is defunct as I cannot copy and paste any text... so I will have to find another way to get the story up. It might take a while.

Formspring II

Q: What is your quest?
A: To be loved. To be remembered. To create something beautiful and be rewarded by people appreciating it.

Q: What is your name?
A: V. Haha thought I'd tell?

Q: What is the average air speed velocity of an unlaiden swallow?
11 metres per second or 24 miles an hour. And I <3 the Monty Python reference.

Q: If you could stand on the rooftops and scream your heart out...what would you scream?
A: I would tell everyone to buy the new Lostprophets album ;) "FUCK, I KNOW I'M DIFFERENT AND I FUCKING LOVE IT. IF YOU DON'T LIKE ME FOR WHO I AM THEN YOU'RE A TWAT. I'M NOT GOING TO CHANGE FOR YOU."

Q: Ever had a girlfriend?
A: No, but I do have a lot of wives.

Life is random and good.

So I read over the story I wrote between 3am and 5am. Aaah it was cringeworthy. And about a random Motley Crue-esque band, so kind of cringeworthy for all the boozing and sex.

Aaaaanyway...

RAGE MADE NUMBER ONE! BOOYAH!
And Lee Gaze's wife (I'm terribly sorry, I have no clue what your name is) had another baby 'Prophetlet, a little boy. We're rooting to call him Tom or Zach in honour of RATM's Xmas Number 1. Lee's had an awesome day, clearly.

The tree is up, I've drawn more pokemon on Paint, and my cat is happy. I've booked tickets and trains to Portsmouth, so I'm going to Portsmouth on NYE. And it looks like with a bit of work I'll be going to The Party on the 29th...

Life is fucking good.

Writing!

Wahey, it's 3.20am and I'm writing. I'm fucking freezing but I'm writing.

It's not even anything important - just an idea that was niggling and I needed to get down. I'm guessing it'll only take about 4,000 or 5,000 words to finish off, so I'll do it all tonight before I go back to bed. Hopefully.

Maybe I'll post bits of it up here once it's done - not that anybody would read them.

If this blog doesn't make sense then it's because I'm sleepy.

Oh, and lastly: if Rage Against The Machine aren't number fucking one then Joe McEldoofus is gonna receive some serious hatemail. Not from me, just from all the fellow RATM campaigners. Like Lee Gaze. God he's a monster on Twitter.

Winter

You know it's nearly Christmas when:

- You get round to seeing friends you haven't seen for months
- You can't turn on the radio without hearing Mariah Carey or Wham!
- The Radio Times and Kerrang! bumper issues arrive
- Christmas cards are up on the sideboards
- There's only a week of shopping days left before Xmas and you only have 4 presents bought
- You're ready to get a Christmas tree
- All the wrapping paper mysterious appears from nowhere
- It's raining

You know it's going to be a fucking odd Christmas when:

- It starts snowing
- Your friend a hundred miles away has snow
- You don't actually want snow yet


Thanks to the unseasonably wintry weather, I am now petrified of queuing overnight. Solution? Persuade my dad to buy me a pop-up tent for gigs. He's thinking about it.

I must be mad.

So I have an odd amount of bands/people I might be travelling for. By "travelling", I mean further than Cambridge. I mean places where if I say "I'm from just north of London", people look at me in surprise (happened at Colchester, and to some degree in Surrey).
So here's the list of possibles as it stands (with all train fairs in advance) as of today, 15/12/09:

23rd December, GBGR, Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach, £5/£6 gig, £33.00 train fair
31st December, The Blackout, Portsmouth Drift In The City, £28ish gig, £18.45 train fair, £60 accommodation
17th February, Lostprophets, Birmingham O2 Academy, £28ish gig, £29 train fair
19th February, Lostprophets, Edinburgh Corn Exchange, £28ish gig, £13 to Edinburgh + £20 home

The Blackout, Cardiff... when they next play there on a Saturday/in the holidays

Bloody hell, all the bands are Welsh.

Odd Thoughts For My 100th Blog

Well I finally reached three figures of blogging. And I thought to celebrate I should do something useful...

Then I remembered that it was ~me writing this blog, and instead I decided to fill it with some odd things.

- When listening to songs, change the word "heroine" to "heroin" in your head. It yields some odd results... basically everyone just turns into a druggie.
- If one siamese twin commits a crime, can the other one testify against them... and if the one who commited a crime is found guilty then does the innocent twin have to go to prison too?
- The epic facebook group of "The hilarity of Harry Potter quotes when changing "wand" to "willy""
- How many contexts can the word "up" be used in?
- My parents are going deaf to the point that they no longer notice the pinger going off. This works to my advantage most of the time.
- How much ribbon would it take me to corset the Winter Kiss Young Guns tshirts?
- Why couldn't I hear Metallica from my house last year when they played Sonisphere?
- Why, when I hear the word "stoked", do I do think of fires?
- If I ever had someone pretending to be me, I would be flattered that people thought I was respectable and interesting enough to be worth impersonating.
- Why does the second helping of something never taste quite as good as the first?
- When I am on twitter, nobody tweets. As soon as I start doing something else, all I notice is the little tab heading on my browser telling me that there are (5) (7) (132) new tweets.
- Twitter tonight can be divided into 3 distinct camps: OLLY TO WIN!; I LOVE JOE!; and Fuck off, I don't watch X Factor.
- Why is the word "merry" only applied to Christmas?
- Out of iPlayer's most watched programs on 12/12/09, 6 were comedy programs, 2 were distinctly comedic (Jonathon Ross and Top Gear), and the remaining 2 were episodes of Eastenders.
- The awesomeness of the Rage Against The Machine for Christmas Number 1 campaign.
- 12 days to Christmas; 18 days to New Year's Eve; 19 days till 2010.

That's all the totally random stuff I can think of right now. Merry holidays!

Formspring: the first 2 questions

After much confusion and much help by Ashleigh, who is far more sensible about internet matters than I am, I have worked out how to answer Formspring questions...

Q: why did my husband forget his house keys meaning I have to stay up?
A: Hello, big cousin. Well if I knew the answer to that I would be a much better cousin, but as it is I will say "because he had a temporary blip of memory when he left the house".

Q: Pokes. Do you love meeee?
A: Not totally sure who this is, but why not? Yes, I do love you.

Bandwagons, editing, and old school music

Today's blog comes to you in three parts.

1) Bandwagons

As much as I told myself I wouldn't, I did. I got myself a FormSpring. Which I am incapable to linking to... Well I doubt anyone would use it anyway. Check my twitter (twitter.com/ObliViVion) for link if you're interested. Note: I have yet to work out how to answer questions on it... Yes, I fail at the internet.

Other than that, i've been pretty good at staying away from bandwagons... though the JAGK shirt, sadly, may be another one. Oh dear, impulse buys are sure to cripple me and my bank account. Must... resist... urge...


2) Editing

It's December. It has been for quite some time, so I should really be trying to edit my NaNoWriMo novel. However, I've become more occupied with finishing it.

Editing is my downfall. Sure, I can edit as I go along - hence why NaNo is so hard, because you have to kill off that Inner Editor, or at least give him/her some industrial strength chloroform - but as soon as I get to the end and see a whole great chunk of 3,000 (English essay)/50,000 (NaNoWrImo 2007/2008)/65,000 (NaNoWriMo 2009) words in front of me, I panic and just don't bother.

I was meant to edit my English coursework. Of course, it was due in on Monday 7th, and I was still writing it on the night of Thursday 10th. I just got my parents to read it and make sure it made sense, and had to try and explain what a Byronic Hero was.

Basically, if I'm ever going to cut it as a writer, I need an edior, or to pull my socks up and try and edit myself - meep.


3) Old School Music

Motley Crue are playing Sonisphere Festival. Better than the fact it's in the UK, it's in HERTFORDSHIRE. I am seriously excited and I am going to beg to go even if it cripples my bank account further.

More bands are going to be announced, but I'm definitely most excited about the 'Crue. Oh... and IRON MAIDEN! My cousin will have three kids by then, but I'mma beg her to come down and see them with me because it's their only UK gig of 2010.

And in other news, I'm just been listening to lots of pretty old music. Journey, New Order, Joy Division, The Smiths, Motley Crue, The Carpenters, Sisters Of Mercy... It's fun.

Pride and Prejudice... and Zombies

So if I had picked up Pride and Prejudice of my own accordance, maybe I would have liked it. As it is, being forced to read it has sucked all enthusiasm I may have felt for it right out.

