We both woke up during the night with soaring temperatures and aching joints etc. Mrs Plug called in sick, which is very unlike her. I had to do the same with my School project which was very annoying, but unavoidable really. We genuinely spent most of the day in bed, and I became delirious a few times. It fascinates me when I get like that. Some of the dreams I have and the lucidity of them. Very little else to write about the day unfortunately. I genuinely spent most of it sleeping.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Tuesday 29th March
The first day proper of my Primary School project, and quite apprehensive. I wonder if the kids will want me back, if the first session was a fluke and if they will all now turn into nightmares. Of course I had nothing to worry about as they were all lovely. We had some visitors from Malawi in the school who were visiting England to look at teaching methods. They gave a small presentation on conditions back home, and it seemed to strike a nerve with te kids. Whether it is because so many of them have suffered displacement or not I don't know, but I was impressed with the degree of concentration they showed. I am feeling rough again, which is really annoying, as the creativity seems to be at a peak at the moment. In the evening we had a meeting about the annual Summer School, which as ever, I get ridiculously excited about. Mrs Plug went to bed feeling ill, and that takes a lot for her to do that. I think that meltdown has happened, but manifested itself physically.
Monday 28th March
Lots of phone calls today, mainly talking about the festival if I am honest. Much as I have enjoyed it, there is also a side of me that simply wants to move on. I made a concerted effort today and finished the Panto. It has taken far longer than I wanted, but it is my first full length piece of work, and I am quite pleased with it. Working the way I do, means that the editing process, which seems to be the bane of most writers lives, is done in the rehearsal room with live actors. I think this makes the whole process more interesting for me, and is also beginning to help me to write with a little more abandon. If it doesn't work, we can improvise our way around it, and see how we go from there. I know Mike Leigh tend to work in a way where all of the dialogue is improvised, and I am a long way away from wanting to do that, but all the same, the freedom is quite liberating. When I sent my forst plays off for publishing I found that there was an element of frustration with the editing process, as someone who hadn't actually worked with the text was making suggestions. In fact when you think about it, working on theatrical text is obviously very different from a novel. I wonder if the publishers realise this or not at times. Anyway, it is the third time I have written "The End" and been happy with it. A good day.
Sunday 27th March
I awoke quite late, with a bit of a hangover, and a slightly surreal feeling. Having been involved in 8 of the 13 awards that were given out last night was a lovely feeling, and although the festival was not the biggest in terms of entrants, it is still a great feeling. Sadly, Mrs Plug had to attend University today. I feel for her. It seems as if the tension is mounting more and more and I fear that she will have a bit of a meltdown soon if it continues. I just want her to realise how good she is at it all, and how she will look back on this as one of the best decisions she ever made. I spent most of the day relaxing, had a bit of Daddy time with youngest, and generally achieved very little. I need to give myself permission to do this more often, and even to book time to do it.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Saturday 26th March
So the final day of the festival arrives. A nice relaxed session to start the day followed by a final rehearsal before tonight. We made some changes based on what the adjudicator had been saying all week, and then ran it. All seemed pretty good, but it turned out that some people felt I was not really playing my part as well as I could. I took lots of suggestions, in particular from Mrs Plug, and tried to consider them. I have to say most of them were extremely constructive. It is so important to be able to take criticism, and it is something that I am trying to get all of the kids to take on board, and act upon. When you pour yourself into something as emotional as acting, it can sometimes be difficult to take, but it is an important skill. I have worked with lots of actors who block any kind of suggestion of change, and it can be quite the most frustrating of experiences. I hope my own strong opinions are not confused as being like this. We spent a good hour talking and disagreeing over things in the afternoon, and I resolved to change one or two bits for the performance, without them affecting anyone else. Then the time was marching on, so I got ready and off we went. Within what seemed like half an hour, we had set, and were ready to go. Sometimes when a production starts, you get a feeling that everything is good, and that happened tonight. We nailed it and I was even delighted with my own performance. It flew by and then we sat and listened to a very thorough and what seemed like positive adjudication. In particular, she seemed to like my performance, and said some lovely things. At the prize giving, we won three awards for the youngsters, and I won best actor! We also won best production and we are in the Semi Finals. All was all very surreal, and very lovely and I went to bed a rather happy, and slightly drunk person
Friday 25th March
As the week draws to an end, it was a pleasant feeling knowing that I did not have a session to run this evening, and that we could go and see "The competition" in the festival. It has taken the week over to a large extent, and I think maybe I need to look carefully about future participation, and what we take on. However, we are all committed fully, and now I am quite excited by it all. Perhaps I should just grow up a bit :-) I am feeling quite on top of things at the moment, and I ope this continues. The trials and tribulations of next week are already weighing on my mind, but I think that If I get through it I will feel great about myself. We saw two youth groups in the festival this evening, one of which tackled Hamlet, and the other, the local group that seems to win every year, with another self penned play. I am not one for rivalry, but I know some of the kids are, so it was interesting to see them. Maybe, just maybe, it will not be their year this year?
