It just takes some time, little girl, you're in the middle of the ride

Today I finally became a member of the WWF (the panda people not the wrestling people) and also adopted a panda at the same time. I mean obviously I haven't adopted an actual panda (although that would be epicness in the extreme) but £3 of my money a month goes specifically towards pandas and £3 goes towards general conservation. That's £6 (although I do not doubt anyone's mathematical skills here except my own) and when I told mama that she was surprised and said it was a lot. But I considered this... that's less than one hour of work a month. It's between 2 and 4 drinks at a bar (at least it is for my drinks :P). It's nothing. I don't know why I haven't done it sooner, I just keep putting everything off until tomorrow and tomorrow never seems to come for those things so slowly working through the things in life that I want to do. Part of that is saving pandas. 

I can't wait until my little panda toy comes in the post.  I'll need to think of an awesome name for it.

I will also admit that I love red pandas too. They can be just as cute but look nothing like pandas. The name is somewhat misleading.

They're kinda raccoony. Very cute though and the ones I saw in London loved to sleep ALL THE TIME (that we were there anyway), lazy buggers.

I'm feeling pretty awesome recently. Medication is only required sporadically now and things are happy. Currently my blogname is a little inaccurate but I don't want to tempt fate too much :P But really I am more (on average) content than I have been in a very long time. The only bad thing about life right now is that I don't have enough time (that is useful) to see Blue and other peoples. That is the main problem with societies and rehearsals and shows and concerts, I have too many of them all the time at the times when other people (apart from those in the said socs etc.) are free to meet ups and when I do finally have a day off I just want to hermitise and not see people to catch up with everything else ever that I need to do here at home.

I'm looking at getting a second job (waiting back on an interview I just had so fingers crossed) which yay more money and yay I might plausibly be able to move out if I get enough hours (although it looks unlikely and thus I will need a third job before I can do that ¬¬) but serious boo because I won't be able to see people even more than I do currently. I'm hoping that summer hols will give me some extra time to catch up with folks.

There are not enough hours in the day or elsewise it would be beneficial if sleep was not a requirement of life.

Life is a funny thing, we spend so many hours wasting our time procrastinating and then we discover that we don't have enough hours in the days left to do everything we want to. It is both hideously short and plausibly the longest thing we will ever know (afterlife may or may not be included subject to availability). I wish life was a bit like a game like Persona4 where you can complete the game and then restart it with all your skills from the previous game so that you could just concentrate on one thing and then be able to do more next time round, if you so desired to do things that way. I wouldn't change the route only how much I do. To be honest I don't even particularly regret the procrastination (which would be my only regret if I had such things).

Loves to all, Lif xxxxxx

Reality is a lovely place but I wouldn’t want to live there

I said my next post was going to be pictures but I can't sleep and I want to witter and ramble and so things are not as planned. Actually quite a few plans are going awry but that's just the way life goes really, and they're not going badly just not how they were planned.

I've been looking further into recorders. Apparently the treble I bought from Tynemouth market for £5 is worth about £50 in shops which is pretty cool, but also interestingly it's not a good beginner's one, which explains why things have been more tricky with it than I had hoped when I was starting out. It does however have a lovely tone and so I'm happy regardless. Been looking into getting some Handel music for it (grade 4-6 standard) because once the show I'm in is over I won't have anything recordery to practise and it would be nice to get even better (and maybe understand what notes relate to which fingerings rather than just knowing the patterns that the music follows)! Only downside is that the book of recorder sonatas on amazon is apparently just the piano score and so the recorder part is teeny tiny. Or maybe the book the reviewer got was just the piano score... who knows. Anyway I found some on IMSLP but it's recorder and basso continuo. For those not in the know that means that there is the recorder line and a bass line with numbers written above it. Baroque players would know what chords and improv. harmony would fit by reading these numbers but sadly I don't remember what most of them mean and so I'm going to have to find a crib sheet and work it out. Slightly exciting though to restart on that kind of thing. It feels like ages since I did any proper academic stuff.

Pre-baroque treble

Medieval double recorder [Listen here]

Electroacoustic recorder, somewhat steampunk :D

Standard baroque treble recorder in dark wood

I am curious as to how the pre-baroque ones sound with the different fingering system and I most certainly want the double and an electroacoustic (because how sweet would that be!). I am currently a little recorder obsessed I know... :P

I looked at getting a sopranino recorder. I can get a yamaha one on amazon for about £7 which, as it is stupidly cheap, is probably quite crappy but it would be in F (standard recorders are either in C or in F, the treble that I am learning is in F and thus I want other F instruments rather than trying to now learn descant which is in C or tenor (also in C), probably best not to get into the variations on Baroque and Renaissance replica recorders as they seem to be in multiple keys and I'm not sure how that variates the fingerings) and the only other practical recorder in F is a bass but that is still a couple of £hundred at cheapest. The sole review of this yamaha instrument was that it was not a soprano recorder and it wasn't wooden and it was misleading and they couldn't play it because their fingers weren't small enough. Despite the description saying it was a sopranino, in F, made of ABS resin. Some people just complain and make excuses when they only have themselves to blame. Silly person. It is tempting though, although I could get an Aulos, like my treble, for £20 which would probably be a better instrument. All very contemplatey.

Ok something else... some pretty pictures?

Venice

I am going to be so very tired by tomorrow night. I'm really glad it is half term right now otherwise I'd be more than a little concerned at the fact that I'm not yet asleep. Sadly thought I don't think I'll be able to get up as early as I would like to see Blue tomorrow, which I was so looking forward to spending as much time as I can before my rehearsal. I don't know where my caffeine pills are either so I don't know if I'll be able to wake myself up chemically either.

Actually the bit I'm dreading the most is falling asleep on the bus over to Blue. Buses, for some reason, tend to make me sleepy on the best of days. When I'm actually tired they're terrible. I can see me falling asleep and ending up at one of the termination points (depending on when I wake up and if the driver chucks me off at the one in town). It'll just be such a bother. I mean if I'm too tired to go out tomorrow then I'll just have to pass on going out but normally I'll be dead during the day and then wake up at about 8 or 10pm and run off adrenaline for a while.

Oh god, one minute... yup, it's well and truly past dawn. Tendrils of mist linger in the corners of the field opposite and the sky is a composite of pastel pinks and blues. It's tempting to pull an all nighter now. To go back to Theme Hospital and just game until it's time to "get up" and continue life... but that is plausibly a terrible plan... I've already tried to sleep once tonight and my meds are still not kicking in. I suppose I better boost the dosage. Oh well...

Love to all,

Buttercup xxxxxxxx