Positive steps to improve my life

An introspective journal entry.

I realised a short time ago, that I was in a bit of a rut in my lifestyle. So I thought I'd do something about it. So, the first thing I did was work out what was wrong and needed to be changed.

I'm single. I don't like living in London. I don't like sharing a flat. I have no friends in London. I have no friends who live locally. My evening seems to consist of chatting online, watching telly, and generally not going out. I dislike my job. I have to work.

Having to work is not something I can do anything about just yet. Self employment would be nice, but I don't have the skills (or maybe just the self-confidence) to do that on my own. But for now, I think I need a job. And actually, the current one isn't too bad. I've put my foot down and refused to take part in any pre-crunch overtime. The people are friendly. The problems are that everyone else who works here is football mad, whereas I have no interest in the game, and that commuting to the other side of London is quite unpleasant.

I could simply move closer to work, but given that I'm pretty much committed to working in London, I do rather want to stay south of the river where I can get to Sussex, Woking and Bristol by car or train without too much hassle. I work in an area that's notable for having 3 prisons within easy walking distance.

So, I decided I need a new job. I've submitted my CV to one agent and one company directly. I once liked the idea of working for Criterion, but since EA bought them, they seem a lot less attractive. Not just because of the well publicised rant by ea_spouse, but because I'd already heard a lot of bad things about EA. So, I applied to a games company in Bristol, and sent my CV to one of the few agents who got me an interview last time I was unemployed. I have an interview lined up. Godalming is slightly better location-wise than North London. Even better - They have a studio in Brighton.

Finding somewhere else to live is something else I'll have to wait for. It does rather depend on my getting a new job since I have no idea where I'll be working in a few months time. But if I end up working in Godalming, anywhere along the line is viable. I could actually afford a studio for less than I'm currently paying, or a place with a bedroom for well within my budget. That sorts out the shared flat and job issue at least.

Having no friends, being single, and doing nothing in the evening are all essentially the same problem that can be solved in one go. I tried some online sites to solve all these, but it's not really that easy to find the right group. Meetup.com seems a little scary. For some reason, I think it will be full of strange weird people. Not sure why. However, my mother confirms that this sort of social meeting up event do seem to attract a certain type - at least when she went to clubs advertised in the local community centre. I've met some people from online dating sites, but it never really worked out. The online dating thing has its own set of problems. Firstly, it's very hard to find the right person. Everyone always seems a little too... I'm not sure what the word is... possibly too normal for me. There seems to be a glut of cloned blonde trendies who like clubbing. The other problem is that when I do find someone who speaks esperanto and paints cats as a hobby, they're often a little reluctant to actually meet up. Something about me being a psychotic axe murderer or something.

But I found a solution.

I've been tempted by acting for a while. Except apathy, apprehensiveness, and indecisiveness have always stopped me from getting anywhere in this. But I decided I really ought to look for something. So, I went to the library. And asked whether they had any information on amateur dramatics societies or anything like that. Strangley, they didn't, but they did suggest Batterea Arts Centre across the road. This is an organisation that specialises in helping performers get started. Something that tempted me there was a series of "After Hours" workshops for adults, once a week. So, I thought I'd sign up for the physical theatre course.

I decided physical theatre probably isn't for me, but the workshop was rather fun. So the following week I thought I'd sign up for the workshop on putting on a production. Except by the time I got round to it it was sold out. So I thought I'd book the following weeks's lighting workshop instead. Except that was sold out. Given this, I thought I'd better sign up for the acting workshops pretty damn sharpish. So, I did. I went along to the first one. And I was very pleased with the 4:10 male:female ratio. The first workshop was about use of texts. Analysing, working out who the character is, and what words are important. The chap taking the course was very encouraging, very patient, and I'm looking forward to the following week.

Someone I spoke to briefly also chatted to me again. Very briefly, but it was nice that someone remembered me. I really need to encourage a few people to go to the bar afterwards next week. The place has a fully licenced bar. Where are all the alcoholics?

Finally, I decided to go to clubs and meetings if the topic interests me. I met a few boardgamers last weekend after a post on an LJ forum. And played a few games of Settlers. And drank lots of coffee, and got in the way of Starbucks closing time. And this weekend, I'm meeting a bunch of obsessive Sci-fi nuts at a local pub.

Still not sorted my life out, but I think I'm out of the rut.