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Monday, July 21st, 2008
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10:48 pm
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Next summer I am going to go somewhere and do something exciting. Three weeks into my summer holidays and I'm already bored to death. I want to get out there and have a bit of an adventure, see some of the world! So, I am vowing to you now, that this time in a year I will not be sat in my room in Widnes, having just spent two hours watching a countdown of Abba's top 25 songs.
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| Sunday, December 2nd, 2007
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4:55 pm
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Yesterday Sophie (she does have a username, but I don't know how to insert it) and I went to see 'Amadeus' at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. I love Peter Shaffer and saw a production of this play a few years ago in Liverpool, and Sophie had seen and loved the film, and also loved one of the people in the cast. So it was a win-win situation, especially when our tickets only cost £10.
The lovely Lizzy advised us as to where best to eat lunch before the play, and she was very right indeed. I had a toasted wensleydale and cranberry sandwich and Sophie had a huuuuuuuuge vegetarian club sandwich thing, with hummus to die for. We were both pretty full, but still managed cakes and it has to be noted that they were truly sexual. And then it was off to the theatre.
The theatre space was lovely, reminded me a little bit of The Royal Exchange in Manchester, but a bit bigger. It was still pretty intimate and I really liked it. It wasn't very full, which was a shame because it was a really good production. It was so energetic, which was great. Mozart, in particular, was brilliantly enthusiastic. He really captured the naivety and childishness of the character, but for all his energy, he never threw his lines away. There was a definite sense of his progression towards his demise, and whilst he never lost his childish nature, he did seem to age.
By contrast, the guy playing Sallieri was a little disappointing. He seemed somewhat self-indulgent, and whilst it is an easy trap to fall into with such a big role, it was annoying. He was very good at narrating the story, and keeping it from losing its pace, however a lot of the time he was just too energetic. So many times he just butted in with a line for the audience, when he really could have afforded to pause for a few more seconds. He lost a lot of the play's dramatic tension that way, which was a real shame. My other qualm with him was that he was very one dimensional. He became almost a pantomime villain in his lack of conscience and I couldn't feel for him at all. I wanted to see his demise, as well as Mozart's because that's one of the most powerful parts of the story for me - the way in which Sallieri destroys himself through his jealousy and obsession. I wanted more Javert than Iago!
That said, on the whole it was a very enjoyable production, and a very enjoyable day.
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| Friday, November 9th, 2007
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11:27 pm - Mneah
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Mneah is the term that Helen and I once decided was the perfect way to describe when you're feeling a bit poo and you don't really know why. I keep finding myself wanting to use said term an awful lot at the moment.
I don't really understand why everything is so "mneah" recently. It just seems like all I ever do is sleep, eat and do course related things. This isn't strictly true, since we did go to the cinema last night and we went out on Wednesday, but they were the first things we've done in a very long time. I don't even thing I want to go out particularly, I just miss the days when we would all finish/give up with our work for the night at around tea time and do something fun. Together. But more and more these days people seem confined to their rooms and we go to bed before midnight. Ok so I was shattered by the end of last year, but it was a good year and we had so much fun! Now I just feel a bit like I get in the way and people would rather I wasn't there at all.
Even the joy I usually find in eating has gone.
current mood:  melancholy
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| Monday, September 24th, 2007
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12:55 pm
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I really want some cake. They keep talking about kids' birthday parties on Loose Women and it's making me want some really cheap birthday cake that's just ridiculously covered in ice cream and makes you bounce off the walls.
In other news, I was supposed to be meeting Louise today for some tea, but typically my evening at Ben's sister's house has been brought forward by about 2 hours and so I don't have time now. But there's nothing to do in this house aside from put clothes away because I've actually finished both my essays now, and Ulysses isn't here yet.
I want some cake.
current mood:  hungry
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| Wednesday, July 4th, 2007
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2:49 pm - People can't seem to stop being nice about me...
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No really, they can't! I noticed Helen's facebook status this morning being about how she was looking forward to having lunch with me, and then my mum said I'm one of the most caring people she knows, and then someone from college posted a thing on facebook saying I'm one of the genuinely nicer people that he knows. Ahhhh! It's cheered me up no end, because this rain is getting really rather irritating.
