Goldfish Eating Bass, Circus Tricks (and a bit of Spenser for good measure)

Today was a busy day indeed with positive thinking and yessing galore. Okay, I might be exaggerating a little bit, but not entirely. Today was the first day of my volunteering experience in a local primary school. I had a few doubts about going as I was getting into a bit of a stressed out state over the amount of uni work I have to do. And I didn't really think it was such a good idea to be around young children when in a bit of a mood. But, I knew this would be a different and, most likely, a worthwhile experience (working with younger people usually is, even if it's tough going). Conscience urged me to go. Next thing, there I was in the volunteer office (standing beneath a bloody hot heater!) with a newspaper in hand (no relevance, I'd just bought The Independent on my way down there) and a volunteer t-shirt. The t-shirt would subsequently be put on with some amount of pride.

So, we journeyed over to the primary school, did the usual 'wow, I'd forgotten what it's like to be in school', and made our way to the classroom. We were soon greeted by a class of small, lively, smilely children. Us volunteers probably looked more nervous than they did. In fact, they looked like they were raring to go. It was so exhilarating being surrounded by enthusiastic, bright and lively youngsters. I admit I momentarily put aside all the study work and absorbed myself (okay, I didn't completely loose myself in the moment, I still acted like a responsible adult) in the imaginative mini-universe of young people delved into art (in its broadest sense) and play. It just confirms for me one of the possible career paths I would like to pursue: working in a theatre education department. The idea of school children being able to benefit in a fun and exciting way from theatre - both doing it themselves and seeing it live - is brilliant to me, and I would love to be a part of that experience. One of the pupils came out with a line which completely cracked me up - in a very good way - about goldfish eating bass. It was all at once so random but so imaginative. It's something only children can do. It brought a smile to my face for hours afterwards. I'm still smiling at it now.

If I hadn't already exhausted myself for the day (actually, I felt rather refreshed after my volunteering) I decided I would say 'yes' to a departmental seminar about Edmund Spenser - that abandonned contemporary of Shakespeare. That's all I knew about him before I went. That, and his having given name to the Spensarian sonnet form, his having written The Fairie Queene and... some other things. I really do know very little about him. I came out enlightened. It was a thought provoking, interesting, really nicely delivered seminar - some great questions asked too. It made me want to delve into the world of letter writing - from the Renaissance right through to more recent writers. There's something about letters which I find absolutely fascinating, and often beautiful and exquisite (read some of Charlotte Bronte's letters and Keats's letters and you'll see what I mean). It's an area to look into once my first degree is finished, along with Shakespeare, Batman and Spooks. - I really do have a bizarre range of tastes where literature/culture is concerned. Afterwards a group of us went to one of the campus bars for a drink and a chat. Another 'yes' in my book (and well worth it too).

I refer to the circus tricks in the title because I forgot to write about my friend's 21st birthday night out. Tut tut to myself. 'Tricks' is perhaps a bit far fetched. There weren't any involved. But we were dressed circus-style, amongst us: a clown, an acrobat, a ring master, and various other brightly clothed figures. It was great fun. Although, I occasionally had to question the D.J.'s music choice. It was well worth saying 'yes' to that, even if I did have yet another tiredness hangover the next day, or days. I say 'tiredness hangover' in absolute honesty. I had very little alcoholic drinks that night.

Hmmmmmm. I've wound down my rather exciting but tiring day with another episode of Spooks. Wonderful programme that it is.

For now, goodnight to all. Much love,
xxx

A Squashed Frog, Was It?

Yes, that's right. A squashed frog. I had a squashed frog. I was asked if I would like one and, as might be expected, I said 'yes'. It sounds little gross, right?

Well, let me explain. I didn't actually eat a squashed frog; I drank one. Okay, that still sounds pretty gross. It wasn't technically an actual squashed frog. It was a shot (I'm sure you're all relieved now). I'm not quite sure what was in the shot, but it was a shot of some kind. This just goes to show my extreme lack of knowledge about alcoholic drinks.

This was all part of a night out for my friend Martin's twenty-first birthday (this is one of the things I originally said 'yes' to). We were all in some form of fancy dress based around the theme of 'French'. Most dressed as mimes, faces all done up - they looked really good. I was just in blue and white, with a dash of red. Keeping up with the French flag and all. I remember saying that I hadn't said 'yes' to anything, so right on cue, Naomi (another friend) invited me to her twenty-first night out. I, of course, responded in the affirmative. The theme for this is circus, or cirque du soleil. I popped out into town yesterday to kit myself out. I will be an acrobat - or something vaguely like that. I have leotard, bright blue tights, and a tutu skirt. I fell in love with the tutu skirt thing, and could not resist buying it. It's a shame that I can't do acrobatics anymore - my limit is the splits on my right side - not that I would ever do acrobatics on a night out anyway. I might look a bit weird.

I was very disappointed with myself after my trip to town. I had a brilliant opportunity to say 'yes' to a free tour of Fitness First, and I didn't. Now, clearly, I am not someone who goes to the gym, or ever has done. So, even if I had said 'yes' it would have been very strange, but I still felt very disappointed with myself.

Today I tried out The Long Poem reading group run by a member of staff in my university department. We read the opening chunk of Tennyson's In Memoriam A.H.H. If you've read the poem, you'll know it's major topic is grief/grieving. Not exactly the most uplifting of literary texts. Still, with tea and biscuits and a bit of a literature-based natter, it was good fun. It's lovely to just read something in the company of others who are interested in literature, and without needing to analyse it in detail. Poetry can work wonders!

Aside from saying 'yes' to a cup of tea and biscuits, I've not really had any opportunities in the past couple of days. It's a little disappointing, but I'm on the alert for when the opportunity arises. Positive thinking! Definitely the way to go.

Much love for now.
xxx

Time for Tea

That's right - time for tea. The first time in approximately ten years. I can hardly believe it's been that long since I last drank it. I'm not even sure of the reason for me not drinking it. I think I just got into the habit of saying 'no'. But today was different. When asked if I would like a cup, I hesitated before realising that this was a brilliant opportunity to say 'yes'. And so I did. I said 'yes'. That wonderful three letter word. And next thing I had a cup of tea placed in front of me. I sipped it - I wasn't too sure about it, so I added a bit of sugar, and......I realised there and then what I'd been missing for so many years! Maybe now I'll become one of those obssessive tea drinkers.

And if saying 'yes' once hadn't been enough, another opportunity arose which I very nearly missed. Thinking I should check what had been going on during the start of the tennis year, I decided to have a peek at the ATP tennis website. Just as I hit enter and the website loaded, there, on the screen, appeared A BOX. Yes, that's right A BOX. A BOX asking me if I could spare a few minutes to answer some questions about my experience on the website. And the most fantastic thing was: there were TWO BUTTONS. One for YES and one for NO. Now, naturally I moved the cursor over the no button, ready to do what I usually would do: click no. But then I stopped, and moved the cursor over the yes. And clicked YES! I actually got excited about this, which may seem very worrying. But it was just such a different experience for me clicking YES, I could not help but be a little excited. The questions, as it turns out, were relatively uninteresting, but still I smiled, knowing I had clicked YES.

Sadly, I then missed a final 'yes' moment. Perhaps it was a good job I missed it too. Out with friends, I went to the bar to get some food and a drink - a glass of coke. The bartender asked me if I would like ice, and considering it was so bloody cold inside the restaurant I automatically said 'no'. My friend kindly pointed out to me what I'd done. I was disappointed, but only mildly so.

Much love

xxx