Donnie Darko

Today, Alistair and I were heading out to see the movie Donnie Darko at an open air cinema in London.

I was a bit apprehensive about this, after my negative experience of open-air cinemas in Auckland when I’d seen The Incredibles, however I did want to finally see Donnie.

But then, I didn’t.

I called Alistair and did something I very, very rarely do.

I cancelled.

The thing was that Johnny B had invited me to a party this evening that Esther was throwing in Clapham, and this would probably be my one and only chance to catch up with my circle of catholic friends. Kevin, Fraser, Steve K, Emma, that lot.

But much as I wanted to see them, (as indeed I also wanted to spend more time with Alistair again), I didn’t much feel like trekking out to Clapham.

Or anywhere in London, for a movie or not.

It occurred to me that, after a year separated from home, during which time I had spent 8 months in a room with no windows with over 20 strangers passing through the other 3 beds, 2 months living with a Korean family, regularly attended church services in a foreign language, presented a year of radio shows on a station with no listeners, eaten left-overs for 6 months and walked away from my faith 3 times, not to mention everything else, I was probably a bit burnt out.

I’d been back a month now, and in that short time I’d gone to church, seen Herschel a few times, been to Kingston, attended a graduation day out with evening meal, had a drink with Goodwin, had a coffee with Mickey, gone to the south coast for a weekend, visited my Auntie Sunny, seen my solicitor in Reading, spent the day with Pope and family-to-be in Tewkesbury, spent a day catching-up with Alistair and Jo, visited my dad’s ashes at the crematorium, shot pool with Uncle Travelling Matt, seen an Australian circus in London, witnessed the continued return of Elvis at The Rising Sun and single-handedly organised 3 separate film-shoots, plus spent much time taking additional shots/cataloguing pictures and audio.

Charging around 7 days a week suddenly struck me as not the wisest way to spend my precious time out back home.

I really needed to relax. I really needed a holiday. Which meant that I needed to go away to some place other than New Zealand.

After all, how can you have a holiday while you’re at home?

I hated cancelling that. I never cancel.