Today is the last day of the school term. Knowing as you must that I ended school weeks ago, this might to you seem inconsequential. But to me it is a huge event. My mum works at school, so today is also her last day of work until September.
Still not with me? I'll try again. Since I finished my GCSEs, I have enjoyed the luxury of spending five hours every day all on my own in the house. This has given me great freedom to do whatever I wanted, for however long I wanted. If I wanted to sit on the floor of the living room and eat sunflower seeds for three hours, that is what I could do. I was at liberty to watch films to my heart's content, and bring my entire bed downstairs, pillows and all, so I could fall asleep on the sofa. No-one was going to tell me I couldn't.
But now, those days are over. Not that I begrudge my parents the right to live in their own house, but it's impossible to laze around all day when someone else is doing constructive things around you. It certainly never fails to make me feel guilty, and I am forced to heave myself up from the sofa/floor/table and go do something useful.
I have a friend who is terrified of being in the house alone. She sits in the kitchen armed with a frying pan and waits nervously for the burglar to approach, jumping at loud noises. Unsurprisingly, I take the opposite view. Although I did have a scare one night when my sister and parents were all out on the town. (That made me feel very frumpy.) Emma was due back at 10pm; my parents later. When it got to 11pm and she still wasn't home, I became very jumpy and ended up sitting in silence by the phone, waiting for the inevitable call. As it turned out, unbeknownst to me, she had phoned my parents and filled them in on the new plan of coming home later. But the incident does serve as an example of one time when being home alone was definitely not fun.
Maybe once I'm forced to rethink my lazy routine, I will actually get up and do something constructive with my time. But I would prefer to be able to choose when to be constructive and when not to. There are some days when you just don't feel right unless you're almost invisible beneath three blankets, watching season after season of Friends. Ah, summer days...
Friday, 22 July 2011
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Day 15
I consider myself in no way a film expert. I never know the director of a movie, I can't comment on a producer's portfolio and I haven't seen films like The Italian Job and Lassie. But I do watch a lot of films: at least two a week. So while I'm not a film expert, I do think I'm a film lover.
The aspect of my film-loving that most confuses my family is my habit of watching each film twice. And by that I don't mean twice in the whole period of owning the DVD, or twice in the same week; I mean twice in the same day. I watch it in the morning or over lunch, then I watch it again in the evening. I consider it a sort of summary of the film. Going over what I've learnt. Maybe I've been in the school system too long.
Of course it takes double the amount of time out of my day to watch the film twice, but as I've mentioned in previous posts I've had a lot of time on my hands lately. In school-time I'm often more flexible and consent to watch the film twice in the same week, or same fortnight. It's only in the holidays that I find the time to fully enjoy the film by watching it twice.
I think the appeal is roughly the same as re-reading a book. I'm a particular fan of sappy romantic comedies and love stories e.g. Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones' Diary. Therefore there's a particular satisfaction in watching all the tangled events throughout the film, safe in the knowledge that the guy gets the girl in the end. Also, I find that when I don't have to concentrate on the dialogue and plot, I notice facial expressions and subtle foreshadowing. You might now argue that this is true when re-watching the film in question a few weeks later, but I am very easily distracted day to day, and I know myself well enough to be certain that in a few weeks' time, I'll have forgotten about this film and never find the time to watch it again. Therefore my only option to get the benefit of re-watching the movie before I forget about it is to re-watch it in the next few days.
I want to know if I'm alone in this habit, because my parents and older sister certainly think that no-one in their right mind would watch the same film twice in one day. Maybe I am alone in this, and I'll just have to accept it as a strange quirk and keep my 'second screenings' secret. Ah well, just another secret quirk to add to the list.
The aspect of my film-loving that most confuses my family is my habit of watching each film twice. And by that I don't mean twice in the whole period of owning the DVD, or twice in the same week; I mean twice in the same day. I watch it in the morning or over lunch, then I watch it again in the evening. I consider it a sort of summary of the film. Going over what I've learnt. Maybe I've been in the school system too long.
Of course it takes double the amount of time out of my day to watch the film twice, but as I've mentioned in previous posts I've had a lot of time on my hands lately. In school-time I'm often more flexible and consent to watch the film twice in the same week, or same fortnight. It's only in the holidays that I find the time to fully enjoy the film by watching it twice.