Friday, 25 March 2011
Thursday 24th March
We all woke up slightly exhausted, and as a result, I splashed out on a cab to take us to the bus stop this morning. The rest of the day was spent either on the phone or in person, poring over the details of the performances last night, and the comments and feedback that we received. As with all such things there are disagreements and disappointments, but on the whole I think people have reacted in a mature way and taken the criticism as it was intended, as constructive and positive. I then dashed off in the afternoon to run a session and to then go and watch the competition in the evening. Another group has pulled out of the festival, which is a shame, but I suppose on the plus side, makes our task even easier!
Wednesday 23rd March
Today was always going to be a struggle in terms of time management. I had the first session of my new project at the Primary School to do, and then the opening of the Beds Drama Festival in which I am involved in all three of the opening night plays. The new project at the School seemed to go very well, although it started with my least favourite thing; a mountain of paperwork, which is never good! The kids are lovely, and despite there being massive differences in backgrounds and languages, I think they will all work fine together. I got home from the School, and got straight into prep for the evenings plays. They all went really well, in fact, If I am being totally honest, they went better than I expected. Rehearsals have been fragmented, and I expected the worse. However, as always they pulled it out of the bag. The adjudication in particular was a good one, and VERY thorough. I think it lasted longer than some of the plays. I had some really encouraging things said about my writing, which was rather lovely, and made me think that it was only about a year ago that I wrote them. To be opening up a Drama festival with them a year later was a really fulfilling experience, and one which I hope to repeat. We now have to wait until Saturday to see if there are any prizes or awards to be had. I feel a touch awkward about cups and awards. Should we really be comparing dramas and actors? After all, they are all trying to achieve so many different things. However, the adjudicators are, by and large, a very positive, very clever set of people, and this year's one is no exception. If we win anything I will of course be in a position to be stating that it is not important, and if we come away empty handed, then I will be saying it wasn't what we wanted anyway! Deep down though, I have to be honest and admit that I would be disappointed to get nothing. I think we worked hard enough to deserve something. I have to perform on Saturday night as well, and the frisson created by competition is different to the usual pre show nerves. I think we will all feel it to an extent, I hope it does not lead to any kind of on-stage meltdown. I think we are in with a good chance to do well. I arrived home at around midnight, with tall the comments buzzing through my head., and had a glass of wine or two to wind down. Probably not a great idea, but it worked, and I think I drifted off at about 2.00.
