Should I be blissfully satisfied that the blues(-inducing) brothers “Jedward” have been finally flung bobble-headed-first from the x-factor?; or should I regret my hostility toward them, as I now contemplate the fact that the only entertaining act of the x-factor has now been eliminated? True they were high-haired, self-concerned, clueless “wannabes” but they were good at it, and they seemed to enjoy every moment, which is most important. As well as that, they had more bad press than all of the other contestants combined and yet, their pale Irish faces still bounced back on screen smiling every Saturday night at nine o’clock! -(Almost sickening wasn’t it?)- But, they were more entertaining than even some of the professionals that have appeared on the show throughout the series. I must ask though: were they brilliant because we are simply patriotic towards them; hate-to-love them; or are we just aware that no other Irish duo could kill some of the world’s greatest songs and get away with it? Whatever the case, I’m sure the show will lose a vast number of viewers as a result of tonight’s results. All in all, I will miss them, for what they were worth!

I will now confess that I have become a die-hard “Twilight” fan! First I loved the travels through “Narnia”, then the adventures of “Hogwarts”, now I adore the escapades of “Forks” -(the placename, not the inanimate objects! ) Although I haven’t finished the books, Meyer is like the J.K.Rowling of teenage fiction: precise, detailed, imaginative and ultimately: legendary. – (Bit much?) – But still, she is a really, really, REALLY good writer! And there is still three books to go- SCORE! …I really need to get a social life

With regards to study, I didn’t do a lot this week. Mainly Walcott’s poetry – (which I love!) – and study on what is quickly becoming one of my favourite subjects: Maths! That’s right, this maths-phobe is learning more maths with the help of a little d.v.d-ROM and a little study.

What happened to change my unlucky past with maths, I hear you say? Well, I recently acquired a ”digitalGrinds: ACCELERATED LEARNING MATHS” disc with the request that I review it for the company. I popped it into my computer and clicked Arithmetic (something I used to ABHORE!). But I must admit I’m learning a hell of a lot more with this interactive disc than I ever did from six years of secondary schooling and two years of one-to-one grinds. With that, I’m inclined to tell you that I never worked strenously hard at maths, possibly because I never understood the basics (which, again, is through no fault of any teacher I’ve ever had). Yet, that is NO PROBLEM for the “digitalGrinds” disc(s).

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know (or HAD TO know for the Leaving Cert., because let’s face it: not many of us WANT TO know much about maths) is explained exactly as it appears on the paper in June. Every sort of problem is tackled with the same precision and detail as a one-to-one grind would be, with one exception: cost! I used to pay a great deal of money for grinds but this disc(s) only costs €65- (which saves a packet, particularly in these difficult times) – and yet, every single question is covered from Algebra to Vectors, Arithmetic to Functions and Differentiation and it becomes easier as you go along. All of the theory is explained thoroughly and simply and applied to example paper questions. One is encouraged to attempt the questions themselves and even if one gets the answer (or format) wrong, one is shown exactly where they may have gone astray. For instance, I went through the Arithmetic lessons, then I took out the papers today and did all of the Arithmetic questions with ease, whereas before, I constantly got part (b)’s and (c)’s wrong. There are also rewards one earns after completing each question: videos, songs etc; that have nothing to do with maths I might add!

It’s a worthwhile course if you can get your hands on it. Look up www.digitalgrinds.ie or telephone the company on (065) 6833003 to find out more. I’d like to point out that I’m not being paid or supplemented in any way to advertise this maths program by either allhonours.ie or digitalgrinds.ie; I merely know what it’s like to struggle in a difficult subject and thought I’d let “y’all” know about it, because let’s face it, you don’t want to get six or seven ‘A’ ’s and one big fat ‘F’  in your results. Sincerely, it is a good program and if you are worried about maths I believe this is the way to learn. You may not like it if you’re a techno-phobe, or you’ve been taught how to answer questions in a specific format and find it difficult to change your ways but honestly, it’s not a difficult course to follow if you’re willing to put in a little effort. Sometimes we just don’t get along with our teachers or we are sat beside the most disruptive student for the year and thus, we turn to any means necessary to get our ‘A’: these discs are worth a try if you’re totally flummoxed with Funtions and tormented by Trigonometry! Give it a go

On that note, I shall leave for another week. And this week, I’ve promised myself I’ll complete last weeks TO-DO list and return to my normal routine of study, stress and sandwiches.

Have a good week fellow students,

Ian