Going solo.

Years ago it occurred to me that if I wanted to see the world I would have to do it on my own. So I did and loved it!! Friends who I had travelled with in the past were and are at different places in their lives with young families and commitments. As someone who is perpetually single, my responsibilities are much less, schedules are easier to negotiate and I wanted to see explore, so I did and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it and how little I was bothered about being on my own, and even more so my  how safe I felt. Though, too be fair, I was travelling in places where I wasn't expecting too much trouble and certainly didn't look for it.

Being on my lonseome, I found that I was more likely to be approached for a conversation and more likely to start one also. As a result I met many interesting people and some not so but I made an effort to mingle. The only time I did feel awkward was the first few solo breakfasts at the hotel on my own or dinner out. A table for one, in a packed Venetian cafe can be quite an intimidating experience until you realise you're surrounded by other travels or sympathetic locals and someone is bound to say hello and if eating on your own is not your thing, there's always the option to take away and stroll or sit in a park and people watch.

Recently I wanted to attend an Irish folk music concert where 500 year old Gaelic poetry was sung and there was much fiddling (of the instrument kind). Now in the past I had managed to convince friends to attend all sorts of performances, events and activities in the name of broadening ones mind and experiencing a bit of culture. With time and history friends have been a little less open to ideas and I can understand, I think some lost confidence after attending the Desperate and Dateless ball, in my defence it was in my younger days and for charity, so where's the harm I ask?  On this occassion I decided, why not go on my own? Being in my home city I never really considered doing things on my own, but if I can do it in a foreign place why not in my city. So off I went, found my single seat at the end of a row and before I knew it was chatting to a lovely gent next to me about the band and what to expect. So a few weeks ago I tried a comedy show on my own. For the first few minutes I missed turning to a friend and sharing that knowing glance after a chuckle but them settled in and enjoyed the night.
It is a little daunting, and you may feel it a little sad, but once you're out having a great time, you'll wonder why you spent all that time trying to convince your friends to see a show, an exhibition or a movie, and then worry about their reactions or responses, when you could just do it on your own, stay as long as you like, maybe meet a new person or two and have a blast.
Try it, I can recommend it. Don't wait for others to live your life. Just go for it and enjoy!

Until next time....

Always,
K

If cheese matures with age...why haven't I?

It's not a new thought, more a recurring question that pops into my easily distracted mind every so often. It being, 'when will I begin to feel like a real grown up and what is that exactly?'

I tick many of the boxes that make me an adult. Age, Definately. My twenties are well in the distance of the rear view mirror. I have a job, I have a mortgage, car, passport, pay bills, plead noisy children to turn the volume down and my bones creak and squeak. Tick, tick, tick, tick.....
However while all of these point to being an adult I don't feel matured. I have a Tardis satchel bag I use every day, it contains a funny pen I write with and a key ring of a smurf. I wear Converse shoes when not at work and sometimes at work. I recently moved home and realised that I owned a hula hoop, two frisbees, three slinkies and more small rubbery balls that lit up, contained glitter or made noise, than any household without children should possibly possess.
I see people younger than myself who appear to be sophisticated, refined and grown up, it's not just their dress, posture or vocabulary. It's more than that.

I recently saw a performance of a comedian, the best comedy show I had seen, an international performer and I left on such a high I went home and booked tickets to see him again later that week. Being adult and in possession of a credit card meant that I could do that. However at the same time it was a very young, groupie type of thing to do. Like back in the day when I would see Bryan Adams in concert two or three times on the one tour (well that's given my age away - lets just say I was very young).
The other day it was announced that a well known actor married and I have to day it was a little disappointing. He was no longer available. In my head I know that it doesn't matter, I'll continue to see his films, ooh and aah with my girlfriends about how handsome he is and what a lovely gent he must be, all with no basis in reality and that's fine. Or is it? I must say I wasn't alone, women all around the globe shed tears, heartbroken about the news. I can honestly confirm that I shed no tears, there was just a small pang of disappointment. I was very upset when I learnt that the New Kids weren't going to tour Australia as a teen. After all how would Jordan know we were to meet and marry, I was sure if we only met I'd be in with a chance. Of course, that was highly unlikely but my heart said otherwise, at the time. I've moved on since.
Maybe that's the key. Maybe it is being fully aware that my flights of fancy are just that and easily dismissed. I no longer write the names of my crushes all over my pencil case or stationery. In fact I don't have a pencil case, no... wait, I do, but it definately has no names inscribed on it, No posters adorn my workspace as they did in the 80's. How impressed do you think my manager would be if I started plastering the walls with my favourite people, Glen Hansard, Eddie Izzard, Jon Stewart.... not very I can assure you as we share an office. Looking at the list, I see there has been some growth, a ginger bearded singer, a transvestite comedian and a grey haired (cheeky grinned) fake journalist and future leader of the US. (A discussion for my next entry). In my younger days the list would have had more aesthetic quality to it. These gents are all witty and clever, therefore making them most attractive.
Okay, feeling a little better now, The evidence suggests I may have matured a little. Maybe the frisbees, monthly crushes, the Dr Who pen, are all about keeping myself young at heart but overall there seems to have been some growth. I can live with that.
Until next time...

How did I get here? Where will it end?

This past week I have found myself reading papers written in 1951 by mathematician Alan Turing, by choice. I began to wonder, how did I get here? It certainly wasn't what I had ever imagined I would be doing when the week began. Well, I'll tell you.
About 10 years ago, I watched a great little film called 'On the Edge'. It starred a very young and impressive actor called Cillian Murphy. Every so often I would tune and check out Cillian was up to and this is how I discovered the TV show 'Peaky Blinder' and the bonus was he was dressed stylishly in  a three piece suit. Winner!
I then found myself looking to see what else Cillian had been up to and stumbled across Ballyturk,  a play he performed in, written by Enda Walsh, as it turns out an excellent Irish playwright. The reviews for the play were great but sadly not being in Ireland I wasn't going to have the pleasure of seeing it live so I ended up finding the play in a catalogue of other Enda Walsh plays and began to read. Another unexpected turn as I had not read any plays since high school.
A short while later I discovered that Ballyturk was performed at the London National Theatre. Brilliant! They record their plays and occasionally broadcast them in the cinema, even in Melbourne. This sent me on my next mission of finding the London National Live cinema release schedule. Sadly nowhere did it list Ballyturk but I did stumble across the performance of Frankenstein which was soon to show. I decided to drag a group along and we watched the theatre, in a stifling hot cinema and I found my next love, the wonderful Benedict Cumberbatch.
So? Well next was the box set of Sherlock of course! My joy for Benedict's work only grew so it was back to the cinema to see the Imitation Game.  I was hooked and needed to know more about Alan Turing. I researched to find how much of the film was based in truth, not much, as it turns out, and my appreciation of his knowledge and the man that he was grew. He was treated abhorrently by the justice system and his life was too short. Imagine what he could have achieved if he had lived beyond his 41 years?
I became more intrigued by Mr Turing's theories regarding artificial intelligence and thinking machines and found myself curled up on the couch reading his university papers. So there you have it. My crush on the talented Cillian Murphy a decade ago has broadened my mind and has me pondering theories and to be quite honest, bothering friends with ideas and all sorts of questions. They are enjoying the reprieve from time travel queries post Dr Who episodes. So they should be pleased for the change in chatter.
So there you have it. Who knows where my next fleeting crush will end up.
Until next time.