Blogs :)

24^th November 2008

The guilt of playing games in the library!

I’ve been sitting at a computer trying to catch up on missed homeworks (I was ill for most of last week) but am finding it difficult to stay awake. I’ve fallen asleep twice so far, just resting on my hand.

Because of this, I’ve developed a system where I read a page or two, then play a level of a game. Another page, another level. It’s working pretty well so far, and making it easier to get through the reading because I’m more awake.

It looks quite bad though. Whenever someone walks past and I’m playing a game I feel really guilty. It looks like I’m stopping someone else from working because I want to be selfish and use the computer for a uselessness.

To be fair, I’m not doing particularly well at this game so far. I can’t get past level 6.

On with the homework.

26^th November 2008

I really struggle with my eczema during the winter – going from the cold outside, to a warm inside, to the cold outside upsets it. Last night was so unfair! I did amazingly well yesterday not to scratch, and to medicate it, I actually put some effort in! Then I woke up to find I’d been scratching in my sleep! ¬_¬!! *huffs*My house mates have taken to telling me off for it when I do scratch, so to do well and put some effort in for once, just to have it taken away isn’t fair

I don’t like being told off for scratching though, because you just don’t think about it. It’s automatic. I always thought of it as (in some ways) more difficult than giving up smoking. Coz if you were locked in a room with no cigarettes, it might make it easier on you not to have the temptation there, you just learn to do without them. But if you lock someone who is trying to get rid of their eczema in a room… it makes no difference. You can’t separate them. All you have is willpower. And it would seem I have very little of that.

26^th November 2008

I was just watching Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food On Demand, and cannot believe how many people are willing to bring their kids up on junk food !! There was one woman who had two young children, who she gave chips and kebab every single night. Nothing wrong with not cooking, but there are healthy ready meals and things out there which you can have instead! Poor Jamie Oliver, he’s trying to change it all (and thank God, else those kids’ lives are going to be drastically shortened) I hope he manages it.

Did anyone see his School Dinners show? It was on kinda late, but that was really shocking to see what a state the food we eat is in. You just don’t think about it too much until you see something like that. Well I don’t anyway. I was studying A-Level media when the picture of that woman passing chips to school kids through the bars came out, and we had all sorts of discussions on it in class. Good on Jamie to think of getting her to join in with improving how people eat. (Er, not that I’m a massive fan of his or anything).

I suppose it just depends on where your life leads for things like learning to cook. Because those of us who come to uni and live away from home have no choice but to learn how to look after ourselves a bit. I don’t imagine that if I’d moved in with a partner around now instead, that I would have learnt to cook properly. I’m not a fantastic chef or anything now, ya know, I’m not willing to throw dinner parties or anything to show off my culinary skills, but I do alright.

My house mates are fantastic and really into cooking. There are lots of home made lasagnes, pasta bakes, stuffed peppers, spaghetti bolognese, stews etc coming to life in our house.

Got to run – Heroes is on.

Improving a Piece for Portfolio – last week’s homework

Ye Olde Discovery

I think the tone of my journalistic-style piece, ‘Ye Olde Discovery’ could be more shocked, rather than it sounding factually based, and quite formal. It could also stand to be a longer piece, but I’m not sure where I could add further writing in, as it reads fluently at its current length. I think the ending sentence is pleasantly open-ended, with, ‘Maybe these will reveal what this unusual landmark was once used for.’

 

I would add further links for ‘Greek amphitheatre’, ‘Weeping Soldiers’ (which is made up, but there is a religious site with a similar name I’m planning on changing this to, then linking to that instead) and ‘16th Century’. These strike me as the most prevalent subjects in the text that the reader would either want to find more about through lack of knowledge, or through interest spiked by the article.

 

For the opening sentence, I think I should say, ‘A Greek amphitheatre styled structure was discovered in a field…’ because the first sentence is currently fairly misleading as to what the article is going to be about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through this non-fiction piece, I wanted to create an intriguing story revolving around a photograph I had found online. I am since unsure as to whether presenting this in a journalistic piece of writing was the right way to go about it, and am wondering about doing a short story from this, or another picture instead.

 

However, I have achieved the intrigue I was looking to create by arguing each reason equally, and ending on an indefinite, open-ended sentence, which suggests that there could be future articles pertaining to this subject too.

 

Perhaps that would be the best way for me to develop the piece, as both a story and a broader piece of writing. If further revelations occur in the area, and I research into what these could possibly be, I think this piece could be developed into a longer and better informed piece of writing.

Picture for Sarah W’s Story

Chris decided to enter the marathon over a year ago. He had chosen his charity, collected sponsorship and trained every day.

Despite the ups and downs, Chris was now half a mile from the finish line of the London Marathon.

Chris glanced sideways. A large cat appeared – it was breathing hard. Chris slowed slightly to let it pass and noted that it was running for the ‘Cat’s Protection League’.

The finish line was in sight. He’d made it.