Tuesday 22nd March
Right on cue, I found someone on Facebook yesterday. Someone who I have largely blocked from my memory, who deserves no real place in it, other than a painful reminder of what it can be to be cruel to a relative. As I have said recently, there are two sides to every story, but in this case, one of those sides is one of deceit and lies. Why I even searched for this person, I do not really know. Memories come flooding back, and the hours of counselling and pep talks mean nothing for a large proportion of the day. I am angry with myself for opening an old wound, but the mind plays tricks sometimes. As a result of this, the day was largely a bit of a waste. I managed to give myself a bit of a stern talking to, and snap out of it, and in the afternoon went to pick up smallest plugling and go for a walk in what is now known as "Deer Wood". We went deep into the undergrowth,got very muddy in the bogs and generally had a lovely relaxing time. We sat on a dead tree and mused about life, and I realised through the simple logic of an eleven year old, that life is far too precious to be wasting on the memories of a fool.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Monday 21st March
The day started with an ant infestation, which considering it is only March, was bloody annoying to say the least. We were bothered by Ants quite a lot last year, so I am hoping I can get to the bottom of it this year and kill them all off. What with that and the mice in the garage, we have been communing with nature all too much this year for my liking. Anyhow, I continued with my day, only to receive my usual list of phone calls, which threw a spanner in the works as far as being as productive as I wished. I managed to get a good two hours writing done, and finished off the casting of the third act of the Summer Show. This means that I do not have to worry about casting fro a long time, which always makes me happy. There is something rather liberating about being able to actually get on with the show now. The casting seemed to be met favourably, but we shall see over the next few weeks I suspect. I went to bed absolutely exhausted, but feeling slightly good that I had managed to get most of the things I wanted done. It's always a good way to start the week I find. I didn't really mark it, but Saturday saw the first anniversary of our moving to our current abode. I think we were all too preoccupied to give it too much though, but the year has gone very quickly. It's not been altogether smooth, but I think we are in a better position now than we were a year ago, so that has to be a positive. I fond that when I tell people about what I am doing and what I am up to, that they seem really rather impressed and pleased for me, so I do wonder why I am not skipping through a few more hoops. Perhaps it is the realisation of all the work that goes into the things we do. Ultimately, many of my friends or acquaintances see the fluffy final product, like a performance for example. What goes into that is an entirely different matter, and it can be, and usually is, an exhausting process. So why do I do it? Well I suppose it is simply that I love it. There are times when I wonder what would have been if I had chosen a different path, but ultimately, we could all spend our days thinking about that. At least we had the nerve to jump and take a gamble, and it has worked. The Internet has, I think, changed the way we look at ourselves. We can very easily compare our lives and our days. Many people seem to update their twitter feed or Facebook status with the most inane drivel, and I am sure I have been just as guilty of that as well. It does, however, give us the chance to compare lifestyles. I can compare for example, my average day, with that of singers, actors, politicians authors journalists and footballers. I can see what my old school friends are up to, what my estranged relatives do, and what they are thinking about at any given time. As with all of these things, we post things that we either want other people to see, or we at the very least skew the truth to make ourselves more interesting in some way. I can put all sorts of updates about scripts being written, casting sessions, theatre visits etc. I'm sure that at times, these updates come across as boastful, which I think by and large they haven't been. However, I also take joy in the fact that certain things will reach the eyes of certain people, and I suppose I do update things with this in mind from time to time. I hold no truck with pointless attention seeking outbursts on social media sites in order to garner a little response, though again, I guess I may have been guilty of it myself. So what is the the point in all of this? Well, I wonder what people used as bench marks before the advent of the Internet. I suppose we compared our lives to those people we knew and kept in touch with on a regular basis. Now though, I can compare what I do with hundreds and hundreds of people, all be it, the edited version of those people's lives. I wonder if that is a good or a bad thing sometimes. I try my hardest to be honest on here at least, and I have made a concerted effort no to be all melodramatic on Twitter and Facebook, but we all have our own truths.
Monday, 21 March 2011
Sunday 20th March
A lie in...Yes...a proper lie in....with sleep and everything! Well that's what I would have liked anyway, however, my family conspired against me to a certain extent. I steadfastly remained in bed though, and eventually got up at 11 o clock ish. We had the set up day for the festival today, and all seemed to go well. Bearing in mind I have an involvement of some sort with five productions out of the 9 that are entered, I am hoping we see a little success on the night. It's funny how you see the same people each year at the festival, and at no other point during the year, but it is great to see everyone, and we are always made to feel very welcome. In many ways, I wish the rest of the week would just go quickly, so that we can get on with it. However, there are lots of job applocations for Mrs Plug, and lots of preparation and writing for me to do this week. Focus will be difficult.
