Woo new year. WOOOOOOOOOOO. I woke up early this morning to break the RIDICULOUS 3am-12pm sleep pattern I’ve got going on. Spent the morning raiding the house for a working AA battery to put in my mouse (Logitech VX Revolution for the nerds…ooooh it’s a fiend). I tried at least TEN ones that were flat, going up and down stairs each time. New year, new problems. Hardy-hah.

So time to erase as much of last year from my mind. 2010 is going to be an amazing year for me, no question. January well be hell, slaving through exams and whatnot. I want As, damnit. It won’t happen. Decision is going to be my worst exam, I’m telling you. Prim, Kruskal, Dijsktra, Anonymous Chinese Postman…no. Just no.  Core 3 should go alright, as will Core 2 as long is there isn’t a question on circles. Politics should be the least of my worries, but I’m kinda going for an A*. Same with Economics. Oh and I’ve written half my English coursework in a day. Yeah. As long as it’s above a D I’m content.

Oh, look at me, rambling about my exams. Anyway as for future plans, I’m going to Washington DC in February which I would be excited about except (a) I’m not keen on flying for longer than about five hours; and (b) the whole failed terrorist attack means extra security which means I’m at odds to whether an SLR will get seized. Then to York and Sheffield Universities. LSE will also have to reply to my application this year; I’ll admit, it will be an inconvenience if I get rejected because I’d have to send begging letters to Sheffield asking for a very late course change.

And basically, in ten months time I’m either going to be starting at university OR on the best gap year of my life. Plan is, full-time work for about four months, Open University introductory social science course, summer in Hong Kong University, reading IR course texts, language classes (either French or Mandarin) and remember how to do graphics design. It’s irritating that with the next government coming this year (and the sad truth is, we all know who the PM will be) tuition fees will rise, which makes me reluctant to defer my university entry if I do get an offer. C’est la vie. I may just suck it up and be in the extra debt, I suppose a year to remember would be worth it.

So I don’t do this “resolution” thing. Well I’m lying, I do. I have some great ones from when I was a hyperactive 14-year-old feminist; “no more insensitive lying fuckwits who are so effeminate yet vulgar…” I forget the rest but OH MY GOD I WAS SO HILARIOUS. Yeah well, this is a “to-do” list almost.

1. Stop Swearing. Or at least cut back. I will regret this. I think I should stop using the c-word though, I have got into trouble for that. To me, it will always be “just a word” and the greatest insult to mutter under your breath. Alas, I have an icky personality I should shake off.

2. Get my Left Anti-Tragus Pierced. I regret not getting this sooner actually, because the longer I’ve waited the more scared I am. Just pinching my anti-tragus hurts like a bitch. But I will get it, I will SCREAM in pain and not be able to sleep on my left side for a year, but it’ll be worth it as it will look sweet  with my 14G (1.6mm yeah, I’m THAT hardcore) lobe piercing.

3. Sing A Song For Somebody. I’ve written about my Friday afternoons in the piano room, and how it has inspired me to sing again. But confidence is something which will take most of the year to gain. I will do it eventually though. Hopefully to someone who never has to see me again!

4. Not Buy Any Black Clothes. Because getting called a closet goth kinda sucks, even in jest. I did have the phase though, oh didn’t we all - copious black liquid eyeliner, Murderdolls & Emily strange t-shirt and battered black Converse (because my parents would disown me if I ever wore New Rocks). But a lot of my clothes are really plain as well, because I’m not confident to be crazy. We’ll see how this one turns out.

5. Have A Ridiculously Messy Night. Because I haven’t had one in a loooooong time And I don’t just mean half a bottle of vodka or whatever I mean getting MESSED. You know what I mean. I’ll just avoid the Class As.

6. Have an Amazing Christmas. The plan is to be in Hong Kong next Christmas which I’m SUPER excited about because I love HK and also because they don’t really celebrate Christmas, which means you avoid all the pallavah you get in this country with Boxing Day sales/endless bank holidays etc. I’m not a very festive person so that does me good. It would be my first Christmas abroad if it happens which would be lovely.

7. Redesign This Website. The domain expires in September and I have no plans to renew it. I’ll make something bigger and better. It’ll probably take a summer or so, because I’ve forgotten how to code/use Photoshop but I will try and invest as much time as I possibly can. I’m doing a bit of photomanipulation here and there so we’ll see what comes of this over the summer.

All right, well, I should retreat back into Coursework/Revision land. And I don’t plan to blog for a while, I became all prolific over Christmas holidays but that’s over now. I NEED to avoid failure in these exams, I know I can do it, I just need confidence and LOTS MORE READING. I’m also reading “An Open World: The Truth About Globalisation” by Phillipe LeGrain, which is a bit dated I must admit but I am truly fascinated by the globalisation debate and IR theory (I do plan to study it for at least three years) AND it’s helping me with my Economics/Politics revision (when words like ‘deregulation’ and ‘Ralph Nader’ come up I smile, what a nerd).