So I had a blog post...

So I wrote a blog entry before that announcement. It told the story of last Saturday's bonfire party. It was about how we first arrived, what was eaten, who we loved and who we (I) hated and, most importantly of all, just how many people John managed to insult before we were ushered out of the house, possibly forever.

It was a true piece of beauty.

Then I got a stupid idea that I should do an announcement post with the "Surprise, Bitches" meme first. So after turning this beautiful, amazing first blog back post into a draft, I did some searching, found an appropriate use of the meme and made the announcement post.

Then I accidentally deleted all the draft entries, since it's an automatic reaction with my emails. 

Will I ever rewrite that entry? Probably not. Will I let that one slip-up stop me writing on here more? Probably not.

So until next time, loyal readers.

Live Long and Prosper

UPDATE: I was reading through some of my old entries, and noticed that while I had mentioned having interviews, I didn't say anything about whether or not I had gotten either job.

I didn't. The one at Victoria Hall went to someone else. But I got a lovely phone call back, saying how it was a tough choice, that everyone had given a really good interview and also received some pointers on doing better. This took some of the sting out of the whole thing.

The other one, however, didn't hire anyone. As it turned out, the day after the interviews, they decided that they really only needed one assistant, so the second position was axed. Last time I checked, both Workable and the people who ran the course I had been on were looking into it.

I was put onto a brief placement, but by that point, the long hours were taking their toll and by the second week, I had a minor fit and my advisor, Sue, decided that I should take some time off from both the program and from claiming Jobseekers. So now I'm employment support, resting up (still) and starting to try and learn Blender, a 3D modelling program, in order to either get on an animation course to learn more about 3D character design or just jump ahead and open a store on Etsy.

So how are you all?

An announcement

Yes, hopefully starting soon, more regular updates shall be coming from me to you. And just like Mr Holmes, no explanation for my absence shall be forthcoming.

Live Long and Prosper.

Why Michael O'Hare actually left Babylon 5

So two years ago, I wrote about Michael O'Hare's passing. 

As I mentioned in the above blog entry, Michael played Jeffrey Sinclair for the first season of Babylon 5 before his character was written out. He returned to the role a few times over the next two seasons before completing Sinclair's arc in the season three two parter War Without End, where it was revealed that he was, in fact, the Minbari holy figure Valen.

However, the reasons for why his character being written out were unclear. All that was known was that it was a decision mutually decided upon by O'Hare and JMS, B5's creator and main writer.

At least, they were until the Phoenix Convention in 2013.

There, JMS revealed exactly why Michael O'Hare left the show.

He had started having paranoid delusions, which progressively got worse and worse during the first half of filming. It had become harder for him to work, as his behaviour was affected. Michael sought treatment but he was afraid that, since he was the main character, an extended medical leave would result in Babylon 5's cancellation.  JMS offered to suspend production, but O'Hare refused. He didn't want to put so many people's jobs at risk. 

JMS agreed to keep his secret to protect his career and, in return, O'Hare completed the first season but was written out of the second so he could seek treatments. Though they were partially successful, he was never truly cured. 

When he returned for appearances in B5, JMS promised that he would keep O'Hare's secret to the grave. O'Hare instead made him promise to keep it to his grave. He felt that the fans of the show deserved to know the truth and hoped it would raise awareness for people suffering from mental health issues. 

On the 25th of May at the Phoenix Comicon and eight months after O'Hare's death, JMS fullfilled that promise.

Why am I mentioning this? For one reason, it's almost a year since that occurred. For another, I had neglected to mention it at the time I found out because I was still struggling to cope with balancing my social life and my work load. The third and main reason is this. 

I was looking through my blog and read my entry about O'Hare. I was horrified to realise I hadn't updated it. So I decided to correct that mistake and the article you've been reading is the result of that.

Live Long and Prosper

Interviews, interviews, interviews

So it's been a while since I posted, and that is my fault. Real life stuff got in the way for a while and so things got put on the side and, unfortunately, forgotten for a good long while. 

But instead of telling everyone about that, I'm going to talk about my day today and why it means I'm going to return to semi-regular blogging.

For the last month or so, I've been part of one program or another to get me back into work. The first was Workable, which deals with people who have disabilities and works to get them back into work. It was good, I met some excellent people who I will never see again (lol) and generally honed some skills and discovered some new ones. 

Then my advisor put me onto another, week-long course. It was also intended to get people into work, but it works with local employers to get them into work. They also give you training, which includes a mock interview and then give you at least one interview with employers. 

Today, I had two.

