Quite the Week

I'm sorry I've been so erratic about posting. I assure you, you aren't missing anything - as my life becomes more busy it also becomes more homogenous, just filled with school. I've had the craziest week of frantic work. When last you heard of my life, it was Sunday I think and I was just about to jump off the diving board into the week. Monday I had globo, in which I made a couple of comments that I don't think were too stupid, a nice feeling in a class where I am often way over my head. We went to a play called A Disappearing Number, which was good, less than fabulous acting balanced by a psychologically stimulating script and a vistually interesting presentation. I was in a squirrely goofy mood afterwards, which is always fun, even if I don't get much done.

I've been feeling rather spiritually cloudy lately, and whatever you think, that's an important part of my happiness and stability, so I decided to listen to podcasts of old conference talks instead of music when I'm walking to class or on the tube. It appears to have the desired effect; I feel less isolated and weird. Tuesday we started talking about Macbeth. I was mostly just sad to be finished with Hamlet; I think I could talk about that play forever. I'm just not connecting with M. the same way I did with H. Tuesday night we went to another play, called the White Devil, written by one of Shakespeare's contemporaries, Webster. It was pretty good, although distinctly lacking in both acting and directing talent, and also further illuminated the genius of Shakespeare.

Wednesday was an odd day. We had a walking tour for globo, which was pretty much our prof leading us around the Brick Lane area and showing us the evidence that this area had seen many different cultures and races over the years. The best part was that the tour ended with the most delicious Pakistani restaurant-- mmm, so good. Wednesday afternoon I learned a particularly interesting lesson that I think Dad will particularly appreciate: I had a Shakespeare paper to write that I hadn't started yet because my weekend had been full of reading and the week full of school and plays. Well, I was rather bewitched by the paper, and completely zoned out a meeting I had at school about my internship. It wasn't a super big deal, I got the information later and everything, but it was still a pretty dumb things to do. Well, when I went into my prof's office to talk about what I missed, the first thing she did after I apologized profusely was tell me that she knew I wasn't the type to just blow stuff off and that she didn't hold it against me because I am normally so responsible. I really appreciated that, I value her opinion and I'm glad that good things that I strive to be are visible.

The paper: I spent Wednesday evening in its thrall, which was postively delightful. Sometimes a paper comes along that is just so fun to write. It was great to explore the text and make connections and use my vocabulary to express what I see. I don't know if the paper was any good, but my affection for it plays a close second to The Poe Paper. What I argued was that the famous "to be or not to be" speech was not just a debate of suicide, but also Hamlet trying to decide if he was going to fulfill his promise to his father's ghost and kill his uncle. I think the paper was rather scattered, but I ended up making some points about the end of the play and the overall meaning of the character of Hamlet that were kind of gutsy and fun.

I turned the paper in Thursday morning and later that afternoon we had our last walking tour for History of London, which we've done every week. I hate when classes end; I'm going to miss all of my classes (even globo- I don't mind being informed). I'm going to miss my profs and it's sad that I won't have another opportunity to take more classes from them because, well, they live in London. Institute Thrusday evening, pretty cool. Normally Thusday is like Friday because we don't have classes on actual Friday, but this week two extra things = a normal day of school. In the morning we went to the British Film Institute to watch a filming of a production of Macbeth. It was a little boring, but some of the actors were really good. After that we visited Anti-Slavery International for globo. That evening I looked at train tickets for mom and I as we figure out our fall break plans. I'm so glad she's coming!

Today Molly and I went to a production of Ivanov by Chekov, which was pretty amazing. Kenneth Branagh was Ivanov and Kevin McNally (Mr. Gibbs in Pirates) was in it too and did an amazing job with a well written character. Tonight I rediscovered Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. That movie is really amazing. Thank you Ben for making sure I took it with me. I love watching movies that I haven't seen for a while and seeing how they've shaped the way I think. The movie is about erasing memories and how even bad memories are worth having because they are part of life. One bit that has always stuck with me is a shot of a woman who wants to erase all memories of her dog from her memory; as much as I miss Skye and as much as that still hurts, I wouldn't trade the wonderful memories I have of her for anything. The movie is rated R, a few too many f-bombs, but really, it's so good.

I've been watching the election like a hawk - they do a really good job of covering it over here. Just over two weeks! Come on America, make the right choice (the right choice is Obama). COME ON!

Off to bed on some freshly washed sheets. Miss you guys.