Practically Alice

We think that my eight year old bunny rabbit, Thumper, is dying. I got him eight years ago on 6 June 2004. He was my first ever pet. I don't really have any words. He's not passed away yet so I can't say I'm heart broken... but I am. The prospect of him dying has never really hit me before today. He's always just been there . He sat with me when I had an ear infection, he married my friends rabbit (they never actually met. It was the ultimate arranged marriage of all arranged marriages), he eagerly ate his carrot everyday and before that it was half an apple. He inspired stories, and poems... he made my next door neighbour stamp around in frustration. He then had an... accident on her when he came home for the first time. He used to be so lively and eager and grumpy and... well, now he isn't. I just... it hurts. I don't want him to die, I don't want him to leave me. It seems silly to sob over a rabbit, or hurt this much. But it's not... He coul...

Study leave shall mean to me: eating healthier, exercising, getting lots of reading done... this is also on top of exams but right now I feel so unhealthy and so unfit due to the amount of stress and my ill health. I've had a bad back which has meant tonnes of physio and an impending MRI but I have found that if I walk then I become less stiff and then feel better eventually. Just by eating healthier rather than stuffing my face and getting out of bad habits will be good for me! I'm looking forward to study leave? Why? Because it means I can finish doing all of my current lessons and start on new stuff and just have a little bit of a fresh start... I'm kind of fed up with the way I'm feeling at the moment; I don't sleep well, I eat really badly and I don't exercise - I've just got into a really bad routine! I'm going to be making a video enthusing about this but the routine starts tomorrow. I am DETERMINED. For now, though, I shall watch Romeo and ...

It is approximately 8:30pm on Monday 7 May 2012. I'm doing my German oral exam tomorrow and I'm extremely nervous and it's not fair. It has occurred to me at several random points in the past week or so where I've been handing over tender to pay for books or clicking "proceed to checkout", in an almost zombie-like state, on Amazon that exam stress does nothing good for my book buying habits. Usually I will buy one, two or three books a month. This past week or so: 10+. It's crazy. And mad. And the like. I think I'm just craving stuff to read that doesn't involve anything "school"y, so to speak. Saying that, I've bought a weird mix of books: anything from the most classic of classics to the the most contemporary of contemporary. It's good because it means I'll have a lot to read over study leave and after, but it's not good because I don't exactly have all the money in the world. On the plus side, my Mum bought me a...

It seems that you can never have a period of time without having some lows within those highs. I'm not talking about feeling-ill-or-tired-lows, I'm talking about really sad events that just make you think. These particular events that I am referring to make me think of something that happened two years ago in December. The day started out wonderfully; it was snowing. We trudged to school, only to be sent back home again and I had a really fun day with my best friend Rachel. It was a brilliant day - we played out in the snow, watched a good film, chatted for hours and drank amazing hot chocolate. It was lovely. Then came the sad thing: I came home to find my six year old, lovely, wonderful sweet guinea pig had passed away. It shocked me and saddened me and all I felt was numbness. It's weird... we have highs and lows but some extremities are bunched together leaving you feel like you've been put in a cocktail shaker and been shaken until kingdom come! Please, ev...

I have a feeling I shall be making a video about this on my book channel (found here ) since I have a book coming to me in the post that will flood my brain with memories. I don't particularly want to say too much about that book right now because I feel it deserves a blog post of it's own. What I will talk about is books that have really impacted my life from when I was really little to more recently. My Secret Unicorn  by Linda Chapman - not only did this book lead me to reading beyond bed time (naughty Claire) but it was the first series that I threw myself into. I'd save up my pocket money for the next book and I'd check regularly on Puffin's site to see when the next one would be released. I think I once read all fifteen books in the series in one day when I was ill. Linda taught me that authors write letters to the people that read their books (I'll never forget the day I came home to a nearly three page letter from her), Linda also taught me to believe ...