Back to Reality.
Empty spaces - what are we living for
Abandoned places - I guess we know the score
On and on, does anybody know what we are looking for...
Another hero, another mindless crime
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime
Hold the line, does anybody want to take it anymore
The show must go on,
The show must go on
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on.
Whatever happens, I’ll leave it all to chance
Another heartache, another failed romance
On and on, does anybody know what we are living for?
I guess I’m learning, I must be warmer now
I’ll soon be turning, round the corner now
Outside the dawn is breaking
But inside in the dark I’m aching to be free
The show must go on
The show must go on
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on
My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies
Fairytales of yesterday will grow but never die
I can fly - my friends
The show must go on
The show must go on
I’ll face it with a grin
I’m never giving in
On - with the show -
I’ll top the bill, I’ll overkill
I have to find the will to carry on
On with the -
On with the show -
The show must go on...
- The Show Must Go On, QUEEN.


It's a beautiful day. I want to go for a walk, but I can't. I want to take my car down to get a warrant, post some letters, pay a parking ticket I got (for forgetting that you have to pay til 8pm on Fridays, not 6pm), hand in a wallet that I found on the beach, e-mail my Gran, play guitar, put some things on TradeMe, call the temp agency... but I can't. I promised myself that I wouldn't, not until I'd written a cover letter for a job application (actually, I shouldn't even be blogging, but... but... look over there, isn't that a badger with a gun?). A cover letter that I've been trying to write since last Wednesday. And I've only written three lines.

Why is it so hard?

I don't know. But it doesn't help that this computer is playing up YET AGAIN. No sir. Ah well, what doesn't kill me only makes me annoyed. And once I've written this cover letter, I can use it for the other two jobs I want to apply for - two jobs that have been waiting about two weeks, now. Luckily their deadlines haven't passed yet.

I'm feeling pretty decent. As I've mentioned, based on past experience, I was predicting the Big Bad Post Show Blues to hit me like a freight train (and we all know what THAT feels like. Blasted freight trains. Should be illegal. I'm going to write to my MP). No such (bad) luck - at least, not yet. But now, I don't think it will. I'm still trying to work out how I managed to bypass it... I think I really pulled back on the emotional attachment to the show this past week. It really helped seeing my non-show friends, I'd imagine. Helped me to realise that I did have a life outside of the Beast.

This is getting long, fast. Just to properly say goodbye to the show, I'll say that the last two nights were great, and the after party was pretty full on (I got home at 8:30am). And I have a bunch of new friends, and another notch on my performing belt. I'm very happy that I got to do this show, despite all the difficulties (personal and corporate) experienced as a result of it.

Now it's back to my job-hunting, church-finding, future-gazing, God-seeking, movie-watching, question-mark of a life. Hopefully I don't regain the 5 kilograms I lost during the show (according to my scales this morning, but today's pizza-lunch would have fixed that)... our family is doing the Tongariro Crossing next weekend (aka Mordor), that'll help. And then there's the fact that I've now spent all the money I earned back in December.

It's nice to have normal issues again.
- posted by Sam @ 1:45 PM

 
Final night..
... after which I'm certain my blogging frequency will resume at its usual pace. If not more so, having suddenly got nothing to do. Well... nothing fun to do. Yet.

Sharon and Phil are coming tonight (free tickets! Booyah!), as are my folks... but I won't be spending much time with any of them, because shortly after the final curtain comes the inevitable Final Night Party. Which will be Big.

And then...

And then.

Surprisingly, though, I'm not melancholic. I've been quite detached about most aspects of the show this week. Although I've been hanging out with the cast, I haven't been connecting with them much. Although I've been performing my little heart out with great gusto, I've stopped waking up singing the songs. It's as if my brain (or something else) knows that it's all about to end, and is making a gradual break. Which I'm happy about.

Anyway, I don't have time to chat. I've got to get to LaserForce for an intercast game. We went on Tuesday night too - I don't have to mention (but I will) that I kicked butt. I used to play a lot of LaserForce. Only, today will be harder, with 16+ people. It's hard to be tactical when there's a gun around every corner. That's a quote from the Bible, isn't it?

