Tuesday 24 April 2012

Ooooh, networking!

I Tweet, therefore I am.
Since I last ventured into blogland they've only gone and changed the bloomin' layout! It's been an interesting couple of days internet-wise, as I've had to sharpen my networking claws and get stuck into the messy and often brutal world of social networking for business! My new job involves me using the internet (and my general wiles) to make people come and drink in my lovely bar, where I also serve fabulous cocktails for a reasonable rate MINUS service charge. Resultantly, I have had to learn how to use twitter this week. It confuses me greatly at the moment, because it feels a little too much like standing on a box and letting every thought I have spill out into a megaphone to a disinterested crowd. Which is less than comforting for me, a serious artist (stop laughing), and so initially I was a bit sceptical. However, I have begun to think that maybe twitter is an ideal solution to my biggest problem of all - my limited blogspot audience (both of you). Within 3 hours of being on bloody twitter I had double that, and that's without sending out pity pleas to my facebook friends who are now so cool that they only facebook through their twitter. And so I'm tweeting. I think. I still can't work out how to read the news feed.


In other news, I joined a dating website this week. I've resisted the urge for a good long while because I'm not ready to commit to owning lots of cats, but so far this particular website seems slightly less...depressing. First of all, it's endorsed by Sarah Beeny, a bona fide C-list celebrity (that's a compliment, she's right up there with Sian off BBC Breakfast) and second of all, I appear to be fairly popular so far...which is a little concerning when you consider the fact that I have had limited (read: zero) interest since moving to London from eligible men (though plenty of teenagers and sociopaths have had a go). The catch with this website is pretty interesting - your friend writes a testimonial for you that others should use to find out more about you. Which is really nice actually. So as of tomorrow, I'm going to stop checking their pictures before reading the blurb. Until then, I'm afraid I shall mainly be shallow. I should probably go over the terms and conditions again...


Paper Dress Test Run
I've had a couple of gigs recently with my favourite men The Boom Boom Booms, most recently at Bloomsbury Bowling Alley. I always like to take something new along for the boys, as they are a lot of fun and regular bookers (in fact in the past 6 months I think they've made up half of my work - I really need an agent!) and this month was no exception. The Booms have recently launched a rockabilly/rock n' roll night called 'Aliens Ate My Cadillac', and I have performed twice at this night, to mixed reactions. As the first night was at Paper Dress Vintage Boutique in Shoreditch, I made a Paper Dress and matching accessories for the occasion. I discovered a 5 minute method for constructing a dress that worked impossibly well, as well as looking amazing! Unfortunately when I arrived for the gig I realised I had not packed any of the 10 newspapers I had stockpiled at my flat. Thankfully one of the musicians was kind enough to go on a news hunt for me, and the dress was successfully constructed, before being callously destroyed 5 minutes later.


So generally it's been an interesting couple of weeks, and I have a few new routines in the pipeline (more 80's rock, I know you all love it so) to keep me busy! Stay tuned, next week I aim to learn how to trend...



Tuesday 3 April 2012

The Procrastination Monster

After several weeks absence I have finally made it back to the blog! The past month and a half have been rather difficult with my 'day' job, ending with me leaving the company entirely last week. I'm pleased to announce that being paid minimum wage to make cocktails in a not entirely fancy bar is far more enjoyable than having a grown-ups job, and I think for the immediate future I'm going to be focusing on Fanny a bit more.


The danger of freelancing for me is that I'm not much of an independent learner. Since the days of revising for my GCSEs (which I never really committed to, there was a lot of last minute cramming) I have know that the best way for me to learn and work is in a supervised room. It's not that I don't have a good work ethic, and more that I have an excellent procrastination ethic. This often leads to sitting, staring and occasionally (oh who am I kidding, ALWAYS) leads to baking cakes for no one in particular. I have tried to curb the impulse over the years, and while at university I made a real effort to finish my work a few days ahead of schedule so that I never had to endure the panic of writing a portfolio in a day (May 20th 2008 - the longest day of my life) but now that I have left academia I can feel the procrastination monster creeping back in to m head. 


The procrastination monster is a very bad thing. He tells me to watch box sets, and stare out of the window. Sometimes he lets me write my blog, but only if I promise to read Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan-fic afterwards. I struggle against his mighty will, but to no avail. He always wins this epic battle, normally because I get easily distracted by shiny things. But I have a cunning plan. As I am now a minimum wage schlub with no social life or ready cash, I aim to spend the next couple of months drastically improving my overall self, starting with all the costumes in my wardrobe that no longer fit because of my other mortal enemy, the Stress-Eating Monster. Today consisted mainly of hula-hooping to loud pop music, followed by an attempt at a sit up. Tomorrow I plan to introduce the lunge. I'm excited.


In addition to this half-hearted attempt at fitness I will also be spending a lot more time here, in order to start working more effectively on my research, practise and general life enjoyment. I understand this also means a lot of fan-fic. It's a risk I'm willing to take.