Another Friday the 13th

Work is going swimmingly today, after a rocky start. I was getting mired in details and lost sight of the big picture - the big picture being the new, revised structure of the novel. So I opened up a blank document and started writing a synopsis of the new version. I am actually really surprised by how helpful this was. Writing the plot down in such a truncated form really highlights the direction in which it should go; what works, what doesn't, what slows the pace down or goes off on a tangent. I feel a million times clearer on what I'm doing, and I've made some really good decisions, as well. Have also drunk seven cups of coffee, and the caffeine and work-satisfaction has produced a dizzying high.

On a less happy note, I didn't realise how helpful it was to have a supervisor last year, someone to whom I could email my chapters and who could point out problems ... or just say "You're doing fine, keep going." I miss having a group to talk to, people whose opinions I respect, who will read my work. And whose work I can read, as well. I miss having a tribe. I feel very alone, and I don't know where to find people. I'd join another course, but I don't know of any that haven't already started. I'm so used to staying positive and working through problems rather than dwelling on them that I haven't acknowledged, even to myself, how discouraged I've felt. Now that the comforting framework of the Masters is gone, I'm adrift. Oh well. Hopefully the Universe will provide.

We are off to the theatre tonight - can't wait. Quite apart from the play, people-watching at the theatre is always very interesting. And what they are wearing is equally so. Some people take the opportunity to dress up in evening wear, while some go in jeans and a T-shirt (or a wifebeater vest, shorts and sandals, as one man seemed to think was appropriate last time we went to a play). I think as a culture we've lost a lot of our sense of occasion ... people seem very worried about being over-dressed for things here in Christchurch, so that even if you go to a show or out to a fancy restaurant, the sartorial choices of everyone there hardly ever rise above smart casual. Do you find this where you live? I get a lot of weird looks and comments about being 'very dressed-up.'