Yippie-kay-yay!

We took a hard hipcheck from Reality this week as profs, reading lists, and essay questions came a-knockin', disturbing our heretofore tranquil period of sleeping, travelling, and socializing. It is a relief, however, to have some new classes to bite my teeth into; as much as I like the Renaissance, it can get to be a tad overwhelming. And I can't even shake it at that-- my most demanding class so far is Shakespeare On Film, which hearkens back to the good ol' days of first year at Western taking Film 20. Weekly screenings are awesome, even if they consistently feature men in tights.

Contemporary Lit is also looking interesting. I haven't done any significant critical theory since last year, and it's great meeting up with Theodor Adorno, Roland Barthes and company again. So far we've read a Samuel Beckett play and are in the middle of a John Fowles novel... just a taste of the extensive reading to come. Welcome back, PoMo!

My other class is Literature of the Romantic Period, which is an era I've never encountered before. Really intriguing, especially in the relationship the movement had with the French Revolution. And for the first time ever, I get to read Jane Austen in a class! AND it's Mansfield Park, the only one I haven't read! (My level of nerdiness is exceedingly high, I know) ;).

Wednesday Matt and I trekked out to the boonies to see British Sea Power, an indie band, play at the Leeds Irish Centre. BSP was predictably awesome (they've been playing on my iPod for about a year prior to this night) but the real story of the show was the band's trumpet player, who inexplicably jumped from on top of a 12-foot speaker and knocked himself out. It was pretty scary, although the band kept playing and the house lights only briefly came on. But I hear through the NME website that he's alright except for a concussion, and he's going to continue on with the tour. Pretty hardcore, I guess, eh?

Friday night Johanna and I went out to the ever-popular and populous Fruity Disco to celebrate her flatmate Phoebe's 20th birthday.. and how fun it was!:


The theme was famous couples, so Johanna and I did the old Cowgirl & Indian thing. I'm still impressed at Johanna's costume; it's not easy to scramble together a realistic-looking Indian outfit, but she pulls it off! As for me, I'm just amazed that I didn't lose the cowboy hat in the Fruity fracas. Lots of jokers tried to pull it off my head as we went through the crowd, but I was resolutely not allowing it to happen. So, the night therefore was a triumph, all around. And we saw Francesca there randomly!
Saturday night Crystal and I went for a night of high art, and saw a student production of Elegies... for angels, punks and raging queens at the brand-new Stage@Leeds building on campus.

The play's about AIDS victims who tell their stories with songs and poetry, and it was beautifully done. The cast had a lot of the actors from Honk! in it, and they again showed how talented they are.

Also, here's a picture of the River Aire, from when Jean and I took a walk on Sunday to explore Leeds. There's a lot of new developments along the river, including a new building for the Armouries, Leeds' biggest museum. It was nice to go beyond the university bubble and see Leeds' other side.




It was so great to talk to everyone on Skype last night! The whole family was up in Lindsay, and I felt I was a part of it... Thank you :). Here's to a great week and everyone feeling better!

Talk to you all soon! <3