Don't be a Phony

If you get one thing out of this post it is this (three guesses for what it is): don't be a phony. I can not make this any clearer. No one likes a phony. While you have friends who do not know the real you then you do not really have any friends because they like the version of you that you let them see, not the real you. Also, once they find out who you really are they may no longer be your friends as they feel betrayed that you lied to them for so long. However, as I said before, be they your friends or not, no one likes a phony.

As a high school student I have known and still know a lot of phonies. Of course, you might be asking yourselves "Luke, how do you know they're phonies?" Though really I know you're not thinking that but for the sake of the argument, you are. You can easily tell a phony when you notice that they are actually two separate people. I'm not talking about clones, I'm talking about them being different people when they are with their 'friends' and when they are talking to you. This is really annoying because you have to ask yourself which one is real? Some of the nicest people you will talk to can be total dicks (if you'll pardon my anatomy) when they are around their 'friends'. I put the 'friends' in quotation marks because can you really call them your friends if they do not actually know the real person? That is actually an important question. Another is how much can you really trust someone who is not able to even be themselves? That is why my message to all you phonies out there is to stop. Seriously, take a look at yourself and finally be true to who you are.

Sorry for the short post, see you soon.

Life Update

The last post I wrote that was not related to Kokoda was on the 14th of April which makes the fact that it was only 19 posts ago one of the reasons I jokingly changed the title of this blog to "The Not-so-Daily Lukey" which I will change back to "Daily Lukey" once I get back into the swing of things again. Anyway, the point of that little fact was to show how long it has been (almost 6 months ago [that's half a year!]) since I wrote a regular post. In that time a lot has happened (I think, we'll see when I get down to it) and so today's post is a little bit of an update on what has been going on.

So I wrote that introduction two days ago and now I am here, writing the rest of the post. Welcome to the world of procrastination. Except, I procrastinated by doing other work so it was not entirely wasteful procrastination. Could it even be called procrastination then? Anyway, school has been busy lately, especially since it is VCE, and with my 3/4 Methods exam just four weeks away the work is becoming more real as I get through more and more practice papers. I have done well in my SACs so I have that but I also need to do well in the exam if I want to get a good score so there comes that. The plus side is that in four weeks, I will no longer be doing Methods. Although I will miss it because I like mathematics, it will be nice to not have that as one of my hardest subjects anymore so I can focus more equally on my subjects, particularly the ones I am struggling with. I guess nothing much really has happened though since Kokoda, though I do feel I could use a random thought Friday post right now (wait, I moved that to Saturdays but anyway) because, as you can tell, my mind is all over the place right now. Nothing much really has happened though. We've had a catch-up with the Kokoda group, a presentation night for the whole leadership program plus some minor Rotary events we help out at but it has been a while since we have all been together again, I think we need to organise something. It is sad how people drift apart some times but hopefully we can organise another Relay for Life next year which can act as our reunion of sorts. I'm on my school's first SRC (this is only the school's fourth year) which was a great experience but is sadly drawing to a close as the new SRC representatives are elected for next year. One of the best things about being in a new school (aside from the new facilities) is the new traditions you get to create as well as the community feel you get from it. So, we may have only been around for almost a semester but it was great to set some of the grounding and actually have some input into things at the school and inputting student ideas. I had better finish now as I think you are all pretty much up to speed. Of course there are always the personal moments that occur but that is why this is the internet, and not my real life.

Hope to get another post out soon, see you soon!

My Kokoda Journey: How it all Began

Welcome to yet another post in my Kokoda series. All the posts discussing my personal experiences will be titled "My Kokoda Journey" followed by a bit on the end (as seen on the title above). It must be noted that all these posts are scheduled and pre-written as I am away on Kokoda when it is scheduled to be posted so sorry if this is confusing in anyway. Anyway, yesterday I posted the history of the Kokoda track (well, an overview at least) so you could understand the significance. Today I am going to go back to where my journey to Kokoda all began back in April of 2013.

Original Image Source (no text): http://www.ylead.com.au/travel/kokoda/

It was late in April when at the end of a long day at school there was an announcement over the loud-speaker for several different students, including myself, to go to the office. I had absolutely no idea what was going on so I went down there and then one of the assistant principals and our then principal told us that we had been identified as good leaders and representatives of the school to apply for this Leadership program with Victoria Police that will culminate in a trip to Kokoda which was to originally be in October of 2013. The catch was that our school had not known about it until the Wyndham Police had contacted them via phone as the assistant principal to whom the initial email was sent was away on leave so our applications were already overdue. As a result of this we had to fill in the form and hand it back the next day by lunch so that they could send it through to the Police. Initially I was not going to apply as I was a little thrown off by the fact that it was KOKODA and I was so unfit. It was not until later that night after I discussed it with my parents that I decided I would give it a go; why not? The worst that could happen is that I was not selected, it would be fate. So I started filling it out that night but I ran out of time before I had to go to bed. The assistant principal then found me to get the form the next day while I was still finalising it. So it was Maths and while others were doing the work (do not worry, I had already completed it) I was filling out the application. I managed to finish it just in time and then I handed it in to the assistant principle. From memory, the front page was just personal details as well as fitness (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being super fit and 10 being super unfit) as well as a scale of how much you wanted to be a part of the program (again on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being super enthusiastic and 10 being not fussed at all and not really interested). Then the other three pages had more questions about different things. From memory there was a question on our past leadership experiences, the history of Kokoda (which I researched) and why it was significant (from our perspective), what the values of the Kokoda campaign (Mateship, Endurance, Courage and Sacrifice) meant to us as well as a question on what we wanted to get out of the program. There were other questions I think but I can not remember them all off the top of my head. I handed that form in and then I waited.

