My dad put the laptop together again, and it still doesn't work! It doesn't switch on at all. It's like he unplugged all the wires and then reconnected everything except the on button.

 I'm on my mum's computer again, this time doing a French assignment, but she's out taking Small Person #1 to Brownies.

 You know, Taylor read every single post of this blog last night. All of them. I mean, there are about fifty of them! And the first ones ever are really rubbish. Hey, Taylor, did you work out all the nicknames?

 I got my biology paper back today, and not only did I get an A*, I also got back my drawing of Hyacinth that I did on page 3.

 Last night Maramlade was drafting her CV and my mum said not to disturb her, so I sat doing my family tree with Marmalade occasionally bouncing ideas off me or asking a question about grammar and what she should wear to the job interview. See, I was being really helpful!

 I drew loads of my story characters today, and I'll scan them in if the laptop ever starts working again. My dad wants to buy me a new one, a small palm-top type thing so I can write stories, but my mum says it's "silly money".

 I'm really hungry. SP#2 has got her friend round so I decided to eat later cause I couldn't stand any of the friend's babbling conversation.

 And I have too much homework.

 I guess it's time to actually finish the French, not just pretend to.

Honey nut cornflakes

Taylor said she would read this tonight. Hi, Taylor, if you're out there.

I was depressed today - it all started with the honey nut cornflakes. It sounds kind of ridiculous, because it was. I'm slightly autistic and one of the things I do is that I have to have Wheatabix for breakfast. Because I have younger siblings there's usually some sort of sweet cereal - you know, Coco Pops, sugar puffs - which I have on top of my Wheatabix. Today, there was nothing but honey nut cornflakes. I hate honey nut cornflakes! Also, I'm allergic to nuts! So I had to resort to an old recipe of mine, which is Wheatabix, rice crispies, Shreddies and raisins. The taste isn't up to much and the texture is basically mush, but it's very good for you and it's OK if you have enough raisins. If nothing else, it's better than honey nut cornflakes.

 Then I got accused of stealing my sister's trousers, and why would I want trousers that are a foot too long for me? (She has long legs).

 Also the laptop broke so I couldn't blog, write stories, do my family tree, or anything. I'm doing this o my mum's computer which she let me use because my geography essay's due in four days and the laptop is actually spilling its intestines out on my dad's desk. (It's useful to have a techie in the family).

 Then in English the teacher announced a mistake I'd made in front of the whole class.

 Then in maths, I'd got an A on the last three papers and on this one I got a C. =(

 But it all started with the honey nut cornflakes.

 I hope I haven't wasted too much of your time with this entirely pointless post about breakfast cereal.

Penny trails in the dark

Don't go on a penny trail in the dark either. That's when you flip a coin at every junction to see whether you turn left or right. It sounds fun but it's very, very boring.

I've got another essay to write, for Geography this time. Tonight I'm going to Guides (I have a project to work on for my Baden Powell award at Guides). On Saturday I'm going to a maths masterclass at this posh girls' school. On Sunday Taylor's coming around - her mum expects a lot of her, and she got a bad mark in French recently and I got a good one so her mum's asking if I can "tutor" her in French. I've got some French vocabulary to learn as well, and a music piece, and a book to read for drama, and two drawings and three stories that need finishing.

 You don't think I've got quite a lot to do, do you?

 I had a Biology test today which I finished ten minutes early so I drew the face of a new character I have called Hyacinth. I hope we're allowed to take the tests home once they've been marked because I want that drawing back.

My sketchpad

I have a sketchbook for my school artwork, and I am currently designing the front cover for it. I'm covering it with characters from my stories! Ruby Tuesday is in the middle at the bottom, next to the ancient nine-year-old. I've also done a pair of buskers from LittleBrassTown and their very camp best friend, and Grey Owlwolf, and a guy from my Greek short story, and my six favourite characters from my main story, including Rho Rhénmi and her boyfriend and an athlete and an angel and a homeless guy and a guy who likes bubblegum, and above them there's a boy called Ashboy Riderman and above him there's a guy with one eye hanging upside-down from the top of the image, and two assassins.
:D
And I've still got several stories which I haven't included anyone from. I'll need to put in a few ninjas and ...

Ruby Tuesday

 Well, I'm glad you enjoyed my very descriptive and informative post about geocaching in the dark. If anyone asks, right now I'm writing an essay on Hitler, OK?

 I've just discovered the wonders of headphones. I can turn The Fray or the Rolling Stones right up in my ears while I'm writing and then be dead to the rest of the world. Get this: I can't even hear my sister playing her trumpet! And Marmalade tries to talk to me occasionally but gives up when I stare at the screen of my laptop for a while and then suddenly look up and go "What?"

 I think I will listen to Maroon 5 next. She Will Be Loved.

 At the moment I'm working on a story about people who can see ghosts and spirits. They're called Betweeners because they can talk to people on both sides of the "thin blue line". There's one who's been around for centuries, but his physical appearance is still a nine-year-old boy because it never occured to him that he should grow up. Like Peter Pan, I guess. He says time doesn't have to apply to you if you don't want it to; not if you're a Betweener.

 Yay - The Man Who Can't Be Moved, by The Script! One of my favourite songs ever.

 And there's a ghost of a cowboy called Arizona - he was a Betweener until he got shot, and now he hangs around this other Betweener to help her out, and because she's one of the only people who can still see and hear him. Her name is Ruby Tuesday. Guess where I got that name from? Like the girl in the song, she's free and changes every day, and Arizona follows her around and lives on top of her fridge, because he's a ghost so he can fly.

 Time, I think, for One Republic.

 So the ancient nine-year-old pays Ruby Tuesday a visit and takes her with him on one of the Betweener missions, which is basically carrying messages between the dead and the living (like mediums, except they actually can contact the spirit world, while mediums are normally just very good at making things up) but sometimes they have to solve a murder or sort out a will. While they're on the mission he teaches Ruby all his tricks of cheating time, and she finds out some things about his past...

 On to the Goo Goo Dolls.

 Well, I think that's enough. However long I put it off, that Hitler essay is still due in on Tuesday.

Adam

 I just realised that I said in a post a long time ago I said I'd tell you about a character from one of my mini-stories. I will tell you now.
 He's about 30 years old and his name is Adam - no-one knows if that's his first name, surname, real name, chosen name, etc - he's just Adam.
 He works for a branch of the military who deal with things which the public never find out about :). He used to be a pilot, and he was the best one they had - until he got shot down, and then he was blown up and smashed about and broke his spine and got paralysed. So now he's in a command position - because he used to be a reconnaissance officer he's very good at deciding what a situation needs. So he sits in the control hub of this secret military thing, in a wheelchair, yelling at people. He smokes cigars - at least he used to; now he can't move his hand to get the cigar to his mouth. A quote from him is "I only used to smoke them on special occasions, but I tell you, kid, it'll be a special occasion when I can move my hand enough to smoke one."
 He was one of my favourite characters. I didn't want him to just diasappear, like a lot of my other characters have over the years - so I stuck him in one of my other stories. Sure, I had to twist the plot round to fit him in, but I just love the image of him sitting there in his wheelchair yelling at people and wanting to have a cigar.

 He's based on someone famous, and there are a few massive clues as to who he's based on, so you might be able to guess.