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Saturday, 07 February 2009

  • Dramat

    I love Dramat. It's brilliant. And the best thing about it, is there are loads of people in Dramat who think I'm an "absolute legend". I really like that. Maybe they just haven't gotten to know me properly yet Running for Productions officer next year, vote Anthony!

Saturday, 24 January 2009

Wednesday, 21 January 2009

  • Currently
    Lisey's Story: A Novel
    By Stephen King
    see related

    Times

    I am at a very strange place right now... Parts of it are dark, and haunting. Parts of it are illuminated with brilliantly blinding rays of light the out shine everything else in this world. The sontrast between these two states is so striking that it alarms me, but in a way, I want to embrace it.

    The happier aspects of my life revolve solely around Drama. My course and Dramat, in particular. I have felt myself beginning to be accepted with Dramat. the play I directed went down very well and when I express interest in being part of the Dramat committee, present committee members seem pretty enthusiastic about it. Also, I have put forward an idea to have a UCC soap opera, which upon first discussion was enthusiastically recieved. I have made numerous plans for this, and am very excited about it. Furthermore, my writing has continued. At this stage, I have roughly 12 pages written, of what I consider to be an acceptable standard. I preformed a small piece of it at the Dramat forum tonight and it was greeted with much laughter and enthusiasm. This has driven me to continue writing. I hope to finish it sometime soon so that it may be performed next year through Dramat. How exciting would that be? Very exciting, reader. Very exciting.

    On the darker side of things... I find I am being very critical of myself lately. Negatively critical. This is most definitely a result of external stimuli and certain events that have prompted me to realise that I am not the person that I thought I was, or that many people percieve me to be. I work too much on keeping up appearances. The truth is, if the true me was to surface and expose itself, then many people would certain turn their backs on me. And I find myself embracing this dark side of me more and more. I want it to flourish, but only to the extent which I still have control over it. It scares me, but also excites me at the same time. It sends me to dark places of my mind that I never knew existed. But, as a classmate told me, "imagine what these emotions are doing for your acting"

    As for New Years Resolutions, they are going well enough.
    Writing has been maintained.
    Fruit eating has been more or less daily.
    Reading has fallen behind a little bit.
    Going to the gym has gone ou the window, but we are doing Yoga and stuff in Drama so this sort of compensates.

    I would also like to say a great big Fuck You to all of you reading this that have ever lied to me. I am sure I did not deserve these lies, and even if you thought they were for my beneift, they weren't. Lies are for nobodies benefit, only the liar's.

    Ciao.

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

  • Currently
    Scissor Sisters
    By Scissor Sisters
    see related

    New Year update.

    2009 has been nothing but miserable. The 2 weeks have been hell for me. I'm sick of college, I'm sick of people and I'm sick of life in general.

    New Years' Resolutions update:
    • Am still eating a piece of fruit every day.
    • Haven't been reading as much, but have been doing college reading, so that sorta counts.
    • Haven't been writing at all.
    • Haven't been to the gym in over 2 weeks (something like that).
    I'll never understand people. People, it seems, will never be able to understand me either.

    I've directed a play. It's on in the Granary at the moment. It was a good experience, but back-seat-directors were getting on my nerves.

    That's all for now, I can't be bothered.

Saturday, 03 January 2009

  • Currently
    Lisey's Story: A Novel
    By Stephen King
    see related

    Fancy that.

    I feel a certain obligation to update this, since not only a week or so ago I was complaining that people had abandoned their sites, etc. Props to Georgia and Damo for making comebacks though!

    My fingers are freezing at the moment, which is making it very diffcult to type accurately. I said I'd come and update here first to warm them up a bit, before I do some writing. Well, typing, but you get the idea. I've made it one of my New Year's Resolutions to write more creative stuff. I have started a play. I know I did make mention of a play at the start of the summer but in honesty that was going nowhere and I decided it would only be destructive to try and revive it. Instead, I've started with a new idea, which is a lot simpler than what I originally had in mind. It's fascinating how my views on writing, especially for theatre, have changed since I've come to college. I feel like there's a lot more territory for me to explore with my writing, and I've realised that I don't need to stick to conventions as much as I would previously have done. The ultimate aim of me doing more writing, especially with regards to the play, is to have something finished by the end of the summer and be able to submit it as a finished piece to be directed by someone next year with Dramat. Of course, I might be a little bit over ambitious with this, but the sky is the limit and my will is the only thing stopping me from reaching it.

