It's Official!

Guess what came in the mail today...

Yes, you read correctly.  That says Cambridge on it.  But it's not just any letter from Cambridge, it's from St. John's College.  And it's not just any letter from St. John's College, it's a letter informing me that I have been UNCONDITIONALLY accepted to their program in the fall.  You may be wondering, "Well, Deanie, didn't you already get an acceptance letter?" Why, yes, dear reader, I did.  But that was a CONDITIONAL acceptance.  I would be accepted on the condition that I graduated with my same GPA, majoring in English.  And lo and behold I did.  So the unconditional acceptance means that unless I do something crazy like a.) murder someone, b.) decide to give up a life of study to join a hippie commune, or c.) insult the queen, I will be going to Cambridge in the fall.  

So that's that.  I've been waiting for this letter for a month and it finally arrived.  It definitely made my day.  :)  Now, if only the internet guy would show up to set up our wireless internet so I wouldn't have to sit on a wet bench on the front porch to "borrow" my neighbor's internet to write this post.

Bloody and Bloody Good Fun

“Why, foolish Lucius, dost thou not perceive/That Rome is but a wilderness of tigers?/Tigers must prey, and Rome affords no prey/But me and mine…” (Titus, Act III.1)

These are some of my favorite lines from one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, Titus Andronicus.  The play holds a special place in my heart, and I can easily say it is one of those texts that have changed the way I view literature.  I’m sure many Shakespeare scholars would shake their heads in disapproval at this admission, but it’s true.  In my second year of college, I took a Shakespeare’s Tragedies class.  This play was the first one we read.  I had little experience with Shakespeare before this point, and did not care much for his works.  But after reading this play (multiple times) for class, watching and greatly enjoying Julie Taymor’s film adaptation, Titus, and directing and acting in a few scenes of the play myself, I came to see Shakespeare in a whole new manner.  Perhaps it was age, perhaps experience, but Shakespeare began to make sense, and not only that, but his works became enjoyable.  I won’t drone on about this too much more, but perhaps for those who consider Shakespeare boring or stuffy, they should consider picking up Titus Andronicus. 

My Shakespeare’s Tragedies professor once said, “Titus Andronicus was Shakespeare’s Tarantino phase.”  This could not be truer.  Rape.  Murder.  Dismemberment.  Cannibalism.  Madness.  Revenge.  All of these play major roles in the very short Shakespeare text.  If there’s one way to get a college class’s attention, it’s through this play.  No one could read this and say Shakespeare was all powdered wigs and star-crossed lovers. 

So.  Anyway.  The point of this blog is to mention that I finally got to see Titus Andronicus performed onstage.  I went to the Carte Blanch Studios Theatre yesterday with my friend, Hugh, to see a performance.  I’ve always wanted to see the play performed (as it was meant to be) and I could not pass up the opportunity, regardless of how obscure the theatre was.  Truthfully, the locale was very art house-ish.  Small, stuck on a random back street, mostly made up of a big artsy café and a tiny tiny theatre.  Hooligans smoking outside.  Theatre seats were old red velvet.  But it seemed just the right place to see one of my favorite tragedies. 

Let’s move on to the play itself.  Technically-wise, they did an okay job for the budget they probably had.  The set worked very well, and they made good use of the small space.  The music—an ominous pounding drum, the occasional flute or trumpet—was pitch perfect and amped up the tension.  Costume were interesting.  The men wore an interesting mix of business attire and military attire (think suits with combat boots), which I think really emphasized the two different worlds present: politics and war.  The suits, however, were really interesting.  They were all partial.  For example: Bassianus wore combat boots, dress pants, a dress shirt, but his coat was only one shoulder and one sleeve.  Unfortunately I don’t have a picture, but hopefully you can imagine it.  It was actually kind of cool; I can definitely see Ralph Lauren trying to bring that back on the runway.  Other times the butchered suit look didn’t work, and for the most part I didn’t see the relevance of the style.  But still, costumes were hardly the most important part of the show.

Without hesitation, the most standout performances were by Tamora (Queen of the Goths) and Saturninus (Emperor of Rome).  Tamora simply looked the part with her close-cropped bleached blonde hair and regal features.  Her acting, too, was perfect for the part.  She managed to embody the grieving mother, fierce warrior, and manipulative queen.  Saturninus seem to hold a smoldering fire within him; he was always on the verge of some emotional explosion.  Smarmy, cool, and always collected, Saturninus pulled off what Alan Cummings did in Titus. 

