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28 April, 2010

Travelling home

Written on the 26/04/2010

I'm sitting on a V/Line train on my way to my beloved home town, Traralgon. It's a far cry from Sydney, but also a welcome sojourn as I cruise through my holidays.

I'm also nursing a bit of a hangover, since getting off the plane to Melbourne it's been rather non-stop. Not that I'm complaining, in the past few days I've managed to catch up with old school friends, Inthemix buddies, and my uni pals too. Now that I'm on my way to the country, it will be good to have a bit of down-time. I'm spending the next couple of days there, and then will return to Melbourne to do more catching up. This time with the poker crew I used to play with, a few more school friends, catch the Bulldogs in action, and rounding it all off with a wedding with two close friends. It's also a farewell for two more close friends, as they are heading off to Thailand.

I'm glad I made the trip back south, as I feel like a respite from work. It's not that I'm getting worn down or anything, it's more that I need a bit of a break after working through Christmas and not having that extra amount of time to do nothing. Doing nothing is important from time to time, and the next couple of days will be all about that. I'm usually a lot more selective with my days off, picking the moments to extend a weekend when there's a big party on, or incorporating some leave next to a public holiday. I call it optimum use of leisure time.

18 April, 2010

Feeling a shade melancholy

The weekend's come and gone, and while it wasn't a specatcular affair, I should be feeling more pleased with myself than I actually am. I got to catch up with friends on Friday, Saturday, and today, but all I really wanted to do was curl up under a doona and retreat from the world for a little while.
Which I got to do this afternoon. It was glorious. I watched Interstella 5555, an animation to go alongside Daft Punk's album - Discovery. It was an excellent accompaniment to an album I know inimately.

I was also meant to do some work on the book this weekend. That failed dismally. I'm very poor at working on it with a hangover, and after Friday night at my friends house I was certainly hungover. Yesterday and today I've felt like garbage - runny nose and headachey - but I seem to be coming good now.

There's two things I'm looking forward to this week. Payday (Tuesday) and my trip to Melbourne (Friday). For the latter, I'm actually going for ten days. Which is close to the longest amount of time I've spent there since moving here. Did I say I'm looking forward to it? I've got a few things on, a friend's farewell, a reunion with my old college pals, and a wedding. The main events are spread out though, which will give me plenty of time to see everyone I want to see, without feeling rushed like I usually do.

That'll do for now. Time for an early night, a bit of It's Always Sunny, and a good night's rest before another week of work.

12 April, 2010

The second album is rarely better than the original

As is the case with this entry. There will be no magnanimous statements. No ultimatums. Probably a little too much self-reflection, and a bit of ego-stroking. Nothing like my first entry. At all.

I came to work today a little tired. This was mainly due to my conscientious efforts on the weekend involving the Cannes Young Lions awards. While I didn't need to, I was in the office on Saturday and Sunday beavering away. Polishing my little foray into the media world.

But to drop the word conscientious is a shade pretentious, as I was hammering out this blog on Saturday. Procrastination I do well. I'm also engaged in the aforementioned right this moment, as one of the other projects I'm working on at the moment is a Master of Writing through Open Universities. I've taken on just one subject for my opening semester, looking to escalate it to two depending on my results for this one.

The subject I've taken is called Real Life Writing and I'm enjoying it. It's good material for easing back into study and not too rigorous or mind-boggling. There's some good, thought-provoking subject matter as well. We have to write 500 words a week on varying topics. One of the weeks we had to write about:


Write a short review of a piece of sculpture you admire. Include a brief reflection on the language you used when writing about the sculpture.
Not knowing much about sculpture, and wanting to dish out props to a very good friend of mine, I chose to write about the work of Michael Gallop. I wrote about his sculpture: Redolent. As per below:


In Redolent we see a microcosm developing. Large bullants jovially feast on spilt sweets with disjointed abandon. Each insect owning a piece of confectionery with little regard for the surrounds or their counterparts. The piece is richly ironic and deserving of its title, as an echidna stalks towards its prey with much of the same recklessness. Encased within spiny armour and safe in the knowledge of where its next meal is coming.

