Twenty-eight years of stuff
The post-con mopeyness should be lifting by now, having been home from Gally for a few weeks. Thing is, it seems to have been supplanted almost immediately by regular-life mopeyness, and is severely impeding my motivation to Get Stuff Done.
So, the plan was to get home, renew passport, get visa application out there ASAP and get the fuck out of my job and off to greener pastures/gainful employment in the UK. But I swear every time I look for apartment listings in my chosen new home of Manchester, the pickings are bleaker and bleaker from when I first started my exploratory searches, and I'm slightly concerned I'm going to end up paying for something I'm not terribly fond of in a less than ideal location just so I have someplace to live. I still don't know how to handle the whole "how the actual hell am I going to move all my stuff, and where am I going to put it when I get there" problem either: how on earth do you negotiate trying to rent an apartment from across the ocean? I can't exactly go and look at flats until I'm, like, there, and I don't want to sponge off the couches and spare rooms of my friends there, but I'm genuinely not sure how on earth this is going to work. It's a bit of a logistical nightmare.
And then there's the whole, you know, what if there aren't any jobs going in departments I can actually apply for? What if nobody wants me and my stupid lack of relevant experience, barring the possibility (oh please please please) that I get, like, a two-month internship on something like Blue Peter? I've done tons of interesting things, but I have no idea whether any of it counts for anything out in the big, stupid world.
And then there's stuff like writing and stuff, and I genuinely have no idea how to make people give a shit about the shit I do. My youtube channel's got, like, four viewers, I sold three prints (three!) at Gally, and none of the exhibitions and art shows I've done in the past year have remotely borne fruit. I keep getting illustration work, but it's either a) for no money, but stuff I'd have been happy to do anyway; or b) at the request and mercifully realistic budget of my one-woman fan club at the GPL. But once I've moved on from my dayjob, those illustration gigs will likely dry up.
How do you get an agent for voiceover work? I don't really want to do, like, stage acting per se, and I don't think anyone wants to see my doofy face on television. I just really want to narrate and stuff like that. Is there even going to be any call for someone who has a natural Southern Ontario accent anywhere in the UK? Am I just doomed to a life of, like, probably ending up working at another library after all?
And what's more, I've got a shitload of stuff. Like, way too much stuff for one person to move to another city, let alone another country. And most of it's damn good stuff, too: I don't want to chuck this stuff out, it matters to me. I wouldn't have accumulated a life's worth of stuff if it didn't matter. I'm struggling at this whole downsizing thing. I just know I'm going to donate away, say, all my unused fabrics, and like two months later rediscover a sudden need to sew an entire wardrobe's worth of costumes. Fuck.
Basically, I'm scared and I don't know what to do.
TL;DR or you can skip ahead to where I tell you about my new teas!
Everybody’s favourite hexapod is now a tea! A gentle blend for a gentle soul. Alpha Centauri is a peaceful little darling, but possessed of a decidedly nervous temperament, and I really just want to hug hir. Warming spices settle a nervous stomach, while chamomile and lemon verbena calm frayed nerves. A green tonic for the highly-strung individual, with a sweet vanilla heart. Soothing and harmonious, this tea will help to settle even the jumpiest of nerves.
Victoria Waterfield, at once possessed of great courage, yet not afraid to be afraid, while still getting stuff done. The delicate floral of white peony are met with blackberry and earl grey, for a blend that expresses a decidedly Victorian innocence, sweetness, and courage.
Tegan Jovanka sure is a hoot! She’s stubborn, she’s loud, and she’s opinionated: Tegan may come across a touch abrasive at times, but she undeniably gets stuff done, and beneath that brash exterior lies an incredibly caring heart. This brew is a fierce cocktail of citrus and citrus and more citrus; brisk, no-nonsense earl grey meets tart, fragrant grapefruit and orange. Orange notes dominate, so it’s a bit like an aromatic, complex screwdriver, but your companions won’t judge you for having it with breakfast.
Liz Shaw has a PhD in Awesome. A cool, kickass academic, she’s an expert on about a dozen different subjects, and doesn’t take nonsense from anyone. Rich and dynamic caramel and chocolate blend with aromatic, wholesome vanilla oolong over a base of sensible, warm assam, with a hint of bright ginger heat. Smooth and strong, subtle notes of pipe tobacco on the nose and, a touch of snark.
And in other news: feel like buying some of the prints I didn't sell at Gally? Please do! I hope not to have to take them all with me when I move too. I don't have them all up on etsy yet, so if there's something on my art tag that you'd like a print of, I'll make sure there's an etsy listing of it for you.
