Lou has been getting up before I go to sleep while she’s been at this Vipassana. Now she’s out and we’re in the same space as each other we’ve found a kind of circadian compromise. She’s rising a little later than she was – like about half five. I’m swept up in it, but it means I’m fading already and it’s not even half past four. It’s not so bad at this time of year, living this way round. The mornings are shocking with a light that you wouldn’t even believe had happened if you were up too late.
We walked down the beach before sunset – around about half three, rolling the pebbles around. I prefer the sandy beaches but I’m enjoying being by the sea right now. Some people were swimming in it, the maniacs. I have done that madness in the past, but my nipples are burning even at the idea of it. Instead of leaping in, we sat on damp pebbles for a while. That didn’t last long. I’m not doing too well in the cold. I miss summer. In a normal year I frequently get the hell out to the sun around now. Not an option.
It’s still so hard to countenance that this pandemic really is everywhere. But there really is no escaping. We are all clinging to our respective rocks until this is over, and I’m seeing “September 2021” as a date where some theatres are planning on opening again. What the feck are most of the people I know going to do with our time and earning capacity in the interim? And NO, I can’t imagine any of us are going into cyber.
Lou and I are gonna tune in to Wizard of Oz at Creation Theatre online tonight. Friends forging forward into new forms and actually making things on zoom that aren’t dead. Considering its barely five and I’m already sleepy, seven o’clock start feels late!
I’m knackered and that was hilarious. Family friendly Wizard of Oz on Zoom with all the tricks and more. A very clever design decision to bring classic computer games into the world palette. These weird jumpy blocky games were a new technology and the best thing ever to the small version of me. With all the conscious reference it allowed me to put my brain into the simplistic fun mode that allowed me to spend all my pocket money on Bubble Bobble even though the pixels and colour jumped all over the place and half the buttons didn’t work. To channel that frontier period of computer gaming is smart when they are continuing to push the boundaries of what can be done in the livestream theatre medium. As with Macbeth, so with Oz I was wondering how they pulled some of it off, and marveling at how adeptly they did the stuff I understood. It’s been a surreal night at the theatre, and we got to do it without leaving our comfy sofas. Perfect for tier 4 and all the trapped sadness we are feeling. We even got to cook a meal in the interval instead of shouldering our way to the front of a queue for a beer that costs as much as a bottle of wine at the supermarket. Loved it. Love Creation. Chapeau. And I don’t even have to travel home. I’m off to bed. Early I know. That’s how I ROLL these days…
AlBarclay 