A part of his larger debut exhibition Imbroglio, held at the Latrobe Regional Gallery, Morwell, Michael Gallop’s attention to detail is both intricate and entrancing. Each spine on the echidna is woven across its coat, the insect’s mandibles glower over its unexpected morsels, the paper bag lies crumpled on the ground – all helping to piece together this completely believable scene.

The piece appeals not only due to its extreme reality, but also with its understated sense of humour. The insects are almost resplendent with glee, acutely unaware of what is about to befall them. An ordinarily awkward creature, Gallop captures a moment of splendour, as the echidna majestically paws towards its feast. A esolutely-pointed nose at the ready.

The dimensionality of the piece instils the viewer with wonder. Just as the insects are unwitting, what might ultimately befall us? Who are surely identifying with the moment just as (un)knowingly?
It felt worthwhile and I got good feedback from my tutor.

The entry that I worked on the weekend came out alright too. I find out in a week whether I'm through to the next round. Fingers crossed. I would love the opportunity to stand up and present my idea to a jury of media professionals. That's just how I roll.

Now to crank out 500 words regarding catalogues for this week's topic...

10 April, 2010

Beginning

The tradition continues. Started almost ten years ago, The Tomes of Marshy saw my first foray into the blogging world via the site Open Diary. While my enthusiasm tapered off for it in the end, there's always been a nagging sense that writiting was right. I love writing. I love writing about myself even more.

Inthemix took up most of my time after that. You can see an inverse correlation between the amount I updated my diary, to the amount of posts I made on ITM. This has continued (and will probably continue to continue) for some time yet. The posts I make under the psuedoynm 'Marshy' have been the stuff of legend. (For me). Over the years I've really enjoyed regaling the community with my tales and insights, often self-indulgent, often over-sharing.

It seems my posts tend to polarise people. Half the community laugh along at my flagrant abandon for conventional anonymity, the other half scorn me for being an attention-seeking whore. Both parties have it right. I like to keep my tongue firmly in cheek, and for better or worse, I like to think I offer something of value to the community. One prominent poster said to me a while back:
You're probably the most ballsy and honest person on ITM, and I love you for it.

While the ITM adventure has been a fantastic one, it did see my habitual posting impinge on my regular writing. Often what would have been a great entry for the diary, made its way into a forum post instead. This changes today for a number of reasons.

One, I'm out here to make a name for myself. I've got several projects on the go at the moment. I'm forging a career within the media industry, and want to continue doing this. While doing some research on my Cannes Young Lions entry, I came across this blog: How to get a job in advertising, design or media industries. There was one overriding point of the article that resonated with me completely. Blogs are the new CV. I agree completely. Whether I like it or not, I started down this path almost ten years ago and didn't realise it. In documenting my thoughts, ideas, complaints, and stories, I was putting myself out there for the world to see. I'm no oil-painting. I'm unapologetic and have a chequered past. I'm also late to the party. But if I'm going to succeed at media I'm going to do it on these terms, and when I progress it will be on my own terms. Chk-chk, open for business.

Secondly, I'm writing a fucking book. If I can't get my shit together and start promoting it what hope do I have for it being published? It's a story I want told, I feel it needs to be told, and if I'm not constantly writing and honing my craft, then it won't be told. Another prominent poster on ITM has this to tell me after reading what I've done thus far:

Writers write. Every day. I've done my quota on you today. Point being,
I've done today's wordcount. And the numbers for tomorrow too. (I tally weekly)
Nobody told me to, it's just what I do - I write. Every day.

I've racked up 300,000 words on Open Diary, 14,000 posts on ITM, and I'm still hungry for more. I need this, and I think this blog needs me.

Lastly, I want the attention. I crave the attention. I thrive on my ability to capture someone's attention. It's why I write. Open Diary was at its peak when I was receiving comments. My time on ITM peaks when I generate the most responses (see: I've generated $20,000 worth of ad revenue for ITM - where's my cut?). I want your eyeballs, and this blog intends to suck them out of your sockets.

It's not going to be a piece of art, it's not going to shake the world to its foundations. It will probably contain the occasional spelling and grammatical error. (As much as I hate them, and myself, for creating them). I'm undecided on how I'm going to incorporate this into your world. Ideally there will be some application that links these posts with Facebook/Twitter to add some extra exposure. I write for you as much as I write for me, so without much further ado... Welcome to The Scrawlings of Marshwah.