Exams are over. Time for Holidays!

Right, exams are over, relaxation has been very much had; I think it's time for a return!

As it turned out the much vaunted "stress of exams" turned out to be not very stressful at all. As soon as you sit down in your chair it's as if all the pressure has been released, you know what you know and accept your faith, whatever it may be. A surge of adrenaline brings details you never thought you could remember to the forefront of your cortex and suddenly, you realise, you can do this.

So exams went well but that's all over, the important thing is Summer! And a strange feeling this Summer is. I am no longer a pupil, I am not yet a student. I have no idea what the end of this Summer will bring except adventure. So to make the most of it, 9 of my friends and I are heading west next week for a week-long holiday in The Maharees of Kerry for sun, surf and sand.

 

Of course the above image and hopes are a bit idealised. What we'll probably end up with is clouds and rain, some very cold surfing (still extremely fun) and many evenings spent in the local pub drinking to our hearts delight. But what we're looking forward to most of all is the simple craic of freedom. I'll try to post updates while we're down there but even a simple internet signal is very much a luxury we probably won't be getting.

But who cares, there'll be stories to tell when we return, stories of drunken escapades, wetsuit rash, sociopathic pranks and "genius" ideas. Until then I leave you with this, make the most of this Summer, it may be the last you ever spend with all your friends. Make it last a lifetime.

Over and out.

Avengers Review! - Not

Okay I know I should be reviewing Avengers Assemble right now but I'm simply too tired so I thought I'd give you a quick update instead. That review will come soon.

Leaving Cert Construction Studies Day Practical was today, basically a four hour practical exam without power tools and a whole lotta stress. The piece looked simple enough but unfortunately I ran out of time and my project remained unfinished, but in a reasonable state. I found the time constraints to be unreasonable as such a rush seemed inadequate for a delicate piece as which we were making. But I digress, it's done now and it's up to next year's poor bastards to complain.

Looked a bit like this, but then again they look a bit like this every year.

Exams are fast approaching and I think I've just realised that now, updates may become sparse over the next month as I dig in for some hopefully successful cramming, although I suppose my readers will be doing the same. Good luck to you all by the way, it's been hard going and we all need a break, but the rewards will come for our actions now. I just want to see the first one to crack and go bonkers. Offering odds of 2/5 on Mark Ennet ;).

Over and out.

F.C.J. Orchestra - End of an Era

On Friday the 13th (true story), an era came to an end in F.C.J.; the last students to have bared witness to the manic genius that was Mr. Gearoid Grant played their final concert in the uniform of questionably green taste.

The concert was undoubtedly our best performance, not necessarily for the orchestra, but for the several side projects put together entirely by us the students, such as the fantastic Choral Group; singing Dog Days by Florence & The Machine, which was put together by the magnificently talented Hannah Deacon. (Bonus points for us learning that song in 2 hours the day before surely?)
Next up was the Jazz Group, arranged and sort of conducted by Chris Redmond, with our 'alternate' interpretation of Nina Simone's Feelin' Good. A (small) mention for the Trad Group too I suppose.

But this night wasn't really about the performance, this night was about the 6th years, who shall soon be departing and separating. I have the pleasure of truthfully saying I got to spend 6 years with a group of outstandingly talented and versatile people, I've beheld rip-roaring sax groups, hauntingly beautiful Irish airs and had some amazing jam sessions with the Drum and Bass section. It was never always about the music though, it was about the time spent together and the laughs we shared on those weekday evenings.

We were a group of distinct people in those far off days of first year, but heralded into a small music room by the chaos incarnate Grant, we soon melded together for fear of him singling us out, we were the last of such groups to be hazed in his amazing way, I pity the next couple of year groups behind us, they never had that shared experience, they appear worse off for it.

We went halfway across the world with each other and not a bad thought was shared between us, we're one great big, slightly weird, family. We took America by storm (okay maybe a strong breeze), but it was our time together there that made the trip, that picture on Time Square, Bohemian Rhapsody on the bus, Paul the bus driver. The memories will live forever.

