When 2014 started, I made a promise to myself to post on this blog AT LEAST once a week. And that hasn't really worked out, has it? But I am trying, I really am. Sixth Form has just been so overwhelming I can't even deal with it right now. It's just a constant stream of work that "won't let up" as my Nan would say. To add to that, my Maths class has had to do extra lessons, both an hour at lunchtime and an hour and a half after school, since we're behind. So woop-dee-frickin'-doo.
Now, I've been very focused on trying to complete all of my work, revise and do EXTRA. That's right, I've been doing my wider reading for English, filling out old past papers for Maths and re-writing essays for Sociology. I just think that it'll give me the best chance for my exams which is pretty much the ONLY thing that I'm focused on at the moment.
We were given our exam timetable a few weeks ago and it really just put everything into perspective, I mean, my first exam is in just over 8 weeks. That's right. 8 WEEKS. That's hardly any time at all and I'm starting to get really nervous. I think what makes it worse is that people are literally dropping out of Sixth Form every other week and that scares me. The classes are getting smaller and smaller and tensions are running pretty high. Its hit that point in the year where even teachers are starting to get a little bit stressed: at both those who are working to get the best grades possible and those who are wasting everyone's time, mine included.
Another thing that worries me is that in pretty much all of my subjects (English, Maths, Psychology and Sociology; with General Studies being compulsory), we are so close to finishing the module. There's probably 3 weeks work of actual lessons left before we're done and that means that we'll be doing exam prep in next to no time. Pray for me, folks.
What
can I say about this book that hasn’t been said already? I mean, John Green,
you are an absolute genius, you really are. You produced this beautiful love
story that just broke my heart, one page at a time. Now I’m not going to
explain the plot in intense detail because I know that there are people who
haven’t read it (why you haven’t, I have no idea, I highly recommend it); I
might just give you my thoughts on ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ as a whole. I’ve
wanted to read it for absolutely AGES but have only just bought the book. From
the delivery on the Thursday to Sunday morning, I had completed it; I just
couldn’t help myself. It’s extremely rare for me to get into a book, let alone
finish it in 3 and a half days, and so when I do, I know it’s a fantastic piece
of literature. I was desperate to find out how the story evolved and what
happened to the characters.
Now we are first introduced to Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen year old cancer patient who feels the need to challenge everyone she encounters with some sort of sarcastic comment. That is, until she finds herself at what she calls the 'Cancer Kid Support Group' and meets Augustus Waters: the man who changes her life. Now he doesn't do that in the way that you'd usually expect from the male protagonist, oh no, John Green is way too smart to follow the social conventions of every single book EVER published. No, he makes Augustus the man that every girl wants and you really can't help yourself just falling for him: a man who LOVES Hazel even when she doesn't particularly love herself. And I like that idea: that you can have some sort of vulnerability which seems to separate you from everyone else in the world, until that one person makes you feel special and beautiful because they adore you, regardless of what you might think of as a 'flaw'.
Together, they have this incredibly romantic adventure until everything just comes crashing back down to reality, and suddenly the audience is struck with a wave of emotion, united by their tears of heartbreak. I sat in my room with this book, just crying for these fictional characters, and that's the beauty of this novel. It's why the book became Number 1 New York Times Bestseller. John Green created them not only for us to laugh with, but to cry over as we experience their pain along the way.
I
found it extremely fascinating because I have never read anything like this in
my entire life, nothing as honest and truthful about what it’s like to live as
a cancer patient. To have everyone around you pity you and constantly hover
round to make sure you’re ‘OK’. But it doesn’t just focus on that side of the
illness; it empathises the fact that we are extremely lucky to be alive, enough
luckier when we have people who love us and we love them back. We should be
grateful for the opportunity of this crazy thing we call ‘life’, and having had
the pleasure of reading ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, I know I am.
You can buy the book HERE.
As you know, I do like to paint my nails in different styles and colours, always making sure that they are simple and quick to do because I cannot be bothered to spend hours (and it would take me hours) to perfect my nails. This design is so EASY and I really really like it, this is only the second time I've done it and I've had compliments on them both times so if you want to add a little sparkle then keep on reading.
I was going to do a French Manicure but my nails naturally are really orange for some reason, and its not because of any nail polish that I've worn before because they're always like that. So, I've tried loads of times before to do it but the French Pink doesn't suit my skin tone so I decided to change it up a little bit to suit me.
I started off by putting a white nail polish on my tips and tried to make them as even and straight as possible. Don't worry if you can't get it as neat as you would like because it doesn't really show up as bad using this design. Now I usually do 2 coats just because it looks better when its one solid tone rather than being able to see my nails underneath.
Then I use my Elegant Touch Rapid Dry for Nails just to set it because even though, the colour is just on my tips, I do still manage to smudge them.
I then do 2 coats of the Barry M Pink Iridescent 264, you can get away with one coat if you want but as I mentioned, you can see my oddly orange nails under so I tend to use 2. It also provides that little extra bit of glitter which I like as well. What I have found with this colour is that since its a basically clear nail polish with sparkles in, its not as obvious when it chips and so lasts that little bit longer than ordinary nail polish.
And that's it. You can use the drying spray if you want but I never do since its sort of a waste and the Barry M dries it pretty quickly. Its the easiest nail design EVER, it really is.