I still have roughly half of my coursework essay on it to do, and it was supposed to be due in tomorrow. Yes, it's going that badly.

As a present a few days ago, my Dad bought me a book. It's called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and it's hilarious. The furthest I ever read to in Pride and Prejudice was Chapter 15, by force, in three weeks. I am at 28 in ... and Zombies in the space of about three days.

I think I will "forget" to bring in my essay tomorrow and hand it in on Friday instead, and finish it tomorrow night.
Speaking of Tomorrow, I am doing my drama coursework mock performance tomorrow. I'm bricking it, and excited, at the same time. I get the whole day off lessons. If nothing else, it should be a laugh.

I over-indulge in brownies.

Life is still going on in a very similar fashion:

- saw my friend Tally for the first time since July 08. Will next see her June 2010 earliest, probably not till November or until 2011.
- got back the mark from my practise French reading. 30/50. Lowest in the class. Second lowest was 38. "Oh did you find it really hard then, V?" No, I thought it was a breeze, hence why I didn't even break the forties...
- had a drama runthrough. Went better than expected.
- there are two five question ethics essays requiring my attention. Fuck if I'm going to do them while I'm still this sleepy.

8 days till school's out for winter.
10 days till Heaven's Basement and I see Adele and Jasmin again, along with Kelly and Annie... and did I hear Vikki was coming?
17 days till Xmas.
23 days till New Years Eve.
24 days till the end of the decade.

Various minutiae.

Life is going fine... Nothing particularly remarkably has happened/is happening.

Everything's normal:
- having a French reading mock. Once it was finished, I texted Vikki - who was in a chemistry test (oops)
- spending lunch running around like a headless chicken on speed trying to sort out drama tech rehearsal
- random twitter conversations with my friends about music (what else?).
- trying to catch up on my Ethics homework at 11pm and failing miserably.
- recording Daniel P Carter in Radio 1 at midnight till 2am so I can hear Winter Kiss by Young Guns
- trying to cheer up my friend who is moping about an ex boyfriend (and failing miserably)
- arguing with my parents to try and persuade them to let me come to more gigs (and failing miserably)
- continuing the Epic Poke War on Facebook with my cousin and my friend Ben
- avoiding all forms of work and exercise as well as possible

Things that are happening:
- getting French oral marks tomorrow (meep)
- finishing the drama tech rehearsal
- drama dress rehearsal
- drama proper performance on Thursday
- Heaven's Basement next Friday

Everything else is kind of Next Year.
Except the most important thing of all...

Tomorrow, I get to see Tally, who I last saw in July 08. Looking forward to seeing that Australian kid. It might not be for long, but I'll see her again at some point. Maybe when I'm 16 or 18 or out of school, I'll fly to Oz to go visit her.
I'm excited.

Laaaazy day

I have spent all of today on the sofa watching telly or iPlayer.

Day well spent. I've only been up ten hours. Might go and cut up my Exit Avenue tshirt now.

Hooray for broken technology!

My headphones are broken. All songs sound like they have an echo and I can't make out any vocals... on the plus side, I'm really getting to appreciate the music behind the lyrics.

And there are white lines on my screen. They flicker.
It's really very annoying.

Happy fucking holidays.

Today is December 2nd. There are 23 days until The Big Day.

Frankly I'm not feeling it yet. No advent calendar, no xmad decorations and no xmas music = it still feels like November, except for the copious lack of NaNoWriMo.

I'm going to take a break for a few days, probably write more on Saturday/Sunday.

There was no real point to this blog... Oh well.

NaNoWriMo 2009: The Summary

IN THE NOVEL

Words written: 70527

Word lost: 6251

Official end of month word count: 64276

Most words written in 24 hours: 7846

Average words per day: 2142.533

Words needed to finish draft: around 15,000

Chapters: 40

Deaths: 1

Unexpected plot twists: Too many to mention

Near death moments: 2

IN LIFE

Write-Ins attended: 4

Lattes drunk: 10

New friends made: 3

Most played song: Where We Belong - Lostprophets (108)

Gigs attended: 5

Welshmen molested: 7

English essays ignored: 1

Levels of stress reached: new highs

French orals failed: 1

Nights spent writing until 2am: At least 4

Near death moments: 4


And so ends NaNoWriMo for another year. More tears, more coffee, more RSI and more stress.
But I wouldn't have changed my November for the world.

And people tell me I'm scary

(peoples' usernames changed)
From twitter:

someperson: is really worried about @missiondistrict guys tweet and let us know you're okay please! xo
Retweeted by aslightlyscaryfan

The band hadn't tweeted for 5 hours. They're playing a gig today in a different country.
So, it;s currently 4pm.

What they are most likely to be doing:
- Sitting in a place with no wifi access
- Soundchecking
- Travelling through a place with no wifi
- On the ferry... with no wifi
- Being busy

What they probably aren't doing:
- Drowning in the Irish ocean
- Ignoring you
- Thinking about obsessive fangirls

Before you start getting OMG THEY'RE GONNA DIE, just think first...

60K

I have finally reached 60K in my NaNoWriMo document.

As a celebration, I bought myself a Jac Vanek bracelet. And 4 others as Xmas presents.

Dammit, just realised I shoulda bought another one while I was there.

NaNoWriMo day 28: coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee

I was at another write in today. Just me and Zoe (Sailor-girl on NaNoWriMo forums) for the third time out of the last 3 write ins I've been to.

Yet again I was reminded of my love of coffee and cookies. Lattes with two sugars, and a soft chocolate cookie, with a fellow insane writer and a laptop. Total bliss.

Clearly by the time I am in university, I will be caffiene dependant. I am never touching an espresso until I know how to drive.

Last piece of not-really-news: I was the first NaNoWriMo winner in Hertfordshire. Nice or what?

INTERNET PARANOIAAAA

Things happening today reminded me of my old Internet Paranoia.

It's as it sounds. If someone didn't reply to me on msn for a while, i got paranoid they'd left and hadn't told me.
If everyone's talking about something and nobody will tell me what, i get paranoid it's about me.
If i got the wrong end of the stick, i got paranoid everyone is laughing at me.

Various other things, but those are the main ones.
Of course, nobody reads this so nobody gives a shit.

And now to jump on the flamingly obvious bandwagon

Despite the fact I still have at a guess 20,000 words of plot left to write, I'mma procrastinate and do a quiz.
(Yes, i know I was born on National Fight Procrastination day. I'm a nonconformist... or just lazy.)

What was the last concert you attended?
The Blackout instore in Kingston.

What bands have you seen in concert the most, and how many times?
Uh well my top two are local bands, so my number 3 is The Mission District (6 times) and number 4 is The Blackout (5 times)

Do you have any setlists? From what bands?
None, sadly.

Are there any CDs in close proximity to you? Which ones?
No, none nearby.

What band are you in the mood to see live right this second?
The Blackout, because I miss those WELSH BAAAASTARDS, and Lostprophets, because they blew my mind the last two times.

Have you ever been on a tour bus?
What does a van count as?

Have you ever partied with a band?
I reckon so.

How many states/provinces have you been to concerts in?
London (various boroughs), Essex (Colchester), Cambridgeshire (Cambridge), Hertfordshire (St Albans, Hitchin), Bedfordshire (Luton)... so five.

What bands did you see live the month of May?
Pioneer gig (can't remember who), then Madina Lake/The Audition/Yashin/Flood Of Red, The Audition again, then My Passion

What CD are you addicted to at the moment?
Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World

Who is one band that you used to like, but now you can’t stand?
Fall Out Boy. Oh and Paramore.

Have you ever been on anyones guest list? Whose?
Not technically. Though I might be on Lostprophets' in Edinburgh due to awesome friends and their connections. Fingers crossed.

Last band person that you got a picture with?
Oh dear, mine was Gavin Butler too.

Do you consider yourself a groupie?
stfu.

How old were you when you went to your first concert?
14

Who was it?
Enter Shikari at the Alban Arena.

Which artists havent you seen yet that you want to see?
blink-182, Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance

Are you wearing a band shirt right now?
Yes, The Mission District.

What band do you own the most merch of?
Probably The Mission District.

Do you ever do anything crazy at shows?
You mean other than queuing all day, refusing to leave the barrier on pain of death, singing so loud you can't speak afterwards, winding up various band members and trying/failing to stage invade?