It would be a little while before I heard anything more about the program. See you tomorrow!

Holidays and Kokoda

It is coming and I know it. The nerves are building and so is the excitement. It still is not going to hit me that I am doing the Kokoda track until I actually start it. Still, it does not mean I am not nervous about it. There is just so much that is happening now that the Holidays have started and I guess I am just glad that I have already finished all my homework or else I would have something else to stress about. Still, how many people can say that they have done the Kokoda track. Wow, that was a really random introduction so I am sorry for that but after all it is a random thought Saturday post so forgive my random musings.

Source: http://mrsec.com/2014/02/mrsec-com-final-signing-day-thoughts/random-thoughts-1/

I think I said yesterday that I was getting a start on those Kokoda posts and I have. I have already written posts for every day from the 15th to the 20th so there are six posts right there. Now I just need to write some more for the rest of the time and then maybe a shorter post on the 26th (Saturday) and a Doctor Who post for the 27th (Sunday) so that I have the weekend to recuperate without having to worry about the blog. I know that if I do not write those posts than there will be no post on those days. I can tell that that is how it would play out. You will have to wait and see what each post is about (they are all different but all related to my Kokoda experience) but I do hope you will enjoy it. The series of posts related to my personal experiences (which are the majority of them so far) are titled "My Kokoda Journey" and I even made a picture for it to appear in each one of those posts. The only posts that are not about my personal experience is a post on the History of the Kokoda track and a post on the story that my group wrote for our group presentation to the leadership group. The rest of the posts are all going to be about my experience. Well, at least the ones I have written so far. I do not think there is anything else I can write about the Kokoda experience that is not related to my journey so at this point it should be interesting. You will have to wait for the 17th to see the picture I created as the 16th is the post on the history of the Kokoda track. They are all scheduled to be released at 12:30am (00:30 [24-hour time]) each day so they should all be live by the time you want to read them. Anyway, aside from Kokoda it is also the holidays which is incredibly exciting! It is great to just be able to have a break from homework and school for a while. This is why I wanted to get all my homework done straight away so that I could have a break between school and Kokoda. I am sorry for a lot of posts being about Kokoda as of late but it is a big part of my life right now so I am sorry for fixating on it. However, this is my blog and as much as I write it for you guys to read it is mine and the story of my life. I will not apologise for writing what I want unless it is completely outrageous which I doubt it will ever be.

Enjoy the rest of your holidays! See you tomorrow.

A Random Time

Have you ever just had one of those really random weeks? Well, me neither but I hear they exist. Anyway, it feels like it has been so long since I have written one of these posts. That is probably because it has been a very long time since I have written one of these Random Thought Saturday posts but anyway, at least it is now happening. Now, I have been a little loose with posts so far this year which is mostly due to my school and Kokoda commitments. However, I am gradually getting better at keeping these from taking over my life. There are definitely going to be times next Term and even into the future where I will miss posts for a long period of time, there is no denying that. I am incredibly sorry whenever that does happen but I would rather write a post like this than put out some short paragraphs every day just apologising for having a short post. I would not want to read that and you most likely would not want to read that. Therefore I am not going to do that. I am very sorry whenever it does happen though which is something I reiterate every time it does happen because it needs to be said. I missed it, I am sorry. There is no getting around that but it is time to move on from it.

Source: http://www.funkyenglish.com/profiles/blogs/cool-tip-how-to-say-sorry-if-you-don-t-know-how

