Another massively busy time!

I know it's been over a month since I blogged last, but there are reasons, I swear!

On June 30 we ran another slam, and I volunteered to be sacrificial poet (the one who goes first, getting a score from the judges but not actually competing against the poets; the idea is to get the judges into the swing of scoring for the night and thereby minimize the disadvantage to the poet who would otherwise first). Yes, I faced my memorization phobia and performed the poem from memory. ("Oh, no, you di'int!") Oh, yes, I did! It went...okay. Okay enough that I got some good experience, and with a little more practice I'll probably go to one of the Sydney slams in due course and give it another airing.

A few days later we began the July school holidays drama workshop I'm coordinating for Strategic Community Assistance to Refugee Families (SCARF). There are about a dozen kids, and a great team of actor colleagues, and we're having a great time! They've been coming up with some terrific stuff on stage, and (I hope) learning some things about acting, playwriting, and producing. It's pretty draining, though, as the kids are really high-energy, which requires us on the team to be high-energy as well.

As if that weren't enough, this weekend saw two performances of Opera at the Phoenix, a two-hour show of opera favorites (first act) followed by a restaging of Passione Appassionata — regular readers of this blog may recall its premier in Sydney last November. It incorporates dance, acting, fabulous singing, and a swag of my poems, and I was very, very happy to be working with this particular group again to offer it in Wollongong.

Then today, Monday, it was right back into it with the SCARF drama workshop — only two more sessions left after today! Moreover, there's the Ph.D. novel to keep working on, as well as some editing to do. Plus all the other writing projects, too alarmingly numerous to mention. Am I perhaps choosing to overcommit myself? The question demands to be asked, and yet I have no answer.

What's next? The August 25 concert/workshop performance of The Dancing Mice and the Giants of Flanders! Oh, and another slam on July 28 at Yours and Owls. And (hopefully) a few more chapters on the novel. And the editing. And the other writing projects. Yes. I'm definitely overcommitted. Let's see if I can make it all happen — wish me well!