The Kitchener

Yum... Chocolate chip cookies. Today I performed the manly task of baking cookies. They were pretty good actually. I can never get cookies to be perfect circles though. But I was happy enough that the house wasn't burnt to a crisp by the time I was finished (I was home alone). I think Mom might have been upset if that had happened.

Mainly the only thing I watch on television is Food Network - if I want to see anything else I just use Surfthechannel.com.

Cooking and baking just seem extremely fun to me. How macho, right? I think it's the chemistry involved - seeing all the little reactions and products. Like on Boxing Day, when we made a huge lunch, I offered to make the cheese sauce for the vegetables. It involved making a white sauce, which involved making a roux, something I'd seen done many times on television and was extremely eager to try at home. A roux is a thickening agent made of equal parts flour and butter. After cooking that for a bit, I added the milk. For the first couple of minutes, I was scared that I'd done something wrong, as I often do when I cook, because the milk remained the same consistency. Eventually though, it began to thicken up and when that happened, it happened fast! In no time, I was stirring a saucepan of extremely thick, creamy white sauce and frankly, I was ecstatic at having done it properly. Those are the small things that make time in the kitchen a joy.

But mainly the things I make are foreign dishes and I really want to get more into the local cuisine (Mom will teach me). You guys who aren't from Trinidad have to try:

-Curried Chana and Aloo(Chick Pea and Potato Curry)

-Doubles (Street food but so good - I could eat a million of these)

-Trinidadian Curried Chicken

-Callaloo

-Paratha Roti (which is a bit different to it's original Indian namesake) *with curried chicken

-Dhalpuri Roti *with curried chicken

-Stewed Chicken

I've mostly listed the Indian influenced dishes as that's what I'm exposed to being of Indian descent.

But the Indian and Creole culinary influences mix here, to produce a variety of interesting and absolutely delicious dishes. We can be a bit conceited at times though, always complaining how bland American and British cuisine is in comparison. But that's mainly the ignorant view of the less exposed - though our food really is THAT good =)

Two down... Four to go!!

Remember those books I got? Well I finished I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak and The Giver by Lois Lowry. 

I Am The Messenger

Once again, I was blown away with Zusak's writing style. He narrates this story in the 1st person as Ed Kennedy, the epitome of mediocrity. Ed is an underage cabdriver whose life until now has been absolutely uninteresting in every possible way. He has only three real friends, a smelly, glutenous but lovable excuse for a dog and his mother hates him. But everything changes after Ed's uncharacteristic reaction to a bank robbery. He begins receiving playing cards in the mail, aces with address and names. Ed Kennedy becomes the Messenger. 

Zusak's style is a favourite of mine. He narrates the story with a casual sort of language that seems real, if you know what I mean. Also his ability to not get lost in details is well respected. The characters still manage to appear real and Zusak is able to conjure up emotions in the reader, for the characters but he does so without a lot of unnecessary or dreary back-story and description. 

The one problem I found with this book is that (and I agree with the critics on this one) the ending is absolutely dreadful. The entire book flowed nicely and the ideas seemed well planned until the end of the story where it seems like Zusak got bored with the story and rushed off the ending because he was too tired to think of anything better. I mean, the whole book was rendered pointless by that epic failure of  an ending. 

I still recommend this book. Apart from the ending, it was really a good read and Zusak remains one of my favourite authors. 

The Giver is a more well known book. It is more a reflection on society, human nature and uniqueness than a casual read. It deals with the life of Jonas, a seemingly average youth growing up in the community. The story takes place sometime in the future when certain places adopt Sameness. Genetic scientists work to construct communities of people who do not see colour or hear music, who do not have religion nor birthdays. Everything is done orderly. Jobs are chosen for people, as are spouses and children. And there can only be 50 people of any age at one time. If more that 50 babies are born one year, they are 'released from the community' (killed - but the children do not know this), just as the Old are. The members of the community abide by the Rules which govern it and only one person is exempted from these rules, the Receiver. Jonas is chosen as the new Receiver and is trained by the old one, who is now known as the Giver. The Receiver holds the memories of times before Sameness and is held in high honor in the community. As Jonas learns though, he is horrified by what he discovers in the community and what has been lost due to the adoption of Sameness. 

I strongly recommend this book. The ideas and story are quite riveting and I promise you that the story will hold your interest from cover to cover. 

Okay it was good to get that out of my system... Now time to move on to The Host by Stephanie Meyer, then The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman ( I love a good controversial book - that's why I used to flaunt my Harry Potter's in church hehe), The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly and last but definitely not least, The Stand (Complete and Uncut edition) by Stephen King. That one I'm leaving for last, simply because of the sheer length of the damn thing! 

Those books are not related in anyway except that they are all fiction navels. I hate books that you have to consciously learn things from - like textbooks...

I really have my work cut out for me don't I. And there's the added stress of CSEC Examinations being in 4-5 months!! I'm going to be so stressed out! *Takes a deep breath and mentally prepares himself for the next couple of months*

The Day After Boxing Day...

Today was a long day.
Church.
Nan(Grandmother)'s House.
Häagen-Dazs.
And finally home to cosy up in front of the television set with my Dad and sister, watching a pirated copy of Julie & Julia. 

Today was the perfect representation of the spontaneously planned days which seem to be favourites around the holiday periods. My aunt and cousins from southern Trinidad came up north this morning and met us in church where we stayed for the entire service before taking off to my Nan's place for lunch. We exchanged gifts and hung out there for a few hours - well until the evening time and then my aunt and cousins left.
"I need a little 'pick me up'", says Dad. End of conversation... Häagen-Dazs it is!
After waiting nearly a half hour to be served, eating, and then waiting maybe another half hour for the bill, we drove home: My sister with our mother and me with our father (they were using separate vehicles). Wait! Did I say we drove home! Well not before popping into one of those illegal pirated DVD stores and buying a copy of Julie & Julia. We felt a bit guilty. Honestly we did. Especially after we've spent eons complaining about how lawless this place is and feigning disbelief at the fact that the business has actually been up and running for what? Over a year now? But lets be honest guys, disbelief doesn't exist in this country. ANYTHING happens here. But contributing to that rubbish really hit us hard - no matter how convenient those stores are.
Nevertheless, as soon as we found ourselves inside the house, into the DVD player popped Julie & Julia. I really enjoyed it! From the previews I had no idea hat it had anything to do with food nor blogs but it had looked very good anyway. The acting was great (I've refrained from using phenomenal here even though it was my 1st instinct, as  I'm a 14 year old kid with probably terrible judgement of movie quality) and the movie really had some good ideas -
1. Butter (note: not margarine) is probably the most amazing edible product ever created (Screw cholesterol).
2. Blogs should always have a point (unlike mine).
3. Cooking and French are awesome especially when paired together.

White Winter Hymnal

Ok, so the title of this post is a Fleet Foxes song... I'm addicted okay?! They really are amazing and that song gives me the Christmas chills.  
Today I finally got that Christmas feel. Yes, the decorations were up, the tree was up, sorrel was made... but the 'Christmas' was missing. I think it because there was a lot of clutter around the house and it was only properly cleaned up today. Plus today Mom made her Christmas Fruit Cakes. And it's 'Cakes' because she makes for the entire world!! There's one for her boss, one for her mother... hard to keep track really. I helped her bake them so they taste great (Naturally- I mean come on, it's me!).
I've also been blasting Fleet Foxes' tunes from my Macbook's Logitech speakers all day. Songs like Tiger Mountain Peasant Song, White Winter Hymnal, Ragged Wood  and Mykonos.
I guess a combination of all of the above brought out the 'Christmass feel' and not a second too early. Christmas is on Friday people!
Hmm... now something to make this post actually worth your reading it :D:
Um... Oh... got one - Yesterday my Dad saw a policeman on his motorcycle, hit a guy as he was trying to cross the highway (what's new kids) and not stop. The guy apparently flew as high as our ceiling according to Dad. The highway was completely clear too and yet the policeman managed to find a way to hit the guy. It was one of those awkward situations where two people need to pass each other but keep stepping to the same side. Ridiculous really.
Well there you go - Now you've officially not wasted your time. Bye!

