Yo! Kerry!

On wednesday evening, at around 7pm, I was rummaging around in some library boxes at work when I received a call from one of my colleagues, Carolynne:

"I'm only telling you this because you're a celebrity junkie like me, but the new Yo! Sushi restuarant is opening tonight, and there's loads of paparazzi outside..."

Naturally, since my job as teagirl is not only to make tea but also to celebrity spot, and since Celeb Spots of the Week has suffered a drought recently, on my next run I took a detour round the corner to see what was going on.

To be honest.... not much was going on. It seemed like a nice set up for a launch party, with street cooking, traditional Japanese drums and a small red carpet. I waited around for about 10 minutes, and spotted a couple of minor celebs:

Hardeep Singh Kohli - Best known for his role as a roving reporter on The One Show, and probably even better know for his suspension from the show following a complaint made against him by a female colleague for "inappropriate behaviour."

Clare Nasir and Chris Hawkins - GMTV weather girl and producer, and her BBC 6Music DJ husband.

The "highlight" - and to be honest, if this is the highlight of your busines launch party, then you really need to reevaluate a few things - was the emergence of Kerry Katona from the restaurant, leaving in a black Range Rover. To be fair to the girl, she looked bloody fabulous; obviously in shape, wearing a great outfit, lovely hair and makeup...

Then, once she was in the car and they began to drive off, three paps jumped on their mopeds to chase after her. It turns out she was heading to the premiere of JLo's new movie, The Back-Up Plan, but even so, it struck me as kind of sad that they'd hang around a - let's be honest - crappy sushi restuarant to snap one C-List celebrity, only to jump straight back onto their bikes to then follow her around for rest of the evening.

Sad, yes. But if I was going to be offered a shed-load of money for one photo, then maybe I wouldn't judge so harshly....!

No ordinary lunch break.

I have something exciting to share.

I stumbled across something yesterday that I had been completely unaware of - probably due to the head-in-the-cloud-edness that I've been experiencing lately.

The discovery was this.

Yes, Walkers have brought out a range of 15 new flavours in time with the World Cup. Ok, so maybe it's not all that exciting... but hey, it brightens up my lunch hours spent alternating between ham, chicken and rice concoctions...

So yesterday I had myself a bag of 'French Garlic Baguette', and I have to tell you, they were pretty darned good. A few seconds after finishing my first crisp, I had the distinct feeling that I had not simply eaten a garlic baguette flavoured crisp, but actually the garlic baguette itself. Extraordinary. I also tried the 'Brazilian Salsa' flavour, curtesy of a colleague, and they were pretty good too.

So my plan now is to make the most of this exciting period in crisp history, and munch my way through as many of the new flavours as possible. Gotta say, not really feeling the 'Scottish Haggis' or 'Australian BBQ Kangaroo' too much, amongst others. But hey, maybe someone could sponsor me for some charity, and maybe then I'll endure the likes of 'Welsh Rarebit'....

Yeah ok, maybe not.

Today.... I'm not sure, but I think I'm gonna go for 'Italian Spaghetti Bolognaise'.

Or maybe 'Spanish Chicken Paella'.

Or 'Japanese Teriyaki Chicken'...........

Lef'... Right... Lef' Right Lef'...

"I'm shitting myself."
"Me too. It's good though, to do something that scares the shit out of you every so often."
"Yeah, that's true."
"It'll be fine."
"....I'm shitting myself."
"Yeah. Me too."

11.30am on Saturday, and my friend Katherine and I are sat in Cafe Nero, nervously sipping a cup of tea each. We've made the mistake of meeting up an hour before our first hip hop dance class at Pineapple Studios, something that we've both been dying to do for a really long time, but only just had the guts.

Here's just a small example of my thought process at that moment in time.....

"What the hell am I doing?
It was all well and good planning to go to a class, but now I actually have to do it...
But this is something I've been wanting to do for such a long time, and it is only a beginner class.
I can't bloody learn choreography. Cheryl Cole's music video is one thing, a class with a trained dancer......
It could be really fun, though. I do love dancing.
But the last time I went to a dance class it was full of prissy schoolgirls and their cliques....
It's not gonna be like that here though, it's just a class, I'm not enrolling for anything.
What the hell......."

I imagine Katherine's mind was running through similar things.

So we spent that hour psyching ourselves up for the class, then scaring the shit out of each other, then back to the pep talks, then back to the doubt. It probably wasn't the best idea. But anyway, at 11.45 we left Cafe Nero and somehow dragged ourselves around the corner to Pineapple.

I've gotta say it....... It wasn't half as bad as I expected. Our teacher was an awesome Spanish dude called Xavi Monreal (YouTube him!), who was focused and a great teacher, and also pretty funny. There were probably about 30 people in the class, ranging from fairly good dancers right down to absolute beginners, and everyone was so focused on learning the choreo that you didn't have to worry about what you looked like. It was just really fun. Initially I was concentrating so hard on the steps that I forgot I was there to dance and not some sort of lighthearted military drill. Once I relaxed a bit I started to run through the steps in my own usual style, and it actually started to look alright!

