pLEASE VISIT AND ADD MY NEW MUSIC MYSPACE AT www.myspace.com/sheilalord22music

Thanks everyone for your comments =) They were all so lovely and supportive =)
I was pelasantly surprised by the gig offers i got, I really appreciate them,,but if its ok I'd like to get myself settled into university first. The easiest way of getting in contact with me is my facebook page, as yeardot is drawing to an end now and I dont check this myspace as much as I used to... just search Sheila Lord on facebook, I'm easy to find =) There were comments such as Baz's asking about open mic nights. I personally have never done an open mic night but that doesnt mean i dont reccomend them. I think open night mics all depend on its venue and where you are in music. I'd say open mic nights are great for first starting out and getting used to audeinces, or even full bands who feel like a little bit of practice without too much pressure. Booked gigs by companys are hearder to get so usually the standard is higher, open mic nights are more laid back! I have done acoustic night gigs, but once again they were booked through companys not on a turn up and play kinda thing =) My response was often very good, I'm very luck, i never really got bad comments from people and most people always came up after and said something positive, so I'm always grateful for that.

Thanks also to people such as Lisa Palmer and Edwin John, for those who want to do music and have been asking me advice, I reccomend you see the comments, they suggested pages such as www.unsignedbandreview.com and www.heardat.co.uk for undiscovered and unsigned artists.

Thanks again for all your comments, Year Dot has been an amazing experience, and i wish all of you all the best in your years ahead =)

MUCH LOVE AND HUGS and thank you for all your support throughout this year =)

Sheila x x x

so, this is the final blog, the end of yeardot has come around so quickly, i cant believe how fast this last year has gone. I dont think yeardot could have chosen a more suitable year in my life to film, i have learnt so much about life and myself this past year it is unbelievable, i think i have matured these past few months more than any other time in my life! There are so many things i could go into about this past year but i dont want to make this blog just an endless list of my achievements or downfalls, id rather just tell you how i think they have affected me and hopefully give some decent advice to anyone reading this. Be yourself no matter what and stay true to who you are even if it means screwing alot of other things up! When i changed my mind from music to university it realy did cause alot of mayhem, but at the end of the day, if i continued with it i would have been unhappy, and with life being so short you cant afford to be unhappy when you know you can fix it. Dont be afraid of the future or of your own decisions. Mistakes arent bad things, they are how we learn, sometimes you have to follow your heart and sometimes you have to follow your head, whichever you chose to follow, you'll learn something from it, even if  its not to make the same deicision again haha! I think the best advice i could give is just make the most out of everything and cherish every moment!! even the bad times because i think tragedy shapes us more as human beings more than happiness, which is quite a sad reality i suppose, but learning to plough through the hard times of life is a very beneficial lesson to learn. I think i have learned most of all that I dont think i ever want to be totally satisfied with where i am, i never have been haha and i doubt i ever will be, but i like it that way, if you are totally satisfied then you have nothing further to work for, so i actually like to embrace tragedy as it drives me forward and what makes me as creative as i am i think! I shall end this blog on an awesome quote of an awesome song, i reccomend you listen to it "Vienna waits for you - Billy Joel" ... " It may not apply to everyone but i can most deffinately realate it to myself. 

"You've got your passion, you've got your pride
but don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?"

sooo... its all in the open, I'm going to university... and this September =) College is starting to wind down with my BTEC certificate in music practice now totally finished...I got full on complete distinctions for the lot so there are 240 UCAS points right there WOOP! My art BTEC is now over aswell so I really only have 2 subjects left in these last 3/4 weeks which is English Literature and Drama. To be honest I'm not nervous, I've revised hard and feeling pretty confident. If anything I want them here now to just be done and out the way, I really wish I could speed up time and just be at university, but I'm still going to have a busy couple of months after college. On the day of my last exam I'm starting an intensive driving course, I've been having weekly lessons at the moment and I'm really enjoying them, plus I have only stalled once in 4 lessons... I think thats good, I have my theory test booked for the 6th of June so gotta really revise that more =S Aswell as driving I'm getting away for a month from southend to visit the Philipines in August, then when I'm back its only a couple of weeks untill Kingston. I am starting to get really sick of southend to be honest, I have a constant feeling of wanting to escape right now, feels kind of claustrophobic... I think it's because I'm so looking forward to University and the changes I'm going to experience after living in routine for 18 years. I think a good sentence to end this blog is... I would happily accept the unexpected!

x x x

The poll of yeardot is now 60/40 for university, thanks for your feedback guys... I know what I am doing but I'll wait for you to watch Kingston part 2 to find out... OOOHHH THE ANTICIPATION! (I'm sure you'll be able to stand it haha). I went to a reading and Q&A session of Will Self, most of you would know him from "Grimpy Old Men", but hes also a columnist and author, I'm reading a book of his at the moment "The Butt". I have to say he was amazing!! I got his signiture aswell woop! I felt a bit out of place obviously being the youngest there but it was an awesome experience. Me and my dad went together and it was just an amazing experience. It is now 4 weeks untill the 1st week of my exams and im surprisingly ok about it, I think I have revised really hard and that I'm going to be good with these exams! Well...my english exams at least. In dramam we are directing "Trojan Women", a greek play by euripedes (thats probably spelt wrong) and I chose to do it in a brechtian style, which is surprisingly easy, greek theatre transfers over well, to be honest the physical directing of it is only to prepare us for an exam where we have to write about it thank god! Writing about it is fine, if it had to actually be marked on it being shown, I think I would get 0...possibly minus marks if thats feasible. I had my "last" interview with YearDot last week, it was an emotional day to say the least. I really am going to miss this when its gone! =( It still stands that this has been one of the best experiences of my life!

well i noticed yeardots new poll right now, is should i go to uni this year or continue with music for a year?... right now, it is 50/50!!