No.
- posted by Sam @ 11:31 AM

 
Here I am...
You'll have to excuse the long (for me) blogging break... weekends can be busy. You'll be pleased to know that I actually made it to church on Sunday - at least, I'm pleased to announce it. It's a good feeling.

So, to get the obvious out of the way: four shows left (Wed to Sat nights). I'm kinda looking forward to it all ending - not just because of the afterparty (apparently we've booked out the Establishment on Courtenay), but because... it'll be nice to get back to normal again. Normal routine (well, kind of), normal concerns. Obviously, I'll miss it, though. And the people - we've been having such a great time (going out almost every night - had a BBQ in Eastbourne on Sunday night). On the other hand, I've finally managed to catch up with some of my non-show friends, and realised how much I miss them, too.

And life group. I've really missed regular meetings with my Christian friends, even if we just mess around. So that's cool. But yeah, yesterday was Wellington Anniversary day, and I hung out with J, Reuben and Michael. We went to Khandallah outdoor pool, which brought back many memories. And went to see GOODNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK, which was a pretty good film. Although very political - which we seem to be getting a lot of, lately. I seem to remember a time when New Zealanders were largely apolitical, especially with regard to other countries (read: America)...

But let's not get into that here. After the film, I ran into a law school friend of mine, who's working at a big law firm at the moment. And hating it, which surprised me (because of her personality, that is). She made the comment that she wasn't really ready to leave University, and would much rather do a GAP kinda thing. I've been thinking along the same lines, actually - maybe I SHOULD go work in a Summer Camp in America (or Italy, as she suggested). Especially as it's now looking like my parents (and thus, I) won't be going to the States this year (meh!)...

Just something to consider. Surprisingly (because I used to be so keen on it), I'm only really interested in going to Texas in the States, for obvious reasons. CA and NY don't seem as exciting as they used to. And there are no other interesting states. Hehehe. On the other hand, doing a Summer Camp thing would probably mean I couldn't go flatting yet, which is something I'm getting keen on.

I have two jobs to apply for today. What fun. And my recruitment agent is on annual leave, so I can't just get her to apply for them for me. Which is probably a good thing, it'll get me back in the swing of things.

I have something else occupying my thoughts right now. It may come up in future posts - I hope it does. We'll see. And I know how mean it is to say that without giving any clues, but I did want to mention it...
- posted by Sam @ 12:54 PM

 
Beauty and the Beast hits Nightline...
If you're not going to see the show, check out this 2 minute clip from it that was on TV3 on Tuesday night! It's a great little clip, and you can even see my infamous costume at about 32 seconds (right side of the screen... yes, THAT thing). Enjoy!

By the way, get it while it lasts, I can imagine it'll only be online for a few days...
- posted by Sam @ 1:09 PM

 
I don't blame you guys...
... for not commenting on yesterday's post. It's a hard one (although props must go to Auntie D. for managing to!), so this should shove things down a little. I'm much... healthier today. God can really turn things around so suddenly, can't He?

Eight performances in a row coming up, the big week! That'll be tiring... and challenging!

From http://www.showbizentertainment.co.nz/:

17 January 2006
Audiences are loving Beauty and the Beast:
"You have probably received loads of feedback already but I just wanted to add my own congratulations for the fantastic NZ version of Beauty and the Beast! I saw the Saturday Matinee and was astounded - it was truly remarkable. I could not resist booking another ticket to see it again before the season ends. I have seen overseas productions including the Lion King in Australia but it is so exciting to see such a fabulous show here in New Zealand, I can't wait to see it again - Natasha M., Wellington" (via email)

Last week's DomPost article on the show...

And this morning's (page 4!) review of the show! Yes - pretty darn positive! No mention of my outstanding performance, though - heh.

