Bernards watch !

Wednesday 21st April -I really wish I had Bernard's watch and could stop time ! It is just flying past so quickly which may be lovely for some but I have so much work to do , I could do with an extra few hours okay days ! Yesterday I went to a meeting with heritage for health which was interesting as they are clearly still trying to find their feet. On the plus side they were positive about the event and keen to get involved! After the meeting I went with Zoe to choose fabric for our T-shirts , which I am sure will be amazing! After a brief stint doing some work I went to the Oval theatre to rehearse for ' When women wee ' the play is taking great shape and we are doing a lot of impro and hot seating with the actresses , so I am constantly thinking of new scenarios for them to try out which at the moment is hard when my head is filled with so much other stuff that is going on !
Thursday 22nd April- Myself and Ben wanted to talk to the whole group about our ideas for the story so we decided to run a workshop with the main aim being , fun! I felt that because we are all so busy that we have stopped having fun , so we played grandma's footsteps, honey I love you and then my favourite bit was to make everyone act like an animal ! I really enjoyed this session as did others as we just laughed and had a good time!
Its Sunday its 7.30 am where am I ? not in bed that's for sure! Grey court car boot sale for my sins! Myself , Mark , Siobhan and Megan set up our very own car boot sale challenge ! It started off wonderfully until we had a slight run in with mother nature who decided that after a beautiful sunny week now was the time for the heavens to open! As always I was NOT dressed weather appropriate so I had to buy a umbrella as we all tried to seek shelter under marks car boto roof ! It was decided that we would go inside and set up a stall there , leaving mark to brave the weather all in the name of Ham House 400th birthday ! I myself always seemed to find reasons to stay inside , not because it was warm or had a radiator! Car boots sales are like nothing on earth ! the people there go crazy for it , trying their best to haggle anything and everything and when a new stall opens they sweep in trying to be the first to get a bargain! We made around £70 and still have plenty of stuff left over to sell at another one on the 23rd May . Thanks to everyone who came and helped it was actually really fun! and well done to everyone who did the activities at Ham House on Saturday! Oh and thanks to Mark Griiiifiiinnnn who cooked us a lovely lunch after the slog of the car booty !

Well haven't I been terrible with blogging! My apologises but its been a rather intense few weeks and is about to get worse ! My dissertation is slowly coming along which is as always the bane of my life ! But it did get put aside briefly last week while i stressed about my Shakespeare performance ! I was rather nervous as I was playing a serious character not someone that messes around on stage ( basically me). Despite my initial negative reaction the performance went well and shock horror , I actually enjoyed it ! I played the character of Beatrice and I loved her and I believe she has some feminist tendencies so I was sold right away! After a long gruelling day of Mr William Shakespeare myself and my fellow D.I.C crew jetted off to Ham to invade peoples letterboxes ! We had over 2,000 leaflets to give out and managed to run out , so well done guys ! It was great to be back in the Ham community and naturally we met at one of the local pubs ! After we had finished in Ham I headed Home to watch the first debate and feel sorry for myself as I felt rather peaky and the brandy I had in the pub for medicinal purposes of course, didn't seem to be working !
Now Saturday was Simmstock and what a day that was ! Claudia if your reading this, yes I saw you with that camera filming me dancing away ! I do hope that never reaches the light of day ! Simmstock was a great day , especially the Motown band who were just brilliant ! It was lovely to be in the sunshine and not think of the pile of work that was at home waiting for me !
Now back to what I am actually meant to be chatting about - Ham House ! I met up with the wonderful Mr Abbott over Easter to write a story for the parade , it took us six hours to write but we were both extremely proud of the outcome , especially with all the rhyming and silly jokes. The story tells the tale of how birthdays were stolen by an evil eagle but was found again with a moral message of good overcoming evil of course ! Myself and Ben read the story out to the class who loved it to our relief because we were a bit worried that only we found it funny!
Yesterday was Monday which meant it was meeting time and we got rather a lot done yesterday. Its important that we now start going into schools and other groups instead of just talking about the logistics! The design team are doing an excellent job of creating the characters from the story and bringing them to life , they have got great plans for Saturday 22nd May , which will a mass creative day with anyone from the community that wishes to help.
You know it really is no rest for the wicked , as after the meeting I had a rehersal with Sharmilla for her own community piece. She is directing a piece of reminescence theatre compiled of the memories she has got from some very kind people in a home. I am really enjoying the work its great to be devising and just trying something new ! Its also great to be working with people from other years and of course Frank , Zoe and not forgetting princess Sharmilla ! Back to the disseratation!

shaking all over !

