Man Up, Mate!

Friday night: Went to Rik and Ling’s place for a Malaysian food extravaganza! Ling made a Chicken & Potato curry, a fresh fried vegetable dish, and my personal favourite…Mee Goreng! Forget Satay Kingdom! Bring on Ling Palace!

Saturday day: Katy had mentioned a few weeks ago that she was going to be teaching a Clown workshop to little kids, and I had said if she needs any help I’d love to come along. Well today we did the workshop! It was really fun. I really did nothing – I just joined in on the games and held the hand of a particularly shy young girl. The kids all spoke English. It was setup by one of Katy’s friends who runs a kids theatre group at The American Church.



It got me thinking about how setting up a school like this back home could be a great little money earner on the side. A Little Bit Silly School of Performing Arts?

Saturday night: I had my three hour job trial at Café Oz tonight…

...except it went for eight hours! I didn’t leave the bar till 2.30am. But it was GREAT! I was a real-life bartender all night. Making Mojitos, serving pints, and pouring shots all night. I went in thinking I won’t want the job (because the pay is below average and the hours are horrific!) and that I’d just do the trial for fun…But I think I’m hooked. I had a lot of fun, the people were really friendly, and I can’t help but feel super cool being a bartender! The bar is really cool too. Very popular, good music, fun atmosphere! Last night was a Japanese theme as they were fundraising for Japan, so we were all dressed either as Ninjas or ‘Hello Kitty’ Japanese girls.

I’ve been offered the job, and I think I’m going to take it. Despite the negatives, I’ll meet new people, improve my French (last night was interesting at times on that note), make some cash, and become a pro at making lots of yummy drinks.

Sunday: Today I emailed the three venues waiting on my response for Edinburgh saying that I’ve decided not to attend this year’s festival after all. I came to this decision over the last two weeks. The amount of money required was paralyzing to say the least, but I also was burning out with all the work I was doing on it. I’ve learnt that having a support team of people is really important (I was doing everything myself), and also, it’s good to focus on one big thing at a time (I keep learning this particular lesson over and over again). Right now I’m doing intensive training at École Philippe Gaulier, and that is enough. If I was to do Edinburgh this year, the quality of my experience at school, my holiday with Amanda afterwards, and my season of WANNABE, would have been lowered. So I’m really happy (and relieved with this decision). I still would like to do the show next year at Edinburgh, so now I know what I’m in for. But we’ll see.

I also finished the book I’ve been reading: Effortless Mastery – Liberating the Master Musician Within by Kenny Werner. I feel like a snob, but I’ve been a bit skeptical of it from the start because I have no idea who Kenny Werner is, and neither does Thomas (a musician, who gave me the book). So there’s a part of me that goes “Who are you and why should I care what you have to say?” Unfair, perhaps. Anyone, whether they are ‘known’ or not, has the potential to share something valid and useful. I’m sure Kenny would be saying “Who is Philippe Gaulier and why should I care about what he has to say?” Or you, reader of this blog, could be saying “Who is Guy Langford and why should I care about what he has to say?” Fair point.

You care about what I have to say because my learning process could help you too. Well, that in fact is basically what Effortless Mastery is. It’s a book full of Werner’s discoveries about learning. I think he had some good things to say, particularly about the ego and removing your self from your work. But also about getting out of the way of yourself and letting the music play through you - getting into an effortless zone. He uses meditation and seems to get a lot of inspiration from spiritual leaders, which doesn’t resonate so much with me, but essentially the idea of finding a way to be free, does.

Sunday night: Went to Bistrot du Marche, Montreuil where they served coucous and chicken dinners for everyone! FREE! The place is amazing. Great live gypsy-esque music every Sunday night. We've been before, and we'll go again!