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Saturday 19th March
I awoke, somewhat clear headed, having abstained from wine the night before. I enjoyed the feeling, and will repeat it I think :-) The day was spent helping Mrs Plug with planning and organising for the remainder of her course. We have lots to do, but I am sensing a bit of teamwork going a long way. Small Plugs were on homework and tidying duties, but everything stopped in the afternoon as we discovered mice in the garage. Fortunately, not much damage was done, but we will need to be mindful of it. Smallest Plug was of course not in favour of my approach to "Mouse Husbandry" i.e. Hitting them with the back of a spade. So small baby mice were tucked up under some leaves in the flower bed. They were all dead within hours I would imagine, but it made her feel better I think. We discussed the purchase of some traps, which apparently have to be "humane". I am not sure our walks through the woods will hold quite the same joy for me if we are spending every day repatriating mice, however, I fear I must go with the plan. The full force of youngest's will is not something you want to stand up against too often. I actually worked right through the football today, and recorded it for later viewing, I wish I hadn't bothered as we drew nil nil against West Ham, but I treated myself to a drink in the evening for being so conscientious. We are of to the venue for the festival tomorrow to do all the technical side of things. I always find this week a bit nerve wracking, but I shall look forward to the next week's performances as well.
Friday 18th March
Well today was Red Nose day. It seems to have turned into an excuse for the cynical and hard hearted to bleat and moan about smug celebrities and charity to begin at home. Well, I cannot think of a polite way to put this, but frankly, if you don't like it, just fuck off and do something else. Yes, some of the programme, in fact large parts of it, can be cringe worthy, embarrassing and toe curling, but my kids both look upon it as a chance to do something, to make a difference. Hundreds of thousands of kids up and down the country were working to do something selfless, and yet still people find time to moan about it. I have not heard one single argument to convince me that the whole scheme is anything other than a rather lovely way to help people. The "charity begins at home" brigade inevitably come out, and of course there has never been a convincing argument for them. Especially as Comic Relief has done so much for home based charities anyway...but that is not to excuse their arguments....quite simply, we are over privileged and spoiled in this country by comparison. I take my hat off to everyone involved, and if it helps the careers of some celebrities, that I don't really care for...so what? Big corporations donate to charity to help their profile and profit margin and use them as tax breaks...and the moaning twits who were out in force this week didn't seem to have one word of criticism for them. Just keep your hands in your pocket, watch something else, and remain happy in the fact that you believe you are our moral guardians, you selfish, half witted oafs.
In other news, we had final rehearsals before our festival plays next week, which seemed to go pretty well, and spirits seem good overall. I hope we get a little recognition again, but it is, after all, all about the play, and not the competition.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Thursday 17th March
I am aware that my blog entries lately have been a little short. Is this the beginning of the end for posting every day I wonder? Sometimes, for a number of reasons, I am just simply not in the mood to wax lyrical on a variety of subjects, and the last few days have been a bit like that. I have been busy, and I think still recovering from this horrible bug, so it has seemed more like a chore than anything else. However, the world seems a brighter place at the moment, and I have awoken with a more positive attitude. I really went at my work today, and managed to achieve quite a lot, and although a large proportion of the day was spent doing unpleasant things, I did manage to do them with a smile on my face. Big news on the deer front, in that we saw three of them on the walk home, so this has given us all sorts of naming and identification issues. We have correctly identified them as Muntjac deer. They were first introduced into the country from China in the early 20th century at Woburn park, so these ones are almost certainly direct descendants of those first settlers. They really are beautiful little creatures, and we love spotting them in the distant woodland of an evening or a morning. Photographing them has been a bit challenging as well, but we will persevere with it. We are planning on an early morning trip to see if we can get some photos. Flitwick Moor is a fascinating little nature reserve and every day that I walk through it I notice something new. I hope these memories are as precious to youngest as they are to me. I shall attempt to upload some images as and when I have time. We discussed the possibility of seeing a baby deer or two in the spring, but i was fascinated to read that they do not actually have a season as it were, and as a result can mate all year round. We will have to keep a careful eye out.
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Wednesday 16th March
Tackling the washing mountain today filled me with horror and self loathing and my failure to take my camera to capture bambi this morning irritated me. I spent the day continuing to catch up but I don't feel like I am achieving that. I have at least got lots of dates in the diary and a list of tasks to complete which is better than I usually have. I need to get some writing done I think. I feel like an administrator and not much else at the moment.
