Monday, May 17, 2010

I'm just a girl who can't say no...

Mmm. Not so sure about the title now I come to look at it.
But I am not trying to be salacious.
It's just that when people ask me to do things, I tend to say yes.
They are usually things I want to do, but I have an unrealistic grasp of the amount of time everything will take.
So when I got a call from a saxophonist asking me to join a new funk project, I thought, that would be fun. And it is. And I keep travelling to Rennes to rehearse for a jazz festival there.
A round trip of about 200 kilometres... Two days last week.
And I had forgotton about the jazz workshop last Saturday, and the one in two weeks time which I need to prepare for, which will last all weekend. And the end of year gala for my singing students.

And why on earth did I say I would translate at the press conferences for art rock festival in St Brieuc as an unpaid volunteer. I could have used next weekend to learn the piano part to go with that other song I wanted to do.
And so, I get stressed. And snappy.


Six months ago, I said I would participate in a Beatles extravaganza that a local bar is organising to celebrate their tenth anniversary. It's turned out to be the same weekend as my student gala, of course. The bar is next to my favourite walking place, the Chaos du Gouet. I went to rehearse there this morning and then Porridge and I went for a clamber over the rocks.

This place works a magic spell upon me. It is the sound of the rushing water and the sight of Porridge enjoying herself so much. Golden Retrievers are dogs which are bred specifically to work in water. She was frightened of water at first, but now, I can't keep her out of it. My shoulders started to unclamp themselves from my ears and I kept throwing sticks into the fast flowing parts of the river for Porridge to proudly return to me after she had struggled bravely against the current.

It would have been nice if she hadn't smelt so awful when she got out though...

What do you do to relax?

9 comments:

amy said...

Having things to do always seems to breed too much to do! I got the same effect (as your walk with Porridge) from pulling weeds and general digging yesterday - started to forget what I was anxious about.

Dingo said...

What is the meaning of this word "relax"?

julia said...

To relax I read books on computer hacking which is such an awful admission that I am going to go soak my head in a bucket of brine!

Rosie said...

amy- I leave that to slugman
dingo- I realise that it doesnt exist in New York
J- I might try the computer hacking books, but I'll pass on the brine...

20th Century Woman said...

That's a heavy schedule, and I hope you and Porridge get some good breaks from it with the rocks and water.

I guess I cook to relax. Not anything fancy, just some ordinary contemplative sort of thing, like a risotto.

Mark In Mayenne said...

To relax? Depends on the type of relaxation.... for "physical" relaxation, I garden. For "mental" relaxation, I play my flute. To refresh I swim in the pool, and to blank out I watch TV

Rosie said...

20th C, I do like cooking but i live with a very good (and messy) chef... so i am happy just to wash up without cooking as well...
Cogitator- I don't understand when you have time to get stressed. You are too busy relaxing, surely

Bish Bosh Bash said...

"What do you do to relax?": a)I listen to the cricket..on the radio. I detest cricket. b) I fall asleep watching F1 on the telly. I love F1. c)I always go to wine practice early and lie down while there's still plenty of floor space.

Bish Bosh Bash said...

Re - "What do you do to relax?": a) I pretend I'm listening to the cricket...on the radio. I detest cricket. b) I fall asleep watching F1 on the telly. I love F1. c) I always go off to wine practice early, so I can lie down right next to the bar, while there's still plenty of floor space left.