What’s around the corner?

Sometime ago (okay only a week or two ago but some time ago sounds better ;p) i was watching this drama about a true story. The drama was called –I think- The Final Journey. The story was that a father got a severe debilitating disease –memory fails me as to which one. He couldn’t move, speak- anything. He just spent his time in his wheelchair and watched. at the start he dies.

How ever his wife, Dr. Anne Turner (Julie Walters), is left behind. she knows how much he suffers and when she finds out that she has the same disease it leaves her distraught. She decides to go to a suicide clinic with her family to die so that she wouldn’t suffer in the same way. Unfortunately it is a true story. The drama centralizes on her suffering and the rights and wrongs of suicide clinics, however this is not what this post is about.

The Doctor and her husband had planned all sorts for their retirement. a retirement which was cruelly snatched from their grip. we’ve just got to realize that actually very little is in our control and that things probably won’t turn out the way we plan them. Who knows what’s around the corner? All i know is that to be happy you’ve got to take every opportunity that presents itself to you because then you will know you have lived your life to it’s maximum capacity. No regrets is another one – when do we know if things will be cut short? We don’t. if you have a regret sort it out and then you will be happy.  In short: live!

Matthew

Decent People

I know I said that the next post isn’t going to be about school and it’s going to be positive. I’m sorry but I've only filled one of those criteria. It’s inspired by something that happened at school but (for once!) it’s a good thing!

Well it was quite simple, I was asked to get an A3 printing of one my pieces of work. So I toddled off to see the member of staff who takes care of that. However I couldn’t find her so i knocked on the staff room to ask if anyone knew where it was. One of my teachers told me that she wasn’t in but instead of leaving me to walk back to my lesson empty handed he helped me out - spending his time trying to get the A3 printing for me. Quite simple, but struck me as a really nice thing to do when he could have just sent me packing and continued with whatever he was doing.

All in all it just made me think that a lot of our life is coloured by the actions of other people and if we all acted decently everyone would live a lot happier.

Enjoy the weekend!

Matthew

Hierarchy bites back!

I heard something quite chilling today.

Were at the top of the social ladder, you’re licking the bottom step.

Honestly I think that’s disgusting. Who’s to say who’s at what position socially and why does it even matter!? What gives a person the right to belittle someone in that? I don’t even understand the need to be cruel to someone like that.

I also think that someone who depends on their social position as much as these people (as usual it was a group against one) seem to are pretty insecure.

I’m hoping for a lighter post next time and hopefully one non-school related :D

I can hope anyway!

Matthew

Irritating…

I admit it, it’s a rubbish title but it’s the best i could come up with! But never mind that, what my blog post is going to centre around today is something that has irritated me for along time now (see it does all link in)! :D it’s small and insignificant but still annoying.

Okay suspense over; basically a megalomaniac (okay teacher) asked me to pick up some litter. End of the world! Not exactly  but what really infuriated me wasn’t the actual having to pick it up it was that the litter was closer to the teacher in question. Why is he above picking something up off the floor when I’m not? It’s just something you have to deal with in day to day life but the real message I’m getting at behind this post is that people in power can act obnoxiously and get away with it just because they are in that place.

Hypocrisy is also angers me, not just in school but as i am in school it’s probably the best example of hypocrisy I can give. “Teachers and students are all equal” Pah! What a load of twoddle. For poiliteness the teachers are called sir yet why don’t we get called sir? To be honest it’s not that I even want to be named sir. It’s just hypocrisy. And wrong.

These are thing I know just have to be dealt with in life and there’s nothing really to do about it but honestly this is my blog so I’m putting it here because it irritated me and I just wanted to speak out about it :D

Matthew

A belated Happy New Year!!

I know this should be the post that outlines my New Years resolution, my promises; like to post more often! But honestly that sort of thing has never come easy to me and i don’t really know what I'd write. Although I am going to post more often. I’m not going to say everyday because I know i won’t keep to that and there’s no point making a resolution that has no chance of succeeding. I may try for about one a week though, from now on. The bet’s on for how long that lasts :D.

Recently I’ve been making the odd comment or saying things that I have noticed take their basis from cliché. Scary! Well, for someone like me who enjoys writing it is! If I write something and I find the ideas been done a billion times before it’s no good. I know, I've heard the saying it’s not what's been done but how it’s been done. But the actual action has to have some relevance! It does, but it’s all about the way you twist things and make it individual but with the amount of people that have been around and the material out there it’s beginning to look even harder. It’s a good job i like a challenge!

Carrying on for this, as my slightly insane mine goes, I was thinking is everything we do cliché? All the ideas we have? All the beliefs? Or am i just getting very paranoid as exams approach?! I certainly hope not but I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe they’re just good building blocks and we have our own choice of which ones to take and how to twist them. But I’m honestly beginning to thing a lot of what i do and maybe most people do or say is because of a cliché.

Sorry for the cliché post (sorry couldn’t resist ;p)

Matthew

P.S. Don't forget to check out Read the Road Signs where I am co-writing with Tom.