Tuesday 15th March
I dislike housework and find the whole process rather futile, particularly within my family. We are a naturally untidy family and whilst I have grown to accept this I have started to rail against it lately as I am the house husband. I had a mini meltdown over bedrooms today and I hope it will make a difference! In other news I have agreed to direct more Oscar Wilde next year which is all rather exciting. We had a great experience with Earnest and I am now doing An Ideal Husband. Bit is a long time away but it should be fun.
Monday 14th March
A quick journey to the bank turned into a bit of a marathon and as a result I found that my evening session ended up a bit off the cuff. Sometimes this can be a nightmare but this time around it was actually a pretty good session and whilst tiredness continues to plague me, it was a good evening all round. I was relieved when I realised that we had no rehearsals booked for the evening and for me, had a fairly early night. We have been enjoying our bus stop walk even more in the last few days as we have been taking the woodland route. It is really rather lovely considering where we are and we have seen a deer a few times. Of course we have now decided that it is the same one and as a result we are considering names. I hope to get a decent photo of the little beastie over the next few days
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Sunday 13th March Part Two
I have made no mention of the events in Japan, because anything I could think of came across as glib.....but I was sent this clip today, and I think it really sums up the full horror of what has happened to those poor people. The thing that disturbed me most was the silence
http://video.l3.fbcdn.net/cfs-l3-snc6/81489/34/1605260179420_2624.mp4?oh=ac31b4d8738221641ba490396dc19636&oe=4D7F9F00&l3s=20110313100648&l3e=20110315101648&lh=0a6cfa5eeaecd6dc12abf Sunday 13th March
We set off fairly early this morning to get to Olympia for Perform It and Move it. They are a kind of networking event for the dance and theatre industry, but I have to say largely focussed on the dance side of things. Eldest was able to speak to a few drama schools and get the odd prospectus or two, and we were able to see some amazing dancing, and see Arlene Phillips close up, which was not really the highlight of my day. It was pretty good I suppose, but I cannot help but feel that it was really an event designed to grab every penny it could from gullible young people who seem to think that getting into the industry is easy. Here are a couple of photos from the day;
After a pub lunch we came home to relax a bit. It would have been my Grandmother's birthday today, and I always like to spend a few minutes thinking of her. It used to make me feel very sad, but now I seem to be able to reflect in a non melancholy way...perhaps I am just getting cold and heartless in my old age?
Saturday 12th March
I must ensure that I update the blog more regularly rather than doing the post updating every few days or so to avoid the calamitous error of dates that I have endured over the last few days. I now have to go in and edit everything on my Wordpress as well as my Posterous sites, which is all a little annoying. Anyway.....Saturday was relaxing. I slept a bit, worked a bit, had a few drinks, went for a family walk in the woods and largely felt like I was getting better. Apparently the kids took lots of "Dubious" photos with my camera on the way round the walk, so I might have to put one or two of those up. I received news that we were rumoured to be moving up north after the summer, which came as a great surprise to all of us. I do wish people would think before they make this sort of nonsense up....I care not a jot for what someone unimportant to me might want to fabricate about me....I just wonder whether they had considered that my kids might get to hear it, and be worried. Silly small minded and inconsiderate fools. A day at a performing arts exhibition at Olympia beckons tomorrow
Friday 12th March
Decided to attend work this evening, as I cannot continue to do nothing. Both miniature Plugs were off School today, due to their own versions of the flu bug, though neither seemed as bad as mine! I must just be rather manly to be able to continue. Mrs Plug finished her essay today, and as a result, is now flitting through life with carefree abandon. Well she is relieved at least. I have created a load of CDs for her to play in the car, and bought her a nice presentation case to store them all in. It was a moving moment to see that rather than take them in the car with her, she had delicately placed the cds on the radiator in our bedroom. Fortunately I managed to move them before any damage was done. I loved the gratitude. A good session in the evening, even if I was feeling a little rough, and then off home for wone and crisps, even though I had vowed that no more wine was to be imbibed on a Friday night. I need more willpower I think
Thursday 11th March
The doctors confirmed that I have been suffering from a flu virus for the last week or so, which, I suppose at least confirms that I have been ill rather than pretending. All in all, a relief, as I thought it might just be old age. I also have developed an allergy to Nickel, which ironically can be found in coins. This manifests itself into a rash at the top of my left thigh when I have coins in my pocket. Mrs Plug seems to think that rather than utilising the cream that the doctor gave me, I should simply pass the coins to her for safe keeping. This seems to me an entirely unnecessary solution. Feeling as I did, and having been told by the doctor that I should rest, I actually had the evening off work, which was rather an odd feeling. I do not like missing sessions, and over the last five years there have only been a couple that I have missed, Still, as a friend told me today, I am not getting any younger! Nice!
