Me And My Hectic Life!

I apologise for the lack of updates recently, my life appears to have exploded. That or someone’s replaced the old Maddy who sat in her room writing all day with one who actually has loads of stuff to do and doesn’t seem to get a moment’s peace to just sit down and blog. I think it’s the first one, my life has been feeling very ‘splodey lately.

Glyndwr Uni is currently hosting Ffresh Festival, the Welsh student film festival, and it seems to be going really well. I’ve been doing a couple of hours of volunteering on the registration desk yesterday, and I’m doing the same this afternoon – in 45 minutes, to be precise – as well as helping to judge the best actor award (not just me – there’s three of us doing it), so it means going to watch all the showcases (the one we saw this morning was very good!) and then making a decision.

As well as that, directorial performances are next week and I’m in two, so rehearsals are still ongoing. I’ll be honest, I’m looking forwards to getting them over and done with now. Having to schedule in rehearsals every week around everything else is mad. I’ll be glad of a break!

Going to see Train on Saturday and honestly, I can’t wait! I’m so worried that something will go wrong – we’ll lose the tickets or they’ll cancel last minute – because I’ve wanted to see Train for ages, they’re my favourite band and I love their music so much. I think my Mom’s still convinced that she’s coming with us, and honestly if I knew she liked Train when I was buying the tickets I would’ve gotten her one too, but she didn’t decide she liked them until around the day after tickets sold out. Next time, I promise!

So, lots has been happening in the world – I know I said I wouldn’t post too much on current affairs but it’s been a big couple of weeks – since I’ve been AWOL.

Oscar Pistorious and the shambles that has been his bail hearing – how it’s going to be a fair trial now with all the mistakes that have been made is beyond me, but I’m hoping it is all just a big mistake and he really mistook her for a burglar.

The human incarnation of a Chucky Doll calling the-woman-formerly-known-as-Kate-Middleton “plastic” and basically having a go at her because she’s pretty – what else would have sparked such a vicious and personal rant? It’s fine to have an opinion, sure, but there was some definite bitterness going on there – which made me giggle really; it’s been good for the Twitter lulz.

Bedroom taxes and workfare schemes galore; political cock-ups I’m not even going to delve into because I could spend all day ranting about Ian Duncan Smith; but I’ll spare you that one.

Still, the story that’s caught my eye isn’t a miserable one, or one filled with anger and bitterness. It’s one of hope; one that’s really affected me in a way I didn’t think it would. I’m referring, of course, to the announcement of Mars One (at least, it’s the first I’ve heard of it) – the plan to start a colony on Mars. I’m thrilled, because it’s a step towards the universe I’m writing about – Christopher Maine’s universe, of course – becoming a reality, and I never thought we’d even taken one step towards it during my lifetime. I really hope it becomes a reality and isn’t another of those far-fetched schemes, doomed to failure, because the hope the news has filled me with is surprising.

So that’s just a little update from me, to warn you that it may be a while until you hear from me again. I’m still alive, still plodding along (or rather, running at everything head-first and hoping it doesn’t hurt too much) – I’m just a busy bee!

Exciting News!

So, there’s a few bits of exciting news to tell you all about! The first is that the first read-through and casting of the musical summer school this year was great; I’m thrilled with my part and the song I get to sing, which is a favourite of mine! The musical is going to be great and I think it’s going to be a fun few weeks, which will take my mind off the impending results day!

The second bit of good news is that one of my poems, “Stardust”, is going to be published in an anthology by ForwardPoetry, which I’m really excited about! It’s the third piece of poetry I’ve had published but this is my favourite I’ve written so far, so I’m excited to see it in print! I’m also making small amounts of progress on my new novel, and that’s always a good thing, so things are going pretty well. Plus there’s the fact that I am turning 18 on Friday 13th July. Don’t worry though – although I’ll legally be an adult, I’m never going to be a grown up. I’ve heard too many bad reviews about growing up, so I think I’m going to pass on that one.

Starting to write!

I feel like I’m finally getting back into the swing of writing! I’ve just entered a writing competition with a piece of writing I’m rather proud of. I’m not sure what the rules are about posting your work elsewhere so I won’t post it here yet but if I can in the future I definitely will, but I’ll explain it – it is essentially, in 750 words (I actually struggled writing to a word limit!), a day in the life of a bench. Yes, you read that correctly, a bench. It sounds crazy but I’m actually quite pleased with how it went, and it ends on what could be described as a “cliffhanger” but it reflects real life I think.

So, it’s a good feeling to be getting back into it, but at the same time I know it’s just temporary relief from revision (relief I can’t really afford at the moment but I’m hopeful that having got the need to write something that isn’t about Freud or the working model of memory out of my system, I can get back and concentrate on revising and hopefully get the best grade possible in my exam.

Talking of exams, they have a knack of disrupting things, don’t they. Just when I feel I’m one step closer to finding out what’s wrong with me – I got the date for my scan – I’m faced with another setback, in that the date is the same day as my Psychology exam. Obviously the exam has to come first – I can’t really re-sit it – so I have to wait for another appointment which, knowing my luck, will either be the day of my English exam or when I’m on holiday. Sigh.

Yet another post about why I am proud to be Welsh.

So, today my boyfriend and I went to the Eisteddfod. For those not familiar with it, it’s basically a mass gathering of Welsh people, mainly for competitions (in this case, as it was the Urdd Eisteddfod, for primary/secondary school pupils and those under 25) in singing, dancing (folk and disco), instruments and also art and design, poetry and other things like that, as well as being a chance for people to meet up and celebrate Welsh culture and the Welsh language. There are also lots of stalls selling Welsh goods and promoting services in Wales.

It was amazing! If you live in Wales and you’ve never been to an Eisteddfod, I definitely recommend it – this year is the first time I’ve ever been to one, because my school wasn’t big on entering people for the Eisteddfods so I never got a chance to perform at any other than local ones which were basically concerts in the village or school hall – because there’s so much to see and do – lots of displays, lots of stands to do activities at, a funfair and the tents and studios where the preliminaries and final competitions take place. The talent is such a high standard and it really is amazing to see so many people who are so young, performing so well in the Welsh language. It provides some hope for the survival of our language and culture, something I will always support (one of the main reasons why I’ll be taking some of my degree through the medium of Welsh).

So, I will always be proud to be Welsh, and when I have children, they will be brought up to speak Welsh as their first language, and if they want to, I’ll give them every opportunity possible to perform at the Eisteddfod, because I wish I’d been able to be a bigger part of them when I was young enough.