Avatar in Trincity

I've been spoilt by being taken to Movie Towne over the last few years since they opened. But today, the dusty memories of the old Globe Cinema, before the was a Movie Towne, emerged from their spots along with my other childhood memories. What caused this? A visit to the cinema in Trincity Mall. You see, for some odd reason, Movie Towne (the most modern and well designed cinema in the country), was not showing Avatar in 3-D and in our desperation to see the movie as it was meant to be seen, my father bought tickets in the next most popular cinema, in Trincity Mall.
Now after being in Movie Towne, in the massive, steeply graded theaters with well padded seats, large screens, alert ushers and an unnaturally polite audience, Trincity was a joke. Not that I didn't enjoy the movie. After a while, your surroundings fade away anyway, like reading a book. But still at first it was a bit of a culture shock to see how the other half of the country watches movies; in obscenely flat, small theaters and with the screen above you (so you have to look up at it). There was barely any space between your seat and the one in front of you and the aisle runs straight down the center of the theater with seats on either sides so that no one gets the perfect middle seat - unlike Movie Towne where the aisles are on the sides.
Apparently we weren't the only people who decided to go there only for the 3-D as one guy said when he walked in, "This place realll shitty boy!" (Pardon my language)
But the odd comments during previews are always fun. There is this KFC advertisement, where a guy holding  a box of chicken, walks up to a girl trying to change a tyre. Just watch...


As this commercial was finishing up - a woman's comment flies above the audience from somewhere behind me. "I woulda' hit him with that spanner!!" *entire crowd laughs*
Yup those are the things that you don't experience in Movie Towne with all the posh, quiet type people. :D
Nevertheless, we enjoyed the movie. Avatar was great! I love the way they used the 3-D effects, not to throw things at you, but to make you aware of the subtle details in the forest, like a passing branch or falling sparkly things from the magical brain tree-thing. You can tell I paid attention to names. Not only were the effects and animation very well done but the story was quite good too. The idea behind the show seemed quite original and the story progresses nicely without getting lost in The People's world too much. A lot of effort was obviously put into the making of this film and that wasn't lost on me.
I definitely recommend seeing this, whether for the 3-D, story or action (which was quite good by the way).

La Musique

Music... Why are some people afraid to tell the truth about their musical tastes? I'm going to come out about mine right here -

-I listen to any genre: Rock, R&B, Pop, Hip-Hop, Rap(very few songs but still some), Reggae(who could deny Bob), Dance 

-I have Britney Spears songs on my iPod

-In general I think British artistes are better than American ones (no offense to anyone)

-I think Beyonce and Christina Aguilera have amazing voices.

-I've just discovered Florence + The Machine and I love Bird Song and Kiss With a Fist.

-I criticize my sister for listening to Disney artistes.

- I am sometimes known among my peers for listening to music that no one has ever heard of and I like that. 

- I think Taylor Swift is average at best.

I hate genre haters. People who hate Rap... or those who think Rock is for white boys...?? I hate people who listen to music to fit in with the crowd that listens to that music. 

People who want to have a decent musical career should not be promoted, signed to or associated with Disney!

There are my thoughts about music :D

Everyone should come out about their quirky musical likes-

I'd like to hear some in comments. Who are you most embarrassed about liking and who do you like the most?

Awkward Situations

Don't you just hate awkward moments? Today Add. Maths lessons was crowded as usual and I guess my reaching a few minutes late didn't help the situation much. Taking one of the few seats available (with another empty one next to me) I sat down and started taking out my books. 

Then she walked in. 

Oh God...

I could tell she felt the same way I did by the frantic movements of her eyes as she scanned the class room for another seat- any other seat. But alas, all had been occupied excepting the one beside me. We both stiffened up as she sat down and began removing her stationary from her bag.

Notebook....

Textbook...

Pen...

Just focus on your work Levi!!

Hard to with her next to me. Neither of us looked up. Neither of us spoke. Just scribbled in our books. 

It would've continued for the full 2 hours if Ms. Redon hadn't asked her to go sit next to another girl and help her. I love you Ms. Redon... 

Okay I guess you're wondering by now is who is this girl?

You see, this girl was the most sought after chick in Primary School. Yes, what is wrong with 9-12 year old boys these days?! But moving on... when we left primary school and entered Secondary School... I somehow got her mobile number. One text led to another and soon I was telling her that I liked her and she telling me that she liked me. Note that all this time we hadn't seen each other since we left Primary School. Well we left it at that I mean really... two 12 year olds like each other but never see each other, nothing is gonna happen there. That was 3 years ago and this is the first time I'm seeing her again. You'd think we'd be over that by now and we are somewhat... we obviously don't think of each other as liking us but for some reason - knowing that the last thing we really said to each other was that we secretly liked each other was a bit unnerving. *Sigh* And me being the shy, self-conscious guy that I am probably didn't help much...

Work, Work, Work...

Ah...vacation lessons, the reason kids think their parents are pessimistic sadists. I did too you know... but I've learned that when parents say that you have to throw away 2 years of your life preparing for some stupid and extremely flawed examination system, all the while fighting a barrage of unnecessary extra lessons and hearing them whine and complain about studying.... it's because they love you. Oh yeh I definitely accept that... I know that they care about me and want me to be happy but could they care a bit less? I know I'm probably sounding like a kid whose just being silly about the whole situation and you know what? - I would be... If I didn't do absolutely fine in school. And if I use that argument they start on forming good work habits. Now that is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard!! Good habits?? Come on guys you're going to have to do better than that...
I can change whenever I want to - The reason I don't is that I don't need to. When someone can show me that there actually is a problem with the way I treat work then I will take heed but 'till then...
But I don't know why I even bother resisting - When parents say you should study and go to lessons, they mean you will study and go to lessons or you can lose the internet, your computer, television and iPod. Not like there's much of a choice.
On that note - I wish parents would hit their kids more... okay, time for an explanation right? Well I don't mean beat them abusively (some might argue that those two words are redundant together) but a slap or whack now and then never hurt. Plus this whole new age thing about don't hit your kids has given rise to creative punishments like confiscations and bans - in other words, punishments that actually work to hurt  the kid.
Ah well you can see I have some issues to work through...
This is Levi and this has been yet another rant on work and parents (love them though!!)

Mom's Back

Mom's back from Florida!!

She gave me two of the books that I'd wanted and I told her to keep the other two for Christmas. Oh and she gave me my Crash Kings CD and quite a few shirts--

Okay so my Mom bought me clothes but... she's pretty good at it! I absolutely love the shirts she bought!

The books she gave me were I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak (author of my dearly beloved The Book Thief) and The Giver by this guy whose name I do not recall. I think I'll start with I Am The Messenger so expect some feedback on that one soon....ish :D depends on how much time I spend reading...

Surfthechannel.com

I haven't posted since December 9th?!!
Sowy... though it's not exactly the longest break I've taken between posts is it? Um... the reason I feel a bit guilty is because I don't have a good reason at all for not posting... What have I been doing the last few days?
Watching Heroes on surfthechannel.com

Okay so Heroes isn't exactly the most serious or realistic show but hey! That's just the type of TV I like so get over it.

Surfthechanel.com is a lifesaver! It's got me through so many situations of boredom at home it's unbelievable. All it is is a site that allows you to watch almost any television show from the first episode to the last by linking you to other sites. That's the way I like to watch TV. Not - They get married today but the next time you see the show they have a 4 year old son!!!
So the way I use it is to pick one show and watch it from start to finish.
So far I've watched
Scrubs
Lost
Supernatural
House MD
and now... Heroes.
The best place to watch them is Megavideo.com but it only allows you 72mins of viewing then you have to wait another 54mins before you can watch again.
To get around this you can use Hotspot Shield which generates a false ip address so that when your reguar address has been blocked for 54mins then you can use the false one.
Try it guys I get so hooked once I start watching.