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Wednesday 10th March
A long and busy day, in which I was hampered with the continuing lurgy. I have decided to go to the doctors finally and will see what they have to say in the morning. I went to a meeting at a School today, with a view to entering on to a creative partnership with them on a project. Despite feeling, and looking, like death warmed up, I was delighted to get the job. Now lots of hard work begins. I need to do some serious research onto various Myths and Legends on the next week or so. All very exciting, but I know how much work is involved. I also need to help Mrs Plug, who is only days away from another essay deadline. My "To Do" list is at its longest, and I am trying not to think too much about it. I sat quietly and watched Spurs qualify for the Champions League Quarter finals as well. I genuinely was quiet, and although the game was tense from start to finish, I was just feeling too ropey to really get into it and enjoy it. Still, it was an excellent result, and I now look forward to the Quarter finals excitedly. In spite of the illness, I still have to go on my long walk each day to pick up youngest from the bus stop. We experimented with a different route through the woods, and although it was a bit muddy, it was really lovely. I think we may take that route more often.
I know I am getting older, but the last week of feeling ill has really got to me. It's a mixture of fatigue, nausea, and cold/flu like symptoms. In 2009 I suffered with what was diagnosed as swine flu, and it really knocked me for six. I was not my usual self for a number of months. This is virtually the same as that, and I am dreading what the doctor might say. I still have to continue work whatever happens, and I am finding it all a bit difficult at the moment. Whatever it is, and whatever the doctor calls it, I just hope it buggers off soon.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Tuesday 8th March
The illness continues, and I actually ducked out of a meeting in the evening as a result of it, choosing to sulk on the sofa and watch Arsenal lose to Barcelona. There was no shame in their loss if I am being honest. When Barcelona are on form, they are unplayable, unstoppable and you simply cannot take your eyes off of them for a moment. I have a meeting tomorrow for a contract with a Primary School to produce a production with them over the next two months. I am not really sure what to expect, but I am looking forward to it, and hope that my illness neither puts them off or makes me look to o horrific to employ! I am feeling quite good all things considered, and hoping to get some dates in my diary for the summer quite soon.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Monday 7th March
I am still fighting off this irritating bug and feeling a bit ropey if the truth be known. I have always been crap at being ill, and I admire those who can continue regardless, however, whatever this is, is making me feel really flat. I almost dread to say it, but I feel like I did when I had swine flu. Anyway, continue I must, and as a result, I found myself working hard and not moaning. This is not a natural course of events for me as you will know if you had met me. I find that when I am ill, I struggle to type very well, and end up feeling hugely frustrated with the whole state of affairs. SO I am growling whilst typing as well. This, dear reader, probably paints a picture that is not entirely accurate. The day was also spent with the sun shining, and I think my mild case of Seasonally Adjusted depression becomes apparent on such days. The walk to the bus stop was lovely today, and was only marred by the sight of a dead deer. An adult Muntjack I think...So sad. It is lying in the field right next to the path, so I suspect it will become fairly horrific over the next few weeks.. That's something to look forward to. I caught up on a little paperwork and housework, and generally tried to make myself useful. The absence of dinner was irritating I think, but they all seemed to realise that I wasn't up to much, and soldiered on. Hopefully I will make a recovery soon and stop moaning.
