In 5th grade I wrote a story…

Back when I was in fifth grade, my teacher made each student in the class write a story, which we would then read to one of the Prep kids as a treat (Prep, for anyone wondering, is the ‘preparatory year’ before year one here in Australia).

I wrote (and illustrated) a heart-wrenching story about a lost puppy who had to find his way home. I can’t remember the exact details of the story, but I remember feeling immensely proud. The only problem: I couldn’t think of a title.

My fifth-grade friends were all already finished with their stories and ready to present them! I needed to think quick. And then it came to me. I titled my story: “LOST”.

My bubble was burst, however, when the kids in class saw my title and laughed. I can still hear them taunting me with “‘Lost’?! What a stupid name for a story!” I was crushed.

A year later, Australian television was graced with the first season of hit series “Lost”, which quickly gained a massive following and suddenly, my fifth grade book title didn’t seem stupid anymore .

19. A Day in the Life of a Procrastinator.

9:00 AM: Wake up. Realise that you have an important test first thing the next morning, but hey, that’s okay, you have all day to study. Proceed to make a cup of tea and watch some Sunday morning cartoons.

11:00 AM: Yikes, that Simpson’s marathon was longer than you thought, and the test is now two hours closer. Still, you’ve got heaps of time. Go and make yourself some breakfast.

11:30 AM: Good call. Breakfast was delicious. You should buckle down and study soon, especially considering you’ve got to catch up on a week’s worth of homework (that you put off doing) in order to pass. But it’s a hot summer’s day. No one expects you to start studying before taking a quick shower. You should go do that.

12.30 PM: Looks like you decided to wash your hair and blow dry it. And you spent a little longer in the water than you should’ve, but it’s understandable on a hot day. It doesn’t matter that you aren’t planning on going out today, it’s important to be well groomed. Now get studying! But wait, mum’s gotten back from the shops. You should be a good kid and help her with the bags.

12:45 PM: Hey, mum bought lunch.

1:30 PM: Mm, lunch was great. The conversation around the table was quite interesting, too. You probably ought to go and continue that conversation with dad, it’d be plain rude if you didn’t. You’ve still got enough time to study your brains out.

2:45 PM: It’s not your fault that the conversation with dad turned into a table tennis match. You just couldn’t have seen that coming. Besides, there was no way you could turn down his challenge. It’s fine, though. He doesn’t need to know about tomorrow’s test, you start studying soon and you can still ace it. Wait, there’s some news on the Presidential Campaign that sounds interesting. Watch it; it’s edumacational.

4:30 PM: What? How did you manage to go from watching the news to watching a documentary on drug addiction? Still, the documentary was facinating. And you picked up a few things, too. Sure, you lost a bit more time, but your parents can’t complain about you gaining some insight into why you shouldn’t do drugs. So you should finally go study and– what? Oh, someone’s called you? Well, go pick up the phone. A quick conversation shouldn’t make much of a difference.

5:45 PM: Hey, you’re a teenager. Hour long phone calls are completely normal. You could hardly stop talking to a friend in need, could you? But wait! Your friend reminded you of something! There was an assignment due tomorrow that you were meant to work on, as well as studying for the test. You figure you can finish off the assignment and still have enough time to study.

6:15 PM: Hey, you managed to finish off that assignment in half an hour! Well done to you! Pat yourself on the back for your hard work. But before cracking down on studying, I think you’ve earned yourself a short break. You should jump on the internet and blog about your day.

6.45 PM: Okay, so you got a little distracted by some hilarious youtube videos, but you’re back on track now. Off to study, but hang on. There’s a sketch show on TV with Cal Wilson and Arj Barker in it. That’s sure to be full of laughs. You haven’t studied yet, but come on. You’ve got to watch this.

7.30 PM: Whoa! You completely forgot, Sunday at 7.30 you always watch Australian Idol. You haven’t missed an episode yet! There’s no way you can miss it, especially not on Rolling Stones week. What’s another hour?

