I don't THINK I have any other applications out there.
Got another interview!! It's gonna be an interview-tastic week next week! LAMDA on Monday and the National on Wednesday. So something's gotta work out right? I mean, if they were both interested in meeting me based on those shite cover letters (I just read them both back to see if I'd offered up any serious falsehoods). The LAMDA one is complete rubbish and I think they just got excited cuz I've worked in so many student services environments; I'd totally glossed over the (three day that I've made look like a month) Orientation Leader position-- that makes me look awesome! It's not so much my abilities I'm worried about, if higher education taught me anything it's how to bullshit; but if they throw some BBC-style curveballs at me where I don't know what they WANT to hear, I might just semi-panic. Better brush up on theatrically-related Acts of Parliament over the weekend just in case. Bastards.
Anycrap, got the National phone call when I was having a walkabout in Trafalgar Square. It was SUCH a gorgeous day today and I'd intended to walk down to Swiss Cottage and have a read and, depending on how I felt, continue on down through St. John's Wood to Baker Street. But the only way I know how to get there is via the bus route and it's just so ugly and noisy and when I woke up that didn't seem very appealing. Plus, I had this like manic pull to Covent Garden that I couldn't ignore, probably cuz I hadn't been in like two days, or possibly cuz I have mental problems. It's no coincidence Miki mentioned this David Sedaris quote today of all days: (sorry, it's a long'un) "The good part about being an obsessive-compulsive is that you’re always on time for work. The bad part is that you’re on time for everything. Rinsing your coffee cup, taking a bath, walking your clothes to the laundromat: there’s no mystery to your comings and goings, no room for spontaneity. During that time of my life, I went to the ihop every evening, heading over on my bike at exactly seven and returning at exactly nine. I never ate there, just drank coffee, facing the exact same direction in the exact same booth and reading library books for exactly an hour. After this, I would ride to the grocery store. Even if I didn’t need anything I’d go, because that’s what that time was allotted for. If the lines were short, I’d bike home the long way or circle the block a few times, unable to return early, as those five or ten minutes weren’t scheduled for apartment time."
So, for whatever reason, I went to Covent Garden. The plan was still the same-- go to a cafe and read-- but my intended Starbucks was packed so I rounded the corner past the Royal Opera House to go to the other one. They are laying down a fucking MASSIVE do for the BAFTAS. They've seriously taken over like a mile of Bow Street and are putting up all these stands and lights and things with big BAFTA masks on them (seen one of those in real life); it's mental. I originally thought it was a weird venue cuz there's not a lot of space around, like in Leicester Square, but if they're just gonna appropriate whole roads and stuff I guess they got round that problem. So I continued on and got my chai and finished my book all too soon. I seriously basically underlined the whole thing. The etymology of words bits weren't all that interesting but everything else was. It wasn't just like translations of the propaganda that politicians say, but why they would want to say it. Like describing conflicts (particularly those in Africa) as "ancient", going back centuries, because if it has roots in 'ancient hatreds' there's no possibility of it ever being solved. It's much more interesting than I can properly express. It's also so hugely enraging; enraging that we just let Bush go on in office, let alone that we're not currently prosecuting him for war crimes, and enraging because people just don't care enough to be bothered. I can't get over the complacency and the ignorance. I don't want to get into it, it really upsets me.
Moving on. Once I'd finished my book I went to browse Waterstons and then went out to enjoy the sun in the Square. With 10 million other people. But it wasn't annoying like it is in summer, it was nice cuz it felt like the whole city was just taking a long lunch together. Cuz it was Friday, so people were lingering at the pub having their lunchtime drink outside and everyone was eating sandwiches and basking in the rare sunlight. It just put me in such a good mood. And then the National called and said they'd be very interested to interview me and that was just a cherry on top. When she was telling me where to go Wednesday, she said something about being 'quite familiar with the National', so maybe listing their own productions back at them in a cover letter was all it took to be shortlisted. But that's good, if it's familiarity they're after, I am so on it; I've been on the backstage tour. I think there's something like 8 interview slots (which I assume means there's 8 interview candidates, or they're just preparing to be incredibly accommodating); I took the first slot. I think she called me first out of everyone, do you think that means anything? I'm really looking for any sort of good luck signs for anything right about now.
