Day #21 of the 30 Day Music Challenge

Day 21 - A song that you listen to when you're happy

Life Is Rosy - Jess Penner

Day #20 of the 30 Day Music Challenge

Day 20 - A Song that you listen to when you're angry

Radioactive - Imagine Dragons

September Favourites

Good Morning to you all!

So I will be starting a new series at the end of every month from now on my current favourites. I would like to keep track of these and see how I change from each month progressively. After all, I am a teenager and we tend to go through lots of phases.

Favourite Movie?

Blended

Favourite Actor?

Hrithik Roshan (drool)

Favourite Actress?

Katrina Kaif

Favourite band?

MAGIC!

Favourite song?

Bang Bang from the movie Bang Bang

Favourite food?

Potato Salad

Favourite hobby?

Editing videos
Favourite Animal?
Unicorn

Favourite day of the month?

I have two: Exo Day at my school & the day I went out with my Mum & sister to Southgate in the city

Favourite Youtuber?

Smokahontas

Favourite Book?
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

A Pocketful of Stars

I will be revealing my personality traits according to this wonderfully accurate book. All of these things describe me perfectly.

D.O.B. Friday 13th August

Star Sign: Leo

Master Number: 4

General Facts about my Number: (also for people born on the 4th, 22nd & 31st)

• Represents the back, kidneys, legs & circulation
• Jewel: Sapphire
• Colours are blues & greys
• Compatible Numbers: 1, 2, 7 & 3

Fundamental Qualities

• Attachments to the past & laziness if left alone
• Goals for the future always worry you
• Tendency to play on sympathy & a strong need for companionship

Personality

• I am honest though a little naive
• Tend to be nervous and behave unconventionally
• I have the ability to restrain, regulate & reason
• I am dedicated to my work but can become despondent (lose hope)

Positive Features

• Energetic but stable in my efforts
• I am obligated to honesty by my Karma
• I am resourceful when the need arises
• I am strong and purposeful in my dealings with others

Negative Qualities

• I resist changes and can be too staid
• I tend to look at the gloomy side of the picture
• I am lonely, naive and need much variety in my life

Abilities

• I have a memory that is legendary & a very good sense of recall
• I use my eyes and hands more dexterously than other numbers
• I have more thespian qualities than other numbers 

Achievements

• I can carry out any task once I set my mind to it
• I need constant reassurance that I have done a good job
• I am creative and show a strong artistic talent in whatever I take on
• I can make a success out of a mediocre beginning

Interests

• I have strong powers of concentration
• I am constant in my work endeavours
• I enjoy music and am creative in the arts & sciences

Attitudes

• I can be sarcastic and cutting in my words, especially when confronting incompetence 
• I need to be left alone at times to recover my psyche
• I have a great need to relax and enjoy life a little more
• I show a great strength of purpose when aroused by others

How Not To Sleep

Hello, Internet
So for the last three nights I couldn't sleep.
I wake up at around 3am and can't go back to sleep until 5-6am
Today I couldn't get back to sleep AT ALL

Since 2:50am to now (7:30PM) I am wide awake

Now I have never been an excellent sleeper, but I am worried for my future as an insomniac, and until now I never realised how important sleep is for your body.

So here's a list of how sleep deprivation affects you (from my awful experiences)

• If you are awake long enough, your kidneys start to hurt

Now for some of you, you'll probably be wondering, "Where the hell are my kidneys?" They are located behind your hips on the lower back and trust me, when they hurt, THEY HURT (tiny throbbing)

When this happened, I drank a glass of water to help filter out the pain, and went to the toilet (ok, you don't need to know ALL the details)

• You are not tired

This may be strange, but the more sleep I get, the more drowsy I am during the day. However, it is not always like this. But for some reason, I was SO tired I wasn't even tired anymore, which was frustrating. So I simply gave up trying to sleep.

• Fluttery heartbeat

All day (til now) my heart has been beating weakly and there's a choking sort of feeling in my chest (don't worry, i'm not dying!) This is because my heart is over-exhausted. I tried exercising, but that just tires your heart even more.

• Waking up in the middle of the night and not going to sleep for 3-5 hours

This by far the worst because while everyone else is asleep, I am wide awake tossing and turning for 4 hours straight. Normally, I would be so exhausted during the night that it's easy to fall back, but these last few nights it takes effort to relax.