What are your favourite venues to go to shows at?
Camden Barfly and Islington Academy 1+2, HMV Forum for a bigger venue

What band do you have the most performance pictures of?
Probably My Passion or The Mission District

Would you ever get a tattoo representing a band?
If I could make up my mind on one thing.

How many concerts do you average a year?
Think I got 27 from October 8th-October 8th, looks like it'll be more this year

Upcoming shows?
Maybe Gallows, 17th December
Maybe Heaven's Basement, 18th December
Kerrang! tour 5th/6th February
Lostprophets, 11th/18th, maybe 15th and 17th too



Now for an experiment. If you read this, tweet me (@VTheWriMo) the name of someone Welsh.
I'm expecting maybe 2 tweets?

Celebrating getting out of a deep blue funk.

First, you get an overexcited blog announcing various bits of news that nobody else cares about.

The good:

I OFFICIALLY WON NANOWRIMO. 56,000 words (a 50,000 word document and a 6,000 word document... which may or may not be lost) in 25 days. Get in there.

The bad:

FRENCH ORAL MOCKS ON TUESDAY. The limit of my spoken French is pretty much "Parlez-vous l'anglais? Non? Merde."

The (hopefully not) ugly:

MY COUSIN IS EXPECTING IDENTICAL TWINS. Or twins, which apparently in the early scans looked identical.

Hell yeah.

Oh the joys....

Pretty sure I have reached the point where anything could fuck me up pretty badly.

If you would like to try it out, feel free to say something blatantly offensive to me and I'll let you know my reaction.

Tired...

I was planning on being on 57500 words today.

I'm on 50,800. I've barely written anything since breaking 50K. FMN (F my novel).

In other news, I am becoming addicted to Where We Belong, the new 'Prophets track.

HOLD ON, HOLD ON, WHERE WE BELONG, MY HEART, MY SOUL, WE STILL BELONG...

Welsh Weekend: The Highlights...

Fuck my NaNoWriMo, I'm doing a highlights blog.

20th November: Acoustic gig

- Finding Belgian Chocolate Blackout Cupcakes in Marks and Spencer... and buying them

- Being in the third row through Egyptian Hiphop (they were odd)

- Still in the third row for The King Blues (and being one of only about ten people singing along)

- Sneaking into the first row for The Blackout

- Sean admitting to being utterly terrified

- Rhys playing an acoustic bass for the first time in years

- Snoz's tambouriiiiine!

- Silent (When We Speak) making me burst out in silent tears

- Matthew grinning at me ridiculous amounts for singing along

- Seeing Mike and Jay on the balcony, and getting Jay to wave at me

- Dragging Vikki down the front for Lostprophets and sitting on her lap

- Eternal weird looks from Ian Watkins... his expression was something along the line of "wtf? Why?"

- Ian having a sparkly belt buckle and the eternal must...not...stare...at...it...

- Lostprophets being absolutely mindblowing

- Hearing two new songs which Lostprophets had never played live before... ever.

- The chats with Ian Watkins! He chatted/told off/made fun of pretty much everyone in the front row. Including:
Ian calling my hat a "mouse hat" and then saying "that's debatable" after Vikki and I screamed it was a cat
Telling Ian his collar was up at the back and he insisting it was "like Usher", then telling me off after I called him sweetie ("what are we? Three?") and accepting my apology with a "you'd better be sorry!"
Ian telling me off for laughing so much at what Vikki said and "devaluating all my other jokes!"
Someone pointing out there was a glowing badge and not a bag, and Ian saying "Oh well done, you have successfully identified a badge".
Ian making fun of a guy who had to go to the loo and so holding up playing the last song until he got back.

- A mens' voice choir appearing onstage for about the second half of the set

- Being about the only person who knew all the words to Where We Belong and not just the chorus.

- Calling Sam in It's Not The End Of The World... and bloody hell. Ian singing so high Vikki and I were wondering who had grabbed his balls.

- Lee and I having a nodding match

- Afterwards, seeing Sean (who didn;t hug me but instead stroked my hat) and Rhys (who insisted it was lovely to see me, and gave me lots of hugs)

- Finding Jay outside smoking and sharing odd Star Wars quotes with him


21st November: The Blackout Instore

- Oversleeping and managing not to get out of bed till past 8

- Getting on the same train to Kingston as Laura did

- My Handywork on four of us, drawing Blackout lyrics/song names on our hands (THIS IS A BLACKOUT/WE ARE THE DYNAMITE/I'M A RIOT/TIWWCHNT)

- Running around Kingston trying to find Banquet Records with Laura

- Running around Kingston trying to stalk The Blackout with Vikki, Annie, Caz and a girl I can't remember the name of

- Getting back to McCluskys in time to chat to them... except Rhys and Gav who were nursing killer hangovers

- Snoz signing my hands to announce he liked them

- Sean running his hands through my really short hair to work out how short it was, and pretty much hair raping me

- Photos in the queue!

- Managing to sneak the blackout cupcakes in and working out there were 6400 calories in the box

- An amazing ten song set from TBO

- The hat song! In which Bob grabbed my hat and Sean proclaimed "we don't want that shitty hat!"

- Singing "rhys" in place of the words to the chorus of TIWWCHNT

- Bob managing to trap my hand between the barrier and the guitar... Ow.

- Being asked if I wanted to meet TBO first because I had an injured hand. I declined.

- Fashioning my scarf into a sling

- Gav's face when I gave him the cupcakes. He looked like I had given him the stars. And he gave me an enormous cutch <3

- Having to explain to each member of The Blackout how I'd hurt my wrist

- Bob's expression when I told him. He kept on hugging me and exclaiming how sorry he was and how bad he felt

- Bob apologising to me on twitter too

- Chats with them afterwards, with Rhys agreeing to answer any questions I facebook message him about being in a band, for help with my novel

- Gav agreeing not to

- Matthew thinking that TIWWCHNT was Welsh, until we pointed out otherwise

- Matthew throwing my hat in a puddle (grrr)

- Sean insisting there was nothing wrong with my hand

- Waving goodbye to the van so Snoz and Sean kept on waving, stopping, seeing we were still waving, and started waving again


I miss Lostprophets and TBO already. And especially my wifey Vikki. I'm seeing them all in February, and I cannot bloody wait <3

Grrrr... and NaNo: day 19

So many gig tickets are on sale tomorrow.

Well, two. Muse and 30STM.

My dad failed at the Muse presale this morning, so fingers crossed he can get me a ticket as an early late birthday present tomorrow (the gig is 5 days after I turn 16. Schweet).

Then there's 30STM... I only know Frances and Vikki who'd be going, so i'd probably be kinda screwed, but I missed them at Koko so I want to see them asap.

So far my wordcount hasn;t changed. I'm tempted not to do any till Sunday so Susie can experience the big moment of 50K with me, but that's unlikely. I'm on 47,696 words. If I don't make 50,000 today I will make it at 2am, staying up till the wee hours to novel for the third time in 3 days.

Yeah, I'm totally insane.

I feel compelled to say...

As much as I complain about my novel...
As much as I whine that it gives me sleepless nights and uses up most of my free time...
As much as I sometimes wish that I had never started it...
As much as I wish that I was one of those people to whom the idea of writing a novel in thirty days is completely insane...
As much as I moan about sore fingers or writers' block...

... my novel has become the only thing that is keeping me sane. I haven't seen most of my friends since October 24th. That's three weeks and four days. I miss them, and I hope they miss me just a little bit too. I haven't had them to talk to (probably a good thing - it's a bad idea to talk to me in November) and somehow my novel has filled up that gap in my life.

NaNoWriMo means a lot to me. It's given me new friends, new perspectives, new ideas. Thanks to NaNoWriMo I have discovered a lovely coffee shop in Welwyn Garden City, a love of lattes and the fact that yes, I can write 5,000 words in one day if I really put my mind to it.

It's a weird journey of self-discovery, and somehow this year has effected me more than my past two has. I'll revisit this in December (cue groaning) but I know that I need to email the guy who started this, Chris Baty, just to let him know that NaNoWriMo really has changed my life for the better. I know it'll be one of a flood of emails he receives every day about the same thing, but I really do need to get in contact with him and say thank you. Even if he only glances at it, I know what it feels like to be genuinely thanked and I really hope that I can give someone else the honour of feeling like that.

EXCUSES TIME... and NaNo: Day 18

Raaawr.

So Bee challenged all her read her blog to put an embarrassing pre-teen photo of themselves in their own blog.

