In at work on a sunny Saturday morning, minding our exhibitions because one of the volunteers hasn't shown up. I was trying really hard to make this my one day off as well. <sigh> Thanks goodness the awesome technical guys at my work had the foresight to install a computer down here.

I am finding that the sheer workload is getting to me. Working full time, directing this festival, doing my Masters and making a new short piece that I will perform in under a month doesn't leave much room for free time. I'm really learning to make the most of the little things - my partner and I snatched three hours together last night to go to dinner, but even then I couldn't really get away from work as we decided to hang out in the suburb where the Festival is happening. It was nice to sit down and chat - I felt like I hadn't seen him in a week and we live together. WORK IS TAKING OVER MY LIFE.

That aside, I am still having fun... I think. I am eagerly awaiting what I'm sure will be a flood of artist proposal forms into my inbox on Monday, which is when they're due. I'm being optimistic in the hope that if I am, this will actually eventuate. But a very big part of me remains sure that next week will be the start of a lot of chasing, and I think I will have to start rostering phone calls into my tiny lunch breaks, when I don't have a Festival meeting to rush to. But I think if these artist forms do come in, then the really exciting bit can begin for me. I can start to think about the shape of the day, about where and when everything might happen. That's fun.

In other news, our branding strategy is almost complete. We've been lucky enough to have some Master of Design students from a local uni offer to create our branding. We went to an interim presentation last week and were all blown away by what they presented. I feel really happy about it - I was initially wary at first about getting students to design the branding, but given our budget constraints we didn't really have much of an option and it's turned out far better than I would have expected.

There are a few big issues happening right now. One is that the web design company that was sponsoring us and who we have provided an intern to to do the actual work has since come back to us and said that the intern's skills aren't up to scratch, and without further financial resources allocated to them they can't continue. They sent a link to the intern's online portfolio as evidence, and to be completely honest, had we seen that before we agreed to have her on board I would definitely have had reservations. Needless to say, we have no further financial resources, and we have both agreed that we don't want to ditch the intern after all the work she has so far put in, so we have had to find another web sponsor.

And the next piece of news that is potentially devastating is that the building that we are supposed to be doing the 3D projection mapping on, that is the centrepiece of the whole Festival and has been a key component of securing the little sponsorship we have gained thus far, is apparently unsuitable for such an exercise. Apparently the bricks are too dark. Why none of the people responsible for this part of the Festival thought to investigate this months ago I am at a loss to understand, but whatever. There is a crisis meeting at 3pm on Monday, which is not a work-friendly time but it's kind of important that I attend.

I do feel supported by my boss, although it's very evident that she is extremely stressed about the state of things. I can tell by the constant emails asking me what has been done and what hasn't, scheduling meetings and the like. I can definitely appreciate that - I think we're all feeling the strain, and she probably feels that she has more at stake than anybody else, it being her baby. I feel like I spend most of my time reassuring her, which of course is part of my job, but meanwhile I'm panicking on the inside!

Anyhow, off home now to have a Saturday, yay. See you next week.