Songs of Innocence and Experience

The One Act Play Festival is now over. No more rehearsals, no more scripts, no more 'Fuck, line?' ... it's a bitter-sweet feeling really. It was great fun though. A very interesting character and a difficult one too, as all the judges pointed out, but they said that I managed to really pull it off and I gave a good performance. My downfall was that I'm "too generous with the stage". Apparently I don't take enough of the spotlight when I can and let my fellow cast members shine. I also need to work on 'cheating' dialogues by facing forward even when speaking to the person next to me, because otherwise I'm constantly in profile. So, all in all, I got some good tips and great words of advice and encouragement.

Tomorrow I have my first Economics lesson! Today I went and bought two pencils and three pens (a blue, a red and a green). I love stationery! :) I still had stationery left over from last year, still in my pencil case (well make up case from Body Shop that I bought to use as a pencil case cos it's pretty) so I've prepared that and my notebook, with the frame of mind that everything is going to be really neat and tidy... come December, that might change! But you have to start off with a positive attitude.

After my lesson I have an end-of-summer pool party/BBQ - I have to take the sausages.

I start 'A' Level lessons next week!

Tuesday and Friday - Economics, and Monday and Thursday - Accounts (only next Monday I don't have a lesson). How weird to be in a class with just a few people and actually be learning a completely new topic! Well, that's how Accounts will be because it's a private tutor. For Economics I'm taking a government evening course so I assume the group will be bigger.

I called St. Martin's Institute to see about their courses... they cost Lm250!! I was flabbergasted!

This method should hopefully work and then a friend of mine is going to give me extra tuition on both subjects which will help considering that I have no background in either of the subjects! A couple of private lessons tutors refused me because I don't have the 'O' Level though I suppose I can understand that because I might have held the class back but this guy that I found seemed to deal with beginners like me who don't want to do the 'O' Level and then have to do the 'A' Level.

I suppose the difference this time around is that it's a personal choice and I don't have the pressure of 'if you don't pass you won't go to Uni'!

Hah! And there I was thinking that once the One Acts are over I'd have time to myself! No rest for the wicked.

First show is tomorrow, and, I've got a cold!!

Pfft.

At least judging is on Saturday so hopefully it will get better not worse.

I had a terrible migraine last night! It started out as a slight headache in the afternoon, got worse with the stage lights, then subsided slightly and once I got home it exploded into the feeling of a very persistent jackhammer trying to get through my skull. It was quite agonizing; even sending a text message was painful! In fact I cancelled my plans and finally managed to sleep by 10. Had some weird weird dreams, and this morning I actually still woke up with a trace of a headache! I took two Panadols and it seems to have gone now. I can actually sit at my computer and not feel any form of tension building up.

I hope the rest of the day will be pain-free.

I had such a hectic Monday morning! Before I knew it, it was 14:00 and I still hadn't had lunch, so by 14:20 I made it a point to just get up from my desk and walk out! But I'm really enjoying work and there's a lot of stuff to do so I often have to Snooze some Outlook reminders to the next day because I just can't fit everything into one day. Thankfully there are tasks that you can do this with. I suppose Mondays are always a bit hectic though because there are always a few more e-mails and a few more requests and stuff. But now I'm ordering stationary so I'm getting my coloured felt-tip pens... then I'll be happ(y)ier :) hehe. I love stationary. I've already sorted through the mess that was the stationary cupboard and made half the things mine! And in the process I found items that I was going to order and now don't need to, so I am actually saving money! ;)

Rehearsals are going well. Definitely understanding the character more. We read-through and analyzed the second half of the play today and there were very few interruptions because we're both in-tune with the way that our characters would speak and pause, tone inflections, sighs, etc. Less than three weeks to go now!

Matt has invited me to Frankfurt again so I'm debating whether I can go again in December. I probably could because I could save and I should be able to take leave by that time. I wasn't chosen for Panto so I won't have that commitment either. I'm really longing to go abroad again and although it's nice to go to different places, when finances are tight you just accept any offer graciously and with much gratitude! Besides Frankfurt is a great city and I loved it last time round.

I'm surviving on the fact that time moves and I cannot stop it so must therefore just go along with it.

I only arrived home 15 minutes ago (23:35) and have been out since 09:00 this morning. Work, followed by work, followed by rehearsals... it's tiring! And tomorrow I've got rehearsals straight after work again but at least we should be done by 21:00. This weekend is definitely a much-needed one!

I've got a September full of this so I might end up a blubbering wreck, but hopefully no. October will hopefully be slightly better but I somehow managed to book myself into Economics lessons twice a week!

Although I'm complaining I'm really looking forward to performing our play because at each rehearsal I get more comfortable with my movements and, sort of, my lines. I'm terrible at learning lines. They're there somewhere in my head but they don't always remain in their place and come when called!

Now I'm ready to sleep; wow, I'm still going to get 8 full hours, I just hope that I don't dream unpleasant dreams as has been happening recently. Not nightmares, just not nice thoughts!

And if you're into musicals then I suggest going to see Wicked... see why.

And the weekend is over. Now that I'm working, I'm starting to appreciate them again!

Friday night I stayed in because I was tired; tried watching that Woody Allen film and fell asleep after about 30 minutes. Had work on Saturday morning and then tried watching the film again in the afternoon, fell asleep again, so I gave up on knowing the ending (I'm really not bothered). Had work at SJCav which was great cos there was With Friends Like These on so there were lots of people that I knew. After my shift ended and the show ended we all went to Inspirations and sat there for a while, then I went to listen to the concert from near the Upper Barakka because I couldn't be asked to move the car to go to the Waterfront; really doubt that there would've been parking anyway. The atmosphere looked great down there but it was nice just to listen to them. And this evening I actually went to watch With Friends Like These and I really enjoyed it. It was a lovely show with some great songs!

And it's back to work tomorrow. But I have a pool party this week to look forward to and then as from next week it's full speed ahead with rehearsals for the One Acts!

Woody Allen films always make me sleep

Half the island had no power this afternoon meaning that we had no computers, no AC, no lights, and at the office no telephones. So we were sent home early (yay). Once I got home I continued reading my whodunnit book (one chapter to go) but it was so hot that I just conked out for about 2-3 hours! My plan was to finish the book and then start studying my script cos tonight we have our first read-thru and we should have started to learn some lines. I know the last line of the play and that my character's name is Ros. That's as far as it goes. Thankfully power came back (hence the update) and fans are back on. But I think I'll clear up my room before attempting any script reading. It requires less brain usage and brain is on semi-shutdown at the moment.