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.