So I've got a computer with a keyboard that sounds like a typewriter, which has lightened my mood immeasurably for this post.
Dateline: 2 March 2008. University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom. Stop
Given departure 26 June 2008 - Hildesheim - the suggested options are put forth for peer review. Stop
One: Write. Stop
Two: Meditation, research necessary, but most likely a good cure for the "long dark night of the soul." Stop
Three: More Roleplaying Games. Proved useful after first semester, why stop a good thing? Stop
Four: Long walks. Worked for C.S. Lewis, and also mom. Stop
Five: Travel. Re: expensive; limit wanderings to nearby, select specific destinations for distant travel. Stop
Six: Fix computer, alt. : buy a CD player - music is essential. Stop
Seven: Cream Tea. Stop
Eight: Puppies. Stop
Nine: Personal reading, outside of class reading and thesis reading. Stop
Ten: Write worthwhile blog reports of life in England. Stop
Normal coverage, sans crisis, will resume momentarily. Most likely tomorrow. Stop
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Saturday, 1 March 2008
A Midterm Crisis
Sorry I'm in this funk, but it has laregly to do with England, so though it is an emotional response (which I said I wouldn't cover in this blog, only to break that rule pretty early on), it's firmly grounded in England.
I'm having a midterm crisis. Spring break is coming, which means that there's not much sand left in my England hourglass, but enough to get something done. There are two countries left in the UK that I will have left to visit once spring break is over, if all goes according to plan, those being Wales and North Ireland. There is the mythical abroad-relationship I have yet to find, since no one will touch me (no pun intended) due to my expiration date. I want full-blown "the one that got away" romance, darn it, but no, no one wants to get attached and then have to end it in a number of months. Forget that noise, I want to be rendered utterly contrite and heartbroken when I leave England, I don't want it to be just another matter of consequence. I want romance (dare I say, love?) that makes me forget that I have an expiration date.
Oooh, deep. Maybe I'll revise that so it's not quite so completely and utterly emo.
This being cynical thing really isn't as fun as all the cynics I know crack it up to be.
Anyway, the point is that now is the point of brainstorming solutions to the problem, the problem being that I want to have an amazingly rewarding end to my Kenyon-Exeter experience, but what does that entail? A complete piss-up with random British people? Various tickets to Wales, North Ireland, the Czech Republic, France, Spain, Kosovo (A NEW COUNTRY, IN OUR LIFETIME, A SECOND VELVET REVOLUTION), Italy, Iona (an island off the coast of Scotland, not really a country but more of a destination. And there's no airport...)? Is it trips to London? Is it non-stop research? Or playwriting? Or exploring?
I guess this is the old "I never saw Paris" situation, except I'm not dying. I just probably won't ever be back to Europe, is all. And I have these fluctuations between sprees of action followed by collapses of inaction, the first being: what on earth can I do? Let me think of everything; and the second being: maybe the essence of England is just being here, and maybe having tea. I think this is the same reason why my room is always a mess: OOH! I could color code my entire bookshelf...but I still need to fold my clothes...oh well, none of it will ever get done, but the idea is what counts.
More on this crisis as it develops. But in the meantime:
halp.
I'm having a midterm crisis. Spring break is coming, which means that there's not much sand left in my England hourglass, but enough to get something done. There are two countries left in the UK that I will have left to visit once spring break is over, if all goes according to plan, those being Wales and North Ireland. There is the mythical abroad-relationship I have yet to find, since no one will touch me (no pun intended) due to my expiration date. I want full-blown "the one that got away" romance, darn it, but no, no one wants to get attached and then have to end it in a number of months. Forget that noise, I want to be rendered utterly contrite and heartbroken when I leave England, I don't want it to be just another matter of consequence. I want romance (dare I say, love?) that makes me forget that I have an expiration date.
Oooh, deep. Maybe I'll revise that so it's not quite so completely and utterly emo.
This being cynical thing really isn't as fun as all the cynics I know crack it up to be.