Listened to the new Elbow album today....it all sounded rather beautiful, and I hope will provide me with a soundtrack for a relaxed, effective and efficient spring. I think I might have to do a reviews blog soon, as there are a lot of albums and books I want to talk about.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Sunday 6th March
Spent the day feeling rough as a result of my illness rather than any kind of hangover. Mrs Plug did not take advantage of the possibility of a lie in, choosing instead to get up, cook breakfast for everyone and then get on with her lesson plans for the week. I'm so proud of her efforts, and I hope for her sake (As well as ours!) that she secures a job soon. It's a tough market at the moment. I spent the afternoon drifting in and out of consciousness watching football, only to be rudely awoken by another Spurs Humdinger. However this season ends, I will remember it for a long time. 3-3 away to Wolves with three excellent goals, and a feeling that anything could happen against AC Milan in the week. In the evening I watched "I Love You Phillip Morris" with Jim Carey and Ewen McGregor. I am not sure I particularly enjoyed it, as I sat through it out of Laziness. It stopped me from getting up off of the sofa. I dislike pretty much every film that Jim Carey has been in. Nothing personal, but he just doesn't float my boat, but this wasn't half bad. I am hoping my current frame of mind is one created by tiredness and illness, rather than anything else. Apparently the Sun will shine this week, that usually helps
Saturday 5th March
For some reason I continue to think that having some wine on a Friday night is a good idea. Whilst it never affects my performance at work on a Saturday morning, I never really enjoy Saturdays properly as a result. Coupled with a bug of some sort that seems to be affecting my throat, chest and gives me achey feelings (Though it's not bad enough to be flu), I was not feeling great as we set off for our journey to Staffordshire. I needn't have worried of course, as we had a lovely time, and stayed much longer than we expected. Having no real family of my own so to speak, it was nice to spend time with my In-Laws who have always been so generous and warm towards me. I was able to switch off, admittedly with the help of some more wine, and relax for the day. Arriving home rather late, we all crashed out, and looked forward to a mini lie-in on a Sunday, which has been quite rare lately.
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Friday 4th March
We had the most excellent news today for the business. We have been accepted on to a project with the Royal Shakespeare company, and can use their logo etc on our literature. We also get to workshop with them, and hopefully perform with some of them too. Bearing in mind the fact that we have not been going for five years yet, it feels like we have come a long way. The cast seemed pretty pleased with the news as well. It has been a truly memorable week for us, and I hope the good news continues. It creates a lot of work for us, but I think we can cope. Saturday will be a busy one with a session forst thing and then a trip up the motorway to Staffordshire for Granny's 70th birthday.
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Thursday 3rd March
Well here I am sitting in an old watering hole thinking lots of happy memories and a few sad ones. Time has a way of crawling along but taking you by surprise and making you realise that things will never be the same. Just by sitting in a place or looking at a picture in a pub can bring back some memories and this place in particular. I sit here wondering what other memories might be created in this place. Probably none of any significance. We stopped going out as much as we used to. I miss it, but only because some of the people. Others just changed the atmosphere for the worse in my opinion. I have had a good day, and got another job as well. It means I have a lot of work to do and a lot to learn about Greek mythology. I will explain one day soon. Right, another pint of Eagle awaits
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Wednesday 2nd March
An interesting day today. Yet another offer of work came in, this time from a school. We don't really know what has happened but all of a sudden it would seem to be taking off. Youngest told me that I am "going places" today, it made me smile. We suspect that the new website and marketing Is having an effect but that the real clincher has been the publishing of the plays and the Equity card. It really does seem to tell people something. The summer workshop that we were asked about also seems to be happening which is very exciting and I need to get writing I think. We have also looked at the possibility of another opportunity work wise which would mean my days were taken up with working for someone else but In the same industry. I am not sure how on earth it can happen but it's worth looking at . I have been reading a book called "Salmon fishing in the Yemen" by Paul Torday. I know I am a little late reading this one , but it really Is very good and rather funny. I have also been listening to the new REM album and really ought to write a little about that as well. I watched two programmes about education tonight that made me cross in different ways. The first was Panorama which was singing the praises of using military staff in schools to instil discipline. What utter utter nonsense. I cannot for the life of me imagine why anyone with a semblance of a brain might think that this is a good idea. Only the Daily Mail generation I suppose. These are the people who seem to think that discipline issues are something new. The second programme was the Jamie Oliver programme that has taken a bunch of "celebrities" and got them to teach in their field of expertise with a bunch of kids who have had behavioural issues. The assumption of the programme that knowledge In a specific field is all you need Is flawed in the extreme. I shall continue to watch it with huge suspicion. Eldest has her competition tomorrow in Southampton. I will be thinking of her all day.