I think the appeal is roughly the same as re-reading a book. I'm a particular fan of sappy romantic comedies and love stories e.g. Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones' Diary. Therefore there's a particular satisfaction in watching all the tangled events throughout the film, safe in the knowledge that the guy gets the girl in the end. Also, I find that when I don't have to concentrate on the dialogue and plot, I notice facial expressions and subtle foreshadowing. You might now argue that this is true when re-watching the film in question a few weeks later, but I am very easily distracted day to day, and I know myself well enough to be certain that in a few weeks' time, I'll have forgotten about this film and never find the time to watch it again. Therefore my only option to get the benefit of re-watching the movie before I forget about it is to re-watch it in the next few days.
I want to know if I'm alone in this habit, because my parents and older sister certainly think that no-one in their right mind would watch the same film twice in one day. Maybe I am alone in this, and I'll just have to accept it as a strange quirk and keep my 'second screenings' secret. Ah well, just another secret quirk to add to the list.
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Day 12
First, a confession.
I thought that when the holidays started, I'd have plenty of time to do whatever I wanted. I'd learn all sorts of new skills and improve the ones I'd already got. I'd have lots of fantastic experiences like they show in the holiday brochures and make this a summer I'd never forget. How could that not happen in two completely free months?
Predictably, that didn't happen. In fact, most of my days so far have been divided between three websites: Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.
For me, the attraction of social networking is the anticipation of what's going to pop up next. On Twitter, I follow about a hundred people who all tweet interesting things. This makes me reluctant to leave the website, because the next tweet to pop up might just change my life. And if it did, how relieved I would be that I didn't leave the site! But then the next tweet appears, and it's a picture of a dog wearing glasses. Cute, but hardly groundbreaking.
Regarding Facebook, I tell myself that I use it to keep up with friends. And it's true that I do sometimes contact my friends on there. But surely a conversation as simple as "what time should I come round yours?" "about 11" "cool" shouldn't take hours to complete. All that I do on Facebook (and I'm sure I'm not alone) is scroll down the homepage skim-reading statuses. Occasionally I see someone who I haven't visited in a while, so I spend twenty minutes looking through their photos and marvelling at how happy they look - presumably happier than I look, staring at the screen.
Why do I do this? I must have something better to do with my time than read other people's thoughts in 140 characters or less, look at photos of people I barely know getting drunk and watch grainy home movies of skateboarding puppies, which is how the majority of my Youtube time is spent. What about all the interesting things I was going to do this summer?
Maybe I need to stop hiding behind my laptop screen and tell people the things I share face-to-face. Mind you, it'll take a long time to tell every one of my facebook friends what I did today. If you need me, I'll be cycling around the area knocking on doors.
I thought that when the holidays started, I'd have plenty of time to do whatever I wanted. I'd learn all sorts of new skills and improve the ones I'd already got. I'd have lots of fantastic experiences like they show in the holiday brochures and make this a summer I'd never forget. How could that not happen in two completely free months?
Predictably, that didn't happen. In fact, most of my days so far have been divided between three websites: Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.
For me, the attraction of social networking is the anticipation of what's going to pop up next. On Twitter, I follow about a hundred people who all tweet interesting things. This makes me reluctant to leave the website, because the next tweet to pop up might just change my life. And if it did, how relieved I would be that I didn't leave the site! But then the next tweet appears, and it's a picture of a dog wearing glasses. Cute, but hardly groundbreaking.
Regarding Facebook, I tell myself that I use it to keep up with friends. And it's true that I do sometimes contact my friends on there. But surely a conversation as simple as "what time should I come round yours?" "about 11" "cool" shouldn't take hours to complete. All that I do on Facebook (and I'm sure I'm not alone) is scroll down the homepage skim-reading statuses. Occasionally I see someone who I haven't visited in a while, so I spend twenty minutes looking through their photos and marvelling at how happy they look - presumably happier than I look, staring at the screen.
Why do I do this? I must have something better to do with my time than read other people's thoughts in 140 characters or less, look at photos of people I barely know getting drunk and watch grainy home movies of skateboarding puppies, which is how the majority of my Youtube time is spent. What about all the interesting things I was going to do this summer?
