#I’ve got 4 schools I go to all within each week phew

[allie1804-fan]

The Middle of the Road (Chapter 16)

Chapter 1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8 , 9, 10, 11 , 12,  13  14 , 15

Warnings: None

September 2024 – Toronto Emily and Keanu flopped down on the bed in their room at the apartment they were renting in Toronto for the week of The Toronto International Film Festival. They had just arrived from LA and were travel weary. He had just had his 60th birthday and would be receiving a Tribute award at the festival, a great honour for any film maker but an especially treasured one for Keanu who had grown up in the city. He remembered when the festival used to take place in his neighbourhood of Yorkville in the late 70s so the whole event was very close to his heart.

The whole family had decamped from LA including their Nanny Maria which would enable them to attend the evening events as well as do some promotion.  Keanu had done voice work in a film being premiered there which had a U certificate so they would all attend the afternoon screening. They were taking a bit of a risk with Hannah but Emily or the nanny would be able to take her or Johnny out if either of them got unsettled.

 After they had rested up a bit, they all went out to a local Italian restaurant around the corner from the apartment and enjoyed a simple relatively quick meal before getting the babies back home to bed.  The next morning found Keanu and Emily enjoying some free time looking around his old haunts – he’d shown her his home in Yorkville, his elementary  school, ice hockey stadium, the Leah Poslun Theatre and the location of his first kiss!

 “Right there?”? Emily was pointing with an aghast expression on her face at a dingy alley behind a bike rack at the back of an old Walgreens store.

 “Yup – I know. I’ve got a bit classier in my old age I hope you agree.”

 “And what was her name?”

 “Angela”

 “Now THAT is a 70s name if ever I heard one. I guess at least your name is just totally unique and not linked to an era like some”

 “She was sweet – but not long lasting!”  Anyway, I think that is the complete high, and low, lights for you. We better get back and get  some lunch before this afternoon’s shenanigans”  He was referring to the premiere of his film which was an afternoon affair so kids could attend. Some local children would attend as well as press and the stars and their families. Johnny and Hannah would be there – with the exit strategy of mum or nanny if it was too much. They had watched films at home and had quite good attention spans but Hannah had only been in a movie theatre once and so was a bit if an unknown quantity behaviour wise.

It was also to be their first red carpet as a family. They had kept the children well shielded so far but, accepting that  complete privacy wasn’t realistic, they had decided to attend this premiere all together. They all dressed in smart casual clothes rather than the suits and ballgown style of Oscars and that was needed given they would have the kids next to them snacking on ice cream! The press and fans were enthralled with the kids, both dark haired and with big brown eyes strongly favouring Keanu but with the delicacy of Emily’s features. After letting her walk on wobbly legs for a little while, Keanu scooped Hannah up and carried her while Emily walked with Jonathan and Marie brought the buggy and a change bag just in case. Hannah loved waving at everyone and fans called her name which made her laugh. Johnny joined in with waving too, sensing that this was something special but not really at all clear what. It was going to be a while before they understood that their Dad wasn’t just special to them!

The kids enjoyed the film and made it through the whole hour and half without a melt down to everyone’s relief.

That evening Emily and Keanu appeared on a panel about a project they were working on together. There were inevitable questions about how husband and wife could work together which they fended off deftly  - working together was after-all how they met and it felt easy compared to parenting and they were glad to keep the topic work focussed.  In the next couple of days they each took part in other promo for their work and had a meal out, just the two of them.  There they talked about the award show that would be the following night.

                                                            “You nervous?” Emily asked as she sipped her coffee.

“Am I ever!” He groaned. “All that intention is intense – I’m used to parts of it – the red carpet, the photos, being filmed in the audience, even being on stage handing out awards or receiving a less significant gong but such focus, and a speech – phew, it’s crazy”

“It’s what you deserve honey, you know that inside don’t you”

 He shook his head,

 “It’s an honour, such an honour but, no,  I don’t know it – it just feels surreal”

 “Well just try to enjoy it if you can, hun – OK?, Want to run through the speech back at the apartment?”

