Day 11: Something I've been craving

Sleep.
Undisturbed sleep.
With enough room to turn over if I want to without a caw mewling.
Without Kittehs fighting up and down the bed.
Without an alarm which cannot be ignored going off within 3hrs of closing my eyes.

Doesn't seem like a big ask, does it.
Won't happen though.
Am the insomnia queen.

Frankie Cat settling in for a day of rest

Day 10 - Things I love about my job

Obvious answer:

• Christmas Holidays
• Easter Holidays
• Summer Holidays
• Half-Term Holidays

I'm a teacher, in case you hadn't guessed!

Seriously, I (usually) love my job.
When asked 'what do you teach?' I generally respond: 'Children.'
My subject is Drama. And I wouldn't change it for the world!

So: 10 Things I Love About My Job:

• The Kids. Their enthusiasm; their lack of fear and their willingness to try out old ideas as if they were new and exciting (they are new to them!) Their willingness to trust and to have faith in me - to 'step into the staircase when they can only see the first step' (thanks Jen!) - this makes me step up my game on a regular basis. The fact that they are willing to put in so much time - before and after school. The fact that they are willing to come on many a theatrical journey with me, to buy into the joy I have for the theatre and performance work, and that they want so much to be a part of what we do.

• The fact that when things are going well, we have so much fun. Sometimes I will laugh until I can't stand up, until coffee comes down my nose (Hi Lauren) and at such silly things...wouldn't change it for the world, even if I do sometimes have to remember that responsible adults (aka normal people) don't approve of my having a sense of humour akin to a 15 year old techie! The fact that when things are going badly, we are so very much 'team drama' and all of us - staff and students alike - can and will work together to support each other, even if we don't know the full story....

• Watching a shy and timid kid start to find themselves and their confidence as a result of being part of the drama world. Conversely, watching a student who is on the brink of being chucked out for behavioural issues find somewhere to belong, or something worth turning it around for within Drama and theatre. (Hello Mr Sayer!)

• Being a part of the development of so many amazing young people - in some cases watching them getting wiser (ahem) or more *splutter* civilised, and in other cases seeing them loosen up and let their inner child out - it's an amazing priveledge to see understanding / acceptance / realisation dawning, to witness so many rites of passage, and although sometimes it all feels completely and horribly like running up an endless hill, it's always such an astonishing feeling when there is a break through... literally, it's about making tomorrow. (I sound like an advert...)

•  Never being bored (apart from in meetings and paperwork hell - collatoral damage!) - I don't know if it's the same in every subject area, but there is always something new, unexplained and inexplicable to deal with - and always a new way to make children be trees!

• I love love love my subject - and I believe passionately in its importance as a part of the curriculum and beyond. Getting to spend most of every day doing what I love, and seeing how powerful and important it is in the lives of the kids I teach/facilitate is awesome. And I get paid for it!

• Getting to push boundaries and challenge convention - with fresh, enquiring minds to take up any slack I leave. In the words of Major Ross in 'Our Country's Good' 'theatre leads to threatening theory' - oh yeah!!

• The ex-students: Now I know this is practically unique to Drama, at least at my school. We get a steady stream of ex-students coming back to let us know what they're doing, help out with tech stuff, pass on new skills, perform for us, teach workshop sessions (thanks Jamie Wilkes and Belt-Up) apply for jobs with us, and share the start of their own teaching careers (always makes me particularly proud!) and families. It makes me feel a part of something special when kids come back to share both their sorrows and their triumphs, and to know that they still place value on us - it's good to know it means something. It's also nice to know that they know we'll still be willing to listen! Also, there is the fact that some of them are out there, doing it - the whole acting thing. (Jamie, Louise Kempton, Katie Blake ... all professional actors) One day, I'll have the chance to say 'ah yes, I knew him/her when...' (and I probably have photos to prove it!)

• The staff I work with. They are amazing. Lucy & Andy are lovely lovely people. I'm so lucky to work with people I love so much.

• The fact that parkrun happens at and to some extent because of School.

