Once upon a time there were 4 people in a room. Jenny was on the phone, Jean was doing a charcoaly thing, Margaret was sitting on a chair and Lorna was sat writing this. Now Jenny’s talking to Dave about the dog, Millie. Now she’s yawning.  Now Jenny’s talking about Dave’s weird singing habits.
Innuendo tiiiimeez.

Jean can’t be arsed, “Fuck it”, she said.

Greg’s sat talking. He pauses, then carries on. Jenny’s stood behind him drawing . Margaret says Greg talks too much. Now Jenny’s abandoned her drawing to look at what i’m typing. She laughs and smiles and says “Ha, potatoes!”

Jenny grins.

Jean wonders where Vicky is with her sammich.

Greg is still talking. Talking. Talking. Talking some more. Jean criticises her charcoaly thing. Vicky and Rachel come back with Jean’s sammich and a Ribena.

Rachel is reading what i’ve typed thus far out loud to the rest f the group. Jean shares her sammich.

Greg has stopped talking. The room creaks with silence.

Group laugh.

Jenny forces Jean to fart, but fails to succeed.  

Group laugh again.

The group pity Olivia for being talked at so long by Greg. Kelly looks bored, she almost falls over her bag. Kelly sits back down. Greg carries a box in and drops it on the floor and talks about the contents of the box to Willow.

Rachel and Vicky say their goodbyes and leave.

And then they woke up, and then they died.

Really don’t wanna leave the house today. I said today was gonna be bad and this prophecy’s already coming true. I hate myself quite a lot right now, but also the vision in mainly my left eye has gone all weird so thats a bit worrying. So much so that i can’t even see what i’m typing properly.

I’d much rather curl up in bed and feel safe rather then go out and face the big scary world. But i need to go to the bank and then do some serious amount of work for print. Steve’s gonna be pissed at me and i can’t really deal with that. Then i’ve got an interview this evening at a place i don’t really want to work, but nowhere else has replied to me so it seems like the only choice.

Just a shitty day.

I’m so pathetic.

♥

I really needed some help from Mark today, but instead, he talked to Sarah for most of the lesson, then spent the rest of his time with Margaret (who isn’t even doing 3D, and i was actually getting really annoyed at her). I managed to get his attention and got foolishly optimistic. However, about a minute later, Marta came and asked for his help and he went off with her instead saying “…because i haven’t really spoken to her. Just write down a few more things and i’ll be over in a bit”. So i sat down and had a think and was still struggling. Then he walked right past me and carried on helping Margaret. And i couldn’t even stay behind and talk to him cos he had to go and give a talk upstairs.

So i got quite frustrated and realised that today was just a massive waste and i might as well have not gone in at all.

Now i’m sat here, feeling really shitty and upset, don’t have a clue where to go with my project now and we don’t even have Mark tomorrow.

On the bright side, i’m entering a photography competition for the RSC.

…

I’ve just had a (hopefully) amazing idea.

♥

Today i have:
- Bought Mum’s, Dad’s and Flute’s Christmas presents (meaning i have everyone’s).
- Printed off photos for Faustus.
- Made a final list of portfolio sheets.
- Started placing out over half my portfolio sheets.
- Scowered the internet looking for the poems in The Glassblowers.
- Eventually found a list and copied down the poems from The Glassblowers.
- Sorted and resorted what photos to use for 3D.
- Taken new photos of the mushrapple.
- Finished tidying my room.

There. That’s a lot, right?

I think i’m just tired. Getting a bit stressed about my portfolio/interview now too.

I might leave it there for tonight.
I’ll watch the rest of Ready For This? and have a mince pie.

♥

This one:

I’ve been doing some research into the artist and it turns out he actually did a lot more than paint. He was mainly an illustrator and writer. In fact, he illustrated Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
His most famous novel series was, sadly, uncompleted due to his untimely death in 1968, aged just 57.  He did complete 3 books of this series that have been sold and translated all over the world. I’ve found this trilogy on Waterstones and saved it for when i get some money. Its only £13.60 for the all three books in one (even though its a massive 960 page paperback), so i’ll see how much monies i’ve got left after getting Flute’s and Mum’s Xmas prezzies, then hopefully i can purchase the book too and read it after i finally finish Stephen Fry’s autobiography.

Here is the trilogy, in case anyone’s interested.

Think i might be getting a bit too obsessed. And going off at a slightly wrong tangent. But i suppose Mark’ll be happy that i’m getting obsessively involved in my project.