 “Sure, that would be great to have a writer’s input”

 The award day came and they passed as much of it as they could focussing on the kids, taking them to one of the lakeside beaches for playtime and a picnic but eventually time came for the ‘dressing up game’  as Keanu called it. Both of them would spend a few hours being “made beautiful” for the cameras with stylists primping and polishing their hair, clothes and make up to within an inch of their lives. They left the children with Maria and they would tune in later to see Mommy and Daddy on the TV walking the red carpet.

Emily was wearing a stunning sleeveless, full length taffeta gown in red and her birthday necklace to match her ruby engagement ring and Keanu was in the tux he’d worn to the 2020 Oscars.  Emily’s palms were sweaty even before they left to go to the theatre. She’d attended public occasions before where there were paparazzi but only one awards show about 4 years ago so she was nervous of the attention, especially as the news of their marriage was still quite fresh.

As they climbed out of the car, Keanu whispered in her ear  “Just imagine everyone naked”  before they started to make their way up the red carpet, making her giggle and relax just a little.

“I feel like the wives in Apollo 13, if they ask me anything. I’ll just say “I’m proud, happy and thrilled”

“Are you likening me getting an award to going to the moon or a life-threatening mission?!”

“the former for you and maybe the latter for me!”

At first she held Keanu’s arm in a death grip but gradually she relaxed especially as she saw the smiling faces in the crowd and she saw Keanu relax too, signing photos, DVDs and books and posing for photos. Several fans encouraged her to pose alongside him, surprising her.  It seemed some people were happy to see him happy with his marriage and kids and thus welcomed her with open arms.

There were a few reporters on the red carpet who stopped them for a few words. Keanu made her laugh, though she tried to hold it in, when he responded to the question of how he was feeling to be receiving the Tribute Award.

“Well I’m proud, happy and thrilled” he said, giving Emily a wink which made the laughter bubble to the surface. They moved on and at last made it into the auditorium and were shown to their seats.

There were several other awards before his but at last it was time for his big moment.

The presentation started with a show reel with clips from his most famous movies as well as some of his lesser known early ones which made him blush. He leaned over and whispered to Emily

“At least they’re not showing the Coke and cornflakes ads!”

After the reel, there were some video clips from some of his directors and co-stars praising – his work, his character and his work ethic. There was Chad Stahelski, Sandy Bullock, Carrie-Ann Moss and Lilly Wachowski. Then it was time for the award  itself which Lana Wachowski presented. As he walked up to the stage, the whole auditorium stood, clapping and cheering. He was right, Emily thought, this was really overwhelming! She dabbed a tear away as he took his place at the podium and took a moment to let the applause fade.

“Firstly let me say a huge thank you for this great, great honour  - to receive this in the city where I spent my formative years is really very special so thank you.”

More applause erupted then quickly subsided allowing him to continue.

“I owe this award to many other people  - first and foremost,  I’d like to pay tribute to my mom for believing in me all those years ago when I asked her one day, would it be ok if I was an actor and  she simply said ‘whatever you want son’.

And thanks must also go of course to the teachers and directors at the schools where I did plays and at the Leah Posluns Theatre where I really began to learn my craft-  thank you for lighting the fire.

Looking back, the reel you showed just now only served to remind me how much I love movies. And a key reason over the years for that love and indeed for much of my success has been the joy of collaboration when making them. Collaboration with many wonderful directors, actors, cinematographers, stunt coordinators, make-up artists, caterers, runners to name but a few is what I thrive on. And they have all made me look good.  And I know sometimes I’ve made my fellow actors look good too by how bad I was! Special thanks to Winona and Gary in that regard!

And I can’t forget the writers, for one thing my wife would never forgive me if I didn’t give them a mention.”

Keanu looked over and caught Emily’s eye as she sat in the front row beaning with pride.

“Writers have gifted me some amazing, memorable characters, some of them coming back time and again  like Ted, Neo and John Wick.  And I think special thanks are due for all the Johns, Johnny’s and Jacks and the quarterback punks that have been a recurring theme for me and such fun to play.