In other news, since arriving home from university I have -
1. Spent far too much time in Widnes' new coffee shop.
I went with my mum on Monday for a coffee, Helen yesterday for lunch, coffee AND cake, and then with my mum again today for a quick coffee. It was actually pretty embarrassing when the miserable woman who works there cleaned the table I was sat at and actually laughed. Fortunately I won't be in there for at least a few days now though, because I'll be out of the area.
2. Squeeeed over Dr Who. Twice.
I have photographed the crotch of Boe. Enough said.
3. Tried to go for a walk and got soaked.
Why is it that when my mum and I decide to go for a walk, it rains? Seriously, every time! It hadn't rained for hours yesterday. Like actually 6 hours. And then as soon as we're at the furthest point from our house, it bounces down. Bloody Sod and his stupid laws.
4. Got bored into actually starting redrafting my essays.
I say redrafting, it's actually been more a case of reading some of the books I got out from the library, but still it's work. I said to myself "I'll give myself a good 2/3 weeks off, if not a month", but then I go and spoil it all by doing something stupid like reading. I blame the weather.
5. Had eye sex with both Pete Postlethwaite and Prince Edward.
Yesterday evening my mother, father and I went to see The Tempest at The Royal Exchange in Manchester. It was excellent on the whole. Pete himself was brilliant, quite possibly even better than Patrick Stewart was in Stratford, and Miranda was far, far better than her Stratford counterpart. Caliban was really good, quite Gollum-esque and creepy in his movement, but he also nailed the pitiful side of the character. The set was brilliantly done, particularly given that it's a really small space for such a big play. There was one moment when Ariel came onstage and spread sand around on the floor to music. It doesn't sound like much, because I just can't do it justice, but it was awesome.
Ariel was, however, the only character I thought wasn't really portrayed correctly. This may just be because the other two productions of this play that I've seen in the last 18 months did it so well, and so differently. What I love about this character is the way in which he's so supernatural and weird. He's always there, but you don't always notice him. He's so calm, but you can see he wants to be free. He's powerful, but he's tamed. The thing with 's portrayal of Ariel was that he was too human. They'd tried to make him much more of a comic character, which they just didn't need to do because there's already plenty of comedy. He moved like Caliban, and seemed to take on the role of the mischevious spirit. Kind of like Puck and Caliban's love child. Ok, so there are parallels between Caliban and Ariel, but I don't think they need to be spelled out to an audience like that. I think their diversity is absolutely fascinating.
But, on the whole it was fantastic!
Oh, I almost forgot! At the interval, we realised that Price Edward was sitting just opposite us. Eye sex shortly ensued and then I was too scared to look in his direction again, just in case his body guard shot me.
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| Saturday, April 21st, 2007
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11:23 am - In which Emma boogies on down with an arena full of menopausal women
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Last night, I was the best daughter ever and accompanied my mum to the MEN to see David Cassidy, David Essex, Showaddywaddy and The Osmonds. Needless to say, I was not feeling to impressed by this collection of antique's potential before I went but oh my god was I eating my words by the end of the concert! Seriously, menopausal women know how to have fun. I danced shamelessly with my mother to all these songs that I didn't know and I screamed like a menopausal woman for David Essex.
Showaddywaddy were up first. I had absolutely no idea who they were, but it turns out they were responsible for classics such as "Hey Rock and Roll" and the theme tune from Heartbeat. They wore beautiful coloured suit jackets and neon socks that clashed in the most amazing way possible and then they did all these cheesy dances. I think I actually loved them.
David Cassidy was up next, but I wasn't sold on him at all. He's just so sleazy and cheesy and he's obviously had plastic surgery.
I mean, ok so he could still move quite nicely, but ew! I didn't really know any of the songs he played until he got to I Think I Love You, which I only knew because someone covered it when I was about 13. But still, it was amusing.
Fortunately I'd conserved some energy for the main reason we were at the concert in the first place - David Essex. My mother adores him! When he came on, she screamed so very much. I don't think she took her eyes off him the whole time he was onstage, it was so cute! I did know a few of the songs he did because we'd played them in the car on the way there. I was pretty surprised actually, I'd been imagining all these really cheesy pop songs, but it was quite rocky. Kind of reminded me of David Bowie. He also played the original Che in Evita.
Here's a picture of him as he was in his day.
And as he is now.
