Hi All
Well it's been since i did one of these. Not sure why, i use to write on here very frequently even if hardly anybody read them!
But anyways i think the biggest changes over the past year have been thus:
* Grandma passing away
* Joining a Theatre (as an actor)
* House hunting
"Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them." ~ George Eliot
My Grandma was ill on and off for the past 5 years. She was in and out of hospital but she always pulled through. But it got quite bad and she was eventually put into a home where she could get 24/7 care as she was very weak and got easily out of breath.
It was sad watching somebody i really cared about slowly waste away. It some ways it was worse having somebody suddenly taken from you but it gave me the chance to visit and spend time with her. I always thought she'd pull through but that time i knew it was literally just a matter of time.
I think in some ways it made her death easier to take. When my Grandad died in his sleep it hit me like a sledgehammer. I didn't take it well at all and, shamefully, i took to drinking very heavily for a few weeks. I did get over it but it was really hard. With my Grandma it was the opposite. I knew she was going to die so when she did pass away in some ways i was happy that she was no longer suffering like she had been for the past 5 years.
Especially when we found out that during her time in the home she had been mistreated. There were bruises over her body from where she had been "manhandled". It's something my mum and auntie tackled before and after my Grans death.
I was close to my gran and i think she is the only person in my family who properly understood me. Just little thing she would say and do just seemed to click with me. I didn't take her death hard like i said but i do really miss her.
"Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made" ~ George Burns
K, my mate who i've known since pre-school, is an actor and model and is a member of an amateur dramatics. I've seen pretty much every shoe she's been in over the past few years. One because i like the theatre (Phantom of the Opera and La Miserable are amazing!) but mainly because K would always say "it won't be the same if you don't come to see". Slight emotional blackmail but i enjoyed going and i was supporting a friend so no harm done!
Anyways i would always hang around after the show with K and the cast and over time i got to know some who where in multiple shows. K always kept on saying i should join but i just brushed it off until i got to know more people and they started saying the same thing.
So i joined and on my first audition i got 2 parts! They were small but it was for a Christmas showing (yes people do pay to come and see the shows) and the whole experience, from rehearsals all the way to the finish was a complete and utter blast! Even though it took it a whole load of my time i literally loved every second i was involved and show night was such a rush each and every time.
During show week i was on a constant high. No sooner had the show finished i wanted to go straight into the night and the next show. Of course all good things come to an end and when the final show finished it was a massive come down. But i made a load of new and great friends who i still see 4 months on and as more than one person predicted. I have firmly caught the acting bug!
I have auditioned for 2 more shows but failed to get parts (the most recent show i was kinda glad i didn't get offered a part). I badly wanted to get another show just to be involved with the theatre but i am now stage managing for a show i didn't get a part in. As before i'm glad i'm involved with the show and once again have meet new people and made yet more friends.
So if you're looking to do something socially and want to make new friends, join the closet amateur theatre and get acting!
Joining has been one of the best decisions I've ever made!
"Home is where the heart is" ~ Pliny the Elder
Well title says it all really. Have enough saved and i'm earning enough to get a house. It's taken far longer than i would of liked but i am single so trying to buy a half decent house is a very big ask.
At the moment not much has progressed but i've only recently started viewing so it's eatly days.
And that's a slightly longer than expected catch up.
Hopefully i won't leave it so long until my next entry!
Mark