The Last Day Of School

Today was the last day of school. Oddly, I don't feel quite liberated as yet but maybe as the vacation continues I will. But my opinion sure isn't shared by my friends. I was watching one of them after we'd finished our last exam today. He just plopped onto a bench at school with a sigh, as if all the hard work and stress of the term had been expelled in that one breath. It's nice to know that everyone else is feeling good about it.
So I'm ready for some irrationally late nights filled with television watching and the computer. Be expecting some more frequent posts I guess... hopefully if I'm not too preoccupied being lazy...

Day Three No Mom:

Mom's gone to Florida for my cousin's wedding. So we're home with Dad. Uh...oh.... Let's recap the events of the day...
Woke up at 6:30 (We usually wake up at 5:30 and leave home at 6:30...)
Went to school with no money or food...
Borrowed $5 from a friend.
Ate a butterball turkey breast sandwich after school at home.
Went to lessons.
Got back home and made mac and cheese... while Dad made grilled cheese by wrapping the sandwich in a banana leaf before putting it in a pan so that the cheese would melt before the bread burns...?? Weirdest thing I've seen in a while.
As you can tell, we're enjoying some nice gourmet meals while Mom's gone...
Ugh and Dad's letting the house keeper cook soup tomorrow... and my whole family loves soup but I hate the stuff... not her soup but just any Trinidadian Provision/Chicken Soup. Apparently no one here has heard of stock either so the only way to make it taste... well yeh that's it- to make it taste is by 'melting' pumpkin in it. And then comes the worst part - ground provisions!! Yuk! Dasheen and sweet potato and regular potato and whatever else they can dig up- literally. Those things aren't that bad separately but in soup....
Oh well enough ranting for today.
I ordered four books which my Mom will be bringing back for me :)
The Giver
The Golden Compass - never saw the movie... heard the book was awesome
The Stand by Steven King
Breathless
Can't wait for Mom to return though - for various obvious reasons... on the bright side if I make it through the soup we may get some fast food. Yay!

The Best Book I Have Ever Read...

Okay I've been wanting to scream this for the last couple of weeks, (I wasn't getting as much reading time as I'd hoped) but I resolved to do this only after having completely finished the book.
The Book Thief is the Best Book I Have Ever Read in my 14 years of being on this Earth. 

The story is well... different. Set in Nazi Germany, the main character, Liesel, simply lives her life haunted by her dead brother, suffering birth mother and the lost Jew but finding refuge in the words; those in books,  or those of her father and mother (Saumensch mainly :)  ) and her best friend Rudy. The plot progresses nicely but seems to be more a collection of events in Liesel's life a opposed to a main conflict and it frankly works quite well.
The story is narrated by Death. Not the big bad scary Death but the haunted, vulnerable, tired Death. The Death who is haunted by humans. That was an ingenious idea on Zusak's part.
Oh well you simply MUST read this book so let me not spoil it too much.
So go out later, walk into a bookstore and buy it... TODAY :D

Inspired by The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

He is not black.
No.
He is pale.
No.
Not dark.
For he is bright.
Yes, he is white.

They are cold,
His arms, hands, fingers.
They are ice.
And they burn.

He sheds tears,
Without a face,
Tears for the human race.
As he holds us,
And we burn,
His still heart aches for us.

Yes.

Death has a heart.

Scrub-a-Dub-Dub

Ok I'm drowning in excitement right now 'cuz.......... Scrubs is back!! 

So only one of the most amazingly funny shows has returned with a new season featuring a pregnant Elliot and Professors Cox, J.D and Turk, lecturing at a teaching hospital. And that's just sooo far (I've only watched about 15 minutes of the 1st episode). If you're into watching a comedy which still follows a decent  plot PLEASE watch Scrubs. It is one of my favourite shows of all time, along with Lost, House MD and Supernatural.

Ok I'm now reading an article saying that soon a new main character will be taking J.D.'s place soon. Um... How can Scrubs exist without J.D.? I'm a bit nervous about the changes. Apparently, the cast had told that there would be no Season 9 and so moved on  to new shows. Then when the new season was announced, they were occupied... :(

Hopefully this new version of Scrubs is as good as the old one...

Oh today my Mom got her new car :) a Skoda Octavia... I'm loving it so far. Cars are so expensive here. If we lived in the US or UK we'd probably be driving BMW's or something *sigh*...

Oh Britannia...

Ugh... back to this dilemma of "to go or not to go". *Sigh*

As you probably already don't know I'm a citizen of the United Kingdom.

 After AS Maths lessons today, my lessons teacher (who taught me Maths in Standard 5) and my mom got to talking about Universities - oh no.... Basically what happens is:
Ms. Redon - "You're lucky that Levi has citizenship of the UK. If Andrew (her son) could have had that it would be soooo much easier for us to pay (he's attending uni in Ireland)."

Mom - "Yeh..."

Ms. Redon - "But he has to be there 3 years before he can get home fees, plus the good Universities accept sometimes only 5-8 foreign students."

Mom - "We know but that means we'll have to send him up there next year to his grandparents and I don't think his Dad's ready to give him up yet (time to be a bit selfless Dad)."

Ms. Redon - "If it were my kids I'd wipe up my tears and send their tails to boarding school. I mean you have to think of their futures (thanks Ms. Redon!!)"

So I really want to go. Plus I'd be living in my grandparents' attic :D How cool would that be?! An attic as my room :) I'd have to leave all my friends behind here though :( And I'd have to go to a private school for the remaining two years of my secondary education which could be expensive... :(
But I want my awesome British accent XD- Okay I'm not that petty but come on that'd be freaking awesome!!

Destroyer of Physics

I destroyed that Physics Exam!!
I was feeling great about it too until some friends and I were discussing it afterwards and I realised that I'd forgotten to finish the question... Don't know if you'll understand what I'm saying but they asked to find the  potential difference across a car motor and instead I only did the first part which was find the resistance and then  somehow I thought I was done... I'm such an idiot... who destroyed that exam LOL
How could I just forget to calculate the resistance? (note that I said forget to not forget how to 'cuz I knew how just honestly forgot to do it) I mean the equation is V=IR jeez...
Oh well guess I'm just a forgetful 14 year old who likes Vanilla ice cream over Chocolate any day......What?!
Ah well off to Ad Maths lessons soon...
Felt like writing a pretty random post today... like most days :)

The Baseballs Under My Umbrella

Another band discovery! The Baseballs are a 50's style Rock 'n Roll cover band who cover modern pop songs like Rihanna's Umbrella and Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love. I just love the elvis-sounding voice of the vocalist and their authentic sound; harmonies, piano pounding and all. Got me singing along here in front of the computer. Take a listen.

Exam Review!

So let's see, so far I've done English Language, Literature, Physics P1(multiple choice), Chemistry P1 and 3 (MC and long answer structure), Biology P1 and Mathematics.
Review:

Language: Overall... okay... wrote a horrible essay though- wanted to barf as I wrote it.
Literature: Luved it! Feel super confident about my performance there. Surprising considering that I studied for the first time last night for half and hour!
Physics: Average/Easy  somewhere in between
Chemistry: Hard!! Ugh  Chemistry sucks... okay usually I enjoy it but this test was mean.
Biology: EZ
Mathematics: Hmmmm.....Potential 100% I think. Though probably not, in the 90's maybe. Weird since everyone else thinks I'm crazy...

Tomorrow I have French and I haven't started studying yet... I haven't actually done much studying at all during these exams...

Crash Kings: No guitar? What?!

Recently I discovered this great band. Not sure what genre to class them in though. You see, generally one might say Rock but there's one little problem: There's no guitarist!! The band consists of pianist/singer, bassist and drummer. Any guitar in their songs is purely synthesized. Who's ever heard of a rock band without a guitar?! Maybe it's this odd combination that has got me addicted to their music. They released their self-titled debut studio album in May of this year.