The last ones up were The Osmonds who were hiliarious! I'm talking cheesy dance routines, barbershop harmonies, hundreds of teeth... And there were only three of them! We had Jimmy, Wayne and Ray (apparently) but I actually love Jimmy Osmond anyway because he was so sweet in I'm A Celebrity. Maybe this makes me a bad person, but I don't care. I didn't really know many of their songs either, but then they did a medley of songs from the 70s featuring ABBA, the Beegees, Jackson 5... I danced like a loon and giggled like a teenage girl from the 70s. It was magical.
I'm actually tempted to go to see Donny Osmond with my mother in October, it was that much fun!
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| Saturday, April 14th, 2007
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5:46 pm - I have returned from Och Aye Land
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Just a quick post here, I'll update properly later because I really should go round and see Ben. And before I do, I really should get changed and try to stop the redness of my face from taking over. But Scotland was awesome! Possibly one of the best trips yet, I feel pretty sad to be home. I mean I'm the world's worst for post holiday depression anyway, but when you come back from somewhere as gorgeous as Cambo to a place where you inhale and you can feel the chemicals burning out your insides...
Anyway! Scotland was lovely because
1. I got to spend 10 solid days with my Helen.
2. When I'm with Helen, I can eat like I can eat with nobody else.
3. The weather was glorious, "magical" even.
4. There were still cows on our cow walk.
5. We had a camera and a huuuuuuuuge memory card.
6. We ate chocolate in the wee hours of the morning.
7. Helen's Indian was still there.
8. Our piggies became friends again - "what free spirits they are"
9. I had lots of sleep.
10. I read lots.
11. I got to wear my wellies.
12. We had a "bloody nuisance" of a power cut which was amusing.
13. We tried lots of different ice cream flavours.
14. We bought trashy magazines and did face masks and had a general girly giggle. Most days.
I want to go back! NOW!!! Oh I hate coming home from holiday. Please excuse me whilst I go and sit in a corner and cry.
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| Sunday, March 25th, 2007
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7:25 pm
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Yesterday, my parents and I went on another of our theatrical pilgrimages to Stratford. This time round, we were seeing The Merchant of Venice and Coriolanus. Coriolanus was the RSC but The Merchant of Venice was an American company, the founder of which directed an absolutely horrendous film version of Titus Andronicus.
I tried really hard not to let that bias my opinions, and the way they used technology was quite innovative. It was set in the Stock Exchange, and they used all this crazy technology. The casks that Portia's suitors had to choose were laptops and they displayed the caption things on screens above each laptop. However, the use of American comedy really bothered me. I felt like Shakespeare had been raped or something. I mean maybe it's partly me, I just do not find the typical stupidity that Americans seem to love in the least bit funny. Plus, it just made characters really annoying, to the point where I wanted to get up onstage and punch them. Portia was also really irritating, and far too old for me to buy her as a "maiden".
F. Murray Abraham was absolutely incredible as Shylock, I was pretty floored by his performance, particularly at the end. I felt so sorry for him, it was awful. But then they had to go and ruin it by leaving a spotlight on Antonio, as if he was the victim in all of this. It made me angry! It also bugged me that they'd gone the whole hog with the gay undertones. Ok, so we already knew Americans don't do subtle, and I'm pretty sure I don't need to tell you the precise details of how they'd interpreted the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio. Something tells me, Shakespeare was more addressing comradeship and friendship, than a full on gay relationship.
Coriolanus was another disappointment. I'd heard a few things about it already from my friend doing a college thing in Stratford, the general consensus being that it was disappointing and pretty slow paced. I have to say, they were spot on. Visually, it was stunning, and it was quite terrifying when the actors were running through the audience. However, every single scene seemed pretty identical and it didn't half drag. Coriolanus, who apparently was in North and South, was so weird. I couldn't tell whether he was trying to demonstrate that he was totally barking mad, in which case, I don't understand why he got saner as the play progressed, or whether he was just drunk. Timothy West was good, when he remembered his lines and that he was onstage, and Janet Suzman was excellent, but aside from that, there wasn't half some dodgy acting going on. I've never had a problem with any of the acting from the RSC actors before. The other thing that I couldn't believe was the fact that the RSC of all companies had used balloons as a prop, when the play was set in Ancient Rome. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I really didn't think such things were in existence in Ye Olde Rome...