Maybe I need to stop hiding behind my laptop screen and tell people the things I share face-to-face. Mind you, it'll take a long time to tell every one of my facebook friends what I did today. If you need me, I'll be cycling around the area knocking on doors.
Friday, 8 July 2011
Day 4
When I wrote my last post, the sun was shining and I was feeling guilty for sitting inside on such a glorious day. Fortunately, today I was spared this guilt because from 6am to 4pm, it rained. Hard.
I'll say it straight out: I love the rain. The stormier the better. There's something intensely satisfying and cosy about being indoors as a storm rages outside. Perhaps it's a triumphant feeling, as I almost feel I have beaten the weather by staying inside where it can't touch me. Or perhaps it's simply the comforting effects of the sound. I found a website recently that serves no purpose but to play a looped track of rain against a windowpane. And however much companies market 'relaxing' songs to de-stress and sleep, a simple soundtrack of rain will always be king of relaxation.
You may say that that's all very well, but what about when I have to be outside and exposed to the elements? Surely rain can't be as comforting when it's drumming incessantly on the top of your head. Well, yesterday I went on a 22-mile bike ride with a friend, and shortly after leaving the heavens opened. They stayed open for about ten miles. Of course it wasn't ideal that my camera and ipod should become wet through, and I should get spattered with mud all over, but I didn't notice any of that because I was too busy feeling exhilirated. I soon decided that there is nothing more exciting than to cycle fast through a mini-storm.
So it always baffles me when people complain about summer storms. Every time rain rolls around, weathermen admit that they bear tidings of gloom and, apologising profusely, tell us that we'll have to stay in for one more day. Personally, I rejoice at the news. It's just another excuse to curl up with a blanket and watch films for a few hours. In that case, I would love it if it rained 24/7, all year round. Bring on the thunderstorm.
I'll say it straight out: I love the rain. The stormier the better. There's something intensely satisfying and cosy about being indoors as a storm rages outside. Perhaps it's a triumphant feeling, as I almost feel I have beaten the weather by staying inside where it can't touch me. Or perhaps it's simply the comforting effects of the sound. I found a website recently that serves no purpose but to play a looped track of rain against a windowpane. And however much companies market 'relaxing' songs to de-stress and sleep, a simple soundtrack of rain will always be king of relaxation.
You may say that that's all very well, but what about when I have to be outside and exposed to the elements? Surely rain can't be as comforting when it's drumming incessantly on the top of your head. Well, yesterday I went on a 22-mile bike ride with a friend, and shortly after leaving the heavens opened. They stayed open for about ten miles. Of course it wasn't ideal that my camera and ipod should become wet through, and I should get spattered with mud all over, but I didn't notice any of that because I was too busy feeling exhilirated. I soon decided that there is nothing more exciting than to cycle fast through a mini-storm.
So it always baffles me when people complain about summer storms. Every time rain rolls around, weathermen admit that they bear tidings of gloom and, apologising profusely, tell us that we'll have to stay in for one more day. Personally, I rejoice at the news. It's just another excuse to curl up with a blanket and watch films for a few hours. In that case, I would love it if it rained 24/7, all year round. Bring on the thunderstorm.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Day 1
It has been exactly one week since I did my last GCSE, and the novelty of freedom is starting to wear off. Sitting in front of the tv and surfing the internet all day, every day, does have its attractions (after all, there are 120,000,000 videos on youtube which I have yet to watch), but this morning I realised that I was in danger of missing a whole summer of my life to youtube, facebook and twitter. And they've taken enough of my time already. Morecambe and Wise are as funny as Love Actually is festive, but watching either means sitting inside on the sofa while the sun shines on. And I'm missing it. So for the purpose of reminding me at regular intervals what I should be doing, I've started a blog.
Which, conveniently, is what you're reading now. I have plenty of time on my hands and the freedom to do great things with it, so this is an opportunity not to be missed. In 57 days I'll be back at school, starting my A Levels, and think what horrific amounts of work await me there. In the meantime, I'll update this blog. It can be my summer project.
I'll just try and remember to post.
Which, conveniently, is what you're reading now. I have plenty of time on my hands and the freedom to do great things with it, so this is an opportunity not to be missed. In 57 days I'll be back at school, starting my A Levels, and think what horrific amounts of work await me there. In the meantime, I'll update this blog. It can be my summer project.
I'll just try and remember to post.
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