Play done!  16 shows (all sold-out) with a total of more than 2000 audience members and a positive review in the Canberra Times.  And all my friends who came loved it -- there's that.

Working with this company was really frustrating though.  There are a few quite good actors there the overall standard of acting and directing isn't as good as elsewhere in Canberra.  A lot of people in the company are hugely resentful of the attention and praise other groups in Canberra get -- um, yeah, that's because their shows are better?

Well, I don't have to work with them again -- I have my own niche with a theatre company that does the kind of stuff I like.  Still, I like some of the people (except for the guy who played the Major -- he can go die in a fire) so I'll probably do it again.  Just not... right away...

Anyway, I've got my next show lined up for March next year (Imaginary Invalid again) so I have a valid excuse.

So now it's looking for work full time.  I'm pretty confident: I've finished my Masters and I've just played the lead in a hit play.  Mum's going away for a month soon so that's the ideal time for me to knuckle down and get a proper job.

Oh, yeah, there's a girl I like at the moment.  NO REALLY THIS ONE IS NICER THAN ALL OF THE PREVIOUS ONES I SWEAR.  So that whole get job, move out thing is an important focus at the moment.

Currently playing Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii.  I don't think it's getting a US release, but it's one of the best JRPGs of all time.  Seriously: I think one day we'll be talking about Xenoblade the way we talk about Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger.

Oh, Livejournal.  RIght, there's such a place as Livejournal.

So.  Play rehearsals are better.  The director was micro-managing too heavily early on but he's eased up a lot.  I thought it over and decided it was a trust issue: he hadn't seen me perform before, he couldn't be sure that I would do a good job.  Fair enough.  Now that I'm rocking out a lot more he's been much more constructive.

I'm a bit nervous about this play because it's a really large part for me (5000 words -- yikes) but the script's not... the best.  It's Agatha Christie so it's not completely awful, but it's not the best play, either.  This play (The Mousetrap) is normally performed as a farce precisely because some of the material is dated.  We're playing it straight, and I'm glad we're taking that approach, but it's harder for me as an actor.  Of course, I knew this going in.  "Oh, I'll challenge myself and learn from the experience," I thought.  Ahahahahaha.

It's mainly because I did a fantastic job with my last part -- I won a lot of respect from the theatrical community (I've met people at parties who also act and because they saw my performance they immediately slip into "one of us" mode).  I don't want to suck here and take a step back.

Anyway.  Not sure if I mentioned it here, but I got distinctions for both my subjects -- now have a Masters of Business.  Well, I did it.  I'm particularly happy about those distinctions: I really wanted to finish my study on a high note.

II was recently reading a piece of fanfic for an old online friend -- I had to give it up.  The total length was 450,000 words -- by contrast, David Copperfield is about 350,000.  I managed 75,000 but I just did not like the main characters -- couldn't go any further.  I feel bad about this...  It was really important to him.  And it wasn't completed awful -- sure, it was fanfic so there was a lot of room for improvement, but he did some things really well.  Sigh.

Soooo... I got another play part.  I'm going to be in a production of The Mousetrap (it's by Agatha Christie and mainly famous for being the longest running show in the West End) as either the cop or the gay guy (the director's still finalising the cast).  Both are great parts -- go me!

I know LJ is pretty much the "waaah life suuucks" place but things are actually going well.  2 weeks before my final exam & no reason to think I'm going to fail any subjects.  And now I'm going to have a great part in a play in September.  This means that when I ineptly flirt with girls I can say I'm An Actor -- somehow more effective than "I'm an unemployed student!"

Anyway, the second cast party for my last play is this week.  I'm calling it :"Cast Party Part II: The Socialising".

So basically right now I'm just studying Business Law -- an area I'm confident in because I've gotten really good results so far and because the instruction of our lecturer has been fantastic.  Yep, studying and... dicking around on Facebook with my peeps.  For a long time Faye was my main source of Facebook randomness, but she's been eclipsed by the comedy double team of Erin and Hannah.  Those two are sweet and fucking hilarious.  To be honest Erin makes Faye seem a little forced...  I can't tell Faye that though because she would go insane from jealous rage and lose the will to get out of bed in the morning.