However, Coriolanus wasn't all dull. In fact, there was a bit of excitement at the interval when my friend pointed out that Prince Charles was in the audience! She'd spotted him arriving, but I was sat in front of him and I didn't believe her, particularly when there was no national anthem or anything. But there he was, normal as anything, just sitting at the end of one of the rows. The only less normal thing was that there were several people in large coats and badly fitting suits surrounding him. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed in that too because his ears are just not as large as I was expecting them to be.
Then, on the way back to the car, who should we walk past but Ian McKellen! It was the first performance of King Lear yesterday, so he was just sitting in the backstage bit of The Courtyard theatre in his costume. I just happened to be peering through the window, which is the only reason I saw him, but he was really nice and smiled at me. I'm so looking forward to seeing him in King Lear. Twice! The Courtyard is a pretty intimate space, too, so it should be incredible.
In other news, I bought the most amazing coat on Friday. It's a bright orange rain mac and it has pictures of umbrellas all over it. It's beautiful!
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| Friday, March 23rd, 2007
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4:54 pm - The Pilgrimage of Sex
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21/03/07 had finally arrived. This was to be the best day of mine and Sophie's young lives. And this turned out to be a frighteningly accurate prediction. We managed to meet up on the train successfully, and we spent the journey miming to Wicked, and listening to Les Mis highlights with one earphone each. I can safely say, we entertained most of the carriage to a degree they would never have thought possible. When we arrived in London, we found Euston Square (Sophie navigated/followed signs, I just told her where we needed to be.) and then we found the hotel. I think we worked well as a team, I provided the maps and the information, Sophie used this information to help us navigate. I do, however, think this team arrangement worked better once Sophie realised to ignore all my gut instincts, and go the other way to that which I'd suggested.
The hotel was nice, more expensive then we'd been anticipating thanks to my father, but it was convenient, the staff were helpful, and the breakfast was good. As I type this, my mum is telling my brother not to cause any damage to his hotel room this weekend. This is making me laugh because I managed to cause the curtains to collapse in our hotel room on Wednesday night. To be fair, I don't think it was entirely my fault. I'm not sure why it wasn't, but it wasn't.
After dumping our stuff and contacting various people to tell them we were still alive, we headed back out onto the streets of London and located the theatre for Les Miserables. We were in Row K, which was nearer the front than I remembered it to be, and almost dead centre. We actually had a really good view, so we were pretty darn happy.
Les Mis itself was incredible, probably the best production of it I've ever seen. John Owen Jones didn't let me down, he was absolutely fabulous. His Bring Him Home made me cry like a baby, and usually I can't be bothered with that bit of the production. I was so happy after Who Am I, when Sophie turned to me and was just like "WOW! He's good." Joanna Ampil was back playing Fantine, too. I've seen her do it a couple of times and she's always been really good so that was a really nice surprise. Cosette annoyed me more than you could ever imagine, I actually hated her, but she didn't spoil it because she's hardly in it anyway. The only annoying thing was that she took her bow with Marius, and she didn't deserve all the applause that she thought she got.
Speaking of Marius, I was astonished! I was worried about Jon Lee of S Club 7 fame, even though I'd heard he wasn't half bad. To be honest, I've never really seen a Marius I've liked, aside from The Ball, obviously, but Jon Lee... I think Sophie puts it best in this photo -
I'm not kidding, the man actually broke my heart in two. He was rolling on the floor, sobbing with grief. And there was anger! But at least Grantaire was there to give him a hug. Ah, Grantaire. I always love him - he's such a good character - but the guy we had was really, really good. And tall. That can't really be said of the rest of the cast. I loved how dubious he was when Enjolras was trying to rev them all for a revolution, and his relationship with Marius was hilarious. Enjolras was ok, but I wouldn't have followed him to a revolution. Gavroche was adorable! Javert/Belgium guy... I wasn't impressed. I mean, ok, he probably had a tougher time convincing me because of my love for Philip Quast, but he just didn't sell it to me. He was far too violent, left me questioning his morals, didn't really do Stars justice, and couldn't keep in time with the Metronome of Sex. He did, however, add a nice few touches when he was about to commit suicide. I will forever love his buttoning up of his coat.