• Oh yes. And the holidays.

That's 11 things. And to think I have a maths 'A' Level!

Day 09 - A Close Up of My Day

I had taken several photos of today with the intention of doing a 'day in pictures' type post... and then this happened:

Photo by Andy Deacon

Me and my 'A' Level students, plus a few of the tech crew, about 30 minutes before the start of the Unit 3 performance exams.

I may possibly have been eating chips and drink coke (bad, bad, evil woman) but I don't think I'd eaten anything else since breakfast.... Having spent most of my waking hours with these guys for the last 3 weeks, it does indeed seem appropriate that they should be part of the close up of my day.

The performances? - went very well. Very well indeed.

Day 08 - The Last Item I Purchased

If we discount groceries, an alarming number of parkrun destined Mars Bars, a particularly yummy chocolate  orange muffin and yesterday evening's Fish & Chips (It's been a long long week, don't Judge!) then my most recent arrival from Amazon is the claimer of this title!

Following the fabulous Tori Amos extravaganza of last week (so so good!) I decided I needed to own an actual copy of her most recent CD not just a digital version... It's been playing whenever I've had a moment to spare ever since.... gotta love Tori!

One of the Best Tori Albums in recent years!

Of course, if I was being totally open and honest, I might have mentioned the fact that my other internet purchase of the week arrived at the same time - and it was a mooncup!

Day 07 - A song for the Day

It is a moderately known fact that (when in a halfway decent mood) I can produce an apt song for virtually any occasion, and much to the delight/amusement/disgust of those around me, I'm not usually shy about singing whatever it may be. This of course immediately stopped being true when I was actually trying to think of a song to sum up today. 

We are rapidly approaching the first performance exams of the year - our 'A' Level babies have their Devised Performances on Wednesday, and as they are worth 40% of their final mark, the pressure is on. As always at this stage, (no pun intended) there has been very little sleep and several 10pm finishes. We're all knackered, and getting colds. I have a stinking cold, for which I blame Kaye and/or Morgan, and am at the dizzy, sleepy, itchy eyed stage of sneezingness. 


I came up with a couple of possibilities before I got to school, basically based on my being a sad and self pitying soul:

• I'm So Tired - The Beatles
• The Drugs Don't Work - The Verve

I think the titles are explanation enough, really!


Neither of those really seemed quite right (I know, I may possibly be over thinking this!) so I asked the kids as we went into the third hour of rehearsal, and got the following suggestions:

• They're Coming to Take Me Away - Napoleon XIV
• Insomnia - Faithless
• I'm Going Slightly Mad - Queen
• Frontier Psychiatrist - The Avalanches

Definitely a bit of theme there, I think - It's been a long couple of weeks!
The tech crew's contribution was more varied:

• I Hate Myself and I Want to Die - Nivarna (this was our Head techie's contribution - he had just entirely forgotten to put out the footlights and spent 45 minutes reprogramming something which should have taken 10 mins max, so some wallowing was occurring!)
• I Get by With a Little Help from my Friends - The Beatles (not sure if this came from Head Techie once stuff was sorted, or from the sound guy - but hey, made me smile.

As rehearsals went on, and things weren't looking quite so dire, suggestions got increasingly random:

• All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth
• We All Live in A Yellow Submarine
• Ugly-Bug Ball

Bless them. 

On the way home, whilst acting as a late night Taxi service to a couple of tired techies, I was commenting on how it was all looking better than expected - and spontaneously burst into the song which is my song of the day!


From Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a song about redeeming something half decent from disaster!
YAY!

Day 06 - A Book I am Reading.

I read a lot.
Almost obsessively so.
I always have done - I could read before I went to school, and have always been really grateful to my Mum for that! As a child, I was often in trouble for reading by torchlight (or by the street light outside my bedroom window) when I was supposed to be sleeping. Another favorite was reading whilst I was supposed to be tidying up or doing my homework -  an alarming number of my childhood memories involve me guiltily stuffing a book under something as one of my parents walks into the room. Probably the most effective punishment for me as a child was to be forbidden to read - it didn't happen often, but when it did, I was miserable. And to make matters worse, it was always a matter of trust, in that my parents didn't take the books away (there were probably far too many!) I was just told hat I wasn't allowed to touch them. I guess it says something about discipline and expectations that it never crossed my mind to abuse their trust.

