Yeah, I'm going to be spending all waking hours today studying. Unfortunately my break is over, meaning that it's once again back to test-taking, essay-writing, and portfolio-building. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm determined to do my best, even though I'm still a bit knocked out due to that cold. Which, by the way, is definitely finally on the mend--I feel tired but not quite so groggy, which is a big relief. Now I can finally get some decent studying done. Coughing is irritating, but at least it doesn't interfere with my thinking.
I watched that entire production of "Hamlet" last night, and it was overall very, very good. I think I'll buy it when it's available on bn.com in May. The entire cast, on the whole, was marvelous. It was amusing how shades of the Doctor came through in Tennant's portrayal of Hamlet every now and then, especially in the Hamlet-acting-mad scenes! But at the same time he was definitely a different character, which was interesting. I've never gotten really emotional at the end of "Hamlet" before, although I've seen it multiple times, but Tennant really sold the final scene and monologue to me. For the first time it didn't feel melodramatic, it felt simple and sad, which was brilliant. I did feel like shouting 'REGENERATE! REGENERATE!' when--and I'm assuming this is absolutely no spoiler to all you book-learned people--Hamlet died, but other than that I was able to keep the Doctor mostly from my mind while watching. Okay, apart from the 'in a nutshell' line, which suddenly seemed extremely TARDIS to me :D
To sum up: I strongly recommend this production of "Hamlet". It made the so-famous-as-to-be-sometimes-trite dialogue resonate with new immediacy and power to me, as though I was hearing it all for the first time, understanding the thoughts and meanings behind the words for the first time. And that, of course, is always a wonderful thing.
Right now I'm writing two essays for English. I started them yesterday, but now I have to polish them up and print them and stow them in my bag so I don't forget them on Tuesday! And then I need to study my Russian so I can retake some quizzes tomorrow, and I also want to clean my room now that I'm feeling a bit more alive. Unfortunately my beautiful library books must wait to be read until after Wednesday's midterm exams are over.
It's been pretty hot here in Hawaii for the past week, but today it's just warm, not humid and stuffy, which is a welcome change! Oh, and last night a baby gecko was running around my room. It was hilarious and quite cute. Baby geckos are only about an inch long, perhaps a little longer, but their heads make about a third of that length and are at least twice as wide as their bodies, perhaps three times as wide. Their bodies and tails are extremely skinny and when they run they wiggle from side to side. SO CUTE! Since I was just finishing Hamlet, I dubbed it Polonius before it scurried behind a large wooden fish I have propped against the wall. I don't know where it is now, but I hope it stays. I used to have a gecko friend down in the apartment garage, but he was a gentleman of a gecko, of a quite majestic size, and handsome rather than adorable. I named him Korwin because he loved to sit in the blazing sunlight on the rock wall right by where the car's parked; that's where I'd find him every morning before leaving to school and in the afternoon when I came back. The name's a rather geeky reference to a certain "Doctor Who" episode, if you've seen it you'll probably know which one I'm referring to . . .
Anyway, I was buddies with this lizard for over a year, and only for the past few weeks he hasn't shown up. I'm assuming at this point that he's joined the choir invisible, as John Cleese would say, and have been a bit down about it. So it's nice to see a baby lizard scurrying around my room now. Hopefully he'll stick around.
That's all the news I have time for, I'm afraid. It's time for me to get back to writing my essays. Oh, and Happy Palm Sunday, everyone!
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