Spitballing

Well, folks, it most certainly has been a while.

For those of you looking for an extra-quick update of my life, you're in luck.  There's no way I will be able to muster the time or the patience to begin to describe in detail my life over the past month.  Too much has happened.  Too many hearts have been broken.  Too many battles won.

So be it.

When last I left you I was:  looking forward to a retreat, revelling in the 11 plays I had seen, and excited about a Valentine's Day steak dinner.  Here goes...

RETREAT:  Took shuttle from London to Portsmouth (south port on the English Channel).  Stayed in Don Bosco House run by Sister Anne.  She made us food every day.  We shared wonderful conversations about ourselves in relation to others and to God.  Saw the HMS Victory, the ship that won the battle at Trafalgar.  Very relaxing, beautiful weekend.

CANTERBURY: Travelled with my friend Mikaela for a day trip to the town famous for Christopher Marlowe and Geoffrey Chaucer.  Saw an old medieval castle, complete with city walls and ramparts.  Saw the original hospital in which pilgrims would stay en route to the gravesit of Thomas a Beckett.  Attended evensong at the famous Canterbury Cathedral, the seat of the Anglican church.  Surprisingly terrible choir given the setting... We explored and walked around and through the entire city in one lovely day.

CORK:  Spent a lovely weekend in the southern Irish city with my friend Carly.  Took two day trips, one to Blarney to see the Blarney Stone, and the other to Midleton to see the old Jameson Whiskey Distillery.  When we got back at night we found ourselves in old Traditional Irish pubs, drinking Guinness and laughing the night away.  We stayed at a lovely hostel, perhaps the best one I've stayed at so far.

IN THE MEANTIME:  I've studied, slept, cooked, cleaned, eaten, and worked.  I've now seen 19 shows, two of which were performed in the old Rose Theatre, bankside.  This theatre is located on the same site as the Elizabethan Rose Theatre, and the productions of Edward II and Antony and Cleopatra were engaging and gritty theatrical experiences.  Classes are going well. So far I've only had to write a grand total of 4 papers.  Playing Shakespeare met in the Globe for the first time last week.  We got a tour of the Globe, did some warm-up acting exercises, and got to know our director, Trevor Rawlings.  He told us we were going to do a very brief, adapted version of Twelfth Night.  He seems like an interesting guy, and I'm excited to be back in the whole "acting process" again.  It's been a solid 6 months since I last acted...

Now, Spring Break has just happened.  Got back just two days ago.  I will begin to try to formulate a good blog post on it, but it may be a few more days (or weeks, knowing me).  We'll leave that for another post.


Cheers.