The Occasional Occasion

Have you found if you say a word over and over again, it starts to sound really weird? I did that with 'occasion'. Occasion. Occasion. Weird.

Anyway, hello again! These posts are getting fewer are farther between, but as things are very hectic at the moment, I rarely find time to do a post. I should actually be homework right now, but ssshhh. ;)

As things are so busy for me right now and I don't have a lot of time to socialise or just relax, I have recently found that I really want to get the most out of occasions of that I may have not made too much of a fuss of in the past. And as things in the UK seem to be getting more Americanised these days, of course things like Halloween are getting bigger. When I was little, I never did anything for Halloween. I never went Trick-or-Treating, dressed up, carved pumpkins, nothing. This year, however, I went all out! Now, don't get me wrong, I don't actually 'celebrate' Halloween per-say - I don't believe that carved pumpkins get rid of evil spirits, etc - but I thought for once I would properly join in with the fun side of it, and it was great!

My housemates and I kicked things off by carving pumpkins - whilst watching The Nightmare Before Christmas (make of that what you will) - and they turned out great! I'm a wuss and don't really like anything scary (ironic in this situation, I know), so you'll probably be able to guess which one of these is mine...

Instead of putting them outside the door, we just used them as decorations (and lighting) for our HALLOWEEN PARTY. It was so exciting to decorate the house all Halloween-y, get dressed up with the housemates as a certain monster-fighting gang ("Jeepers!") and, well, be throwing a party at all. As I've mentioned in past posts, I am currently studying at Drama School, so - as it is a small school - it was an open invitation for all the students. It was a great chance for everyone to mix and mingle; we had a fantastic time! But I think we'll leave the parties to someone else now; don't want to push our luck with the neighbours, haha!

SCOOBY DOO TEAM (without Scooby...)!! (l-r) Lucy, Conner, me, Alex

VELMA!

If you've read my blog before, you may have figured out that I am a big Doctor Who fan, and of course, last night was the 50th Anniversary Special. I was so excited for this, and it did NOT let me down!! Argh, it was so good. Now most people would think, it's just a TV programme, nothing to get all worked up about, but no. We invited other Whovians round especially to watch it, and as Conner and Alex had dressed up Doctor-like, I wanted to make the effort too. I don't have an abundance of clothes down in London with me, so it was tricky trying to figure out what to wear. A female version of The Doctor? A companion? No. I dressed as...

... the TARDIS!!

In the episode The Doctor's Wife, it was confirmed that the TARDIS is female. So it works I think!

And now, we are exactly one month away from Christmas Eve. Yaaaay!! It's the most wonderful time of the year... And I know the hype starts far, far too early really, and it's another thing which has been blown way out of proportion, but I think Christmas is such a fantastic time, that it should be made a fuss of. As a Christian, I celebrate the birth of Christ, and as well as this I like to join in with all the other festivities of Santa, buying presents, mince pies, and just everything festive and Christmassy! I had my first mince pie at the start of October, for goodness' sake. I can't wait to get home on the 21st December to be with my family as that really is the best part. But for now, bit by bit, I'm making the most of the build up to Christmas.

Primark have a great range of Christmassy things: jumpers, hats, slippers... So I treated myself to a fab pair of squishy Santa Slippers (or 'Footlets'). The are so soft and cosy. Probably won't last amazingly long as they don't have padding in the soles, but for the lead up to Christmas, they are perfect!

So cute! I also got a few other festive things to get in the Christmassy mood :)

Cadbury's Advent Calendar £1.50 Wilkinsons
Santa Slippers £3? Primark
Glade Candle Spiced Apple & Cinnamon £4 £2 Tesco
Glade Candle Blackberry Frost £4 £2 Tesco
Kleenex Original Christmas Tissues 2-Pack £3 £2 Tesco

It's only a few bits and bobs (bear in mind, I did take this photo whilst listening to my Christmas playlist), but I'm definitely heading back to Primark soon to get some more Christmas goodies and as it's December 1 WEEK TODAY, we'll need to get some Christmas decorations too!

Simply having a wonderful Christmas time...

xxx

2 Wonderful Weeks' Holiday

I’ve had a much-needed break for the past 2 weeks, so as I’m back to school tomorrow (feels so weird saying that!) I thought I would write a post while I still have some time. I’ve had a wonderful fortnight off and feel much better for it.

