It has really been a case of Heads Down, Bums Up (or just the one head and bum) for me recently getting my uni work in. Having no one else around at the moment I’ve been able to work on stuff through the night and make a little noise which I’ve enjoyed. Less people around also seems to create less distractions, something I’ve enjoyed, but I’ve still been heading out to do things.

Today I spent the day at the theatre working FOH (front of house… okay… usher) for the current show. It’s a great way to see the show for free, turn up early and generally look official. I’ve also discovered the usher’s seats on the side are much more comfortable (particularly when you get a whole pile of cushions like I did). It was my first time seeing a whole bunch of people since getting cast as Seymour, so I was getting a lot of “Congratulations” and “I Can’t Wait To See It”. Some of the children’s theatre parents said their kids were surprised to see me in a show, knowing me only from my rehearsal piano work.

There isn’t long now until this session (my second last of music) is over at uni. On my count, four teaching weeks left, then recess week and then exams. Just checking my exam timetable now, come the 7th of June I will have a huge five week break to focus of Little Shop. Looking forward to it! Until then, however, it’s work, work, work to get it all done in time.

Uh oh, Alec has been a bad boy. At least he isn’t one of his brothers.

Now I know it’s cliched to write about having “one of those days”, but if I had to experience it, you do too. Unless you click a button on your browser, but please don’t.

It started this morning when I went to get the mail from the letterbox. For some unknown reason I instinctively locked the front door as I walked out, locking myself out. I went around the back hoping another door I had used that morning was open, but alas I had locked that too. My only option was to climb onto the second story and hope to find a door open. I pulled out the most dingy, unsafe ladder I could find in the garage. The wood it was made of resembled a deteriorating bridge across a great canyon. The rungs were more like sticks of dowel than planks. I needed to stretch it out to it’s most flimsy to even get close, and I still had to climb onto the very top rung, and hope that I wasn’t going to have a Jimmy Steward in Vertigo moment (or worse, the poor policeman). Gripping on for dear life I finally pulled myself onto the railing and held tight as I slowly edged each bit of my body over. Boy was I glad when the door opened when I finally pulled myself to safety.

After all this I got ready to go to uni, packed my things, and walked to the bus stop. Well, almost. I was about 10 metres away from it when the bus roared past me without stopping.

I had had enough at that point, so I turned around and walked home and didn’t feel guilty at all.

As part of my tireless procrastination effort, check out my desk by clicking on the image.

Go on!

Over dinner tonight I experienced a mini-Mommie Dearest-esque stand off. Lifting my burger to my mouth (already half-eaten), when I saw the blood ooze out, I could handle no more and refused to have another bite. At first I was the victim of scoffs and the like, but when no one else would eat it, I figured I had won the battle. Or so I thought.

Immediately after I ceased eating the nausea set in. I think it was mostly psychological nausea, not able to take my mind off the blood. A couple of times I felt the words “That’s it, I’m a vegetarian!” almost spout from my mouth but the thought of chicken soup held them tightly in. I made myself a cup of tea and settled down when the nausea began to fade. Then the gut pains started in. Twisting in turning as my stomach tried to work out just why there was a bit of still-alive cow in me, I was hoping my body would reject it and I could move onto devouring more of my freakishly thick-skinned Old Gold chocolate rabbit (the only kind of animal worth eating raw). Soon enough (with the aid of some sips of tea), I felt the urge and rushed off to the bathroom.

I must now explain that when I’m in the middle of a task, I hate wasting time, so I move around the house quite quickly, relying on intuition to take me there safely. Tonight was no different as I roared into the bathroom and flew back the seat lid. Bending down to take my rightful place, the moment skin touched the surface I lept into the air much in the manner someone’s hand flies back when they touch a hot saucepan.

Looking down I realised what I had done. In lifting up the lid, I had also lifted up the seat and it had been the cold, suspicious grimace of the ceramic bowl that had greeted me in that moment of horrror.

You’ll all be glad to know that I was able to say farewell to that bloodied burger, which is good as it made more room for hoppy the dark rabbit.