Introducing myself

Heya!

I'm Yoan. I'm a young Bulgarian guy, still in college and this is my blog.
I just wrote two sentences and I'm in a kind of a writer's block. I don't even know if anybody is going to read this blog, but even if nobody does, I'll enjoy sharing intimate thoughs (not always!) with ... myself.

I suppose I should tell you a little bit about myself.
I'm studying theatre acting at the National Theatre and Film Academy in Sofia, BG, but my real dream is to become a stage director and therefore I'm preparing my portfolio and want to apply for a program at the UCD, Dublin, Irland. So, fingers crossed!

I'm actually very much into art - I love reading and writing myself. Mostly texts to be performed on stage & sometimes some poetry. I've written some short stories and essays and have been published once (which I'm very proud of!) and though I've never tried my hand at writing a novel (or even a novella), I think that one sunny morning (I hate sunny mornings by the way, since I'm pretty much in love with the cold & gloomy winter mornings!) I'll get get up & start writing. I've often work on something for a while, but then get tired, get another idea and simply dump the old one. So, writing is always an option for me. I enjoy it, people seem to enjoy my writings, so it's required love. haha.

But anyway, my love is the theatre & cinema. I enjoy directing, because directing is so much about building up a story. You start by a text (not even some finished text!) and you just find the structure, the character in the story you have, the emotion and you stick with your guts and then find a way to make the story interesting and appealing. That's once you have the construction and work on the "flesh" of the story. Gus Van Sant said something interesting about theatre direction (not revolutionary, but it's a very precise depiction of the working methods) and it's that "there are film directors who might be visualists, but they're not like theatre directors who are used to breaking it down and then building it up with actors on stage." So, to me theatre directing is all about finding character, motives, emotion in characters and not just making them move on stage or making some aesthetic decisions. But I'll write about directing later. After all, it's pretty much my life dream and I'm determined to devote myself to it. (I just can't stop thinking about the link between directing for the stage and writing fiction. It's pretty much working within the same pattern. Using the very same instincts. I love it.)


My other passion are languages. I speak English, German, Danish, Swedish and my mother tongue is Bulgarian, so according to linguists it counts as well. I don't want to show off, I simply love languages and what I love most about them is that once you start learning a new language, you get into a reality, which is much different than your own and it's easy to understand and develop a connection. I'm in the mood to write tonight. The starting was really hard, but now I can't stop writing.

I love healthy food (not a freak, but I don't like junk food, though I sometimes can enjoy a Coke!). I love ice cream, I love the sea (though I get sunburn very fast and it hurts ;-) ) and I love the mountains. I love travelling and I do it when I have enough money. I love clubbing, I love nice music and I'm a total film freak. I cited a Gus Van Sant interview and I must say, his film My Own Private Idaho is a huge favorite of mine. It's one of the most poetic films about longing and finding yourself. I love Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull (Scorsese's films), because they have a sort of visual energy and complex, almost frightening performances. I love Woody Allen's films - Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Manhattan (mostly old films, but we watch them at the Academy) and I love Kieslowski's Three Colors: Red. And I just recently watched a really beautiful gay-themed film about two guys in working class England coming to terms with their own sexuality, which was pretty moving. I love reading as well and I enjoy F. Scott Fitzgerald & Salinger & Capote & some other writers. If you're interested about finding out more about that, go ahead and ask! I hate writing e-mails, but I enjoy instant messaging. That's because I love having an instant reaction. (Yeah, sometimes I actually can say or do something just to see the reaction. It's something my friends always accuse me of.) I'm no TV fan and the only series I really watch is 30 Rock. It's just hilarous. It has comedy, it has wit, it's quicky and nerdy and kind of geeky! Love t. And Tina Fey - love this woman! I don't like to use the word genius, because people shouldn't be so obsessed with labels nowadays. I just hate it. But she's close to being perfect. A perfect writer. Comedy writer. She finds character in comedy and comedy in character, which only a few can do (at the same time!). Haha!

I love having friends and I love making lots of friends. I can be very aggressive sometimes (not physically!), but most of the time I'm shy. And especially nervous around people I like.

So, I'm visiting my parents and I'm going to stay in two weeks, so I'll have plenty of time to write. Happy New Year everybody and come back! ;-) And if you have any questions, please write to me! My e-mail is otko@live.co.uk.