Now, as the hard drive of our old computer, containing 6,000 words of my novel and about five years' worth of familt photos, is currently incapacited, this is impossible.

So I will... once I have access to all the old pictures of me.

And have done my NaNoWriMo.
And my Latin.
And my flute practise.

... shiiiiiiit.

NaNo: Day 17

I'm very bad at getting my word count during the day.

2am novelling it is!

A Lyrics Post - NaNo: Day 16

Today's blog is dedicated to some lyrics which sum me up. They also all happen to be bands I'm seeing this Friday.

THE KING BLUES

I Got Love
I'm gonna dance like nobody's watching
I'm gonna sing like nobody's listening
I'm gonna kiss you like we are all alone
'Cos this world is ours
We're the have not's but the have all's
At twice the speed of lightning I travel
Through the universe I will run to write
Your name in the stars
'Cos some truths will last forever
Music can bring the world together
I got life man I will use it till they lay me down to rest
So lets party in the supermarkets
Move to the rhythm of my heartbeats
I'll take my tie right off my neck and wear it
Tied up round my head

What If Punk Never Happened?
There's a lesson to be learned, one that I will take home,
When I return to my normal reality zone,
Punk rock has the power to change the world,
It lies in every single punk rock boy and girl,
So don't let anyone tell you you're not worth the earth,
These streets are your streets, this turf is your turf,
Don't let anyone tell you that you've got to give in,
Cos you can make a difference, you can change everything,
Just let your dreams be your pilot, your imagination your fuel,
Tear up the book and write your own damn rules,
Use all that heart, hope and soul that you've got,
And the love and the rage that you feel in your gut,
And realise that the other world that you're always looking for,
Lies right here in front of us, just outside this door,
And it's up to you to go out there and paint the canvas,
After all, you were put on the earth to do this,
So shine your light so bright that all can see,
Take pride in being whoever the fuck you want to be,
Throw your fist in the air in solidarity,
And shout "Viva la punk, just one life, anarchy!"


THE BLACKOUT

I Love Myself And I Wanna Live
You think, you think out loud
Speaking tones you cant speak under control
With what you got you should be proud
You taken you life and filled it with hurt
Stop now and save us all
Because i know you'll be gone by the end of the day
You paint your brains all over the wall
Because i'm tired of waiting

Those were his days
Now he's blown them away

I love myself and I wanna live
I just wanna be awake for your kiss
I love myself and I wanna live
I'll do anything, I'll do anything


LOSTPROPHETS

... Hell, there are too many LP lyrics.


Bring on Friday and Saturday, seeing my friends. It feels like it's been too long. I wonder if any of them have missed me that much.

Will do some NaNo after homework is finished.

NaNo: Day 12/13/14

Target of 36,000 has yet to be realised... hence why I am up on my half broken laptop at 2.41am trying to type. I didn't do much on days 12 and 13 due to being at gigs. I'll do a highlights blog about them later when I have some photos up.

Some people are crazy for bands. Some peole are crazy for coffee or chocolate. Some people are crazy for their wordcount.

Me, I'm crazy for all four.

You know you're addicted to Twitter when...

... you write a chapter in your novel entirely through the format of tweets.

If my novel ever gets published, I will have to create all of these twitter accounts... Oh god, that'll be a nightmare.

Holler back if you read this

Tweet me if you've read this - @VTheWriMo

Basically I'm kinda sad and I figure I can pour out all my depressed thoughts into my blog because nobody reads it. I always feel a bit sad but I don't really want to tell my friends. I'm sure they'd care, but at the same time I'm worried they'd just think it's me whinging to get attention.

Hell, I just think it's me whining to get attention.

So, tweet me and let me know what a douche I am. I feel like I kind of need it...

NaNo Day 11

I've hit a writing slump.

It's affected me big time - I feel pretty depressed today. Tomorrow is The Mission District though... I hope they manage to cheer me up.

But somehow I think having characters starting to get depressed has rubbed off on me, and as a result I can't write them back into happiness.

I only managed 1,000 words in 2 hours. That's how bad it is. Doing some more writing now, determined to try and claw my way back into 2nd place in Hertfordshire (I dropped to 3rd)

Might sneak up again at night. It's tempting.

When Writing Grinds To A Halt: NaNoWriMo, Day 10

So this is my current problem.

I'm mid way through the twenty thousand words and I'm just running out of fuel. I know what happens next, but I know that I can't put in most of the plot points until 30K, which leaves me another six thousands words of waffle.

And romantic scenes.

I can't write romantic scenes.

The Insanity Increases: NaNo Day 9

I reached 20,000 words.

20K. Also known as THE POINT WHERE IT ALL GETS MUCH HARDER.

I've now reached about 22,000 which put me in the top 3 in Hertfordshire - might put me into 2nd place, I'm not sure.

I plan on more sneaking-out-of-bed in a few hours. I must write. That's what NaNo does to you - it changes oxgen into writing, writing into coffee and coffee into air. Did that make sense? Hell no, it's 00.20 and I've had 4 hours' sleep. Not gonna get much more tonight.

NaNoWriMo: Day 8

I reached 18K today. Tomorrow will be 20K. 20K to 30K is universally considered to be the hardest part of any NaNo novel. Not looking forward to this week. Got to do all my homework for Friday before Thursday, and got to write 4K a day so I can be on 30K before I go and see The Mission District.

On a happier note, I now have a fauxhawk. I think I'll keep for a few weeks, until I next have to wear a hat.

NaNoWriMo: Day 7

These are the things I learnt at the write-in:

- One of the WriMos works in the same place as Kelly
- One of the WriMos goes to the same school as Bee and is in the year above her
- One of the WriMos goes to the same school as me and is a girl I am somewhat friends with
- Lattes with two sugars are heaven
- Mochachino's is an awesome coffee shop
- Double chocolate chip cookies taste lovely dipped in the foamy bit of the latte
- One of the WriMos wrote her first novel entirely by hand
- If I buy six coffees at Mochachino's I get the seventh one for free

And now I am hoing to try and write my way to 15,000 words from 12,000. Wish me good luck.

Right now... and NaNo: Day 6

- I want my computer to work
- I want my 6K novel back
- I want to start a band with Mary
- I want to get 2,000 words of my novel written
- I want to sleep until midday tomorrow
- I want Minus IQ and Don Broco to play the Pioneer in May
- I want to see Young Guns, All Time Low, The Blackout and My Passion
- I want money
- I want more cheerios
- I want to see my friends and laugh and have a good time and know that at least a few people in this world are mad enough to love me just the way I am.

So far I haven't written any NaNo. I'm at about day 7 in my wordcount but I need more as I'm having days when I can't write.


Oh, and I'm freaking out about the Pioneer gig in April. I have December, March, and then April. In April, Mary and I will be doing ALL the work. Two rooms, the main room and an acoustic set. With us two doing all the sound, all the lighting, all the stage management and sorting out all the problems. Our bosses are there if anything goes wrong, but as it is we will be responsible for any errors that go on.
I am, to steal Bee's phrase, bricking it.

People I Miss. And NaNo: Day 5

I miss Jack. He's a nutter and so effeminate it makes me laugh. And he gives lovely warm hugs.

I miss Emma. The last time I saw her we realised we were basically in exactly the same clothes. It feels like too long since I've seen her.

I miss Suzie. I've only actually met her twice but our twitter conversations about gigs and bands always make me laugh and smile.

I miss Tally. She lives in Australia and I haven't seen her since last July.

I miss Georgina. There's something about her which makes me laugh so much - I guess she just has that effect on people.

I miss Sarah. I don't know when I'm gonna see her again, which sucks because she doesn't live far away.

I miss Clara. I miss our mutual hair rape-age xD

I miss Roma. It's funny how people you only meet once have such an effect on you, and I hope I'll see her again soon.

I miss Sam. And I'm sure she misses my lovely warm black coat.

I miss Laura. I miss the way people mistake us for being sisters when we clearly aren't.

I miss Frances. I see her at gigs all the time but it's usually really fleeting.

I miss Vikki. I hate that she lives in Kent because it's so far to go and visit.

I miss Panda, Ashleigh and Bee. Two weeks on Saturday until I see them again, and Vikki, and Frances (I dunno why this writing has gone weird).


Roll on 21/11.

NaNo update: computer with my first 6,000 words is still broken. Typing on my laptop. I've written about 1,000 words today, which is awful compared to my target of 2,500. Hoping to write another 500-1,000 before bed tonight. Current wordcount: 10,426.