It started with the end-of-term/my friend Tina’s birthday party which was a nice way to end what had been a very busy 8 weeks, so of course we just had to buy some new bits and bobs and dress up! The photo below is ‘party quality’ (if you know what I mean!) so apologies that it’s not very clear. My maxi dress and necklace are both from New Look: Dress £25 £10, Necklace £6. (I've had the earrings for ages so can’t remember where they’re from!)

l-r: DSL friends Sarah, Sophie, Tina, me, Kate

I then spent a few days down here in London recuperating and getting some homework out of the way. It was lovely to just have a few days to chill. I also saw a few friends in those days so I wasn’t completely solitary! Then I went home to NE Scotland to spend some time with my family. In the few days I was home, we hosted my Uncle Brian’s 50^th Birthday Party at our house and it was great to see some members of my family who I hardly ever see. I also managed to fit in seeing one of my best friends Zocia, so it was a successful trip! Of course time flies when you’re having fun though so of course it felt like no time at all before I was heading back down to London, but as I was bringing my mum and niece, Aria, back down with me to stay for a few days, I couldn’t really complain!

I’ve been living in London since the beginning of August and hadn’t actually done any of the typical touristy things that, let’s be honest, you should do when you move here, so we used mum and Aria’s visit as an excuse to finally do some of these things. My mum is super thrifty and spent a tonne of Tesco vouchers she got with her Clubcard points (I think?!) on tickets for London attractions. So for something like £170’s worth of tickets, she spent only £60’s worth of these Tesco vouchers, so in essence didn’t actually spend a penny! Amazing.

We went to the London Dungeon, Madame Tussaud’s and the Tower of London. Looking back, we probably should have thought ahead before getting tickets for the Dungeon as we did that on the first day and of course, as Aria’s an 8-year-old little girl, she was terrified the whole way round. We had tears within the first 10 minutes and after that she kept on asking if it was the end yet and she wanted to go home. I felt so bad for her, poor thing. Then for the next 2 nights she slept really badly because she had nightmares and kept on thinking Jack the Ripper was in corner of the room. Anyway, the experience itself was good, but it wasn’t my cup of tea so I personally wouldn’t go again. I think it’s the kind of thing that most people only do once anyway.

Madame Tussaud’s was much better. Who’d have thought wax-clones of celebrities would be so much fun?! It was done very well and some of the models were done very well, so we got a few photos with them and then experience was finished off with a 4-D animation of some of the Marvel heroes, which was done very well. I’d recommend it for all ages, though I wouldn’t spend the £30-entry they ask for on the day.

Chilling with my mate Emma

Definitely pulling off the Beyonce moves here...

Aria getting attacked and mum's feeble attempt to help! Gee, at least I'm taking a photo for the police...

We then finished off our sight-seeing experiences with the Tower of London which, too, was very, very good. We were there most of the day (about 4 hours) and took it easy, stopping for a sit-down regularly. (By this point, we were so exhausted from the few days before that we were starting to wilt!) It was interesting to read all about the tower, see the ins-and-outs, all the artefacts and of course the amazing Crown Jewels, which were spectacular. It’s a shame you can’t take photos in the areas I would have most wanted to take some, but at least I have the beautiful, diamond-encrusted memories!

Aria, Mum, Tower of London

Aria getting attacked again

She was annoying us...

Mum and Aria left yesterday morning, and it was tough saying goodbye but I had a great time with them and of course it’s only 2 months till I see them at Christmas-time, so not too bad. I spent the rest of the day with my housemates, Conner and Alex, so we had a few drinks and I thrashed them at a game of Monopoly! Good times. Back to school tomorrow and straight into Scene Study 2, so I’m going to spend the rest of the day re-reading my script and doing bits of research. And catching up on Strictly.

xxx

LONDON BABY!

So as I mentioned weeks ago, I moved from the back of beyond in North-East Scotland down to the smoky air of London. And I am loving it. To be honest, the area I moved to (Ealing) is generally pretty leafy and it has its own wee centre etc so it’s nowhere near as hectic as I’m sure it would be if I lived in or closer to the centre. But about a 40-minute tube-journey into the centre is just fine for me. I actually like having the time on the tube to relax (when I can get a seat!). It’s still a novelty to have such regular public transport, and I know lots of people complain about delays and cancellations, but when you’re from an area where transport to anywhere else is, at the most regular, every hour, you don’t mind so much! I suppose I have my car at home, but at least here I am forced to walk places, and that’s always a good thing! It’s weird being a student again!