Other characters had their moments.  Demetrius, Chiron, and Livinia shone during this fateful confrontation in the forest (red lighting and pulsing drums definitely helped set the mood).  Lucius and Aaron had a wonderfully vicious and playful time when Aaron goes to meet the Goths.  Aaron was another standout character, always with a smirk on his face, delivering his monologues with an ease some of the other characters didn’t have. 

Perhaps the best part of the show, however, wasn’t even onstage.  Hugh and I enjoyed watching the other audience members for their reaction.  Apparently the couple near Hugh didn’t come back after intermission.  The older couple next to me had such comments as, “Lord have mercy” and “I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”  The group in front of us was physically cringing and flinching.  You know you’re doing a good job when that happens. 

Hugh and I discussed how many depictions of Titus Andronicus emphasize the gore and ghastliness, but forget that it's a tragedy, not Hostel meets Rome meets Inglourious Basterds (minus the Nazis).  Even Taymor's Titus was more a acidy romp (though that's pretty much what I love about it).  But the heart of the piece is sorrow, loss, family and family obligations.  Shakespeare definitely wrote it in the script, and the scenes, when decpicted, are always moving, but that feeling doesn't seem to permeate the whole piece.  Oh well.  Perhaps it's more a fault in writing than in performance.  This was Shakespeare's freshman play after all, and after all, don't we all love it for its insane violence?

In the end, the play was entertaining and fulfilled my desire to see a staged version.  There was something lovely about seeing it in such a small, crowded theatre.  It was as if I had been invited to a private showing in someone’s basement put on by the friends of a friend.  The actors definitely seemed to love what they were doing and that made me enjoy the performance even more.

What I’m trying to say is this: support local theatre, go see the show.  

"But I have done a thousand dreadful things/As willingly as one would kill a fly,/And nothing grieves me heartily indeed/But that I cannot do ten thousand more." (Aaron, Act V.1)

Awkward and Awesome Thursday (on Friday)

Awkward Laugh? Yes, Indeed.

Whoa!  It’s Friday!  What the heck?!  Well, yesterday was extremely busy.  I went to one (1) museum, three (3) restaurants, five (5) houses, one (1) comic book store, and one (1) surprise party.  And I didn’t have access to a computer.  So: that’s my excuse for no A&A Thursday yesterday.  You’re just going to have to deal with it.  But it’s been a rollercoaster of a week.  I had some sort of food poisoning. That was super awkward, but I’ll spare you the details.  It then became super awesome and I did a lot of fun stuff.  Highlights below. 

Awkward

• The bathroom at Anodyne Coffee Shop.  There’s a large signed picture of Jamie Oliver.  Though Jamie Oliver is gorgeous and British and a chef, it’s rather awkward to sit on the toilet and see his giant face staring down at me.
• Random strangers showing me pictures on their camera.  Ummmm…one picture of a bird is fine.  You’re at SANC; I’m doing a talk on birds.  But going through your camera to show me your garden and your new birdfeeders and random family photos.  That’s crossing a line, good sir.
• Phone interviews.  Not like being interviewed for a job.  Being interviewed because someone wants to write an article about you for a magazine.  I always say “um” a million times.  And then I can hear the guy typing in the background.  I’m always afraid I’m going to say something stupid.  I usually do say something stupid.  Also awkward: feeling the need to brush my teeth before this interview.  Can the guy smell my stanky breath through the phone?  I don’t know.  But I’m not going to take the chance.
• Forgetting to bring underwear to a sleepover.  Then running into the house, grabbing underwear, running out the door, and encountering the mailman.  Pleasantries become so much more awkward when you're standing on your front steps holding your car keys and a pair of underwear.

Awesome

• Squirt gun fights.  Indoors.  Yup.  It’s summer.
• The trailer for The Devil's Double.  It’s like Man in the Iron Mask meets The Last King of Scotland meets the Middle East.  Also, Dominic Cooper looks like he’s going to dominate in his double roles.  Other cool trailers: Restless, Horrible Bosses, Crazy Stupid Love, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (US version), and The Perfect Host. 
• Movie nights.  We watched Serenity, Monsters, and RocknRolla.  Yup, we’re nerds.  I may or may not do a triple movie review of these.  Depends on how much free time I have.
• Surprise birthday parties! I’ve gone to two in the past month.  So much fun.  Getting a surprise birthday party planned for you is fun, but I like being the one jumping out from behind the sofa (or in the case of these two parties, a door and a pinball machine). 

Was your weekend more awkward or awesome?  Share your stories below.

5 Reasons to Like Anodyne Coffee Shop (and Not For Their Coffee)

1. There's a giant picture of Jamie Oliver in the bathroom (...but see this week's upcoming A&A Thursday for more on this).

