Today in Contemporary Britain we got to hear Justin (the professor) give relationship advice as it relates to the royal family - mainly, don't marry your first boyfriend. He tends to do a more free-form sort of discussion (which is how we got on to "Is Prince William going to marry Kate??!?!"), which I find I like. I didn't think I would, but I get answers to my questions instead of "see me after class and we'll talk". We also have 3 hours, which allows for a bit of digression.
Today after class I went to Platform 9 and 3/4 in King's Cross station. It's in this little side alley type thing, which means it's a pain in the tuchus to find.
We did the cheesy pictures, but as we did so a queue formed behind us. I'm not sure if it's awesome or a little sad that a bunch of us, who happened to be well over 14, were lining up to take a picture with the cart sticking out of the wall. Hopefully it's an awesome thing, otherwise I'll feel like a loser.It turns out the British Library is right next to King's Cross, so we hoofed it over and saw the exhibits. This year is the 1000 year anniversary of Beowulf (how they determine this, I don't know - carbon dating?) so it's out in a display. Normally it would be somewhere safer, but it wasn't and I got to see it! Flippin' awesome. I also saw the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Magna Carta, Jane Austen's Persuasion, and the Beatles original lyrics. I didn't really care so much about the Beatles, but my roommate was super excited to be able to listen to it and read it "In his own HAND!!!" at the same time. But they've got some beautiful illuminated manuscripts. Unfortunately to see most of the specialized things (like the Anglo-Saxon poetry I wanted to see), you have to have a reader's card, which you only get if a professor or somebody writes something saying you're doing original research, or really awesome. You can't just see it for kicks. Sad.
Even sadder: The British Library sells copies of the Twilight series in their gift shop. Personally, I don't think that drivel should be allowed to absorb the same air as the Beowulf manuscript. But clearly that's just me.
We saw the 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre, which was rather small and intimate, and the guy behind me said it was one of the smallest in the West End. I thought it rather contributed to the overall feeling, and I had fun.
Next week we've got Twelfth Night, which the RSC is putting on. I also got some leads on other plays the RSC is doing, and they usually have a way for students to pay 5 pounds instead of, say 50. I'm interested in The Little Dog Laughed, which has an actress I like in it (as well as Keira Knightley's boyfriend), but I don't know if I want to/can pay 20 pounds for a ticket. That's with the same day student discount. Hmm. But the group organized a trip to see Six Degrees of Separation, which I know nothing about other than it's acclaimed.
Tomorrow is Screenwriting and History. We've got to have a premise done, which I'm ripping off from Kurt Vonnegut - the professor strongly recommended stealing from books - and then we're watching Little Miss Sunshine.
And then I think it's low key. I'm planning my spring break and trying to find a time and the motivation to go to Camden market.
We're a quarter or so done with the program. Scary.
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