day off 3 February 2008
I have a day off work today and am at home in Dublin so all is just that bit weird, really. The food and surroundings are better than a hotel, though, and the cat is dribbling like a right eejit to see me (but also makes sure to go sit on the hubby so that he doesn’t feel too abandoned…or perhaps as he was sitting closer to the radiator watching rugby and sport for the day it could be that he is warmer…and then again he may be a nicer person than me – hey, i can’t figure out what goes on in that creature’s head…nor the cat, for that matter)
A lazy day of washing the mountain of clothes that have been dragged around the country on my back (and in fairness a machine did the business end of all that) but also with some other delights – for example I read THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy, which is very poetic and bleak, and followed it up with almost the opposite, the movie IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The character of Tranio in our play dings a bell at the beginning of the show and from now on when I hear it I will imagine it means that an angel has got his wings (or her wings, even?) as the film has it.
the accent 2 February 2008
I had a lovely email from a woman who thinks my Irish accent is cute. I think it must all be relative though as the last thing I could listen to all day is me. In my head I sound different, slightly deeper and less flat. Richard does a deadly accurate version of me using only sounds and yet I still understand exactly what words he’s going for. In The Shrew I have roughed things up even more, as I would like the sound of Katarina’s voice to be quite harsh and, well I guess, shrewish and the accent more emphasised, but I do get worried that people won’t get that it is put on and realise that I don’t sound quite so hard on the ear in real life. At least one man in Galway was convinced I was doing a Mayo accent in the play – hope that’s not too much of an insult to that fine county – but the good thing about his comment was I knew he felt it was not the voice/accent I am saddled with from day to day – again a relativity but welcome nonetheless. Hey, one day I might get to play a nice woman with a mellifluous voice…or perhaps I should just try to BE one? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps…
the letter L 2 February 2008
As in Sesame Street, we seem to have been brought to the country by the letter L right now – Letterkenny a few days ago and now Longford…where it is snowing. Some of the lads are a bit sore they haven’t been name-checked, so here goes – Peter Daly is a fox and so is the lovely new boy Colin O’Donoghue (most awful thing there? born in 1981 when I was halfway through college EEEK).
And speaking of youth, after the show tonight I wandered into an adjoining bit of the complex the theatre is in and found myself at an 18th birthday party…it was like going over to The Other Side..really lovely youngsters but a world away…feeling ancient as a result and must get my sleep – this living business is, well, busy and it would wear you out sometimes.
The book is number 3 in the Irish charts this week so a big thank you to all who have made it so – much MUCH appreciated! And there is a reprint happening in the UK e’en as I write – again, many thanks x
forum 31 January 2008
darlins, i will have to get up to speed on the posting of comments etc and possibly even a forum which a few of you have asked about – all in this week, how weird is that, everyone having the same idea at the same time? – anyhow here’s a post about airlines (you know me on those) and bukes (again, you know me…) and very heartening
Message: Well, don’t know if I am doing the right thing – not really used this posting lark, but I borrowed Something for the Weekend and Right on Time from the library. I wanted something to read on the plane when I flew to Manchester on Monday. Ha! What was I thinking? The husband had already told me that Countryfile and John Craven had told him that there would be fog on Monday, but I knew better. I checked a pack of websites on Sunday and no mention of fog. I got up on Monday Morning and it was fairly thick. Checked the airline website – nothing. Checked the airport website – London City in case you are interested – nada. So off I trot. LBC are telling me to ring my airline (VLM)so I do and get a recorded message telling me that the phone lines don’t open until 8.00am and to look at the website. Excellent; I’m in the car on my own, it’s 6.50 when I ring and my flight leaves at 8.15. Anyway to cut a long story short: announcements every hour telling me there will be another announcment in an hour, so I get someone else to do my visit, change my flight to April (another long story)and naff off. Oh yes and get charged £12.00 for sitting in the airport doing **** all for three hours. Anyway, I collected said books from the library on Friday finished Something for the Weekend over the weekend (geddit) and finished Right on Time on Monday night; I’m a quick reader. I think I’m reading them out of sequence, but even so they’re brilliant and Right on Time made me cry.