Eponine was really great, I've never seen an Eponine I liked but she was really cute. She played it really young, which I liked, because in the novel the character's only about 13. And when she did A Little Fall of Rain, she had a really great relationship with Jon Lee of S Club 7 fame. When she leaned up to kiss him, I just about died inside.
5:24pm - We placed our orders in TGI Fridays. Burger and chips, and chocolate fudge cake.
Evita was way better than I was expecting. To be honest, I was really only seeing it because of Philip Quast, but I was impressed. The choreography was great (dear god, that tango...) and it has some great songs in it. We got the alternate Eva, who was really good, I had no qualms about her. We also got the understudy Che which I think was a good thing. Our Che was really good, really grubby and hilarious to watch in the background of scenes. He was so skeptical and sarcastic, it was brilliant.
Our man, of course, was incredible. He was so powerful and manly. And the hands were on display a lot. Oh god, the hands. His tango was just beyond words, and the bit when he took his jacket off and swung it round his head... (I do believe I just stopped sounding analytical and started sounding obsessed.) His voice was really powerful, and he was so good at looking defeated and sad when Eva sang "You Must Love Me". Unfortunately, Sophie and I were flanked by grannies, so we couldn't cheer too loudly, but we did woop woop at the curtain call. TMWTH was directly in front of us, and he looked right at us. Not once, not twice, but three times!!!
We headed back to the hotel, once Sophie had bought the score, and bought a bottle of wine. After a tremendous effort to open said bottle, and several trips to reception, we began to use my camera. Many photos were taken, and the brochure of favourite hotels was a much loved prop. We ended up watching the end of some film or other, and eventually rested our weary heads.
On Thursday we met up with Kathryn after our breakfast. When we found her, she was practically shaking her need for coffee was so great, so we did the decent thing and found a Starbucks.
We stayed in there for absolutely ages, but it was cold outside and we had several days of not having seen each other to catch up on. We also used the camera. Kathryn refused to let me photograph her, but she was there! Eventually we left our cosy spot and wandered around London for a while. We ended up in the British Museum, where Kathryn and I totally lost Sophie. I quite enjoyed looking round, actually. Old things freak me out, though. I don't really know why but it just frightens me to think that the things I'm looking at, and could touch if I wanted to, were made by another human being 3000 odd years ago. I realise I'm very odd.
Eventually we located Sophie and headed to Euston. After saying our goodbyes to Kathryn, Sophie and I managed the train a treat, getting seats where others later failed. Mwahahaha! The journey was really painless, although dear god the man behind us was boring. When I got to Runcorn, I met my mother and I got sniffed by a policeman's dog.
Later, my mother was telling me that we could have got really good seats to go and see the Ibsen play at the Donmar, had we decided to. She had no idea that we'd contemplated it, but I'd said no on account of not wanting to anger my parents. I was very, very disappointed that we didn't, but alas, I suppose there will be other opportunities. It gives us another excuse to go to London...
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| Saturday, March 17th, 2007
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3:23 pm - I made it back to El Widni...
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And I can't say I'm too thrilled about it. It's creeping me out because absolutely everything in the whole place is the same as it was when I saw it 5 weeks ago. I'm not sure that's normal. It's like time stopped whilst I was gone or something. I know I'm a crucial pillar of the Widnes community but seriously, is this not a little extreme? Nobody's irritated me yet, though my mum has got a stash of those tiny yoghurts in the fridge so I'm biding my time...
Our last night out was totally awesome! Everyone was pretty much finished for the term - Lizzy had done her exam, everyone's seminar related work was non-existant and we were soon to be parted from each other's company for 5 whole weeks. The plan was to go out and celebrate in style with drinks in Evil Eye and then lots of dancing in Gallery. We got achieved the first part, and we have photos to prove it. After running and skipping down the road to Gallery, we joined an almighty queue and took it in turns to go and find places to empty our bladders. Sophie and I remained dignified, however, and waited until we had to run the entire way to Reflex because the pain was too unbearable. Yes, I said Reflex. After half an hour in the queue (and Kerri's cruel smuggling away of Lizzy), we decided we couldn't be bothered and went to Reflex instead. Now ordinarily this would not have been fun but we'd had enough to drink and we had enough fake enthusiasm coarsing through our bodies to make it work. It turned out to be absolutely hilarious! They played some jolly good music, some random tried to pole dance to Red, Red Wine, Pete got groped by Dwaine, Kathryn got stroked, Louise got stroked... A good night!
