A Chance to Breathe

After the rollercoaster ride that was last week, the train finally pulled into the station and I was able to get off and mingle amongst the rest of civilization for a bit. Yay! During the middle of last week I was sure I would never see the outside world again. But, this weekend I was able to run errands, cook some meals, see friends and family, and watch football. In addition, of course, to copious amounts of reading. Ahhhh. It feels good to feel slightly caught up on life. For the moment. Today I get on the rollercoaster again.... My apologies to everyone if you don't hear from me much during the week!

I had so many ideas for blog posts this past week, but no time. So, here is a jumble of musings for you:

* It's nearly impossible to read the Communist Manifesto on a crowded city bus. However, I wondered what would happen if I started handing it out to people on the bus...Proletariat unite!

* Speaking of the bus, there are things every day that crack me up. First of all, I am tickled that "Target" is actually it's own stop. Makes sense, but I just find it funny that all of the other stops are street names, whereas Target gets an announced stop of its own. On another note, one day there were 3 monks riding the bus (no this is not a joke...) in full black cloaks, rope ties around the waist, and large, silver colored crosses hanging around their necks. Another gentlemen, just before stepping off the bus, leans over to one of the monks and says "God is with you all the time." The monk, a bit flustered, but seemingly pleasantly surprised, stammers,"....oh...uh...you too!"

* Suddenly, there are SO many choices every day. And for an indecisive person, this is not necessarily a good thing. I am reminded of the scene in Princess Bride: (paraphrasing Inigo) "But once we get to the castle, how do we get inside? And once we get inside, how do we find the princess? And once I kill Count Rugen, how do we find each other? And once we find each other, how do we escape?" Instead of getting in my car, driving to work, parking right in front of the building, working 8-9 hours, and getting in my car and driving 10 minutes home, every step in that path is a choice. Do I take the bus or drive or have Sam drop me off? And then, do I take the bus home, or drive, or have Sam pick me up? Do I drive back for rehearsal, or just stay at school the whole day? And WHERE will I park? And will I have to move my car three times? What to do about meals? And where to study? The answer is not the same every day, and requires going through the process once again. This may seem trivial, but it reminds me how much we take for granted in our day to day lives.

* I love Chekhov's The Seagull. We're reading it for class. I am reminded of the brilliant production at Jeune Lune. Heartbreaking. Actually, we're reading 2 versions. Why? I'm not exactly sure...and seeing how this class is going so far...I'm not sure I'll ever really know.

* It's amazing how tired and hungry your body can get from exercising your mind! I've been in bed numerous times before 10:00 pm these past two weeks. (Normal bedtime = sometime between 11:00-12:00)

* Dramaturging for a play when you've had no time to do research beforehand is kind of crazy. But it helps extremely to have a super cool director and cast who understand that things will be coming in piecemeal. (Hedda Gabler by Ibsen - opens end of October - check it out!)

* The other grad students in my program are amazing. I'm really looking forward to getting to know them all better.

* I miss you all and hope to get a chance to catch up soon!!!