Vivat Libertas

So on the 23rd of May, study leave began. I did my exams, and then, on the 27th of June, I finished. Everything. It feels weird. And I actually have time to write again. I started going to my school when I was in year 7 (6th grade for Americans) as a chubby, socially awkward 11-year-old. I've now left school as a chubby, socially awkward 18-year-old - so in some ways not much has changed. I'm still shy and not good at dealing with social situations, and I'm still not that much into conspicuous consumption despite going to school with several people who stand to inherit the family business, live in swanky parts of North London and own 6 ponies. In some other ways, a lot has changed. When I first started school full-time, I was naive and paranoid about what people would think of me. Today, after much misanthropy, I no longer give a fuck about what people think of what I do (mostly because they always disapprove), I'm so hellishly cynical I have to keep a lid on it for...

(A note on this interpretation: I don't really like it, but it's the best quality I could find on YouTube. To really get the feel, grab the sheet music, a keyboard instrument of some sort, at least five willing friends, and a warmish sunny afternoon in a grassy green area, then sing your hearts out.) Ah, school. Doesn't everyone love it? Well...no, obviously not, and I've got a very mixed relationship with mine (this is putting it politely). Exams and being at the rock bottom of the social pecking order really do not help. Debating and more particularly choir, however, do. I love singing. I'm not great or even good at it, but I love it. More particularly, I love singing in choirs - getting to sing beautifully complex music, hearing how voices mesh together and how they clash, and all this while sharing that beautiful complexity with other people. It's better in small groups, desperately trying to sight-read the music and bonding over each member's indiv...

All right. I'll take some time off from politics and revolution and wind everything down 'til October or so. I'm not going on hiatus, but updates will be less frequent and likely less political, though I can't promise anything. Last night I went to see Crazy for You  at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre...at least, I tried  to see it. As anyone who was also there would know, they had to cancel the performance due to rain. A shame, in other words. Still, what I did get to see of it was sheer Gershwin fluff...right up my alley, in other words, though I'd never admit it. I might be going to try and see it again on Friday - keeping my fingers crossed! Come Saturday I'm joining in with this Voce Sanctis event to sing Come ye sons of art  by Purcell . It's quite a big thing for me, since apart from joining in with the Really Big Chorus one time (and doing a little thing with the Harrow Philharmonic Choir , though that was with some people from school) I...

Look, I know this post is fluff, but it's very  nice  fluff, OK? Anyway, right now it seems to be singing season - as it always is at the end of term. I've just had two rehearsals and a sort-of performance, which have worn me out. Then  I've got: A rehearsal on Thursday A performance on Saturday (it's for my school's Vis Day, which is basically Speech Day but with a posh name, and I've already signed up to do tug-of-war as well in a flash of house pride...oops) A performance on Sunday at the East Barnet Festival as part of a youth performing arts group (the last time I'll ever be there, unfortunately, since I'm leaving) An exam , of all things, on the 5th of July (my grade 6 exam...anyone fancy telling me how easy/hard it is to pass?) And last (but most definitely not least) I'm going on tour with my school choir for five days of rehearsal, performance and general horsing around (we're around Amboise from the 11th-15th of July, come see u...

Why am I posting this earlier than I should have? Find out the answer to this and many more questions in this random post about my day. Normally I wouldn't post something like this, but today was quite exceptional so I waived the rule. As to why it was exceptional? You see, one of the music teachers at my school is leaving - I think I've mentioned him before in my massive post about Ypres . He's the Assistant Director of Music - the one who runs our chamber choir, or at least tries to keep it from stalling completely - and, being a fairly bright and talented guy, he's decided that he's sick of teaching and wants to do something different. In this case, "different" means "becoming a financial consultant". Yeah, I know, I was thinking "what the fuck?" too. But he's smart and did maths at A-Level, which is what counts. Anyway, trying to get back on track, everyone will miss him because come on, where else are you going to find a te...

...or, in other news, it's my birthday. I'm 15 today, if you didn't know, and this seems to be the only day where I've blogged on time. (I missed Christmas and New Year's, and now I feel selfish for remembering my birthday...never mind.) I didn't really expect much from today: my last two birthdays weren't any fun for various reasons, and I hate Tuesdays because of PE and Games. Bleh. But I was happily proven quite wrong, as people actually went out of their way to be nice to me today, which was a pretty good feeling, and some other good stuff happened too. Firstly, we finally got this year's issue of our school magazine, something I always look forward to: I know it sounds sad, but I like it because it gives me a chance to look back on the year before and what I've done. This time I contributed to it, so I was quite pleased with myself, and I got a good laugh out of seeing how much of a dork I looked in the photos. It reminded me of just how muc...