2. They had an accordion player in there playing Russian, Bulgarian, and Italian folk music.  Perfect background music for writing my scene cards (which feature characters FROM Bulgaria!).  

3. The barista looks like Colin Meloy.  :)  

4. They offer FREE postcards.  I love postcards.  Especially old looking ones (even if they're written on...that's almost better).  I collect them.  Fun fact about me. (see above photo)

5. Their bagels are pretty delicious.  Better than their vanilla iced lattes at least.

A&A Thursday Time!

Yes, dear friends, it is that time of the week again.  Thursday, in all of its awkwardness and awesomeness.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

 CROQUET KING

HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE FUN PLAYING CROQUET?

Awkward

• Burning 30 pieces of bruschetta toast in the oven because I forgot to set a timer.  And then setting off the smoke detector.  Oops.  Good thing we had extra bread.
• Making jokes about sex offenders in front of a person who got accused of being a sex offender for public urination.  Also, simply finding out people you’re hanging out with are sex offenders.
• Being sick.  And grossly blowing my nose in public.  Also, not having Kleenex on me and having to sniffle dramatically every three seconds and then run to a bathroom for toilet paper because my nose is leaking.  Ew.
• Putting in a request for school transcripts and putting my address on the SEND TO section.  Realizing this a half an hour later, having to go back to the desk, and giving them a new address.  When I told them I accidentally put on my own address, the women at the desk said, “Yeah, we noticed that…”  Well, gee, thanks for saying something to me.
• Sitting outside with the sun on my right side.  Thus my right shoulder and the right side of my chest burned, but the other side didn’t.  Painful and uneven.  Alas.

Awesome 

• Playing beanbag toss with my cousins and actually being pretty good at it this time around.  It only took me like three years to learn.  And also playing croquet.  I LOVE croquet, even though I’m rather bad at it.  Unfortunate, not necessarily awkward: my guy cousins breaking TWO (2) of my remaining six mallets.  *sigh*
• Game Night!  Cash ‘n’ Guns, Bonanza, Scattegories.  There’s nothing more fun that threatening people with orange foam guns or haggling over bean prices.  What a great night.
• Writers Dates.  Nerdy pompous writerly minds getting together.  Always fun.
• Beautiful weather!  Well, we had one awfully hot day, but yesterday was perfect and today is cool and lovely.  I sat outside, got a rather awkward sunburn (see above), wrote a bunch of scene cards for my screenplay, and generally enjoyed the weather.

Wardrobe Remix at Fixx

Today's Wardrobe Remix is rather bland, but that's because I'm feeling rather bland today.  It's cold out (yes, actually COLD out).  I am in denial, of course, so I'm only wearing capris and a T-shirt.  However, cold weather calls for a hot drink, so I went to my favorite coffeehouse, Fixx, for a hot chai tea.  Delicious.  While I was there I did some browsing of blogs, and edited my own blog (cleaned it up a bit, not much real editing).  You may notice a random bar at the top of the page that says "About Me."  I don't know why that's there.  I don't know how to get rid of it.  Alas, for another day.  In the meantime, just ignore it.  Thanks.  :)


Boyfriend T-shirt: Target
Lace Tank Top: Charlotte Russe
Jean Capris (Rolled Jeans): PacSun
Shoes: TOMS (website)
Rabbit Necklace: Cedarburg (don't remember the store)

Plato & AJ

Despite some major sinus-y crap going on in my face yesterday (and the day before and today and probably tomorrow), I felt I needed to get out of the house for some fresh air.  I was up by 76th Street picking some dry cleaning (fun, fun) when I discovered Plato's Closet, a nifty high-end resale shop.  

I remembered hearing about this place from my friend Leah.  Since she always has the best fashion sense, I decided to pop in.  The place is nice, with a lovely shoe selection (think lots of Steve Madden for $12).  I didn't have the energy to really browse, so I glanced through the shoes, dresses, and skirts.  After trying on a handful of items, I came away with this little darling for only $6.

After making a few more stops, I ended up going to AJ Bombers on Water Street for dinner with my mom.  My go-to burger joint is usually Stack'd.  It's close to home, delicious, and has nice atmosphere.  However, a friend of mine suggested AJ Bombers over Stack'd, so I figured I'd check it out.  

This is the first thing I noticed when I walked in the door:

At first I thought I had walked into a barn or a wood-working shop.  But that is not hay or wood shavings.  It's peanut shells.  I had heard of places like this before (mostly viewed via the Food Network), but I didn't know Bombers did it.  To eliminate any questions I had, a man, not two feet away from me, threw (yes, threw, not poured or sprinkled, threw like a bucket of excrement from the top floor of a tenement house in 1800s Ireland) a bowl of peanut shells across the floor, nearly showering me.  Welcome to Bombers.


