Photos from our trip to London - July 2011

Took a few photos on our trip to London this weekend. Thought you might all want a little look.

This is almost exceeding stalker level. Also, LOL at the man with the hips behind me.

NO ONE MOURNS THE WICKEEEEEED

The set of Wicked

The lobby (?) was all green because it was WICKED

"Good morning Mr.Cameron"

Actually love this photo

*royal wedding stalker face*

WE WENT TO AN ACTUAL SERVICE. AN ACTUUUUAAAAAL SERVICE.

TAAAAAAAAAAAAKE THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT:

That is me avec la LUSH Louise Jones (please ignore my cup and clawed hand)

I do like London, although it is rather hot and breathless. I think I prefer home.



A football blog?

Just over a week ago I invaded the pitch in the Liberty Stadium. IT WAS AMAZING!

After wolfing down my food and changing into my match clothes, (which I looked like a physiotherapist in, but only realised that I did after we left when I put my jacket on) we left for Swansea. When I told people that I was going to the match in school that day, they were quite surprised, especially the boys. "YES MEG!" was the most common reaction. They were even more shocked when I told them we have season ticket (WOOOOOO!). I do enjoy breaking these sexist stereotypes, although I am a very stereotypical teenage girl so it doesn't happen very often.

It was madness when we arrived in Swansea. People, cars and flags EVERYWHERE. It took us about half an hour to find a parking space. The parking space that we did find required us to walk for another half hour to the actual stadium. It gave us a good chance to absorb the pre-party atmosphere.
         Walking around the stadium, I was terrified that my brothers were going to get separated from us. I think I must have stopped the blood flow in Ben's hand and I was holding it so tight.

Everyone stopped what they were doing (drinking, smoking and chatting ... not me, some of the other fans!) and turned to watch a snazzy jaguar pulling up. Gary Speed was arriving, apparently. I had to ask a feeble "who?" to my father, as my brother looked at me with his jaw to the floor. I do apologise.

Just a quickie - why are the gates into football stadiums so small?

We sat down in our season ticket seats, ready for the players to walk on.

Let the game begin!

90 minutes later

3-1

To Swansea

Ecstatic

People start to invade the pitch:

We make our way onto the pitch:

                                                                            LOL

WOWOWOWOWOWOW!

I'll be seeing you all in Wembley then! Listen out on Radio Wales too; you might just hear us!

What a busy week!

I should really be revising for my English assessments next week instead of blogging, but too much revision turns your brain to mush. Fact. 

Anyway, where was I? *brain sizzles from doing first assessment today*
Oh yeah.

TGIF.

Monday
Woke up at 6.30am (I know.) to make sure I wasn't late. I was going away with school later that day on an Environmental Science/Biology residential trip.
Hauled my 34890 suitcases onto the minibus and left school in the afternoon. I'm a light packer.

When we arrived I actually thought we'd been accidentally dropped of at Elstree Studios. I thought it was an ecofriendly Big Brother House. *queue my uncanny Marcus Bentley impression*

Plus, the weather was brilliant: sunny and not a cloud in the sky. This is Wales we're talking about and it's not often that we get such nice weather!

Went for a tour of the building and grounds before having tea.

In the evening we went out to lay humane mammal traps. I was hoping to maybe catch a black bear, but when I saw the size of the traps my expectations were lowered dramatically.

Tuesday

Had a full blown cooked breakfast. Scrummy. 

Went out to check the mammal  traps. Someone caught a field mouse. No one caught any bears. :(

After putting 4 layers of clothes on we went to the beach, and it was freezing! Had a nice walk down through the sand dunes and finally reached the coast. Threw a few quadrats (boring) and then we had lunch (YEY).

By the way, I thoroughly recommend rolling down sand dunes. You're bum might be a bit sore afterwards, but it's well worth it.

Had 'ellllll of a time on the walk back to the coach. Our group at the back arrived about an hour after everyone else.

Went then to another beach which was stunning. They've filmed Doctor Who there.

I took that photo on my Samsung Tocco Lite. Impressed? You should be.

