Back to work
Life is hectic at the moment, and frankly, it's only getting worse. Good worse, but worse nonetheless :)
Thursday and Friday I spent in a course that I'm taking. It's about communication and listening and observing and whatnot, and trying to better yourself. Kind of blah blah blah corporate shit, or... well, that was my opinion of it anyway. Nevermind that it is (in my eyes) way overpriced. It did end up being quite intensive and a bit of an eye opener though, and actually was a lot of fun. A fun group and while not 100% of the course's subjects will matter to me, I can see how some of it will actually help me personally as well. Even after two days, I have the feeling I am more aware of the way people talk, like you start saying something, and halfway you start becoming aware of how you're actually delivering it and maybe there's a better way. Right now that's a bit of a pain in the ass, because my thoughts run all over the place while I'm talking.
Either way, that's what had me tied up all day Thursday and Friday. Aside from that, I've been putting bucketloads of work in my Halloween costume, which is now finally coming together. About time it did too, because I am flying off to Budapest this Thursday evening and it would be nice if it was finished then. The papier machee didn't turn out as nice as I had imagined it. It seems the wallpaper glue stuff I used just wasn't sticky enough, so the paper feels a little "loose" in places. I sprayed one of my wings yesterday with it's base colour and it looks pretty nifty. Planning to detail it with a little black and silver later today, if I manage to get home while there's still some daylight left.
Saturday I got up quite early and went into town to check out the information day of a photographic academy type, who offer a 3 month part time course (on saturdays) and also the option to take it up a level and do a real, proper education as well, which actually gets recognised as a Proper Education (of which I have none). Downside is that it's pretty expensive, and of course, the time and attention it'll need. I am interested in maybe doing the 3 month course and see how I cope with going to school on Saturdays before taking the plunge. As for the finances, I may be able to deduct the actual course cost from taxes and maybe even scrounge a nifty lens out of it. Need to check up on that.
After that I dropped in at the so called "Halloween Specialist of Amsterdam" and stocked up on some make up, latex horns and ears and lots of mastix. It's all coming together very nicely, methinks. On the way back I took the tram up to the market, where there's a great trimmings, buttons and godknowswhat shop, where I bought... trimmings, buttons and godknowswhat. I want to brighten up the boring grey army typ jacket I got a while back and make it look a little more appealing. I'll post pictures of that too, if I ever come around to it :-]
Sunday was the best. I got up early and went to the stables, hooked up my trailer and set off to the beach with a friend. She really wanted to go, but her mare has never been, so she needed me and Solon as rock solid types to give her mare some confidence. What can I say? Solon was an absolute gem. He was giving me the evil eye because I dared showing up before 9 then didn't even put him out in his field. All that changed the minute he spotted the trailer. His ears perked up and he walked right into it, which would make some horse owners real envious :-] The beach I like to go to is only about 30 minutes away and it has very easy parking. There was a lot of wind, so the sea looked really rough with waves and whatnot, but that also meant it was moderately quiet. This particular beach at IJmuiderslag is very wide, and we'd checked the tides beforehand, so we got on the beach just as the tide was going out, and sand banks start to form. This is great, because you get puddles where the waves are a little less fierce so the horses don't get as spooked from them.
Solon was a great little trooper, plunging right into the deep of a steep sandbank, until he was in about knee deep and started splashing around, which gave my friend's mare the confidence to follow his example. We walked, trotted, cantered, galloped (=race the horses) and got complete soaked because the horses splashed so much. Solon got so into it, he even braved the waves, which rode up and broke against his belly. So Sunday left me with a real proud feeling of how my little boy (he was 2.5 when I bought him) has now grown out to be this rock solid companion. That's quite a neat trick, considering he's only 7 himself. He's grown into a nice little horse, which is pretty awesome, considering that's all my work. Well, my work, and his personality I guess. If only he didn't have those temper tantrums...
In the evening I worked on my Halloween junk some more, sewing together my furry vest, while watching CSI and Bones. I'm no great fan of CSI and Bones type shows, really, because I tend to eat late and all the blood and gore tends to put me off my food. But now I watched with half an eye. The Bones episode was about a boy being killed while trying to pretend to be a superhero or something. It was kind of funny, especially because I spotted the little easter egg. The boy's name being Warren and one of the other characters' last name being Ellis, which must have been a little nod to the comic book writer Warren Ellis, but not the Dirty Three's Warren Ellis. I'm not entirely sure if it was a positive or a negative one, as they then started slagging roleplayer, comic book lovers and geeks in general, and stereotyped the whole lot and mixed them in together, while playing Hard-Fi in the background (I confused them for Bauhaus at first!). I had mixed feelings about that, yanno, having been a roleplayer, geek, liking Hard-Fi, and not so much being a comic book lover, but I do love Neil Gaiman's writing, so I guess that makes me a weirdo too (Neil Gaiman also got a mention on the show). Whatever... it was fun to see they do their research. Someone in their team must be a geek, which makes it alright, I suppose.
Oh yeah, and I also spent 250 quid before breakfast on a twin bed room + festival access to the All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Now I just need to find someone who'll want to come with me =) The lineup is starting to look pretty cool. Somehow it reminds me a little of the Liss Ard festival, back in the days.
Now I am unfortunately back in work, installing a server and staving off people who want me to do more work than I have time for and telling them no.
