Foxed. April 29, 2009
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70%. Well, no chance of a distinction for me now, is there. 70 foxing percent. What is the point of working so hard? Never again. Never again.
I am so angry, I can’t even think straight. If I bother continuing with the course it means a radical rethink for the ECA and I can’t be arsed. That mark has just fired holes through my confidence. And yes, I know I’ll have the ‘But 70% is a good mark’ quote, but it’s not good enough for me! Frigging perfectionist! And 70% is far from perfect. I’m not saying I wanted 100%, but I needed 90%. Stick pins in my eyes. No, really. It’d be less painful than this. Grarararararar!
All time consists of waiting. April 27, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in A215, ECA, Puuuuuuusssshhhhh!, TMA04, TMA05.add a comment
Today I wait to hear news of Skip’s new arrival. Hee, a really exciting time for her, Al and the little life she is bringing into the world. It’s exciting for her, but also for all her friends and family waiting for introductions.
I am also waiting for the return of my last TMA. I was hoping, seeing as there’s such a short period of time to complete the final TMA and the ECA, that the return of TMA04 would be sooner rather than later. No chance of that then. The input and critique would be extrememly helpful for final edits of the ECA, especially now I’m gearing up to have all completed in the next four weeks. At least I have finally begun the commentary for the ECA. In fact, this is where this post ends, prematurely, as I go back to the real writing!
Push, Skips. PUSH!
C’mon the ‘Pool! April 14, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in A215, Football, Life in a back to front world, TMA04, tennis.1 comment so far
So TMA04 has been sent. Thank the Muses! Glad that one is done with, just have to get on with the last two now.
But that means I can sit and watch the match as I type this. Yay the ‘Pool. 2-0 against Chelsea at the moment, making it 3-3 on aggregate in the second leg of the quarter-final match in the Champion’s League. The first goal was a fabulous free kick. It gave the bird to all the players and the goalie as it curved sweetly into the net. The second goal was from a penalty. But yay! If they can keep this up it’ll be a good night, sportswise. Oh, and Andy Murray won his first match on the clay courts earlier today.
Not sportswise, my brother’s housemate’s girlfriend is in hospital. Her and her friends were jumped on Saturday night by a bunch of scalls. While one of her mates ran to get the police (who were at the bottom of the road) she tried to fight the scalls off. Unfortunately, one of them took an iron bar to the back of her head, fracturing her skull. She was in the operating theatre at 3am because the injury had caused a blood clot to form in her brain. Thankfully, she woke up today.
It can be such a sucky world. Gaz has said that he didn’t know if any charges would be brought up against her, as she took three of the scalls into the hospital with her. Surely, if it was self defense then no charges could be pressed? But you never know in this day and age, when you can be done for smacking a burglar who has broken into your home. It’s all backwards, if you ask me.
Cats and dogs on the track? April 13, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in A215, Moto GP, TMA04, TMA05.Tags: writing
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This weekend marked the start of the Moto GP season with the Qatar GP. The race was penned in for around 9pm yesterday, but the weather intervened. A downpour forced the organisers to call it all off. Hmph! Now I’ll have to wait until 7pm tonight to see the race. At least there’s some tennis on to keep me occupied when I’m not a climbing frame or a piece of furniture for Princi.
I so totally wasted yesterday. With Princi at the beach, I should really have done some work on TMA04. Instead, Gaz and I played Guitar Hero. It was a waste of good writing time, but hell, I rocked! Gaz? Not so much! That means that I’ll have to get the TMA fixed and sorted, then sent off today when Princi goes to the swingpark (yep, the Walker is just a little too much today. Princi knackered Grandand yesterday at the beach, so having to help me in and out of the wheelchair is pushing it a little! There’s always next weekend). I’m just sick of looking at it now. Once it’s gone, I can get started on the prep reading for the commentary for TMA05, and start planning that and the commentary for the ECA. It doesn’t help that I’m still not sure what poems I’ll use for the ECA, and that some of them are still unfinished. I suppose that’ll help in the selection process though. Silver lining, gotta look for ‘em!
My brain is a very strange place. April 8, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in A215, Dreams, ECA, Life writing, Poetry, TMA04, TMA05, Writing goals.Tags: writing
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Yep. I had another weird dream last night, though the only part I can remember is an advert. It had a bloke in it, all happy and jolly, until all of a sudden he clutches his side and falls down. Next thing, his insides are spilling out and there is a huge writhing mass of something contorting in the open cavity. It turns out to be his liver, with the tagline – ‘If you don’t look after your body, your body wont look after you.’ Then the writhing mass devours him. I know. My subconscious is messed up!
