I moved into Maxine's house on monday night, after the fete, as you know. My bedroom is lovely, although for some reason most uncharacteristic of myself, I find it impossible to keep tidy. If anything my unpacking style is less unpacking, more just emptying the suitcase on to the floor. Still, it works. I've had to empty my wash bag in order to keep my kit in it, so there's bottles of shampoo and eye makeup remover strewn about. My kit consists of 4 combs - a man one, a woman one, a 'pin tailed' one and an afro comb calling itself Gripper 360, which I find a bit arrogant, some sectioning clips, and a pair of scissors called Starter 5. I dont know who comes up with these names but they do a great job of making everything sound far more exciting than it really is.
Hair-cutting wise, my first week has gone well. I am now fairly accomplished at one length haircuts, layers and feathering, classic bobs, graduated bobs, and fringes which I feel isnt at all bad in 4 days. I have a plastic head practise model to practise on, who's name changes with surprising regularity. I feel a bit sorry for Eliza, because in order to get her head at the correct angles for various cutting things, I push her around by the nose, and pull her around by the hair. We can only hope that my technique becomes rather more refined when working with real people. Fingers crossed.
My social life isnt what it used to be, which is really saying something because as you all know, my social life has never been what we'd call 'flourishing'. There are 6 other people on the course - 5 girls and a boy - but they're all doing some sort of 9 month affair, and I'm the only 3 weeker. They dont seem to talk to each other very much. 2 of the girls are friends, and another 2 live together so I guess they're pretty close, but there's very little interaction for a group of people who've shared a classroom every day for nearly an entire human gestation period. It's all just a bit odd. They're nice enough, but not especially chatty. To be fair I barely say anything, so I'm just as much to blame for my lack of friends.
All this means that my evenings are a bit long. I finish college at 4, which is amazing, but then I go back to Maxine's and read Jane Eyre all evening. I'm really enjoying Jane, by the way, although it is really quite exhausting. I only took Jane and Pride and Prej, because I knew if I took any 'light reading', I'd never get on to the classics that I've vowed to complete, and I would fail. So I read Jane for a while, spend a couple of hours on the phone to Ray, or Mel or Kay, drink some tea, have some cigarettes, maybe leave a few comedy messages on people's answerphones, see if anything's on telly (Jamie's American Roadtrip - yes mate), and then pop off to bed. It doesnt sound so bad, but it's the same thing every evening and it's not showing any signs of improving. Still, as people keep telling me, and I keep telling myself, it is only for 3 weeks. And there's a 2 week break between weeks 2 and 3, so really, I cant complain. That means that when I go back up tomorrow night, I can be home again in 5 sleeps. Which really isnt bad at all, considering what some people are going through to gain an education.
Megan is going to university tomorrow (Angela Ruskin in Essex, to study Midwifery) which is scary for her I think, but also will be amazing. I have made her a present in the form of a WWLD (what would Lorelai do?) bracelet, which she wears with aplomb and flair. It's very good, actually even if I do say so myself. And Ray is (at this point we must all cross our fingers and say 'I believe in Rayray' in order to make it happen) going to Oxford Aviation Academy, to become a pilot. This is excellent news, although they spend 20 weeks in Arizona so I will miss her a lot. Maybe I'll go to Arizona also, it might be fun. She first has to pass some entrance exams, which I feel she will compete with aplomb and flair, if anything.
Today, in true tradition and spirit of adventure, I dyed Ray's hair, and then I straightened it. The reasons for this are twofold: firstly I need to practise my sectioning skills (because if the sections arent straight, the hair probably wont be) and secondly she needed her hair dying. It's all pretty standard really. She's going out tonight for Matt's birthday celebrations, which will be fun, if a touch on the mad side. Still, Jamie will be there (we all know how I feel about Jamie, yes?) and Fit Nick will be there (we can probably guess how I feel about Fit Nick) and even if all goes wrong, she will have nice straight hair. It went well, the dying, although doing it in sections really did take a long time, and I had to straddle her at some point to aid the washing out process. We pretended she was Renee Zellweger, in order to tame my technique. We suspect that if she was, I may have been fired. I maintain that it's the end result that counts, not the method, but Renee may think she deserves a little less manhandling. We'll see.
I'm not going to Matt's birthday, because in a slightly surprising turn of events, I have to go to a wedding. Not work it you understand, actually go to it. I'm quite sure it will be mad, but Seth and Cheesy are coming, and my dad and stuff so maybe it will all be fine. Sadly I have to work at a wedding tomorrow, and as such have to be up very early in the morning. Although after the last family event, maybe it's best I stay off the Merrydown's for a little while.
Next week we are doing mainly male haircuts, such as the 60's 'mop top' and others. So next weekend, please expect more of the same. Hopefully by next weekend I'll have a friend or two, but no matter. Also, hopefully this week I wont get attacked by a crazed make up artist, intent on giving me high fashion 1930's eyebrows, but you never know.
Celebrities spotted at the UK's premier film studio : none. But Russel Crowe and Cate Blanchett are both around somewhere.
