Masters

To study, or not to study? I found out about this brilliant sounding Masters of Creative Writing, Editing and Publishing at Melbourne Uni on the weekend and got uber excited about applying. Only thing is, I'M ALREADY DOING A MASTERS AND WHHHHYYYYY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO ADD MORE WORK TO THEIR LIFE? My current Masters is pretty much a librarianship and is quite boring at times. Working in editing and publishing sounds a lot more fun. But it would be a two year full time course, on campus. Whereas my current course is two years part time and off campus. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. Sigh. Well, there is one thing I could do, and that is stop thinking about it. Yay!! So here's more stuff that's happening in my life that is fun. I'm earning a bit of money (always good) and I've been on a massive Jane Austen bender over the last few weeks. I'm looking forward to someone doing Pride and Prejudice (provided I get cast as a Bennett sister), so all you amateur theatre companies in Melbourne - get on it! I've also been reading the Peter and the Starcatchers series which is quite cute and enjoyable. It doesn't hold a candle to the original, but it isn't trying to, and that endears it further to me. I have finished Offspring, getting through True Blood s05 and about to start Breaking Bad s05. Lots to fill up my time. Should I study? Probably. But what??? SIGH.

If you want something done, ask a busy person.

Tis been quite a while since my last entry and in that time I have continued to write up a storm. I start my Masters again in about 9 days after a good 8 months of time off. I am looking forward to getting back into it because it will hopefully feel like I am DOING something with my life, but am also quite concerned about its tendency to chew up all my free time. So I am writing crazily, trying to get a second full manuscript complete. That way I will have two full first drafts languishing in my drawer, waiting for my next opportunity to edit them. I have also been squashing all the episodes of Offspring and The Borgias into my viewing schedule and am nearly finished, again, just in time for Masters. And I've been back to work! Am working at two jobs that I used to have, before Borders even, and am liking them just fine :) It's good to have a little bit more of a routine, though it does chop out a lot of writing time. I have been to the rheumatologist after about 7 weeks on cortisone (in which I have gained a lot of weight...not happy) and she is now slowly weaning me off it to see if my joints can take it. Cross all appendages for me please! I have made a decent dent in my bookcase, trying to get through a sizeable amount of books I own but haven't read, and have made some nice discoveries in the process. Currently reading the latest Dexter novel and it is suitable witty and gruesome. About to start on the Fables graphic novels, courtesy of my best mate. Also doing a variety show with a bunch of awesome peeps, and trying to fit as much decent sleep into my schedule as life permits. Adios until next time folks!!

One down...

So yesterday I actually finished a first draft of my novel. One small keystroke for me, one giant manuscript for my burgeoning career. I've organised my bookcase so I have all the books I haven't read grouped together, and I think I will tackle 'Floundering' by Romy Ash next. I'm excited about this because a) Romy Ash is Australian, b) 'Floundering is a debut novel and c) everyone is loving the crap out of it, so I'm guessing it's going to be great. I also just recently finished 'How I Live Now' by Meg Rosoff which blew my mind to pieces and I am so ashamed I didn't read it sooner. Now to read everything else she has written. Amazing book. In the meantime I have been watching 'Game of Thrones' and whittling my resumé and cover letter into streamlined and (hopefully) more efficient versions of their former selves. There is a truly amazing looking job I have my eye on, so fingers crossed for me please! Last weekend I went to see 'The Way', a film by Emilio Estevez with some friends from my church. The film was a great little outing, all about a walk across northern Spain called the Camino de Santiago. It has now been added to my list of stuff to do on my worldwide travels. I'm planning a trip to Japan in April with my Dad to see the cherry blossoms in Kyoto, and this is helping with my cabin fever and the itch to get back overseas. Until next time! xx

Chello!

Who has two thumbs and 46,000 words on their first draft? Me! *points to self with two thumbs* Over the last few weeks I have managed to stick (95% of the time) to the 2000 word limit a day I have set myself. Some days it is easy, some days it feels like pulling teeth with no anesthetic, but I DO IT ANYWAY. CHYEAH. I have also been back to the rheumatologist and although we still don't quite know what's up with my arthritis, the cortisone is working as an excellent painkiller and I have been given the green light to find work...soooooo if anyone out in the blogosphere wants to give me a job, hit me up :) Looking for a job is one of the most soul-crushingly depressing processes, so I am hoping it ain't too painful this time, but I need money. Working in a library has been a dream of mine for a while now, and it's the kind of place that could allow me to keep writing on the side... One day. One day.

Also, first rehearsal for a new show last night - the first in a year for me, and it was so much fun. Helped with the cabin fever too! Oh and I have new bookshelves. It looks like there is a library in the corner of my bedroom. It's amazing. Oh and a new phone! Well, a lovely second hand one that used to belong to the lovely Sean, but its heaps of fun to play with. In the meantime I have been watching Community and going to a couple of events for the Emerging Writer's Festival.

