More Life!

I don't know if I ever intended monthly project book updates but here we go.... Well I'll be honest this isn't so much of a 'project book' update as it will be a general moan about life. But this blog is designed to both document the book-writing process as much as it is to share the research. And the reality is, this kind of stuff is part of the process. So, life update. Or at least job update. Or indeed lack of job update. I spent Christmas working in a bookshop. Which was hard work but fairly enjoyable all told. And before it ended I found out I had a temporary admin job lined up. Happy days, I can have a routine, and work on my research around the work. As it happened the job wasn't what I'd hoped. For reasons I may get to talk about in more detail another time. But added to that, this week they decided to let me go. And I'll be honest I've taken it hard. From the financial worry once again, to the crippling feelings of 'failure'

A slight diversion. But as this is the 'research blog' it seems only right that I take pause today to talk about the 'other half' of my academic life. And so much more. Larson wrote 'How do you measure a year in the life' and the more years that go by- in both his work a part of my life and since the world lost him- it becomes harder to encapsulate those things in words. Larson's work shaped me personally and professionally. And musical theatre owes him a debt. We would, theatre kids, likely have no Hamilton if it wasn't for Larson (Don't believe me, listen to your God Lin-Manuel while he tells the story of how Larson's work shaped him here ) Now we aren't all Lin-Manuel Miranda, obviously. But I'd bet that most of us theatre kids of a certain age (and the generations after us) owe a little something to Rent. And actually, like Miranda I wouldn’t have done what I’ve done without Rent. For me I came late to it. I

How many times can I fall in love with this play all over again?  And how also does it still hurt so damn much.  Photo: Annie Leibovitz for Vogue  It's something that's been kicking around my brain a lot, as the production moves towards Broadway.  Today spurned on by the article in  Vogue  and the gorgeous images taken by Annie Leibowitz I think I crystallized a few of those thoughts.  Let's backtrack again. The article in Vogue. With pictures by Annie Leibowitz.  And of course the small fact that Angels is back on Broadway (in the theatre most recently  housing Cats for added nerd value). And with a cast that includes Nathan Lane, Andrew Garfield, Lee Pace and the wonder-New-York- Recently -Discovered that is Denise Gough.  (I'm staking the claim now America, you don't get to keep her.) All of that is enough to make this nerd heart leap. But what I'm still struck by is the power this play still has. Even in the thinking about

As I've all but abandoned my old PhD blog (for those interested it's all still here) this seems like the place to reflect on 2017 in terms of professional and the overlapping personal achievements/life/whatever. And anyway the title of this blog seems apt. So 2017 started with a promise of a steady job for the coming months (Lesson 1, never trust such a promise) as I was offered a 'Maternity Cover' just before Christmas. (Lesson 2, get exactly what that means written into a contract). Truth be told I was never happy in that job. I worked in Development for the Arts Council. And while the team were (by and large) the loveliest group of people I've worked with- and after the horrendous experience in the job before I was grateful for that- the job simply wasn't for me. I lurched between abject boredom, and frustration at my seeming inability to do what was needed (not entirely my fault, and in part an issue of Dyslexia). For the next 9 months however it would pro