I almost forgot: I saw The Jacket last night. Good film, great performance by Adrien Brody (well, duh!). Think The Machinist meets 12 Monkeys meets The Butterfly Effect. But not as twisted as any of those three films, it's quite sweet. Possibly too sweet - you come out thinking that it was a very well done film, but it doesn't add anything to the genre. End review.
- posted by Sam @ 2:56 PM

 
Hope deferred makes the heart sick - Proverbs 13:12
This is a tale of hope and despair - but it has a happy ending, so make sure you read it all...

Today is our first day off from the show in 14 days - and boy, do we need it. Not just to catch up on sleep and rest, but to switch off.

"Judges will haunt you, the country priestess will want you
Her worst is better than best.
I've seen all these decoys through a set of deep turquoise eyes
And I feel so depressed.

Mercury, gravity, nobility, humility.
You know you can't keep her and the water gets deeper
That is leading you onto the brink
But there's no time to think."

- No Time To Think, Bob Dylan, 1978

Now that I've had time to think... well... let's backtrack a little.

Post-Friday's post (post-post, hehe), I did little other than the show, of course. Hung out with Dave for a bit on Friday, show on Friday night, came home to sleep, woke up on Saturday and did two shows in a row, hung out with friends on Saturday night, slept through church on Sunday (I actually got up for it - only getting 4 hours sleep in the process - before I realised I had somehow misjudged the time) and went to perform again, followed by a post-show BBQ last night.

But just because I had no time to think doesn't mean I had no time to feel. So, following on from my last post on Friday, I renounced my idolatry of the show. And promptly fell into depression (and if you know me, you'll know I don't bandy that term around lightly), which lasted until this morning (although I only really noticed it when I stopped doing things, at various times over the weekend).

It turns out that my idolatry of the show (I'd almost put that in quotations, except that it's quite accurate) wasn't the cause of my issues, but a symptom. A symptom of misplaced hope. I'm normally an optimistic, big-picture kinda guy. Despair is hardly in my vocabulary these days. But somehow I had formed the impression that my life... well, sucked.

I'm still not sure where that impression came from, or when it formed, but it must have been over the past month or two. And my life does suck - without God. Or rather, when I factor in my every day relationship with God into my analysis of my life, it's so much better (so much better) than it would be without Him. But somehow my recent calculations ignored that fact (probably because God's not been meeting my expectations in many ways) and I put all my hope in what was seen: my life as it stands. And my life is not a pretty thing to look at.

That's a pretty harsh call, I know. But if you knew how I really felt about it... about working in law... about the future I see (and dread)... you'd probably tell me either that there's something wrong with me or that I should do something else. Again, the problem here is centered on my expectations - when you're at Uni, for instance, you can rightfully expect to have the next x years following a pretty comprehensible formula and build your life around that. And I guess I'm finding the shift from that to this, well, tough. It's not that I need routine per se, it's that I need something to look forward to.

Which is what this show has been fulfilling. Not merely the show itself, but the regular (guaranteed) social contact (which ends in a fortnight). And that's why it's been hard to avoid throwing myself at it - because my spiritual priorities weren't straight.

So, thank God for God. Because otherwise I don't know where I'd be - where my hope would be. Although my life by itself may not be what I'd hoped for, with my hope in Him (which I am still working on, I might add, but I'm getting there) it can actually be a wonderful life.

Hope, it seems, is a two-edged sword.

As a postscript, this is quite a worrying post, I'm sure. But I used to deal with feelings like this quite a lot in the past (it seems like I hardly ever face them these days), and I know how to handle it - I was actually working out who I would go talk to about it today when I realised what was going on (and so I didn't have to - I could then take it to God). So perhaps the only remaining area of concern is my attitude about my life - that probably is exaggerated somewhat too. The issue is more likely to be my extreme discomfort at having no control over the future (in that I'm giving what little control I do have over to God), compounded with my difficulty in fully trusting God with it.