Yes. Life is good :)

Boredom and it's results

Some of you may know, that since I have been home I have been largely housebound due to the pain in my legs. I'm seeing a rheumatologist tomorrow, but my GP thinks it is probably inflammatory arthritis. This has meant I haven't been able to get out or do much without the assistance of other people. I have incredibly generous family and friends and a lovely boyfriend who have all helped me heaps, but I still have a lot of time to myself. I can't begin a job search until I have worked out how much mobility is too much etc. and I'll need the doctor's help for that. I have watched A LOT of television and films. What I SHOULD be doing, is writing. Using the time I have to write stuff I would usually never have time to do. But I'm lazy and self-pitying and its much easier to lie there and mindlessly absorb whatever is on the screen. So I think, after today, I will make myself a deal. 500 words of writing, then an episode of 'House'. And we'll see how far I can get by the end of the month. That's when the Emerging Writer's Festival comes to Melbourne and I'd like to have a substantial lot of this particular idea on paper. Wish me luck!

All good things...

Mayhaps, dear reader, this shall be the final blog entry of my overseas adventure. I am sitting in a hotel near Feltham station, very close to Heathrow Airport. I have just had my first shower in nearly 60 hours and am feeling fresh as a daisy, and Sean is out gallivanting with Will for a final hurrah. It feels really, really odd to know that this time tomorrow we will have been flying for a few hours, and even weirder to know that a few hours after that, we will be home. I have missed Melbourne and all my friends and family back there, but I will miss the UK/Europe dearly as well. Some of the most memorable moments of my life have occurred in the last 14 weeks and I have been stunned and amazed by the people I have met and the experiences I have had. Meeting up with friends and family was a great way to break the trip up and, injuries aside, I wouldn't change a moment of our itinerary. I am literally down to about 3 pounds (I may weasel some breakfast money from Sean tomorrow) and have chucked a whole bunch of clothes/toiletries that I don't need clogging up my suitcase on the way home. Today was busy, but in a good way, beginning with actually chatting to the girls in our dorm and finding out they were actually really nice, then meeting Will at The Globe so I could do a quick, final shop, before having some drinks and talking about everything Shakespeare. We made our way to the hotel with no trouble and right now I am luxuriating in a comfy bed, a clean, private bathroom and our own space before we are herded into economy class tomorrow (fingers crossed for decent seats. I plan to use the crutches to elicit sympathy). Thankyou everyone for all your support and good wishes and joy in our experiences through Facebook, Skype, this blog and everything else we have managed. I shall see ya'll shortly!

Matilda!!!

Okay, so last night we went out to a really delicious Indian restaurant for dinner and then decided (after a brief pub stop) that we wanted to see a movie. The only movie we seemed to agree on was The Hunger Games, so we headed to Camden. We stopped at The Cultured Cow for some tastily hipster frozen yoghurt, and witnessed a bag-snatch. So uncool. I felt really bad for the customer, it had just been sitting on her table right next to her arm, but the guy was so quick. Ugh. Anyway, The Hunger Games turned out to be better than Sean and I expected (possibly because as we were entering, a guy came out complaining loudly to his girlfriend 'That was TWILIGHT! I just watched bloody TWILIGHT!'). We were back at the hostel just after 12 and our roommates, who we have not met, were already asleep, and got rather snippy when we woke them. Might I point out, we were not bashing around the room like elephants, we were tiptoeing and kept the lights off in order to be respectful. Geez Louise. Anyway, they got up and left for the day at, I kid you not, 3.30 in the morning. And both Sean and I managed to keep our mouths shut when they woke us. Sigh.

Anyway, today we got up and found a hotel near Heathrow to spend the last night of our trip in. We are both too tired to put up with being uncomfortable the night before we get on a plane, so hopefully this means a god night's sleep and a decent shower. Yay! Then we headed to Covent Garden to see Matilda. My goodness. I don't know if I have ever seen a better show. First of all, I love the book, and I think Roald Dahl was a sort of genius. And all my favourite bits of the novel were included! Tim Minchin is also a sort of genius, and this is reflected in the amazing soundtrack. But it was the kids who completely won me over. Not just Matilda, though she was obviously the standout, but Lavender and Bruce and little Eric, and all the other children were so full of energy and character and when Amanda Thripp got thrown by her pigtails I thought I would die of laughter. And then there were the adult performers. First of all, the extremely funny Michael Wormwood was played by the same actor I saw four years ago on the West End in the Lord of the Rings musical. He played Samwise Gamgee and it was BIZARRE to see him as this tv-obsessed dumbo who couldn't string a sentence together. Mama and Papa Wormwood were wonderful - extremely funny and ridiculous and completely owning every second of it. And they were so rude to poor little Matilda, but they didn't hold back and neither did she. Miss Honey was suitably gentle and sweet, with a perfect voice and a really lovely stage presence, but, perhaps obviously, Miss Trunchbull was the best. Played by a dude, but he didn't play it as a joke 'drag' routine. He just played her as a complete sadist, with a very quiet, dangerous voice, very true to the book. Absolute WINNER of a costume too :) The script included many of my favourite Dahl-ian insults and a couple of extra characters thrown in that really added to the stage version. I would recommend this to everyone, whether you are a theatre fan or not. You will laugh (oh, you will laugh) and you may even shed a tear, as I may or may not have. Oh, and the set involved hundreds of books and alphabet letters. So. Awesome. Anyway, still buzzing off the feeling of Matilda, we went to Masala Zone for our second curry in two days and had a great dinner. Now we're back at the hostel. 2 more sleeps til we hop on the plane!!