Thursday, September 30, 2004

'We are sailing....We are sailing'

Am one very excited, scared + happy bunny right now!

One of the errands I had to run in Leeds was a job interview with the company mentioned in this post.

Well, it went pretty flippin' good if I do say so myself and...

I have a job - woooo, one that has something to do with my degree and utilizes skills learned at other degree related jobs (ie Pontin's!)

I am now the proud owner of the title: 2nd Technician(Sound+Light's)/DJ

On the Ship : Thomson Spirit

Which sail's around : The Canary Island's

Yeah baby - a cruise ship! The contract is for 6 month's and should be the most amazing experience. I have to do a SOLAS (Saftey of Life at Sea)Certificate course which starts the Monday after SYETE finishes and runs for a week in.....Leeds (man my life is just too d**n freaky sometimes) and then I start on the ship Decmeber 13th.

One of the only bad points about this is I'm not going to be at home for Christmas, or my Birthday, or Jo's(Sis #1)Birthday. Christmas is the major one. It'll be really hard being away, but being on the ship should be cool that day, as it's a family cruise so all the kids will be really excited :)

Monday, September 27, 2004

Get that motor runnin....

Man, I have been rather lax at updating. Probably because I've been working random hours and have been setting up a webblog for a friend of mine from church who's going to Uganda for 6 months - brave girl!

I have also just created one for my car. This is not as crazy as it seems. Whilst in the continual process of keeping my beloved Morris Minor looking snazy aswell as roadworthy I have been taking photo's to help me if I could ever have to undertake these tasks again.

Then it struck me that perhaps some other people (mainly girl's like me!) might find it useful and possibly interesting if I started a blog about Moggy maintenance. Nothing official but just the things I do, interesting Morris Minor links, stuff like that. We'll see how it goes!

At the moment I'm in the middle of respraying the wheels, the grill and all the rusty bits which I have neglected ready for the first big trip up north to see my new flat. I'm leaving after rehearsal tomorrow night, driving up to Leeds, sleeping, running lots of errands and then driving back to work in the evening. Have a feeling large amounts of coffee may be imbibed!

I'm excites to see my flat, it is my official move out of home place so the pressure's on! I'm moving in with Penny and Anna. I've known Penny for about 10 years (WTH? How old am I?) and Anna is her girlfriend. I haven't seen either of them for 2 years so it's gonna be bizarre, but good fun :)

Sunday, September 19, 2004

It's clearing!

Haha, I can almost breathe through my nose again! Still under the lurgy spell, I've now got a blocked nose and a *lovely* chesty cough but at least I feel human.

PB has been good this week. Gained some more knowledge inc: some new cocktail's, how to work the coffee machine (which involved scalding myself - but we'll gloss over that!) and how to cook the evening's food. Not bad for a week's work! Steph and Kat are supervisor's at the minute but they will be back at Uni and in Canada (respectively) in 2 weeks so I will be left with loads of day shifts - almost like a real job. The only down side is that I get caught in the seemingly endless traffic coming out if Birmingham but hey, you can't have everything!

Rehearsal's for SYETE are going pretty well. It felt weird when I went to my first one 2 weeks ago. But they were all having a laugh (especially Adam - playing Sir Justin Holbrook, the guy who's hired me - who was behaving very oddly!) and it helped me relax.

I'm finding it quite tricky to be elegant and sexy, there are times when I wonder why my character is on stage at all - as Joy (Lady Holbrook) said "I have acres of nothing", but on the whole it's cool. They went into great discussion in the pub about what I'm wearing. The high heels, stockings and suspenders go without saying, but the decision is split between:

a slinky slit cocktail dress OR a short skirt and top,

answers on a postcard please! As Ted (The Director) pointed out, they've never seen my legs so they don't know which to suggest. So I guess muggins here will have to wear my short skirt to 'help' them decide! This is quite a bizarre experience - they've known me since I was 15!

I felt awful on Wednesday night so I wasn't exactly at my best. My character keeps getting caught up in all the action but basically just wants to go home and go to bed - I could totally sympathise with her that night!

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

*Whimper*

I've got a cold - again!

This one snuck up on me though. I was sat in rehearsal last night when at about 9pm I got the 'pre-cold tingle' in my throat.

This usually gives me about 12 hours warning - enough time to down a load of hot drinks, vitamin C - and if possible some cold capsule's - and head it off before it gets it's grimy hands on my sinus system.

This one however had other plans.

Went to the pub after rehearsal's started to feel rough and then when I got home - about 11:30pm my nose started running and I was in full "feel like poo" mode. I mean, just what the heck is that about? I know there's no cure for The Common Cold TM but come on, at least it could stick to the plan!

