Haaay blog readers, sorry I’ve been mia in cyberblog world lately, I don’t know why, probably just laziness. I really don’t know where to start. So much has been happening in the last month – no, actually, not much has been happening at all, but the last few days have been mental. Returning from holiday is great, especially when you’ve got no commitments or need to work immediately. Because of this I’ve been (un?)happily unemployed for the last few weeks. The two weeks or so was great – sleeping through the morning (whilst learning to ignore the church clock that my new flat looks over), smoking the remainder of my pot, doing an occasional shift at the video store and living off the meager wages they give me there. Ahhh, yes, living like a dirtbag was awfully pleasant.

This is the first time since I was 16 that I’ve been completely and utterly un-gainfully employed – except for that little stint when I first started college, but then I was busy with classes – now I’m well and truly stuck with nothing to do. Again, the dirtbagness of it all was fun for a bit, but eventually my excessive skiving started to do my head in (also, you can only do so much when living off of 10-20 pounds/week). This was initially a great way for me to try and figure out what the hell to do with myself over the next few months/years/lifetimes, but eventually not doing much of anything (except for the odd job here and there for some spare cash) really kept me trapped in my own head. I don’t see how people can live on the dole, unemployed for months at a time. Seriously, free money is good and all, but I can only take so much doing nothing before I start to drive myself nuts. To keep myself sane I’ve been loading up on shifts at the forest café (that volunteer arts collective/café/hippie/freak magnet place).

The forest received a donation of loads of photographic equipment so we’ve decided to build a public access darkroom. I’m amazed with myself and the people we’re working with because within 2 weeks we’ve already built a whole new wall (something I didn’t know I actually could do – new skill set for me!), sealed all the walls and now we’re headed to the painting and setting stage. We’ll have an awesome space in 2 weeks (if everything goes to plan) – soon I’ll be teaching a class or two – hooray. Also, one of the kitchen managers (the only people who actually get paid) has decided to quit, I’m definitely applying and hopefully I’ll be set. I think I’ll crawl back to my temp agency and do a week or two to get the cash flow back into my account while waiting for something more permanent. I’ve also got a few applications and CVs around Scotland (filmhouse worker/chemist/NMR technician), so I should be working soon enough.

In other news I’ve moved into my new flat! It is without question the nicest flat I’ve ever lived in. My room is pretty small (if I stretch I can essentially touch both walls at the same time, and my bed is smaller than any bed I’ve had in ages (although I have recently discovered that no matter how small a bed is, if people sleep well together, they sleep well together), but the walls are green (which is great) and everyone is nice and friendly. The living room is expansive as is the kitchen/dining room. And best of all, it is CHEAP! Great stuff. Only bad thing is that I’ve got to leave in a month when Sophie gets back to reclaim her place…