I guess I would have had a lot more fun with the peanut thing if I actually liked eating peanuts (which I really don't).  At least I'm not allergic to peanuts.  That would have been a shocker all right.  So we were seated and waited upon in a timely fashion.  The menu is simple, and self-serving, which was kind of cool.  Prices were average.  I was quite impressed with the speed of the wait-staff.  We got our burgers in no time.  

Honestly, I wasn't horribly impressed by the food.  Granted, this could be due to the fact that I order probably the simplest burger ever: burger, cheese, lettuce, ketchup, pickles (sometimes bacon and mayo if I'm feeling adventurous).  Thus, most restaurants, if they can cook the meat correctly, have burgers that taste similar.  However, I prefer the pretzel buns at Stack'd, and they have a weird sour-ish taste to their pickles that's rather interesting.  My mom had the Milwaukee burger with bacon and beer onions.  She loved it, though my bite was rather bleh.  I do have to give them props for their Bomber Sauce.  I dipped my fries in it, and found myself scarily addicted to it.  The flavor was interesting, something I couldn't place, but it was like onion flavoring mixed with thousand island dressing mixed with cocaine.  At one point I had to put it across the table to keep from eating it with a spoon.


Overall, the place was decent.  I'd probably go there again if asked, but I wouldn't go out of my way for their food, and it probably wouldn't be my first burger choice.  It would certainly be a fun place to hit up before heading out on Water Street for drinks.  And, of course, I couldn't help but add my name to wall (despite my indifference towards their food).  You'll have to look for it if you ever go there.

Wardrobe Remix!

Cardigan: Anthorpologie, Belt: H&M, Shirt: H&M, Tank Top: Charlotte Russe, Jeans: Walmart, Shoes: American Eagle, Necklace: Luv Unlimited, Sunglasses: Forever 21

It's Thursday! And it's Awkward and Awesome!

Emo much?  Eh.  It happens.

Remember Awkward and Awesome Thursday?  Well, it's back!  Huzzah!


Awkward

• The above photo.  Dressing room pictures are always awkward.  But alas it's the only picture I have of my new cardigan (see: Awesome).
• Being served fish at a meal when I hate fish.  How do I pretend to like it?  Answer: I don’t.
• When my bangs get sweaty and then they swoosh to the side with all their dramatic might so that I get little pointy tips sticking out from the side of my forehead.  Once my bangs go this direction, there’s no getting them back save showering. 
• Trying to put in my contacts.  No matter how much I clean them, they’re always dirty.  As a result, it takes an unnatural amount of time for me to put them in, always resulting in me getting very frustrated and nearly having an emotional breakdown.  Awkwardness intensified when other people are standing around watching.

Awesome

• Finished Mockingjay.  What a great young adult series.  I can't wait to watch the movies.
• Watching Battlestar Galactica with my mom.  I've been wanting to watch it for years and now that summer is here I am so excited.  My plan is to get through the whole series by fall.
• Three words: Tactical. Lazer. Tag.
• My first buy from Anthropologie: the cardigan in the picture above!  It's an awful picture because you can barely see the cardigan, but hopefully I'll have a better picture of it up soon.  I never buy clothes from Anthropologie (though I want to) because it's so expensive, but I got this cardigan for $20!  What a steal!

Hope your past week was more awesome than awkward!  Mine was, thankfully!

Hello! I'm Back! And I Come Bearing Gifts of Oxbridge Scholars, Fancy Luncheons, and Chocolate!

Okay, first of all, I suppose I have to apologize for being absent so long.  As you can see, my 365 Project became the Fail Project.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to take a photo a day?  Oh, don't be fooled, my fair reader.  You may think to yourself, what's one photo a day?  But it is INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT!  My absence these past months has also been due to the fact that I was completing my senior year of college, and that took up most, if not all, of my free time.  No worries, though, nothing too exciting happened, so you didn't miss much.  However, now that it is "summer" (I put this in quotes because it is currently 40 degrees out and stormy) I plan to update more often.

What is even more exciting is that I will have Cambridge updates!  Cambridge updates?  What?  If you haven't been informed of this, click here for the lowdown.

