I have found our brothers. Yesterday, while in London preparing for the Business In The Community awards ceremony, I saw the matinée performance of the Blue Man Group. They will be working with us for the ceremony, which, after seeing them, promises to be amazing.

Anyway, the above picture is my masterpiece, created in their art section with paint balloons, jelly, rice crispies, confetti, marshmallows, cake, and trusty old finger painting (just go see it!). I really recommend anyone going to see the show - it’s fantastic!

I met the Blue Men afterwards, and I learned all of their secrets. But knowledge must, of course, be kept in the family.

I’m in a bit of a pickle now, to be honest, because I just realised that I’m spending my entire University fund on this trip to Brazil. So I’ve written a letter to my former employer (who, granted, I’ve never met) to ask him for sponsorship, as it will be really good publicity for the shop. Then I can organise a concert, ask all of my friends and family, and maybe do a Read-a-thon (although that just seems like cheating!). Still, who knows how depleated my University fund may remain. Never mind, it’s all part of the fun.

All of this distraction means I’ve still not handed in my coursework, which was due last week, and it’s my last day of school today. I got an e-mail from my maths teacher:

I do not seem to have a copy of your continued fractions coursework. Could you
email me a copy. This must be done by the end of this week or you will need to
do a new piece next year.

When he says “the end of this week”, I wonder if he means today, it being the end of the school week, or Friday. Should I take my chances?

Well, who ever said my life was boring? steve can feel very proud of himself, as this is really his inspiration. He explained to me on Saturday how money doesn’t have to be bad, and actually it can help people, so… I’m investing my money in a week-long trip to Brazil, where I can help a local community in Salvador (remember the Bonfim wrist-bands?) This is all through Cross-Cultural Solutions, a bit like the Peace Corps. Normally they only accept volunteers over 18, but 16 and 17 year-olds can apply, and we have to fill in a special application to prove we’re mature, etc. Anyway, I just had my Application for Minors accepted! Yay! So now I need to enrol, pay, buy my air ticket, and fundraise! My stint there will start on the 20th August. I finally feel like I’ll be doing something with my summer. Thanks for the advice, steve.

Well, my life is getting interesting again; on the other hand, I’m bored enough to start writing my blog again. Actually, I’m just procrastinating: I have several pieces of coursework due in before the end of term, and I can’t be bothered to do them.

This evening I helped out at the judging of a poetry cometition at school. It was organised by the head of the English Department, Dr. Greenhalgh (buy his books here
!), and apparently 400 poems were sent in. He then “longlisted” twenty poems per age group (Under 11, and Under 13), and another teacher shortlisted 10 from this. These students, from local-ish prep and primary schools, came and read their poems, which had already been judged by Hugo Williams (don’t worry, no blatant advertising this time, although I did think his poems were fantastic!). After Hugo had announced the winners, he read some of his own poetry, which was really enjoyable. He is an excellent poet, winner of the Queen’s Gold Medal and the T.S. Elliot Award. He has his “roots” in acting, so it wasn’t one of those boring geeky readings.

I’ve been attending Dr. Greenhalgh’s Creative Writing group this year, so it was nice to stumble across his critique of other people’s poems! The exercise described there is one of the first things we did. This Friday, renouned poet Simon Armitage is reading some of his poetry to us at school, and he is doing a workshop just beforehand with about twelve of us. I’m really looking forward to it, actually - so maybe my life is getting interesting, after all!

Today’s Extraordinaire interview is with chaz, a local lifeguard.

BM: At what point did you decide to become a lifeguard?
C: When I found how much they get paid in comparison to where I was, in the caf�
BM: I see, so no heroic tendancies?
C: Well, lifeguards become heroes, don’t they?
BM: Depends. Have you ever saved someone?
C: I threw a rope in for a boy once.
BM: Once?
C: We’re very busy around Easter time, so there was that one time. All holidays, actually, and weekends. I haven’t been doing this very long, though.
BM: Right. Have you ever had to do anything else?
C: I like to think I’m more in the business of preventing accidents rather than saving people from them. I blow my whistle a lot.
BM: Especially on weekends and during the holidays?
C: Yes.
BM: Do you have to wear a red swimming costume?
C: Everyone always asks that! I used to have a blue uniform - shorts and T-shirt - but now it’s changed to yellow and green. So no, I don’t
BM: Doesn’t a uniform like that weigh you down if you have to jump in, thus slowing down the whole process of saving someone?
C: As I say, I just threw in a rope once...
BM: Ah, yes, of course. Easter.
C: Yes, that’s right! We get very busy at that time. Any hol --
BM: I’m sure you do.