Had a lovely curry for tea and then sat down to watch Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents. Our teacher came in half way through and asked what we were watching. On screen at this point there was a man in a Borat mankini. Luckily, when she looked up it was another scene. After about 30 seconds of silence, my BFFL piped up and said 'It's about holidays,' and our teacher replied 'OK' and walked out. Lydia Jones is a life saver.

Just before going to bed some boys were mucking around and pushed life saver Lydia Jones into me. Her head and my nose banged together (more on this story later).

Wednesday

My nose was still hurting.

Had another English breakfast.

Went pond dipping in the morning. It was better than I expected it to be, even though it consisted of us staring at little nymphs and leeches trying to identify them. I caught TWO amazing creatures. The first, what looked like a twig but was actually a shell which was protecting a black and yellow

worm-thingymabob. The second, a huge fly-thingymabob. I was better at the catching than the identifying. Can you tell?

In the afternoon we "cleared" a stream.

Returned to school looking like tramps, with shoved up hair and no make-up on. Attractive.

Thursday

Nose looked a bit swollen.

Normal school day. No need to write about it. We did play basketball, if that counts for anything ...

Revised for my English assessment.

Today

Woke up feeling stressed and nervous about the assessment. I had to remember and write six sides of A4 in an hour.

Decided it was time to go and see about my nose.

Had RE first lesson and watched 300 (my now most despised film). Sneakily read and reread my essay under the table.

The bell rang. Queue panic.

*hour passes*

Came out of the lesson feeling quite proud of myself. Managed to write over two thirds of my essay and I don't think I forgot anything. We have time to finish it off after half term.

Mum picked me up to take me to the hospital.

The nurse asked where it was hurting. I said my nose.

I discovered today that there are a few different parts to a nose, and I had to say which part hurt. It was more difficult than it sounds.

I have to go back next week to see how it is.

After going to the hospital, Mum and I stopped for a McDonalds. I had Chicken Selects with BBQ dip, then a Wispa McFlurry. MMMM.

Woah. This blog is bigger than my essay *shudders at the thought of more assessments next week*. If any of you have read this to the end, you deserve a medal. Here you go.

Bolt: "Thanks Megan."

I think it's time I wrapped it up.

Goodbye.  

Media vs. Medicine

They both begin with M, but are two completely different careers:
Media: This industry includes newspapers, magazines, radio, TV broadcasting and film production companies. Its glamorous image means that competition to get started is tough.
Medicine: Learning to be a doctor means following one of the longest courses of study for any career. The competition to enter this profession is very stiff, and selection is based on a lot more than just academic ability.

I want to do these when I leave school, but obviously I can't do both. I have to choose between them *tips teenage hormones over the edge*.

Let me introduce you to my inconclusive argument *waves hello*.
1) I would like to work in media because it's exciting and different. I'd love to be a journalist. How amazing would it be to work for someone like heat or Elle?! A showbiz journalist gets to go to huge parties and premieres. They get to interview celebrities. Like it says above; it's a glamorous career. Plus, if I ever have children, I could become freelance. I could take English and French for A Level.
But.
It's very competitive. It takes time to work your way up. The pay is much less than that of a doctor. Is it really all I expect it to be? You must have to be pretty talented to work for major magazines and newspapers. Do I have the ability and determination?

2) I would like to be a doctor because it's interesting and rewarding. Imagine being able to say that you've saved somebody's life. If it wasn't for you, they'd be dead. It would be amazing. Not to mention, the pay is great. You don't ever hear of doctors out of work do you? There's stability.
But.
Don't you have to train for about 5 years? If I'm not mistaken, when you graduate you don't even become a doctor straight away anyway. It takes time, and lots of it. Do I want to spend that much of my life in education? I'd have to take Chemistry, Biology and Maths for A Level, not my lovely English and French. If I did take a gap year, which I REALLY want to, I'd be a year late leaving university.
So. What's more important: money or pleasure? If I have the ability to become a doctor, shouldn't I do it because I can? To be a famous, witty journalist is my dream, but could I ever become one?