My Edit of Emily’s Short Story

They say that you should live for the moment and never look back. Scott wishes he had. At the age of thirteen, Scott was a lively, energetic and gifted sportsman, he was the teenager that everyone loved both the girls and the boys, everyone wanted to be his friend and were envious of his repetitive outstanding performances on the football pitch. They said he could have been playing in the premiership at the age of 17 if his ability continued to develop the way it was.

 

 Until that day, the day that Scott’s future was taken away from him, the catastrophic accident that changed our Scott for life, nothing could have ever prepared Scott for what was going to happen, nothing could ever prepare anyone for what was about to happen.

 

Stop, look and listen, but Scott didn’t.

 

 

 

 

 

At the age of thirteen, Scott was an energetic and gifted sportsman. He was the teenager that everyone loved, and everyone was envious of his outstanding performances on the football pitch. They said he could have been playing in the premiership at the age of 17.

 

Until that day, the day that Scott’s future was taken away from him, nothing could have prepared Scott for what was going to happen.

 

Stop, look and listen, but Scott didn’t.

Remember This Short Story

 

Memory is a treacherous thing. It can bring us back to happy times, and bring us back to our worst. It can help us in exams, and day to day life. It is what provides us with ourselves. Our memories and what we learn make us who we are. Does it mean that people with amnesia or Alzheimer’s become less of a person?

 

Some people only have a short term memory, others have no short term memory at all. Children remember almost everything that happens, things that adults don’t take notice of anymore. Sometimes, I wish I could just stop thinking, and forget. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t me, that I could be someone else, in some other time, and live a different life. I’m going to make it happen, one day soon. I won’t remember this life any more.

Ye Olde Discovery

 

An old amphitheatre was discovered in a field of a Devonshire farm over the weekend. The torrential rains had loosened up the land, causing it to sink and shift and wash away, revealing this strange discovery.  While it is not the usual size of a Greek amphitheatre, there are varying beliefs that the land was built in this way in medieval times to be used as a stage, a place for communal meetings, or possibly even for pagan rituals.

 

In neighbouring fields, bowls, tools and scraps of cloth have been discovered dating back to the middle of the 16^th century.  On the other hand, just fifteen minutes down the road is another well known pagan site, the Weeping Soldiers, which draws in thousands of visitors every year.

 

The debate could go on for some time as to a definite use of the structure, but since the discovery, more excavations have been planned for the surrounding area to find out more. Maybe these will reveal what this unusual landmark was once used for.

How To Paint Your Nails Without A Steady Hand

1.) If you have old varnish left on your nails, rub it off with cotton wool dipped in nail varnish remover.
2.) Rinse your hands after this, as any remover which lingers on your nails dries them out.
3.) Always start with a base coat before applying the colour, as it stops your nails from drying out and becoming brittle over time.
4.) Allow at least twenty minutes to half an hour between coats for best results. If the base coat is still sticky to the touch when you apply the next one, it takes the top coat much longer to dry and so there’s more chance of it being ruined.
5.) Choose your colour. Depending on brand, shade, clour and how you want it to look will depend on how many coats you apply.

Tip: Brands such as Max Factor, Rimmel and Barry M, are some of the best for only needing to apply one coat.

6.) Place the hand you are painting on a solid surface to make it easier. It may be best to let one hand dry before attempting to paint the next. It’s so easy to catch the wet varnish against your other fingers when holding the brush.
7.) When you have applied the colour how you want it, making sure to leave time inbetween coats, apply the top coat. You can either use ‘top coat’ nail varnish, or clear nail varnish. This stops the colour from chipping quite as easily.
8.) If you have got nail varnish all over the skin around the nail, making it look messy (as I always do), then dip a cotton bud into nail varnish remover and rub it away. Alternatively, wait until your hands are wet for a long time, from being in the shower, or washing up, as any left on the skin will peel off easily.

Stand back and admire your wonderfully decorated hands!

Web Writing Tips

Mark Bernstein’s web writing tips:

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving

Bernstein’s main points about webwriting, are first to look at what type of website you are writing for, as this depends on how often you write, the quality and probably the content. He goes on to say that it is important to write consistently so as to not let your readers down, and to write about something you care about. If you are passionate about a subject, that will come across through your writing and make the reader become passionate about it too.

However, don’t just rant and whine about something for ages, make the points you want to make and stick to them. Ensure you write well, as loyal readers will ignore the odd punctuation or spelling mistake, but won’t trust you or will get bored if you haven’t written succinctly and talk too much.

Bernstein also recommends having good friends and good enemies who can be a part of your online writing. This can lead to debates between you, which can make interesting reading for your viewers. Be careful not to gloat too much should you win a point though.

Through your writing, you should take your readers on a journey as the events unfold. Tell of things which will delight and surprise, or shock. Don’t be afraid to refer back to writing from long ago, and don’t be afraid to link to yourself as well as other writers. Finally, remember just to relax and enjoy it.

I thought Bernstein had made some well thought out points on the subject, along with an easy to read and chatty writing style. He describes each point clearly, and shows that he has put some real thought and effort into it, which makes you want to trust him as a writer. His personality shone through his writing too, which made it feel as though he was talking directly to you, as opposed to reading something on the computer. Also, his ending line was fantastic!