So... all in all, a good experience. Most importantly it was a good laugh. Especially towards the end when we had to just dance around the room with each other doing the "UFO". Katherine was right, you do need to do something that scares the shit out of you every so often, it's good for you. And with every new thing that you do it probably doesn't get any less scary. But what would be the point in that?

And before you ask, no... I did not see Louie Spence!

"Oi, Mush!"

On the morning of Thursday 18th March I woke up in a daze, five minutes before I needed to leave the house for work. I scrambled out of bed, almost stepping onto last night's dirty plate, and, on realising that NONE of my washing had dried over night, grabbed one of my last two clean (and dry) T-shirts and some jeans. I had an impressively quick wash, legged it out of the house and somehow managed to catch my train.

It wasn't until I'd reached worked and checked my emails that I realised I'd forgotten something. Something really bloody big. Later in the day we had a booking for a voice-over, with a very high-profile client attending.... None other than Sir David Attenborough, hero to many and national treasure.

I was about to meet Sir David Attenborough, about to represent my company in his - and other high-profile clients' - presence..... and I was wearing a T-shirt with beachwear-clad lego people on the front with the tagline "I'll Be Ready..... For Mouth to Mouth." Awesome.

They were arriving at lunchtime, so I went to Marks & Spencer and bought a spread of mixed sandwich platters, nibbles (nuts, crisps, dip, etc), and cupcakes. Then, just before they arrived, I gave in to my inner OCD and prepared and laid out the food in a way that can only be described as beautiful. Sandwiches laid out in a fancy pattern. Bowls of nibbles arranged symmetrically. Cupcakes set out in alternating colours. I was extremely proud.

My pride was short-lived. On arrival the clients decided to split up, half waiting in reception while the other half discussed the plan for the afternoon. Thus I had to disturb my intricate lunch spread and share the food between the two groups. Sir David never got to see it. But I know he would have loved it.

There wasn't too much for me to do for them once they got into the swing of things. There were a couple of drink orders, though, and so finally my moment came. I entered the room, hastily took their orders, with one of the other clients checking with Sir David that he wanted a black coffee - in response he didn't turn around, just simply said "Yes, yes please." I made my teas and coffees, conscious that this was probably the most important tea round I'd ever done, and was happy with the again simple "Thank you" that I received on delivering that coffee to everyone's favourite Sir.

And that was it, that was the extent of my experience with Sir David Attenborough. One more amazing moment followed, when he was sat in reception waiting for his car to arrive, chatting away about nature to the other colleagues. The man's intelligence is astounding. He was talking about things that you wouldn't expect anyone to know about, so matter-of-factly that you'd think he was talking about his pet dog.

Time for one more piece of awesomeness. Danny, our dubbing mixer who was working on the project with the clients asked Sir David at the beginning of the session what he should call him. Sir David replied:

"You can just call me David. Or if not you can just shout "Oi, Mush!" "

Well done, Sandra...

I haven't seen 'The Blind Side'. I can't say for myself whether I believe Sandra Bullock was a deserving winner of the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. I have to say, I was a little shocked when I heard, only because of the level of talent within the category this year, brilliant actresses playing difficult roles in amazing films. I plan on watching 'The Blind Side', because it sounds like it will be fantastic, but until then I will say only this.

Even if, say, it was argued that Sandra Bullock was perhaps not the most deserving nominee, she deserved to win that award simply for the speech she gave upon receiving it. She covered everything that is essential to a good acceptance speech: acknowledging her fellow nominees in a way that was appropriately light hearted and serious at the same time; thanking the people that needed to be thanked and also thanking the people that winners so often forget; and keeping her emotions confined to the end of her speech, in an extremely touching and obviously genuine acknowledgement of what is really important in life.

Watch it HERE.

Perfect. God I love her.

"You don't get Soul II Soul playing a live set twice..."

A client once said to me: "It's only TV." Nomatter how much people act like the world will end if all doesn't run smoothly, it is only TV. The fact is, we're all part of the vicious circle that is this end-of-the-world mentality. Since one person, somewhere, genuinely does believe - or rather, likes to believe - that all of hell will break loose at the slightest delay of a tape, or the lack of maple peacan pastries and granola yoghurts at 11am, we are all dragged into the same way of thinking. Thus we all, at some point, overreact to any glitches, or any sign of delay.

It's fine, it's the way the industry works. If we didn't react that way, who knows... maybe nothing would ever get made on time and we'd be faced with constant reruns of Come Dine With Me and Friends........ Oh wait. On the other hand, everything might go just fine, driven on by everyones passion, and with a lot more happy people. Ok, probably not.

