Drifting
I have friends who have not worked for years mainly due to health issues, they find my discomfort amusing. I am not used to getting things 'for nothing' though I reflect on the amount I have paid into 'the system' as tax which does soften the blow slightly.
I have several "writing projects" for which I've had some enthusiasm in the past but I haven't been able to get into the right frame of mind to revisit them. Part of this is about the effort I've put into finding employment with infuriating results. It is also about the fact that I will be doing 'Fostering Preparation Training' towards the time when the older of my two lodgers leaves by the end of the year. I am committed to making the most committed 'go' at making fostering my final 'career', but I am still addicted to looking for an employment opportunity to satisfy my creative urges. It would annoy me for something for which I would have really liked to have applied just passed me by. -Of course; any employment would have to fit around my expected responsibilities as a foster carer but it is not impossible- after all; part of the experience for the fostered child is to learn about how famillies work and the ideal setting is to see a 'parent' setting an example. I do see kids and adults who, if they put as much energy and brainpower into finding work as they do into avoiding it and seeking handouts could probably run corporations!
I have been very good at recognising the skills and potentials of others. My ideal employment wouldn't be too far from the role I created at Intercultural Arts: the crux of it was to support creative professionals to be the best they could be by taking on management, admin and promotional services- like an Agent, but more so! I've felt almost cursed to get to know incredibly talented people like my friend Jeff who is probably one of the best bass guitar players IN THE WORLD, but lacks the energy to promote and hustle to get to where he needs to be. I wangled him into a show I did as part of a festival in 1987 at the Albany Empire in Deptford called 'The Sun City Stomp': it was about raising awareness of apartheid South Africa though popular culture. I set up a slide show of pictures supplied by the ANC which started as a sequence of 'tribal dancers for white audiences and ended with rioting in the streets. I got Jeff to improvise 'slap' bass as accompaniament whilst he was dressed in combat fatigues. The audience were stunned and then erupted in appreciation, but was never able to do much more for him. He has played at Ronnie Scotts and in Mustique and with Mick Jagger and others, but he has never used his past associations to get new work. :-( ... I knew Idriss would do well, though few of us thought he would be the megastar he has become.
My cats have become slightly feral this summer as both of them prefer the alfresco lifestyle. the downside is that they're ferrying in all sorts of literal hangers on which I have to deal with by catching the cats and combing them with a strong solution of lemon juice, white vinegar and water which doesn seem to be doing the trick. sadly, I'm not overly fond of vinegar -even in smallish amounts it seems to linger in my nose. Their feline aloofness has made my thoughts about getting a (rescue) dog more and more frequent. I agreed to take the cats because they're independent creatures and I was unable to be around to care for them in the way I think that dogs need care. The cats have never been lap-pets and I crave that kind of contact. In addition; a dog would force me to go out every day, at the moment I am quite content to spend most of my time indoors or to walk to the local shops.
Next week I intend to make some plans and see what happens.
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