It is holidays right now which means time to catch up on homework, sleep, YouTube, friends and everything else. It also means that Kokoda is coming around the corner. However, I wrote the majority of yesterday's "The Week that Was" post about what has been going with Kokoda so I am not going to talk anymore about it. Plus, you are going to hear all about it in the posts I am scheduling to be released while I am away (which I am still in the process of writing, by process I mean finding the motivation to start). Anyway, the point I was trying to make at the start of this paragraph was that this Term has, for me, come around very quickly. It may have been because I was not very bored or that I had a lot going on but in any case, for me this Term seemed to be a very quick one. It was also a very important one for me as it was my first official full-VCE course load. I am loving it a lot more than previous years as I am doing the subjects that I chose to do which makes it more interesting than doing the same as everyone else and only doing some electives separate. Aside from this, Relay for Life was last weekend. I am not sure if I wrote a post about this but I think I did write one as I was preparing for it. Anyway, I was the team-captain in that I organised a team for my Kokoda group who went and it was a lot of fun. We raised nearly $2,000 which is a lot more than I expected and we had fun doing it. I can not wait to do it again next year and I even got some sleep this time which was great. You can try to do it without sleep, but after a few times you find a little sleep goes a long way in making you feel better. What was also great about last weekend is that Once Upon a Time started up again in Australia. Channel 7 left us hanging there for a while but now it is back and I cannot wait for the rest of Season 3. I even hear there is a Wicked Witch just around the corner. It is all so exciting, also Revenge started back up so I am watching that too but that was during the holidays so a while ago. I guess my plans for these holidays before I go away to Kokoda is to get all my homework done as soon as possible, keep this blog going and also catch up with friends, YouTube and a whole lot of sleep. I can not wait!

Bring on the holidays! See you tomorrow.

KOKODA IS COMING

So welcome back to the first post in ages! As the school term has come to a close there should be some more time for me to get more posts out. I also have to start writing my Kokoda series which will come out while I am over there in just over 10 days!! As Kokoda is drawing ever-closer there has been so much to do which is why this weeks 'the week that was' segment is mostly about Kokoda. However, before I continue with this I am just going to finish the introductory paragraph with something a little less related to Kokoda. Aside from all the Kokoda stuff which has taken up a lot of time recently, I have also had my first 3/4 Methods SAC which for those of you unfamiliar with VCE, counts towards my study score for the subject and, as a result, my ATAR which determines whether or not I get into my desired University Course. I was pretty happy with the result as I received 94% (and A+) which put me at Rank 3 out of the 166 students doing Unit 3/4 Methods at my school. It was quite the surprising (and exhilarating) moment which put me in a positive mindset for the rest of the year (hopefully, I am not from the future so I can not tell). Now, onto the Kokoda stuff.

Source: http://www.kokodatrackfoundation.org/history-of-the-kokoda-track.aspx

Since it has been so long since I have written a post updating you all on my Kokoda journey I am actually not sure where to start so if things are a little out of chronological order or a little random, I am very sorry. Vaccinations were this week. After many weeks of planning the time finally arrived. It was not exactly significant but it was still one of those things that made everything seem so much more real. If you were wondering what vaccinations we were getting for Kokoda, it was Flu, Typhoid, Hepatitis A and Japanese Encephalitis (which was optional). It would have also been tetanus but we got those in Year 10. In the past week Mum and I have also been packing and repacking my pack as well as testing out my sleeping mattress and sleeping mat so I know how to effectively get the sleeping bag and mat back in their respective bags. It has been a lot of hard work trying to get everything all together and fitting it in but it is great to get it ready and sorted this far out from the trek. When we go there, we will be packing our empty packs in suitcases so that the straps do not get damaged in transit but we still need to know how to pack it (and that everything fits and is not too heavy). Still, I am pretty sure that there are some things in my pack that I am going to donate to my Porter so I do not have to carry it after the first day. Aside from this, we were also put in groups and had to make a presentation on a portion of the Kokoda track. I was with two others and our task was to research Efogi to Myola, Myola to Templeton's Crossing and Templeton's Crossing to Eora Creek while making reference to Captain Sam Templeton. We had to show through our presentation how the soldiers who fought in the Kokoda campaign experienced Kokoda. Our presentation was a story which I actually might post as one of the days that I am away in Kokoda. It was actually a very interesting task and how presentations, dare I say it (I do by the way), was one of the best. Also on that night we had a presentation from one of the last surviving members of the 39th Battalion who fought in the Kokoda campaign. He was such a great character and he had some really interesting stories to tell. Plus it was also very interesting that it was the Malaria he contracted that saved him from the fate of many of his comrades who died along with the majority of the 39th Battalion.

Less than two weeks to Kokoda and the excitement and nervous energy is growing! See you tomorrow.

A Mixed Bag

This week was one of those mixed bag moments when there were some very good highs, but also some incredibly deep lows. The lows started right away on Saturday with the news of the tragic suicide of Charlotte Dawson, a former model turned television personality, who fell victim to cyber-bullying. It was a very poignant reminder of how dangerous bullying can be and how what we say online can affect others. There was a lot of public outcry over the circumstances of her death, or rather the reasons behind it. Charlotte Dawson suffered depression as a result of the cyber bullying she received on a daily basis and she was working through it but sometimes it can only be one message to much to send someone over the edge. In light of this, I am dedicating the rest of this post to all those victims of Cyber Bullying, including the ones we do not hear about,  may their souls and the message they leave behind be heard by all instigators of Cyber Bullying all over the internet. It may be funny now but it will not be once you are in front of a court having been the cause of someone committing suicide.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-22/tv-personality-charlotte-dawson-found-dead/5277364

