Thought that I'd better update this thing

My AS Level exams are finally all over! They were hard - sort of made me wish I was doing GCSEs again instead! Hopefully they went OK?!
I'm still not really prepared for the A2 lessons (which we've already started) - I'm still in "post-exam brain-dead mode". I wish it were the holidays now!
I've also got a load of Uni open days to go to, hopefully I'll be able to make up my mind as to where I want to go.

I've bought a few new cameras from my charity shop scavengings - some rubbish, some rather nice (my personal favourite being a Polaroid 104). I've been lazy and haven't processed all of my 35mm and 120 films yet though

Unfortunately, for the first time in 7 years I am gerbil-less! Brothers Rufus and Felix both died within the past week, which was sad :[ Felix stopped eating once Rufus died, but I managed to keep him going for a while through a combination of a heat pad and syringe-feeding - nice and stressful :/

So, in short, it's just Herbert now all by his lonesome (well, Herbert and his goddamn wheel, which he still insists on using at 3am - has he no manners?)

I've also got my South Africa trip next month (a wildlife research expedition). Sooo excited! I hope my camera behaves!

I'm still working at the Cat Survival Trust (where I've learnt that Jaguar urine smells especially bad) and at the Vets. Hopefully I'll have enough work experience to get onto a Vet Med course in the end!

Again, a big thanks to everyone for favs and comments :] They're much appreciated!

Well not quite anyway ;]

I don't come on here nearly enough as I probably should do, so I apologise for that. Thanks again for all the favs and comments everyone, it's really really kind of you :]

Unfortunately I don't get as much time for photography as I used to (damn A Levels), which is a shame, as I really miss it. I haven't even given my telephoto lens a proper day out yet :[ I know, bad Issy.

Good news is, I went crazy and bought a Holga 120N, and developed my first film using the darkroom at school :] I still need to print it (unfortunately they don't have a 120 film bracket yet), but looking at the negs there appears to be a couple of keepers, along with plenty of light leaks (note: use more insulation tape!), so should be interesting to see the results :]

I'm still sad about Polaroid films going out of production. I just can't quite believe that something so unique and iconic is just disappearing. I'll miss using my Supercolor 635 :[

School is fine. I had 3 exams during weeks 2 and 3 of January. They were great fun - spent my whole holidays revising Chemistry :[ boo hoo. Hey, at least I've only got 6 in the summer now.

I'm hoping to start my volunteer work at the Cat Survival Trust next week (see [link] ), where I get to look after Snow Leopards, Amur Leopards, Pumas, Jaguars, Caracals, etc. Honestly, I'm so over-excited about it :]. They do some really good work - not like zoos which are all about the public and zoo visitors, this place is aimed at the cats. They have great enclosures and get fed proper meat (whole carcasses of road kill), they are the happiest cats I've ever seen and the people that run it are so passionate about the cats and wildlife conservation.
Why can't all animal conservation charities be like that?

Anyway, I'll step off my soap box now :]. So, I probably won't be around for a while (schooooool), so I wish you all well in my absence, and thank you again for your support :]

Issy x

Hello all!
14 exams down, just 11 to go! Woo!
My P.E, Latin, Media and Art GCSEs have been 100% completed, finally. Just about reaching the end of he half-term break now, so exams start next week. They're spaced out a little more evenly after this, unlike my first week (7 exams!) thank goodness.
But everything's good apart from the GCSEs

Haven't had much time for photography recently, unfortunately. But from 20th June I'll have an 11 week holiday to do photography, so that should be fun

Thanks for all the favs and comments everyone, and thanks to Aiylah for informing me that a member ('Eldrondi' ) had tried to steal one of my sketches! I hadn't been on here for a few months, so I missed all the drama, and I don't fully understand what went on - I think it was some kind of strange hoax by Eldrondi and another member(s)?? But, there we go, many thanks to Aiylah

I'll be back in late June hopefully, but I won't be around until then - so I won't be able to reply to messages or anything

That's all for now :]

I'm so sorry for my absence! It seems like such a long time since I've been on here!

Basically I'm hitting crunch time for Year 11. It's all about coursework at the moment, and when you're taking 12 GCSEs and most of them involve long courseworks, school somehow becomes far less enjoyable! Even Art has become somewhat of a chore.

Last term (in November) I took my mocks, which were needless to say rather stressful, considering we had so little time to revise and so much coursework to do over that time, but I worked hard and came out of it ok.

We also had to make our choices for A Level subjects. I chose Chemistry, Biology, Geography and Maths, and I'm also taking a 2 year Ancient Greek AS course, so it should be fun :] I decided not to take Art in the end. It's one of my strongest subjects, but I'd spend too much time on it - it'd end up being a detriment to my other subjects (unfortunately I really need those A* grades (which they're introducing next year) for A level if I want to get into a Veterinary course). It's a shame, but I'm sort of glad that I'm not taking it at the same time - as much as I hate to admit it, I'm a perfectionist and I know that I wouldn't really be happy unless I got an A* :/ I can carry it on as a hobby I suppose though.