Anyway, the point is that now is the point of brainstorming solutions to the problem, the problem being that I want to have an amazingly rewarding end to my Kenyon-Exeter experience, but what does that entail? A complete piss-up with random British people? Various tickets to Wales, North Ireland, the Czech Republic, France, Spain, Kosovo (A NEW COUNTRY, IN OUR LIFETIME, A SECOND VELVET REVOLUTION), Italy, Iona (an island off the coast of Scotland, not really a country but more of a destination. And there's no airport...)? Is it trips to London? Is it non-stop research? Or playwriting? Or exploring?
I guess this is the old "I never saw Paris" situation, except I'm not dying. I just probably won't ever be back to Europe, is all. And I have these fluctuations between sprees of action followed by collapses of inaction, the first being: what on earth can I do? Let me think of everything; and the second being: maybe the essence of England is just being here, and maybe having tea. I think this is the same reason why my room is always a mess: OOH! I could color code my entire bookshelf...but I still need to fold my clothes...oh well, none of it will ever get done, but the idea is what counts.
More on this crisis as it develops. But in the meantime:
halp.
A Springtime Epiphany
And that is:
Life in England is approaching normality. I've gotten used to it. England still holds wonder around corners, but I'm used to the corners being there. I'm finding America harder and harder to remember, and with the amount of growing that I've had to do, just as a person, time has warped, and I feel more and more like America is a distant past rather than an eventual future.
That said, of course it's perfect timing that I'm reaching this state now, a handful of months before I have to go back. By "perfect timing," I mean both that it's too bad - all sarcasm included - but also that it makes sheer sense. I don't have my deadline of a return to America in the near future, and I've been here long enough to feel like it's a significant amount of time.
And it is a significant amount of time! I've been here for five months! Five crucial months of my college experience, which couldn't be spent at Kenyon, which couldn't be spent with all my friends at home, which couldn't be spent moving around in the little friendships and intricacies, which I couldn't spend playing with my dog, or spending quality time with my family, or exploring America, or seeing American theater, or working in an American job, participating in American politics, reading American magazines...
There's probably a lot more to that rant, but I'm going to cut it off there. This may end up being one of my more ranty, impassioned entries. I don't quite know yet, it's kind of a strange place to be.
There are who seasons of shows that have come out that I've missed entirely, not that this is unusual since these things rarely penetrate the Kenyon bubble, except through filesharing. But I don't even have that! I have the BBC. When I went to Scotland I had Scottish TV. I had the Glasgow regional network. There's not that much good on. And I'm a token - remember how I used to say that being in England made me feel special because I was novel? - I'm a token. Take American politics, you get asked a lot about Barack and Hillary. People talk about Hillary like she's this evil witch that they can vote out of office. And they look at you, like the fate of the world is resting on you, and I guess in some ways it is, and then they change the subject to British politics because you aren't saying anything. Or if you do say something, you drop words like "democrat" "republican" and so on, and they nod knowingly and have large conversations, but who in England knows the reality of dealing with democrats and republicans?
Maybe I'm just angry at England for being normal. This isn't a disillusioned "the magic is gone" rant, but maybe things are starting to get to me. People not saying what they mean, is one. My run in with my directing lecturer after the class was over ("Griffin, I read your portfoilio, and it was really funny." when I didn't mean it to be funny at all), or just unexpressed thoughts you can see - or think you can see - lurking behind people's eyes ("The nerve, did he just take my place in the cue?"). I'm tired of stratification - people can talk about class here to no end - and hills, and endless drizzling, and the complete and utter lack of winter. Maybe that wanderlust that England ignited in me is now spurring me onward, I don't know.
Few. That rant is out of the way. I leave you, as often is the case, with Shakespeare (in particular, more Richard II):
This land of such dear souls, this dear, dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leas’d out,—
Life in England is approaching normality. I've gotten used to it. England still holds wonder around corners, but I'm used to the corners being there. I'm finding America harder and harder to remember, and with the amount of growing that I've had to do, just as a person, time has warped, and I feel more and more like America is a distant past rather than an eventual future.
That said, of course it's perfect timing that I'm reaching this state now, a handful of months before I have to go back. By "perfect timing," I mean both that it's too bad - all sarcasm included - but also that it makes sheer sense. I don't have my deadline of a return to America in the near future, and I've been here long enough to feel like it's a significant amount of time.
