Shoes: Best Friend and Worst Enemy

I have a confession. I am a shoe addict. 


It's not much of a confession, I'll admit. I don't exactly go robbing convenience stores or selling myself on the street corner to fuel my need for stiletto heels and ankle straps. 


....yet.


I've lost a great many pairs of shoes in the last few weeks. Not lost as in misplaced - I've had to give them up, like so many starving African children, to homes that can care for them better. In some cases, they were beyond help, and I've had to put them (humanely) out of their misery. 


This has all come about because of the travelling I've done, or am about to do. Stupid luggage restrictions. How am I supposed to fit fifteen pairs of shoes along with all the rest of my worldly goods into 20kg? We must all make sacrifices, but this is ridiculous. 


I got a fabulous pair of leather boots in China, but packing them would mean paying almost as much as I got them for in excess luggage charges. Half the fun of having a shoe addiction is finding an amazing bargain, and the airlines are ruining my fun. Thankfully I'm told that there's more fun to be had in London, where fabulous shoes abound, and that my babies can always be replaced with new ones. 


I guess the upshot of all this is that I'm more or less packed, and ready to head off into a land of wonderful shoes and opportunity. 


And dammit, I will be ready for this opportunity clad in appropriately fabulous footwear!

Give a Little, Get a Lot

For the past two weeks I've been volunteering at the Perth International Arts Festival. I'm only home in Perth for three and a half weeks, so you may well ask why the hell I'm spending my time working and not getting paid, when there's a million other things I could (and probably should) be doing.


Well first, as you may have gathered, I'm easily bored. I also have a tendency, when faced with a lot of free time and not a lot of structure, to be lazy as hell. Last summer I spent three months at home, unemployed and waiting for my contract to start, mostly spending my time playing Xbox and eating peanut butter with a spoon. 


This is not how I wanted to spend my time on this occasion. Especially since it took a good few months to shed the kilos caused by stagnant peanut butter consumption. 


So I got in contact with an old friend who works at the Festival and offered my services. So to speak. 


I expected a few freebies and a nice reference for my resume in return, but I'm getting so much more. I hadn't realised, but I'd been suffering from Cultural Starvation. Not that there isn't any culture in China - far from it, but after ten months I'd pretty much had my fill, and I was sick of the false and cheesy environment in which I was working. I needed some real art, and to feel inspired again as an Artist.


Working at the Festival, amongst so many passionate people, people who are really excited about seeing some obscure act from Argentina, or an Iranian film, or in my case a beautiful piece of theatre by a company from Switzerland, has reinvigorated my creativity in ways I didn't expect. I'm learning so much, even as I sit there laminating posters or labelling stationary. 


These guys love the Arts so much, you can't help but be inspired. 


Not only do I get to see these amazing shows and acts from around the world, I get to sit amongst passionate and enthusiastic audiences who remind me of why I started performing in the first place. Just the fact that there are these people out there, who understand and appreciate good art or theatre or music, gives me hope that I can give something to someone out there in the big scary world. 


Talking to one of my temporary colleagues the other day, we were discussing why supporting the Arts (yep, with a capital letter) is important, and we hit on the fact that unlike other not-for-profit organisations, the Arts benefits everybody in one way or another. It might highlight an important issue, change somebody's thinking, bring a new or different culture into someone's life, give someone a moment of pure delight - but above all, help spread these ideas around.


Yep, I'm all for spreading things around. Share the love, I say! 


So as I climb down off my soapbox, I just want to say how grateful I am to be an Artist, and how grateful I am to have the opportunity to work with such wonderful and dedicated people.


Viva la Arte! Viva la Festival!


If you want to feel as awesome as I do, and you're in Perth, go see some of the shows. You won't regret it. 

www.perthfestival.com.au

I. Hate. Paperwork.

Bureaucracy is my enemy. I swear, I've filled out so many forms and sent so many emails in the past few weeks it's no wonder I woke up with a killer migraine at 5.30am this morning. My brother, who was still up (omg deadbeat) looked at me strangely as I headed to the freezer for an icepack to soothe my throbbing head. 


I thought I'd escaped pointless forms and ridiculous requirements when I left China, but no - even my Chinese bank account has been blocked (yes, I entered the wrong PIN - whatever) and I have to print, sign scan and email ANOTHER stupid form to get another PIN. 


That's before I had to deal with the British Home Office. After my emails about my British Passport application went unanswered, I called up, and after being disconnected and told to call the number that I'd originally dialled twice, I finally chanced upon a human being who really wasn't much help anyway. 


So, back to the plan of getting my passport when I actually arrive in the UK. Unfortunately, for this I needed even MORE forms and documents - birth certificates and such - and there were yet more forms to fill out to obtain these. 


AAAARGH!


Thankfully, my own Birth Certificate was pretty painless to get - just gad to go down to the local registry with a completed form and my passport and they printed it out for me on the spot. YAY!


Glad to find that some things can be easy... 

No Effort, No Worries

Anything that lets me do something without making any effort, I'm completely down with. Ever since going to China, I've been trying to learn different languages. I've always been so impressed with people who speak more than one language. I guess being a native English speaker and growing up in Australia, it's not as necessary to learn another language.


Oh, I took a year of Japanese in High School (konnichi-wa!) but lost interest because I had to learn to write  in Japanese as well. Too much effort. Same when I borrowed some Russian language CDs from the library - as if I'm gonna learn how to read and write Cyrillic. Then I find myself in China, a country that boasts several dialects and a lexicon of several thousand individual characters, as well as a tonal system. So, depending on how you say it, the word 'ma' can either mean Mother or horse. I didn't really want to be calling anyone's mum a horse, so my Chinese (both Cantonese and Mandarin - we used both) was limited at best. I did try my Cantonese at the local Chinese takeaway today but I'm pretty sure they didn't notice. 