9:45 PM: Okay, there’s no excuse for what you just spent the last two-and-a-quarter hours doing. It was completely unnecessary, and you’re above it. Your time’s running out really fast now, and you know you just have to sit down and study as much as you can. But… bugger. You forgot to eat dinner and you’re feeling pretty hungry. Go eat quickly so you can get to studying!

10:30 PM: Why did you want to eat something that would take that long to prepare? You’re ridiculous. Still, there’s nothing on TV to watch, no friends to talk to on the phone, you’re no longer hungry. You can still study enough to scrape away with a pass. But it’s really dark now, you had better go and make sure the front door is locked. You don’t want a repeat of what happened last time.

12:45 AM: …Oh sh**.

9. Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood.

I’m sorry, this post has absolutely nothing to do with Robing Hood: The Legend of Sherwood. It is not in any way, even remotely related to Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood. Aside from the fact that I’ve mentioned Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood twice now.
Whoops, make that three times.
I was just looking at my PC game titled Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood and decided it would be an excellent title for today’s post.

…I’ll never mention it again. I promise.

I’ve got an assignment on smoking that I should be working on right now. It’s due tomorrow, and I’d like to start/finish it before the sun goes down.
It’s for a health class, which has some pretty hilarious moments.
While we were looking into the effects of different drugs, our teacher had told another teacher that some of her girls were doing ecstacy.
And not too long ago, she informed the class that “At the end of the semester, we’ll have some fun with alocohol”.

It almost makes the assignments worth while.

Almost.

5. Australian Idol.

So, I’m watching Australian Idol right now.
And yes, I am always watching something, thanks for noticing.

One of my favourites in the running, Roshani Priddis, just got a standing ovation from the crowd for a Foo Fighters hit. She did a pretty great job with it. And I’m not just saying that out of Sri Lankan pride (she too is a Lankan-Australian).

One of the most amusing things about being Sri Lankan though, is that if you talk to another Sri Lankan for long enough, you realise that you’re somehow related. Or that you used to know each other. Or that you have a bunch of mutual friends. It doesn’t matter that there are more than 20 million of us around the world, we’re all invariably connected somehow.

So, even though I hadn’t so much as heard of Roshani before this year, I have no doubt that she’s a long lost cousin of some sort. Not that I’d run around calling her my cousin. That sounds a little deranged.

My cousin Roshani aside…

I spent the entire weekend cleverly avoiding the steadily growing pile of homework I’ve accumulated over the week. It’s still not too late for me to take a crack at it, but no, procrastination got the better of me. You know how you put something off till the last minute, and you feel terrible about it, because you KNOW you’re just making it harder for yourself? It’s terrible.
I’m going to challenge myself, and any readers, to kick this self destructive habit. In fact, I think I’ll start right now. So, looks like I’m off to work on those assignments!

…Wait, nevermind. Something good just came on TV.

2. Corinthians are delicious.

For the record, I wasn’t talking about Corinthians as in the books of the New Testament.
Or the various English and Brazilian sporting clubs of the same name.
For any English visitors who immediately assumed that you discovered someone admitting to cannibalism (and quite possibly other illegal activities), I was not referring to English rock band ‘Corinthians’, either.

If I didn’t make it blatantly obvious already: yes, I take full advantage of what wikipedia has to offer.

Although I do admit it’s not always reliable. The wikipedia page entitled ‘International Women’s Day’ (Which I visited because it happens to be on my birthday, March 8th for anyone interested), claims that on this day, men give the women in their lives ‘flowers and small gifts’.
Which I promptly changed to ’showers and small gifts’.

I did it quite a while ago, though, and some upstanding citizen has corrected my heinous crime since then.

…wait, why was I talking about wikipedia?

That shining example of my thought process aside: Corinthians (the food product) are, in fact, delicious.

Actually, I’m off to go eat another.