After nearly a year of yeardot i still cant believe how many people do get in touch and vote on the polls, so thank you for all your comments and feedback! I had my first ever driving lesson yesterday... I did not kill anything, i did not crash, but i did stall once. I was very proud that i managed to crawl around in circles in first gear haha! To be honest this blog is nothing profound, but sometimes simplicity is the best. I spent today with my parents, seafront and vanilla frapiccino, then watching sweeny todd with my friend vanessa. It was simple, but it was nice. I think i forget sometimes, that life isn't a stage, i'm not a constant performer having to display acrobatics and sumersaults to prove im alive... simply living is enough. There was a beautiful quote, quite sad but beautiful... Its almost an introduction to a book "The Butt" by Will self, who coincidentally I am seeing on the 6th of may as he's doing a reading and question and answer session!! anyway... the quote was "Who knows, whether if I had given up smoking, I should really have become the strong perfect man I imagined? Perhaps it was this very doubt that bound me to my vice, because life is so much pleasanter if one is able to believe in one's own latent greatness." - Italio Svevo, confessions of zeno. Half the things i say i realise, i understand now that i already knew, it just takes certain quotes and reminders to jog my memory. I dont want to hold on to my vices, just in case my potential comes to nothing. Potential is such a beautiful word, so beautiful that sometimes I have left the word alone, so i related to the quote. I'm going to dive into life now, as for a while now, life hasnt scared me, I've actually had the balls to say, just try it, just do it, if you fail then f***k it (sorry for the swearing... meant to show my enthusiam rather than offend haha). But yes... an enthusiastic blog, from an at peace and happy yeardotter =) thank you everyone!

I cant believe how close the end is!! that sounds rather deep and depressing but I only mean yeardot and college hehe! I was watching back YearDot vids the other day, and it's amazing to see how much has happened over the last year, how much i have achieved...and how much i moaned about things haha. I look back over the last year and see how much I have changed, and it makes me wonder what i'll be like in another year! Ive literally only got a month and a bit left of college now, and then everythings going to change! I have to admit I'm not a stranger to change recently and I'm kinda glad with everything that has happened, i think it has prepeared me well for the future. Its been amazing sharing this jounrey with the other 14 yeardotters, and watching how they progress aswell! I've made some awesome friends through this and I cant describe how sad I am going to be when it is all over =( I'm sure that i've made friends for life, and I've learned so much from this it is unbelievable, i think it has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and i have learned so much about myself from it! I know this blog is a bit profound cosnidering I do still have a while left, but... its what i think =)

love you all!

x

I know it's been a long time since I;ve written a blog so I'm sorry guys, from my latest vid diary i guess you can see why. That video diary was actually done about a month ago but watching it back today brought up some feelings I thought had gone. I'm not sure if all that was said in that video diary still stands to be honest and I'm not going to deny i feel really suckish right now, but it will pass as it always does by the morning. I had a parents evening today, teachers gave good comments, predicted a B in drama and a A/B in english literature which is good. We looked over our modules in BTEC Music Practice and I've got all distinctions so I'm deffinately heading in the right direaction academically. I'm sure I menationed this before but I'm going to the Phillipines for a month in August, of course YearDot wont be with me then, but will be scary as I;m on holiday when my A-level results come AHHH!!! I cant wait to get to the Phillipines and University, as I think you can tell from my video diary, theres alot of things i want to escape right now, but I know who are important and I am making the most of the time i have with my family and my true friends. I went camping last week, and it was amazing, did make me realise that I'm really going to miss certain people. Life is a bit strange right now, but it will all work out, it always does.

x

I was watching Hamlet in english today (the modern version with Mel Gibson) and it was amazing!!!! I was on the edge of my seat, for those of you who are familliar with Hamlet, the scene where Hamlet confronts his mother and kills Polonius is just breath taking, had me on the edge of my seat!!! Continuing with drama, it is my drama exam this wednesday, we finally set our last scene today so all is good! I went to Kingston last saturday for an open day! Lets of surprises in store for you, but i'll let you wait for the video diary!! After the 2 weeks holiday i have 9 weeks of college left! Its craaaaaaazzzzyyy!!! Going to be good though, I'm also going to the Phillipines for a whole month in August, so i have that to look forward to. One the music front things are good, still rehearsing and gigging ^_^ next gig is acoustic with my keyboardist Luke on 12th April, check the band myspace for more details. Just briefly returning to Hamlet... there is a beautiful quote in it!!! Just had to share it!

Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Act II, Scene 2

things have been a bit strange lately, but today, i woke up and just felt at ease for the first time. I have total faith in my life right now, i am very very lucky!!! i have an amazing family, amazing friends, an amazing life really. I mean, its not every day you can say... hi, Im Sheila Lord, and im lucky enough to be filmed by channel 4, co-write with Simon Ellis - songwriter for Spice Girls and musical director for Britney right now! I have an amazing band who are not only amazing musicians but amazing friends, a really supportive family, and getting predicted A's for english literature, and distinction for music! Im not boasting, I'm just finally acknowledging that i have so much to be happy and grateful for! It feels like ive been in a bit of a dream for a year, and ive only kinda just woke up! I have 3 months left of college and yeardot and i wna make the most of it!!! Thank you so much to everyone who watches the program, whos given me advice, whos contacted me, who watches the videos and read the blogs!!! words really cant describe how much i acknowledge it all!!! Im feeling the most content with myself and with the direction of my life more than ever! x x x x