Unruly Youths Outdoors (The miraculous twenty seventh post)

Hello readers, I appreciate that this space has been rather quiet of late. That is because I have been sitting exams. Now that I have finished bleeding from my academic pores, I feel that it is high time I began to blog again.
Yesterday, I spent all day in Ashby with some rather entertaining folk. We met up outside of Costa, after I was half an hour late. After many complaints about my inability to show up anywhere on time we headed to the Bathgrounds with promise of cake and merriment. After laying the picnic blankets out, the cake was sliced and, as Tom Wilkinson and I had brought guitars, there was much jamming. As it began to rain a decision was made to move to a more sheltered area. So, we relocated to a more sheltered area and the merriment once again commenced. It must be mentioned that Tom Wilkinson and Harry Turner commenced several matches of Yugioh. Beth Adams ended up having too much Dr. Pepper and Coke which was entertaining for the rest of us. Nothing is more entertaining than a hyperactive ginger. However, while this little shin dig was rather enjoyable, there was an element of sadness as this was really Richard's last official day with us (sadface). We will very much miss you Richard. As a side-note I shall probably do my next Friends series post about Richard. At about 3pm the vast majority of people had to catch a bus. Charlie and I went to Harry's house to play some Dragonball. I lost very badly to both Charlie and Harry. We met Harry's brother. I shall say nothing on the subject of Harry's brother other than that he is completely different to Harry. I had a fantastic day with some very good friends, and I believe there shall be more days spent with friends to come as I have another week of study leave left to fill.

Parties, Champaign and Bouncy Castles (The miraculous twenty sixth post)

Fun times and stuffs has been a touch quiet as of late. For this I apologize. I am heading into a rather hectic exam period, so I would appreciate patience as I will not be blogging much.

However, as a little light relief I shall tell you about my weekend, which, incidentally, was filled with a little light relief. Friday evening involved the usual trip to my friends house to lose at various board and card games. This was a lot of fun and a rather amusing way to end a long week at school. I inevitably lost all my mobsters in a good game of Family Business (goodness I can't say that without putting on a bad Brooklyn accent). Friday was a success, but Saturday was even more of a success.

Saturday began with a rather late wakeup. After a rather leisurely morning spent making coffee then drinking said coffee, my friend Charlie arrived at my house. After a bowl of noodles from Indonesia (funtimes) it was time to go to my friend Beth's birthday party. Might I add at this point that Charlie is now hooked on the afore mentioned noodles and is probably buying several packets as we speak. Beth's party was rather fun. Nothing beats a good barbecue. The bouncy castle was a constant source of entertainment. I lost count of the times that I was tackled into it and then pinned under a pile of sweaty adolescent bodies. The party ended as it should, with the blowing out of candle, the cutting of the cake, and a glass of champaign (or bubbly as it was referred to by Beth's mother). 

Charlie and I returned to my house to get some revision done. It came as a shock when we actually did some revision. However, after a point (that point being at about 10pm) we opted for eating pizza and watching funny internet videos. Sunday was typical, so I will not bore you with the details. However, in one respect it did differ from my usual Sunday in that I spoke to my friend Alex via Facebook chat for a good seven hours.

Monday was fantastic as it was a bank holiday. Monday was lovely as Alex came round  to do some revision. After a lovely lunch and some Kool-Aid we got stuck into a physics past paper. Upon breathing the sweet sigh of relief that is associated with the completion of physics papers we decided it was time to watch something entertaining, to eat cookies, and to drink yet more Kool-Aid. After experience the joys of a relaxing afternoon drinking Kool-Aid, eating cookies, and spending time with a friend it was time to say goodbye to Alex; in a metaphorical sense it was also time to say goodbye to a rather delicious weekend.

Friends 3: Josh Carr (The miraculous twenty fifth post)

Well he did ask, so it really is his turn. Josh is, without a doubt, my number one go to source of information on video games and the internet. I can ask him most things and he will either know, or find out rather quickly for me. Providing snippets of important information, Josh saves me the time I would have to spend trawling the internet to find the same information. Josh likes some funny music though. The kind of music I wouldn't really call music. So, we have some disagreements when it comes to music. We also disagree on the pronunciation of Deadmau5 (let's be honest it's obviously pronounced dead mau five). Josh is quieter than many of my friends, but quiet people are pretty cool and, as I have frequently been informed it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Despite not really enjoying the type of music Josh listens to, I must admit that I admire his knowledge of it. He also, I believe, is a musician himself, and a good one if I am correct. I am determined not to end this blog post having said the main reason I like Josh is because he's my friend, as I realize that could get repetitive. So, the reason I like Josh is that if you fiddle with the little hair he has, or even look at it funny, his immediate reaction is to go to fix it as if life on earth depended on the neutral state of his hair.