But I really want to learn another language, and since I'm going to Germany in August for a singing course (excitement!), and German being closest to English, I thought I'd give that a go. I even have some German friends to practice on, so it all works out quite well, really.


Now, I'm one to lose interest in things quite quickly. In fact I have the attention span of a goldfish with ADD. I'm actually really surprised I've kept up this blog for so long. 


I needed something to help me learn German without me getting bored and losing interest. 


I found it. 


Well, my friend Miriam found it, and got me onto it. It's called Earworms, and it uses funky music playing under the language lesson to help implant it in your brain. Like those annoying jingles you can't get out of your head. You're actually supposed to relax and not really make an effort. It'll just gradually implant itself in your brain. 


That's the idea, anyway. I've listened to it all the way through twice now, and so far I'm no Diane Kruger, but I have a feeling this one will work. I can listen on the train to work, at work, in the car - anywhere, and OMG MULTITASKING!


I'm addicted to multitasking. I NEED to be doing more than one thing at the same time. Yesterday I was simultaneously listening to my German, laminating, checking my facebook and doing a research project. 


Don't tell my boss. 


Or maybe do tell her - I am a freaking multitasking GENIUS. 


But leave out the facebook...

So apparently I'm hot. In more ways than one.

Two things happened today, one good and one not so good. The not so good was that I got a bit sunburned at work, in a ridiculously short space of time , while wearing a hat and standing (mostly) in the shade. A bit annoying, but nothing unusual, and my poor boss felt so bad when she saw it. Bless! 


Seems that I am both cursed and blessed by my Ivory complexion (read: pasty as fuck). 


Reason being, I got the DVD with my new headshots in the post today, and wowzers - I impress even myself! Now before you dismiss me as an arrogant narcissist, I normally have a pretty realistic view of how good I look. Mostly a pasty-faced 'interesting' looking type. But I'm pretty sure these photos are HOT. 


Don't worry, dear readers - those of you who aren't my facebook friends and have seen them already (as if there are any of you out there...), I'll be posting my final selections.


So excited - new headshots, just under three weeks to go... the anticipation builds!

Argh! My Eyes! Or, what not to do on the day of your headshots.

So today was a rather busy day for me. After staying up late creating this masterpiece of a Blog, this morning I had to go to the optometrist to get contact lenses fitted. I've never worn them before, making do with my funky but impractical glasses.


Sadly, an up-and-coming actress can't be cast as 'funky' in every role, nor can I attempt to grande jetee across the room in a dance call with (awesome) plastic frames on my face. That being said, if you ever need to cast a dirty secretary or librarian, I'm your girl.


Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. You'll find that I often do. Deal with it.


So after getting hideous orange dye dropped into my eyes and blowing Oompa Loompa out of my nose for the next half hour, I get told that I


a) have a cataract


b) have astigmatism, making it tricky to fit contacts


You might think that option (a) was the most worrying, but hey, it's a little one and it's probably been there my whole life. I need to SEE, goddammit!


Happily, the optometrist has some trial lenses handy, which she teaches me how to insert and remove, and I spend the next few minutes poking myself in the eye, pretty much on purpose. All is well, and I sally forth with my new lenses, but feeling strangely naked without my glasses and no makeup on.


Handy Hint: Glasses are amazing at hiding the fact that you have no makeup on.


Now, today I had booked a shoot for new headshots (you know, those pictures actors have that make you look more glamorous and talented than you actually are), so I decide to treat myself to some new skincare. Being of the sensitive skin persuasion, I go for a brand I've used and liked, although giving a new product a go.


Big Mistake.


Turns out, although I've had no problems in the past with this stuff, something in the special 'facial' version makes my eyes VERY irritated, red, puffy and watering. Yes, you might be saying - 'uh, you've been poking yourself in the eye with weird stuff all morning.'


I know this, but having now come home and thoroughly washed my face and eliminating the problem, I'm pretty sure it was the damn face cream.


Cut to the headshot shoot, where the photographer (who was really lovely), kept worrying that my eyes were watering. Several touchups later, I decided that the 'dewy eyed' look was going to have to do, and in the end the shots turned out really great, despite the fact that I was dripping from my face the entire time.


Good work, Miss K.

Preparations, introductions... whatever.

Ok, so - I graduated from Drama School (yes, those are capital letters) a year ago, and after getting my first performing job (in CHINA... I don't wanna talk about it) I've decided to throw caution to the wind and head to London to try my luck amongst the hundreds, ok thousands, of other hopefuls trying to make their living in the performing arts.


Some may say I'm a dreamer...


Whatever, John Lennon - I'm going, and you can't stop me cos you're dead. Yes. So, before I get assassinated myself by rabid Lennon fans, I feel I must explain. Being Australian, and therefore stricken with the probably genetic desire to visit the 'Old Country', I've picked London as my base of operations from which to launch my path to ultimate Thespian Glory. I leave in approximately three weeks.


This doesn't give me a lot of time. Shit.


Luckily I'm armed with the means to obtain a coveted British Passport (cue Angelic choir), which I'll get when I arrive. My passport photos don't look too bad, which is a good sign.


Speaking of good signs, the timing of my adventure has quite unintentionally turned out to be quite Auspicious (I've got a bit superstitious from living in China). Completely by accident, the date I arrived back in Australia coincided with Chinese New Year (kung hei fat choi!), and the day I arrive in the UK is also the first day of Spring. Pretty cool huh?


I'm feeling good about this, guys! New year, new season, new LIFE!