Still, I had another patch of productivity yesterday. I fixed the problems with my TMA narrative, and completed the first draft of the commentary, then completed the first drafts of two poems that had been playing on my mind. During Princi’s distracted phases today I have tidied up the commentary, compiled the TMA so it’s ready to send, and sorted out the references. Now all I have to do is get all the relevant info for the biblio, and it’s more or less done. Yay! So now my checklist looks like this:
- TMA04 = Life writing. 1500 words + 500 words reflective commentary. (Apr 17)
- TMA05 = Publication research, themed sequence of poems (at least 3) 40 lines (max 42) + 500 words reflective commentary + reading final chapters of BRB. (May 15) *
- ECA = 1500 words prose (life writing) + 40-50 lines poetry**+ 700 words reflective commentary. (June 5)
- *Revise drafts of Persephone, Cassandra, and Yggdrassil. Begin planning submissions commentary based around Iota magazine.
- **Revise drafts of Mecha-Lexy, At the feet of Rafa Nadal, Meat, and the life writing narrative. Complete first draft of Foil and Gambling on inheritance. Choose which poems to use for ECA. Begin planning the commentary.
So that’s me for the next few weeks. And if other poems make themselves known, then I’ll scribble them too. Wow! I never thought I’d be so over-awed by writing. It’s giving me a strange adrenaline rush!
Well, time for a break. Possibly time for some phonics fun with Princi, if I can tear her away from the laptop. As for the teaching of letters writing, we’ve only managed a,b,c,d before she got bored and wanted to draw shapes. At least she can write her name.
I can see… April 7, 2009
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The finish line for TMA04! I have completed the really pants first draft of the commentary. Yay me! Starting to feel relief. I think it’s time for a break seeing as that’s done-ish, as is the millionth draft of the damn life writing narrative!
Might work on the poems tomorrow.
And so the panic starts. April 6, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in A215, Andy Murray wins Masters, ECA, Life writing, Poetry, TMA04, TMA05, tennis, writing.2 comments
Two weeks for the Easter holiday. Just less than two weeks before I need to submit the next TMA. Struggling to write the 500 words commentary. Argh! Also struggling to polish the poems for TMA05, and starting to worry that they might be too repetitive, even though I was kind of aiming for that within the sequence. Feeling really frustrated that I can’t seem to get one line right in the Cassandra poem, seriously need the blinkers taken off! And then I need to prune the ECA prose piece and work on two poems (at least) and a 700 words commentary for that! Argh! Two months to get it all done. Here’s the rundown:
- TMA04 = Life writing. 1500 words + 500 words reflective commentary. (Apr 17)
- TMA05 = Publication research, themed sequence of poems (at least 3) 40 lines (max 42) + 500 words reflective commentary + reading final chapters of BRB. (May 15)
- ECA = 1500 words prose (life writing) + 40-50 lines poetry + 700 words reflective commentary. (June 5)
Argh! Argh! Argh! Seems so much to do in such a short time! And to add to that, Princi’s half term holiday starts on May 25, so there’s two weeks gone of the ECA prep. So I suppose I best get down to some work now while Princi is distracted – watching Pingu on the laptop inbetween finding games on the CBBC website and playing Muzzy interactive. When she gets bored, we’ll do some more reading of her phonics books and learning about rhyming.
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Andy Murray wins in Miami. (Picture from The Independant)
As for tennis, yay! for Andy Murray. He beat Novak Djokovic 6-2, 7-5 in the Miami Masters final yesterday. The first set was all Murray, as he raced to a 4-0 lead. The second set was looking to go the same way as Murray broke Djokovic in the first game. But then Djokovic called for the trainer, and that really got into Murray’s head. Djokovic won the next four games before Murray mounted a comeback.
Some of Murray’s passing shots were fantastic. He outplayed Djokovic something chronic! It was a fabulous game to watch, even when Murray was 4-1 down in the second set. Looking forward to seeing if he has improved on clay now.
To flutter or not to flutter? April 4, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in A215, Flutter on the horses, TMA04, The Principessa Files, tennis, writing.add a comment
So it’s Grand National day. Do I have a flutter? I suppose it’s traditional, well, in this family it is. But I never pick the right horse until a minute before the race starts. Which is very unhlepful.