My favourite songs:
It's Only Wednesday
Saving Grace
14 Arms
Mountain Man

Reading and Studying

A couple days ago, my English teacher read us a sample short story sent from CSEC. It had been written by a boy who was once our age (14-16) and it was one of the most amazing short stories I have ever read. The way story moved forward while incorporating an amazing vocabulary with some astounding imagery. I wish I could write like that. I write well, but I take some time to perfect it. So under exam time and pressure, my writing is average at best.
One of the things I need to start dong more often is READING. I used to be an amazing reader. Reading books like Little Women when I was 11/12. Something changed dramatically in Secondary School. I read 4 books a year now.
Terrible.
Really it is.
But that's going to change...

Oh and I've got(ten* for all my American friends)  into a good study habit of doing almost 2hrs every night!
Woohoo!

Thank for reading! This is a random post!

Christmas, Chez Moi

I love Christmas time in my house, just because my mom usually goes insane with the decorating. This year wasn't as crazy but the house is still nicely decorated. The monotony of putting up the Christmas tree almost got to me last night though and my dad is camping this weekend so I had to do the lights. We usually don't skimp on the lights on the tree but this year we were a little short. Actually, I think that this is the earliest that we've ever set up the tree before. Normally we put it up the 1st week of December - not indulging in the premature Christmas season that everyone else celebrates. Well here are some shots of what's up... not much- my camera battery was about to die-- sorry--

Super Stress

This is probably the most stressed out I've ever felt in my life. Seriously...
My Biology lab book has gone missing, exams are in a week and I'm not nearly prepared and I have a Phys. Ed. School Based Assessment project due in a week.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the CSEC  program, that lab-book has the potential to guarantee you 20% before even sitting the exams. And it's gone missing. I'd been absent for two Biology labs so I haven't seen it for a while. Well on Wednesday, we had a lab and when I went to the box to get my  book, it wasn't there (we're not allowed to take the lab-books home so teachers keep them). After I'd searched my locker and home, and my teacher had searched through even other subjects' lab books, we we're no closer to the book. We've come to the conclusion that someone must have stolen, or borrowed as they'd like to put it, my lab-book. Note that these are labs I've been doing since last year. If I don't get it back, I'l have to re-write all my labs...

As usual I'm not prepared properly for exams in a week.

And there is a P.E. Project due next week which also accounts for 20% of your final grade even before you enter the examination room. I haven't started- I'm that bad of a procrastinator. Right now... I hate my life...

Insecurities Re:

Today one of my good friends and fellow blogger (www.thedarktrail.blogspot.com) composed a post about insecurities and low self-esteem etc.
I felt like I had to write something about this 'cuz I can completely relate! It may not seem as obvious now, but a while ago, I had very low opinions of myself. I was the smart, quiet kid with a small group of friends who had a hard time socializing. I don't really know what sparked the change but as time passed, I began to realize that (and this may sound bad but I'm saying what I really found) what other guys, who obviously thought highly of themselves,  seemed so proud of... I had too, and at times more!! I started not caring what everyone thought about me and began to see myself as a pretty cool guy :D
Don't get me wrong... I'm not Sir Flaunts-a-lot now but I have come a long way in getting over my shy and reserved ways.  I still find it hard to socialize with certain groups of people who just seem completely different to me but I try at least a lot more than I did before.
Well just a random, boring post haha When something interesting happens, I'll let you guys know!

La Debac...Cafe Denim??

Hi guys,
Just a quickie... If anyone is wondering about the change in Blog Title.
I just found that La Debacle Des Sentiments was a bit overwhelmingly french. The Denim bit comes from my name- Levi- which is always referenced to jeans...

Teacher Hate

Finally... I've just finished my page and a half long essay for Literature tomorrow, for the teacher most people hate. That's been aggravating me these days.

Hatred for teachers.

It may be the increasing pressure of the upcoming CSEC exams or maybe people are just becoming more ignorant( I think the latter of the two. You?), but it seems that everywhere I turn at school, some kid is ranting on about a teacher. Either one doesn't give enough notes, one gives too many or someone's going off on my Physics teacher (who I, frankly, think is awesome). Yes, so there's always been some teacher criticism but it seems to have taken on a whole new level lately. And the self-righteous prigs blame teachers for their own issues. It's the teacher's fault that they failed that test or that they didn't do their homework. I think it annoys me more than others because I do pretty well in almost all classes so to see people blaming teachers for problems I face and overcome all the time is quite aggravating. When will these people start pulling their own weight instead of waiting, mouths-open wide, to be spoon-fed with the material. If I can do it, so can they... trust me...

Oh... almost forgot- Song of the Day- Paramore- Careful

Song of the day: Barenaked Ladies - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen & Jingle Bells

I just love those covers.

So last night was quite productive. We decided how we're going to take worship to the next level (read previous post if confused). Seems like it will work well, assuming my tone-deaf aunt and her petite-voiced friend step it up. We do have some decent singers though and with my father working out the vocal harmonies, this could really work. Instrument-wise, we have a piano, guitar(s) - electric or acoustic, a bass and drums! What are your favourite Christmas songs? Mine are God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Oh Holy Night oh and Hark The Herald Angels Sing...

I'm sitting in my living room right now. My dad and 5 women are in here too. We're the worship team for the Soup for Charity being held at our church to raise funds for charity. My sister and I are part of the team too as my dad and we are the only ones who play instruments.

Me- Piano or Guitar

Sis- Drums or Guitar

Dad- Guitar or Bass

So wish us luck. Really I'm just writing 'cus the others are deciding what song's we're gonna do. Actually looks like we're gonna start soon though so BYE!!

(I'm okay on the piano... not great)

Songs of the day (made it plural hehe*) - Lady Gaga- Bad Romance

Rihanna- Russian Roulette

And because the other songs are so mainstream...

The XX- Crystalised (note the 's' not 'z' - They're British- Yay!!)

School is becoming extremely challenging. Not that the work is difficult but simply the thought of revising two years of work for CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) Exams is overwhelming. As you may have gathered from previous posts, I do pretty well in school. But there are still some nerves. My problem is, I guess, my inability to study or do any work on my own. Pretty pathetic, I know, but it's true. After having been given the gift of academic prowess, it's being wasted because of my laziness.

I really need help studying. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I know how to study. Before now, everything has come pretty easily but I know that I can't rely on that from now on. I know my father is right-- You can be as naturally smart or as bright as you want but the person who comes home and puts in the extra 2-3 hours of study will eventually surpass you. I see it everyday. In school or out, it's a known fact.

So that's scaring me right now, especially as Christmas Exams are in the next few weeks and then it's head on preparation for Mock Exams and eventually the real deal, CSEC.

And by the way, if anybody's curious, I'm doing - Biology, Physics, Chemistry, AS Maths, Maths, English Language and Literature, French and Physical Education.

*Sigh* I need to get serious... but it's so hard...

The Twittering Begins

So with the new Twitter craze I decided to jump in on that too. Tweets are pretty cool... revolutionary blogging but this will always be my baby... tweets are fun but too limited. Anyway my username is jeans1995 if anyone wants to follow!!

Hair Dilemma!?

Hi all! I've decided to introduce a new feature to my posts (when I do post). Song of the day!!

So here it is guys - Song of the Day: Billy Talent - Red Flag

What happened to my nice, simply wavy head of hair? Now I've got this barely manageable mop of charcoal curls sitting up there. I really do have strange hair though. It goes from straight to wavy to curly depending on the length. This really doesn't fit in with my race either-- I'm supposedly a direct indian descent with absolutely nothing else in me-- Try telling my friends that. Apparently I'm crossed with caucasian somewhere to them. Their judgement might not be purely based on looks though but more on the fact that I don't speak the typical Trinidadian dialect (blame my parents for Standard English upbringing -- darn them!).

