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Today I learned that invigilating exams is lot like watching a very, very bad comedian: hours and hours of tedium, broken by the occasional burst of laughter or disgust. But I need dolla and, in this economy, the only way I can earn it is by slumping in a chair or else slowly patrolling around rows of desks, collecting up exam papers and escorting nervously sweating teens to and from the toilet.
Today I had the fortune to be placed in a two hour English Language GCSE. The school I was working at (my old secondary school, a cool five minutes down the road) splits up the English GCSEs, so that Language is taken in Year 10 and Literature is taken in Year 11. So, I had a bunch of Year 10s on my hands. (That's 14-15 year olds, for you Americans, and GCSEs are the final mandatory examinations in secondary education.)
What a shambles. The boys reeked of cheap cologne, and the girls had a drag queen's make-up bag on their faces. Wandering around and having a little peek at their answers, I almost had a stroke. I'm sure I have grammatical PTSD.
The occasional giggle came from a choice name or two. Some of the desk labels looked like they belonged to rejected cartoon characters. Christopher Ladyman, anyone? Poor kid. Scarlett Christmas was also high on my list of kids with evil parents.
Still, at least all that crashing dullness gives me time to think ahead and plan Fifteen Years. I'm sticking to a tight writing schedule: I have to churn out a chapter a day to make my normal 24-hour deadline, but balancing that with a full-time job is tricky! So all I do these days is invigilate, write, sleep. Invigilate, write, sleep.
I'm very cool.
But, it is very nice that Fifteen Years is getting such a good reception! It's an experiment for me in a lot of ways, so it's really encouraging, and I'm very grateful! And yes, I'm sorry for cross-posting so much and smearing myself all over your f-lists. But a girl's gotta eat! (And I eat comments.)
1. The Origin of Love - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
2. Vienna - Ultravox
3. Glittering Prize - Simple Minds
4. Zebra - Dream House
5. Never Let Me Go - Jane Monheit
6. Shake the Disease - Depeche Mode
7. Disorder - Joy Division
8. Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tamerai ni Hohemi - Dir en grey
9. I Looked All Over Town - The Magnetic Fields
10. 24ko Cylinder - Dir en grey
Today I had the fortune to be placed in a two hour English Language GCSE. The school I was working at (my old secondary school, a cool five minutes down the road) splits up the English GCSEs, so that Language is taken in Year 10 and Literature is taken in Year 11. So, I had a bunch of Year 10s on my hands. (That's 14-15 year olds, for you Americans, and GCSEs are the final mandatory examinations in secondary education.)
What a shambles. The boys reeked of cheap cologne, and the girls had a drag queen's make-up bag on their faces. Wandering around and having a little peek at their answers, I almost had a stroke. I'm sure I have grammatical PTSD.
The occasional giggle came from a choice name or two. Some of the desk labels looked like they belonged to rejected cartoon characters. Christopher Ladyman, anyone? Poor kid. Scarlett Christmas was also high on my list of kids with evil parents.
Still, at least all that crashing dullness gives me time to think ahead and plan Fifteen Years. I'm sticking to a tight writing schedule: I have to churn out a chapter a day to make my normal 24-hour deadline, but balancing that with a full-time job is tricky! So all I do these days is invigilate, write, sleep. Invigilate, write, sleep.
I'm very cool.
But, it is very nice that Fifteen Years is getting such a good reception! It's an experiment for me in a lot of ways, so it's really encouraging, and I'm very grateful! And yes, I'm sorry for cross-posting so much and smearing myself all over your f-lists. But a girl's gotta eat! (And I eat comments.)
1. The Origin of Love - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
2. Vienna - Ultravox
3. Glittering Prize - Simple Minds
4. Zebra - Dream House
5. Never Let Me Go - Jane Monheit
6. Shake the Disease - Depeche Mode
7. Disorder - Joy Division
8. Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tamerai ni Hohemi - Dir en grey
9. I Looked All Over Town - The Magnetic Fields
10. 24ko Cylinder - Dir en grey