Yesterday I got my Essay of Doom back, and I actually didn't do too badly. He marked it as a 2:1 so I was really pleased. When I'd finally had my tutorial I was absolutely starving so Sophie and I trekked to the pub for burgers and chips. It was very nice, although it was cold because we had to sit outside. Even so, it meant we didn't have to cook in the manky, manky kitchen. 5 weeks without the George Foreman - Widnes is by no means entirely bad!
But, I would much rather deal with the dried up grease than be parted from my girlies and the CoD for 5 whole weeks. That is how much I love you!
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| Tuesday, March 13th, 2007
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4:06 pm - My tummy is full of milkshake, life is good
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Today, Sophie and I hit the second hand bookshops in York. I say that, we really only went into two of them because Oxfam Books was closed, but still. I bought Catcher in the Rye and a collection of Tennessee Williams plays (Sweet Bird of Youth, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie). I went a bit crazy in the library yesterday and got hundreds of plays out for the holidays too. I have quite a reading list for Easter now, looking something like this.
1. White Teeth - Zadie Smith
2. The House of Sleep - Jonathan Coe
3. The Scarlett Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
4. Many Tom Stoppard plays including Rock 'n' Roll, Night & Day, Hapgood, The Real Thing and several plays he's translated.
5. Lovers - Brian Friel
6. Some Sunny Day - Martin Sherman
7. The Gift of the Gorgon - Peter Shaffer
8. Blavatsky's Tower, Gabriel, Loveplay - Moira Buffini
After Sophie and I had geeked out, Kathryn and Louise met us for lunch in Cafe Nero. We sat in there for about an hour, which was really lovely. Kathryn and I then went perfume shopping, window style and then we touched beautiful underwear we can't afford. In order to console ourselves, we got milkshakes on our way home (yes, I fell off the milkshake wagon but I'm not ashamed!) and completed a very nice afternoon with a sugar high. I've got a rehearsal at the Minster in a few hours so instead of reading the end of Sister Carrie, I'm wasting my time on Livejournal and Youtube.
In other news, I miss acting! Reading all these plays has made me really want to get on the stage. Only trouble is, I actually have zero talent. There's an audition for something I quite fancy on Thursday night but again, I have no talent whatsoever. And there are many very talented people out there so it would probably just be a wasted walk onto campus. Alas!
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| Monday, March 12th, 2007
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11:19 am
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Sometimes, it seems, the world just wants you to go to a pub rather than the theatre. Yesterday was one such occasion. We tried twice to go and see Women Beware Women at the Drama Barn on campus, but to no avail. The first time we assumed that the matinee would be at 2:30 (being cultured thespians, we know that most matinees start at this time. Being pompous, we decided not to check.) It turned out it actually started at 1:30, so we wandered away sheepishly. Sophie and I then decided to go and look at our seminar groups for next term, and I don't have gimpy Brian! My tutor's the only one to have put her reading list up at the moment and my course actually looks pretty good. I'm doing -
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Ivanhoe, Sir Walter Scott
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
And poetry from an anthology.
It was a really nice day so Kathryn, Cindy and I decided not to head back to the Fax. Instead we ended up wandering through Heslington for a while, and then we went to the Charles for ice cream. Of course, once we'd eaten our ice cream it seemed only natural to order chips. They were actually the best chips I've had in a very, very long time. Even better than the ones you get in the RSC cafe in Stratford, and those are damn good chips!
Later on, we decided to try and see this play again. We left halfway through Shipwrecked (James chose The Tigers by the way) but unfortunately we got turned away because they couldn't fit us in. Once again we decided to go to the Charles. Much fun was had, we even managed to come last at the pub quiz. The evening did reconfirm my suspicions that I will not be able to drink for quite some time, because I felt decidedly queasy after a couple of drinks. I feel this can only be good for my shoe collection, though. The money I save on alcohol can be spent on beautiful shoes such as these - http://irregularchoicestore.co.uk/prodimages/2947-11Amain.jpg
Speaking of people who are materialistic and silly, I need to finish off Sister Carrie at some stage today. I'm actually over half way through now so it's possible. The other plans for the day are to go to the library and return the books I borrowed for the essay of doom, and get some more books out for my holiday. I want to get some Tom Stoppard and Brian Friel, maybe some Peter Shaffer... I don't know, I'll see how the mood takes me. Then I have a choir rehearsal, what joys!
