Today I didn't have my normal teaching days… we're going on a field trip to Oxford on Sunday instead, see… So I was GOING to get a whole bunch of writing done on this chapter that I'm working on this semester… Only… yeah…
In my Global Foods class, we're reading the first Harry Potter book. (Because it's a fun book to end a semester on, and FOOD…) Then I couldn't help myself and just read onto the 2nd, and 3rd, and… I'm half way through book 6 right now! Indeed, book 6 is my fave, but to punish myself for wasting a week of good work time, I'm not letting myself finish it until I've gotten some writing done today. We'll see how THAT goes…
In addition to all this tomfoolery :) I also went to a couple of shows and exhibits and museums and such… as it is becoming freakishly clear to me that my time here in London is winding down… (whimper!) First, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime was on Tuesday. I got nutty cheap L15 tix for the show in the first row… I was SO close… I think front row seats are actually NOT ideal, as you're almost too close to be able to see everything. But omg I didn't mind. I thought it was fantastic to see what color hair tie one of the actors was using, and see the sweat stains on the pants of the main actor after running all over the stage--including up the walls. It was like Acro yoga or Cirque du Soleil stuff, only instead of having a girl perched up on top… it was the male actor-- and there would be men and women on the bottom stabilizing him. AND there was a puppy on the stage. I seriously almost died. There was a little too believable of a chance of me actually running onto the stage when I saw the ridiculousness! He exposed his tummy and wiggled his tail… I don't know how it was PETA approved or what have you… But the dog seemed perfectly happy, and he wasn't on stage for long… and I LOVED him!! There was also a live rat, btw… that happened first, and I thought THAT was a big deal! (The dead dog, in case you were worried, was clearly fake.)
Tuesday I had also tried to get some work done at the British Library, but the reading rooms were entirely filled… I couldn't get access to the books I'd reserved. And it's a LONG schlep out to the library from my flat… Now with too much time before the show, I wandered to a fun veggie restaurant early --read more HP (amazingly good way to kill some time you didn't foresee, btw), and then the show. This restaurant was called Beetroot (British for beet). They do something fun at their restaurants here-- you can buy a box that they fill with all the items you want. I've done this at a couple of places now… The trick is, it's all in the box together… somewhat segmented but not really. I'm fine with this approach… But I know some people who don't like their food to touch that would HATE this!!
That was Tuesday… I clearly finished whatever HP book I was on at that point that night… Wednesday I tried to go back to the library, but no joy… This time there was NO available locker space. I am not sure why the library was so chock-a-block this week, but another long journey wasted… I decided I was done. No more trying to get work done at the library… So, I decided to make my time worth it, I'd go to the Magna Carta exhibit. (Cool for the US stuff, mostly-- copies of Dec of Ind and Bill of Rights and such… That was pretty amazing!! And the actual Magna Carta was cool to see, too. Old and crumbling and impossible to actually read…) I also hung out at a Quaker Meeting House coffee shop I kept seeing nearby… It was a coffee shop… nothing too special. But it did have good Wifi, and a cheap cappuccino. So it is a winner… and with that, I bid the library farewell. Things are ending here-- first the SOAS food forum, now my visiting the BL… Sigh!!
Thursday I was seeing a matinee… which is an annoying time to see a show, as it's pretty tough to plan stuff around it. As the show gets out around 5pm, I can't go anywhere really after it… whereas if it's an evening show I can do museums or markets or whatever up until 5p, then dinner, then the show… and it works out great. ANYWAY, I made time for one museum in the general area of the show--the Dickens Museum in London. I have been MEANING to go the entire semester, of course… so this was my chance. I took a picture of the gate of the actual Marshalsea prison where Dickens and his family lived (before Dickens moved out on his own nearby) when he was a kid. I had taken my class on a walking tour past the place where it really was--and freaked out because they were in the process of tearing the final standing wall down--AS we were talking about it!! At least the museum is keeping a small piece of this place for the history involved…
There are a few more author museums and exhibits I mean to get to before I leave: the Holmes exhibit at the Museum of London--which has the manuscript of Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and the Benjamin Franklin house--they say is the only standing Franklin residence remaining, but I don't know if I believe this… There are a few more things, too--but these are a couple of the main ones!
Then I had lunch at a lovely veggie place called the Gate... a bit classier than my "all your food in a bowl" place but still with very reasonable lunch prices. Actually the exact same prices now that i think of it... Finally, I went to the Great Gatsby ballet. It was amazing!! I don't know what I was expecting… probably just to give some love to an American text being performed in some way… But I ended up just being enthralled. If you think about it, it totally works. There are all the party scenes at Gatsby's mansion that make for great numbers… and then there are all the love affairs and duet scenes-- those were also fantastic. If anything was lost, it was Nick's part-- he was even less significant in this than in the book. A fun observation: the dancer playing Tom was able somehow in his body language and costuming to play him as a dick… I don't really know HOW he did it-- but he danced with his chest puffed out somehow--and would occasionally punch his hand--and wore a red "power" tie when everyone else wore blue… Anyway, I though that was great! And I loved the way they showed Gatsby's flashbacks… He'd be standing there while two other dancers--young him and young Daisy--were dancing around… It was totally clear what was going on there… The costumes, btw, were amazing-- ballet and 20s flappers were kind of meant to go together. I can honestly say this was the first time I think I really appreciated ballet dancing… They made beautiful shapes with their bodies… and it was so perfectly synchronized…
Coming home from the ballet, I finished HP5 and started HP6… which I am now half way through. I don't know what I'm going to do on the tube once HP is all finished!! I have come to HATE the tube-- in keeping with me hating all forms of commute--whether by car or tube or double decker bus or walking-- I love to travel, and HATE to commute. HP has been magnificent for keeping my mind off the screaming child and coughing stranger right in front of me… Meanwhile, my school readings are NOT so useful… Maybe I'll reread Alice in Wonderland next… That's an old fave and it's been a while… :)
Today--I will work-- I just HAVE to! And I'm supposed to get tickets to a rugby match at Wembley for tomorrow-- (I will report back all about that!)
And so, I'd better start my day… Wish me happy writing! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment