Phew

-
Not really terribly pony related this post; though I am having a brief break from proof reading Six Ponies. I've had a few manic days recently as I've been organising a drama course, of which the first day has finally happened. So far it's going well, though I am absolutely shattered. Why though do I have such broken nights beforehand, suddenly waking up and adding something to my vast list of things to do? I wish there was a way of training my brain to think of these things at a sensible hour, but it seems to prefer to do it at unsocial hours when I'd really much rather be asleep.

The children are doing really well, and we've nearly got to the end: just frantic rehearsals tomorrow before the performance for parents. Hopefully by then I'll have recovered some voice - having been singing what seems like every part apart from the main one to teach them to children who aren't used to learning parts at speed my voice is in need of rest. As indeed is the rest of me so I shall return to slowly reading every word of the last chapter of Six Ponies!

Comments

Vanessa said…
A break from proof-reading Six Ponies???? No - get back to work!! After all, what could be more fun than the minutiae of misplaced apostrohpes and dodgy capitalisation? I dunno, people don't know what a good time is these days... [exits, muttering..]
26 July 2007 at 21:43
Unknown said…
Ah, the joys of proofreading, and making those special squiggly marks to correct things.
(which has just remined me that I've got some to be doing next month)

I hope the show goes well, and your voice recovers.
27 July 2007 at 14:57
Jane Badger said…
Ah Vanessa.... I staggered back, exhausted, dragged myself through the emails, phone messages, cooked, comforted the dog for my absence, and yes, I finished Six Ponies. Not that I want you to feel bad about it or anything, or to note the amazing quality of my sacrifice.....

Gillian - thanks, the show went very well indeed although we had the usual period leading up to it when it was quite extraordinarily bad. It's finished now and I have that odd feeling of "What do I do now?" I've sat down to get on with some work, but am feeling a oddly twitchy about it.
27 July 2007 at 17:16
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rollkur and the blue tongue

-
I've been meaning to write about this all week, but reading the exclusive in Horse and Hound about the controversy tipped me over the edge. For my non-horsy readers, rollkur is a training/warming up technique used by some dressage riders. It basically involves riding the horse with its jaw pulled in virtually to its chest, in order to increase suppleness. Patrik Kittel , a Swedish competitor in Odense was videoed riding his horse in this way. If you watch the video , you'll see the horse's tongue hanging out - blue. It takes a while before the rider notices this. When he does, he stops, puts the horse's tongue back in, and carries on. There are two things which bother me about this. Firstly, I am fully aware large sections of the dressage world, and some of its brighest stars, consider rollkur perfectly ok, but the FEI guidelines state this practice should only be for short periods, allowing the horse to rest. Patrick Kittel apparently rode the horse for two hou
Read more

Archibald, don't eat the bedclothes

-
Image
My friend Louise sent me this picture today. It's from a children's book with the rather wince-making title For The Wee Ones. I thought, when I read that (because I read the message before I looked at the picture) that the picture was going to be a typical winsome production from the school of artists who think (or who are paid to think) that the child is a thing sent from God and a blissful thing. They had obviously never met a child, and certainly not mine. I should have known Louise better. The artist responsible for Archibald, don't eat the bedclothes slipped this one past the editors. Just look at the poor, broken Mother Rabbit. She knows she has not the faintest chance of being listened to, and poor thing, she is stooped in the way of a mother to whom this is just the lastest in a long line of horror; with nothing good to come. And Archibald is obviously the spawn of the Devil. Just look at those eyes. He'll have the bed after he's finished the bedclothes
Read more

Dick Sparrow - 40 Horse Hitch, and Neil Dimmock's 46 Percherons

-
Image
Here's a clip of Dick Sparrow driving 40 horses. It's an amazing sight, particularly when the shot changes to show the team from the rear and you get the great incongruity of modern American corporate architecture as a background to the wagon and horses. I love the anticipation in the video: the sense of something amazing being just round the corner is palpable. Thanks to Christina Wilsdon for telling me about this world record 46 Percheron hitch (alas just stills) but you get the idea.
Read more