    On the topic of New Year's Resolutions. I've taken on a few, and I feel like sharing them with you all, so that when next I might see any of you, you all can plague me about how they are going. I also plan to update here regularily about the progress of these Resolutions, because I'm sick of Resolutions not being followed through. The Resolutions are as follows:
    • Eat at least one piece of fresh fruit every day.
    • Go to the gym more often.
    • Write more.
    • Read more.
    These are fairly simple Resolutions, are they not? I figure I'll start small for 2009 and if I succeed then I can aim higher next year. So far I have eaten a piece of fruit every day since the start of 2009, I have been to the gym once already and am planning to go later again, I have started writing a play, and I have started reading Stephen King's Lisey's Story. On day 3 of 2009, I feel like I'm making good progress. As already stated, I will keep Xanga updated on my progress.

    2008 deserves to be talked about here, I guess... As a number, I like it, and it has good connotations. It's an even number, and it sounds quite nice, as did 1998. But I'm afraid that's more or less where it ends with my liking 2008. In truth, it was a torrential year, and probably the hardest one for me so far. I have had many obstacles to deal with, and I realise that in comparison with some of the lives that others live it would seem trivial, but for me it was a very difficult year, and when I think back on it I will always remember it as a year of strife, misery and suffering. On the flip side of the coin, however, I will see it as a year of rebirth. My life has changed, not because I wanted it to but because it had to. Because the environment that I was living in was destructive and detrimental for my health. I had the choice of suffering or surviving, and I can only hope that I've taken the right choice. I would regret not doing this, so I'm going to make a brief summary of the high points and low points of the past 12 months, with some omissions... High points include:
    • Starting college.
    • Finishing the Leaving Cert.
    • The new friends I made in college.
    • Settling easily in Cork.
    • Meeting Antonia.
    Low points include:
    • Being ostricised from practically all of my friends.
    • Studying/Doing the Leaving Cert.
    • Being dumped for another guy.
    • 2 catastrophic, drunken house parties.
    As was probably more than once famously said, that'll do.

    The 29th Annual World Debating Championships are taking place in Cork at the moment. I've been to 4 debates in total, including a Quarter-Final and a Semi-Final. I must admit, if I have one regret about not doing Law is that I probably will never be able to take part in a debating championship of the standard which is on display here in Cork at the moment. Seeing debaters from all over the world with such extraordinary talent is incredible, but it also fuels me with a strange desire to try and be as good as them. As well, I hear speakers from such esteemed universities as Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge, Sydney, etc. makes me wonder what it would be like if I was attending one of those instead of UCC. How different would my life be? I would have liked to have gone to Oxford... My Mum would have been so proud, as would my Gran, and maybe my Dad would have been too. Who knows. Undoubtedly, nobody will ever know. It does upset me in a way though. To see how the majority of debaters seem to be Law students, or Philosophy students, etc. It upsets me that there is the notion that just because I study Drama that I wouldn't not be capable to do such a thing as debating. My intelligence is immediately denounced just because of my passions. I wouldn't change Drama for the world, but I would like to prove the world wrong...

    Moving on. My relationship. Things are not all rosy at the moment. I think we are going through a bit of a rough patch. Actually, it's not just a thought. I feel that the relationship that Antonia and I have is incredible, but it is incredible in a weird and frightening way. I cannot properly describe it, oddly enough. It feels as if it could fall apart at any moment but it feels so sure at the same time. Part of me wants to get out of it. To escape. To run free through the nightclubs of Cork chasing anything female, con pulse sin boyfriend. But that part of me cannot fight the feeling I have when I'm around her, that I would give me life to her, for better or for worse because making her happy makes me just melt. The future is always uncertain, but more so than normal in this situation. In a way, it's exciting, but it also worries me. Worries me deeply.

    My fingers have warmed up now, so Xanga has fulfilled it's purpose. Since it's getting close to midday, I might just have lunch, do some writing, and then hit the gym. I'm in a proactive mood. I have an urge to be busy.

    More later, thanks for reading.
    All the best.