Well its been quite a week for d.i.c we had Mexican night this week which was great fun but also stressful too! Me and Jade started at 10 am on Wednesday and rallied round the troops to begin decorating the S.U! Everyone really mucked in and even those who couldn't attend in the day were off running errands in Kingston. The design team did a great job and the placed looked awesome , it was red , white and green as far as the eye could see ! We had flags, bunting , the whole shebang and of course the best decoration the palm trees! Now with the theme being Mexican spring break most of the other girls wore pretty dresses with flowers in their hair , I however did not ! I had to be awkward and dress as a fajita , how I hear you cry well quite easy actually ! I had a sheet wrapped round me with peppers stuffed around my neck and chest and a headdress with chilli's. I loved my costume although by the end of the night I had no peppers left ! We had minor mishap with the music but it was soon resolved thanks to the invention of the ipod ! I couldn't lend mine as it isn't exactly S.U/ disco friendly! But alas it all worked out in the end and after paying security we made a profit. However it was no rest for the wicked for myself and jade as we had a meeting the next day with the council about funding, complete with jade feeling rough and me still with super glue in my hair from the pepper headdress! We did not get the funding but we did get interest from a member of the council which we are following up this week! So all in all a great week for fundraising and the rest of Ham House project.
I went to see ' Shape of clouds ' which was a devised physical theatre piece and I was very impressed ! It was great to see the company put together such a successful show as I know how hard they had been working towards it. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and am extremely proud of them and it was great to see all years represented in the piece.
It was a big day for me on Saturday , it was my final lesson of comedy school and my first stand up gig , I was petrified ! Literally throughout the day I would have minor stress outs think " what on earth am I doing " but it was all worth it in the end. When we got to the venue I was shaking my nerves were just all over the show ! Performing stand up is so different than acting because you don't play a character you are just yourself ! At the side of the stage I was a nervous wreck but once I got on stage the nerves just melted away and I loved every second ! It felt amazing to be up there and when people actually laugh ( not out of pity ) its actually phenomenal ! I just can't put into words how much I enjoyed it and how grateful I am for those that came to support me ! And especially to Mark who heard a few rude bits about me he could of lived without knowing ! After my piece I was walking on air and because I was third it was great to sit back and enjoy the other performances and watch everyone shine ! My time at comedy school was excellent , some days I hated it but this only made me push myself further. And the next day in true student style I went to the church( the club) to carry on my celebration! Things are so hectic at the moment with all my work and 'when women wee' a new project I am involved in , so as always I am off to do my dissertation !

mumps !

So I am back in business after been struck down with mumps for a week , which was not fun! Everyone laughed at me when I said I may have mumps some even suggested that I was being dramatic ! well I showed them and also I secretly licked them haha! So while I was out with a huge face bearing a startling resemblance to a Muppet/ Quasimodo I made a facebook group to get the Mexican night started which everyone has to attend and tell as many people as possible !We love to talk and witter on in our meetings don't we ? the Elvis song springs to mind ♪ a little less conversation a little more action ♪ I just want to get on with it and actually start enjoying the project which may sound a wee bit negative but at the moment I don't think people are finding it fun and we need too . I personally think we should all get together in Ham and have a drink , we could all just relax and enjoy ourselves! The project itself is going well we just need to get into schools and centres and get doing ! But its going to be great and a day we will never forget !

It has been too long !

I don't know what happened to me, I used to be an avid blogger but I have been rather rubbish lately but I am attempting to change that! Well its been a rather busy few weeks with the ' Ham House' project and my uni work but i can say that i am feeling a lot more confident about things than before. The fundraising part is going well still applying for applications and learning with every step ! The prospect of fundraising is rather daunting but also enjoyable too and a valid skill I can use post uni. I have been contacting the local political parties and asking them to GET INVOLVED ! along with other religious groups so fingers crossed they all want to be involved. I would love it if we had a diversity of faiths in the procession it would be an amazing way of uniting the whole community.
I am attempting to write my dissertation everyday of my life but seem to have writers block which is ironic since I can blog for days ! My dissertation subject is women in theatre which I love because I get to research all these amazing women who had a profound affect on theatre today. Its just fabulous to see how far women have come in theatre and how many talented women performers and practitioners there are.
Every Sunday I venture to Camden to attend comedy school were we are being guided in the art of stand up comedy. I don't think I have ever been so scared in my whole life ! people were chosen at random to get up and tell an embarrassing story I was dreading my name being called and felt physically sick ! for one where would I start I mean I manage to fall over at least once a day and I seem to be drawn to embarrassing situations like a moth to a flame ! Luckily my name wasn't called on Sunday but I have a feeling this week could be my week! Although I am slightly petrified i am enjoying it and it is not as easy as going on stage and telling a few jokes, which is good for me because i can't tell a joke to save my life ! A lot of planning and hard work goes into creating a stand up routine and we are encouraged to keep an ideas notebook , which I already do !
On Saturday I treated myself to a night at the theatre and went to see " Really old like forty-five" at the national. The play explored how Alzheimer's effects a person and their family and dealt with the issue of euthanasia in pill form. While I liked the initial ideas , I didn't really enjoy the performance. They had a robotic nurse dealing with the patients in the hospital, yes it was funny at first but i felt she ruined tender and poignant moments with unnecessary laughter.The nurses physicality's however were brilliant and believable as a robot and she did an excellent job. I felt the play lacked depth and that instead of just touching the surface on several issues i thought it would of been better if it just explored one. However it did get me thinking about getting older and how society has such a problem with growing old! Getting old is a part of life yet some people go to extreme lengths to try and defy mother nature. I think personally the media has a lot to answer for as we are constantly bombarded with images of what " beautiful " is with the beauty always being focused on the young.
I went to see 'off the endz' at the Royal court on Tuesday and after hearing some negative comments I was pleasantly surprised. I was sat up in the gods but for £6 I didn't mind ! I do think the plays characters at times were very stereotypical and it dragged at bit in parts but the majority of the performance I enjoyed. I was impressed with the young actors acting and how they handled the material.
Enough blogging for now , I must return to doing my dissertation on a Saturday night , living the dream guys , living the dream!

