Taking a deep breath and counting to ten.

Well we all got our proverbial knickers in a bit of a twist over the youtube footage featured in the last post. I never expected that kind of drama, I must admit…

I’ve taken a week or so to regroup and revivify myself.

I did, it must be said, spend a brief spell on the brink of an MH breakdown. I took two days off work. I endured a humiliating trip to my GP to ask for advice on why I kept sobbing uncontrollably. My GP’s advice wasn’t to stop listening to the hurtful things people say about me. No, my GP’s advice was - I should sleep with my Mum. (Something to do with her scent being a calming influence). I have not slept with my Mum. I will not be asking my Mum to sleep with me. I am now looking for a new GP.

And in the meantime, I have picked myself up, brushed myself down and am trying to get back to some sense of normality. Well you know … my quite particular version of normality.

I do want to address what happened, but don’t want to dwell on it too much.

Nate (of the forthright and controversial feedback) completely resigned from blogging and twitter when things blew up last week. Yes, he closed down his blog and he said goodbye to all his Twitter followers. This seemed a bit of an over reaction, but Nate has since revised that drastic decision and is back to blogging and tweeting now, so no lasting damage done there...

While I don’t want to cause any further upset or awkwardness when things finally seem to be settling down, I couldn’t help that notice that Nate is now claiming to have barely slept for ten days over things said here and I do think I have a right to answer that.

In fact, I find his latest posts a wee bit over the top. Poor old Nate is now the victim of the situation living under a constant fear of violence. He was the one to slate my creative pursuits in a most tactless and heavy handed way, but all that seems to be barely mentioned. I’ve lost time at work through upset at our busiest time of year. Nate on the other hand with no commitments to speak of, can run away and hide for a week, then emerge saying how my friends have threatened his sense of personal safety.

I wrote to Nate and made clear and genuine apologies for the reactions to his comments only a day after they appeared. I reiterated that Norm had also apologised for his slightly over zealous, but wonderfully loyal and protective remarks.* Thank you Norm for being there when you were.

In short, Nate has had no reasonable need to fear for his safety or keep a hammer by his side for the last ten days. Norm is a criminal lawyer, not a criminal.

Nate, I know you pride yourself on your imagination, but on this, I do think you could go a bit easy on over dramatising things quite so much.

OK, I’m closing the door on the whole episode, I hope others can too.

And so on we trundle…

I did my first gig, since the youtube terrors this Wednesday. It didn’t go brilliantly, but I happened to have a frightful hangover that day and the room was a bit quiet for whatever reasons. Anyway, I got some laughs and I’m glad to be back on the horse. I’m going to try and make it to at least two gigs next week to get properly back into the swing of things again. I have a charity gig next Friday and I am performing at the Comedy Café on 2nd June and want to get some practice in before then.

Oh and in the midst of all this kerfuffle, I’ve met a man that I like. I’m pretty sure he likes me back and we are going on date three tonight… A real life man… That I didn’t find on the internet. I don’t want to jinx it by saying too much. You shall have to bear with me, while I try my best not to make a complete arse of myself over this one.

Oh and just this second, just now, literally just a moment ago, I got an email from Oxfam saying I’ve been selected for the early shift at Glastonbury. This does mean I have to arrive on the Saturday before the festival and spend an extra 2 nights under canvas. But the benefits are well worth it. I’ll get to pick the best camping spot. I’ll finish all my shifts by Wednesday. Then I get to enjoy the whole festival without having to do any more work. Coolio - I’ll take the extra 2 nights under canvas then!

Whoop, whoop.

Niiiiiice one.

Sweet.

Aces.

A lot of other happy words.

Bring on the sunshine.

I’m smiling and I’m ready for the weekend.