Where do I go from here? Well, onwards, obviously. I have to keep going with my life. God may or may not throw me a bone any time soon, and I must make sure I don't rely on that possibility. The show is a gift, but the Giver must be my focus. And other people - but that's another story.
- posted by Sam @ 12:33 PM

 
.
... last night was incredible. Just amazing - a miracle. And I know I wasn't the only one praying for one, but I don't think anyone really expected the opening night to go so smoothly, after all the trash we've been through (which I still can't talk about). There were only minor glitches which were more than overwhelmed by the audience response, which was... wonderful. Standing ovation.

Once the final curtain went down after the curtain call, there was a collective gasp as the cast looked at each other. Then, as one, we all cheered and yelped and hugged and cried. We worked so hard, put so much of ourselves into this, rallied together and did the absoluted best that we could under the circumstances, and it turned out beautifully.

Nineteen more shows to go. I don't want it to end.

In a rapid flash of reality, David P turned up at my door this morning (actually, it was probably midday; late late night last night, good ol' opening night parties!), and I was only half-expecting him. He's here until Sunday, checking out the place, hopefully seeing the show. But it was so strange to see him, partly because it's been so long, but partly because I've been so caught up in the show that everything else has been violently shoved aside. Well, almost everything else.

I just realised how much I've made B&B my god. And just as bad, that fact only bothered me because I knew it would all be over in a few weeks. It's been hard to avoid doing so, I guess, because the show is the only thing that makes sense in my life right now. The only thing I have some control over, perhaps. God seems distant again, I'm churchless, I have little time for friends, I have no desire or prospects for working... so I throw myself fully into the show. Perhaps that made this past week of (show-related) chaos that much harde for me...

Either way, I know I need to change that, and fast. But God, it's hard.

In other news, here're today's links!

Ninjas vs. Pirates - the (live-action, four part) movie! I haven't watched it yet, so I can't say who wins (or if it's any good), but it clearly must be a masterpiece.

HOW To Kill a Mockingbird - a (flash) book review. With ninjas, pirates and a robot Scout.

Hilarious Jay Leno sketch about a photo booth - see this (if you can handle the bandwidth)!

And apparently the North Star is in fact three stars. True story.

More... later.
- posted by Sam @ 2:49 PM

 
The Show Must Go On!
And tonight we open... good Lord, that came by quickly. Interested Kiwis should check page 2 of today's Dom Post to see a hint of the troubles we've been facing - on principle, I won't go into more detail (at this stage). But we were rehearsing until 1am last night and are doing a final final final run through at 2pm today.

I don't think anything else has happened in my life since Monday. Except that my sister has returned home for who-knows-how-long. Lovely to have her back, truely.

Maybe I'll post again tomorrow. Until then, peace be with you - and me!
- posted by Sam @ 12:27 PM

 
Three dress rehearsals to go...


The web site has a bunch of photos of the show for the brochure (which will have many more, I imagine). This is the only one with all of the chorus in it (who can find me first?) - they didn't want to show what the costumes look like for the big numbers, that's a surprise... and yeah, I think it will be a good one!

I won't even bother going into how frustrating yesterday's rehearsal (or lack of) was, I'll just say that it was a very long day. And I'll add that listening to an audiobook of Dostoeyevsky's Notes from the Underground in a noisy theatre whilst listening out for a cue is no small feat...

"Though, after all, everyone does do that; people do pride themselves on their diseases, and I do, may be, more than anyone. We will not dispute it; my contention was absurd. But yet I am firmly persuaded that a great deal of consciousness, every sort of consciousness, in fact, is a disease. I stick to that. Let us leave that, too, for a minute. Tell me this: why does it happen that at the very, yes, at the very moments when I am most capable of feeling every refinement of all that is "sublime and beautiful," as they used to say at one time, it would, as though of design, happen to me not only to feel but to do such ugly things, such that ... Well, in short, actions that all, perhaps, commit; but which, as though purposely, occurred to me at the very time when I was most conscious that they ought not to be committed. The more conscious I was of goodness and of all that was "sublime and beautiful," the more deeply I sank into my mire and the more ready I was to sink in it altogether."