Oh! I also feel I should mention the great excitement that occurred at breakfast this morning. Last night, someone broke in and stole lots of cereal! There was a big hole in the window, no coffee and very little cereal for quite a while. This impacted on me greatly. I discovered that bran flakes are actually really nice, and that the scary live yoghurts are also kind of nice if consumed in the vanilla form. It's been a morning of self-discovery, I feel.
current mood:  sleepy
current music: Classic FM
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| Saturday, March 10th, 2007
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11:28 am - I made it out alive!
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Yesterday afternoon, at approximately 5:15pm, I emailed in my essay from hell. On Wednesday afternoon, I really thought it would never, ever happen. The more I stared at my notes, the more I thought "I actually really have nothing to go on here." I don't think matters were helped by my talking to my tutor because he got very enthusiastic and suggested I go to the art galleries in London, draw my own self portrait, free write... All very well but I only had 48 hours in which to do all that AND write 2500 odd words.
Anyway, after much panic and many tears, I actually managed to get 2200 or so words and they kind of make sense. I think it tails off towards the end and there is zero context, and zero criticism so the mark is not going to be very high, but at least I got it written. So I keep telling myself. I'm really stupidly worried about getting it back, it's retarded. It doesn't even count for anything, it's just terrifying because it's going to have a number on it. And I really want a good number.
Aside from essay panic, I've been quite a little thespian this week. On Wednesday Sophie, Cindy and I went to a talk on Brian Friel's Translations. Me and Cindy did it at AS/A Level and we just sort of threw it in Sophie's general direction and made her read it because of the talk. It's a really good play, and the talk was fascinating! I really haven't been to enough of that kind of stuff since I got here. There's been so much and I've just not been, partly because of the stupid time of French and partly because I just forgot about them. I definitely will go to more from now on though, particularly the theatre stuff.
We also went to see a play last night. It was brief, that's all I can say about it. I mean honest to god, you'd think if something was being performed at the Theatre Royal, it would be halfway decent. But oh dear god... The acting was ropey, to say the least - there was more wood onstage than you'd find in a furniture shop, and everyone in the audience was just laughing. Now I don't know much about the playwright, but apparently he was anti-naturalism and anti-symbolism. You can't have a play in which 2 characters fall in love in the space of 3 minutes that is supposed to be performed naturalistically. I'm convinced that, though maybe not my cup of tea, there was definitely supposed to be some important message in that play. The playwright was a radical critic of bourgeois society and capitalism for god's sake!
Anyway, ranting over. I now want to bombard you with thoughts about how amazing Tom Stoppard is! Yesterday after my seminar, I decided to tuck myself away in my room and read Arcadia. Sophie had just read it and said it was brilliant so off I went and started to read it. I'm not kidding, it's seriously amazing! Like the whole set ideas and the theatrical stuff that he uses, plus the clever little parallels and the way he reveals information to the audience so they're always one step ahead of the characters. It's seriously one of the best plays I've read for a good while.
I never really realised before I came here just how much the theatre is "my thing." I mean I've read books but really most of my knowledge/passion is about the theatre. I'm not really sure why, I think perhaps because every time you see a play, you're seeing what someone else sees when they read it. With a book you get everyone having a different interpretation, but you never really know quite what that interpretation is. And I love how Sophie's getting so into it all, I've never had anyone to go "oh my god, this is the best play I've ever read" with before. I'm going to bring back some of my photocopies that I got from my writing thing last year and make Sophie read them too. And then I'm going to hunt down my old theatre teacher and make him give me a reading list of all the things I should have read, but haven't!
current mood:  enthralled
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| Saturday, March 3rd, 2007
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10:31 am - Last night
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Was certainly interesting shall we say. It started off so well - our costumes were fabulous, our emo poses were amazing and my hair was actually standing on end. Then something happened and I can't really remember much after that. Until I was sick. And then the fire alarm went off. And then paramedics arrived as I was being sick in my bin.
This morning I am regretting it all a huge amount. Firstly I really feel quite unwell. Secondly, I've lost my camera and my father will murder me if it doesn't turn up. Thirdly, I don't like having a whole chunk of my life missing from my memory. Fourthly, I'm really very ashamed by the state I was in.
