Archive for November, 2010
Paris Man! Freakin’ Paris!
Okay so I booked the tickets to Paris three days ago now but I still don’t think it has sunk in. I mean…Paris! I am so excited. I have been wanting to go back to Paris since the first time I visited there which was back in 2002. I honestly never thought I would be able to afford it. You know how we have these little ideas about things we would like to see and do, but deep down inside we know that it is only an idea and probably will never come to fruition? That was how I felt about Paris and going to Europe in general, hence why it has taken me a couple of days for it to sink it.
It is amazing also how one trip is inspiring me to do so much. The last few days it has been easier for me to get out of bed. Every day I ride my bike to school and catch the train instead of driving is another five dollars saved for the trip. Every time I cook dinner instead of having take away food is another ten dollars saved for the trip. I have even started learning French again. I have to learn French as part of me getting into WAAPA next year but I was having trouble getting the motivation to start, now I am finding that I am enjoying it immensely. Ben is right, whenever I find myself cracking the shits all I need to do is think about the trip and I am smiling again.
WOW! I just realised I never posted about getting into WAAPA next year. I got into Classical Voice studies for singing. I can’t wait to start and am really looking forward to finally giving my voice some time to develop.
Next year is looking amazing! New school, travel plans, singing, working…I can’t wait!
Image by trixnbooze (Flickr)
This one is quite funny to write; I remember having a similar issue when this happened to me and so it echoes quite nicely.
For a while now I have been encouraging Emma to keep an eye out for cheap flights to places we might like to go. For holidays, as opposed to places we might like to go to get away from the in-laws, which would be a completely horrible suggestion and totally unwarranted. “Hello to Emma’s family”, I know many of you read this :-)
So, over time, we have had the occasional conversation about dream holiday locations, logistics and timing. Largely these took the form of a tentative suggestion that could be construed as something completely different (have you ever wanted to go to Disneyland) which, upon further investigation, rapidly descended into either hurt silence or stomping footsteps towards a door. Oh, it wasn’t just her. We swapped roles at regular intervals.
So it was quite a surprise to get a jittery phone call from Emma that started out with, “Honey, I’ve found some flights to Paris next year that look really good, can we go?” i would like to say that i answered suavely, “Sure, Baby, what ever you want”, but that would be a misrepresentation of the facts. There was some confusion as we tried to fall back into the old pattern, but after realising what was happening, I tried a different tact and, within 24 hours, Things Were Different!
Emma had figured out the connecting flights, arranged a stop over and paid (with my plastic to get the travel insurance) for the entire escapade.
I’m pretty sure she is still not quite sure when the piano will fall on her, but it’s very amusing to watch her try to get grumpy now. All I have to do to dislodge any cranky is start humming the French National Anthem.
And now she is starting to think that maybe, just maybe, things will turn out alright for her after all.
Highly, HIGHLY amusing.
You are in the next room, head on a pillow, eyes closed to the troubles around you. Sticky, warm air enters and leaves across the lips I love to kiss. Behind your brow a mind slowly ticks away, letting go of another day that was difficult for us.
On the outside we look happy. In public places we are smiling. Behind closed doors the troubles are easier to see. The cracks begin to form and slowly begin to show. Stress presses on us and we slowly break apart.
You don’t let me go despite how I try. A part of me struggles against your strength while the rest cries out to hold you closer. There are three of us fighting, two who want to stay and one who seeks to destroy all we have made.
When the third is gone and the darkness she brings with her evaporates, we are beautiful. We laugh together, hope together, hold together. This is the way we are meant to be. This is the way I want us to be.
I am stronger than her. Stronger than the self depreciating girl I try to be. I believe in myself more now than ever before. You are showing me the way but I know it exhausts you. So for now you are resting.
You are in the next room, head on a pillow, eyes closed to the troubles around you. Sticky, warm air enters and leaves across the lips I love to kiss. Behind your brow a mind slowly ticks away, dreaming of another day that will be beautiful for us.
And I hope…
The last few weeks Ben and I have been pushing ourselves a little too hard. Currently I am performing in a production of “Fiddler on the Roof”, while also choreographing the musical “Nine”. Ben has been coming along to “Nine” rehearsals to help out and this has often resulted in him helping out on nights when I am not there too. What this has added up to is two very tired people.
It is production week this week for both shows, they both had their preview tonight and they both open on Friday. As you can imagine there have been a lot of last minute rehearsals happening in a desperate attempt to get things ‘perfect’. This week alone we have been to one rehearsal or the other (or in the case of Sunday both) every day. It has gotten to the point now though when we need to stop. The exhaustion has set in. It is time for a break.
I think the worse thing in all this is that Ben and I don’t seem to be spending as much time together as we usually do. We have also taken to sleeping in separate beds because we seem to get better sleep when there isn’t another body in the bed, and with sleep eluding us we will take what we can get. It isn’t ideal but it works.
I miss waking up and having our slow sleepy mornings together, sharing breakfast together and talking about the day.
I miss coming home at night and spending time unwinding, listening to music, going to the movies or watching a video.
Most of all I miss Ben. We don’t haven’t seen each other much the last two weeks. Hopefully once the shows open we can get back to being awesome together. Because we are pretty damn awesome.
I have been busy. I have been happy.
I continue to be happy, being busy; fixing things.
I have joined the Stage Wives club of Emma’s amateur theatre group and subsequently needed to find something to do to keep me interested enough to maintain “Wonderful Husband” status.
I’m hooked!
After establishing my foot hold in the tea peddling business I started to mooch around, looking for other seemingly mundane tasks to appropriate, largely so I didn’t step on anyone’s toes (These theatre people do seem a little delicate at times!) I annexed General Kitchen Duties into my portfolio and from there I started to realise how much background work goes in to a production. And then how much would be required to make it a good production.
Now I have
- Helped Emma describe what she wanted from the actors (it was largely interpretive, but now has definite direction);
- Painted large chunks of the set;
- Fixed the “broken” curtains (it’s not perfect yet, but we know the solution now);
- Thrown out a pile of junk that people were too tired to bin (seemingly years ago, in some cases) and;
- Have made commitments to help with rigging lights and possibly learning how to use them.
What I used to view as a Bizarre Fetish of My Wife is now understandable, albeit from under a workman’s cap and tool-belt. It’s the sheer amount of outstanding items on their To Do list. There always seems to be something they need a volunteer for, so I have solved my boredom dilemma. Nothing is so important that I can’t stop to spend time with Emma, when she is available, and it’s a lot of fun helping out. I understand why people join volunteer groups now.
Vive l’espirit de corps!