The first was an event manager assistant at Victoria Hall, which is literally a ten minute bus ride away from home. I met with two people, who asked me questions. It wasn't as bad as I thought, and we all actually had something of a laugh as we spoke. Personally, I feel it went very well. 

The second was for a position with Locally Grown. It's another government run project that deals with local people to get small business up and running. As with the events manager, I was early and made sure to go over some answers I'd considered and chatted with the other workers there.

Both interviews went well, but I think I did better at Victoria Hall. I got a bit flustered at my second interview, which I think was because it was at the end of my day. However, I shall find out on Tuesday what they thought about me and whether or not I actually got a job, or will be put into a talent pool.

That's all. Update done. How are you all?

Live Long and Prosper 

The Lion King

So a couple of weeks ago, I went to see the Lion King at the Alhambra theatre in Bradford.

It was awesome and I got a t-shirt!

Toddles!

PS - sorry for not updating this for a while...

Minor turning point

It's been a stressful few weeks for me. Things feel like they are getting out of control for me. I can't find a job. I'm losing my temper over little things and it's been effecting my ability to write, which is my escape valve.

I write to escape into a World of my own and when I can't, it makes things worse. I don't post my work because most of what I write are scripts I want to animate. The downside to not being able to write is that it stresses me out more, which means I can't write. As a very wise friend of mine said, it is a vicious cycle. Dad, as usual, wasn't helping matters.

And I went to be, but I couldn't sleep. The only things I seemed to have control of is when I wake up and when I go to sleep. I needed something else. 

So I deleted my Myspace account.

Trivial, I know. I haven't used it since I jumped over to Facebook in 2007. In fact, I could barely remember the password. The email was an account I closed two years ago. It was a minor miracle that I could still access it. 

But it was something I had control over, and closing it eased a tiny bit of my stress. Not much, mind, but a bit of a weight was lifted. It was enough for me to call it a victory.

Scottish Birthday

So this last weekend was the Scottish celebration of my 25th birthday (which is actually this sunday - long story) and my friends and I decided to have a night out. It turned into one of the most random and truly amazing experiences of my life.

But a bit of background. I decided that since the night out was on the 23rd, the same day as the Day of the Doctor, that I should have a Doctor Who themed party. For me, that meant digging out my Tenth Doctor costume and wearing it all day long. 

So I’m walking around Glasgow, and absolutely everywhere we went, we heard whispers of “That’s the Doctor” or “That guy’s dressed as the Doctor”. But the truly randomness of the evening didn’t happen until we headed to Steampunk Cafe.

We had a bit of time to kill, so we went into Lush. Immediately one of the shop assistants announced loudly “Oh brilliant! You have just made my day!” I smiled, laughed and thanked her. We looked around and left without buying anything. Then we went to the Police Box on Buchanan street, and decided to take a few photos.

There was another guy there as well, and he asked me to pose with his Dalek. I did, and various people stopped and asked for photos. I started chatting to him, when I noticed a guy walking past dressed as 11. Naturally, he was pulled into a few photos as well. As this was going on, a group of Whovians waving banners saying “Hugs for Doctor Who 50th Anniversary!” arrived. Naturally, there were hugs and a few more photos. 

All while a busker dressed as Slash played Sweet Child O’ Mine. 


It was surreal to the extreme, but also amazing. 

So after (finally) getting to the club, things settled down a bit. I had a couple of drinks, and was generally enjoying myself. 

And when I went up to the bar for another round, I saw another guy cosplaying as 11. Naturally, I went up to him and we mutually complimented each other on our outfits. I thought that was going to be the end of it.

Nope, not that easy. He was at the booth across from our table.

As the evening went on, we interacted a few more times. He complimented Kerri on her sonic (although he did complain about the red setting), we had a mini-dance off, which I won by virtue of having psychic paper, and I stole his fez and he chased me around the club, much to our friends amusement.

I also danced with a couple of friends, and had a quasi-German woman try to teach me how to lead by quoting Spider-Man (which is both hilarious and a tiny bit alarming) 

Then when he went, the sound system broke down. As a joke I went up to the DJ’s booth and offered him my sonic screwdriver. He laughed, took it and “zapped” the machine hooked up to the laptop.

It worked. 

(okay yes, he MAY have already fixed it by then, but I choose to believe my toy worked. It was that kind of day :P)

Then that same quasi-German woman spread some glitter across my forehead and declared me Simba, which somehow just seemed normal by that point. 

After getting back, we FINALLY watched the Day of the Doctor and every single one of us found something to be excited about it. Well done, Moffat!

All in all, a pretty damn fantastic birthday