Realization.dublinztomorrowz

This afternoon, while perusing the overpriced merchandise of Fulham Road shops, I had this weird epiphany that went a little something like this:  Josh, you realize you’re in London, right?  Now, epiphany may seem a tad strong for an idea that may appear to be common sense, but I think that a great majority of our time in London has basically been a honeymoon in which you don’t really process what’s going on around you.  Also, the time for reflection is pretty limited; you just never want to take a moment to stop moving and embrace what you’ve been treated to.  Still, this afternoon, I had a moment that I couldn’t help but think, this is actually happening.  I am not in Minnesota, I have no real connection to anything around me, I am—for the most part—alone in this massive city, and how the hell did this happen?  Then I saw a black lab on the sidewalk and the moment passed by and I let the towering city envelop me once again. 

Three thoughts from the last couple days:

1.        I went to the west end production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons.  The short of it is this:  The play is fantastic; the production was horrendous.  Here’s a (little)longer account.  We had fantastic seats to the last show we saw—Norris’s Clybourne Park—and the show itself was unreal.  For All My Sons, the seats were pretty much as bad as it gets in a west end theatre.  We were in the second to last row of the uppermost balcony.  Not only that, but the rest of the show was sold out so there was no way we were going to be able to relocate after the interlude.  Bummer.  Though the seats probably had something to do with our collective interpretation of the production, the acting on the parts of Jemima Rooper and Stephen Moore was utterly unbearable.  Really: it was just heart wrenching.  I have heard great things about both of these actors for other roles.  Perhaps it was an off night for the two of them or maybe they’re just becoming lazy given it’s near the end of the run.  Either way, it definitely made my experience of the show less enjoyable.  That being said, David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker, who played the two leads of the show, were brilliant.  The final words of Wanamaker in the last scene of the show still haunt me three days later; great, great stuff.  Also, Monday was just a long day.  Class from 10-4 with a film screening that went to 5:30 and a show from 7:30 to half past ten created one long Monday. 

2.       I watched a very unusual thing happen in the tube on Tuesday afternoon.  After hopping on the Piccadilly line and finding the elusive open seat , I watched as one little boy (he really could not have been older than 7) board the cart and politely ask a woman a few seats down and across the aisle if he could use the seat instead of her because his feat hurt after walking from school to the station.  The woman replied, “Well I suppose, but only because you’ve been so polite.”  The little boy then stepped backward and said, “No, you can sit.  I was just testing you; you’ve passed, don’t worry.  Then, as the cart had stalled due to minor delays in signals, he hopped out of the open doors and waved goodbye to the people aboard the tube and walked away.  It was so odd that I was relatively unsure that it had actually happened.  His little green jacket and khaki pants were not unfamiliar in the Holborn station, but I couldn’t help but think that he was some sort of anomalous character in the world.  It was quite an interesting, playful interaction.

3.       I’ve been taking a lot of photos of people.  Like, more than I should.  Usually when you travel, you take pictures of the sights surrounding you and ignore the fact that there are individuals who are also on the trip enjoying the things you should be taking photos of.  Perhaps it’s only that I haven’t travelled much so far.  Regardless, I have developed a love for capturing people on film.  Maybe it isn’t a new thing, just something that’s more recently surfaced.  Regardless, I am off to Ireland this weekend and I should be more inclined while there to shoot some of the local sights.

In other news, I caught the season finale of Australia’s Next Top Model: Cycle 6.  That’s prime material for any case against live finales of anything…anything.  If this is odd to you, just youtube “Australia’s Next Top Model Finale Fail.”  You will not be disappointed.

Also:  I may have a new favorite book.  When I read the Shadow of the Wind in 2004ish, I thought for sure nothing could ever top my experience with Zafón’s book.  Donna Tartt’s The Secret History is giving it a run for its money.  More on this when I have finished.

I have to be up at 5am…ick.  When I get up, it will be October.



A View of the Sun, Hyde Park Corner

Just let that simmer.