Tuesday 1st March
So two months of the year have passed and I have blogged for every day. Whether this is proving to be a worthwhile exercise or not remains to be seen., but I think I have enjoyed it so far, and it has only felt like a chore once or twice, and that is usually when I am tired or stressed. I have been reflecting a bit lately on one or two people who I have fallen out with, and whether my behaviour was in any way responsible for it. Seeing them since the incident has just reaffirmed the fact that I was absolutely right to carry on the way I did. Funny how it still affects you sometimes though. As time passes, I find them to be far more trivial and unimportant than they were perhaps a year ago. This has to be a good thing I think. The house has been in a terrible state, so I began my tidying up exercise today. I also topped up the bird feeders that we have in the garden. Mrs Plug has always loved feeding the birds, and whilst I suspect there is some weird Mary Poppins vibe going on, I think it is quite a pleasant thing to do. I have found that since becoming the house husband, that I have become slightly obsessed with it though, and we now have far more feeders than is probably normal or acceptable. I have not, even at the age of 45, really succumbed to middle age too much. I still wear clothes that are fairly OK, and only recently discovered that I am enjoying knitwear again, but that's ok isn't it? Oh dear, I think it's beginning to happen. I think something biological has genuinely;y kicked in. Knitwear and bird feeding sounds VERY middle aged now I have typed it. I must attempt to do something cool and edgy now to make up for it....but only after I have scrubbed my grouting.
Monday 28th February
A day spent largely on the phone and having visitors to discuss what went right and what went wrong during last weeks plays. I find it all a little frustrating as I want to move on with the next thing and not spend weeks contemplating my navel. However, it seems to be a tradition that cannot be broken. As ever in these situations, my work suffers as a result, and I felt under prepared for the session tonight. I needn't have worried, and all was well. The evening was spent realising I desperately needed an early night, and so I had one! Possibly the dullest blog entry ever, but that is the danger with writing every day. Perhaps every day is this dull and I am living in a dream world?
Sunday 27th February
Up early in a blur. Mrs Plug seems to kick into organising mode whenever we are off to see her family, so we were all nagged into submission, and only left the house ten minutes later than planned, which was a miracle. I was happy that I had a fully charged phone, a playlist as long as your arm, and a large mug of coffee. However I had absolutely no voice. This was perhaps a blessing for the rest of the family. It was the most frustrating experience. I couldn't even manage a whisper for the first hour. In the end I was able to converse slightly, but it made me realise how much I talk. My poor friends and family. It also took me back to younger days when I was too shy to speak, and I would sit in the corner feeling invalid and incapable of conversation. I think if nothing else it has taught me to sit a listen a bit more, though I wonder how long that will last. I had a walk on the beach with Mrs Plug's Brother and eldest Sister and their dogs, and the sea air seemed to work wonders on my voice. I love the sea. I would like to live near it for a while. We discussed this, and Mrs Plug shares this wish. I suspect that eldest does not due to her crab phobia. All in all we had a good day, but had to stop off at a fast food place on the way home, and I realised how much junk we have eaten lately. Strict diet for the next week I think. Lovely to see everyone, and as usual I leave such events vowing not to leave it so long next time. This was not hollow words, as we will be seeing them all next week.
Saturday 26th February
Waking up the day after a birthday without a hangover was a new experience for me. I had a couple of drinks after last night's show and then a glass of wine when I got in, but I was too tired to continue really and fell asleep in front of the tv. A good morning session, but worried about my voice as it seems to be disappearing at a fast rate of knots. Managed to relax a little in the afternoon, and prepare for tomorrow, as we are off to Dorset for the day. I wonder how we manage to fit it all in sometimes, and perhaps more to the point, why we fit it all in. With the amount going on business wise, I feel that sometimes we let our family and friends down. Off in the evening for the final performance, and then the get out, in which I spent most of my time up a ladder. Whilst I am not good with heights, I much prefer it to being out at front of house listening to praise, begrudging or genuine. I shall do this all the time from now on, which sounds like a cop out, and perhaps slightly arrogant, but I just hate it...so ner! All in all the shows went well I think, and tonights audience were much more noisy than Friday, but that's not to say they were better...some audiences are just more focussed on concentration.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)