But back to my hair-- so it's really strange and this is probably the longest I've ever had it before. Recently I've been controlling it with a medium hold serum but now it seems like I'll have to use the whole bottle to get it to work right! You see, if my hair gets too dry, it becomes an afro and that doesn't fare well for me at school (no freedom of self-expression here guys-- it's not America). But tomorrow I'm gonna let it go without the serum and see what 'pops up' :D

If anyone actually reads this collection of my most random thoughts and ideas, tell me about your hair! Be interesting if others have as much trouble as I do.

BTW I am getting a haircut on Saturday so one more week of my captivating curls! Let's see what we can do with them. My hair pretty much looks like a black version of the above guy's.

To My New Followers!

It's 6:13 am so I'm posting before school. If Mom catches me I dead but I'll take the chance. I really just want to take the time to say thanks to my new followers. Shout out to you guys!! :)

The Bliss that is not want

Books all teens should read!:

1. Inheritance Series

2. Harry Potter's

3. The Book Thief

4. The Kite Runner

5. That other book by the author of the kite runner

6. Twilight Series

Ok now that that's over... on to the next topic....

Christmas!

Okay it's still early November but I need to start deciding what I want for Christmas... So I'm a really decisive person when it comes to gifts that I have a choice in (B'day or Xmas). Usually, I spend weeks studying reviews and comparisons before making the right choice. This year though something's different. I feel... almost...well...content.

It's quite an odd feeling after so many years of knowing exactly what you want. But I guess it's a good thing, because now my parents won't feel pressured to get me what I want (which is usually expensive-- by our means that is). So this year I've narrowed it down to the following ranging from the pretty expensive to the quite cheap and frankly I feel fine which ever ones I get.

1. Nikon D5000 DSLR

2. Windows 7 Home Premium

3. Mac OS X Snow Leopard

4. External Hard Drive

5. I Am The Messenger (Book) by Markus Zusak (really love The Book Thief)

6. The Host (book) by Stephanie Meyer (Author of the Twilight Series)

Yeh so that's it and really I'd be happy with the 2 books!! It does feel good to not be stressed over getting one particular thing. I feel like I'm doing my parents a justice too.

It's a bit like the way I have little to no expectations of people, so it's hard to be disappointed with them (a bit about how I think). I know it's probably better to have expectations and to believe in the good in people's hearts but frankly it's much easier to not care!

Do I Have Swine Flu??

It's that time of the school year when we get a couple sporadic days off because of

Parent-Teachers Day for the other forms/grades over a period of 2 weeks. Today was one of those days and lucky me! - I'm sick. Woke up this morning feeling extremely congested and with the most awful sore throat I have ever had. I popped two Panadol's (Dad doesn't believe in symptom relief meds), gargled with some salt water and vinegar water and slumped down before the television. Great, paid informercials! So basically that's been my day. Well, with me swapping between that and my computer.

What would you consider to be the worst symptom?

Head aches?

Congestion?

Cough?

For me it's the sore throat. Throw any of the others at me but PLEASE not a sore throat. It is the most painful and annoying symptom ever, especially when paired with a cough, like today.

And my Dad called from work to ask about my symptoms just in case I had swine flu. Thanks Dad...

At the moment it doesn't look like it though. But how cool would it be to have swine flu?

Actually scratch that last statement. That was just plain stupid to say.

Oh well... might miss school tomorrow; I don't know...

You know that thing....

Here's a list of things that I really want/need to do:

1. Have my own Daily Journal

2. Get a scrapbook for writing

3. Get a pocket notepad to write down sudden thoughts that pop into my mind (questions, ideas, songs, etc.).

4. Get my skydiving license.

5. Get my diving license (maybe that should be prioritized before skydiving).

6. Go to Dubai.

7. Go to France.

8. Learn to speak French fluently.

9. Write a novel.

10. Write poetry.

11. Learn to play the guitar.

12. Perfect my pianoism (nice word- I know)

13. Go to medical school.

14. Learn a new word each day.

15. Get extremely fit.

16. Think I'm in love.

17. Realise I'm not.

18. Really fall in love.

19. Get rich.

20. Live anywhere but Trinidad or any other tiny landmass surrounded by water - I think that's called an island...

Well... that's 20. Let's see if I can't make 100 before the month is up.

U The Unicorn

So my french teacher changed the date that we're going to see a movie (Euro. Film Festival). Instead of seeing Mauvaise Foi (Bad Faith) today, we're going to see U (U the Unicorn) on Tuesday! Woot! Oh well more later on bye!!!

Music makes me lose control...

I am officially a music addict... I can't live without it...

When I walk the corridors of school I'm singing (embarrassing I know but...).

At home it's blasting from the computer speakers.

Anywhere else my earphones are in my ears.

I'm also becoming a bit of an audiophile... I refuse to listen to low quality sound... and for Christmas I was thinking of getting some good over ear headphones but then I found my Dad's Sennheiser HD-497's.

But now I can't stop... When I should be studying... music.... reading... music... anything productive....nah- music. Actually right now I have Message in A Bottle playing... ok now Little House by The Fray.

I don't know why... I guess music seems like an easy high for me... not that I know a real high hehe I'm only 14 jeez but you probably get me...

The whole brain stimulating pattern thing really works for me too. When I listen to music it's really ever casual listening. I'm always focussed on picking out the different instruments:

The Drum pattern

Guitar Lead

Piano if any

or Synth Patterns

Vocal Harmonies

I love isolating each one in my mind... especially separating vocal harmonies into individual melodies! I just go nuts! That's why I like full sounding music like Coldplay, The Fray and other stuff like that with lots of patterns to decipher. Well just more random thoughts for your enjoyment and contemplation :)

Never Enough

Why are my parents never content with the amount of work I do... I topped the form in Physics and Biology last year!! The form!! And all they have to say is that I'm spending too much time on recreation like listening to music and watching House MD. Really? Some parents would kill to have their kids do as academically well as I do and yet all mine do is complain, complain, complain. I'm not being conceited so I'm sorry if that last statement seemed that way but it's necessary to get my point across. I mean I took their advice for a bit and I did about an hour of Chemistry studies tonight and what happens? My Dad knocks on my bedroom door. I open... immediately I protect myself," I did studies so don't jump on my case!!"

"How much studies."

So I say,"Some."

Then he starts going on about how I can't just study when I feel like it and I need to make a time table for studying on a schedule and I'm standing here listening and refraining myself from ripping my hair out, screaming and jumping off the balcony (We were pretty close to it actually XD).

Ok so I know that they think I have more potential and they say these things in my best interest but why can't they stop being so selfish!! Ok that last part probably needs some explanation... I say they're selfish because it would give them pleasure to see me do even better. They want to unlock my full potential. And they want to guarantee me a great future.

Now why can't they leave those things up to me!!! Let me decide how much I want success!

Now if you're older than me this post is going to seem full of childish thoughts and the stupid rants of the average 14 year old. But it's a lot deeper than you think. Imagine coming second in exams and you're parents say," That's good! But how much did the other guy beat you by?" *Crash*

It's never enough! Ah well I'm probably gonna look back on this when I have kids and say that I was stubborn and ignorant but that's only because I'll have lost the understanding and feeling of being a teenager. *Sigh* oh well enough venting for tonight. I actually feel a lot better now...

Random Thoughts

I HATE waking up... It's such a horrible experience, especially when you have to wake up at 5:30am and you can't go to sleep before 12:00pm. And I don't mean wont I mean can't. Even if I go to bed at 9:00 I'll stay awake until 12:00. But so what right?... They say on average you should get 6-8 hours of sleep and I get a half-hour below the lower boundary. Well I would kill for that half-hour extra! I don't know... I guess I feel okay after I've got up and showered but the act of waking up is extremely demanding of one's willpower. I like to think of my self as being a strong willed person for forcing myself awake... then the feeling fades when I realize that after all the self promises the night before... I still hadn't done my homework...

The night is my time too I guess... I can stay up 'till 3:00 am for no other reason than the thought that if I go to sleep then I'd be wasting time. Yup I'm the dark mysterious type ladies... XD just kidding! Yeh anyone else feel the same...? Probably not huh?

