Sound: "Radio Free Europe" by R.E.M.
Before I get to the main point of this post, I must take a quick sidetrip to talk about Yael. Yael is my stepmom. Yael is also awesome (although, really, that just comes with the territory of being my stepmom). Anyway, Yael is currently touring Europe for work. Since I am in Europe, we decided it might be fun to meet up.
First, we tried to meet up in Paris, but with Eurostar tickets being $220 round trip, and me only having less than 24 hours to spend in Paris, that just wasn't going to happen. So then we decided to meet in London, since she was going to be there, and, well, I live there. After numerous emails, text messages, and phone calls (seriously, there are about 15 emails related to this matter in my inbox), we decided that I would meet her at her hotel and spend the night with her. So that's what happened. And, being the busy, tired people we are, we spent the time talking and sleeping. Except, being in a country where the drinking age is 18, we had to go to the hotel bar first. And we had to order fancy drinks. Which means I had to have a Dirty Girl Scout. Dirty Girl Scouts do not exist in England. But the bartender, bless his heart, looked up a recipe on the internet and made me one anyways. Also, Dirty Girl Scouts are shooters, but the bartender, bless his heart, sensed that I was a theatre major and put the drink in a martini glass.
If I was going to be alive, awake, and alert for class the next day, I was not going to be able to finish this drink. (For your personal reference and enjoyment, here is a recipe for a Dirty Girl Scout: 1 part vodka, 1 part kahlua, 1 part Bailey's, 1 part white creme de menthe. Mix vodka, kahlua, and Bailey's. Pour the creme de menthe down the center. Top with chocolate if you want to pretend that you're being classy and not trying to get wasted, or if you just really like chocolate. When mixed properly, it will taste like a Thin Mint Cookie.) Being not only awesome, but also a responsible parent, Yael told me that not finishing my drink was completely acceptable (this would not have happened if I was out with friends. Peer pressure is real; protect your children at all costs). The result was a lovely evening with a yummy drink and a fantastic lady, with no hangover to deal with in the morning!
Now, on to the main point:
Part of my class yesterday included a talk with the artistic director of the Orange Tree Theatre. While I wasn't turned off by the idea of this talk, my interests no longer lie solely in theatre and I really wanted a nap (we had just spent several hours walking around Kew Gardens which is BIG). For most of the talk I listened politely and took notes, because I had a journal entry to write and I was NOT going to fail Interrelationships just because I was tired. Then the artistic director mentioned that the Orange Tree was going to produce a play called "Reading Hebron," which is about conflict in Hebron, West Bank and is by a Canadian playwright. As some of you may know, I am very interested in Middle Eastern dramatic literature (especially Israeli and Palestinian) and am thinking of writing a senior thesis about it. This side comment about a late-season play sent my brain spinning into gear. "WHAT?!" I thought, "Canadians write plays about Israel?!" I started scribbling on my notebook, and now have some random comments that I need to sit down and make sense of sometime soon. They include (verbatim):
"Diaspora -->Home?"
"Ownership: How does it morph based on geograph. location?"
And my personal favorite: "Post colonial effects on colonial diaspora --> and its descendants. DO I EVEN HAVE A RIGHT TO DO THIS?! AAAHHHHH?!?!"
Obviously, I need to work on coming to terms with my academic interests. Anyways, my point is, inspiration comes when you don't expect it. It can come when you're sleepy, when you're not really interested in what's going on, when you'd rather be back in a hotel room where there's a king-sized bed and two TVs. But because it comes in those situations, it's mportant to get out and do things. After all, you never know when you're going to hear something that could so perfectly fit with your life.
Peace out, cubscouts.
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