I've been ill again too unfortunately. It just seems to be a necessary evil over the winter months. Oh well, it'll soon be summer :]

Speaking of summer, we've already booked our holiday for this July - we're going to Corfu! I've always loved My Family And Other Animals by Gerald Durrel, so I really can't wait to go. It'll probably be far too hot, but at least we'll be away from most of the tourists (we're staying in the North-East). However, it's just another distraction for me. Procastination should be my middle name - I've already found the villa on Google Earth, the route from the airport to the villa, the nearest beaches, where to hire boats, where the nearest super market is, etc. Obsessed much?! Oh well, it keeps me happy!

The animals are all fine. The Jirds have still not produced any babies, but I'm honestly not that bothered. As long as they're happy, then I'm happy. I think the 'childlessness' may be due to the fact that Millie is a power-crazed dominant female (poor Herbert). They have scuffles from time to time, but nothing ever comes of it. Millie just seems to enjoy nicking Herbert's food.

Leo and Dusty are still going, although at a rather slower pace than they used to. Leo (now over 3 y/o), is looking well, however he does seemed to be slightly arthritic in his back legs. Dusty I'm more concerned about - she looks ill alot of the time. She seems to have a distended abdomen and she looks tired most of the time. She's been like this since August though, and yet she still eats, drinks, digs and chews cardboard. The Vets don't know what to do (apart from give her bloody Baytril, again!), I'm just making sure that she remains comfortable and gets plenty of cuddles. Rufus and Felix remain as energetic as they always have. Honestly, I've never owned a pair of gerbils over the age of 2 which have so much energy! They constantly look sleek and healthy, they look more like 6 months old than 26 months!

I got myself a new Nikkor 60mm macro lens for x-mas, and it's a very nice lens. I'm very pleased with it and I'm hoping to take some more photographs with it this weekend (as I've not had much time for photography for the past few weeks). However I don't know when I'll be able to submit anything here.

Thanks again to everyone who has ed or commented my pictures, your support is, as always, very much appreciated :]

I'll (possibly) be back at around the Easter holidays time, but if not, I'll be returning in the summer once my exams are all out the way.

Thanx again,
Issy

Wow a very long time since I did an update here!

I'll start with school...
School is keeping me very busy unfortunately! I needn't put so much time and effort in to my coursework, but I'm a perfectionist, so everything seems to take days and days. I'm worried about Art and whether I'll be able to get everything done. Art is my favourite subject and I spend a lot of time on it, even though I should probably spend more time on my Maths This term is the 2D coursework (last term was the 3D coursework - surprisingly I got an A*!), but I'm going to have to put a lot of work in if I want to get another A*

Unfortunately I've also been ill yet again. It all started with work experience a few weeks ago, and I haven't been able to shake this virus thing off. It involves swollen lymph nodes, ear infections, tiredness and headaches. Not pleasant and I've been off ill for the past two days, so I'll have lots of work to catch up on So I've been watching numerous episodes of 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' and 'Spaced', but also been watching all the Daytime TV crap, which isn't good.

In photography news...
I bought myself a couple of presents! I got Photoshop CS2 and a Wacom Grapire Tablet - such fun! Photoshop is brilliant, but I've been having troubles with Activation.... hmmm...
And the graphics tablet is really really good fun, I love it and I never want to use a mouse again! I love the fact that it's pressure-sensitive, and that it didn't actually cost that much! So that's good.
I also managed to dig up an old relic from the under-stairs cupboard at the weekend - an old Polaroid Supercolor 635! It's so bulky and ugly, but at the same time it looks fantastic. I really want to try it out but the film prices are ridiculous! It would take the normal polaroid 600 film, but it's around £15-£20 for just 20 pics Plus I'm not sure that it works, it hasn't been used for around 20 years... still, it might be worth a try

On gerbils...
Dusty's still going!! I can't believe it, she's such a trooper She doesn't appear to have got any worse, and she's still quite spritely (she chews card, digs a little bit, has sand baths etc). She always comes out onto the lid of the tank every evening for treats, and her appetite is still very good. Her coat is also nice and soft. I don't know what's up still, but I don't think the Vets know either. But I'm worried about going back, because last time I went they were saying that she should get PTS if the Baytril didn't work.... but I don't want her to be PTS, because she's actually ok atm and I don't think she's in pain... I'd much rather that she stayed at home in her tank and passed peacefully...
The rest of the gerbils are fine I'm sort of looking for a couple of friends for Leo actually. My parents aren't keen on the idea of more animals, but I think that Leo could live for a while yet, and that he'd benefit from a companion or two...
Jirds are fine, still no babies though I don't think they actually get on that well, they occasionally have these little scraps. It's pathetic really, they just kind of stand on their hind legs and wave their arms in eachother's faces and squeak a lot. It's not proper fighting, I think it's probably just a dominance thing, or perhaps Herbert was feeling a bit randy (and Millie wasn't ), who knows....

So that's about it. I won't be coming on here for a while now. I might occasionally come on and 'lurk' but that'll be about it for a good few weeks now.

Thank you everyone for all the s, comments and the watches! I really really appreciate it! I'm just really sorry that I haven't had the time to thank/answer people, I'll try and get some of that done tomorrow

Bye!

Issy x