One of the 'hang-overs' from this, is the fact that I often feel that reading is something of an indulgence, and when I'm busy - which seems to be all the time - I tend to feel guilty if spend time with my 'head in a book' - which is kinda funny when you consider that many people feel that reading more is something they should do, and that I often set reading for homework for my exam students, who then struggle to do it... it's a funny world.

I will read most things, particularly series or sequences of books, and I like strong character development as well as strong plot lines. Sci-fi/ fantasy novels are probably my favorite, with crime fiction/thrillers coming in a close second. I also like books which make me laugh, and books which make me think - I like to learn new things, but still revisit some of the books of my childhood on a regular basis. I have a bit of a thing for auto-biographies, own a vast amount of playscripts (huge surprise, this one) and a reasonably impressive reference library! (when I'm starting something new, or something catches my interest/curiosity I read about it. And when I read, I buy books!)

One of the best things about my flat is the study, which will be - when I've finally got it organised - a room of books. I tend to be a bit obsessive about my 'library' - books are shelved in alphabetical order of Author's surname - and whilst I am always happy to lend books out, I keep a list of who's got what! (this falls down with plays and reference books, which I tend to take into school when kids are doing devised work, and often never see them again - although I do often gain books that I didn't buy during this process, so I figure there's some kind of karma in place!)

There are usually two or three books open about the flat - at the moment I'm finishing 'Skinny Bitch' which has been lent to me by the lovely Dani (click here for her blog) and which has made me seriously consider a vegan lifestyle - something I never thought I'd do! - but that's a whole other blog post. Also, I'm reading the play version of The Grimm Fairy Tales with a view to using it as a performance text for yr 12 after Christmas.

The book I'm currently reading for the sheer joy of it, is Tolkien's The Fellowship of The Ring. (the first book of the fabulous 'Lord of The Rings' Trilogy) It's really a re-read, probably for the 4th or 5th time. My first encounter with these books was at the age of 18, during the year I spent in Spain. Enric & Susie couldn't believe I'd never read them, and went to some lengths to find all three in English for me.
These are the editions I still have, and they are much treasured. This particular re-read has been coming for a while - I re-read all the Harry Potter books when the final film came out, and then went to see an overnight marathon of the LOTRs films at the imax (the director's cut versions, obviously) which was amazing. Amy (click here for her blog) came with me, and as a LOTR book virgin, was blown away by the films, and even admitted that there was a fair amount of overlap in the plot lines and characters from LOTR and HP. (Amy has serious JK worship issues, so this is a big deal!) I'm loving the book, as much as the first time, and as I am currently working crazy hours, it's being quite a slow read, slotted into the waking moments between getting into bed and unconsiousness. The good thing about having read it before, is that the fairly disjointed manner of my current trip through the book isn't a problem. First reads tend to require longer stretches of time!

Tolkien Love...

Day 05 - Three Years Ago Today

November 5th 2008.
5 months to the day.
I'd stopped counting the hours by then.
People weren't constantly watching me anymore - that stopped by the end of the summer holidays.
I think I'd just about entered the 'automaton' phase. Got up, went to school, did something vaguely approximating to my job, came home, fed the cats, cleaned, went to bed, read a book until I feel asleep, woke up at 3 am, read a bit more, got up.... etc
It's all a bit hazy to be honest.

I don't remember bonfire night specifically.
It had been a big day in the past - Phil loved fireworks, and would drive for hours to see a big display. The year before, we were in Lewes where Bonfire is a huge deal, and the parades/display were amazing.
It seems likely that I'd have drawn the curtains, put on the TV/music loudly enough to cover some of the bangs, and stayed at home with the cats.

Lewes Bonfire Night