NaNo day 5: update

Despite writing on my laptop rather than my normal computer, I managed 3,160 words. I was aiming for 2,000.

This means that today's personal target of 8,500 has been smashed and replaced with a rather impressive 9,411 words. Tomorrow's target was 10,000. Looks like it might be substantially more thanks to this boost.

Also, my hands sum up my feelings today:

Across my knuckles: BITE THIS
Back of my right hand: Hello there, the angel from my nightmare
Palm of my left hand: Goddamn motherfuckers always wasting my time

Good times. Goodnight Internet, I need to go sort out my drama costume(s) and then collapse into bed.

Things that make me sad... and NaNoWriMo: Day 4

Things that make me sad:

- I Miss You by blink-182. One of my favourite songs. The lyrics are so simple but they get me every time.
- The computer I am doing my writing on is broken. So I can't see it, and I was planning on backing it up today... so I have so guess where I got to, continue from there, and pray m computer gets fixed.
- GCSEs. I don't want to grow up and think about university and a job. I want to be a kid forever and stay how I am right now.
- I miss my friends. It's only been a couple of weeks since I've seen them, but it's another couple of weeks until I see them again. I dunno if they miss me too. I kind of hope they do, but they've never mentioned it.

And now the NaNoWriMo update: um, I haven't written anything yet today. Time to correct that...

In other news - good luck to Bee with her Maths GCSE tomorrow. If she doesn't ace it then there is no hope of the thickos like me getting a good mark, so I am hoping/praying/considering a deal with the devil to make sure she gets at least an A*.

NaNoWriMo: Days 2 and 3

NaNoWriMo 2:
Saw Michael McIntyre. Got home at midnight, wrote about a thousand words before bed.

NaNoWriMo 3:
Ouch, it starts to get hard today. Managed nearly 2,000 words, so I am about 400 words over my target for today.

Now, in other news: I saw Michael McIntyre. We had shit seats, which McIntyre made fun of. A lot. But he was hilarious, and hopefully if I ever see him again, it will be in a smaller place and hopefully with a better seat :)

And so the insanity begins - NaNo, day 1

Right, quick recap of yesterday for all those who were wondering around London wearing fake blood and may be vaguely interested:

- Sneaking into a strictly 18+ pub and using the toilets with the blessing of the barmaid
- Queuing in the wrong place for an hour
- Putting a genuine cloak in the cloakroom. A proper badass, red-silk-lined CLOAK.
- Getting lots of happy looks from Zombie Young Guns for singing along to their songs
- Getting a lot of jealous looks for having Zombie Gus staring at me xD
- Z0mbie Saving Aimee all being hilariously drunk and so awfully cheesy they were funny
- Catching the lead singer's fake-bloodstained shirt on a reflex. It stinks of mayonaise.
- Fightstar coming on stage in skeleton suits - Charlie's was clearly too small. It was funny.
- Fighting to front row
- The security guard giving me £4.50 off the floor which wasn't mine. Well, waste not want not...
- Hanging out with Zombie Young Guns afterwards for about an hour and getting very warm Zombie Johnny and Zombie Gus hugs
- Zombie Gus, who had previously told us to "keep our eyes open for shows in January" (K! tour), telling me to "keep my eyes open for more shows before the end of the year... maybe..."

And now that's recapped, I've started writing my NaNoWriMo. I'm going for short chapters so I get more little boosts every time I finish one. Wrote for about half an hour when I got home and managed about a quarter of today's target in 25 mins. Not bad going. Now for the other three quarters...

My twitter life

I think my twitter sums up my life on a day to day basis. Here are all my irrelevant tweets from today:

ferrero rocher: the only way to combat fatigue?
Just had to try and explain the "well dressed hobo" to my mum. She didn't see the humour in it.
I feel rather dead. Hopefully pizza tonight...!
Really? Your surname is Sykes-Francesci? I dislike facebook namers like that.
Aaah, I'm still ill. Just had a massively greasy pizzaa like I haven't had for two years. I ate 1.5 slices.
"And when the light of justice is obscured by the fog of uncertainty, there is only one solution... HOUSE PARTY!"
Anyone wanna come see Dara O'Briain with me next year, 15th March, Alban Arena?
My mother bought me a box of Ferrero Rochers today. I love her.
trying and failing to do English coursework. Listening to Framing Hanley. This can only end badly for my grades
I hate rewriting. With a passion. If I ever become a writer, remind me to hire someone who can persuade me to do it gaily. I may marry them.
I really want to go to K! tour in Dublin. Why? Well unless I really got my sources wrong, the venue is 850 capacity. Compare to London: 3300
Three weeks until i see (#followfriday) @kingblues @the_blackout @lostprophets again - so excited. Can anyone say MACERENA TIME?!

That sums up my life today. Boredom, illness, hunger, work, music and macerena.

Immature Irritation Time!

So I've had what I've jokingly called "abandonment issues" for a while. I mean, I don't have any real issues - nobody particularly close to me has died, or anything. It's more just that I seem to have lost a lot of people I've loved over the years, maybe not physically but emotionally.

I pretty much thought I'd got rid of them. But i just got one of those stupid little triggers today which made me annoyed. I mean, it was probably nothing, but I asked some of my friends about something and nobody even replied. Someone else asked one of them the same thing and got a multitude of answers.

I don;t even know why this annoys me, really. Maybe my friends just didn't notice that I'd asked them. Which is more likely than all the rather depressing thoughts swimming around my head like fish in a barrel. Well, if the fish are in a barrel, that makes them easier to shoot...

NaNoWriMo

Has anyone else heard of NaNoWriMo? Yes? No?

Well, I have, and so have at least the other 80,000+ authors who have signed up for this year's challenge. The idea? Write a 50,000 novel in 30 days. The reality? RSI, frustration, a lack of plot, and the overwhelming sense of satisfaction when you finally get all 50,000 of those annoying little words onto the page, upload it to the website and watch as that little badge says "WINNER".

It's a struggle that is undertaken every November with all the other crazy people around the world, and I have done it and won it for the past 2 years. This year is no different. I have no plot, but a hell of a lot of imagination and crazy friends to get idea from...

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Oh, and NaNoWriMo is a charity. It relies on donations. All the people who read my blog profess to be poor, like me, but just one or two dollars could really make a difference. okay I'll shaddup with the preaching now. Expect a normal, ranty blog tomorrow.

MUSIC BLOG TIME!

So I'm too lazy to provide links to these things, but if you like the sound go check 'em out... most of them are probably on YouTube haha

10.
Lollipop - Framing Hanley
It's a band with a hot lead singer doing a cover of Li'l Wayne's Lollipop. It's funny, surprisingly good, and just a little bit hot.

9.
Just Don't Feel The Same - The Mission District
Wahey, a bit of cheesy synth pop. Well, less of the synth and more of the pop... who cares. It's fun, and the video's on their Bebo.

8.
PRTY JAM - DRTY LVE
Yeah, it's Sean Smith. Yeah, it's Sean Smith doing a DJ set. Yeah, it's actually pretty funky. This one gets a link. http://soundcloud.com/DRTY-LVE

7.
Save The World, Get The Girl - King Blues
If this doesn't cheer you up, nothing will. Ska punk with ukelele and massive smiles. Good times indeed.

6.
The English Way - Fightstar
There's a mass amount of people who dislike Fightstar. For breaking up Busted, being rubbish live, or whatever they say... But this song is good, man.

5.
Asleep In The Asylum - My Passion
You'll have to YouTube it and the sound quality probably won't be all that great, but the song is good. Slightly nightmarish... then you remember Laurence is singing.

4.
Don't Trust Me - 3OH!3
Kind of annoyed that I'm not seeing these guys next week when they're in London, but I know I wouldn't survive re money/homework/NaNoWriMo.

3.
It's Not The End Of The World But I Can See It From Here - Lostprophets
I saw them only a few days ago (nearly a week, wtf?!) and they've just announced a huge UK tour next year. Score.

2.
Lost In Stereo - All Time Low
They put up a poll asking what the next single should be. If I could have been bothered to vote, I would've voted for this song. OBVS.

1.
Let's Get Outta Here - Madina Lake
Good memories from this song. It makes me happy, makes me smile, and makes me want to find people to escape with. Just go listen.


PS Apparently I have RSI in my left wrist... Damn.

Oh joys...