One such event happened recently that triggered a memory from a few months ago. It was something trivial, one of those things that, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't all that important and didn't really warrant the tension and stress it actually evoked. Nothing would have gone all that wrong had it not worked out. Nothing. This is what it reminded me of....

The year was 2009. I was working in my first runner job at the Autumn/Winter London Fashion Week. I had been a runner for a total of two and a half days, I believe. We had just filmed the amazing Pam Hogg show which had taken place in the underground carpark of the building, and which many celebrities had attended. The aftershow party took place back upstairs in the main On/Off catwalk room, and they had none other than Soul II Soul performing live that night. Five minutes before they were due to come on stage, someone in our team realised that we needed some sort of XLR cable to get the audio from the performance, a cable which they had left down in the carpark after the show.

Naturally, I said I'd sort it, and promptly ran down to the side entrance to the carpark through which we had entered before, only to find it locked up. I ran from there around the perimeter of the building to the main entrance on the opposite side (I don't do measurements, but let's just say it was a bloody big building so it was pretty bloody far), and down about three massive ramps to where the catwalk had been. I say "been" because everything had already been packed up. Everything. All that were left were a few sweaty men and a load of boxes.

I looked at my watch at this point. It had been seven or eight minutes since I'd left the party. If everything was going to plan, Soul II Soul were performing at that exact moment. Bugger. I went over to one of the more friendly-looking guys, who was probably a little startled by my bedraggled appearance, and I asked him, whilst trying not to die from lack of breath (I'm no sprinter) if he'd seen a spare cable lying around. He told me, of course, that everything had been packed away. I thanked him and went up a level, having a look around a van and huge stack of boxes that were about to be loaded. I must have looked pretty frantic, because when the same guy came back up he offered to have a look in the waiting boxes. He said there were so many boxes that the chances weren't high, but low and behold, in only the second box he opened were more XLR cables than you could possible know what to do with (and I didn't even know what to do with one!). I could have kissed him. I didn't. He said I could take one, because they must have ours, and I legged it back around the building, knowing that the show was probably halfway through already.

I got back to the party fifteen minutes after leaving, and squashed my way into the room to the sound of loud but indistinct music, found my team, and peeked over the many heads to see nobody on stage. Nobody. I'd bloody made it. I handed over the cable, playing it cool whilst secretly beaming at the sheer luck of the thing, and received a pat on the back from the editor and a "Nice one, Ash."

Sweet. The show began, the camera guys got some great shots, and the audio, although not of amazing quality, existed at least! I danced my socks off with the rest of the team, built up even more of a disgusting sweat, and had a freaking awesome time.

So, whenever something is going slightly wrong, or someone's blood pressure is visibly rising from just the threat of impending television doom, and although they wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about, I now always want to grab them by the shoulders and say:

"It will be fine. It could be Soul II Soul's live set at risk. You don't get Soul II Soul playing a live set twice..."

Well, you don't.

:D

"Listen to yourself, for goodness sake Ash..."

I've made it no secret lately.... or at least through my Twitter and Facebook I've made it no secret... that I've been somewhat stuck in a rut for the past few weeks. A lot of things have been going on in my mind... work, family, living arrangements, personal life. Pretty bog standard stuff to be honest. But I think this "rut" has most likely been caused by something that I discussed not too long ago, my need to keep moving, my "itchy feet syndrome".

No, I don't have some sort of itch-inducing condition in my extremities. I've just been through so much change lately, and moved from all sorts of pillar to every kind of post, that my four-month-long routine of stability, and prolonged "work-sleep-work-sleep-work" periods, has meant that I've become a little frustrated.

It's a good thing. Contrary to my many "FML" tweets and Facebook status updates detailing many a painfully monotonous day, it's good that I'm not allowing myself to become complacent, and that I'm ready for the next challenge. It keeps me working hard at my current job, but also mindful that I won't be here forever, and that I need to keep bettering myself in order to keep moving towards my goal.

I just seem to have forgotten to take my own advice is all. I've been thinking too much into the things I - actually, quite wisely - told others to push to the back of their minds, so as not to get bogged down with doubt, worry or intimidation.

Who knows, maybe I really do need to move on now. It's just so difficult, what with the risk of losing financial stability from my now full-time job, rent to pay each month, and my "plan B" being 200 miles away in everyone's favourite seaside resort.

I'm sticking it out for now. Not because I'm in any way "settling"; I enjoy my job. Yeah, it's bloody stressful sometimes, but I'm a runner. You take on other people's stress and try to make it lighter. And soon I will move on, because everybody does. Right now I'm making the most of the great environment I work in, partly by learning some new things with the tech department.

So. Don't worry about me. Not that you were, but I've had a fair few texts beginning with "I've seen some of you're statuses...." and ending with "...Call me if you need a chat." For which I'm very grateful, because it gets a little lonely sometimes in the Big Smoke. But honestly, I just need to sort myself out a little, and listen to myself for once.