So I guess this is a lament, a eulogy, a goodbye, we may never share the performing stage as a group together, but I hope though we go our separate ways we may always be a special group on that ever changing stage of life. I'll miss you guys.

Over and out.

Schools out!

Down side: Test starting on Monday
Up side: No more English class for three months! :D

It's hard to describe the sheer blandness of English class, to describe the voice of my teacher Ms. Howlin, only to say that if she were the one reading this to you you'd be deeply asleep. I sometimes forget I've even been in an English class.

And so we turn to tests (hopeful grades in brackets), English (B) itself is up first on Monday, for which study will not be needed, just a quick read over of apparently Nobel-prize winning poetry. Then to Music, Irish and DCG (B,B,A), Chemistry (A), Construction and Physics (A and A), and last day for Maths (another A). My test schedule has actually worked out fantastically, as anything I need to study for is on a solitary day. So hopes are high, yet I should probably be studying instead of blogging. Ah well.

Anyone willing to over me a job for the Summer?

Over and out.

Christ This is Not My Week...

I've returned!
After my lengthy hiatus (6 days? Wow...) I'm still not exactly feeling tip-top...

Let us start this tale at the end, I now have tonsillitis. I can swallow no more than soup and my several medications (penicillin, nurofen, merocaine and medijel), and it's incredibly difficult not to drown in my own spittle when sleeping. Therefore my mood is currently hungry, tired, drugged up and in pain.

All this has occurred in the week in which I have my Christmas exams, needless to say, an English exam is difficult to sit on a Monday morning, even more so when you haven't slept the night before, and have to recoil in pain every time you need to swallow. None the less I think it went quite well, as did my Irish, Construction, DCG, and Physics exams. I actually may have managed a perfect score in DCG and Physics, something to comfort me as I sit here, angry at my soup (as usual it's tomato).

I've somewhat recovered from my sudden relationship termination last Friday, though I won't force you to listen to the gory details...

Hopefully I'll return to my usual blogging schedule now (i.e. completely randomly), I'll be offering my view on the new Arkham City trailer soon enough (it's epic)... But for now I must leave you to go to Taekwon-Do (Yes, I'm also a martial artist, its awesome). Until next time my audience...

Over and out.

Day 9 In The House: Snow Madness Amongst The Housemates...

The snow has still not departed, it was on the way today, and should have been gone tomorrow, but today Met Eireann (Irish weather service, for those my non-Irish audience) announced it will snow again tonight.
Balls.

I haven't seen my girlfriend in 10 days now, and that's likely going to extend to 13 days at least. We missed our 2 month anniversary today, and she will not allow me to walk the 20 or so miles to her house, for fear of killing myself on the ice...

Needless to say, I'm very annoyed, very bored, and very cold.
I actually NEED to go to school, and be told to do something... My sanity is teetering over the edge without a purpose to fulfill.

I may not last much longer.

Over and out.

A Curse in Monochrome Disguise?

Saturday Morning: 7am. I woke up to find everything outside covered in a blanket of glorious snow, it made me happy, even more so when I realised I wouldn't have to go to work. So, after a moment of elation I went back to bed.

Saturday Evening: It doesn't look like the snow is leaving, the roads are lethally dangerous, and I remain cautiously optimistic that there will be no school on Monday, and hence I won't have to sit my impending exams that I haven't studied for...

Sunday Afternoon: The snow remains, even without the official word, Ive given up on even trying to study for exams. Soon after, the glorious notification arrives and Facebook practically explodes with joy at the news...

Monday Morning, 5am: I've stayed up to watch the last days play of the first Ashes Test, which you probably don't want to hear about...

Monday Evening: More snow, more good news, no school on Tuesday, which means more missed exams! This weekend gets better as it gets longer....  But I'm never going to be able to concentrate on studying for those tests now. Curse that fun fun snow...

Over and out