In other news, the Sochi Winter Olympics celebrated its Closing Ceremony earlier this week. Now we have to wait another two years for the Commonwealth Games which always gets a lot more attention than the Winter Olympics which is sort of weird considering the Olympics has more teams than the Commonwealth Games. I guess maybe the Winter Olympics are just not as popular as the Summer Olympics which feature the more 'popular' sports. Again on a more positive note, Relay for Life is coming up again. I am actually organising the team for my Kokoda program as the one that some students are trying to organise at school involves students from all four select entry schools in Victoria. This means that they are looking to get involved with the Relay at Albert Park which is more central for the four schools. The thing is, this Relay is been held on the 26th/27th of April which is the day after I get back from Kokoda so there was no way I was going to be able to participate. It just makes it more exciting though to be able to organise the relay team myself. This week has also been a week of a lot of birthdays. There was my father's birthday on Wednesday and then my friend Xavier's birthday was today and we had a celebration at lunchtime today which was fun. Happy Birthday to you guys (more to Xavier though as Dad does not read these but Xavier reads some so there's a chance he will actually read this). Weekly training on Monday nights have also restarted for CFA which is exciting as I started my Low-Structure course this week which, once completed, will allow me to fight house fires from closer up (instead of from the sides and further back as support as I do now). Once I complete this I will also be able to complete my BA (Breathing Apparatus) course which will allow me to enter building fires or other fires with dangerous chemicals in the air. It basically allows me to fight fires from closer up and be more involved in the structure-fire-fighting.

A very mixed bag this week, see you tomorrow!

The Random Questions Continue

I think I have finally come up with a segment idea for Mondays and do not worry, it is not about random questions. Since Monday nights are really busy for me as I have CFA as well as homework I thought that I needed something easy to do that would not interfere with any of that. My first thought was a No-Post Monday segment where Mondays would be a no-post day but, however, I decided against that idea. Instead, I am going to have a "Catch-Up Monday" segment. This segment summarises the posts of the previous week with links to the different ones so that you can catch up on anything you actually might want to read. It will also be shorter so you do not have to worry about taking a while reading it. I am going to start this segment next week and, as promised, am going to finish the rest of the random questions from last week. Click here for last week's questions and answers.

Source: http://allthingsd.com/20120717/ten-questions-for-new-yahoo-ceo-marissa-mayer-this-wont-hurt-a-bit-okay-just-a-little/

51. Have you ever won a trophy?
Yeah, I have won a few actually. I won a few through different Spelling Bees (I used to be quite the speller, emphasis on 'used to be'), some through school and others outside of school.

52. Are you a good cook?
Not really. I can cook some things but other things I also freak out about and over-think. Even simple things like 2-minute noodles took a while as I never quite understood what it meant by "bring to the boil". I mean, when is enough bubbles enough bubbles?

53. Do you know how to pump your own gas?
This is clearly an American questionnaire. Anyway, I do not have my driver's license yet but I do have my learner's. However, I still do not know how to fill up the petrol tank properly.

54. If you could meet any one person (from history or currently alive), who would it be?
I think I would like to meet Tina Fey in person as she just seems like such a funny person. I feel like I already answered a question with "Tina Fey" as the answer last week but, anyway.

55. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school?
Yeah, this is definitely American. In Australia, it is weird to have a school without a uniform so yeah, I have worn a uniform to school.

56. Do you touch-type?
Please, I am way past touch-type. I get enough practice from writing these posts every day.

57. What's under your bed?
Under my bed there is a chest of drawers, an exercise ball, an old piano stool, a CD player and a lot of other random junk.

58. Do you believe in love at first sight?
I do not actually know. For some people it may be possible in some weird circumstances but I really do not know.

59. Think fast, what do you like right now?
Lady Gaga. That was the first thing that came into my head. Probably because the last thing I saw on Facebook before I started writing this post was a picture of her.

60. Where were you on Valentine's Day?
Home, writing a blog post most likely.

61. What time do you get up?
I normally wake up at 7am on a school day or 6:30 when I have to get my own way to school. On a weekend it depends on what I am doing as to when I wake up.

62. What was the name of your first pet?
Ginger, he was our cat. His colour was ginger. My dog's name is Sandy, he is a sandy colour. We are very creative people.

63. Who is the second last person to call you?
One of my friends, her name is Heidi.

64. Is there anything going on this weekend?
I have music as usual on Saturday and than hiking on Sunday as part of training for Kokoda. I do not know if I am doing anything else.

65. How are you feeling right now?
Well, I have a runny nose that will not stop but apart from that I am pretty happy.

66. What do you think about the most?
Probably school work and what I have in terms of homework and classes. I do not really keep track of what I am thinking and for how long so I would not really know.

67. What time do you get up in the morning?
This is the same question as earlier just with another word at the end. If you want another answer, just look back.