So, the plan was to get home, renew passport, get visa application out there ASAP and get the fuck out of my job and off to greener pastures/gainful employment in the UK. But I swear every time I look for apartment listings in my chosen new home of Manchester, the pickings are bleaker and bleaker from when I first started my exploratory searches, and I'm slightly concerned I'm going to end up paying for something I'm not terribly fond of in a less than ideal location just so I have someplace to live. I still don't know how to handle the whole "how the actual hell am I going to move all my stuff, and where am I going to put it when I get there" problem either: how on earth do you negotiate trying to rent an apartment from across the ocean? I can't exactly go and look at flats until I'm, like, there, and I don't want to sponge off the couches and spare rooms of my friends there, but I'm genuinely not sure how on earth this is going to work. It's a bit of a logistical nightmare.
And then there's the whole, you know, what if there aren't any jobs going in departments I can actually apply for? What if nobody wants me and my stupid lack of relevant experience, barring the possibility (oh please please please) that I get, like, a two-month internship on something like Blue Peter? I've done tons of interesting things, but I have no idea whether any of it counts for anything out in the big, stupid world.
And then there's stuff like writing and stuff, and I genuinely have no idea how to make people give a shit about the shit I do. My youtube channel's got, like, four viewers, I sold three prints (three!) at Gally, and none of the exhibitions and art shows I've done in the past year have remotely borne fruit. I keep getting illustration work, but it's either a) for no money, but stuff I'd have been happy to do anyway; or b) at the request and mercifully realistic budget of my one-woman fan club at the GPL. But once I've moved on from my dayjob, those illustration gigs will likely dry up.
How do you get an agent for voiceover work? I don't really want to do, like, stage acting per se, and I don't think anyone wants to see my doofy face on television. I just really want to narrate and stuff like that. Is there even going to be any call for someone who has a natural Southern Ontario accent anywhere in the UK? Am I just doomed to a life of, like, probably ending up working at another library after all?
And what's more, I've got a shitload of stuff. Like, way too much stuff for one person to move to another city, let alone another country. And most of it's damn good stuff, too: I don't want to chuck this stuff out, it matters to me. I wouldn't have accumulated a life's worth of stuff if it didn't matter. I'm struggling at this whole downsizing thing. I just know I'm going to donate away, say, all my unused fabrics, and like two months later rediscover a sudden need to sew an entire wardrobe's worth of costumes. Fuck.
Basically, I'm scared and I don't know what to do.
TL;DR or you can skip ahead to where I tell you about my new teas!
Everybody’s favourite hexapod is now a tea! A gentle blend for a gentle soul. Alpha Centauri is a peaceful little darling, but possessed of a decidedly nervous temperament, and I really just want to hug hir. Warming spices settle a nervous stomach, while chamomile and lemon verbena calm frayed nerves. A green tonic for the highly-strung individual, with a sweet vanilla heart. Soothing and harmonious, this tea will help to settle even the jumpiest of nerves.
Victoria Waterfield, at once possessed of great courage, yet not afraid to be afraid, while still getting stuff done. The delicate floral of white peony are met with blackberry and earl grey, for a blend that expresses a decidedly Victorian innocence, sweetness, and courage.
Tegan Jovanka sure is a hoot! She’s stubborn, she’s loud, and she’s opinionated: Tegan may come across a touch abrasive at times, but she undeniably gets stuff done, and beneath that brash exterior lies an incredibly caring heart. This brew is a fierce cocktail of citrus and citrus and more citrus; brisk, no-nonsense earl grey meets tart, fragrant grapefruit and orange. Orange notes dominate, so it’s a bit like an aromatic, complex screwdriver, but your companions won’t judge you for having it with breakfast.
Liz Shaw has a PhD in Awesome. A cool, kickass academic, she’s an expert on about a dozen different subjects, and doesn’t take nonsense from anyone. Rich and dynamic caramel and chocolate blend with aromatic, wholesome vanilla oolong over a base of sensible, warm assam, with a hint of bright ginger heat. Smooth and strong, subtle notes of pipe tobacco on the nose and, a touch of snark.
And in other news: feel like buying some of the prints I didn't sell at Gally? Please do! I hope not to have to take them all with me when I move too. I don't have them all up on etsy yet, so if there's something on my art tag that you'd like a print of, I'll make sure there's an etsy listing of it for you.