And it is a significant amount of time! I've been here for five months! Five crucial months of my college experience, which couldn't be spent at Kenyon, which couldn't be spent with all my friends at home, which couldn't be spent moving around in the little friendships and intricacies, which I couldn't spend playing with my dog, or spending quality time with my family, or exploring America, or seeing American theater, or working in an American job, participating in American politics, reading American magazines...
There's probably a lot more to that rant, but I'm going to cut it off there. This may end up being one of my more ranty, impassioned entries. I don't quite know yet, it's kind of a strange place to be.
There are who seasons of shows that have come out that I've missed entirely, not that this is unusual since these things rarely penetrate the Kenyon bubble, except through filesharing. But I don't even have that! I have the BBC. When I went to Scotland I had Scottish TV. I had the Glasgow regional network. There's not that much good on. And I'm a token - remember how I used to say that being in England made me feel special because I was novel? - I'm a token. Take American politics, you get asked a lot about Barack and Hillary. People talk about Hillary like she's this evil witch that they can vote out of office. And they look at you, like the fate of the world is resting on you, and I guess in some ways it is, and then they change the subject to British politics because you aren't saying anything. Or if you do say something, you drop words like "democrat" "republican" and so on, and they nod knowingly and have large conversations, but who in England knows the reality of dealing with democrats and republicans?
Maybe I'm just angry at England for being normal. This isn't a disillusioned "the magic is gone" rant, but maybe things are starting to get to me. People not saying what they mean, is one. My run in with my directing lecturer after the class was over ("Griffin, I read your portfoilio, and it was really funny." when I didn't mean it to be funny at all), or just unexpressed thoughts you can see - or think you can see - lurking behind people's eyes ("The nerve, did he just take my place in the cue?"). I'm tired of stratification - people can talk about class here to no end - and hills, and endless drizzling, and the complete and utter lack of winter. Maybe that wanderlust that England ignited in me is now spurring me onward, I don't know.
Few. That rant is out of the way. I leave you, as often is the case, with Shakespeare (in particular, more Richard II):
This land of such dear souls, this dear, dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leas’d out,—
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Ojai-ho?
I'm sending in my resume to return to the Ojai Playwright's Conference. I'm hoping that all of my magical adventures that I've had in England will play into Robert Egan saying "oh yes, I do think we'll take him back. Oh yes indeed. Etc."
I considered posting an excerpt from my resume, but I don't know if that's somehow bad form? Here's the stuff I included that's happened to me since Ojai...
Experience
Conference on Shakespearean Music
June 2008 The University of Hildesheim. Currently researching the relationship between music and theatre with Dr. David Roesner at Exeter; will apply this research to a song from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and then present it at a scholarly conference at Hildesheim.
Education Intern
Dec. 2008 Bath Theatre Royal. Helped the Theatre’s Education Department as they put on a production of His Dark Materials with teenagers. Also worked with the producer, Katherine Lazare, as a personal assistant.
Production Intern
Aug. 2007 Ojai Playwright’s Conference. Specifically assisted the production of Lloyd Suh’s American Hwangap, helping the Stage Manager and wherever needed around the conference.
Crossing fingers...
I considered posting an excerpt from my resume, but I don't know if that's somehow bad form? Here's the stuff I included that's happened to me since Ojai...
Experience
Conference on Shakespearean Music
June 2008 The University of Hildesheim. Currently researching the relationship between music and theatre with Dr. David Roesner at Exeter; will apply this research to a song from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and then present it at a scholarly conference at Hildesheim.
Education Intern
Dec. 2008 Bath Theatre Royal. Helped the Theatre’s Education Department as they put on a production of His Dark Materials with teenagers. Also worked with the producer, Katherine Lazare, as a personal assistant.
Production Intern
Aug. 2007 Ojai Playwright’s Conference. Specifically assisted the production of Lloyd Suh’s American Hwangap, helping the Stage Manager and wherever needed around the conference.
Crossing fingers...