So I love movies and I love the opportunity they give me to tell stories.

But this year, as I hit a big milestone birthday,  I am in a new phase in my life and I’m planning on being focussed less on the stories in films and more on my own story.  Over the years, my fellow actors and the crews have been like family to me, a band of brothers and sisters if you will.  But 5 years ago I met and fell in love with a wonderful woman and she became my family.  Then 2 years ago we became parents - and now there are 4 of us. And this year  I also became a husband - in all these things as you can probably tell I was a late starter!

So whilst I’m not retiring,  going forward I can’t and I don’t want to be the man who  is all work and no play.  I want to be with my beautiful  wife and my kids as they grow and play my part in guiding them in their lives, in their story.

And hopefully, I’ll bring the riches of that experience of being a parent and a husband to my future roles.

Thank you”

There was rapturous applause at this end to his speech and Emily found herself crying once again at his very public commitment to a more balanced life for them all going forward.

Keanu took his leave, heading back stage where there would be a few interviews to do before he could re-join Emily and head onto the after-party.  There was a brief break in proceedings and Emily made her way back stage to meet up with him.

Keanu was just taking his leave from one of the news teams  when he glimpsed Emily weaving her way between the throngs of stage hands, actors and publicists.

He headed in her direction and indicated a small alcove to the side to aim for. She reached it first and waited for him to join her, his progress being slowed by people stopping to congratulate him on his award and speech. When he finally got there, she threw he arms around his neck.

“That was, just, just”

“Wow  have I actually rendered you speechless?” he laughed.

“You didn’t share THAT part of the speech!”

“You mean the bit about marrying a wonderful woman and sharing my story with her?”

“yes that part, you sneaky devil, you made me cry”

“Happy tears I hope?”

“Yes!” she smiled planting a kiss on his smiling lips.

@penwieldingdreamer @fortheloveoffanfic @kindainlovewithkeanu @ladyreapermc @witty-wallflower @gatsbynouvel @bitchyslut99 @keanureevesisbae @omg-imagine @iworshipkeanureeves @fics-not-tragedies @ficsnroses @kindainlovewithkeanu @paperplanesandwallflowers

[imperfect-study]

Imperfect-Study's Study Survival Guide

Disclaimer: I’m an Aussie so some of this advice will relate more specifically to VCE than other international systems. Also this is what works for me personally, it may not work for you.

1. COMPLETE PAST EXAM PAPERS I can absolutely not stress enough how valuable these are, I complete as many as I can possibly get my hands on. (For Victorians, VCAA has previous exam papers for every year and every subject published on their website. It’s a new study design this year for most subjects (2017) so keep an eye out for any questions on topics you won’t need to know. You should also be able to find stacks of “unofficial” papers from various companies) -I didn’t usually worry about time limits or being under exam conditions. Reality is that your parents are going to interrupt you to ask you to unpack the groceries or you’re in the middle of babysitting your siblings or something. There’s nothing wrong with completing sections at a time.

-The more you do, the faster you’ll become. Your thinking processes will become more efficient, you’ll write faster, and you’ll begin to whip through any multiple choice sections.

-If you really struggle staying within time limits, my psychology teacher recommends practicing “one minute per mark” e.g. Only spend 4 minutes on a question worth 4 marks

-I found, especially with my science classes: one mark will equal one dot point.

-Try to stay within the space you’ve been given. Sometimes you haven’t been given enough space or you need to go over to get your point across but most of the time you’re just not being concise enough. Work on it and think about how you write your answers before you commit them to paper.

2. GO THROUGH YOUR COMPLETED EXAM PAPERS AND EXAMINER’S REPORTS This is just as important as completing the papers themselves. Here’s some specific advice: - If you’re going through the 2016 Biology Exam and see that only 16% of the state got full marks on a cellular respiration question, you should study cellular respiration inside out. Make it your strength. Cohort’s don’t change much, weakness don’t change year to year. If you see that under 50% of the state is getting full marks on questions about a particular topic, you make sure you know that topic and you’ll have one up on most of the state.