So as of the past 2 days, I've been ill. Again. While I'm on holiday. *le sigh*

Being ill this time includes:
- Aching back, feet, legs, head and neck
- Sore throat
- Cough
- Blocked up nose
- Alternatively being too hot and too cold/shivery
- Up-and-down temperature

In other words, I might have swine flu. Damn...

Welsh Bastards All Round

Thursday was an interesting day. I started writing this on Friday, and it's now sunday evening... thanks to being out/being ill, I haven't managed to do anything.
Anyway, here are highlights:

QUEUING
- Seeing Sam, Nimsey, Adele and Jasmin who'd been there since stupid o'clock
- Panda's amazing wig
- Adele and Jasmin dragging me to Slough
- Meeting Ian Watkins and Jay Oliver briefly
- Having my cooking insulted by Ian Watkins ("Coffee shouldn't be mixed with anything!")
- Snoz's amazing eyesight - "I can see over buildings!"
- Trying pear cider
- Managing to sneak my cakes in by promising not to throw the tin at anyone
- Learning random bits of sign language...

THE NEW 1920
- Girls behind just yelling "GET NEEEEKKID!"
- Fighting for a free tshirt and getting it
- The lead singer's awesome crazy slightly dad-esque dance moves
- Drunk drummer

THE BLACKOUT
- More "GET NEKKKKKID" which was repleid to with "SHUT THE FUUUCK UUUUUUP!"
- Sean doing three front flips in Beijing Cocktail
- Snoz being a MADMAN on the drums
- This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things being absolutely bloody AWESOME
- Sean throwing up o.o
- Rhys being right in front of me (nom)
- General awesomeness in their set

LOSTPROPHETS
- Dancing security guards!
- Too awesome for words to describe, frankly
- Ian: This song is so catchy I dunno what part of it to teach you...
Me: The chorus?
Ian: Who said the chorus?!
Me: *raises hand*
Ian: Oh aye, you wanna get up on stage and sing it then?
Me: Uhhhh...
Ian: Thought not!
- Ian doing the "I'm watching you" thing with his fingers
- "Does anyone remember the year 2000?"
- Jay and Ian cute-ing out over Meg and Kelly holding hands
- Pulling faces at Lee, Stu, Mike, Ian and Jay...
- Vikki getting Stu to give her a peace sign
- THE MACERENA
- Me: (surprised) fuck me...
Vikki: Careful or someone might take that as a suggestion!
Ian: Yeah I might take you up on that, Chuckles
Me: o.O
- Jay being a ninja and going to the other side of stage without us working out how... "What are you doing over there? Back to your post, soldier!"
- Jay's amazing screams in To Hell We Ride and Everyday Combat
- Coughing loads just before Burn, Burn and getting a bottle of water to myself

AFTERWARDS
- Seeing Jay at the merchstand and saying hello
- Being told by Drew from The New 1920 to cut up my free tee and come see them
- Getting Drew in the kitty hat
- Befriending a security guard called Adam
- Awesome cuddles from Luke
- Getting Luke in the kitty hat
- Explaining to Stu who I was ("I was pulling faces at you in the front row!)
- Getting Stu to hold the kitty hat looking really confused
- Train home with Kelly - "Your hat has chlamydia!"

Excited doesn't cover it

I am so bloody HYPER about tomorrow that I'm doing veritable backflips. Well, not really... if I actually tried to do a backflip I would probably die. But you get the idea.

I stayed up until 2am and got up before 10 so I would be really tired and I'd go to bed early today... problem is I got up, and then fell asleep for an hour on the sofa. Oops.

As it is, I'm sitting on the recliner playing Burn Burn from my laptop on speaker and annoying my brother. I showed him Instant Rimshot today, which resulted in us saying a lot of bad jokes and spamming it. Days like this I love having a brother. I'm also trying not to hype about Jonathan Coulton, because he;s surprisingly unexcited about it. Bloody teenage boys.

In short I ate too much sugar and it's REALLY OBVIOUS.

Promiscuity

So this is a bit of an odd thing...

I'm not a fan of promiscuous people. I mean I hope that most people who meet me will think that I am an open minded individual, but there's something about promiscuity that I can't stand. At Papa Roach last weekend, Kelly chastised me about being judgemental about the girls that bands invited backstage for a party.

If the girls had been pretty ones who looked like they were there to have fun, maybe I would've been kinder. As it was, the girls were all in leggings, skirts about as thick as a belt and shirts which were really just glorified bras. In mid-October, that isn't just cold, that is nasty. They were the sort of girls who smoked as well instead of eating anything. Maybe that prejudiced me against them as well, but still. They just acted skanky.

Oh, and I wouldn't be able to get away with acting like that (were I old enough) probably just because I'm not nearly skinny enough. And then there was the band, Heaven's Basement. Lovely, totally gorgeous guys, but man did they have a nasty taste in girls. I mean, yeah I know, they're old enough to make their own choices, it's just a bit of fun and nothing more, but something about the idea of it just makes my skin crawl.

Does that make me a really narrow-minded person?

It's A Highlights Blog, Darling!

So, as I ended up having a slightly different time to my friends last night, I figure they might like to know what I got up to...

- Spending the queuetime talking to Vikki, who I hadn't seen properly (for more than 2 minutes) since September
- Madly unwrapping 67 sets of vampire teeth, and then watching someone go buy more so we could have 69 sets
- Vikki singing a chipmunk version of I Don't Care, which brought back all the brilliant memories...
- Being shunted to the other side of stage by Kelly
- Hanging out on the left side of stage with Vikki
- Suffering through two pretty crappy support bands
- Catching Kelly's eye a lot and doing synchronised dancing
- Being offered beer by the lead singer of the second support band after an extended coughing fit (I politely declined)
- Spending the entire of Panda Police's set talking to Vikki to avoid a faceful of the lead singer's crotch
- Having the guitarist apologise to me for the overeager fangirls behind me...
- Seeing Kate Is The Decoy live from down the front, as opposed to behind the lighting desk. All I could remember was that last time I saw them, John's trousers were only a prayer from falling down.
- Doing the macerena at various points throughout the night for no good reason whatsoever, other than to do it.
- My Passion coming on to a frankly terrifying amount of screaming
- Getting hit by John's guitar a ridiculous amount (my fingers still hurt D:)
- Getting John's crotch in my face at a few awkward moments...
- Putting up my hand to fistbump Laurence and having him grab my hand and sort of shake it around for a full minute
- Telling John it had to be a special occasion because I was in a skirt, and getting a laugh/slightly pervy look
- Buying a new tshirt from Andy and having a nice chat
- Hanging out with Emma, Sarah and Nathalie afterwards
- Realising that Emma and I matched (skirt/black leggings/My Passion hoodie) and then having her put on gloves... which were red and black striped just like mine XD
- Going down a dark alleyway to find the back entrance to the venue
- Finding out the real reason why Simon refuses to be picked up
- Complaining at Laurence for making me climb over a fence in a skirt. He found the incident rather amusing.

Yeah, it was a good night.

By the way, it's worth listening to The News Quiz these days... mainly because it's on series 69.

To Be Funny...

I've always wished I was funny. Sure, I ca make my friends laugh, but there's a difference between writing something that will amuse two or three people and something that will amuse two or three hundred.

Then again, being funny would be quite stressful. If you had an expectation to be funny permanently hanging over your head like an oversized metaphorical raincloud, then any time you failed in being funny there would be a general annoyance at you. I guess that's true of anything though - i get good grades, and am always expected to do so. Any time I get a B, I am told to "do better", when there are people who would kill for a B.

But back to being funny. I really admire Michael McIntyre, because he seems like one of those comedians who is really happy in real life as well and not just on stage, unlike most comedians. Why are so many of them miserable in their day to day lives? I think it must be the weight of all that expectation. It's one thing to have a cloud over your head for a day; it's another to have one there even when all you need are some sunshiny compliments.

Plectrum status: i put it down somewhere... dunno where though...

How odd...

So all this time I've been convinced Ozzfest was in Australia.

My bad. Turns out it's in America.

I don;t get why it's called Ozzfest if it's not in Oz, but hey ho.

Being pushed and pushed and pushed...

You know those serial killers?

Not the ones who are clinically insane, or the ones seeking justice or revenge. I mean the ones who are just normal people who have some people or some things niggle away at them steadily, bit by bit, and then they just suddenly snap and kill someone. The ones who the family always look shocked about, and the friends always say they never say it coming.

I really know how those people feel. Some of my own relations just have this way of being able to get under my skin until the idea of hitting them, or throwing a brick at their head or something, seems rather attractive.

