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.