That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I'm still here and, after a long yet hasty holiday, I have successfully achieved very little more than a good rest. I admit complacency and I know I will face the consequences soon enough when I am thrown back into the grips of academia (though these talons are from a different vulture). Not only am I preparing for a new stint of literature based trouble, but I have also got to face up to the brave new world that is independent single living. I'm out on my own in a wasteland of drunkards, strangers and, worse, intellectuals.
The change of scenery may do me good, or kill me. Probably both. Nevertheless, I find myself torn between absolute petrified apprehension and an inquisitive exhilaration.

In other news...I haven't written much either, though that is not to say that I don't have ideas to work with. The problem, of course, is that I cannot return to the daily grind as per say, as the entire grind is changing. Only once I have settled into a new regime of absolute chaos can I trust myself to commit to anything new, or continue with the old. I fear a mix of laziness and distraction would prevent any projects from really taking off before then.

It's all change and I need a note.

I promise to settle as soon as I can and hopefully find the opportunity to do something creative for you all to sneer at contemptuously. Until then, we must be patient

Oh, and amidst all that incoherent rambling, one may have recognised the fact that I must have received some form of result to be speaking of University. Simply, AAB.
Of course, in the competitive nature of secondary school league tables, they intend to try and sneak that B up to an A for me. Honestly, I can't say I care one way or other. I'm in, and that's all that counts as far as I'm concerned. These last two years are already slipping into the hazy memory of fond trivialities and forgotten knowledge.
If one truly cares to know, my total earning was AABBba* and 3 OU Passes.
It's all nonsense to me, too.

Fondness to all.

Well, it appears that that's that for secondary education. My final exams are over and I am now awaiting my results in August. Even if I do not get the grades I need, I have a lot of bartering material to use in vying for my place at uni. I don't want it to come to that, but it's there.

As for what I'm doing now, I guess I'm a free man. Yet, still I fear the pressures of academia weigh down on me. Though, I feel new possibilities are open for pursuit. Namely, I believe Ornatus and I are going to get back into the groove of setting weekly creative tasks for one another. Look out for those. I guess, I have time to dedicate to some poetry, too. I might take a shimmy over my old submissions and clean up some stuff.

Outside of writing, there is music. My band are trying for more gigs through summer, and I am still trying for my one song glory. Things are looking very creative for the next few months. I only hope I can do justice to the time I have been given...maybe.

All else is as it always has been. Some bad, some good. Things hither and thither.

To all, my fondest regards.

Toodles

...no seaside adventure for me.

Yes, I'm back, after a long ol' stint of nothingness. I have been a very lazy individual, now faced with a good few months of unread artwork to catch up on.

Unfortunately, I have come to that gloriously harrowing time of the year:

EXAM TIME.

That's right, it's time to hitch up my breeches and stride proudly into the dismal decay of graded academia. This perpetual torture chamber of neatly lined desks and crisp white papers beckons me, once more, into its midst. The light falls dim as I take my seat amongst the other poor lambs who similarly sit in wait for what will be the longest, shortest, most abysmally dull two hours (approx. average) of hellish non-recreation we have ever endured. Then, neatly packaged and magnificently unprepared for the long littleness of life, I shall find myself dumped out the back door of the abattoir, where I shall finally be able to start something.

Oh, if only that were true! For, in the cruel irony of academic progression, I shall spend a good portion of the summer working for some moolah, and otherwise getting myself psyched for university.

I shouldn't be so cynical. But then I would be boring. So, on with the heinous bashing!

No. Okay. I admit. University will be good. For the pizza more than the exams, admittedly, but something new, something different, something less limiting than school will be a pleasant change, and a move in the right direction.

Till then, though, it's revision and pandemonium. My favourite!


If I survive, you shall hear from me again. For now, you may enjoy the single snippet of recreational creativity I managed to squeeze out over the last few months. (See my latest submission.)

...Toodles!

And this one's a real stinker.
I finally received my last answer in regards to university application. It was, unfortunately, a no. This means that, out of five, three choices have rejected me. I am not bitter - just a little grieved. Perhaps I did set the bar too high. Had I gone for lower grade requirements, who knows? But, those were the courses I wanted and it was worth trying, worth fighting for.
Hell, I can't complain. I have two offers, both for great places with great courses. I will be happy to go to either, though, even that is not a definite outlook. I walk a road always one-step behind my target. In many respects, this a wonderful thing, because that way I will never stop trying. Still, with the most recent set of exam results, I cannot help but question the challenge I have given myself.
It is possible. That's enough to reassure me. Still...

It seems I am still in a life of halves. As somethings draw, finally, and triumphantly to a close, others linger on and make no sign of finale.

For now, I can only try and wait.

Toodles.

I realised that some of you jazzed-up wirehoppers, dwelling in this miserable world of virtuality, may actually take an interest in some of the recent developments of my life.
Well, the last time I updated you, I was lamenting the onset of christmas and awaiting, albeit impatiently, for the last few university offers to trickle through.

I have successfully received two answers since then... *drumroll* ...

...Both negative...

...Well, there's a stinker. Sadly, they were my two highest choices. There is hope, however, in the knowledge that I still wait for one last offer and with that in mind, I can overcome the disappointment. I have in no way diminished my personal targets, and am still working at it (whatever 'it' is).

In a moment of good news, I have passed a second undergraduate short course on playwriting, and am preparing to start a third on poetry as soon as time allows. Time, as always, shall remain a rare think indeed - I have always preferred rosemary.

I'll leave you with the same old regards and best wishes.
From your ever-waiting, anticipating, post-season hating storyteller...

...Toodles!

P.S. Christmas was actually very enjoyable. We have had snow recently, two months late, but snow nontheless.