Ok I need to develop a talent... So I play piano averagely but averagely doesn't cut it...

I think I should write... just anything... stories, poems, songs... whatever. I mean, I don't know if I'm any good at it but it's something right? And it doesn't take much to develop the technique... just read a lot and develop my own writing style. I've cut back quite alot on my reading though but I can probably get that started again...

My Flickr

Oh and btw... I have a Flickr account so if people wanna see my random photography take a looks - http://www.flickr.com/photos/levioftrinidad/ u can skip the 1st page its random drawings of a lunatic - wonder who? hmmm...

WASA'p

Ahhh so let's see... no homework, laptop full of music, nice comfy bed... Today was gonna' be nice. Wrong! As soon as Mom got me from school she broke the horrific news... WASA (Water and Sewage Authority) was doing some work in Glenco near my home and it was gridlock up to the Foreshore (pretty darn far for all who don't know the areas. I would estimate but I suck at that so...). So we ate at Elerslie Plaza in Maraval and went to Pricemart in Movie Towne to meet my Dad who had just got out of Carenage (suburbs where I live - and Dad was supposed to be at work at like 10 am - now it's like 6 pm). That's where traffic had backed up from... Well to cut a long story short... we tried to get home... in traffic for an hour or more... parked up and began to walk home (this time I'm with Dad; Mom had already made it through to home). So yeah we stop at Subway - Dad buys a footlong Melt on Parmesan Oregano Bread (who really cares) and we call Mom to pick us up :D We walked quite a bit... had to get pass the road works so... oh and now its like 8 pm... walking the streets of Carenage in the dark of night (well we have street lights but) yeh so I guess my Mom has to take Dad to pick up his car tomorrow XD

Yup fun... Well that's all haha boredom... Bye xXxx (My British cousin's friends who are boys use *kisses* so why can't I)

I should probably write something

Hey fellow bloggers and my few followers... Um so I guess I haven't written in a while. Just been busy I guess and well lazy... So let's see. What's new...

1. I cut my finger today with a chef's knife while chopping garlic (onions were burning my eyes and then *slip*)

2. Hmm listening to some new music... although most of it is old like:

The Noisettes

Green Day

Gorillaz

Arctic Monkeys

and I'm loving Deed I Do by Diana Krall

3. Got addicted to House M.D. so I'm pretty sure I wanna' do medicine now... I'm basing the rest of my life on a television show.

4. And I wrote this essay for school... the only reason I'm putting it up here is 'cuz I typed it so I can just copy and paste XD:

Nathan collapsed onto his bed in their tiny Brooklyn apartment. Frankly, Nathan hated it there. He missed Washington and the woods behind their house. He missed his mother and despised the thought that she was buried so many miles away. And he couldn’t understand why his father had taken the job offer in New York. They had just returned from Washington that evening, from visiting friends and his mother’s grave, and the events of the day were still fresh in Nathan’s mind. But Lying on the bed, his eyelids grew heavy and he could feel himself slipping quickly into his deeper subconscious.

The icy wind swept the warmth from Nathan’s skin and instantly he knew where he was. He was in the woods of Washington at night, wandering as he often did after dark. As he quietly sauntered between gnarled trees and over knotted roots he let the familiar sounds penetrate his ears. The harmony of crickets was accompanied by the whistling wind as the trees conducted this most beautiful orchestra with their tan, leafy batons. The frogs joined this chorus as Nathan approached the gargling creek and as he slipped his bare, brown feet into the swirling waters, he sighed with pleasant surprise at the warmth which the water had stolen from the previous day. In the dim light of the moon he could faintly see the white of the water as it made its way over rocks and stones and he could hear the lapping of the water upon the banks. After what felt like a couple minutes of bliss, Nathan forded the creek and began to follow the well known path to a clearing where he used to spend hours at a time, thinking, listening and at times doing nothing but breathing with a clear mind.

Looking upwards, Nathan observed the thinning foliage as he walked, and when there was nothing but the pale moon and seemingly delicately placed stars above him, he looked down and out into the clearing, and he froze. Standing not three feet before him, facing away, was a figure he recognised instantly. As she turned towards Nathan, her thin lips parted in a warm, loving smile, he could do nothing but faintly mutter the word, “Mom.” She nodded in reply all the while with her pearly white teeth exposed in a broad grin. She was oddly easily visibly in the weak moonlight and Nathan noticed every detail about her from the sparkle in her hazel eyes to the flawlessness in her sun-kissed skin. Her auburn hair was the same length as the last time he had seen her and it flowed gracefully down her neck to the middle of her back which was covered by the glowing, white summer gown she was wearing.

She began to stretch her hand out towards his face and Nathan closed his eyes in anticipation. But nothing came; no touch, no warmth and when Nathan opened his eyes in confusion, he was staring up at the white gypsum ceiling of his bedroom. And as the confusion began to fade, the sadness began to grow and the tears began to flow, and they flowed like they would never end.

Again I need to work on endings but overall I think it's okay... at least compared to other's I've read.... Not being arrogant or anything but... Well that's it for today...

Adorable... and one awesome storyteller!

Who needs a teacher...

First let me apologize for not writing in a while: Sorry!

That's it... don't expect anything more...

So recently I was thinking of ways to improve my french... and I thought how much of a great idea it would be to get a French contact on Skype my same age!! The best way to improve a language is to use the language, right? So we could chat... I could help him/her with English and they could help me with French. With Skype we could talk or just instant message thus improving oral and written technique. I know it's a great idea... don't be too jealous you didn't think of it yourself.. okay kidding you didn't have to get so grouchy! No all I need is a 14/15 year old French person with Skype hmmm... how hard can that be to find?

Virginia

I'm in Virginia for now... since Friday actually, until we (my dad and I) leave for the Discovery trip with the Eastern Mennonite High School on Tuesday.

Virginia is beautiful, or at least it is where we're staying. The landscape is that of absolute natural beauty, with farms and farmettes scattered around the countryside like God's little Monopoly board. I may post some pictures here soon but if not then most of o can see it from my Facebook profile.

Today we went to Weavers Mennonite Church. What a contrast to our church in Trinidad! Today everyone said that attendance was low as there was a conference that some people were at as well as that it was summer so some were on vacations abroad, so there were only 200 people there. That's low attendance... 200!?

Well I'll write more about my vacation as the days go by!

Up Review

A short little review of the Disney movie 'Up'.

So I recently saw Up, don't ask me what drove my father to take us to that.

So what'd I think? Pretty good - from the 14 year old who chose to see The Soloist over Terminator Salvation.

Up is a good cross between a kids' movie and a movie that can still entertain adults. Does Disney usually show blood in their movies? Not that it was anything serious in Up but there was some blood... Also one may argue (like my mother) that it may have been a bit to serious for a kids' movie in that the old man's wife couldn't have kids and she dies before they achieve their dream of traveling to and living in Paradise Falls. All in all I enjoyed it!

Almost Over

Thursday night... Physics exam in the morning and I'm writing after having done practically no revision/studies... Did I mention that I have Physics Exam in the morning?? That exam has the potential to be the most difficult and challenging exam of all this week (that means it'll have to surpass the difficulty of AS Maths which would be quite a feat in itself). Maybe I'm just getting a tad too complacent with my blessing of an ability to do fairly well under difficult standards with little to no work.

Hmmm... I know Moments, Heat, Gas Laws (I think...), Forces....

These End-of-Year Exams have proven to be the strangest for me. This is the first time tat I've felt no drive or reason to try to do well... I think I will still make decent grades but still... I feel a bit slow. I just want these exams to finish!! But that reality is dormant until Tuesday.

Biology

Unexplained phenomenon of Biology:

There is one thing I need don't understand in Biology but would like to. I came across it when studying... *sure*.