Do I go with my head or my heart?
Any help, views or advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Life Goes By At 150mph

'Hit 'em with the stats Meg!'
• In just over a month I'll be 15.
• I sit my GCSEs in 2 years.
• I'll be driving in 3 years.
• My A Levels in 4 years.
• That means I've got 4 years left at home until I leave to go to University.

4 years seems an age away. But I remember when it was announced five years ago that London were to host the 2012 Olympics. I remember watching Beckham play in the 2006 Football World Cup. It seems like only yesterday when I met my friend in LIDL's car park and walked along the pavement for my first day at Comprehensive School three years ago. So, really, four years isn't that far away.
I'm very excited to go to University. "It's the best time of your life!" My neighbour left home this year to study and it sounds great. But, when I do move out, I'm facing the world alone. No Mum to wash my clothes and iron them for me. No Dad to go cycling down Mumbles with. No brothers to fight to the death with.

The scariest thing that faces me is: I'll have to cook. Yes. Make healthy, substantial meals. I cannot cook. I tried to make Pasta before. Forgot to drain it, just poured the sauce in with the water. It ended up as soup. Another time, I was left the responsibility to boil spaghetti. Big mistake. I cooked it for over an hour. It burned. End of cooking career. The only things I can make are Chocolate Brownies. Funny that.

When I turn 15 in December I'll be half way to 30. THIRTY. Childhood ends at 18, yes? That's when you officially become an adult. This means it's not long until my childhood is over. I've been thinking so much ahead at my future, that I haven't noticed it slipping through my fingers. Teenagers wish their lives away. Always want to be older than they are. Can't wait to finish school. They go clubbing, drink, smoke, even take drugs and become pregnant. It ruins their lives.

I wish we could all press pause on the remote control of life. Before we know it, another month, year, decade has passed us by.

Megan Amy Jones: Aged 14. Year 10. 2010.

Blown out of proportion? X-tra hype?

For those of you on Twitter, you'll know how much I love The X Factor. In fact, everybody who knows me is aware of my obsession over the show. When The X Factor is on, Twitter explodes. Everybody is talking about it. The first live show drew nearly 13.5 million viewers. It's recently published it's own magazine. But, this nationwide, or perhaps worldwide, phenomenon certainly takes it's on toll on people.

The biggest story to come from this year's show is Gamu Nhengu. First, she wasn't chosen to become one of Cheryl's top 3, not even her wild card choice. Over 260 000 people have joined the Facebook page 'Gamu should have gone through'. The nation was in shock. Then an even more shocking story broke: Gamu and her family were going to be deported. Her Mother's Visa application was rejected. It was the top story. Nobody cared about the Politics of our country anymore, it was all about this one girl. There are rumours going around that she will face a firing squad when she returns to her home country of Zimbabwe. How much of this rumour is true I don't know. I sure hope that it is 100% false.

Cher Lloyd and Katie Waissel. More controversial than Jedward. Katie came across as a bit of a prat in her first audition. What we didn't know was that she had a record deal out in America. She had been signed under many different names. She's far more experienced than she's making out.
As for Cher. I was undecided about her when I saw her first audition. She was sixteen? SIXTEEN?! The Judges clearly loved her, especially Cheryl. It was obvious there and then that she would be in the live shows. What no-one expected was her to forget and mess up her song in the Judges' homes stage. Katie did exactly the same. Surely, after not being able to sing a song they should be sent straight home? No. They were both put through. Twitter was in uproar. How could she justify putting them through? Well, Cheryl's certainly got away with it.

Recently, Cher's been in the news for other reasons. She's been causing tantrums and clearly not being able to cope with all the pressure. What do you expect? She's now 17! She's been given a counsellor and has been locking herself in bathrooms. If I was under that much pressure, I'd take myself away from the situation straight away!

But, people's opinions of the contestants change on a weekly basis. One week it's about One Direction, the other it's about Storm. The true talent in the competition gets overlooked and forgotten about. Who will survive the shows and come out on top? What's your opinion of the show? A great money maker, but compromising the health and well being of the contestants. Is it really worth it, for 3 hours worth of entertainment?