♥

Thats all sorted now, just need to put together my portfolio and get some train tickets there and back. Its gonna be a mental week that week.
Monday i’m doing a concert with Manc Winds.
Wednesday is my interview at UCA.
Thursday is the concert at Xavs
Friday is Tim Minchin with Flute.
Saturday is the concert with Arch.

Good thing i’ve got two weeks off after all that.

Greg AND Mark both called me Laura today. Seriously, Greg’s known me for 3 months and Mark’s known me for over a year, they really should know my name by now.  Dunno why Greg called me Laura tbh, he’s never called me that before. Now suddenly, when i email him (which i actually signed my name with), he replies and calls me Laura. My name’s also in my email contact thingybob.

Pfft men.

♥

They sent me an email saying i had an interview and that i had to register in order to be able to attend.

However, the link didn’t work. So i emailed them, politely letting them know that it didn’t work.

Andrea (said woman from admissions) sent me

Dear Lorna

I can see you have an interview on 15 December at 1500 for BA Creative Arts for …..

This is the link and I have resest your password to the word —–
-please type in lowercase

Your username is  ——

You need to go to www.registryonline.ucreative.ac.uk

Best regards

Andrea

I tried the  link, but it still didn’t work. Also, i thought the interview date was a bit short notice, especially for one i might need to take my portfolio to. So i sent her

Dear Andrea

Thank you for letting me know when my interview is, however 2 weeks is a bit short notice, don’t you think? Is it an interview to which i need to bring my portfolio?

Also, you sent me the same link that does not work.

Thank you
Lorna

Which i thought was reasonable.

However, upon returning home tonight, i found this email in my inbox:

Dear Lorna,Actually I would say that is not short notice, actually some are able to respond to seven – nine days notice. Yes you will need to bring your porfolio with you.

Interivew dates are very tight and our courses are very popular and many are not even given a chance to attend for interview.

Best regards

Andrea

I was shocked at the tone of that email and its actually really affected me. How dare she speak to me like that, a prospective student. The fact that she spelled portfolio and interview wrong  were things i would over look, but she seemed like i should be grateful to get an interview at all and that its ridiculous to want more than two weeks to put a decent portfolio together.

Its really wound me up and i’ll be phoning up tomorrow to sort it out properly.

Also, SHE DIDN’T EVEN MENTION THE LINK!! That was the original reason for me emailing and its been totally forgotten. Its as if I’ve personally offended her.

UCA were only 3rd choice on my UCAS or 4th if i include RSAMD, but after receiving that kind of treatment their position is in jeopardy.

Such a cow.

♥

DVDs
-Dylan Moran: Monster and Like Totally
-The Illusionist
-IT Crowd 0.2 and 0.3
-Big Fish
-Confetti
-The Riches
-Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (new)
-Mighty Boosh: Future Sailors
-Spaced (all)
-Casanova (with David Tennant)
-Italian Job (original)
-Scrubs (all seasons)
-Tim Minchin: So Live and Ready For This? (australian versions)
-Mock the Week: Too Hot for TV 2
-Pick of Destiny
-Ross Noble (all)
-Two Fists, One Heart
-Cirque Du Soleil: Corteo
-Toy Story 3
-Beauty and the Beast
-Bill Bailey: Dandelion Mind

CDs
-Cat Empire (all)
-Duke Special: I Never Thought This Day Would Come and Songs from the Deep Forest
-Matt Berry: Opium
-Spirit:Stallion of the Cimarron OST

Books
-Portraits – Derren Brown
-Good Times – Justin Lee Collins
-New Moan: The Twishite Saga – Stephfordy Mayo

Misc.
-iPod Nano 16GB (orange)
-Les Paul style Uke
-PacMan belt
-Money for 4 more piercings
-Tim Minchin: Ready For This? t-shirt
-MacBook (one can dream)

