Some days....

.. really do make you want to fuck it all off, this one being an example. Okay, some background to this shitter of a mood I'm in. Originally, I was going to be sent to a school in a town called Brynmawr, which is about four miles from where I'm living, and an utter breeze to get to. Score. At the last minute (and for reasons I'll go into another time) I got moved to this other school in this other place, Tonypandy which is (quick AA check ahoy) 25 miles away and an utter pain in the arse to transport myself to, not being a driver (I KNOW. MY OWN FAULT. FUCK OFF). See, school I'm handling okay, enjoying it in fact, but when I can't score a lift home (like today) it's a three hour train journey into Cardiff then another train into a town near mine, then a bus home. I arrived home like twenty minutes ago, three hours after the end of school. I'm freezing cold, angry, frustrated and on the verge of a shit-fit.
But, I'm finding this blog thing theraputic- rage.... subsiding... aaah.
I'm off to plan tomorrow's lessons, but first a little something I found this morning while on my way to meet my ride- someone had built a little snow-dude that looks exactly like a Japanese friend of mine, Kogepan:

My policy of always keeping my camera on me is working out nicely.
Laters
Marko

Tantalising prospect ahoy!

MarkFact #403 in a series of #20056- Despite having acted in many, many plays and a few TV shows, Mark has never gotten the chance to direct.
That seems about to change- in the next few weeks it looks as though I might actually get the chance to audition and co-direct a play in school! Fantastic news, and something I've long wanted to do. The play we're looking at producing is called Find Me, the story of a young girl with multiple personality disorder and the effect she has on her loved ones. It's quite a heavy piece, but there seem to be some talented kids at the school and I reckon it's got a chance of being really good. I've got some ideas of how to use sound to compound the feeling of (medical terminology coming up) losing one's shit, and if I'm allowed to run with it I think I'll have a lot of fun and- hey- learn lots too.
That, of course, is if I can pull off the rest of the school experience. Tomorrow I teach my first lesson proper at the school, and even though I've done it plenty of times before I've still got that lovely adrenalised feeling, that shaky uncertainty that comes with doing something new that you might just fuck right up. Cross your fingers for me dudes, I'll be back tomorrow.
(This post was brought to you by "Good Mourning" from Alkaline Trio).

"The way out is through".

Well, the school's every bit as rough as I thought it'd be, but I've done rough before and the staff all seem like lovely people, so that's alright. The drama teacher I'm working alongside is really something- full of energy, really enthusiastic and clearly knows her shit backwards. There's lots that I can learn (read: steal) from her, so that's another big plus. But... there are minuses, the biggest one being that no way can I carry on living in Tredegar. After a twenty minute walk (in the SNOW, thankyouverymuch) to get to my ride this morning (from a very affable and thoroughly pleasant Maths teacher) I was left without a lift home- cue a three hour, two-change train journey which got me home at 18:50 when school finishes at 1500. Fuck that noise- I'll have to stay behind some nights at school (I'll be directing a play, which I'm over the moon about), which means that a three-hour journey home just isn't an option. So... On Friday I'm moving (again) to Llanharan to stay with my buddy from the olden days of hardcore, the one and only Gavo Hughes. He's from the next town over to where the Drama teacher lives, and she's told me a lift in would be no trouble at all, so it makes perfect sense. Back into the jaws of madness, with six years hindsight and the will to do what's right. Like Trent said, "Nothing can stop me now". There's shitloads more I want to rant about (like, for instance, the smacked-up wanktub who nearly made me miss my connection earlier through trying to argue his way out of a fare), but I'm the tiredest I've ever, ever been so I'm wrapping it up there. Over the weekend I'll post a big long chapter with more history and some more photos, so make sure you stop by.
S'long!

Hi folks, come on in.

Hiya to everyone who's been arsed to check this out- I can't promise you scintillating content or life-changing prose, but what you can be certain of here is a blow-by-blow account of the life of a student Drama teacher as he fights his way through the system toward a professional qualification. The highs, the lows, the laughter and tears, everything I can be bothered to tell you about and just enough truth to not get me in any significant trouble. I've sort of wanted to get a blog together for ages now, but never thought that a)life would be interesting enough or b) that I'd keep it updated- ask most people who know me and they'll tell you I'm something of an impulsive character with dubious follow-through skills (read: a lazy bitch). Inspiration finally came from my good friend Harri80, who's kept her blog fruitful and tended to for ages now. Thank her on my behalf by paying her a visit at http://harri80.blogspot.com/.
Okay, the obligatory intro- I'm 26, I'm a Drama graduate and I'm from a town called Tredegar in South Wales. I've spent the past eight years in Aberystwyth, a gorgeous town on the coast that I probably would've ended up living in forever had I not kicked myself up the ass enough to start this PGCE- I'll spin some yarns from my time there in another chapter (there are plenty, trust me) but for now I'll skip to the part where I move to my home town, away from my girlfriend and best friends to work in my placement schools to kickstart the rest of my life. If you give a stuff, my interests are extreme music (some of my favourite bands at the moment are
Mastodon, Melt Banana, and the rapper Sage Francis), horror films from around the globe (and I mean real horror, fools, no remakes and no teeny-bopper bullshit like I Know What You Did Last Summer), stagecraft and acting (I've been in god-knows how many plays in my life, professional and amateur, and have managed to worm my way onto TV a few times) and general socialising. If anything's been my downfall in the past few years it's that I've had a little bit too much fun and spent too long smelling the roses- hopefully you'll get to know me better as this blog unfolds and you can draw your own conclusions.
So. As I write it's 18:05 on Sunday, Feb 16th, and tomorrow is my first day at Tonypandy Community College. Anyone who's ever started at a new place of work can relate to how I feel- I'm very, very nervous, about everything from what I'll be teaching to how it goes down with the pupils, to how the staff relate to me, to how I get to and from the place (I don't drive, y'see, so I'll be begging lifts back and forth daily from a fellow who also lives in Tredegar). In case you hadn't spotted it by now, this qualification means an awful lot to me. I'll keep you posted as to how things unfold.
If you stuck with me this far, you have my thanks as well as my respect. Here's your reward- a brand spanking new pic of me, taken not twenty minutes ago:

Cheers again for staying with me, and I'll talk at you again soon.
Mark.