Anyway, as for games...  Right now I'm playing Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together.  Fantastic.  Well, if you like strategy RPGS, that is.  I know I do.  How good is it?  Better than Final Fantasy Tactics.  Oh, yes, I went there.

Sooo...  On Friday night I was at Canberra Rep for drinks (long story).  The friend I was expecting to be there wasn't (lame -- I was depending on her to provide a mutual social anxiety bubble).  But, one of her friends was there.  I met her during my last play (she wasn't in the cast but she saw the show before it opened).  She continued her pattern of touching my arm -- usually a good sign.

Anyway, I was over at a friend's house after that and went on about this cute girl with great legs.  Anyway, I ended up logging onto Facebook on his computer... and, bam, I had a friend request from her.  Fist bumping ensued.

Unilateral friend request from a cute girl = win.

Unfortunately, she's not just in a relationship -- she's bisexual and currently in two simultaneous relationships.  Ugh.  Yeah, one relationship would be awkward enough...

Last night I had a bit to drink at a party (great party, by the way) and ended up pretty much hinting to her friend that I liked her -- nooooo, I broke the cardinal rule of talking to girls, that women regard anything they're told by a man in confidence as completely OK to tell to other women.  Oh, alcohol, you really do elevate testosterone and lower inhibitions.

In other news, a part I want to audition for has opened up.  It's a neurotic 20-something with wild hair and a confident but childlike manner.  I won't even need to act!

Update: Yep, booked the audition.  Man I want this part.

Today was SUPPOSED to be about writing an assignment but my computer decided to be lame and start crashing on me.  The problem seems to have stopped now but that was after I lost about three hours.  Way to break my assignment writing momentum, laptop.

Eh, it's actually been a really good laptop.  Reliable.  Probably the best laptop I've ever had.  But computers get old and start to break down... it's just inevitable.  Still, I hope it holds together for at least another six months.  Don't want to have to spend all that money on a new laptop just yet.  And, of course, I don't actually have that money to spend, another issue.

I'm actually reading some comics.  Working through Peter David's Hulk run (collected in handy TPB format).  The artist is an early Todd McFarlane -- who, by the way, completed sucked when he was starting out as an artist.  See?  There's hope for a lot of the people on deviantart yet.

I've had a good month.  Besides the play I've pushed myself to do a lot.  It's nice to look back on your time and see that you haven't completely wasted it. 

One thing I do have to do: I've been invited to a 70s themed birthday party in a couple of months and need to find a 70s outfit.  Not that easy in Canberra (unlike Brisbane, the Mecca of Second-Hand Clothes).  Ugh, another thing to think of.

So.... the play was a hit.  We really nailed the opening night.  It was hard going putting the show together after our friend died, but somehow we pulled through.  I haven't seen the review in today's Canberra Times but people have rung up to tell me I get a direct mention praising my performance.  There's another review here:

http://www.fusemagazine.com.au/index.php/whats-on/canberra/1682-the-imaginary-invalid
 

I'm up at 7am!  Yes, I successfully went to bed early.  Woooo.

This month hasn't been much fun.  Mum brought gastro back from her cruise and infected me (ugh).  And I've had to write two assignments, one at the start and the other at the end of the month.  It's like, "where did my month go?"  Oh, that's right, I've spent the month stressing out in my room while trying to write.

It hasn't been all bad:

- I discovered a new anime, Umineko no Naku Koro Ni.  It's basically a murder mystery where the hero is having a battle of wills against a witch over whether magic exists.  Yes, it's as strange as that sounds.  The main villain, the witch Beatrice, is hilariously evil and entertaining.  At one point she makes another character lick her boots just because she can.

- Play rehearsals have been fun.  I've been getting lots of great feedback on my performance from other actors that I know are fantastic.  Go me.

- I finished A Dance to the Music of Time, a series of novels I've been reading at a rate of one a month for the last year.

- An eclectic month for games.  I finished Infinite Space, a fantastic space opera in the style of shows like Legend of the Galacic Heroes.  I broke out my gameboy for Ducktales 2 (yes, really).  I started 9 hours, 9 persons, 9 doors, my first ever visual novel.  And in true visual novel fashion, the first ending I unlocked had the main character being killed with an axe.  And I got past that bit in Castlevania 64 I've been stuck on since last year.  Now I'm stuck on a completely new bit!

But in general, though: fuck off, April!  Come on May.