In the past two months, I have…
…Finished classes! Yeah! Thank goodness! Now…where did I put my motivation? In all honesty, the end of the semester was absolute murder. It involved a lot of not sleeping and cramming and “why-did-I-put-this-off-so-long?!”-ing. But it all got done! Wish I could tell you what the result of it all was – if I had any marks back, I would be sure to do so! Okay, that’s not fair, because I got my play back and did amazingly (yay!) but the remainder of my work (which was handed in nearly two months ago) has yet to be returned to us. Unbelievable. I could rant about the Theatre Department for ages, but I won’t. I’ll leave it there!
…Seen my brother! Yeah! It was awesome. It was the longest stretch we had gone without seeing one another (about 9 months), so it was lovely to get to spend time with Bryan. Here’s a photo of he and I and his girlfriend in Glencoe:
We had plans to go to Portugal together, but….
…Been attacked by a viral infection! No! (Well, yes!) I came down with a viral infection a few days before Bryan and Laura left for Portugal. Apparently, it was a strain of chicken pox/shingles, and it made me feel lethargic and sad, and it gave me an intense rash on my face, hands, and arms. It resulted in a trip to the hospital, a trip to the doctor, and many trips to the pharmacy for medicated lotions. I would post a photo of the night when my left eye was almost swollen shut, but I’m too embarrassed. Only Bryan, Laura, my doctors, and Margaret and Tim (who drove me to the hospital) will ever see me like that!
So, in addition to not being able to find a cheap flight to Portugal, a raging rash kept me locked up in my flat, miserable and itchy, for almost two weeks. Not the highlight of my summer so far!
…Seen Flight of the Conchords! Holy crap! It almost seems like a dream, because my viral infection was peaking and I was in an itchy daze, but I saw FotC and it was a spectacular show. Best of all, we had front row seats, so after spending almost two hours just feet from Bret and Jemaine, they jumped down off the stage for their finale and danced in spandex just inches from me. There are no words.
…Started my dissertation!………..Wait…….have I?
……
…Yeah, I have. Sort of. It has been incredibly difficult mustering up the motivation to really dive into it, though. I have a vague idea of what I am doing, but I’m not inspired! On a very basic level, what I am doing is writing a play that is, in a very abstract way, a deconstruction of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, along with a 7,000 word accompanying critical and reflective document. What I have actually accomplished so far, however, is about 400 words of one scene from the play which I am certain will never end up in the final product, and a lot of random notes in my “Dissertation Notebook”. So it’s coming along slowly, to say the least. It’s hard not being in classes, having to do this on my own, and on my own time, because I would rather just not do it. Don’t get me wrong – it’ll happen. I just need to find the mojo.
Instead of what my friends and I have started calling ‘dissertating’ – that is, the act of writing a dissertation (use it: we want it to catch on), I have…
…Read about 14 novels! In my defense, reading is good for my brain and my imagination, and it’s helped me feel relaxed and like I am actively relaxing for the first time since I started University, almost six years ago. Among my favourites so far, The Sopranos by Alan Warner and The Incredible Adam Spark by Alan Bissett. Both are amazing and well worth reading! I have also been reading the Sookie Stackhouse vampire novels – the ones True Blood is based on – and they are entertaining-as-hell. I will be starting book 10 tomorrow. I started reading them on my flight back to Glasgow on 15 April. So there you go. A LOT of reading!
…Watched bad bromances and chick flicks! That’s right – the films I have been avoiding for the last number of years. I decided to start watching them to see what the fuss was all about. It started with The Hangover, which is one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and has moved on to movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall (not bad, mostly because Jason Segel rules), Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (pretty ‘meh,’ though I am now reading the book to see if it’s any better), Valentine’s Day (I liked it – I admit it!), and Knocked Up (Better than it could have been), to name a few. I don’t even want to count how many I’ve watched. My brain’s tired, what can I say? I’m enjoying not thinking about these films as I watch them! (Though I inevitably analyse the hell out of them anyway…)
ANYWAY!
Summer has been great so far – lovely weather, lovely time with friends, and lovely alone time, too. Here I am with two of my favourite people, Margaret and Audrey, at a picnic:
There’s lots to look forward to, too. I’ve joined The Arches Community Choir, which performs popular songs like “Sweet Dreams” and “Standing in the Way of Control” – our first performance will be at the New Works, New Worlds festival at The Arches, one of the coolest venues in Glasgow. My Mum will be visiting Glasgow once again in July, and we’ll be going to Ireland for ten days, which will be amazing. I’m visiting home/Edmonton for ten days at the end of July to see one of my best friends get married to her best friend, and to see all of my other friends too! I’ll be making at least one trip to Sweden this summer – “Jag heter Andrea! Trevligt att träffas!” And I’ve been learning a bit of Swedish. And I will somehow finish my dissertation, hand it in, and becomes a Master of Letters, specializing in Dramaturgy and Playwriting. How about that?!
(Now, I’m sure I’ve forgotten a lot of stuff, but I’ve just written over 1,000 words – that’s 1,000 words I should have been writing on my dissertation. I won’t tell if you don’t. Deal? Deal. Good.)
Not too shabby for Andrea.