Life

This post was originally going to be a rant about school, entitled “Bails Over” however thinking about it I decided to combine this one and another article I had been planning about life in general. Although as I began to think about them both the more I began to realize that the arguments were entwined. Therefore (especially after the amount of time between this article and the last) you lucky people will receive a double article –and you thought you’d gotten rid of me, unlucky!!-.

From my point of view, however green and misguided, we have been given life and hopefully friends and family too. That is all that matters; our experiences, for all we know all we get on this earth is this time we are living and breathing now. Whatever you believe, immortal soul or not (etc.) what really matters to people is that they can actually LIVE. It is our experiences that colour everything and I feel that school has started to become a leech draining the colour from the paint I should be using on the tapestry of my life.

I DO NOT want to be spending my spare time doing CHEMISTRY. I DO NOT want to be doing ART until I am blue in the face. I DO NOT  want to be restricted from the act of living by the amount of REVISION I am burdened with. Therefore through this blog post, to you, I rebel. We are not tools to be worked until we are blunt. We need our free time to spend doing  what we wish, to at it’s BEST experience life for the sake of life! We spend five days a week at school to be burdened with homework, to which in my mind has no consequential effect on my education.  We WORK all DAY only to be sent home with work to fill our WEEKENDS and to keep us working WEEKNIGHTS until DUSK. Drastic changes need to occur rapidly to save others.

The matter of the fact is that even some teachers feel that the homework set is unnecessary and that we should be able to live, to actually develop ourselves as people rather than in knowledge which is not the be all and end all. However it is not in their hands as they must meet the targets set by the government or face the chop.

The government have a tendency to throw deadlines at people without studying the cases properly or so it would seem. Teachers must teach the whole curriculum and in some cases there is not even enough time allotted for teachers to do this, So they set homework to fulfill this, however wrong. Teachers should be there for the teaching of subjects not leaving topics to pupils to learn or what is the point of school? We might as well be handed books and left to our own devices. No but this is not the only reason for homework the government JUDGES school on the amount of homework they give! USE YOUR BRAIN ONCE IN A WHILE PLEASE!!! This should not be the aim of homework at all, this forces school into a position of giving unduly homework; working the students hard and thin over their work.

Another EXCUSE is ’practice’ why should we practice? Shouldn’t time be allotted for this in class? So then if we are making errors it can be addressed by the teacher on a personal level. I except revision as it is necessary so that we can be examined but how can we be expected, reasonably to revise when our work load fails to depreciate at that time. Different subjects fail to communicate as they selfishly think only of their own targets. Don’t they realize that unless they work together how can we possibly hope to satisfy their combined demands? Do they wish to sacrifice use for targets, leaving us as drones. I seriously hope not.

We NEED to be able to go and have fun, LAUGH and talk; the things children should be able to do without being harrowed by our immortal task master, school. Something, ANYTHING, needs to be done to change this. My only message is to enjoy Life as it is the essence of LIVING. Happiness is, in the end, all that matters and all we strive for. If you want to add your point of view, especially antagonistic ones please don’t hesitate to comment!

Live, Matthew.

Wimbledon: Analysis of Day 4

Phenomenal! Today at wimbledon the events were explosive but I feel that I must primarily draw your attention to the shock defeat of Maria Sharapova (seeded third) to Alla kudryavtseva in straight sets 6-2 6-4. Maria's, usually potent, serve let her down enormously as she double faulted a huge seven times. She was also making frequent unforced and forced errors.  She was completely obliterated in the first set by her opponent but during the second there were a few moments that looked as if she could return from the brink but unfortunately for her it was not to be. Alla played amazing tennis and has a name that will likely be heard more frequently in the game. I fear backing a number three seed again after tipping both Djokovic and Sharapova before their losing match!

The wonders were not to end there as Venus williams struggled to defeat Anne Keothavong (GBR) in the first set. Both women played on fantastic forms, some games even lasting over 20 minutes-opposite to the whitewash game anticipated. During this first set spectators were beginning to wonder if the defending champion would be conquered by a player who has just breached the 100 rank mark. Unfortunately after losing the first set the rest of the game followed for a straight set loss of    7-5 6-2.

Andy Murray (GBR), seeded 12,   waged war with Xavier Melisse and won. I wish him luck as he is now the sole bearer of  Britain's hopes. Chris Eaton unfortunately lost his game against Dmitry Tsurnov, 7-6 6-2 6-4. This match was always going to be a difficult challenge for Chris to overcome as Dmitry has never failed to reach or exceed the third round.  I think everyone would agree that we got to watch some spectacular tennis in response and the atmosphere within court no. 1 was ecstatic. However I do feel slightly sorry for Dmitry too as the support for Chris must have been overwhelming and off putting at times. We definitely won't have heard the end of   Chris eaton but to advance further in the championships he must maintain his powerful serve and lessen the amount of time he 'falls over the ball'.

Finally Jelena Jankovic demolished her opponent and Rafael Nadal began weakly, losing the first set but turned around to win a four set match 5-7 6-2 7-6(2) 6-3.

P.S. loved the slogan on the shirts of a group in the audience of Chris Eatons game, 'Get Eaten by Eaton'!