Hectic

I've just stopped by here to have a breather. Today has been chaotic...and so has yesterday. Preparations for CCA Feste have been happily slurping up all my after school time. As of now, I've hardly been home for 1h, and it's past 10pm already! Hai...it is tiring, coming up with an advertising campaign and a presentable booth. But at least we have a concrete plan, and we're going ahead smoothly.

Not that it's all that bad helping out for RJGE's booth. In fact, it is fulfilling in itself. The comm has lots of energy, and it's quite heartening to see what we can do together once we set our minds to it. For once, it feels good doing group work, because everyone knows what he's doing, and I find my nice little niche of expertise easily =P So right now we have a decent network of posters, a really nice banner (in fact, the only one in the concourse area as yet) and a hundred door gifts to try to attract attention. And tomorrow apparently we'll festoon our booth with balloons. It feels good to be proceeding with a definite, universally agreed vision, even though it's not really earthshattering.

Heh...we had practice with the former RI guitarists for the first time today...and the rhythms section got three new faces - Julio, Ouyang-something, and one more whose name I can't recall. It must be quite intimidating for some of them...especially Julio, who's a kindred spirit inasmuch that he can't read notes either and specialises in chords. And with the current piece requiring us to play single notes and use fancy fingering, it's already scary enough for me, who have been faking it already for a year. I guess I do feel sympathy, especially when Ben is trying to get him to learn how to read notes overnight. Like me, he finds memorising finger positions and progressions easier than interpreting the third language called music.

Anyhoos, in a bit of other news...tomorrow we'll be attempting to close the accounts on somethingood. Actually I was under the impression that we were to close the accounts today, but apparently after getting Benuel and Soph down with the auditor, they audited some other group's accounts first and delayed us to tomorrow...apparently CCF has loads of people queuing up to give it money, which is why it's so irritating to coordinate with them. We were running around like headless chickens today in school doing up last minute accounts. And after the wild goose chase finding out who should audit the cans, now we have to shove aside a day of school to count the money ourselves under the supervision of their auditor. I never thought doing charity could be this tough. Organisers of these events are really brave people.

But on the bright side, the school agreed to pick up the tab on amp repairs and purchase of AV equipment. Which means almost $1000 less in claims for the CCF. I guess I can't really say the school did that out of pure goodwill...a part of me says that they're trying to edge in on the posthumous glory. But then again, money to a charity is good, as long as it's not illegal.

Finished Gut Symmetries. It's a wonderful book! I think I shall do Winterson for Lit S. Out of the really scattered approach, one can see a certain order and clarity of interpretation coalescing as the book ends. The haunting scenes of cannibalism, lesbianism, adultery, convoluted family ties (the daughters of two adulterers ended up in a lesbian relationship) and idiosyncracies (one of the mothers ate diamonds) all add up to paint a haunting picture of the different shades of human love (delightfully and enigmatically pronounced "muck"). And what a lot of clever expressions in close proximity to each other. The book is filled with a frantic morse code flashes of brilliance that make up for the lack of coherence in the plot.

And now I'm starting Atonement by Ian McEwan, and I like it already. The language is simpler than Winterson, and the plot is more straightforward, but from the very start, I've found it a meaningful story. The story opens with this girl writing. At first you only see a play, but then you realise she's been writing prodigiously, with a most moral agenda. And then they discuss the dynamics and intricacies of writing - it's the most beautiful treatment of the writing process I've ever read in my limited reading scope. So far the book is about family politics, the schemingness of children and growing up out of an idealistic worldview (the one that Purvis seems to be convinced I hold). And there's a haunting image of a mother looking for "dark glasses" so she can leave her sickroom and go see what her family is doing...I think I'll do this book for Lit S too.

Even though these few days have been really busy, reading is good. I haven't read so much in so little time since primary school.

* * * * *

Yay, I'm involved in drama again! Hehheh, it seems like a yearly habit, this yearning to be involved in something with a stage. But this time it's more regulated than a school performance, or even SYF. I'm helping Grace out in her A Level TSD piece. But that means that I'll be working with the best of the best in Singaporean student dramatics...I'll be working with the people who are doing what I'd wanted to do, who are taking that plunge which I backed away from.

It's not really a major role...I'm just helping to design her set. Providing concepts and drawings. I really don't have the vision to provide anything more concrete at this point of time...and considering that I've never drawn a set before, it's quite surprising that she has enough faith in my sketches to ask me to help. I find it quite an honour, really =P It's a real privilege to work in TSD, even in an informal and minor role. I think it'll be a distinct pleasure to see them at work. And of course, the stage always has its allure...to be filled with things, and more importantly, people.

I seem to keep returning to it.

What is the nature of my relationship with the stage? Why do I keep going back? Why am I allowed to continually go back?

pondered by phoenican @ 18.1.05