Not that I ever would - I would regret it so much, violence is never the answer - but it's one of those dark thoughts that lingers in the back of my mind.

10 Things To 10 People

Title says it all. So I jumped on the bandwagon and made one of these blogs. Most of these people won't read it - not sure if any will - but is that the point? I dunno.

If you're in this you probably won't be able to guess. Then again, you might...

1. I love you, and I have more respect for you than you can imagine, but I also hope my life doesn't turn out like yours. You are the bravest, strongest person I think I have ever met, and I hope you cheer up again soon.

2. It's funny. I know you hate me but I miss you. It's funny how you'll still talk to people you're only friends with because of me, listen to music I got you into, wear brands we discovered together. I feel like you stole some part of me when you stopped being my friend, and I wish I knew why. Don't tell me you've forgotten all the fun we had together, all the laughing and longing and heart-to-hearts. I'm rambling now but I guess it's just because I feel like you cheated me. You left me without even a goodbye, and that was what hurt the most. You have nothing to say to me? Funny because there's a hell of a lot I want to say to you.

3. Thank you for always being there and for making me feel appreciated. Thank you for all the hugs that always cheer me up. Just thank you for being my friend. I would be lost without you.

4. I'm proud to call you my friend. I hope you know that, and feel proud to be my friend too instead of just seeing me as the kid that tags along.

5. If I ever come to one of your gigs then you will know who I am because I will be laughing at all the bad jokes. Thanks for all the stupid jokes on Twitter, and thanks for following me back so long ago and making me smile with your terrible puns. "OPRAH IS DEAD! TODAY'S MASSES PREFER LIGH ENTERTAINMENT AND MUSICALS!"

6. I can't wait to see you again. It's amazing how someone I haven't known for long has already made such an impact on my life. I'm looking forward to seeing this new hair of yours too.

7. I feel like we are drifting apart, which sucks as I see you every day. I worry about you a lot, and I wish you wouldn't make fun of my height. You're like an irritating little sister that I never had, but it's okay because I know you don't mean it. I love you, and I can't wait to be well again so I can take the piss out of you.

8. If Michael McIntyre doesn't make you laugh so hard you nearly cry when we go to see him, I may never speak to you again.

9. We've been friends pretty much as long as I remember. I'm already dreading you going off to university because I know I'm going to miss you so much. Trying to convince people we're really sisters... good times. We must do it again.

10. I've only met you once but I, like pretty much every other teenage girl on the planet, want to steal you. Or maybe just try and bottle that feeling you give people when they stand near you... You radiate happiness in gas form. I can't wait to see you again when you're back in the UK.

That is all.

and the verdict is...

... I have a chest infection.

I've started to wheeze a bit when I breathe, and it hurts to swallow. When I turn my head too far sideways it feels like there's an elastic band snapping it back.

I'm still gonna go out on Saturday, I'll just feel a bit lonely that nobody will hug me for fear of getting my germs.

Saturday

"I thought sod it, nobody really cares what you look like, so the next day I wore a skirt, and I got whistled at by a builder! How good is that! Only it wasn't so much a wolf-whistle... more like a whistle like you would for a little dog."

Aah, Sarah Millican. How perfectly you encapture my own worries.

So, this is how it goes:
I know I'm not ugly, but I don't think I'm pretty.
I know I'm not fat, but I think I should be slimmer.
I know nobody would care if I wore a skirt, but I don't think it would do me any favours.

So, on Saturday, assuming I'm not dead, I'm thinking about wearing a skirt to My Passion. I kind of wish I was taller and curvier and older and made people say WOW when I walked in the room. It doesn't help that my friends are all taller than me and totally amazing looking. I wish I made the impact on guys where the idea of me wearing a skirt would make them sort of shocked.

Screw it, I'm wearing a skirt and leggings. And if anyone insults my legs I will get my friends to deck them.

illlllllll...

Today is day #10 of The Cough, and day #2 of Staying At Home.

I feel really lethargic, and my chest is really tight. I'm developign a bit of a wheeze.

Still, can't complain.

On a lighter note, I'm toying with the idea of setting up a Kitty Hat Awards poll later this year to co-incide with the end of year Kerrang! readers' poll. So far categories include Most Famous Person To Wear The Kitty Hat, Best Pose In The Kitty Hat and Person Who Most Enjoyed Wearing The Kitty Hat. Thus far this year, Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach may well win all three of these categories...

Plectrum status: safe, soon to be around my neck again.

"Straight as a die"

"When you looked at yourself in the mirror this morning, did you think that you were straight as a die? Because there are a lot of bad people in this world who aren't."

This was what my head teacher said in assembly this morning.

Now, I know that "straight as a die" just means unbiased, but the way that my headmistress kept on repeating that phrase made me feel somewhat uncomfortable, and she was staring at some girls in the year above me who are openly gay.

I dunno... something about the way she kept saying it made it sound very homophobic. Maybe I'm just paranoid and looking for reasons to dislike her more, as I already dislike her already.

Oh, and this deserves a blog post...

MY PLECTRUM HAS BEEN FIXED.

Past Two Days...

How do I sum them up?

Here are just a few highlights:

FRIDAY
- There being no queue for The King Blues an hour before doors...
- There being a massive queue as soon as the rain stopped
- Being the youngest person in the room
- Wondering with Bee and Ashleigh if the guy on the balcony was Matthew from Madina Lake (he was in Glasgow, so no)
- Getting to second row no trouble
- Mass dance along to pretty much every song
- Having the gig recorded for a live DVD
- Having Jamie Jazz and Itch grin at me a lot for knowing all the words and being so near the barrier
- Seeing Enter Shikari stage invade
- Hearing What If Punk Never Happened live
- High-fiving Rou from Enter Shikari. St Albans pride!
- Laughing at Bee and Ashleigh dancing along to Friday Night Boys at Hatfield Station

SATURDAY
- Getting to bed at midnight and getting up at 3
- Sleeping on the pavement for an hour
- Hanging out with Jasmin and Adele all day
- Talking to Jacoby and Tobin through a window
- Getting quick hugs off the Leone brothers pre-gig
- "We must bottle the happy sunshiny-ness! They should sell it and use it as medication!"
- Barrier for Heaven's Basement and Madina Lake <3
- Nathan deciding to do a running jump offstage and doing a flip in midair before crowdsurfing.
- Chatting to Heaven's Basement. They're lovely.
-Missing the last bus to wait for Jacoby
- Meeting and hatting three of Papa Roach and all of Madina Lake
- Having Jacoby Shaddix and Matthew Leone tell me they loved me xD
- Video recording Matthew apologising to my parents for being so late

Scary Thoughts

1) Twitter is/was/will be broken!

2) I turn 18 in 2 years, 10 months and 28 days. And then my perfect little world will end and I will be faced with REALITY >.<

3) Today is the last day I will be able to blog till Sunday. Expect me to be shattered and very sore.

Plectrum status: hopefully getting done over the weekend.

PS - Lostprophets and The Blackout are playing a show in Lincoln on a Saturday, which isn't that far to drive... only it's 16+ and they ID. FAIL.

Music blog!

So I feel like doing a blog of my current top 10 songs. Let's see how this pans out. And so, in no particular order:

1) Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't) - All Time Low
Poppy, punky, catchy and with a funny-as music video. It's an all round party song, really. So go on, get movin' and shakin' to warm up for their comeback in 2010!

2) Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Do I even need a reason to list this? One of the all-time great tracks of all time, regardless of genre.

3) Uprising - Muse
"It's time the fat cats had a heart attack" croons Matt Bellamy. Sounds like he's not too happy about the recession either...

4) Rooftops - Lostprophets
If you only know one song by the 'Prophets, it's almost guaranteed it's this one. And there's a reason for it: it's amazing.

5) London Is The Reason - Gallows
The local boys from Watford play this, and ouch. It's like having your ears attacked by a barbed wire bomb. Still some excellent pissed-off punk though.

6) Let's Hang The Landlord - The King Blues
Feel-good political ska-punk anyone? Anyone? No? Well tough, it's good and it's hear to stay. If this doesn't make you smile you better have a good excuse.

7) There Will Be Rain - Young Guns
I have the hook to this written on my PSE folder. I guess it just reminds me somehow to look past the bad times, because there will always be good times afterwards.

8) Friends & Lovers - Madina Lake
There's something about this song that just gets me. Maybe because it's so personal; it's like listening to the Leones mid-flow in a therapy session.