Extreme Durham (The miraculous twenty fourth post)

Well, I have returned and the holiday is nearly over. I went to Durham this holiday. I used to live near Durham and this week made me wonder why I never visited it. It is a gem in the relatively deprived North East. It was full of beautiful old buildings and a fantastic Cathedral. I am definitely going to have to apply to Durham University. I was in Durham because I was working on a physics residential for GCSE students, and being payed apparently. My food and board was also payed for, as were my travel expenses. It was fantastic to see the students engage with physics.
I am not exaggerating when I say that it was an exhausting experience, however it was very rewarding. There was some good cool down time in the evening. Also, George and I must have done alright as we were asked to return.
All in all it was good to make new friend, and to see Durham. I am already planning another trip to relax in Durham, rather than to work.

Friends 2: Charlie Makemson (The miraculous twenty third post)

I'm sorry that this post took so long to arrive; I have been busy. Here is the second instalment in the Friends series.

Charlie Makemson is a relatively new addition to the list of people I call really good friends. He's also one of those people that made me think to myself "Why did I not get to know you sooner!" He listens to some really cool bands, reads some really cool books, and also can come up with some rather quick fire comments that leave those around him in stitches. There is a lot I could say about Charlie, but one thing about him that I feel really stands out is his willingness to get to know someone he doesn't know very well. This caught my attention as I am not very good at this; I'm very glad he is good at this, or we would not be the solid friends we are today with our signature high five! I'd also like to point out that Charlie cares about his friends and is willing to put up with a lot to spend time to really listen to them. I know that he has had to put up with me and my late night intense conversation on several occasions. Charlie is also very honest! He's not afraid to tell you things bluntly for your own good. While he is sensitive when needs must, when you need to know something he doesn't beat around the bush. I genuinely appreciate this about Charlie as I have had some sound, honest advice from him on many an occasion. I'm still wondering why I haven't managed to hang out at Charlie's house as we live so close together. It was a very cool moment when we realized how close together we live; there was epic high fiveing! The one think that I like most about Charlie is that he makes me laugh... every day. Every single day he does something, or says something that makes me laugh. Thank You Charlie!

Birmingham: Team Los Campesinos! (The miraculous twenty second post)

On Saturday I went to a Los Campesinos! gig in Birmingham with my friend Dominic and cousin (ish) Sarah (funtimes). It was fantastic. I ended up with a vinyl of one of their albums, and a band T-shirt. I shall now recount the epic (or not so epic) tale of musical adventuring.
On Saturday morning I woke up at seven. "Seven O'clock on a Saturday! Really?" I hear you cry, but I did wake up at seven on Saturday. Sarah arrived at 8:30am and we proceeded to get very excited for the day to come. Dominic arrived on time at 9:45 with his mother to pick us up and take us to the train station. There was a rather awkward moment when Sarah thought a man in the street packing his car was Dominic's father, and she attempted to put her bags in the back of his car. However, we soon pulled her away from the scene of the disaster, got into the correct car, and drove to Tamworth train station. After arriving in Birmingham and walking the short distance to the bullring shopping centre we were astounded by the enormity of Birmingham. The shopping centre was massive, and had every shop imaginable. Us small town country kids felt a little out of our depth in the big city. So we walked to the frozen yoghurt stand, bought some froghurt and found our bearings. After shopping for a while, talking to a hobo, and looking for somewhere to eat we decided it was a rather warm day; the glass that the shopping centre's roof mainly consisted of was also having a greenhouse effect on the rest of the building. So, we decided to explore Birmingham a little, and we ended up looking in some more interesting shops. We headed back to the Bullring for some tea at Pizza hut (free refill drinks and free salad bar? yes please!) . Sarah, Dom, and I then set off for the concert. We found the Rainbow Warehouse where the concert was being held thanks to Sarah's map (thanks Sarah)! The concert was opened by a band called Tall Ships, who were rather good. Then Los Campesinos! came on and we were right at the front, touching the stage, a meter from the band! If you've never heard anything by Los Campesinos! then the video at the bottom is one of their better songs. We had to leave a touch early to catch the train, however we only missed two of their songs! Eventually, after a train ride filled with drunken Brummys (not a pleasant sight or sound) who were only one pub in, we made it back to Tamworth and then back to Dominic's house where we crashed until morning. A good time was had by all!

Friends 1: Callum Webster (The miraculous twenty first post)

My friend Callum Webster has suggested I start writing posts about my new friends. So, I have decided to begin with him! Webster is undoubtedly a very cool guy. Here are some quick facts about him: he's very tall, he's very thin, he's very loud, he's very entertaining, he's really not afraid to offend, his five minute long rants leave us in tears as we attempt to recover from the fits of laughter we are in, and he's also not afraid to befriend the strange new guy from a distant land who has a beard, which is how I met him. I was sitting in one of my first free's of a new school year in a brand new school, when he and his group of friends sat down with me. He decided that it would be quite cool to keep hanging around with me (for reasons I don't understand still to this day). So, he proceeded to find me every free from that point on and make a point of chilling out with me. This was incredible, as I never was very good at making new friends. The fact that this dude had gone out of his way to befriend me actually quite touched me. Steadily I became part of his brotherhood of friends. I steadily grew to love this guy; his antics never failed to make me chuckle, and he always had something positive to say about me. Callum Webster is many things (things I do not have time to write in a single blog post). However, to me, the most important thing is that he is the guy who came and sat with me on my first day in a new place where I felt strange, and showed me that I wasn't the only strange person around school.