Spring Cleaning in the Middle of Winter & A New Lease on Life

Okay, not really, it just feels like the middle of winter. Of course the added bonus of the sun shining brightly outside, even though all my toils have been “under-cover” makes my energy levels rise accordingly.

Regardless of how flaming cold it is, and will be throughout the entire month of April the helpful weathermen are saying, my energy level has sky-rocketed. I don’t have quite the high levels that, say, Superman has, but compared to my practically non-existent levels just six and a half months ago, I feel like I should be wearing a cape and my underwear on outside of my clothes. (Any references to a young Madonna will be ignored)

Part of this cleaning frenzy is down to the sunshine and down to the departure of my daughter and her fella who had been living with me. Meg has been living under the same roof as me since she finished uni.  Max was a recent addition to the household while they both searched for their first abode together. I am not intimating that they were messy, it’s just that I couldn’t be bothered to clean around half-filled boxes and piles of items that were awaiting their fate.

The other reason I’ve had this energy boost has to do with the last visit to my surgeon. While I sat there, heart pounding, (which to be fair it always does now after the surgery) we looked at each other wordlessly for a moment. He then grinned and said, “Well, it looks like the tear has healed.”

I sat for another moment, stunned by this information. I looked at him and said, “What??”

He went on to explain that as they could not do  yet another bypass operation around the injured Aorta after they’d torn it, that he decided to “take a chance” and put a couple of stitches in the tear. As he put it, “It couldn’t hurt and at any rate it wouldn’t matter if we had to bypass it later on.”

So, here we are. I’ve been given, in essence, “a break” and despite the fact that I still have damage to my veins and capillaries, etc, that will have to be monitored for the rest of my life, I can now do pretty much anything I want. Even wrestle with prisoners, although with the alarming alacrity that the Prison Service ill-health retired me, I would not want to return to their world.

Call me bitter, but that’s how I feel. I now have to attend some rehabilitation sessions (which they would not book me on before, because they were afraid they were going to kill me) and try to get some sort of work that pays me, before my one-time payment runs out.

I still don’t know what I want to do.

My options are many, and some, have been most surprising. The wonderfully talented Natasha Harmer over at Films and Things has asked me to be the lead in her new (and first) independent short film Once Bitten, Twice Shy. I accepted with a speed that probably made her immediately regret asking. It will be the first time in a very long time that I have stepped in front of a camera in a professional capacity (I don’t count YouTube). I am excited, nervous and very pleased. I may have to wait for a while as the project is pretty much dependant on the generosity of others for funding.

If you can afford to spare a bob or two (or a buck, guilder, et al) click here and you’ll find the indiegogo site for the film.

I’ve also just started working for the web magazine Rogue Cinema, the main guy what’s in charge Duane L Martin has thrown caution to the wind and allowed me the privilege of writing reviews for his “zine” and I’m tickled to death.

Of course I never would have gotten this great opportunity if it weren’t for Misty Layne over at Cinema Schminema so I have two lovely and talented ladies who are responsible for my life taking a new and exciting turn.

It goes without saying that you really should go and check their sites out and stop by the Rogue Cinema magazine as well. They specialise in independent film and Duane is currently working at a frenzied pace to get this month’s issue out.

Stop by and tell em I sent ya. You won’t get any special treatment if you do, but, it would make me feel good.

In the meantime, I need to cook myself some tea, and then relax. This spring cleaning malarkey is good for building up and appetite and the urge to go lay down on the sofa is becoming too strident to ignore.

Until next time, Ciao and bon appétit!!

Related articles

• Once Bitten, Twice Shy (mikesfilmtalk.com)
• The Indies: New York’s Best Spots for Independent Film (winterfilmawards.wordpress.com)
• Amping up for Spring cleaning (1504houseproject.wordpress.com)