Okay, so I have just figured out why my sleep patterns have gone chaotic. Today I got my period, and I haven't got it for the last 8 months. Apparently, your sleeping patterns are affected dramatically just before your period. I hope from now on after the cycle is over I can return back to my normal sleeping habits. 

If you want to know more information how PMS is connected to sleep, click here.

New Stories!!! Lavinia & Saffron

Read my story Lavinia at Quotev.com

Read my story Saffron at http://www.quotev.com/story/5409814/Lavinia/

All Quiet On The Western Front - Text Essay

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque depicts the war through the eyes of Paul Baümer, an unknown young soldier fighting on the German side and representing the generation affected by war. Paul represents the young generation of soldiers, who claim that “The war has ruined us for everything.” (p.61). This quote states in a general manner that the young men have lost all hopes of continuing a normal life after the war, if they were to survive for that long. They have faced horrific situations at a vulnerable age, such as the death of close friends, and their brains have been rewired completely to the point where they cannot go back to their former selves. Permanent damage has been done mentally and physically, leaving the soldiers broken beyond repair and stripped from normality. On the other hand, they do not have to return to their lives as before, but as renewed and strengthened men. They could build a new life and find an occupation that requires military experience, and overcome their trauma through therapy. They have not been ruined completely, but the war has indeed discouraged their youthful optimistic view of life.

Paul and his friends enlisted into the war with ignorant expectations and young, developing minds. They were forced to adapt to a crude lifestyle in the trenches and fight in cold blood, killing young men like themselves under an order. Adapting to these harsh conditions can change a person psychologically, but “you can get used to anything, even being in the trenches.” (p.96). The war shaped these “young men of iron” into bitter shells of their former selves, and when Paul went on leave, it was evident how much he was influenced by war. Paul was out of touch with his previous passions for the war has aged him, diminishing his youthful sanguinity to nothing. However, being in the trenches can change a person in a positive way, for example, when Corporal Himmelstoss came to the front it humbled him and made him realise his ways. Where there were negative alterations to the personalities of soldiers, there were slight benefits as well.

The war has transformed them into cynical men, and they have “lost any desire to conquer the world” (p.61) leaving them hesitant to talk of the future, for realistically, they believed they had no future. The older soldiers had a family, a job and a life, whereas the younger soldiers’ “lives didn’t go much further than that. And now there’s nothing left of it all.” (p.14). If they were to return to school, their behaviour and knowledge would be replaced with the survival instincts and skills they had acquired from the front. Nevertheless there are other options available that involve similar requirements from war, namely, working in the police force or continuing service in the military. Their experience in the army may not have prepared them for an office job, but it has major assets when applying for other suitable careers. Besides, service in the war would have earned them high respect from their community and they would receive many medals acknowledging their service. Looking further into the future, they will forever be remembered by their descendants as legendary and have plenty a story to tell.

Death leaves a sore imprint in a human being, particularly as Paul had witnessed death at its worst. He had lost his school mate Franz Kemmerich, and forced to stab the enemy purely for survival before watching him die slowly, not to mention his biggest loss of his dear friend Pvt. Stanislaus Katczinsky. The young soldiers “knew nothing of life except despair, death, fear and…suffering. Our knowledge of life is limited to death.” (p.180) Paul’s traumatic experiences with death has led him to accept it gladly in the end as a peaceful escape from living with the horrendous memories of war. The urge to survive is a primal human instinct, and “every soldier owes the fact that he is still alive to a thousand lucky chances and nothing else.” (p.70). And though the trauma of death can never be forgotten, it can make a person stronger and ready to deal with anything that comes their way.

The generation of “young heroes” who fought in the war and lived after peacetime have still managed to piece their lives together again, despite the shuddering flashbacks of their dreadful experience. Starting life anew after losing the sense of oneself is difficult, but not entirely impossible. Paul and his friends may have believed they are ruined for everything, but their attitude to life was influenced by the brutality of war, therefore shadowing their hopes and dreams with cynicism. Their attempts to make light out of their dark situation were met with a dreading realisation that “life is short” (p.97) and although their lives were filled with nightmarish terrors, they were able to accept their fate of death. After all, no matter who we are, and what we do, “the years will trickle away, and eventually we shall perish.” (p.200)