‘Ideas matter, but name-calling doesn’t, and petulant critics wrap tomorrow’s virtual fish.’

Concert from somewhere near Hell

I wouldn’t say Ne-Yo is one of my favourite artists, but I do quite like his songs. So when me and a friend found out he would be performing at Ballare in Cambridge, and quite cheaply too, we deicded to go.

It was horrendous! Whilst we were queueing to get in, we heard the bouncers reminding everyone that just because you have a ticket, it doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to get in. Why sell the tickets if you don’t have room for everyone? As somewhere that entertains people all the time, surely you must know how many people you can get in?!

The stage was going to be this cat walk type area which had been set up in a way which cut the dance floor in half horizontally. Me and my friend stood on a slightly raised area, to the side of the dance floor thinking that everyone will be trying to get to the front of the stage, but we’ll be able to see better from up here. We watched people on the dance floor all trying to get to the front, and pushing forwards and were reasonably smug with ourselves.. but not for long.

Ne-Yo was due to perform around midnight. The DJ spent the night building it up, and reminding us that, “He’ll be arriving soon!” By this time the dance floor was PACKED and people were starting to pile up behind where we were too.

Midnight came around, and people who had got up onto the stage to dance were cleared off. Everyone got excited thinking he’ll be on now. The doors opened, the house lights went on, everyone stopped dancing, and onto the stage walked one of Ne-Yo’s body guards. The crowd went ballistic! The people at the front were screaming and taking photos, and the people at the back who couldn’t see what was happening were following their lead. It soon calmed down though.

By now, there was quite a crowd of people behind us, all beginning to push forward. There were people climbing the walls for a better view, standing on tables…

We were made to wait for another HOUR before he came on. During this hour, it wasn’t hyped up at all. The DJ kept playing song after song but everyone had stopped dancing by now. Everyone was still. Everyone was getting really pissed off.

People started booing. Making the fans wait a few minutes to build up the hype is one thing, but to have them stand there, bored as hell for an HOUR is terrible. Because everyone was crowded so closely together, smaller girls were getting crushed and having to be yanked out the crowd by massive security guards.

Finally, he came on stage. The noise was DEAFENING, the people behind us jumped on us to get a better view and one girl literally climbed up and walked over the crowd to get to the front. Everyone behind was using us as something to lean on to get a better view. I am NOT a big enough fan to put up with that in order to see him.

The phrase ’sod this’ sprang to mind and I backed my way out of the crowd, which they were perfectly happy to let me do because it meant more room for them. It was horribly cluastrophobic to be packed in like that, climbed over, leaned over, and stood on.

After all that, after the boredom, the over-long wait, the crushings, the pain of being stood on, the unbearable noise of the screams, he only sang two songs, then left.

Two songs.

Two ruddy songs.

How disrespectful to your fans is that? You don’t have the decency to perform anywhere near on time, then when you do, give no one anywhere near their money’s worth. Two lousy songs. If we had known that was going to happen we never would have gone to this, so called ‘concert’, though I use the term very, very loosely. It was poorly planned out, lousy and a rip-off!

Comparing delicious deserts

Three different websites on how to make cakes that vary for lots of reasons…

 

http://grandmagardens.blog.co.uk/?tag=cake-recipies

 

This website on cake making immediately sounds appealing by calling it ‘Grandma’s Kitchen.’ The title holds connotations of warmth, of being homely, and suggests good food.

 

The site itself is simple, straightforward and undecorative. It provides only the information necessary, of what ingredients are needed and the method. The heading of ‘Ada’s Simple Feather Cake’ also sounds appealing because of the adjective ‘simple’. This makes it sound quick and easy, which is always good, and may attract people who are just learning to cook.

 

Credibility is taken away from the website due to a mistake either in the list of ingredients or the method (it’s hard to tell which). Eggs have been included in the ingredients, but aren’t mentioned in the method.

 

 

http://www.caketime.org.uk/downloads/shelter_AldoZilli_RECIPE.pdf

 

The first thing the viewer sees is a bold picture of the honey and ricotta cheesecake, which seems to be laid upon a picnic blanket. Adjoining this is the caption ‘Cake Time’, which all creates a fun feeling.

 

Large writing is used to introduce the recipe, along with different coloured font, which is differently sized and has different effects such as bold applied to it. Overall, because so many effects are used on a small amount of writing, it makes it difficult to read as your attention is drawn in so many directions.

 

The recipe itself is nicely laid out, with clear instructions and an attractive picture. The font chosen is engaging and easy to read, making the page seem very appealing.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/triplechocolatebrown_72334.shtml

 

The BBC’s website is colourfully decorated, but not in a distracting way, and is the only one out of these three to include relevant links down the sides, and along the bottom of the page.

 

It provides the information as needed, but lacks an introduction or any writing to give it an element of humanity. The green font used for the ingredients and method is a little difficult to read on screen, as it start to flash and go fuzzy when looked at for too long.

 

The pictures used are that of a famous chef, which makes us feel as though it’ll be a recipe we can trust, which is enforced by the website it is on. The picture of the brownies is quite appealing and helps to show the viewer how they should look if cooked successfully.