Well, this month was another month of two halves - and as I always do, I'll get the bad half out of the way first.
A certain place that I won't mention referred me to a mandatory training course,the likes of which they've forced me to go on before, you know the type, sit in a classoom with a bunch of strangers while someone tells you "do this, do that". These courses aren't even designed to help the "customers" on them, they're just an exercise in massaging the unemployment figures and keeping the money rolling in - so naturally, I was expecting the worst.
I was surprised, however - the course I was sent on is probably one of the better ones I've been on, there's a relaxed atmosphere to proceedings, and the staff there, unlike other places, actually seem to care about the people in their charge, and I have to admit, there's been some subjects on the course that I haven't been taught on other courses, such as confidence-building and assertiveness. I mentioned those two examples, because I'm lacking in both of those, and I find myself wishing I could be more confident and assertive, not just in looking for a job, but in my whole life too.
Don't get me wrong, I still hate the idea of being stuck in a classroom for 6 hours a day being told stuff I mostly already know, but at least this particular place tries to make the process far more bearable.
During this time, I had some food for thought about my future...one of the staff at the course ave me some advice about what I should do if I want to go into an art career, and their advice was that I should go and study art at college, and try to get a job in something that could lead to an art related job, such as data entry. However, to be brutally honest, I'm not getting any younger, and I don't think I could face being put back into a school situation, at least not full-time anyway. I would like to think that there's another way that doesn't involve college, but that's probably just wishful thinking (I do far too much of that.) I want to live my life, not spend it in a classroom.
On the plus side of things, I got a hold of some new music, and good new music seems to be a rarity these days - the album "Violence & Destruction" by Islander - alternative metal with a sounds throwing back to early 2000's "nu-metal", but without most of the cliches that gave that genre a bad name. Take a listen to one of the tracks from it here.
There was some more nice summer weather to enjoy, and I took advantage of it to take some trips to the beach at Tynemouth - if you haven't gathered already, I love that place. I've been to many beaches, but I always find myself going back to that one, because it's got bags of character, and it's simply beautiful. And needless to say, going there makes my summer.
I'll leave you with a beachside real life/cartoon crossover - no prizes for guessing which beach this was taken at.