As Abbey brought to my attention, the infamous Auntie D. now has a blog - check my sidebar. But make sure you've got a xanga account before commenting, otherwise you'll lose your comment. That's my excuse, anyway. I'll get one, some time.

I got a call today about a job in Levin as a litigation assistant. I saw it advertised and glossed over it because of the 'assistant' aspect. But apparently my CV is being passed on to the firm, so who knows... who knows. It's funny how hard it is to get back into the thought of working, after a holiday. I suppose people only do it because they must. And so I likewise must start to motivate myself in the same way.

Finally, a spiritual update: as I recover from the laziness of a holiday away, I feel detached from God and inadequate in so many ways. I feel like I need to do something to get back in God's good books, even though I know that's not how it works. In fact, I really should be focusing on God's grace rather than my own wretchedness. Or perhaps, on God Himself. Maybe I'm 'spiritually unfit', because I feel exhausted at the thought of (and my meager efforts to) communion with Him. Whatever it is, I'm just letting go, I have to. And letting God, as the saying goes.
- posted by Sam @ 2:47 PM

 
Technically speaking...
Keeping it brief here, to make up for Thursday's monster! Yesterday we rehearsed from 10am to 10:30pm, with about three hours of breaks for eating. Today will be worse. In the business, this is known as the cursed 'Technical rehearsal'. A.k.a. the time when the director realises that the crew really aren't even close to on to it. Heh heh. For the cast, it's a lot of sitting and standing around, getting yelled at for things that aren't usually our fault.

That's all right, though. Sure, we've only got four days until opening and we haven't even finished the show yet. Sure, our next day off is in eight days. Sure, the set fell apart yesterday. But, like a rebellious child, we love it anyway.

Tell you what, it's gonna be awesome. The sets look incredible, as do most of the costumes. I have two - apparently I look like a pimp in one (prompting much hilarity when the garden-tool-turned-weapon I was given to 'kill the beast!' with was a hoe...) and a gay astronaut in the other, but I think I got off lightly in comparison. At least I'm not wearing a nightgown like one guy is.

In other news... nothing. Nothing at all. B&B is my life this month. That's not quite true. I actually had Emma and Lydia crashing at my place last night (and I got to say hi to Bing)- not that I got to spend much time with them, getting home so late and all (although, since when is 10:30 on a Saturday night late???). And my parents got back from their little holiday too. Aaaand my sister is coming back to stay for who-knows-how-long on Tuesday, which is very cool.

Well, that's enough phaffing around from me (see! See? Did I use it right, hmm? :-) ), I've got to get to technicals. And then... well, then I've got the weekday days to fill, once more. Hmm. Back to the drawing board.

Ooh, I could get an actual drawing board. How hip would that make me!?

Not as hip as my daily Sudoku puzzle completing! (Thanks Mel!)
- posted by Sam @ 8:49 AM

 
I'm glad I didn't blog yesterday.
I almost did. It would have been a tormented cry (or at least, the blog-sized version of one) against the unknowable will of God. It would have revealed the inner tears (both meanings) that had been building rapidly over the past few weeks. It would have revealed my lack of faith, and the conformity of my values to the world's.

In a nutshell.

My issue was this. As I have mentioned, I think (think being one of the key words) God's plan for me is to go into law for at least a few years, to see whether or not it suits me (or perhaps so that, if I don't work in law, I wouldn't always be wondering...). But over the past month, especially with Beauty and the Beast and reading John Eldridge books (Wild at Heart, Journey of Desire etc.), I've starting thinking that my heart is saying a big NO to that. That I don't NEED to see whether it suits me, because I know that it would be bad for me. And advice such as "don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive, and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." (sorry to single that one out, I'm not saying it's bad advice!) and many more like it come to me, and so I doubt whether I should be relying on the (mine? God's?) initial plan or following the plan (God placed) in my heart... Quotes like today's "Ability is a poor man's wealth" come along, as do the lyrics of a song from the musical "Tick, Tick... Boom":

JONATHAN:
Break of day, the dawn is here
Johnny's up and pacing
Compromise, or persevere
His mind is racing
Johnny has no guide
Johnny wants to hide
Can he make a mark,
If he gives up his spark?
Johnny can't decide
...
Can he settle down
And still not drown?