And so today is my first Cambridge update!  Yay!  On Monday morning, I flew to Washington D.C. with my mother to meet the committee that selected me for my scholarship.  We arrived before noon and got settled in at the place we were staying, an apartment complex/hotel called The Westchester (if that doesn't sound British, I don't know what does).  Since my lunch with the committee wasn't until the next day, my mom and I spent most of Monday wandering around Georgetown, this fancy little area close to where we were staying.  I don't know D.C. very well, but we seemed to be staying in a very hoity-toity location.  The houses/apartments were gorgeous!  Stupidly, I only took a picture of one, and this picture hardly does justice to the housing of the area.

Graham Down, a lovely British man who helps run the committee, suggested my mom and I go to La Chaumiere, a French restaurant only "about a mile from The Westchester."  Mom and I decided to walk since it was about 85 degrees out and cabs were unbelievably expensive.  However, it turns out that this restaurant was a good four miles from The Westchester.  After about an hour and a half of walking, starving and sweating unattractively, we found the restaurant.  Here is a sampling of the menu: calf's brain, mussels, frog's legs, snails, chicken liver, and veal.  Each of these dishes was around $35.  *sigh*  We ended up getting some good ol' BBQ at a restaurant called Old Glory.  Much preferred to random animal organs.  

After dinner we wandered some of the shops around Georgetown.  They had a lot of fancy clothing stores--Banana Republic, Kate Spade, Steve Madden, Anthropologie--but we were thrilled to find a Dean & Deluca's store.  We didn't buy anything there, but we admired their wine and chocolates.  They were like works of art!  Incredible! 

Exhausted at the end of the day, we took a much need cab back to The Westchester, turned on the air conditioning (Yes!  Can you believe it?!) and settled in for the night.  The next morning I got myself all dolled up to meet the committee.  Though Graham told me not to be nervous, I was.  I had no idea what to expect, and I was about to be surrounded by men and women who had either graduated from Cambridge, Oxford, or both (in Graham's case).  I was afraid they'd ask me crazy random questions such as, "Do you think Americans are the last Victorians?" (a question Graham had to answer at Cambridge) or "What do you think about [insert important political policy/current event that I know nothing about here]?"

All ready to meet the committee.  You may notice that

1.) I am wearing the same outfit I wore to my graduation, and

2.) I look like the president of a sorority somewhere in the South.

[in Southern accent] "Welcome to Alpha Kappa Kappa!"

When I finally met the committee members, I was happy to find they were much more welcoming than I expected.  Yes, they were formal, yes they were scary intelligent and accomplished.  But I had to keep in mind that I am a pre-Cambridge scholar, only 21 years old.  My time will come.  They didn't ask me any scary questions; mostly they asked me if I had any questions for them.  They told me a lot about my degree (actually another Bachelor's degree, not a Master's, though the degree equals a Master's) and what classes would be like (tutors and no set schedules and no final dissertation, just a HUGE SCARY exam).    We discussed how literacy isn't considered as important in the United States, but public speaking is (though I think this varies from location to location).  They told funny stories about falling out of punts (a type of boat very popular at St. John's), meeting famous authors on stairwells, and maids opening bedroom windows in the middle of December because it was good for the health.  One of the gentlemen told me to invest in long underwear because in England I would experience a cold damp unlike anything else in the world.  I wanted to say, "Sir, I live in Wisconsin.  I spend 8 months out of the year in cold damp and long underwear."

Overall, it was a lovely lunch.  They have made me even more excited for Cambridge.  I know it will be an experience unlike anything I have come across in my life, and I'm thrilled for the culture shock.  One of the committee members told me, "After Cambridge, you will no longer be the simple Midwestern girl you are now."  I don't like to think of myself as "simple," but I understand what he means.  Cambridge will culture me, show me the world.  Part of the scholarship includes travel money, and the committee stressed that I must must MUST travel.  Well...if I have to...  :)

So that was the lunch.  I have wanted to go back to D.C. for years (I went on an 8th grade class trip, but at 13 I hardly cared), but this trip didn't allow me to do any sightseeing.  After the lunch, however, I walked over to the Washington National Cathedral which was just down the road from The Westchester.

I walked around the cathedral for a while, trying to remember if I had been here before (in 8th grade).  It seemed really familiar (though I suppose many cathedrals resemble each other).  Then I had to hurry back to The Westchester and pack.  Mom and I said goodbye and headed to the airport.

Goodbye, Westchester!  No time to even make the beds.

And home again!  It was a great trip, even if it was rather abrupt.  I feel better having met the committee, but I am even more aware now of how much work and adventure I have ahead of me, starting this fall.  For now, though, I won't dwell on four papers a week or that HUGE SCARY exam.  Right now, I am going to keep thinking about equestrian lessons and where I want to go with my travel money.  Any suggestions?