This is England

OK, I was stuck for a post title and I’m actually in Wales. The song just happened to be on my iPod (’This is England’ by the Clash, incidentally). Since I’m feeling lazy I could just paste the lyrics below, because they’re really quite genius in my opinion. But no, I’m going to be a good blogger and actually write something. First off (see post from last month), have I learnt any IFs recently? Not really, although apparently everyone thinks my new (no, I can’t work it, no, I didn’t know it could do that…) camera is very cool (its a Fuji Finepix SLR digital, thats as far as my technical knowledge goes I’m afraid). Secondly, I’ve had a very productive morning combining the joys of Facebook with printing out, annotating and folderising my revision.

Yet another minorly OCD trait there, incidentally (and don’t laugh, too loudly). My concentration is distracted if my revision notes are not:

1. Organised by topic (obvious, but it really winds me up if they’re mixed up… Don’t get me started on notes which are relevant to two topics, that is a photocopying and annotation nightmare)
2. Printed in bold, with underline for important words
3. Arranged in a complex series of different bullet points (and these follow the same pattern throughout the document, for example, solid black dot, white dot, arrow, asterisk, dependent on the importance of the point).
4. Stored with each topic in a discreet folder (stapled to any reading lists ON THE OUTSIDE)
5. Golly, I’ve reached 5. That’s quite impressively sad.
6. Any series of points is contained on one page and the page break neatly correlates with a break in the notes, (for example, the end of a point

I probably could continue, but I won’t. You get the gist anyway. Other revision tactics include:

1. Best concentration when (i.e. I think I won’t work if I’m not) listening to a limited selection of music (mainly Beatles, for some reason)
2. Highlighters lined up in sequence, with the clip of the lid uppermost and the brand name, not the barcode side visible, cap first on the edge of my desk
3. Desk completely bare at the start and finish of every day (as if perhaps my notes might vanish if I don’t tidy them away every night)
4. Any timetable, schedule plans bluetacked to my wall (of decreasing importance from just above eye-level downwards)
5. Important timetables/documents copied and stuck in three places (at least) on my door, or beside it, directly in front of my bed when I wake up, above my desk.
6. Again, I’ve reached six without really trying, that is depressing…
7. I also have a highlighter pen specifically for crossing things off to-do lists and deadlines lists.
8. Oh, and I’ve recently got into the habit of obsessively straightening and tidying the various cables from my TV, laptop, printer, EHD, fairy lights. Although that might be a procrastination tool

Bizarrely, after completing all these little tasks (and a million others which it would be just a tad too anal to list), I still seem to lead a fairly messy life. Perhaps the universe is trying to tell me something…

Incidentally, it has occured to me that listing ones own anal and obsessive features (anally and obsessively) on a blog is pretty much the most anal and obsessive sort of list possible. But whether that is ironic or apt, I’m not entirely sure.

Perhaps I’ll settle on the middle ground that ‘its all a bit pointless really’.