Today's Muse: Just Dandy

*Oh, lookit, lookit: The lovely Natalie has opened up a test shop online, where you can find her handmade wire flowers. Go! Spend!


*The closing party for GBM was brillant. In that speshul way that makes small children explode.


*There are small children at the camp I'm conducting drama whatsits at, but they do not explode. They come very close to it, though.

Seriously, the kids - the youngest is five, and the oldest is twelve, I believe - are a riot. At first I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with them or keep them interested. I shouldn't have. I'm pretty - dare I say it - good at this large-kid-herds-handling stuff. I've probably jinxed it now. Woo.

It's funny, because the oft-repeated "you've got to take up teaching sooner or later to get by in the industry" is, well, repeated. It's a joke, almost.

But not everyone is suited for teaching.


*Something in Warren Ellis' BAD SIGNAL helped crystallize the ideas and lines I had floating around about comics and theatre. Maybe I'll put it up when I'm done outlining.

Today's Muse: Head. Pillow. Boom.

Got my semester one results in the mail. Honours all round. Whee.

I've steered clear of Friendster, MySpace and what-not. But I have, I'm glad to say, jumped onto the ComicSpace bandwagon. And like Chris of Ghouly Boys writes, I just want to add everyone to the friend horde - they're there because they like comics, just as I do.

At any rate, I'm here. Nothing fancy up yet, though.

GBM ends its run tomorrow night, then it's bump-out immediately, because another show has it's bump-in Monday morning at 6am. Closing party Monday night. Eeeeexcellent.

Then it's a week of scuttling between Yio Chu Kang to help out with Iris' children's camp and school for Hungry rehearsals, as well as finishing up homework.

Then, after all that, I can finally keel over and die.

Today's Muse: Nibble Nibble - The High Point Of Work-a-Day

The more interesting things get, the less I have to say.

Here, that is. If I run into you on the street, I'd talk your ear off. There are just some stories best told in person.

But I want to tell you. I want to share everything that's been going on - the rude jokes I've heard, the people I've met, the accidents I keep getting into. I want to hear you laugh at some of these stories, because I know you'll love them. I want to see you roll your eyes when you hear about how I manage to get hit in the eye with fucking confetti. I want to show you the script I've got here for school; talk to you about the ideas we've got for transitions, and if we're in the dance studio how we're completely screwed. I want to show you the books I found in the bargain bin.

I'm seeing a pattern with the last couple of posts; are you?



I'm working on The Little Company's The Gingerbread Man, for free. I like to think of it as experience gathering. Ma calls it exploitation.

It's ridiculously fun, whether it's watching the cast work, or repairing props, or listening to the tech team chatter over cans while waiting for the house to fill. The past week had me falling into bed still dressed in stage blacks, but now the show has more or less fallen into some sort of rhythm. Some of the people involved - both cast and crew - are already moving on to other projects while GBM is still playing, with people dashing off after the performances to attend readings or auditions or what-not.

It's been a hoot. They're a vivacious, open lot. Even though I'm not getting paid or extra credit for this, I'm definately getting more out of this than I did from the Mediacorp thing. It helps that I actually know why I'm here, what I can do, and what I can't do I can learn. It's... fwoosh bish-bosh-whee!

There is no wing space at the DBS Arts Centre. Throw in the set with the high platform, the poky mousehole and whatnot - ppfft. You practically have to press yourself against the walls, and hope you don't trip any cables or buttons.

They throw a lot of stuff offstage. Eee-hee.

And the kids! They're pretty much part of the show. Oh, some of the answers they yell back. Today's audience was especially sweet - shushing Cuckoo during his song because the other characters were napping.

And there's no subsitute for that moment in the wings, in the dark, the house holding its collective breath, just before lights go up and tick-tick-tick starts the show...


Hungry rehearsals go slowly. The more we delve into the play the more complex things seem to get. Are we in over our heads? Sometimes it feels like that. Are we going about preparing for this show in the right way?

Are the stakes high enough?

Sometimes it feels like a solid "No."


This house ought to have more cake. That would make everything loads better.

Today's Muse: Can you slap a copyright on an internet meme?

My God. It's nice being busy.

It does seem like I've more to do now that school's out. Just today: Hungry rehearsals in school in the morning, looking for a gift for Laura (the loveliest I've known) whilst navigating the shopping district in the rain, then a bus ride up to Tampines for dinner at Fazri's, an insane bus-train-bus trip back to town for GBM rehearsals (where Joyce nearly got crushed by the MRT doors), then some weird shit at Clark Quay into the wee hours.

Now home to read and write essay-like things. And look at Hungry designs. Just look.

It's fantastic having so much going on. So much to do, to say, to see.

There's something to be said for running screaming after a bus with like-minded people. For painting silly titchy flowers on a purple teapot while they sing and dance in the next room. For pulling off one's sweater in the middle of the store in the name of finding a present. For sneaking around looking for empty studios to practice in. For walking out of a library with eight books and that silly, materalistic vibe one gets with an armful of books. For Freudian slips. For pretending to beat the shit out of each other and getting graded for it. For putting your name down first on a brand-new sign-up sheet for performance practice. For cinema antics. For Doctor Who discussions. For making lists that couldn't possibly convey how wonderful and stressful and gnaw-worthy the past couple of months have been.

D'aww, I'm all sappy noooow.