Anyway, like I said, London is awesome. I am having a great time. I’ve properly settled into my new house in West Ealing. There are 4 of us in total – me, Lucy, Conner and Alex. I get on really well with Lucy; she’s really easy to get on with and very down to earth so it’s cool. Most days on the way to school we won’t actually speak for ages though which is probably a bit weird, but it’s not an awkward silence, so I don’t care. We have so much to think about all the time, we’re both in our own little world!! Conner and Alex are also lovely; we have a lot in common and they’re very easy to get on with too, so we’re becoming a very close-knit household, which I’m v pleased about considering that everyone was basically strangers before moving in. The house is only a 25-minute walk to school and the centre of Ealing so it’s in a handy location, it’s a nice quiet area and I live pretty close to lots of other people on the course.

Quite a blurry photo from the pub the other night: (l-r) Anna, me, Shannon, Sarah (all DSL-ers)

DSL (Drama Studio London) is awesome. It took a while to get used to the pace of things but I’m okay now The school is really small: there are 47 students on my course and I think the same on the 2 year course (but half in 1^st year, half in 2^nd year) and those are the only two courses the school does. They’re purely vocational so there are no essays required or anything and even the history teaching is very conversational. It’s great. The teaching staff are ALL also working professionals, so they actually know what they’re talking about from experience: past and present. So it helps as we have complete confidence in them. Of course there are a couple of teachers that we’re less sure of but in general everyone is really good.

The actual schedule of things is pretty mental. Generally we have 4 classes a day, each lasting an hour and a half with a fifteen minute break between them (or lunch). Each class is very intense, you have to go into them absolutely ready to hit the ground running, so mentally it’s exhausting! Everyone’s brain is fried at the end of each day, but then of course we have homework pretty much every night too, so we really have to be on it from the word go. We’ll cover so many different subjects in one day too so our brains have to be able to switch to a completely different way of thinking, which is why it’s good we have a wee break between all the classes so that it gives our brains a few minutes to reset! I’ll try and list all the classes we have (so far):

• TV – acting for TV, how TV sets work, who does what on a TV set, etc
• Movement – dancing, strengthening our bodies (starting with a gruelling 25-minute warm up every session), interpreting different characters through movement, etc
• Yoga – crazy stretches and core strength workouts basically (this is my hardest class)
• Acting – so far we’ve covered the 7 stages of tension (different moods basically), an exercise called Starfish which is mental and makes you go into the extreme of whatever you’re feeling (e.g. in one class, I was crying literally hysterically and uncontrollably. It was horrible), etc
• Approach to Text – basically what you do to prepare your script and character before you even get into rehearsals
• Stagecraft – another way of approaching text… too hard to explain
• Voice – how to use our voices properly for speaking and accents and muscle work
• Singing
• Class scene work – actually getting scripts and putting them into rehearsal and performance
• Laban – basically running round and dancing how we want to for ages and ages until you’re almost dead and then you calm down and almost pass out, then we look at our different bodies and traits, etc
• Character – looking specifically at how to adapt and develop characters and really getting us to look really deeply into personas and back stories
• Radio – acting for radio, how radio studios work, etc
• Improvisation – Improvisation and thinking on your feet and not hesitating (even for a second), getting rid of the barrier that stops us for saying the very first thing we think of, etc
• Theatre History – going through all history (from the Ancient Greeks) and looking at how theatre fits into it and how we can see it in playwrights’ work, etc
• Stage combat – how to fight on stage (punishments and warm ups are push ups or press ups… eurgh)
• Sight reading – how to deal with getting a script then having to read it well within a couple of minutes with no other preparation
• Storytelling – how we communicate stories well and the shaping of stories (probably good for recording audio books etc)
• Dance – haven’t started this, but we’re going to be doing flamenco and salsa etc so quite excited about this

We’re also into rehearsals for our end of term performance on Monday and Tuesday this week. We have been put into tutor groups and we work on different texts each term. So my group is working on two plays by Laura Wade; Breathing Corpses and Colder than Here, and I am working on a duologue from Breathing Corpses where my character Eileen is discussing the fact my husband Jim, played by Madhav (the nicest person in the world), has found a dead body. It’s a little morbid, but a great play! I’ve really enjoyed working on this text and am really looking forward to presenting it on Tuesday.