9) This Charming Man - The Smiths
Come on. You know you know it. There's no way round it. Just smile and sing along.

10) Friday I'm In Love - The Cure
It can't be terribly nice to be Robert Smith's girlfriend, knowing he only loves you 1/7th of the time...

Kerrang! tour

So the worst kept secret in rock history has finally been announced publically: the Kerrang! Relentless Tour 2010 Lineup. I knew from Monday because Rhys told me, but it's lovely to hear it announced properly.

ALL TIME LOW - headliners are pop-puk perfection.
THE BLACKOUT - proof that Wales can turn out more decent bands than your face.
YOUNG GUNS - I travelled to Colchester for them. Enough said.
MY PASSION - local boys making it scarily big (apparently replacement for Family Force 5)

So, yeah. Good lineup. I'm amused by all the hater comments on kerrang.com
I just bought my tickets for the London gig.

I'm also gonna try and make as many others as possible, ideally Cardiff, Dublin, Glasgow, Birmingham, Southampton, Bristol and Norwich thrown in there too XD

Plectrum status: remind me to get it fixed before Lostprophets

Unrelated postscript - supports for Lostprophets are going up on Monday, rumoured to be Kids In Glass Houses and The Blackout. If that happens I may well scream.

Ouch

Remind me not to be third row. It's the most painful row I've ever been in, or maybe it was just the fact that ATL teenies are vicious.

My foot which I fucked up in Colchester (week and a half ago) was beter, but now it's worse again. It's in a TubiGrip.

On the plus side, yesterday I:
- Saw The Friday Night Boys
- Saw The Audition for the 3rd time
- Saw All Time Low properly for the first time
- Found Rhys, Gav and Bob of The Blackout and ended up hanging out with Rhys and Bob for about 10 minutes because I couldn't find my friends
- Said hi to 4/5 of Young Guns (missed Gus, boo!)
- Got my hat on Tim of The Audition
- Got my hat on RIAN OF ALL TIME LOW

Successful day.

Plectrum status: needs the ring so I can get it on a chain.

Instore

Instore was a good day but it was hard to feel it, everyone was pretty emotional. I had the worst excuse to beand yet I was probably the most down, which failed.

Ticket hasn't arrived for ATL on Monday yet. Fail. If it doesn't arrive tomorrow I get my money back but still, i hope it does. The Blackout are probably turning up now as well. Fail :(

Music theory

FUCK MUSIC THEORY
I DO NOT CARE HOW TO TRANSPOSE MUSIC INTO TENOR CLEF.
I DO NOT CARE HOW TO WORK OUT THE MINOR FROM MAJOR.
AND I ESPECIALLY DO NOT CARE WHAT ORDER ALL THE BLOODY FLATS GO IN.

That is all.

Plectrum status: hopefully getting a new/fixed chain tomorrow.

Yesterday...

was pretty fun.

Can't be bothered to write everything down that happened, so here's a quick cosolidation:

- Panda and Travis singing Shout Of The Devil outside the venue
- Doing the Tick Tock dance for real
- Making fun of Jonni
- Chatting with Mark about the Kerrang! tour
- The Mission District doing a cover of I Gotta Feeling (Black Eeyed Peas)/Don't Trust Me (3OH!3)
- Stage invasion during a cover of Just Dance/Bilie Jean/Disturbia
- Getting six Canadian cents from Travis to pay for my kitty hat
- Sarah nearly falling asleep on a sofa

Good day.

Fuck. School.

So right now Bee, Ashleigh and Panda are all hanging out. I wish I was there as it'd be something more fun to do, and I miss them - last time I saw Bee and Ashleigh was a week and a half ago. That seems like a really long time.

I had a full day at school so no chance of getting over. That and now I have about three hours' homework, if I'm lucky...

Oh, and then I have school on Monday so I won;t get to All Time Low, and knowing my luck my friends won't be able to save me a space so I'll be not only at the back of the queue but also on my own.

So. Like I said. Fuck school. I'm soon going to be unable to move under the weight of all the pointless homeworks.

-does the "lack of money" dance-

I am coming to All Time Low on Monday 5th!

I just hope my friends can save a space for me... if they can't I am sca-rehwed >.<

But Iamcomingiamcomingiamcoming *more dancing*

I actually had more money than I thought, I still have £15 left in my moneybox and about £350 left in my bank...

Plectrum status: on the lookout for a new chain tomorrow.

Join In The Twitter Resolution!

#ashleightakesgoodphotos

Tweet it, motherfrickers.

Colchester times!

So, I should try and explain what Colchester was like... I'll start by saying it was ODD.

Dad dropped Kelly and I off at about midday. We checked out the venue, and then tried to follow a subway van to subway. We gave up and got a proper sit-down meal... and then found Subway.

We went for another walk to Sainsbury's and bought ourselves biscuits and fruit juice... and muffins for the bands :')

After we got back to the venue, we had a singalong to some stuff on my iPod - Bon Jovi, Pink, Simple Plan, Avenged Sevenfold, and Lostprophets. A bit later, some teenage girls called Emily and Bronte turned up, and after they found out we weren;t from Colchester we got dragged to a skatepark by Emily (who is possibly the most fucked up person I have ever met) at the other end of town. We introduced ourselves as Panda (as ever) and Koala (from Simon's quote last Monday, "she's like a koala!") Ilong walk to get to the skatepark. Then we were getting worried about the venue so we walked back, which talk about half an hour.

By the time we got back, the bands had all pulled up and parked on the curb. Bandmembers came and went - Gus came out and had a lovely chat to us, and we gave Jonny/Joe from The Casino Brawl some muffins. Hearing a high-pitched northern voice screaming "MUFFINS!!!" was actually hilarious.

Queues turned up, and then we were allowed inside. We made a beeline for the front and ended up either side of a pillar which was holding up the ceiling.

First band were called Oceans Upon Us, they were pretty good. Lead singer had "Fancy a shag? =)" written on the inside of his shoe, it cracked me up.

Next were Kelly's new favourite band, The Casino Brawl. The slightly pervy bassist was fighting with Jonny/Joe the whole time to stand in front of her... Still, they played a pretty awesome set ^^

And then... Young Guns. Gus was right in front of us and sang to both of us quite a bit. Stroking faces, as usual. Before they started playing, Simon told me not to faint again. Bless him. As ever, YG were amazing - heard a couple of new songs, had Gus hanging off a beam singing straight to me, and tried to get Gus to do the macerena (he failed).

After that we were off to chat to Young Guns and get everything signed. Apparently I followed Gus round like a puppy (okay... maybe I did. A little) getting permanent hugs off him. Kelly had a lovely long conversation about weddings with Jonny/Joe, and I just chatted to all of Young Guns and a few of The Casino Brawl... oh, and Deaf Havana's drummer, who remembered me ^^

A few notable highlights, in no particular order, were:
- Jonny/Joe offering me some of his Cookie Brown drink, which i declined and then stole. It tasted weird. Kelly had some too.
- Getting Simon of YG, Adam, Jonny/Joe and the drummer of TCB in my kitty hat
- Seeing Gus onstage with Deaf Havana. When he got off stage, he kissed someone on the cheek and i asked him what I had to do for a kiss. It turned out all I had to do was ask.
- Getting a drumstick from Deaf Havana's drummer
- Eternal Gus hugs
- Picking up Gus, Simon, Ben, John, Fraser, DH's drummer and a couple of techs, all of whom were a) impressed b) emasculated and c) shocked to learn I was 15.
- Fraser trying to persuade the drummer of TCB to wear my hat and succeeding
- Being picked up by Adam of TCB
- Being somewhat molested by both Simon and Adam
- Singing Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes to Gus... in Norweigan. He looked "confused, but I like this" according to Kelly.
- Seeing Simon crowdsurf
- Having a chat with the miserable techy and giving him a hug
- Kelly inviting pretty much all the band people to her wedding
- John from YG saying he wasn't drinking and would be doing the driving (I think I love that man. Bless him, he's so sweet)
- Smelling of Gus on the way home. My hoodie and my hat still smell of him. Love.

It makes me sad to think I won't see YG again until March, or January at the earliest. If we have money and depending on the date, we might try and go see TCB in London.

So, that was my day. Kelly and I just slept on the way home. Good day.

Plectrum status: around. Wish I could've worn it to the gig, YG especially would've appreciated the story behind it.

UPDATE - I was right. His name is Jonny.