68. If you had A Big Win in the Lottery, how long would you wait to tell people?
I am pretty sure that I would yell out in celebration and then, if no one was around, probably call  my parents or one of my friends and tell them the exciting news. Now I think about it, I may have just sent a quick group text to everyone on my contacts list before I call anyone.

69. Who would you tell first?
Probably my parents, then my friends.

70. What is the last movie that you saw at the cinema?
That would probably be Frozen.

71. Do you sing in the shower?
Who does not?

72. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Who knows, probably somewhere like Big W or something where I could get a lot of things all in the one place. I know, I am such a cultured person. You do not need to tell me, I know.

73. What do you do most when you are bored?
Go on Facebook or YouTube.

74. What do you do for a living?
I am a student, I learn for a living.

75. Do you love your job?
I like school, if that could count for this question.

76. What did you want to be when you grew up?
I either want to be a Civil Engineer or a Lawyer. Even a career in IT would not be too bad.

77. If you could have any job, what would you want to do/be?
I do not know, I am still young. The answer is probably the same as above.

78. Which came first the chicken or the egg?
A circle has no beginning.

79. How many keys on your key ring?
Just two keys.

80. Where would you retire to?
Maybe Phillip Island or somewhere beautiful in the Mountains.

81. What kind of car do you drive?
I do not have a license.

82. What are your best physical features?
I just love myself so much it is hard to choose just one. Do not worry, I am just joking.

83. What are your best characteristics?
I do not like answering these sort of questions, they are more questions for other people.

84. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go?
Paris

85. What kind of books do you like to read?
Mostly those set in dystopian futures, I really like some of those stories.

86. Where would you want to retire to?
This is the same as question 80, look above.

87. What is your favourite time of day?
Night time when I can finally go to sleep.

88. Where did you grow up?
In my home-town of Werribee.

89. How far away from your birthplace do you live now?
Well, I was born in Williamstown Hospital which is a thirty minute drive away so I guess that would count?

90. What are you reading now?
Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose for Literature

91. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
I am not actually sure. I like the night better than the morning but I still get grumpy when I am tired either way.

92. Can you touch your nose with your tongue.
I must look really weird right now but no, I can not.

93. Can you close your eyes and raise your eyebrows?
Now I look really weird but yes.

94. Do you have pets?
I have a dog named Sandy and two chickens.

95. How many rings before you answer the phone?
It depends on how long it takes for me to answer. I try to answer as quickly as possible but it depends on where it is.

96. What is your best childhood memory?
From when I was still in the single-digits it would have to be a family holiday to the Gold Coast.

97. What are some of the different jobs that you have had in your life?
Student, son and that is all.

98. Any new and exciting things that you would like to share?
Not really, you already know all about Kokoda.

99. What is most important in life?
Friends, Family and Happiness I think.

100. What inspires you?
People who try hard and fight through their difficulties and barriers to show that anything is possible.

That is all the random-ness I have for now so if you want more random you should probably check out my "Random Thought Saturday" posts. See you tomorrow!

WE WON!

Welcome back to the second "The Week that Was" segment on Daily Lukey. For those of you who do not know, this is the segment where I go through some of the events of the week. These can come from my life or from the wider world but all have had some significance in the past week. I begin today by elaborating on the title. Yesterday our school had our school Swimming Carnival which was a lot of fun. I did not swim but I did marshal for the first half of the day which earned house points to go towards winning. In the end, the best team did win (that means my team by the way) and as I am still Deputy House Captain until the new ones are elected it was a great feeling. As my school is only four years old there has only been four swimming carnivals yet my house has never lost a single swimming carnival. In fact, we have only ever lost one sporting competition which was the house Athletics Carnival last year but we did come second. It was great though but still, not unexpected. I mean, "we are the red team, the mighty red team. We are the strongest, we are the best. We'll stick together, in any weather. And we will win the sports today." That is actually our house "chant" which is sung to the tune of "you are my sunshine". Again, it is the best.

