So, I feel fantastic right now! And you're never going to believe why...
Today was my last science fiction lit class, right? And so I told myself that I wanted to have my final paper finished to turn in today when I went to class, so I didn't have to go back to LMU after today. Well, I finished my paper at 4:16 this morning! Then, I woke up to get ready for class at 7:45ish. It’s so glorious! I feel like a college student again.
Now, I realise that probably sounds stupid, as I still am a college student, but I haven’t had to stay up late all semester. With only 12 credits this semester, I’ve not had to put in a lot of work at any one time, and so I’ve been to bed at the latest 2 every night since I’ve been in London. This contrasts starkly with my average college schedule. Take for example last semester at SJC. I took 23 credits, with nine of those credits being lit classes, so I never really started a paper before the night it was due; this means I was pulling all-nighters at least once a week. I miss doing that! It makes me feel young again. That probably sounds equally stupid, but so much now, I feel like I’m actually going to have to grow up soon because I’m student teaching next semester and turning 22 this summer. I constantly hear adults say “I can’t run on that little sleep anymore.” So I’ve been afraid of devolving into such a state. But I feel great! And I haven’t even felt like I need to stop and rest.
However, all of that being said, this joy may come and bite me in the butt because I’ve got another paper due tomorrow that I need to write, but I’m completely caught up in doing other things right now. And these other things are making the paper seem not that high on my priority list at this point.
My first priority has been finding a place to stay this weekend while in Paris. I’m spending my last weekend abroad in Paris. I’m incredibly excited, but we’ve encountered quite a few snares concerning the people in the party who are going on this little expedition. Because of that, we’ve not procured a place to stay, yet. As of twenty minutes ago, two people backed out, so now the number will be either three or four. So, instead of waiting any longer, I’ve sent out a few last minute couchsurfing requests. We’ll see. I’m not terribly worried about it, because I’ve decided worrying won’t get me anywhere. And, I’ve always wanted to sleep on a park bench, so if all else fails…
Also, my other priority before writing my paper was to write this blog. We’re flying to Paris Friday after the Contemporary Britain final and won’t be flying home until Tuesday morning, so I wouldn’t want to keep my faithful audience up to speed and not make them wait until I return. Also, I do have quite a few great anecdotes from this week, so I want to share them and not have them become overshadowed by French tales of glory.
Monday I turned in my final paper in Education and gave the presentation. It went well enough. I got into a discussion with the prof about my personal beliefs about why I think mathematics was relevant and worthy of study within the National Curriculum. It was a lively discussion, and we grilled me with a few tough questions, but his reactions to my answers made me feel like he was impressed with what I had to say: great success!
After spending most of Tuesday relaxing, the evening brought with it one of the things I can honestly say I’ve been looking forward to doing since I knew I was going to be in London. I saw a Shakespearean play performed at the Globe Theatre. As my facebook status later exclaimed: “Mike Koscielny now knows what theatre is supposed to look like.” My own meager attempts to explain how amazing it was have failed; if I may, however, use one of my favourite British colloquialisms—it was bloody brilliant! Everything about it was so incredible. We bought standing tickets—they were only £5!—and were standing only a person away from the stage. There wasn’t a single part in the show that I thought faltered in any way. From the opening fight scene, I knew it was going to be great. They were trained to stage fight so well, with and without swords; it was intense. But then, I knew it was going to be great when Prince came out to stop the fight, as Paris and Mercutio were with him, and Mercutio were with him, and Mercutio went right up to Tybalt (who looked particularly furious) and… let’s say… lewdly “stroked” his sword, making a noise to match such a gesture (if you get my drift). Mercutio is one of my favorite characters in all of literature, so I was so happy when he did that, as inappropriate as it was. His character is so great, and the Queen Mab monologue was amazing.
Other highlights from the show were the party scene. The period dancing was great, but also Tybalt’s scene upon discovering Romeo was intense. Being as close as we were, it was incredible to watch. As Capulet was yelling at Tybalt, he was just shaking; it was the furious shaking that happens when you’re going to explode in a fit of anger. The fight between Romeo and Tybalt, after Mercutio’s death, was amazingly well done. It started with rapiers, then transformed into a physical brawl before the men regained sharper weapons. Again, bloody brilliant. They portrayed Paris to be a flamboyant weakling, which was particularly enjoyable. The other scene that was melt-my-face-off incredible was Capulet’s reprimanding of Juliet when she refuses to wed Paris. I knew it was supposed to an intense moment, but holy crap… I thought a blood vessel was going to explode not only in his forehead, but also on his neck. At the climax of the yelling, his face was a vibrant shade of magenta. The other thing that really really impressed me was the overly emotional scenes where the actors cried. Not once did it seem forced or fake, not once. It was so incredibly natural, not only because the scene was so well done that the emotion flowed, but because the actors were honest about it. Nothing felt fake, hammy or like the audience was being pandered to.
And, to top the night off, I was interviewed for a BBC documentary! Yeah! It happened on my way to the Globe. I was walking along the river and this woman stopped me and asked if I would be willing to be interviewed. I didn’t want to because A, I wanted to get to the Globe as fast as possible and B, because I’m not British, so I thought that might be weird. However, she insisted, saying, “Please, it will only take five minutes and you look absolutely dapper, so you’ll look even better on camera.” I let her sucker me in with flattery. But that’s okay, because I did look dapper. Haha! I was just wearing a collared shirt with my new bowtie, a blue jumper and my white sport coat (although, when I was leaving the Globe, I did get winked at by a girl walking past). Anyway, the woman had me watch an advert from a power company that was promising to reduce your carbon-emissions by 20 percent if you sign up for their special plan. She asked me what my reaction was to the advert and what I interpreted by the message being put forth. Then, she explained to me what the offer actually promised, which was in fact to email participants energy-saving tips and solicited my reaction. I watched the advert again and sure enough, it was in the fine print. I was upset. Her final question was asking for my personal energy-saving tip, so I name-dropped and explained blackle.com! I was really excited about that. The more people who switch, the better (also, that's why this blog has a black background!).
It wasn’t until the end of the interview that she told me it was for a BBC documentary. I kinda wish she would have told me before so I could have tried to sound a bit more eloquent.
Wednesday I took my Differential Equations final. It was decent. It wasn’t a pushover exam like the previous tests, but it wasn’t anything of extreme difficulty. After that, I spent the rest of the day procrastinating and finally writing the SciFi Lit paper.
And on that note, I should do something productive with my life. Who knows…
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