-Make a list of every topic you got wrong, be specific (do this for every test or set questions you do for a class). Note if you got it wrong because you didn’t read a question or if you didn’t know enough about a topic. You’ll see patterns. In math, I kept on missing out on the end of a question that mentioned how many significant figures to round to; I picked up my mistake and fixed it. In biology, I regularly got questions about whether a solution was hypertonic, hypotonic, or isotonic wrong: I focused on osmosis for a while in my bio class and got better. There’s always a pattern in your errors. Find it.

-Look out for topics that reappear pretty regularly. Questions about that topic can be VERY similar in each exam E.g. If you go through VCAA biology exams you’ll find pretty much the same transcription and translation question every year. I became familiar with responses out of examiner’s reports for these types of questions and was able to use them out in my exam (or at least apply them). It’ll make you feel more familiar with your exam when you sit it, maybe even make it more predictable.

3. DISCIPLINE > MOTIVATION

For the first 2-4 weeks of the year motivation will have you studying from the minute you get home til the second you shut your eyes to sleep. You won’t even feel like having breaks. Next minute you’re in the midst of the month of hell (i.e. May), you have three assessments this week, you managed to get an hour of study done this weekend. I don’t really think of discipline in the normal way when it comes to study, for me it means knowing how I work best and how to keep myself on track without relying on random energy spikes.

-Get in the habit of breaks from the very first day of term 1. You may not feel like it because you’re well rested, fresh off the beach, and motivated to get sh*t done. But take them. You’ll get so so sick of studying early on and you’ll burn out well before Easter holidays.

-Work out when you work best. If you are one of those people who can get up at 6am and work productively (please tell me your secrets) then do that. I study in the afternoon, usually from 4:30-5:00pm onwards.

-Work out how long you’re able to work at your best each day.I study 45-60 minutes per subject (I have 4 ¾’s) with 10-15 breaks in between. A guy in my class will study in 20 minute blocks with 5 minute breaks in between. Sometimes I don’t worry about timing myself and will just have breaks after I’ve completed a task. Don’t be afraid to change it up, especially if you’re tired.

-Also this may be contradictory to my main point, but “if you don’t feel like painting, don’t paint” (Credit to random ATAR Notes guy). You need to keep an eye out for when you need to take a night off. Sometimes you just need to take a nap. Interpret that quote however you want, it just felt like good advice to me.

4. COMPARE THE PAIR I’m really conflicted about comparing myself to others. VCE is a system entirely structured around rankings. Your study scores are ranks based of where you sit in the state which are based of where you rank in your class. I’m a very competitive person, so comparing myself to others motivates me. However there’s a line to this. It’s significantly less stressful to run your own race. I can’t just tell you to stop comparing your marks to others, because I know it just isn’t that easy. Just try and recognise your own progress too.

-Try working on your perception of failure. Harness it to motivate you to do better next time.

5. TEACHERS Your teachers teach the same content every year, they know it all back to front. Use them.

-If at any point in time you think “I don’t get this” write it down, sticky note it, set a reminder to ask your teacher about it. Question, question, question.

-Learn their approach to teaching early on. My math teacher lets everyone work at their own pace while my health teacher is free with detention slips when worksheets are handed in late. Try and get on their good side.

-Your teachers mark your assessments, if they hint at anything to do with how they mark, write it down and keep it in mind. Also they may have previously marked exams for VCAA, if so they’ll what you need to include it certain types of questions to get full marks. They’re like a walking, talking previous-exam report. Ask for their advice.

-If you really struggle learning from your teacher, ask your classmates (remember you guys are a team NOT competition), visit forums, and seek out other teachers who also teach the subject. Even if your teacher is great do this. The more people explain something to you, the more you’ll get it and the easier you’ll remember it.

-Don’t be afraid to send them emails, they take their job home

-Ask them to mark any extra questions you do out of your textbook. You often will not have the answers yourself and they can give you feedback

6. GET AHEAD DURING THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS Phew I feel like this stuff is getting out of order by now, but here we are. Doing this will take a whole heap off pressure off you at the start off the year.

-Number 1 thing to do is to complete set holiday homework. There’s nothing worse than starting the school year behind in your work.

-Read your English texts. I had four novels. Write or find chapter summaries for them. Reread them if you have time. You need to be familiar with the characters, themes, and plot. You do not want to be reading 1984 in the middle of August.

-Skim through your textbooks. Summarise chapters.

-Start a list of terms you need to know for each class

-Practice writing, doesn’t have to be essays or anything. The worst thing is coming back to school feeling like you’re wording your sentences weirdly.

-Get to know the study design. Know what you don’t need to know. 7. ACTUAL STUDY It took a more that a few paragraphs to get to the point. -I hate cue cards, they don’t work for me at all. If you haven’t used them to study before, don’t spend hours writing them out for a whole textbook. Try them out with a few definitions and if they work then continue. Don’t force it just because it’s a popular technique.

-I don’t usually hand write notes, it takes a lot of energy and I get sores from pressing on the paper too hard. I type out my notes. It’s up to you as to what you do

-To memories a concept I’ll retype a whole document paragraph by paragraph to remember it (with the paragraph i’m copying scrolled up out of sight). If you prefer writing then try rewriting each paragraph. (This is my main study method)

-To do well you need to know your content and how to play the game. I can’t specifically tell you how to do this but you need to know how to answer questions. This goes back again to doing practice exams

-Have a conceptual understanding of the context. Memorisation can only get you so far. It ultimately comes down to being very familiar with content. To explain: By the time I completed four units of VCE biology I had been introduced to around 600 new terms. Every year there is at least one question that’ll ask for a definition. Now biology is already a very content heavy subject, I couldn’t go out and learn 600 definitions by heart. In the exam I was asked to define ‘vaccine.’ I didn’t know the textbook definition of ‘vaccine,’ but I knew about vaccines, I knew a key word would be ‘attenuated.’ So I came up with a definition from there. Ultimately you need to be able to apply the information you know to unknown situations.

-Immerse yourself in the subject. Make posters and stick them on your fridge and on the toilet door. You may not even read them, but the topics will always be in your face keeping your knowledge fresh in your mind

-Look at as many sources of information as possible, if you see the information in different forms you’ll develop a far better understanding of it. Read your textbook, old textbooks, your notes, company notes, teacher PowerPoints, articles. Trade notes with your friends. Watch YouTube. 8. LOOK AFTER YOURSELF I actually hate that I’m putting this in here. So stereotypical of a study guide.

-have little control of what food I eat, I get what I’m given in my household. So if I’m not eating well I can’t change that. I’m sure nearly all students are in the same position. As much as I would love to have a detox juice for breakfast it’s not going to happen. Just make sure you’re eating enough energy-wise

-Life gets in the way of exercise. I walk to and from school every day and this is enough for me to have a break and think.

-Get to bed before midnight. Sleep is the one thing I will stress about to you. If you aren’t getting enough rest you will burn out. School is tiring even when you’re getting 8 hours of sleep. I’m still working on this one (btw it’s 12:48am atm). School is so much more enjoyable when you’re well rested.

-If you’re overwhelmed, take a long bath or shower. You need to give yourself some time out sometimes

9. ORGANISATION

-I recommend having a diary or at least a notebook where you can write things down

-Write down every piece of set homework, even if you think you’ll remember it because you probably won’t.

-My diary is more of a to-do list. I write down everything that I want to get done in a week, including set homework and study. That way when I have free periods at school and when I get home I know exactly what I can do with my time.

-Highlight important events such as tests and due days so you won’t forget them or look over them in your planner

-Apart from my diary, I write very specific to-do lists for each day. This is especially helpful on weekends and holidays when you don’t have the routine of school

-Pack your bag the night before. It’ll mean one less thing you have to do in the morning and 10 minutes of extra sleep.