New Year's Eve (2013)

The year started twirling a “glow sword”

Because in the land of the free and the brave

It’s easier to buy a gun than a sparkler 

We applied for a fiance visa. 

I flew back to London.

In February, I started house hunting,

Visited Brighton

And saw A Chorus Line at the Palladium

I watched women in black t-shirts and bright red lipstick

Rise and dance outside Parliament House. 

We had a bake sale at the theatre.

I wandered the streets of London 

Trying to feel at home. 

In March, I saw Liza Minnelli at Royal Festival Hall.

In the midst of a snow storm

I moved to Ruislip. 

Saw my friend’s play 

Nights of Enchantment,

And over noodles, had a long and delightful conversation

With an old friend. 

One bright chilly morning

I walked from Covent Garden to the Thames to Islington. 

In April, I did quite the unthinkable

And quit my job ushering

At a west end theatre

And prepared to walk 780km across 

Northern rural Spain 

I saw the Lichtenstein retrospective at the Tate Modern

On the 30th April I caught the Eurostar

From London to Paris

And spent the day on trains heading 

South across France to the Pyrenees

On the first day of May

I walked up and down the Pyrenees 

Crossed into Navarra 

And spent the next 31 days

Walking the width of Spain 

Until I reached Santiago de Compostela 

In June, I saw War Horse at the New London.

I flew over the Atlantic

To spend the summer with my love

We went to a wedding

And a Wesslmann pop art exhibit in Richmond 

Drove through Washington DC, Jersey, New York, and Connecticut

And arrived 

Home 

At summer camp 

We staged 2 full-scale musicals 

In 8 weeks 

I taught singing and voice

And melted in the heat

Watched Yo Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra

At Tanglewood 

And walked a rainbow chalk labyrinth

Smudged and glowing from rain 

In August

I saw Matilda, Once, and Peter and the Starcatcher in NYC

And wandered the streets of Manhattan praying for a miracle. 

I unwillingly flew back to London

And moved to the south east. 

I worked as a temp

At an international commercial property research company

Two finance firms

Two publishing houses

And spent my days behind reception desks around London

Writing and researching my play.

I saw Blue Stockings at The Globe.  

In September, I quietly turned 29

In one of the offices of London

And in the evening saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the 

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, with my big brother

I saw Grounded at The Gate Theatre

And did a workshop on writing solo material 

I traveled to Bath to audition for a play 

I saw Once with my Australian singing teacher 

And remembered why I was doing what I was doing. 

I saw A Doll’s House at The Duke of York

And had to talk myself into staying for the second act. 

I went blackberry picking in Southminster 

And made a blackberry pie. 

In October, I had my interview with the US Consulate 

And was rejected

I waited for a piece of paper

Declaring my lack of criminal record

To be sent from Australia to the UK

Via snail mail

I waited for my file to be lifted from the hundreds of other files

In someone’s office

I saw Trevor Ashley perform

Liza on an E 

And Malala Yousafzai speak at Queen Elizabeth Hall

I went to the London Dungeon and SeaLife Aquarium with my first London friend 

I saw The Light Princess at the National Theatre

And a debate between the founder of No More Page 3 

And three playboy bunnies 

In Carnaby St. 

I went to Brighton with Mum and

Rode the carousel on the pier.

The next day I was the sickest I have been since moving to London

Ten months of waiting catching up with my stomach. 

In November, I saw Matilda at the Cambridge

One last time 

Walked along the Thames  

Saw the Christmas lights in Oxford St and 

Bid farewell to London.  

I flew across the Atlantic 

To be with my love

And, finally, 

We were married. 

In December 

I worked on my play

Went to my first American audition

And was cast in my first Shakespeare  

I discovered I could run in below freezing temperatures

Volunteered in a second-hand bookshop

Learnt to play the ukulele

Went to a Warhol exhibit

And wandered through Old Town admiring the fairy lights.

We started our happily ever after

The end.