It’s my last day at the fringe*, I’m leaving early tomorrow and I feel a lot of things. I admit a fair whack of what I feel is tired, I didn’t get home till nearly 4am last night after the Crap Music Rave Party, but there are other feelings too. I think if Tomas Ford brought the show to Melbourne I’d get vast portions of my friends to come along. It was an extravaganza of nineties musical mediocrity!

I’m sad that the festival is winding down but in a way I’m relieved as well. It’s been a big, challenging, wonderful, intense adventure. I’ve seen a lot of shows (a total of 55 not including street shows) and while there were a few real duds there were lots of genuine diamonds too.. I’d like to do a show myself sometime. I think it could be good fun, but it would also be a lot of hard work. I have a lot of respect for these people, performers whose lives are lived on tour and with uncertain incomes. I feel like I have a better understanding of the fact that there are a lot of brilliant, creative people out there who still work in bars, or in office jobs because art (mostly) doesn’t pay the rent. I feel like I’m ready to accept that having a job in the ‘real’ world, one that allows some flexibility and secures my ability to pay my rent and to eat, is not a failing. It’s a necessary part of the sort of life I want to have. I can use my time outside of this job to learn and develop my art.

From now until Christmas I want to prioritise working on my performance skills. I know of some improv workshops around town which I want to check out and I’m going to get onto finding some more musicians to jam with. The challenge will be that in November I’ll attempt NaNoWriMo again. I’ve done it the last three years, but along with these two other priorities and working it might be a struggle. Then again, I tend to work fairly well under pressure, at least over fairly short periods of time, and I had other stuff on those other times too.

I’ll be back in Melbourne next weekend and I have some temp work lined up as soon as I get back. After a year of full-time study and a month long jaunt overseas I will feel much better once I’m earning and saving again instead of spending wildly. Well, I guess I haven’t been spending wildly, but it certainly hasn’t been a cheap year.

Despite being a bit travel weary I feel like I’ve been energised to get things happening. The manuscript for the novel I started during last November is almost ready to be sent out, and I think I’ll look into getting an agent this time. If anyone knows a book agent that might want to hear from me, please let me know.  So, while there is certainly nothing like travel to give a fresh outlook on things, there is also nothing quite like being on the way home. See you soon Melbs! I’ve missed you. Did you miss me? XOXO
*I wrote this yesterday, while waiting for a show, and posted it from London.