Source: http://www.aquaforceswimmingclub.com.au/Club_Races.php

In other news, I have to think of something else to talk about. A big issue in the media this week is the impending release of Julian Knight who was the perpetrator of the infamous Hoddle Street Massacre which killed 7 people and injured another 19. Through his time in prison, Mr Knight has shown none of the remorse he should and so the Government is not convinced of his rehabilitation. As a result, they are drafting new legislation which will allow Julian Knight to remain in prison indefinitely. This has raised a lot of debate as to whether this infringes on Mr Knight's basic human rights. He has done the time he was assigned for the crime he committed and the big issue is whether this should mean that he is set free. Mr Knight has completed a law degree while in jail and so he is actually a pretty smart man who might be able to contest this. However, this is not the first time that the Government has passed such legislation. Back in 1990, there was another issue over the impending release of Garry David who had committed some more heinous crimes and had threatened to recommit again when he got out. Even while in jail he still sent a lot of threats out to the community as he had a big issue with authority in general and, in particular, the police. As a result, the Victorian Government faced a similar issue to Julian Knight. In the end they passed legislation that would mean that Mr David would remain in prison indefinitely until his life was put in danger at which point he would be moved somewhere else (such as a hospital for instance if he was terminally ill). It is quite possible that the same thing will occur again for Julian Knight who is a person who many never want to see from this side of a jail cell. Something I neglected to mention last week was the release of Schapelle Corby from an Indonesian prison after serving a nine year prison sentence for drug trafficking after a large bag of marijuana was found in her boogy-board case. The worst part is that the public will never know the truth as to whether she is innocent or not as all we have to go by is her word. An issue that has arisen over this is whether Schapelle Corby should be allowed a television interview to tell her story. If she is to do this she will be set to receive a lot of money. In Australia, this would be illegal as there is legislation to prevent criminals profiting from a crime. However, if all the payments were to be done while she was serving her parole period in Indonesia (she cannot leave until her parole period finishes in 2017) Corby would be allowed to keep her payment. However, her parole officer has warned her not to do it as she is on strict parole conditions and an interview like that could land her back in a Bali prison. Schapelle Corby is lucky to be alive however as in Indonesia, they take drugs a lot more seriously and so the death penalty still applies to drug-related offences. Before I finish, I just want to say that there will most likely be no post tomorrow as I am out literally all day except for some very short breaks. I leave for training at 7:45am before returning home by around 1pm before having to leave again and go to a party shortly after. From this party I need to go to my father's party straight afterwards and so I am not set to return home until pretty late tomorrow night. For this reason, please forgive me for the lack of post tomorrow. I have also been sick the past few days with a very sore throat so this weekend will be my chance to catch up on the sleep that will help me feel back to normal by Monday. So I guess I will see you all Sunday.

Those were the big items of the week, join me next week for some more. See you tomorrow!

The Week that Was: A New Segment!

Welcome to yet another Friday post. Generally, Fridays is a free-post day meaning that there is no segment (as Random Thought Fridays were moved to Saturdays) but today I am starting yet another new segment. This one is called "The Week that Was". In it, I go through some of the highlights of the week. These can be highlights in my life or in other areas. The reason I have so many segments is so that when it comes time to writing it is a lot easier to come up with something that I have not written about before. It also makes it a lot easier for you, my readers. If you know the type of posts that are going to be coming out on a day you can decide whether or not you want to read it. For instance, you may be interested in weird news and movies but not Doctor Who so you would read Tuesday and Thursday posts but would skip Sunday. See what I mean? Anyway, on with the week that was.

Source: http://www.livelingua.com/blog/survival-russian-for-the-sochi-2014-olympics/

I can not discuss the week that was without bringing up the major international sporting event that has been running since last Friday. I am, of course, talking about the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. Australia may not be winning many medals but our athletes are giving it their all and that is enough for me. As long as they try their best and enjoy themselves I am fine. Being a part of the Olympics is such a big thing and there is only ever going to be one Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. I am very proud of our Olympic athletes. Sure, Sochi may have its flaws but as long as our athletes are happy, we should be happy. There was sad news yesterday when a poor boy was killed by his father. Luke Batty was at cricket training with his father (who had separated from his mother and was visiting his son) when he was struck over the head with a cricket bat and stabbed several times with a knife by the last person you would expect; his own father. His father was later shot by police as he came running at them with his knife after repeatedly asking them to shoot him. It was a very tragic moment that shook the small town of Tyabb. His mother should be given a lot of credit however as she did say that no one loved her son more than his father and said that he must have been suffering from a mental condition. This is extremely positive considering that this was a violent man who had threatened to kill his ex-wife on several occasions and had numerous warrants out for his arrest. It showed great strength of character and was a very poignant moment. In my life a few things have been happening as of late. For one, I started school with a full course of VCE. If you do not already know my subjects for this year are; Methods 3/4, Literature 1/2, Physics 1/2, Legal Studies 1/2, IT Software Development 1/2, and General Maths (Standard) 1/2. This has partly been the explanation for the lack of posts over the past few days. VCE is a big two years that involves a lot of independent study and homework so for the next two years there will be times where I will miss out on posts and the many of those times will be because of homework and studying. Another reason why there has been a recent spate of missing posts is because I only received my school laptop yesterday and writing posts on the desktop computer I use is annoying as it is really old and takes a lot longer to type things out. Hopefully I will be getting my own personal laptop this year so this issue should not become as big a problem in the future; especially over the Christmas break where I have no school laptop.

That was the week that was. See you tomorrow!

