I have been enjoying the Tafe holidays over the last couple of weeks but today everything starts up again! The Semester 2 classes I can enrol in were a bit of a disaster timetable-wise, so today at 9am I will be in the sculpture studio, pretending to be awake and hoping that small part of my brain that records conversations for me to listen to later on will be functioning. It is sculpture however, so maybe the sheer manic excitement that produces in me will offset the sleep deprivation… yet to be seen…

I am enrolled in two classes this term and three the next, part of my cunning plan to crowd out my week slightly and prevent the peer work side of things from taking over entirely. Fingers crossed it works and doesn’t just exhaust me considering the rest of my schedule.

I hit organisational overload a few weeks back and got to the hiding under my desk stage so the work on the not-for-profit org the Dissociative Initiative has stalled slightly. I’m planning to get back into the swing of things with that within the next few weeks and actually start answering email/my phone again.

I’ve been working on a project for Radio Adelaide, they have a program called F Sharp which is about women and music. I’ll be a co-presenter/producer for their next two shows on Wednesday at 3pm (101.5FM) which is great because it’s a pretty low key way to brush up my skills a bit and feel more confident in the live studio.

I’m also starting to work on a new network, we do not have an official branch of the Voice Hearing Network here in SA so I’m working on putting together a website and linking in with all the other branches around SA to help people find our local resources more easily.

The group The Gap is starting to grow which is exciting. I’m chuffed to meeting so many new people and making new friends, also through another group Trinity Sistas, which thankfully I am not facilitating.

My work on setting up the studio so it is easier to make ink paintings is paying off, I finished another 4 a couple of days ago which is damn exciting. I have a paper I am loving that is archival quality, torn up into different sizes and shapes and stored in a box. When I feel like painting one I rummage through the box and take out the piece of paper that feels like the right size. It’s almost as easy as painting in a journal except this way I can hang the pages to dry and keep painting on a new sheet if I’m in the mood. It’s a good feeling.

Bridges is almost at the one year mark! I am extremely proud of this achievement, it’s been running almost every week and has grown into a strong, caring group of very diverse people who are very accepting, supportive, and have a great sense of humour together. This week we will be celebrating with a Mad Hatters Tea Party and we are all planning chocolaty treats and outrageous hats.

So, plenty going on as usual, all the groups going strong and in exciting directions and lovely new art projects to sink my teeth into. Hoping it all gets off to a good start this week.