I am torn.

Time to do some venting.

 I applied to university about a month ago hoping to study English and French and I already have conditional offers from Leicester and Southampton. Last week, I received an email inviting me to interview from my dream university but unfortunately, I was unsuccessful for the English part and they only want to interview me for single honours French. Also, my best friend in the whole world did not get an interview.

  When I got the email, I was extremely excited, slightly disappointed and emotional (I cried), all at the same time. I know I'm better in French than English, so maybe this is God pointing me in the right direction. The Bible does say in Jeremiah 29:11 that God knows the plans that He has for us. I'm very nervous because this is a really big deal for my school and I don't want to let anyone down.

  So, to prepare myself for the biggest interview(s) of my life thus far, I shall conclude this post with the reasons why I want to study French at a higher level;

- It's always been a dream of mine to be fluent.
- I have a passion for languages, French especially.
- I'm really interested in studying French literature and becoming familiar with the authors, especially literature from the Medieval era and literary theory.
- A year abroad would be an excellent way for me to immerse myself in the French way of life.
- I'm interested in the linguistics aspect of language.
And last but not least, I just LOVE everything French!

Jesus, take the wheel.

The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend

  From the title, it is quite obvious that this is another generic Young Adult (YA) novel that attempts to be 'hip' and relate to teenagers. The DUFF is the story of seventeen year old Billie Piper who is the stereotypical smart and 'ugly' one in her group of friends. At a party, the 'school hottie' (I am cringing), Wesley Rush, who Bianca initially cannot stand as he is a renowned womanizer, nicknames Bianca 'The Duff'. This stands for the 'Designated Ugly Fat Friend', people that boys have to pretend to be cordial to in order to 'get with' their prettier friends. As Bianca's life begins to go awry and she is desperate for a means of distraction, she begins a secret friends/enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley and finds that there might actually be more to him beneath his 'player' facade.

  This book really irked me. The fact that the main character is supposedly intelligent is doubtful, considering the many stupid decisions that she makes throughout the story. I mean, what clever person begins having sex with a boy that she hates, who abuses her constantly just to 'escape' the problems in her life? Bianca also states repeatedly (the book is written in the first person from her perspective so the reader hears her side a lot, the joy!) that she feels 'dirty' after their intercourse so her reasoning behind doing it makes no sense. Even though I am seventeen like Bianca, I could not empathise with her as a character at all and I found myself becoming increasingly irritated at her and her poor choices. Keplinger gives off a negative message to teens: have meaningless sex with people you despise, don't worry about STDs and the risk of pregnancy and all your problems will miraculously sort themselves out, yeah!

  Another reason why The DUFF annoyed me is that Keplinger did that author fail of trying to incorporate teenage slang and swear words into the book and for me, they didn't work. I've never even heard of the expression of 'the duff' and I would say that I am fairly 'on it' with colloquial terms. I'll admit grudgingly that The DUFF does explore the themes of friendship, insecurity, alcohol abuse and divorce, and how appearances are not always what they seem, issues that teenagers face on a day to day basis but I critique the way that everything was resolved too quickly in an unrealistic manner. Furthermore, I felt that some of the characters were unnecessary or not developed enough for the reader to care for them. Bianca is also not a good model for teens. I read the book quite a while ago and I am still trying to wrap my head around why a character would cheapen herself so with a boy that cares nothing for her.

  My friends seem to think that I have become a sort of 'book snob' that only reads 'the classics' and hates everything else but I actually have nothing against Young Adult/Teen books that are well written, i.e The Princess Diaries. The DUFF was not for me. Yes, I did chuckle whilst reading but that was more at the book than with the book.

  I would like to reiterate that this review and entire blog consist of my own personal opinions that people do not have to agree with and I know that I can be quite harsh sometimes. Maybe I'll read more of Kody Keplinger's work in the future. In the distant future.

Rating 2/5 **

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Duff-designated-ugly-fat-friend/dp/1444903500/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353588496&sr=1-1

Life is a wonderful thing- 'The Incident'

Guess who's back, back, back....
  Once again, I apologise for my lack of consistency with posts. Oh the joys of Year 13, A Levels and a part-time job!

 It was half-term last week and whilst most of my peers were chillin' and de-stressing, I spent the whole week (1pm- 9.30pm to be exact) volunteering as stage management for a production of Watership Down at my local theatre. (Side note: the play was amazing as the young cast were very talented. It's a beautiful story that I'll write about sometime!) Although quite stressful at times, it was a very fun experience and I learned a lot as I had participated in multiple performances in the past but I'd never done backstage work before.

 On Friday, about an hour before the show opened, I had a bit of an 'incident.' Somehow, I managed to whack my head quite hard against a wall, which resulted in a massive bump on my forehead. It was HUGE.

 It was also quite embarrassing as I'd spent all week trying to build a stern persona for myself amongst the young cast and professional tech dudes and all this was lost. Everyone seemed to find it hilarious and I was known as 'Lumpy' for the rest of the weekend. It is also always embarrassing to fill out an accident form when the reason for the accident is 'hit head on wall.'

  On a serious note, after my incident, A&E was a possibility as I was feeling quite dizzy and tired, which are concussion symptoms. As melodramatic as it might sound, I became quite panicked and I genuinely thought I was going to die thanks to negative inputs from silly people.

  In the end, everything turned out fine; I was checked out by an experienced nurse at the theatre who said that all I needed was a good night's sleep and some painkillers.

  I hope none of you never have to experience the horrible feeling of fearing that you'll not wake up the next morning. I went a bit over the top, setting alarms for every hour to check that I was still 'alive' and I even had my uncle check in on me! My fears were quite silly; Jesus said that we were healed by His stripes and God is good so He'll never let His children die.

 I woke up the next morning thanking God for the gift of life and I'll never ever take it for granted ever again.

Note to self: watch out for walls.

I'll be reviewing Kody Keplinger's 'The DUFF' soon.