♥

I came home with mum and we had tea and i washed my hair and threw on some clothes for the night out.
Got to work about quarter past nine and was given a bottle of Grolsch by Rosie cos, apparently, we weren’t allowed to have any drinks from the bar til Gavlar arrived. So i supped my lager very slowly, as i’m not a fan of said beverage, but i felt obliged to drink it and it was the only one available. Spent some more time chatting to Katie which was lovely. Gav finally turned up with Virginie and then we were just waiting for Ben.
Eventually he turned up and we set off with vague ideas of where we were to go with our £250 bar tab (unfortunately without Katie as she went to join her friends at a karaoke bar). I had no idea where we were going, so i was following everyone else. Rob, one of Ben’s friends from Sheffield, appeared so i walked and talked with them for a bit. We seemed to walk forever but we FINALLY made it to a bar called Noho which was somewhere in the Northern Quarter i think (i’d completely lost track of where we were at this point). It was pretty quiet but looked very nice and we decided to go in smaller groups rather than all together, as there were a fair few of us. We went to the bar and ordered drinks while we waited for Gav to come in with his card. We started off with some simple drinks, but then another barman called Johannes (pronounced yo-Annez) turned up and started making some really extravagent cocktails that weren’t on the menu. He continued this for the rest of the night. He. Was. AMAZING! He was so passionate about what he does and clearly loved it. So he’d make a few drinks, then we’d say to make one for himself and we all really bonded, i thought. I had a lovely few chats with Rob at varying degrees of drunkness. Went outside for a not-smoke at one point, when Ben tried to convince me to go to a rave with him and Rob. Alex H was with us and i can’t remember what we were talking about but he said something about Simon and i got really quite annoyed at him, shouted at him and pushed him out the circle. At one point, i went up to the bar, probably for more shots and when i came back Rob had stolen my seat. So i told him in mock anger then went to sit on the arm, but he unfolded his legs and motioned for me to sit down, which is where i remained for the rest of the night.
Too soon after and the tab ran out so everyone was making plans to go. Ben and Rob were going to the rave, Alex was going to join Katie at karaoke and everyone else was making their own plans. Me and Rosie were planning to go home so we went outside to get the taxi that was conveniently sat there, but Alex H dragged her back inside. I said my goodbyes to everyone else, including Johannes and got in the taxi myself.

So, onto Saturday. Me and Nathan made plans to meet at the bus stop near me so we could go into town together. He told me he was meeting two of his friends, Liyi and James at Oxford Road Station and Liyi was bringing one of his friends along. We got off at Oxford Road at which point Nath got a call asking where we were and them saying they were waiting for us at the Student Union, which we’d just come past.
We met James, Liyi and Theo and i realised i was the only girl in the group, which could be a good thing. Liyi said one or two of his friends said they might come, so i might not be the only girl afterall. Nathan declared that he wanted some food so off we went to Abdul’s and i stole some of his chips and also some of James’ chips. Liyi then announced that his friends weren’t coming after all, so i would be the only girl in the group. I like being the only girl, cos i drink like a lad anyway and if i go out with a group of girls, usually they drink a lot slower than me, making me look like some kind of alcoholic.
We made our way down to The Courtyard, which was the place suggested by Liyi, i think. We were originally gonna stay there for a bit then move onto Rock Kitchen, but we never did. Its a lovely place. Proper cheap as well. £2 cocktails, £1.50 shots and bombs, £8.95 fish bowls!! Mental. We had a few drinks each, and shared a fish bowl. Theo then told us that some of his friends were here too, but sat outside. So we all followed him out to the courtyard area and made ourselves comfortable close by his friends, none of whom we knew. Eventually, we were all making friends and all gathered around the heater.
It was about 1ish when the bouncer came out saying we needed to go inside. So we took that cue to leave, as James and Liyi needed to get the bus as James was going back to London 5 or so hours later. We gathered at the bus stop, me holding tightly onto James for support and warmth Their bus arrived, i said bye to James then Liyi and me and Nath sat and waited for our bus to arrive.

Think i may have still been a little drunk when i woke up this morning. Either that, or i was surprisingly giddy for a person who’s been out 3 nights in a row.
Although i’m out again tomorrow night for a Cat Empire gig with Lee, then maybe off to Liverpool for a night out with Rose on Thursday.

And inbetween all that, i need to finish my personal statement and application form for Scottish, do some more Life Drawing and do my other sketchbook for the last few weeks.

Now i’m off to riding.

♥

So. I got a tattoo on Wednesday Finally!

Didn’t hurt as much as i thought it would. It felt like someone drawing on you with a really sharp pencil.
So that’s exciting. Had to go to college straight after, which was a pain cos i just wanted to go home and chill out with my new tat.

Last night I went out with Helen, Sam and Danny to Footage. We bumped into Aaron too, but he went to sit with his other friends. We started at Footage, where me and Sam shared a ‘disco ball’ of cocktail. It was more like a dog bowl, to be honest. However, the cocktail was very nice. I also took the chance to get a new Yellow Card, as mine was, apparently, “the old one”.
We then moved on to Font, where we only stayed for one drink cos it was packed. Also the people there were weird lol. Me and Sam were coming out the loo, two guys were stood outside and one of them taps me on the shoulder and says “He’s a Gemini” and points to his mate. I just looked at him as he grinned stupidly at me, put my thumbs up and said “great” then left. What an incredishit pick up line.
Then we went to 42′s, where i didn’t get ID’d, which surprised me cos almost everyone gets ID’d. It was an amazing rest of the night. They were just playing tune after tune after tune. Had to tear myself away from the dancefloor whenever i needed a wee. Didn’t actually have that much to drink either. But that was only cos i left at half 1.