So, from this day forth, I am actually going to go back to being teetotal and sensible.
current mood:  sick
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| Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
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1:22 pm
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This week's gone really rather quickly. I know it's only Wednesday but still, tomorrow is Thursday and I have my YSIS (which has rolled around exceedingly quickly) and then it's practically the weekend. And then before we know it, this term will be finished. How has this happened?! But, on the plus side, it does mean that my amazing pilgrimage to London is getting nearer, and my holiday to Scotland. Hmmm, eating and sleeping! It's going to be perfect. Alas, no Biggles and Grandpa, or Henry and Roddy this year though. I think I'll console myself by eating lots of fudge donuts and coffee towers and ice cream.
Just as a side note, Cosette fucks me right off. I mean my god why do you need to be so shrill and whiney?! Why do you deserve Marius? Why should so many people die for your sake?! And why do I still listen to the bits with you in it?! The world makes very little sense.
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| Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
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6:17 pm - Because it seems I can't help but do whatever Sophie tells me to do...
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And because my arms really are too weak to hold up Portrait of a Lady. Please fill this in and make me feel less poorly!
(2 Points) My first name:
(1 Point) My last name:
(5 Points) Take a stab at my middle name:
(3 Points) Who was my first celeb-crush:
(2 Points) Where do I live:
(3 Points) What am I afraid of:
(2 Points) Do I smoke:
(3 Points) Do I drink:
(3 Points) How many siblings do I have:
(2 Points) Do I have children:
(2 Points) Do I get along with my parents:
(4 Points) What's one of my favorite things to do:
(2 Points) How many piercings do I have:
(3 Points) What's my favorite type of music:
(4 Points) What's my favorite TV show:
(3 Points) What's my favorite animal:
(2 Points) What's my favorite color:
(3 Points) Name something I hate:
(4 Points) Name a talent I have:
(4 Points) What kind of shoes do I wear:
(4 Points) Do I have any pets:
(2 Points) Who am I dating right now:
(5 Points) What am I studying in school:
(5 Points) What is the color of my room:
(4 Points) What are my political views:
(3 Points) What's my religion:
(5 Points on creativity) If I were stranded on a desert island, what would I bring:
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4:55 pm
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Time of nap: 3:15-4:30
Did you oversleep? Yes. I intended to get up at 4:05.
Were there any interruptions to your nap? Pete rang me about cough medicine. Therefore overnapping was inevitable.
How was your nap? On the whole it was good. My nose is a bit blocked so it was a slightly noisy nap but all the same, it did the job because I now feel much better. Still not strong enough to open Portrait of a Lady though.
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10:14 am
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I don't like being ill, it makes me miss home. I miss my mum looking after me and making me lemsips and bringing me chocolate. I miss having her ordering me back to bed and telling me I can't go and do things because I'm ill. I miss having the fumes to blame for my lack of immune system.
Plus I have to read Portrait of a Lady by Friday. And half of tomorrow is taken up by stupid YSIS. I would just ring in sick but I did that last time so I can't do it this time. I'm like the boy who cried wolf. Although I was ill last time too. I want to go home. Or back to bed.
current mood: sick
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| Wednesday, February 14th, 2007
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10:16 am
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I don't want to write my essay. I've been awake for 2 hours and all I've done is tame Me Mulfro, eat breakfast, drink lots of coffee and procrastinate.
Sophie has been a bad influence on me.
current mood:  lethargic
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| Sunday, February 11th, 2007
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6:43 pm
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My head is actually buzzing from all the coffee I've drunk today. I really do think I have a problem. That said, I really doubt it will stop me doing the same every other day for the foreseeable future.
I really cannot wait to get back to the Fax tomorrow. I've had a nice weekend - the theatre was great yesterday and it's been nice to see a few people but my god my mother is irritating me somewhat! I get along great with her but I just need my space and she seems to forget this. This morning, for example, I was getting dressed after my shower and my mum just barged into my room. Instead of apologising and leaving me be for five minutes, she came in and sat next to me whilst I attempted to cover various parts of my anatomy with random household items. And just this very second, she's shoved her head in front of the computer screen to attempt to tell me that I shouldn't have too much pizza tonight. Argh!!!
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