MICHAEL:
Michael's gonna have it all
His luck will never end
Johnny's backed against the wall
Can he bend his dreams,
Just like his friend?

JONATHAN, SUSAN AND MICHAEL:
Johnny sees that Susan's right
Ambition eats right through you
Michael doesn't see why
Johnny holds so tight
To the things that
Johnny feels are true

Johnny has no guide
(Johnny has no guide)
Johnny wants to hide
(Johnny wants to hide)
How can you soar
If your nailed to the floor?
Johnny can't decide

JONATHAN:
[Speaking]
I want to write music
I want to sit down
Right now at the piano
And write a song that
People will listen to and remember
And do the same thing every morning
For the rest of my life

JONATHAN, SUSAN AND MICHAEL:
Johnny has no guide
...
Johnny wants to hide
How do you know
When it's time to let go?
...
JONATHAN:
Johnny can't decide


Very confusing. Very painful. More so when my distance from God (my fault) compounds it by bringing in semi-worldly values on both sides - "surely God wants you to have a successful money earning career, then you can raise a godly family and donate lots of money and besides, doing what you want to do is hardly losing your life (in the Christian sense), is it? Besides, at least with law you know how to get into it, you don't even know what you'd DO in the creative area!" vs. "wasn't your initial thought of 'God's plan' merely what YOU thought was wise? Did you really hear from Him? Wouldn't He want you to use your passions? Won't you regret not doing it later?"

Chaos. And I knew what was going on, but prayer, worship, tongues only gave a mild, temporary reprieve. It wasn't until mentioning it to Abbey that my faith returned. Helpful as she was, I don't think it was anything she said so much as having an opportunity to talk about it with someone who would willingly listen. I don't like talking (or blogging) about this topic because I feel that everyone is/should be dead bored of it by now, but I'm afraid that I do need to talk about it every now and then.

So I haven't come to any conclusions, except that I'm sticking with my plan, but my trust in God as my Shepherd - and one who knows ALL my needs - is back on the mend.

Enough of that (see? That's me changing the 'boring' subject!). One week until Beauty and the Beast starts. It's coming together really well, but stress levels are about to rise... we've got our photo shoot tonight, and our first time on the St James stage. And the first time many of us will see our costumes. I'll try and post some photos - or a link to some - as soon as I can, assuming I'm allowed. The season has just been (shock! Horror!) extended another week (we all knew it would be, we just wanted to stagger the sales), with an understudy Beast on the last two shows (which I'm mentioning because I know I'd rather see a show without the understudy in it, although I'm sure he's just as good).

I think I'll contact WINZ today, get back on the dole. The other option is to wait until I get another temp job, but that might be a while. The next big question (you know, after finding a job and a church) is flatting... can I afford it now? Should I wait another month? I'm leaning towards looking now, but we'll see. I wonder who's still keen...

Linkages:

How to come to terms with feeling ugly. I have no idea why I'm posting this (or how I found it!), but there it is.

Going to church seems to cause a 10% rise in personal income, an MIT economist reports (yes, I said CAUSE - read the article, you cynic).

Finally, LibriVox is a database of free audiobooks - which I'm sure will come in handy on my new iPod Nano. :-)

In breaking news, Ariel Sharon has just had a major stroke...
- posted by Sam @ 12:55 PM

 
Blonde Joke
Not a big fan of blonde jokes in general (maybe my hair colour has something to do with it), but I gotta link to this one, it's a crack-up.
- posted by Sam @ 11:44 AM

 
And I would drive five hundred miles, and I would drive five hundred more...
Actually, according to my calculations, 2,000km is 1,250 miles. Or 250km per day for eight days. Whatever you'd like to call it, I did a heck of a lot of driving. Which I used to enjoy, but I got a little sick of it towards the end there. Funnily enough, the comparatively short 1 1/2 hour drives in the middle of the trip were the hardest, I had to keep pulling over to avoid sleepiness related accidents.

