Dispatches from the front

I'm officially in training for the title of Worst and Most Infrequent Blogger Ever.
To me, blogging is like communism: I love the idea in theory, but it ain't working so well for me in practise.
Also: I am frantic right now. It's March! End of term approacheth! Busy, busy, busy bees are we! Here's a run-down on what's keeping me busy right now:

a) training for a Stage Combat Exam (involving rapier and bare-knuckle fighting...don't worry, no serious injuries to report yet....knock on wood!)
b) big night of duets coming up this Wednesday...I'm singing this song from a musical called "Chess", which was a big deal back in the 80's and is written by one of the guys from ABBA. (Truly, there is no end to their talents. Truly.) My partner is a lovely Welsh boy called Dan, who turns into a Restoration dandy or "wit picker" when he's had a few drinks, and proceeds to be exceedingly cutting and foppish to the amusement of all assembled.
c) involved in creating a new theatre piece with two other actresses and one of the directors from the directing MA program, which involves weekly meetings where we've so far determined that the main things we have in common are love of wine, avocados, and weekend newspapers. It's a start.
d)heading down to Ravensbourne tv and film school to shoot our specially-commissioned-for-our-class tv scripts. I get to play a morally ambiguous psychiatrist (is she evil? isn't she? how much does she know? is she in on it?) named Dr. Krane...boy the writers really stretched themselves to come up with that name, didn't they? I'm working with a great group of fellow actors, so I feel really lucky and priviledged and hope the shooting next week will be fun. Ravensbourne is in Chislehurst, just round the corner from where my aunt lives, so that will be fun to tromp round my old haunts and possibly pop in to eat my family's cupboards bare along the way.
e) private coachings thrice-weekly for the Carleton Hobbs auditions in 2 weeks. Not sure who knows about this and who doesn't, so, in a nut-shell: auditions at the BBC for the chance to win a 6 month paid radio contract with them. Highly coveted and desirable prize. Difficult to even get selected to audition. Fabulous opportunity. That's March 19th, so cross your fingers for me please. I'm up against approximately 80 others, competing for potentially 8 places. One in 10 odds? Child's play. I spend my professional life gambling on such odds. I'll win it if I can.

So sorry if I don't blog much. It doesn't mean I don't care. It just means I'm deaf, dumb, and mad from exhaustion. But it's a full life. I'm very lucky.