Thanks
Ann
mad 31 January 2008
re the last blog, I should clarify that Donegal people are no madder than any other variety, though the constant rain must be a factor in the lunacy stakes. I grew up in Galway in the west of Ireland and it was DAMP most of the time…and I probably am a bit ‘other’ as a result. Ye all know that I think that’s why we share a common sense of humour and tragedy (nearly one and the same thing) with the Russians: the weather…it’s harsh and it moulds us
raining 31 January 2008
if it doesn’t stop raining soon in donegal i will scream…this is why people mad.,..torture…
by the by…my dream about simon cowell(see well below) has made it into a tabloid, no less,…beware the blog…
advice 30 January 2008
I don’t normally post posts – ‘cos have not read that bit of the brief properly BUT here is what Mandy – a total babe and a regular-says – My hubby snored so badly, that in the end were referred to the sleep clinic at Papworth , where he was diagnosed with sleep apnoea.
His snoring was unbelievable, not only putting me on the couch, but waking the neighbours and at the time we were living in a substantially built bungalow…it was horrendous.
He now has a piece of breathing apparatus called a CPAP machine. OK, I am used to it, and I sleep, but its fairly noisy in it’s own way.
If you find the culprit, suggest a visit to Papworth ( right there and then!!..so you don’t have to listen to it anymore, pay his airfare even! LOL)
It’s a far safer bet than doing time for murder.
Well, this morning, having slept in a coma for about an hour (when I was not taking every breath that my hotel neighbour was) I asked to be moved and was packed and gone out of that particular hellhole by 7…AM!…not the 7 we love unless we have agreed to it. It really has made life more difficult in that my concentration goes through good and bad times..thankfully the show doesn’t get many of them but the tiredness, when it checks in, seems almost llike having a mini stroke. And I do think that there is a big difference between being tired and being sleep-deprived – by the by apologies to all parents of young children out there…and yet…as ye all know…I blame the parents ALWAYS…yet again, nuff said
snoring 29 January 2008
The walls in the hotel in Donegal are very thin and I can hear most of what goes on in the rooms around mine…including snoring last night, well this morning at 6 and then onwards till I gave in and got up. An attempt at a supplementary snooze failed utterly and I felt fairly off all day as a result (concentration a bit shot though got some writing done and the show was good). However, if it happens again tonight I may roam the corridors to locate the culprit…and kill them…or perhaps serve up a good maiming…Sleeping is my favourite activity in the world and I resent it being interfered with. You have all been warned.
hooray 28 January 2008
Hooray, back on the laptop. I suppose I should explain that times are only unhappy (see yesterday’s blog) because myself and Owen are feeling old by comparison to the lovely lads who grace the younger roles in the play. We still have a bit of go in us, it’s true, but I would say we are more careful of ourselves than we used to be. Richard (imaginary hubby) says when we are away in cold countries and there’s snow I walk like a little old lady – very VERY care-ful-ly, so I guess that’s more of it. You wouldn’t think I was being so careful though if you could see the bruises on my legs at the moment. I bruise really easily anyhow, but doing a show always brings more and my left leg is in a terrible state. I can’t work out what it is I am doing that is causing it but it really hurts at the minute and I look truly battered. I am having to make up my legs to hide the marks because I am convinced it would frighten an audience to see such a sight. Tonight, in the middle of a scene I will probably knock into whatever is causing it, will be too busy to do anything about it and probably forget by the end of the performance, which is naff all use and will assure a continued cycle of bruising. Ah, the glamour…
Challenge 28 January 2008
We r on the move. So capitals may be scarce n i am on da fone. Owen roe,me hub at da mo, felt ancient marshallin da lift 2day cos he arrived in2 a world of laptops n wiis feelin like a small man doll called father pat who wud love a game of handball b4 mass…nuff said…these are not happy times…