Chapter 23 - In which the wallowing phase is over

So... I've been thinking...
Yes, I am disappointed about Japanese. Knowing your grade will be bad in advance just totally sucks!! However, all things considered, ale iacta est. What is done is done. Japanese is over, let's take a deep breath and move on. Hopefully I'll pass the class... but, come to think of it, I've never ever failed a class in my life before... Breaking that habit would certainly be an experience (not fun, by any means!! but it might harden me against my fear of failure). Sure, even if I pass, I know I will not be satisfied with my grade anyway - it definitely below 80%. This will not do for my 90% average (or more) ego. But, I guess I'll just have to deal with it... God, this reminds me of math class! Except that I hated math and that was my excuse for not doing as well in it as in other classes. And, to be fair, unlike everyone else in my class, I did not exactly study Japanese.
I find studying exceedingly difficult, because I'm just not used to doing it. I usually pass with ridiculous ease and without lifting a finger (I think Michael resents me for it... just a little... ;-D ) For Japanese, I actually had to make an effort. That seems to have taken my brain by surprise. I crammed for all the in-class tests and did average, but good. And I did study very hard for the final - but I probably could have done better. I believe the problem is that I have no studying method... It's what happens when you're a master procrastinator with anxiety issues like myself. I need to face the facts: when I study or cram, I am usually completely and utterly overwrought and a big unmanageable explosive ball of stress. And I still somehow manage to procrastinate everything, essays included, to very late at night and then I basically spew out an essay, usually very good ones too, in 2 to 3 hours tops. If I get distracted by Doctor Who or something while I write, it might take me 4 hours... but usually, I'd say my average is 3. Damn - I'm good! ;-D
So yeah. The point of all this chatter is that I have no proper working method when it comes to school. I usually figure that listening in class will suffice to pass the semester. It usually does, even if I do not listen in class at all. Too bad it did not work that way for Japanese. Oh well, I did my best (I really did! Who else is nuts enough to recopy her textbook by hand???) and, as I said before, what is done is done. No regrets - I enjoyed the class and learned a lot. I probably did not do well - but I did what I could.

And now, the fun part of the post!!
I went to a concert tonight. My brother's first concert actually. He sand (yelled into the mic) four songs, including 'Rasputin' by Boney M. He was painted all in red, wearing faux-fur and some kilt he quickly put together and I helped him sew... A little ridiculous if you ask me - but no bad showmanship at all. He and his band were good. But if he wants to go on with his band, he needs to learn to use his vocal chords properly. He insists that Death Metal singers always scream into the mic without holding back and so he also bawls into it recklessly. But, according to Michael, screaming is very bad for the vocal chords. So, I suspect that the Heavy Metal singers actually have a technique to scream into the mic that spares their voice in some miraculous way. My dear brother needs to learn that. Otherwise, his band career will be very short...

And in other news: my mum is back!! She came back from Germany today!! She survived the stupid ash-cloud from Iceland. Honestly, when I heard about the cloud and all the fuss about the European airspace being closed I nearly threw a fit! I was kind of pissed, because I wanted to see my mum really badly (she's always a good person to turn to during exam stress - and in general as well - she's awesome all around!), especially because I had not seen her in a while, and then the volcano erupted. I was starting to joke (this IS a joke - please don't hate me for it!) that Iceland should be bombed and that way all frequent volcano eruptions done away with. That way, we'd also solve the problem of my brother's obsession with Vikings! But that was just a joke - nothing against Icelanders or their country... I just have an issue with their volcanoes (and I bet that the couple of thousand stranded passengers across Europe are of my opinion as well when it comes to those freakin' magma pits!).

And I think my shower is haunted. No, I'm serious! I think we have a ghost who takes a shower there regularly. It sometimes just randomly starts dripping A LOT of water for about 2-5 minutes (even though all taps are closed) and then it stops... Weird...

Oh great! I DID have something else to say... but I completely forgot it. Darn! This is what happens when ghosts take showers - they distract you! And then there's nothing you can do anymore but kick yourself for forgetting your absolutely brilliant idea for a blog post! *sigh*
Crap... I'm being fussy and wallowing again, aren't I? Apologies...

I still forgot what I wanted to write but I have one last thing to say: I downloaded two of my favourite movies recently for Michael to watch. They are German comedies subtitled by Michael Bully Herbig. They're fabulously hilarious! Of course, we've got them with English subtitles, so that Michael could understand what it was all about. He loved them!! I'm soooo pleased! Here's a video from (T)Raumschiff Surprise: Periode 1, one of their movies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBhaXQ3UaDo&feature=PlayList&p=CA49A852F3907E42&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=12
Ah! These Germans are so wonderfully nuts! No one can do a Star-Trek/Star Wars/Time Machine parody like they can!! I'm sorry Mel Brooks, Space Balls is just... well, balls in comparison to this!
The other movie is called Der Schuh des Manitus and actually was made before (T)Raumschiff. Watch them in order if you watch them, please! Otherwise, some of the jokes in (T)Raumschiff are lost on you!

And with that, I wish you all the best! Pray I get my brilliant idea back! ;-D Ta-ta!