Tonight i’m going out again with Nathan and his friend Liyi. Imma try and find some more people to go with, cos i’m not fond of being part of a three. Dunno who to ask though. Dunno what to wear either.

Well while i’m deciding on that, imma go watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in preparation for the new film next month.

♥

Today, we were in the actual theatre. Its Tech Week, which is very long and tedious. The Studio’s being used at a ‘tech room’, basically where all the props are being finished.
Me and Meriel started off painting the inside edges of the traps in the stage and staple-gunning black material to cover the rest of the bare wood. Meriel nearly staple gunned me in the head lol. She was doing a trap near to me, and had the staple gun idle in her hand then accidentally pulled the trigger. I hadn’t noticed, but she turned to me and worriedly exclaimed,
“Oh my god, i didn’t get you, did i?”
“Not that i’m aware of. Unless i’m currently bleeding out the side of my head and haven’t noticed.”

I watched a couple of rehearsals through out the day. It is a huge cast, consisting mainly of extras dressed as devils/demons. Faustus is played by an irish guy called Paddy, what an amazing cliché.

The Dragon looks amazing! They were practicing flying it in whilst me and Meriel were painting the traps, and all the loose silk from the head fills up and floats out when its coming down. Its very aesthetic.

Later on, i was having a break and watching some another rehearsal of quite a big scene. Lots of dramatic lights and music and it was amazingly choreographed.

I did some more painting in the tech room and then we were asked to stick some rubber to the ends of the extra flooring because it kept curling up at the ends.

Then me and Meriel walked up Market Street together. She was going to the workshop for a bit, and i was coming home cos i have riding tonight.

Friday’s my next day in. Meriel told me its fish and chips in the canteen on Fridays. I’m excited already.

I then noticed that there were a lot of the books that’d been sprayed with grey. So i set to work with the GoldFinger, setting myself up on the floor and surrounded by book panels.
Meriel arrived and had roped in help from a guy from the Education team of the theatre. So we had quite a conveyor belt going.
Once i’d finished with the GoldFinger, i went for lunch. Then i came back and found the remaining sections of unpainted books had been cut up and left in a pile in the paintshop. I was then told that they needed painting, so i set to work on those.
Meriel came in and told us she was running up to the theatre for a bit, and to just carry on with what we were doing. I informed her that i needed to leave early and so wouldn’t be there when she got back, so we made plans for next time i’m in (probably Monday).

I finished about half 3 and then went off to meet Rachel and say farewell at the station.
Then i went down to work to check my rota for next week. Everyone has a meeting on tuesday (apart from Ella and Alessandro). Luckily its at 10-11, so i can easily make it to college enrolment afterwards.

Tonight i’m going out to BaaBar’s for Dan’s 19th. Still need to sort out what i’m wearing, then gonna see if Flute gets there on time.

Probably not.

♥

When they were finished, I went and joined Meriel in the paintshop and we spent the rest of the day painting books.
The books are 2 metre long plastic casts. All the casts are the same so we paint them differently to give the illusion of lots of different books. They’re gonna get cut up to fit the spaces that Phil’s cut out of the mdf balcony surround.
Once they’re painted and dried, they get a coat of grey spray stuff to make them look really old and dusty then we use this stuff called GoldFinger, which is pretty much just gold or silver paint in a tube. We get a little on our fingers, then rub it on any bits that stick out the spines of the books. Then they get the effect of gold or silver bindings or gold rivets or something. We didn’t get them all finished, so it’ll be something more to do on Friday.
Stuart came in with the electric chair he’d made so that I could stain the wood on it. First, he and Meriel had to remove all the metal pieces that they could then i got to work. Didn’t take as long as i’d thought, but i did manage to get wood stain splattered all up my left arm, so it looked like i had some weird kind of disease.

After theatre, i went down to work to meet the fam for tea. We were having an evening out cos Rachel’s home for the week.
Tomorrow me and Rach are having a day together. We’re gonna mooch into town and get a slackline and do some circus training in the park if its nice.

♥

So that was alarming.

♥