Sunday, 24 February 2008
Cherry-Blossom
So Ken and I went and saw Be Kind, Rewind last night, and while walking back we passed through the "sketchy alleyway" (mildly referenced in "The Wheat from the Chavs," just before the quotation of Robert Frost), and we were talking, and randomly these cherry blossom petals started falling. We looked up, and we were standing right beneath a cherry tree. Ken decided that it was our official anime moment, and that now we could be in any anime or Final Fantasy video game.
Also, I had a date (or was it just lunch?) that I don't quite know what to make of. The cherry-blossom moment helped clense me of my anxieties about it.
Also, I had a date (or was it just lunch?) that I don't quite know what to make of. The cherry-blossom moment helped clense me of my anxieties about it.
Friday, 22 February 2008
Sublime
I was walking back to LaFrowda with Stephanie Reiches, and a thin layer of cloud had moved in front of the moon - you could still see it - and the moon was really bright. And so the light, when it went through the cloud, created a sort of nimbus-rainbow around the moonlight. It was pretty.
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Tiebreaker/Heartbreaker
Hey kids-
Just filling you in on the new KLXG updates:
In looking for a trusty sidekick, Professor Rhodes came down to two major candidates: Adelle Davidson, his long time friend and collegue, and Wendy Macleod, a wry and calculating, not to mention intensely feminist, mind. Given the choice, he decided to favor an objective business approach, and nominated Wendy for the job, although his heart was torn in two (one might even say there was a TIE of some kind). So Wendy has the job of plucky sidekick, Rhodes has asked Adelle to go back to researching Shakespeare, and to write to him, and Adelle is sadly packing her bags. Rhodes insists on seeing her off though ...
So, introducing Wendy Macleod, the Plucky Sidekick! Her super powers include:
Scene Analysis: By glancing at a room, she can easily deduce what everyone wants and how bad they want it.
Raise the Stakes/Increase Obstacle: By focusing her chi powers on the latent dramatic power struggle people are going through, she can instantly make things mean more (raise the stakes), or become harder, or both! A killer when a room full of hitmen are suddenly unable to fire with just a glare!
Women's Strike: Wendy deals +50% damage to any person with male genitalia and who identifies as a man.
But, as with Rhodes, she has many close to her who can be used against her. Her weakness is:
Sophie's Choice: Wendy's family is a competing priority to her position in the KLXG, and Professor Rhodes is in for a taste of that Women's Strike if he makes her put her job before the needs of Read, Foss, and Avery. In addition, Read, Foss and Avery could become targets, and must be extra-protected...
Be sure to vote on who will be the team's Lovable Tank, the hero who takes the most, but deals out the most damage! Who will it be......????
Just filling you in on the new KLXG updates:
In looking for a trusty sidekick, Professor Rhodes came down to two major candidates: Adelle Davidson, his long time friend and collegue, and Wendy Macleod, a wry and calculating, not to mention intensely feminist, mind. Given the choice, he decided to favor an objective business approach, and nominated Wendy for the job, although his heart was torn in two (one might even say there was a TIE of some kind). So Wendy has the job of plucky sidekick, Rhodes has asked Adelle to go back to researching Shakespeare, and to write to him, and Adelle is sadly packing her bags. Rhodes insists on seeing her off though ...
So, introducing Wendy Macleod, the Plucky Sidekick! Her super powers include:
Scene Analysis: By glancing at a room, she can easily deduce what everyone wants and how bad they want it.
Raise the Stakes/Increase Obstacle: By focusing her chi powers on the latent dramatic power struggle people are going through, she can instantly make things mean more (raise the stakes), or become harder, or both! A killer when a room full of hitmen are suddenly unable to fire with just a glare!
Women's Strike: Wendy deals +50% damage to any person with male genitalia and who identifies as a man.
But, as with Rhodes, she has many close to her who can be used against her. Her weakness is:
Sophie's Choice: Wendy's family is a competing priority to her position in the KLXG, and Professor Rhodes is in for a taste of that Women's Strike if he makes her put her job before the needs of Read, Foss, and Avery. In addition, Read, Foss and Avery could become targets, and must be extra-protected...
Be sure to vote on who will be the team's Lovable Tank, the hero who takes the most, but deals out the most damage! Who will it be......????
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