Another Apology and a Hope

Again, I am sorry for the recent spate of short/missing posts. For reasons beyond my control, this blog has sadly been neglected over the past few days. For this I am incredibly sorry. I can not stress how sorry I am that this even occurs. I try hard to bring out daily content for all of you but some days are just too hard to get anything up. This is why I brought in things like Segments and Series so that I could schedule a few posts in advance to give myself some time off to catch up on homework. I am trying to keep this up but sometimes my life gets too busy with all these things going on but I am excited to bring you all new content. For example, I can not wait until April so I can share my Kokoda experience with you all, including the lead-up to the trek. However, there is a slight possibility that there may be a few days after the trek where you receive no posts. For this, I am apologetic but after hiking Kokoda I need a break. I will try to schedule as many posts as I can but there is only so much I can write between now and April. Anyway, all we can do is hope. After everything else is taken from us, we can still have hope. I hope that this blog returns to full-posts as my life returns to its normal school lifestyle.

I am very sorry, see you tomorrow!

VCE, Apologies and Christmas

Before I begin, I just wish to congratulate everyone who completed their VCE regardless of whether they got less than 30 or more than 99. It is an achievement to complete your VCE and good luck with your future. I wish to continue by apologising for the short post today and, probably, tomorrow. However, regular posts should resume by this Wednesday. A further announcement is that Christmas is coming up (okay, that part was not the announcement) and in recognition of that (only 9 more sleeps) all posts that are not part of segments or short will be Christmas related so get excited for that in the lead up to Christmas. On Christmas there may be a normal-sized post but chances are that it will be a short phone-written one as it is christmas and I will be busy.

You have to love the Holiday spirit. See you tomorrow.

Apology, Explanation, Disclaimer

Today's post is going to be an expansion, apology and disclaimer all rolled into one so get excited! Or do not, whatever suits you. First, I am very sorry for the lack of post yesterday but that was due to a busy day finishing with King Kong last night. Again, I am sorry for this but sometimes life gets in the way. Second, I wish to warn and apologise for a likely increase in these short phone-written posts. This is because every year Mum makes a year in review video and for this she uses the computer in the piano room. Since I had to return my school laptop the only other computer in the house is horrible because it is really slow and restarts every five minutes just because it can. This makes it very hard to write posts. However, over the next few days Mum is working so I will try to schedule some posts including a new segment (I was going to say exciting but that could be false advertising) as well as the usual ones. Basically, this post is my apology and explanation/disclaimer for these short post which I have to write on my phone which takes so much longer.

I hope these holidays provide me with some inspiration. See you tomorrow.

Holidays and a Scary Doctor

Finally, the school year is over and I can catch up on some sleep and relaxation. I know that I am going into VCE and that I should cherish my years of 'relaxing' work but sometimes you just work so hard through the year that you need the holidays to recuperate and prepare for the year ahead. I know you are all probably wondering why this post is still short even though I have finished school. The thing is, as much as I do inside school I have a lot of things I do outside of school that require my attention. This helps me get to my next point about a scary doctor experience. As you all know (probably), in April of next year I am going to Kokoda and as such there are some medical forms to fill out. One of these requires a full physical examination to ensure I am medically fit to complete the Kokoda Trek. This meant going to my GP, then a pathologist (conveniently located next to my GP), then back to my GP so he can check my results and then sign off on the necessary forms. Anyway, on Monday (straight after school) I went to the pathologist and had blood taken out, urine collected and a 12-lead ECG (I have no idea what that is) completed. Then, on Tuesday night. We get two calls from the GP telling me to come in ASAP (do not think you know where this is going, because you do not). Needless to say I spent the next two days (Wednesday and today) worried sick and I barely spoke Wednesday morning. Anyway, so I go there tonight and we go in and Dad asks how the tests were and the Doctor only tells us to sit down and he will explain in a moment. Now I was really getting worried and I thought it was going to be bad. Then he says my results were perfect and he stamps my form. WHAT THE HELL? What was he thinking? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? Still, afterwards I felt so relieved and glad that I was cleared. It felt like a weight had risen from my chest. Seriously though, what Doctor calls you just to tell you your results are in? I know you were all thinking that it was going to be bad. How do you think I felt?

Sorry for the short post. See you tomorrow.

Sorry Again

You would think that things would get quieter as the year came to a close but no such luck. I am very sorry for no post yesterday (that sounds like a new segment but let us hope it does not become one) but I left home at 7am and never returned until 10pm that night. I am so sorry. On the plus though I did win 4 awards (Humanities, History of Western Medicine, Game Design and School Service) so it was not a wasted speech night. Tonight I have my Piano concert so sorry again for the short post.

See you tomorrow.

A Late Disclaimer

Sorry for another late post but an unexpected event arose that I spent the majority of the night preparing for. I am sorry guys. Tomorrow night will also have to be a short one as I leave home at 7am in the morning and will not get home until late. Partly this is due to my School's Speech Night but it is mostly because of something I will most likely talk about in tomorrow's post.

Sorry again, see you tomorrow.