Busy bee!

Its been quite a week ! Monday I did some filming to help out my dear friend Rachel for her t.v project which was set at the soap awards! I had to dress up smart and present an award and sit around drinking imaginary champagne. When I wasn't drinking imaginary champagne I was trying to get the hang of how fundraising works. Myself and Jade have been busy looking into and applying for grants for the summer project at Ham House. Its not the easiest task I must admit but it is a great learning curve and important skill I will no doubt need in the future. The project is really coming together and everyone is doing brilliantly at their jobs, its great to see everyone taking on such responsibility and really working hard. We had a good meeting on Thursday and mark gave us that much needed push to move beyond the planning stages and start getting in contact with people. After the meeting myself , mark , Zoe and Carolina headed to Ham to begin making connections with the community we of course went to the pub , which will more thank likely be our club house when in Ham!
Me and Jade are currently trying to organise a fundraising event at the s.u which will hopefully be Mexican themed ( thanks Carolina) so we setting up a meeting with Ben next week to put our plan into action. Jade and I have spent all afternoon tucked away in the office applying for grants so fingers crossed they get back to us soon! I also have been trying to get in contact with religious groups but no such look yet but I will try again next week.

Times are they really a changing?

While browsing the guardian website on Sunday I came across an article that really made my blood boil! The article was exposing a new book out next week called 'Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr Good Enough' With a title like that it sounds like a best seller but not for the right reasons ! The article looks at the authors belief that women shouldn't look for a man they feel a deep connection with , instead settle because other wise they will end up lonely ! The author then blames feminism for women believing they can have it all !" It is not just feminism that has betrayed women by telling them they could have it all, said Gottlieb: every book, film and television show that perpetuates the myth of combining romantic love with a happy-ever-after ending – from Jane Austen to Friends – has done women a great and dangerous disservice." For one how does feminism and the later statement go hand in hand? Her comment about friends I admit is somewhat relevant ,but we have to look at the before hand where did the idea for the happy ending come from and why always is it the women looking for the perfect man ? I know , I know its in our nature to have children and pair off but why ? there is nothing wrong with not having children and its cruel how women who choose not to have children are looked down upon in society !

OK , so I am ranting but I feel blogging is a good place to let the emotion out ! But unfortunately I haven't finished. The earthquake in haiti is a terrible disaster with so many dead and so many peoples lives ruined , it really makes you take stock of how lucky we are and makes you think how can I help... well you would think! But the politician Nick Griffin has other ideas ,Griffin said, "Sending aid to rioting ingrates while our own people die is stinking elite hypocrisy." This is utterly disgraceful , calling someone ungrateful and riotous when these peoples society has collapsed around them is utterly disgraceful! So I write this comment to urge people to vote other wise the B.M.P will win more seats, not enough people our age vote , we are luckily enough to have the right to vote so please use it wisely because every vote matters!

Right OK so back on to drama ! Its so scary to think that this is my last semester at st.Marys , where does the time go?! So its been rather busy lately trying to organise the Ham House project in the summer and delegating jobs. My Job is in fundraising which I am looking forward too and have already started emailing people and finding out about grants. We are thinking of holding a night in the s.u which I am keen to make an event rather than a social. The Project itself is really taking shape with its numerous choirs which will help create a real sense of community on the day. Zoe's procession idea has gone down a treat and its been decided that it will start at Ham common with everyone then walking to the house. Its going to be quite a day and I am keen to get the other years involved so we can have our own st.Marys community there too!