Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Because regular paper is too intimidating and desks stifle creativity

On Monday nights the Old Dutch pancake house has huge pancakes (which are actually crepes) for 5 quid. This is a steal in Chelsea. Food is a pricey commodity. The "6th floor" er- a section of it- has made it a Monday night routine of partaking in the deliciousness. While there I began writing my short sample scene for my play writing class. It was just something short to give us a taste of writing and then giving it to the class. After thinking about it all week, but being too scared to put pen to paper, I finally began writing on a napkin while I was at the pancake house. When I returned to the dorm I sat in the hallway and made a lot of progress. Conclusion: Napkins + Hallway > Desk + Blank Notebook Paper

The mini-scene was well received. I didn't have intention of people laughing at it and as a result (with the help of some lovely cold reading skills of Character B), people laughed quite a bit. B was so silly I even laughed-- and I wrote it. I was really proud of myself. Character A needed some work and we acknowledged that, but overall it just felt good to be done with that first time of... "here is something I wrote- be critical, but please don't make me cry". It's always been a little bit intimidating to me; not everyone limits their judging to Friday.



So I need to write one last IES blog for January... and then I need to start on February's. I had intentions of writing the blog entry tonight. I even knew what I was going to write... I just had to get it down. My roommate was going to bed early though so I decided to use the hall so I wouldn't have the light on and in hopes of being inspired. Instead I ended up talking with lots of wonderful people. While people will talk to you in the common room, you're much more approachable if you're in the middle of where everyone walks. Given, not everyone is going to want to talk to you-- and this is a good thing because you do want to get something done, but it was lovely. Not only did I talked to the usual people in my wing, but I also had a nice conversation with my friends Bristol and Laura. (Bristol being the one person who I had actually talked to on facebook before I came to London.... and, as hoped, she's even cooler in person than on fb). Then, a new kid moved in across the hall and I met him. It turns out he's from the same country as the boy who I talk to often, but who's name I have the hardest time remembering because there are an obscene amount of letters. So they were talking... and Mark talked with Laura and I and then I wanted to look at his english homework and then-- well, I didn't finish my blog. Instead, I came on this blog to tell you that I really enjoy people.
I know I don't always feel this way-- like today, after my run, when I felt terribly sick and I was just plain mean to Bonnie. There was no need to be, but I just felt terrible and took it out on her. She needed the oil so they could start cooking the fries and I didn't feel like getting up to get it so I was mean. Ah. I wish I hadn't been. I did feel quite terrible on the run though. I only went 35 minutes; I couldn't keep up with Trevor. My ankle hurt and I had a terrible tummy ache. The tummy ache might have been caused by the food I keep eating, despite not being hungry. This overwhelming fullness was part of the reason I went running in the first place. Also, the food included chocolate and orange juice. Orange juice has been a no-no for me since freshman year of high school. I don't know how I forget these things.
I also learned found another smell that makes me feel ill if smelt while running (add to chinese food, greesy foods, cat pee... I think that was it prior to today). Pot. Regular smoke is obnoxious and does not make me feel good, but pot smoke is miserable and makes me feel ill. A cloud of it came from some garden today and -- ugh. Terrible. Luckily I was nearing the end of my run. I stretched for a little while. I'm really hoping to have some good runs in the near future.

Outside of the run today was quite marvelous. The subject of my IES blog was going to be my inability to countdown to anything because there are too many wonderful things. Well, that and the fact that the obstacle usually between you and wonderfulness is class. However, in this scenario it is not. Well, Thursday mornings are occasionally rough, but never bad. I'm just tired. I have only had Wednesday night class once so I can't draw a conclusion on that... and Tuesdays, well Tuesdays were my biggest fear when looking at my class schedule. Seven - or is it seven and a half- hours of class in one day with the same woman. It just doesn't seem like it could be a joyful experience. However, it is. I wish Tuesdays would repeat themselves on Thursday. I guess there's always the chance I might not enjoy them as much-- after all, I've only had three days of this theatre loveliness, but I love my professor. She knows her stuff. She knows the right people. She knows theatre in London... and she's hilarious. I learned what spunk is today and I informed her of what the term "douche bag" means. So far her classes have been what I was looking for. You don't get to say that all that often in life. I really hope saying it doesn't change it. (Although, I do accept there may be some off days).
Examples of the wonderfulness in addition to the Thursday night shows: Next Tuesday we are sitting in on some Britain's best drama school's classes. Today we went to The British Library and saw this short piece that is funded by the art council. I met a gypsy, but that is a whole 'nother paragraph that I don't have time for. We attended the Circus thing last week. I don't know. I suppose there are a lot of other things to list about Marina that make her amazing, but it just occurred to me it is getting late.
I have the internship is in the morning and -- well I have hopes it will be exciting enough that I don't fall asleep. I do have plenty of reading and such to do though.


Okay. Off I go...
Thank you to everyone for your support. I am often slow to respond to people's emails and fb messages, but you have no idea how wonderful they are to receive! It's especially nice to hear your stories. I love feeling like I am a part of things whether you're here or there or unsure of your present location.


Goodnight to all.

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