Thanks for that, chaz. I know I feel safer going swimming knowing you’re around to throw in the rope!

I was in the saddle today for the first time since March. Instead of riding Clyde, I was on Bonnie. I couldn’t believe the difference! She was so smooth, and had a wonderful gait; I didn’t realise how heavy-hooved Clyde is. Bonnie was quite a piglet, though, and I had to continually stop her from trying to eat (luckily Clyde has given me good practice in this area). She is the one who also happens to be afraid of drains, and I discovered that this is along with everything else - the sound of tractors, birds, sheep (although the ‘baas’ were particularly frightening, I must admit)…

Another thing that Bonnie kept doing was refusing to go in puddles, even if this meant trying to trot off into the trees. This was most annoying when we were in full canter, Bonnie spotted the leftovers from the April showers, stopped, backed up, and did a flying jump over it. This was all in the space of about three seconds, so as not to be left behind, and I nearly went over. Luckily, I recovered quickly enough, and I knew for next time.

It was very strange to feel my legs in a different position over Bonnie’s (rather smaller) belly, even though her light step got quite annoying when we were sailing over puddles or arrived back at the yard and she made for the hay buckets after rubbing her sweaty nose all over me. All in all, though, it was a great ride, and I’m looking forward to trying some other ponies (or, if the tall people aren’t there, horses) in the future, too. I am ever loyal to Clyde, however. Apparently he always tries it on with Bonnie, the only mare in their field, but she kicks him and makes for Henry. Ah, the perils of teenage lust…

The reason for my pretty sparse posting (ok, non-existent posting) over the past week is that I’ve been very ill! I woke up at 4.30am last Wednesday with a fever, sore throat, and achy limbs, but went to school anyway, and got sent home by the aptlly named ‘Med Centre’. But I’m back now, busy missing Riding, and doing my Theatre Arts homework in the library. Well.

I am actually working, doing some research on “the neutral” mask. At present we are making our own masks, having moulded our faces, (which the meanies did at home as well) and then filled these moulds with plaster of paris to make our faces, upon which we could make masks. Why we didn’t just make the masks using our faces I don’t know!

LeCoq, creator of “the neutral”, is renowned for saying that

There are three masks:
The one we think we are,
The one we really are,
And the one we have in common.

We like deep thinking like that in the theeah-tah, dahling.

Actually, I’ve had more than just the one egg; I got a Creme Egg in church, some mini fruity ones from my friend emma, and then the two I’ve not had yet are a giant Mini Egg egg, and some posh-looking Antony Worrall Thompson ones from abi. I also made an Easter egg cake, which was a chocolate sponge with melted chocolate icing, a nest made of Flake with Mini Eggs inside of it. It was quite nice. There’s still a slice left, actually, and my metabolism is at its fastest when I’ve just been to the gym…

This picture was taken by janneke during my, ahem, rehearsal for the annual South East Region “Talent” Show, at our region’s UKYP training residential. The talent show tends to be the highlight of the three-day residential, which I co-organised this March.

Of course, the new Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs) and their Deputies (DMYPs) worked very hard, and decided that the regional campaign this year will be based around sexual health. So anyone in the South East can look forward to a planned ‘Condom Day’ this summer. As soon as I have any news, it will be up here, as our region’s web page hasn’t been updated since July. I’ll bring it up next meeting.

Since early November I’ve been wearing one of the above wristbands (in green and yellow), which was a present from Brazil. It says “lembran�a do senhor do bonfim da bahia”, which means “Souvenir of Our Lord of a Good End of Bahia”. Senhor do Bonfim is apparently one of the names used for Jesus. Bahia is a region in Brazil.

Anyway, the idea is that you tie three knots when you put the band on, and for each knot you make a wish. Then you wait for it to fall off, you throw it in the sea, and your wishes are granted! As I said, I’ve had mine on since November, just waiting for it to fall off; when it was given to me, I was told that they stay on for up to a year. Mine’s fading already, and a bit tatty in places (I think it’s because I wash so regularly). It’s getting pretty annoying, though.