Respiration:

Do the Alvioli (air sacks) just hang around in the lungs or are they lining the walls of the lungs or do they make up the walls of the lungs? If one of the latter two, then how could the expansion of the lungs change pressure in your bronchi, trachea etc.

If you can answer this question... you can follow my blog! So hurry up! Limited time on offer!

Sincerely, Jane

Well again with the post name... I guess that I like to name my posts after songs I like. So check out Janelle Monae!!

Well tomorrow is a public holiday!! So I'm gonna be up late tonight. If I think of anything interesting to write about I may actually blog it! Yay! I'll keep the page open so I won't have any excuse not to write...

Lithium...

Hmmm... so I guess the name of this post may seem a bit weird. Actually it's only there because I recently remembered that I had some Evanescence songs a while ago but I couldn't remember where so re-downloaded them: Lithium

 Call Me When You're Sober

 Bring Me To Life

 My Immortal

So... I recently read a friend's blog about '...'s (triple dots). I am always wary of using them too often here but as he stated, he's gonna' continue using them loads so I guess I take inspiration from him so guys... say hello to triple dotting!! And lots too...

Studying is becoming exceptionally difficult... um.... especially since I got this Macbook. Anyone got study tips.... like, I'm contemplating giving my Macbook to my mother until after exams. 

On the topic of the Macbook... Why did Apple discontinue my Macbook and make it into a Macbook Pro... with a faster processor and for $100.00 USD less!!! That kinda pissed me off... but I still adore my Macbook. I will probably Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Why get Windows 7 (a pretty version of the notorious Vista)??

I was recently looking at my music library on iTunes on my old desktop PC and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I have almost reached a benchmark of 800 songs! I know more is not necessarily better but it's still kinda nice...

Well maybe my posts will become less random during summer vacation when I'm noy so distracted. I may even take a shot at writing (try my hand at poetry composition?)... Well see ya!! 

  

Häagen-Dazs

Which of you, my friends, do not absolutely adore Haagen-Dazs ice cream? My family and I go to their 'restaurant' on some weekends (like today). My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Haagen-Dazs' taste sure hasn't lost its luster after all this time. Smooth, perfect consistency ice cream. I believe the restaurant also has Wi-Fi internet so I may consider taking my laptop there... you know 'cause I love blogging so much that I wanna' do even when I'm eating ice cream ;p. 

Hmm... what is my favourite flavour you ask? Yes you do ask... I'd have a tough decision between Vanilla, Dulce de Leche (prev. pic), Banoffee (banana-toffee) and Bailey's (I'm an alcoholic!!). 

If you haven't tasted Haagen-Dazs, your life is not complete and if you've tasted it and thought Nothing Special, you have no taste and cannot recognize quality... (Hope I didn't offend anyone lol)

The Book of Mac

-half-day at school...

-turn on phone

- *text* "Guess what I've got..." -Dad

- heart skips a beat

Talk about dramatic. Of course the instant I read the text, I knew he'd meant the Macbooks(, his and mine). That was Wednesday. It's Saturday and I'm typing this from my Mac now. What do I think about it?

Amazing...

-Perfect User Interface

-Super fast

-Extremely Useful multi-touch gestures for the trackpad. 

- Absolutely Stunning!!!

The aluminium body is beautiful and I can't stop rubbing it at the palm rests( a bit odd? I know).

Well, that was the first thing on my mind for this post, and about our Cricket Competition we had to plan for our P.E. CSEC SBA?

Surprisingly everything played out pretty well! Our team came 3rd/4th (we didn't play for the losing positions). Not too bad if you ask me... We had loads of fun and now I feel that I can actually watch a cricket match and understand what they're saying about the scores. My role was as a journalist s I took loads of pictures and just two or three interviews. I think we, the other journalists and I, are going to plan a blog/website. Let you guys know more soon!

Time to play with my mac some more...

C'est mardi...

It's Tuesday!!! Umm... I mean... it's Tuesday :( :( :(.
So what could be worse than Monday?? Say hello to Tuesday. At least Monday is a change from the weekend but Tuesday just sits there, not in the middle but not 1st either. So rundown for the week:
1. Should probably get the dean to post my flyer for the cricket tournament that we're creating for our Phys Ed SBA, on the notice board. Especially seeing as it's on Thursday and it might be nice to have the flyer up at least a day before the event!

2. Then on Thursday, I'll be at CIC Grounds from 8:00 a.m. to .... executing said tournament.

3. Friday... hey there's is nothing to do on Friday!! Oh except finish all my Chemistry labs by then!

Yeah, and studying, well studying's not going to well for me. I've reached a point where I can't even pretend to study... I won't even pick up a book. It's just so hard sifting through so much of known work to find maybe one thing that I might wanna' commit to memory...

Things can't fall apart now!! CSEC is next year!

Ow...Ouch! Ah!!!!

In reply to my friend's post about the Dragon's Twelve Exercise, my legs are killing me!
It was given to us during a P.E. SBA examination for practical karate.The exercise begins by doing 12 pushups, 12 jack-knife crunches and 12 squats with reverse punches. Easy huh?! It is... until you reach the next set of 11 pushups, crunches and squats, then 10 ... all the way down to 1. I'm okay with the push ups and the jack knives but my legs are my weak point. I can do squats but at the rate Sensei made us do them was ridiculously demanding of my muscles.
Now, a whole day after, I can barely walk down a flight of stairs, sit in a chair or even walk properly. After this aweful experience I've come to a conclusion: When my legs feel better (lol), I will attempt a Dragon's Twelve everyday.
...No I'm not barking mad... I have been challenged and now I wish to overcome the Dargon's Twelve. If I get really good at it, I'll have reached a new bench mark in sacrifice and self-discipline...

P.E. CSEC

Why would our school make P.E. a compulsory CSEC subject?!
It's ridiculous! My guess is they want everyone, including those taking Business subjects to have a 'fake' science/Biology. But in reality, for those taking Biology, P.E. is redundant and takes up a subject spot that I could have used for Computer Studies or Technical Drawing!!
Anyways I leave you with this awesome video of a great song!

So End-of-Year exams are approaching.
Gonna be fun :-)... nah :-(....

I should be studying as I'm writing this but then again I don't feel as guilty because I did do some Biology earlier so... yeh. Past papers like I'm crazy!! I'm just wondering if I'm gonna be able to cope with a whole year's work. Although, I always do so I can't get why I'm so worked up this time around. I guess it's because it's Form 4 after all, but still. Studying sucks...

Can't someone invent a Study-O-Matic... you know, a helmet like thingy that 'injects' the information directly into your brain!? Fun huh?

Well I leave you with this quote:

"Levi, just shut up."- My Loving Sister

Thai is The Stuff!

Yesterday, on returning from sailing, we planned to go out to get something to eat. Well in my mind I was thinking along the lines of Subway, Burger King... but we had dressed up just in case... 'cause we were heading to Tamnak Thai! Only because my Dad had eaten there not to long before and said the food was delish( courtesy Rachel Ray). Well was he right! I'd never actually eaten Thai food before, being a Trini- haha.But My mother and sister are the epitome of Trini. Everytime we go to a restaurant, the order CHICKEN and will not touch the shrimp or beef or pork. Why? "Because we like chicken and I just don't know if I'll like the other stuff," - Steups (sucking teeth).

Anyway to the point... Thai food is awsome - all the spices, peanut sauces, curries! And jazmine rice with your order. The drinks are great too - smoothies, martinis and red wine (although the wine was a bit too room temp. - coulda been a bit cooler).
Our favourite was the Veggies in Green Curry.

Maybe you can try it out. It's round the Sanannah.

April 20th...

It's extremely scary... Am I really expected to know this chemistry for CSEC?! That's absurd!
I can breeze through quite a bit of a physics past paper but when it comes to Chemistry... well to put it simply, "I SUCK!!"
Next....