After lunching on an apple, an orange and some wheatabix squares, I headed up Haymarket to the HMV at Piccadilly. I thought I might get another 3 pound book to occupy myself for the rest of the afternoon, but there was nothing new, so I wandered upstairs to the foreign movies but there was nothing I wanted there either. Then I remembered I wanted The Gathering Storm, and it was only a fiver, so I got it. I should mention that I wanted it so desperately because, in addition to the fact that it was quite a good movie, Tom Hiddleston plays Randolph Churchill. Fast forward to when I came home and watched it: so worth five quid. I couldn't remember how much he was in it and although he disappears about 2/3rds of the way through, there is a good deal of fabulous and lovely screentime with him looking quite dashing in 30's and 40's clothes. He's excellent in whatever he does, and in this with Albert Finney-- best father/son pairing EVER?
Right, where was I. Ah yes, went back over to Covent Garden cuz there seemed to be quite the party going on and as I had nothing to do and wasn't ready to go home yet, I went back to join it. Everyone was sitting out on the cobblestone and against the pillars and gathering around street performers like it was a warm, sociable country; twice during the day I felt like I was in Barcelona, it was bizarre (we should of course remember that when I went to Barcelona, Kassie, Alexis and I may have been insistent on wearing flip flops and flimsy skirts, but the rest of the population was bundled in wool coats and Russian hats). I took a seat at a pillar near the Royal Opera House and stared into the sun. Opera music was faintly coming through the doors and I could only see people's silhouettes and long shadows as they were going past and it was quite a moment. It was funny enough when people used to sunbathe on Todd Field when it turned to the warmer side of 50, but to see a whole city come out and bask in the one day of cloudless sky is a whole other level entirely. I understand too why people who don't understand global warming think it's not such a bad thing; to have a day like today in what's normally the most miserable month of the year must seem like just about the best thing ever. Unfortunately I know that when the ice caps melt it'll reverse the Gulf Stream and cause it to snow here, not turn into the tropics, so that'll probably foil people's plans to increase greenhouse emissions and get more sunny days.
I briefly went into Paperchase once the sun went down, I wouldn't go in a minute sooner. They had some excellent cards, my favourite was by the Pig of Happiness guy that had a big drawing of a potato and said "You are a very beautiful human being. But I'm not very good at drawing human beings, so I've drawn a potato. Potatoes are beautiful too-- in their own way."
Amazing. Potatoes ARE beautiful in their own way.
After that I started making my way towards Leicester Square to head home, and was waylaid for several minutes by one of those people selling-but-not-selling those yoga books. I didn't think there would be ANOTHER group of people I'd have to nicely avoid while walking down Neal Street, but it seems to be the season of yoga books. It's like a flippin minefield going from Oxfam ('Already signed up') to any given charity ('I don't have a UK bank account') to Big Issue sellers (who most of the time don't engage you so I just smile and say 'sorry') and now to the yoga people. I talked to this guy at length cuz I wasn't really going anywhere, was I, and cuz the way he spoke reminded me of Simon Amstell and thus made the exchange weirdly pleasant. But in the end I didn't buy his yoga book, or his vegetarian cook book, and I went on my way.
Came home, made dinner, watched Hollyoaks (it really is shit when John Paul's not on, that's now two episodes I've had to sit through dwelling on Hannah and Gilly and Rhys and Mercedes. Why do I know so many of their names?!), watched my movie and am now sorta vegging out.
Bout it then. Ta.
EDIT:
Jamie Bell was just on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. He is lovely. He's kinda lost that sort of weird, big eared, sort of creepily deep set eyes look (granted, I found him attractive anyway) he had and he is quite quite lovely now. He seemed very nice, and was sorta funny and sassy.
Jonathan: So you can move from place to place?
Jamie: Yeah yeah, that's what 'jumping' is.
Jonathan: But not through time.
Jamie: No. That would be time travel.
Jonathan just looked at him silently like he was a total yatch.
Jamie: [shrugging] I'm just sayin.
The new movie he's in sounds interesting. It's called Defiance if you wanna imdb it. Daniel Craig's also in it and it was the best thing EVER when Jonathan Ross referred to him as 'craggy'. Hilarious! I thought I was the only one!