I’m still working on the life writing piece, but I now have some focus to it. Yay! I had thought that the through line was travel, but it was quite a tenuous link in the second half. Then one of the guys in my tutor group cast a critical eye over the story and picked up on what the through link was – the Internet. How had I not seen that? I can’t believe how blind I’d been, but then I suppose my thinking brain had been focused on the travel link, but my Muse had used subterfuge to write in the Internet through line! And for that I say thank you. (Best stop now, beginning to sound a bit Alanis Morissette. Isn’t it ironic?)
I’m going to have to snatch moments to get this TMA written before the cut-off date now, as it is the first day of the Easter holidays. So I’m going to have to find things for Princi and I to do. Hopefully Grandand will take her to the park for a play in the mornings. Then we can do some reading, writing, and drawing in the afternoons. Not looking forward to the writing thing. Every time I have tried teaching her how to write her letters she gets all antsy and defeatist. ‘I can’t, I can’t,’ she’ll scream. But she can. So I’ve got to find a way that is fun for her. Hmmm. Could take some thinking about. Which reminds me. I must get some more coffee mints. We use those to learn maths!
Off to look for some inspiration.
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Oh, and yay! for Andy Murray. He is in the final of the Miami masters. He’ll be playing Novak Djokovic (Princi’s favourite player), and that means that he’s not going to be able to overtake Djokovic in the rankings just yet. Ah well.
Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride. April 2, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in A215, TMA04.add a comment
Why, oh why, is that song stuck in my head? It’s been there since I woke up, echoing into the fathomless depths of my brain. Argh! It’s driving me nuts.
Something else that’s driving me mad is this damn TMA. I am still hacking out a workable piece from the draft of a draft of a draft etc. Grrr! I can’t say I’m getting nowhere, I’m definitely getting somewhere, but it’s still not perfect. I’m glad I’ve got peeps to read my work over and rip it to shreds now as it’s really helping me improve on the weak spots in my writing. Yay!
Well, off to start preparing lunch. Grandand has just left to pick Princi (the reading monster – she reads anything AND everything at the moment) up from school.
And I can feel a choking fit coming on… *cough cough*
Take me out. March 30, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in A215, Conversations with Principessa, Life writing, Principessa in hospital again, Procrastinating, Still feeling yucky, TMA04, writing.4 comments
Yesterday afternoon, Princi began complaining that she had hit her head and that it was hurting. After making sure she had found hugs from everyone possible, she ran off and continued doing whatever it was she had been doing. Then she cried again saying that her head still hurt and started asking for her new favourite comfort – to rest your hand on the injured area. So we did, and she once again felt better. Then she fell asleep in Nanny’s bed, but unsure if she had really hit her head, Nanny woke her up and Princi once again began crying. I was worried to begin with, Princi doesn’t really make too much of a fuss if she hurts herself, she’ll cry, I’ll hug and kiss better, she’ll run off and play. However, the continual return to crying and complaining each time that her head hurt really had me worried. I asked her ifit hurt when her head was touched, and she said no. I asked her if it hurt inside, and she said yes. That was it, off to the walk-in centre with Grandand.
When she got back home, she was her normal self. Grandand said that the doctor who examined her said there was nothing wrong, and I joked to Grandand that she did it just to go out before bedtime. When I got upstairs to put her into bed, she was talking to Nanny. I stopped to listen.
Nanny: Are you ok?
Princi: Yes.
Nanny: Does your head hurt now?
Princi: No.
Nanny: Did you just want to go out?
Princi: Yes, I just wanted a ride in Betsy car.
And there we have it. Two hours of worry while she was at the walk-in centre because she wanted to go for a ride in the car! Little pain. She’s her normal headstrong self today: refusing to eat her dinner and to stay out of the kitchen, and demanding that we read books no matter what books they are (it was Tom’s Midnight Garden before school), so all’s well that ends well.
As for me? Still got the sore throat. Have woken up the past two mornings with my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth. I don’t know why my mouth is so dry recently. Maybe I should stop stressing about the next TMA. Got to get that done by the end of the week, and tomorrow is a write-off as Princi has a day off school because it’s parent’s day. Bugger. Just leaves the last three days of the week to get it done. I seriously need to crack the whip of Getting Things Done. It must be time to take the computer to bed with me. At least the evenings (once Princi’s asleep) can be made of productive time.
Wonder what time Andy Murray is playing tonight…
Slacker? That’s me!