I Can See the Finish Line

Just to clear things up. I am not writing this post on my phone as I am about to complete a fun run or something. Anyway, sorry for another short post guys but tomorrow I have my Science and Health and Physical Education exam and once those two are done I have no more exams! Hooray! The end is in sight. However, these two subjects are all theory (except for some of the chemistry stuff in Science) so there is a lot of studying going into these last two exams (as there was for my other exams). I know that once I finish it though I am going to go home and relax. Just relaxing for the first time in weeks would be nice. I will probably watch Fringe. At least there is no school on Friday so I have plenty of time to catch up on some sleep over this three day week-end which includes the 50th Anniversary Special of Doctor Who. At 6:50 am this Sunday you all know where and what I will be doing. That is right: watching The Day of the Doctor on ABC! So exciting!!!

I can finally see the end of exams, see you tomorrow!

Pre-Exam People

As you probably know, this week is my exam week at school. As such, long posts like these are not going to be as frequent due to the time I need for studying. So do not be surprised if you see another short post either on Tuesday or Wednesday (Thursday is my last day of exams). Today, however, was my first exam and it was for VCE Maths Methods Unit 2. Needless to say, I have been studying very hard for this subject (and my other ones as well) over the past few weeks and so am very pleased to finally have this exam over with. However, right before the exam during the last-minute studying time I noticed a few different types of people that appeared prominently all around me. These types occur every time there is an exam and so in this post I am going to walk you through these different types of people.

Source: http://www.zpsb.szczecin.pl/en/international-business-studies/learning-at-wpbs/photo-gallery/ibs-photo-gallery/

The first type of people you see are the focused study-ers. These are the people who you see just sitting quietly going through review questions or re-reading notes or sections of the text books. They are generally calm and not overly stressed about the exam. However, they are at the right level of stress to motivate study while not allowing it to overcome them. The next group of people are the late-night study-ers. You can generally tell who these people are by the way they are seated at a table. If they are lying across the table with their head in their arms then you know that they are sleeping. They generally have a higher-than-average level of stress as they were silly enough to stay up late the night before without thinking about getting enough sleep. The next group of people are the over-thinkers. These are the people who get hung up over one question that they did not understand. Their stress levels are very high and so they take everything out of proportion. They are generally the people who look worried, are rushing around or appear to be playing a game of twenty questions where the questions just never stop. Other people fall under the category of nervous wrecks. These are the people who have prepared for so long that when the day finally arrives the stress and pressure has built up. Sometimes though, this same type of person may not have studied for that long. Maybe they only studied for a little while and it is only right before the exam that they realise the mistake they made in doing this. This group of people display very similar symptoms to those of the "over-thinking" group. Finally, you have the socialisers. These are the students who do not seem to care about the exam and are only worried about catching up with their friends. Friends who are busy studying and not wanting to be distracted. These are the people who make you wonder if they even realise they are about to sit an exam. Their stress levels are very low and while this can be a good thing, it is always good to be mindful of others. Just because you are sure of yourself and what is going to be on the exam, others may not be.

There are quite the number of different groups out there, see you tomorrow!

Scheduling Woes

So sorry for another short post given it is only 6:30 but my Methods exam is tomorrow and I need to study! Not to mention all the other subjects later this week. That is why I scheduled two posts over the last two days (Friday and Saturday). Generally, I say that I love scheduling as it gives me the freedom to have days off writing for this blog so I can focus on other things or just relax. However, sometimes scheduling does not work so well and little problems arise. You may have noticed a lack of a post yesterday. Well, you can blame scheduling. For some reason it did not post when it should have and now when I go to look for it, it seems to have disappeared as if it was deleted. It was a really 'interesting' one too on The Great Firewall of China which I spent a whole Semester studying for my individual humanities research project. However, you will just have to wait until later in the year or early next year to learn about this 'feat' of the modern world. Anyway, so because of what happened there was no post up yesterday. Generally when this happens I just write another post and schedule it so that it should have come out yesterday. Because of this, blogger posts it with yesterday's date and the time I choose. This is something I generally do when a technical issue such as this occurs but this time I thought I owed it to you all not to lie. Also, I did not want to spend more time than I needed to away from studying for these exams. I will hopefully see you tomorrow with some 'witty' observations from my first exam.

See you tomorrow!

Another Busy Study Day

So again, I am sorry for writing another one of these late posts but when you have to study you have to study. Before I continue on this post, I just want to say that I do see Study as important and that no study is a very bad thing. Especially around exam time, study is important. However, it is important not to wake up, go to school, come home and then study all night. Somewhere in that schedule there needs to be a break for relaxation. For me, I try not to start studying straight away unless I have something after school like CFA or my Leaders of the Future Program. This way I am still getting a break from study. This generally means that I relax or do some training for Kokoda after school. This break is very important. Then I do study or homework. Of course, you should be taking regular breaks while studying as always but at the end before you go to bed give yourself at least thirty minutes of relaxation. This will make you a healthier person overall both physically and mentally.

It is getting late though and I need my break, see you tomorrow!