I will take this occassion to also mention that I've just passed my 500-post mark on this blog. A fine effort.

So, back in Wellington. In 2006. Wow - reality comes crashing back down. For a companion post, check Bing's blog, but here's a brief summary of our trip:

After a last-minute confirmation that Jacqui would be joining Bing and I on Boxing Day (who I didn't name, in order to surprise Jess - a crafty ploy that appeared to pay dividends), we left at around 10am for a lovely 8 hour drive to Tauranga. Bing recounts the extremely well-timed Pierre pick-up on his blog, as well as the iPod Nanoerised drive up North (yeah, I thought it was a cool Christmas present too. I'm certainly gonna enjoy it!), and the lovely right-arm-only sunburn that a Northward drive will give you.

Jess' party was great - heaps of people (it was funky to see Justin and Joe there!), and Jess got some well-deserved mass-loving. I gave a little speech on request (I hate giving 21st speeches, because I always forget a) any amusing incidences, and b) any vocabulary that doesn't sound overly gushy - I end up speaking from the heart, but sadly in a way that people can't really relate to. Oh well), and we partied well into the night.

I've mentioned being woken up by Natasha Beddingfield that next morning, but that's really only the beginning of my sleeping woes. It wasn't all that bad, actually... not compared to my showering woes. I can't understand how I was the only one of us to consistently get cold showers most places we went. Bizarre. It's all okay.

Anyway, this is dragging a little. We spent another day and night in Tauranga (staying at Jess' place without her in the country felt a little odd), then cruised to Rotorua to stay with Justin (and his interesting family! :-) ). We saw Ros the next day, missed seeing Joe in Rotorua the day after, saw Zorro in Whakatane and a free barbecue on Ohope beach before seeing in the New Year with Lydia (and Katie, for a brief while) at the Mount!

2006 started with another missed church service (seriously, I've missed two in a row now, and will miss the next one too...) and a hypnotisingly distracting retelling of Alice in Wonderland (1999) on the box (none of us wanted to watch it, but we couldn't really stop) with Joe (who was in town for the Datsun's concert) et al. We drove to Hastings that afternoon and spent the night at Sharon's with her folks and her, Wendy McGovern and Yogs and Shelley Thornton, which was a very pleasant surprise!

It was a journey of good food, great friends, and a heck of a lot of driving. And it goes to show that sometimes not planning can work just as well as planning. And that I'm sure the Hong Kong revellers ought to be jealous of us :-). Speaking of, I got to chat to half of them on MSN last night, which was remarkably cool. Remarkably.

I've had one thing on my mind this holiday, really. It may be related to the frightening drop in quiet times, bible readings and church attendances, so I won't go into a huge amount of detail. Oh wow, that sounds really bad. It's just the old chestnut of career options. Various events and comments (and a Frank Sinatra documentary) seem to be conspiring to show me that a law career would kill me. Beauty and the Beast is showing me how much performing - especially musically - makes me come alive. The Sinatra thing was a quote from him: "Whatever has been said about me personally is unimportant. When I sing, I believe." That hit me.

Anyway, I need to process that a bit more, so I will leave you with a couple of interesting links:

In Texas, a church gives away a house to promote church attendance.

A Dutch businessman is building a half-scale model of Noah's Ark (full-scale to come later).

The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny - Godzilla vs. Batman vs. Shaq vs. Abe Lincoln vs. Optimus Prime vs. Jackie Chan vs. Indiana Jones vs. Carebear vs.... oh, just watch it, it's aweseome!

More links and more fascinating blogging coming very very soon. Until then, I have rehearsals every night until performances start. All 20 of them.

Thank heavens I'm unemployed again.
- posted by Sam @ 1:46 PM