I went to swimming today. Yes, Scouts' Swimming. Hmm... I've accepted the fact that I am a delinquent when it comes to scouting, but why must it be so? I don't get anything passed, I don't go to any events, heck all I do is swim and sail and frankly I hate that. So why not just try harder one might ask. Well I think I would have if the solution was so simple but the fact of the matter is... it's not that simple.
Monday- I've given up the main scout day for Physics lessons.
Tuesday- Swim
Wednesday- Swim
Thursday - No scouting
Friday - Sailing
Saturday - Laziness!!!
Sunday - No scouting
Next...

I've made up a nice sounding chord progression on the piano! Too bad I haven't made a melody...
Key of C minor.
Should probably work on a melody. I mean, what good is a bunch of chords without a melody, anyone can do that. Maybe that's it. Maybe I'm just anybody/nobody... Haha stupid sob story. Who gets emotional over not making up a melody for a song?... WOW.

Thank You for reading my most random post to date!

P.S. - I write like this when I'm bored... so expect loads. *dramatic horror music (the kind that goes ' dah dah dahhh...' on three Minor lower notes) hehe *

New Music...

Music is my escape... I guess... Thing is that I've been listening to weird music these days. Stuff like Mother Mother...

Home-work... Bad

What's the deal with homework guys. To continue stimulating the brains of the students outside of school? Doesn't really help me, I could be studying with the time it takes to do the damn homework. It also creates added stress for us when we fail to complete the given assignments. I know my peeps at school agree with what I'm saying. Abolish homework! Our brains need a break!
But no... now we have penalties for not doing homework. They call our parents, even send us home. I'm the one getting an education here. If I, on my own discretion, disregard the given homework as unnecessary, then it's my choice! Why do teachers care so much? They get paid anyway... Jeez.

Coldplay

What an awesome band. I was just going through the Viva La Vida album, rekindling my love for songs like Yes and Strawberry Swing. Can't forget classics like Clocks and Speed of Sound though.
I've got a friend who won't listen to them because they're too 'Indian' (referring to the stereotype that Trinidadian Indians listen to Coldplay...wow). Well Sean just doesn't know what he's missing out on, a unique and completely individual style of music Coldplay has mastered.

Coldplay all the way!!!

Macbook..yay!

So soon I'll be ordering my 1st laptop, a Macbook hopefully. Up until now I've been a Windows user... so I'm excited for the change.
I'm also considering buying an iPod Touch but not sure if it's worth it. You see, I've had a bit of bad luck with mp3 players in the past. My 1st major one, a Creative Zen: Vision M, fell to its demise down the staircase in my house. And only a few weeks ago, I return from Camp to find my Zune 80, after having been used by my sister, not working and without any simple remedy. So I'm considering buying the touch as so many of my friends have it and it's awsome!! But I don't want another device to crash on me after only a year...

Atheism? Why?...

Okay so I'm having a bit of confusion with my religion etc. It's just a time when I know too much to simply have the kind of 'blind' faith. But I'm searching, not giving up like others I know... friends who've bidden the Lord farewell for now (while still pretending to know and follow him).
Friends who are proud atheists in school...
But why?
-What is the point of life then, my purpose? Religion is purpose...
-Who can I go to then? God is our comforter and strength...
-How can he be real? How can he not...
-Evolution...Probably led by God
-Big Bang... Has anyone ever read Genesis??Light came 1st then the sun... how could anyone just make that up in the time the bible was written?
- And I hate to make the whole thing seem so simple but last and probably least - I'd rather go through life believing in God to find out that there is no God than to not believe and find out that there is...

Make sense? It should... Atheism is as ridiculous as atheists see religion...

Scrubs....May You R.I.P.

So today I watched My Finale... the last episode of Scrubs. A part of me died inside... okay not really but I'm really sad :(
J.D's hilarious neediness, Dr. Cox's relentless insults, the mad rantings of the janitor... I'm gonna miss them.

May you rest in peace Scrubs...

Short Story for English Tomorrow...

The door of the old country house creaked on its hinges before slamming shut behind her. In her hands she held the letter, the one that could change everything, and with utmost care, she proceeded to open it. Nevertheless, Mrs. Benson’s trembling hands let the piece of paper fall to the ground, not yet unfolded. She slowly bent down to retrieve it, sat down in one of the old kitchen chairs and began to read the letter from the military. When she had finished, she ran.

“Freddy!” she bellowed, her hair flowing behind her like a long, auburn river. Spotting him under an apple tree in the orchard reading in the morning sunlight, she ran over to her son pulled him up by the arm, looked him square in the eye and said, “They’re back.”

“P-p-pa?” he stammered. His mother just nodded quickly and pulled the six year old back to the decrepit house to get dressed. She put on her best dress and perfume, he, his best shirt and pants. Then they left, but only after she had wiped a smudge of dirt from his freckled face. She held him tightly at her side while they walked along the narrow road. This was the moment.

Fifteen minutes later they had arrived in the town, where a throng of women and children had already gathered. There were smiling faces and hugs and kisses being shared all around by reunited families. They searched continuously, pushing through men in uniforms and well dressed women until Mrs. Benson, holding her son’s hand, stopped to ask a passing woman, “Where might the others be?”

“Over there,” she replied quietly and solemnly, pointing over the heads of the families.

“Thank you.”

They headed off in the direction the woman had shown them, looking around constantly.

“What does daddy look like?”

She froze for a second before sighing and pulling Fred along. He had only been three when his father went off to war after all.

But then the mood around them changed, weeping replaced laughter and tears replaced smiles. Where had the woman directed them to? Suddenly they broke free from the crowd and a horrifying sight shocked Mrs. Benson. The lady had sent them to rows of coffins where those who didn’t make it lay. In complete denial, she began to walk away when Freddy broke free from her grip and ran to one of the wooden boxes.

“Char-lie B-en-son,” he muttered, his eyes fixated on one of the plaques on a coffin. At that moment his mother dropped to her knees by his side and began to weep. Fred tried to comfort her with the stroking of her hair but he couldn’t share her distress. He didn’t feel much distress. He could only watch her cry and wonder why.

Let me know what you think. I kinda' cut the end short. I'm terrible at expressing feelings so I left it at that...something I need to work on in my writing...

Holy Confusion!?

I stared up at the magnificent full moon, more a pale yellow than white, my CD of James Ehnes playing "Paganini's 24 Caprices for Violin" soothing everyone in the car... well except for my sister who hates the stuff; leaving my mom and I. So I sat in the front passenger seat, ridiculously swaying my hands like a conductor to the music, as we turned a corner and my church came into view. The girls (Sarah, Leah, Alicia, Rebecca and Tracy) were already waiting along with our pastor who was chatting away with another man, brother Paul. Some sat in the ring of chairs that had been set out in the lawn, others preferring to stand in clusters not too far away. We pulled into the front of the church and stepped out of the vehicle not generating more than couple upward glances with the exception of little Leah, the youngest of the group, who called out,"Good night!" before bouncing nonchalantly over to us to show off her new touch-screen MP4 Player she'd gotten for her birthday yesterday.
I guess the reason for this lack-luster response to our arrival was that my sister was too young to cause much excitement for anyone besides Leah and that I was more or less the outcast of the group. The term outcast not referring to them being exclusive but to the fact that I was different. For instance, I was the only one who didn't really use Trinidadian dialect, and the only teen who'd ever be caught playing a classical violin CD in the car (yes I do listen to normal stuff too).
"Okay gather around" announced Pastor Raul from the ring of chairs, signaling the beginning of Youth Meeting. The theme today was simply Good vs Evil and how to go to God in the battle with Satan. Amazing how such a simple topic could stir up so many thoughts and emotions inside of me. Nevertheless I sat through the meeting nodding where appropriate and bringing up a few contrasting views here and there. Only when I was back in the car heading back home did I realise that I didn't know my God and if my God was the one I'd learnt about from my Christian Religion, the God who would condemn a good person because he was a Muslim or a Hindu, then I'd disagree with him on certain things. But thankfully I believe that's not who God is, he is more righteous than that and I want to know him, to form a relationship with him and to love him.
But how...how to start...