The Friday E-Mail - On a Friday, too!

Hello to one and all of my fuzzy little friends.

Well, what a week it’s been, perhaps the most exciting and invigorating week of the year; with no less than two parties, and the planning of a further three within the next week. Life is taking on a whole new form!

And I say, let’s enjoy it and live it to the full. This is the time to feel good about taking a break, having a few moments together with your friends, a few moments alone with your thoughts (not many if you’re called Clarke) and finally relax after such a trying month or two of exams and revision.

As the talk of Saturday begins to ebb away into history – so much for me learning about what I really said that night – I must thank all of you present for coming. My speech needed a little something to be desired, especially when compared to my past exploits, but I’ve never had 60 of my nearest and dearest staring at me and waiting for me to say something memorable and fitting for the moment. I was overwhelmed. But here, well read, this now.

“Eighteen years is a long time, the entirety of my life so far, and it impossible to sum up in a few words. Firstly may I thank you all for coming and I hope you all had a blindingly good time. I recognise that some could not make it, and to them I say for shame, you missed a great night of good food, good drink and utterly fantastic company. But, to make 18 years alive, there’s no doing it alone. Not a hope of doing it alone and it is you lot that have made me what I am. Of course, only a proportion of you were there on the night, as there are people who weren’t invited who had effect and people who didn’t manage to make it that had an even bigger effect. To each and every person who I’ve known, I thank you for being you, or otherwise, I wouldn’t be me. So I hope you’ll join me in raising an imaginary glass, ‘To you guys! Life wouldn’t be the same without you!’”

I adore each and every one of you who made it, and there are many, many pictures that will appear in the end when I get round to it. And to those who didn’t make it, we’ll have to catch up another time!

Sunday was just as good and with more new faces to say ‘hello’ to and have a laugh with, including the distribution of my syphilis among nearly all that were present!

Monday night at Coldplay was another outstanding night, my beautiful birthday present from Mr James Hannah, and I bow down to him for such a great gift.

The rest of the week is more of a blur, to be true. London won the 2012 Olympic bid, and then got bombed the next day. (For more about my, and others’, feelings on the London bombings, simply visit The Thursday Thought, of which a link is on the right hand side of this very page!)

Finally, today, Friday, school closed its doors for the final time this year, with the ultimate Summer Prizegiving, where the year was summed up in a mere two and a half hours. The speaking was on the whole superb, especially Johnny Ariyaratnam’s piece on his Nuffield Bursary. Kyle won a highly prestigious prize for being such a good scholar, whilst our very own Mr Scott Jones won the Alderman Steele prize. The reward was very just his contributions to the sixth form and school life in general over the past two years. His unashamed selflessness was finally acknowledged, but in too small a style. There should have been a bigger thing for our ‘God of Sixth Form’. If I’m embarrassing you Scott, then good. It’s about time people stood up and shouted your good name from the rooftops, yet merely this would not be enough. And I urge you, rather than spend the book vouchers now on other people – the birthday season is over soon – save them until you begin life at The University of Manchester because doing the course you’re doing, you’ll need all the books you can afford, not forgetting twice the brain of the entire group put together. You are a very brave soul indeed, and I urge all of those reading this, to either comment about the little one in public, or go one step further and e-mail him on whoshotmrburns@hotmail.com AND whoshotmrburns@3mail.com . His achievement will not go unrecognised in the group, and if he approaches you with things that look that they might be from Waterstones or HMV or Hatchards, run like the wind. That money is for him and no one else!

So, as our final Prizegiving has now ended, and the school year is up, it’s now time to kick back, relax and have the summer of our lifetimes! I’ll see you all in the not so distant future.

Ta taa for now

Paul