It’s weird, because our tutor groups are different to our class groups. So there are 4 groups of approx. 12 which we stay in for the whole term. I’m in group 2, and the first week was a little weird… We were known as the quiet group to the teachers! But from week 2 onwards I think we’re probably the weird group or something! We’re all soooo different and have quite big personalities but we’re like one big family and are now really, really close, which I love. I’ve made some really good friends in the group – mainly Tina, Sarah, Kate, Fayez, Laura – so it’s going to be horrible when the groups change in October (we’re mixed up into different class group every term). I do branch out and speak to other people, but I like having some close friends too! :D

To be honest I’ve not really ventured out into London too much yet (as everything is so expensive really) but I have been to the theatre a few times. I went to some free open-air theatre next to the Thames with a few others on the course. We saw some Greek theatre – Oedipus then Antigone – which was very good. I also went to the Old Vic Theatre and saw Tennessee Williams’ play Sweet Bird of Youth which starred Kim Cattrall (from Sex and the City)! She was amaaaaaazing (I wasn’t prepared for just how good she was) and I looooved the play. And the whole year went with the school to The Globe Theatre to see Midsummer Night’s Dream which was also fantastic. So really enjoying all these non-musical theatre things! Although I have been looking at some cheap opera tickets and found that my singing teacher from university Mary Plazas will be leading the cast of Madam Butterfly in a few performances with English National Opera in October and November and there are some cheap tickets so I’m going to try to go to that! I have money right now, but I need to budget so it can last the whole year, so I need to pick and choose which performances I want to pay to go and see.

So that’s my London Experience so far! Sorry it’s been so long-coming, but I hope you’ve found it interesting. After the October hols, things are just going to get more and more hectic, so it’ll probably be even harder for me to stay blogging, but we’ll see!

Do any of you live in London? Can anyone recommend any good, cheap theatre or places to visit? I want to make the most of it while I’m here as, although I want to stay after I finish the course, I have no idea where things will take me once I graduate, so don’t want to miss out!

Wendy xxx

I'm Back!! :)

Hello again Blogland!!

It feels like forever since I last blogged – I didn’t even do the last post of the 30 Day Snap in June! (FYI it was meant to be a pic of me in concert but it ended up far too hectic to think about photos, so I failed. Oh well!) And I haven’t even been reading posts as I’d be too tempted to spend money I don’t have haha! Anyway, I took 2 months off to sort out my life and now I'm back!

I have had a crazy couple of months and I think I will write it up bit by bit, otherwise the post would take about 3 hours to read! I have had so much going it has been hectic and very emotional, but ah-maz-ing at the same time and I can't wait to share it with you. In a nutshell, I said goodbye to Glenfiddich Distillery for the last time after 6 seasons working there; I also said goodbye to my friends and family and moved 600 miles to London; I was Maid of Honour at my best friend Lucia’s wedding; again I had to say another goodbye as Lucia moved to Cyprus 3 days later; aaand I’ve started my 1-Year Acting course at the Drama Studio London.

One of the main reasons I started up this blog was so that friends and family who I hardly see or speak to would be able to keep up with things that I'm up to, and since moving to London almost a month ago, I haven't done that (slap on the wrist for Wendy!). SO, although my posts won't be super regular (as my life is just going to get busier and busier as time goes on), I'll try my best to post as often as I can.

I’m up early for the craziness to begin all over again tomorrow morning, so I’ll leave it there for now. But look out for updates in the coming weeks.

Blogosphere – it’s good to be back!! :)

Wendy xxx

30 Day Snap #29: Nasty Cold, Go Away!

Day 29

Desperately trying to keep this cold at bay until after my concert tomorrow! Steaming, Olbas Oil baths, (fake) Lemsips, multivitamins... Fingers crossed!!

x

30 Day Snap #28: Strawberries and Ice Cream

Day 28

My granny and Aunty Linda (mum's sister) are staying this weekend for the Sunday Club Picnic tomorrow then my concert on Sunday. Tonight we had strawberries and ice cream. The strawberries were amazing (Tesco finest* in case you're wondering) and although I really like the ice cream (Mackays vanilla - not sure if this is sold all over the UK or just up here?) I didn't have any as I don't want anything cloggin up my throat when I'm trying my hardest to keep my voice/throat in good condition for Sunday!

x

30 Day Snap #27 (a day late, sorry!): Ceilidh with Glenfiddich friends

Day 27

Once again I've had to steal a pic, this time from my lovely friend, Fiona, for Day 27 (apologies!). I went to a ceilidh ("kay-lee") with the the other guides and had a fab time. It was a lot of fun. From left to right: Hannah 2, me (spoiling the photo!), Yasmin, Paul, Hannah 1 and Emma.

x

30 Day Snap #26: Out for Dinner!

Day 26

I was out for dinner tonight with the other Glenfiddich Guides. We went to a Pizza House called Scribbles in Elgin, then to The Cooperage bar for drinks, and it was a lovely evening. As I forgot my camera, I've cheated and used a photo that my lovely friend Emma took. (Check out her blog here!!)

x