Friday, September 10, 2004

Wil Wheaton saved my Sanity!

You may remember this enthsiastic post about me buying the book I've been looking forward to all summer - "Just A Geek"

Well, I did indeed spend 11 hours in Newark airport most of which passed very quickly thanks to this well written piece of literature.

I started reading it at about 11:30pm, positioned on a seat facing the runway with my legs draped over my luggage in an effort to stop them being pinched/taken away by security..... It had been a long day....OK?

On the surface it appears to be a book about how Wil Wheaton came about writing a book. But it is made so much more than that because of the soul searching and honesty that goes into it. I am a fan of Wil's blog, I've read it for almost 2 years now, so the way he intergrates what he posted with actually how he felt at the time was interesting.

He is blatantly honest about the times when he was trying to come across as 'the guy who's cool with all the crap being thrown at him' when actually it was making him mad and what he wanted to do was rant and rave. It's very reassuring to see how he finally brought that honesty onto his webblog and how people responded to it in a mostly positive way. The 'honesty' factor is something that many people with webblog's (including myself) wrestle with, thus making his struggles with it relatable.

His story telling style is great. Whether it's about his experience on the Star Trek: Nemesis set and all the emotions that brought out, or his audition experiences, he makes you feel involved and present; so much you can almost smell the atmosphere.

His experiences are pretty unique but the emotion's and 'demon's' he has had to deal with are common to most people in some way or other. This is what makes this book so readable and fascinating.

I had one break in the middle of reading it - my eye's were hurting so I sat and watched some Fed-Ex planes take-off to unknown destination's and got a coffee, then I started again and read right through - even the appendices. I was just finishing as the sun started to rise (no, honestly!)and it seemed like a very fitting ending.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who keeps a webblog, who is anywhere around Wil's age, and anyone who enjoy's a good honest read.

Talk about long memory...

If you read the small paragraph at the top of my side bar you will find it says "happenings of my bizarre life"

Here is a case in point.

I get back from America - I am in a play, I have a job at PB and all is rosy for a while. As soon as I get back (a week ago) I start looking for work with YTV for after the play. I have done 3 work placements with them (mainly on 'Heartbeat') so I feel this is a do-able option.

2 days after my initial phone call one of my best friends - Penny - rings me out of the blue to see how I am etc, and mentions that she is having to find a flat in Leeds with her girlfriend. "Well, what a coincidence" says I, "I may have to move up there soon". So the flat hunt begins.

Yesterday - 5 days after that phone call, the flat is pretty much signed for and arranged and YTV have my CV.

This morning I was just pondering phoning them again to see how the land is lying when my mobile rang (actually this was about 5 mins ago!). I answered and it was PEEL, a company I interviewed for 2 years ago. They supply entertainment crew on Cruise ships - something I've always fancied having a go at. They were ringing to see if I was a) still interested, b) available and c) able to go for an interview in...Get this...Leeds! in a couple of weeks.

Well, now I'm in a quandary... They asked me to send them my CV - so I shall. But I don't know what to do about the whole flat situation and getting a job at YTV - arggghhh. Penny and Anna are signing for the flat - so when I move I'll be helping them pay the rent, bills, etc and the whole job situation with YTV could go either way. Hmmmmmmmm........

Saturday, September 04, 2004

I'm baaaackkk

Well, the travels are over.

Right now I have a strange feeling of being suspended above my own existence - it always happens when I get back. I feel really odd for about a week; however this time I'm having to dive sraight into work and rehearsals - so feeling the pressure a bit!

I've met up with Clare + Brett and with Son already so I feel more at home. Man - the kids have grown so much! It was so cool to see them all - weird, but cool. And the weather here is being helpful - all sunny, hot but fresh, helps with the old hormone and emotion quota!

My DVD player has almost turned it's little toes up - I've never cleaned however, so I've been to buy a kit for it - it better wok, I just did the 'thing' to make it multi region last night - and I want to watch my NEW Dick Van Dyke Show DVD's on my TV instead of my laptop with all the background noise!

Yes, I am now indeed the proud owner of the first season/series (still reverting to my native tongue!) of this Fabulous show! It is so well written, really good chemistry between the cast and *nice* to watch. They don't show it over here (like they do Bewitched) so I've seen it on "TVLand" in the states. Just before I left Michigan I saw it on sale and checked to see if it was avaliable at home.

It's not, they don't even have a region 2 version! So I per-chased it and have now seen the whole thing - brilliant, also has some commentaries etc - a gag reel would be a good addition but it's cool as it is!

For my photo's of the whole summer then check the 'Snaps, Piccie's and photo's' button on the side bar.