Happy Friday

Bank holidays rule. Especially this year, because Easter has come so early that we get the Easter-based Bank Holidays off...but they don't eat into our spring term holiday itself. Oh no! So I get a long weekend, a week and half back at work, and then the two week spring term holiday.

All this is Very Good.

What else is Very Good?

Well, I've got a few ideas about stories and four days to work on them. There's an excitingly wild and windy feeling outside, and that's Very Good because it's atmospheric. 

And the other day, I got Very Good advice from a friend at work. He was talking about contacting a hero of his, and how he had reservations, but his life coach pointed out that he was just mindreading, putting words and thoughts and reactions into somebody else's voice when in fact he had no idea how that person would react.  Pre-empting.

Blimey, I do that. I do that a lot. So many times I decide not to do something (usually writing related) because there'll be 'no point.' And so I'll have missed a gazillion opportunities. 'Cos it's easier not to do than it is to fail.

But the Very Good advice is Very Good because it's right. And I've written it down here because it's something I need to remember.

Is there a cure for cynicism?

'Cos if there is, I need it.

I posted up the rest of my fanfic story and have had great feedback. No, not just great: the feedback I dreamed I'd get but feared I wouldn't.

For a few seconds I was ecstatic. Hurrah! thought I. I am a writer! People love what I've written! Be happy!

And then I thought, yeah, but are they just taking the mickey?

See? I'm like that. Cynical.

Or, just determined not to lead myself down the garden path.

However, I am going to see if I can flog my story. It'd be nice to make a living as a writer...

...no, not just nice. Imagine the pure joy that would fill every moment when I realised - again and again - that I didn't have to go back to the day job. Oh, bliss!

Nirvana/Utopia/Eden all in one.

And look, I've also found the cure for cynicism.

Success!

I stayed awake last night...oh yes!

No, I know it's not exciting. But I'm happy, so who cares?

I also finished my story, the one I've been working on for seemingly ages and which I thought I'd never get to the end of, so it's a double hurrah and a double success.

Hurrah! Hurrah!

....so....tired...

...I'm beginning to think that I'm being hypnotised. Secretly. Through the TV.

Well, it's the only explanation. 

I suppose last night I could blame the fact that I'm currently lurgy-ridden. Just a cold, but last night I was on Day Nurse and although it's not supposed to make you drowsy, it clearly pierced through my armour of coffee and made me sleepy. But Sunday night I fell asleep on the sofa and for no good reason.

I've nothing against falling asleep in the evening. I just don't like how it makes the day much shorter and gives me less time to do the things I enjoy. In the past I've tried to write through this sort of exhaustion - not exhaustion, just sudden and complete sleepiness - but I end up writing with my eyes closed and, eventually, writing while partially asleep. Which can be entertaining.

I don't know how not to be tired in the evenings. I've tried going to bed earlier, but I'm just as tired in the morning. Coffee doesn't work. It's annoying.

On the other hand, last night before I fell asleep I watched my first ever Jon Pertwee Dr Who adventures, 'Spearhead From Space.' I loved it. I felt all nostalgic as I watched it - which is weird, because I hadn't even been born when it first transmitted - and even enjoyed the old-fashioned narrative structure. But mostly I liked Jon Pertwee in the role. More, please!

So yesterday I had a lovely day. I'm not sure why it was so lovely, but it was.

No, really. Everything just sort of clicked together. I slept in until nine o'clock and then spent a happy couple of hours plotting out a story that has been eluding me for a while. During that time I also checked my emails, spent a short period of time online (just enough to do what was needed, but not so long that my head started to go buzzy) and uploaded a pile of classical music to iTunes. Time well used.

Then I walked into town. I didn't mean to, I was going to walk as far as Bank and then Tube it to Tottenham Court Rd. Instead I walked all the way in, making it to Covent Garden in less than an hour. There was a brief chance for frustration - the shops didn't have the Converse trainers I wanted, Forbidden Planet was selling all of its classic Who DVDs for £20 - but I didn't take it. Instead I walked over to Amato's and had brunch.

Brilliant idea! Refreshed and happy, I wandered down Old Compton Street and the rest of the labyrinth that is Soho, until I reached Carnaby Street.

Success! I'd forgotten there was a Converse shop there, and I bought a lovely pair of patchwork hi-tops that I am profoundly in love with right now. Fantastic! Then I went to HMV, where all the classic Who DVDs were just £10 and a friendly man-behind-the-till told me how to get to the hidden commentary track on the new release of 'The Five Doctors.' Wonderful! Thence to Marks & Spencers where I gave in to my geeky self and bought a TARDiS Easter Egg (when you press a button on the side of the box it makes the TARDiS sound. It makes me laugh like a maniac. I love it) and lovely weekend food. Superb! And then homewards, where the Tube didn't give me a nightmare journey. 

Blimey. And then I had a nice time, watching Whose Line, tidying the house (the goodness was briefly interrupted by a silent work rant, but I soon overcame it) and writing. Possibly not as much as I could have written, but I had already done the whole plotting thing earlier that day. And then, to top it all off, I went to DWF to find lots of lovely messages from people who were enjoying my story.

So a good day. No, not merely a good day. A perfect day. Fingers crossed that today can be as good. 

And in other news...

...Andy Murray beat Roger Federer in the first round of the Dubai tournament today.

Woohoo!

I'm a huge tennis fan and I hate this time of year. There are tournaments going on, but they're rarely picked up by TV channels and, when they are on TV, it's usually at weird times. So I don't see much tennis. So I'm extremely pleased to have seen the end of this match and double-pleased because of the outcome.

Not that I dislike Roger Federer. I just grew very bored watching him win (seemingly everything) over the last few years. Having a new Grand Slam winner this year already has made the tennis world a far more exciting place, and having Andy Murray beat Fed (again, and so well) makes it even happier and shinier.

Hurrah!

Not that I think Andy Murray's going to win Wimbledon this year. I like watching his game very much, but I'm not about to bandwagon him. But a few more wins like this and I'll be very happy.

Oh, and in other news: I'm very addicted to Dr Who Forum over at Outpost Gallifrey. I've posted up bits of fanfic and had positive reviews (finally! an audience!) and now I can't stop going over to check for replies to my posts. I've been an avid internet user for 10 years now, and up until I registered at DWF I've been a persistent lurker. But now...God help me, now I can't stop spouting irrelevant rubbish about various Dr Who episodes. Blimey.

Oh, but it's fun!