"I almost came downstairs with my collar popped, and then I thought, "No, Megan will make fun of me."

So the above quote is from last night when we were all sitting around chatting in the kitchen (me eating some long-needed popcorn from Tesco because I thought we were going to watch a movie. Oh well). David came downstairs with his hair in a semi fauxhawk because he needs a haircut, and someone asked when he was going to do a real one, and I think I said something sarcastic about needing to pop his collar if he did that. He said that he had almost popped his collar after he took a shower just a few minutes before - the shirt kind of went on that way naturally - and then he decided against it because he knew I'd ridicule him. Funny thing about this - I hadn't told him that I detest the popped collar. I'm just sending out the vibe that well. Mission accomplished.
Besides that and finishing kitchen duty, not much else exciting happened yesterday, so we'll move on to today. This morning, Mollie and I left the Centre right after breakfast and went over to the National to queue up for standby tickets to The Year of Magical Thinking, which we'd both been wanting to see since we got here - Mollie because she'd read the memoir, me because Vanessa Redgrave was in it. So we waited in the queue for about half an hour, and we totally got all of the tickets we wanted (Sara and Dr. Paul wanted to go too) and they were a little too close, but it turned out to not matter, because it was a one-woman play with a minimal set. More on that in a minute, here's the picture of me with Laurence Olivier at The National.

After our success, we went to meet our group at the Banqueting House (and got lost along the way because Mollie's internet directions were wrong and I ignored my gut) and saw the cool ceilings. There wasn't a lot to it, so afterward I went with Katie, Jacqui and Cami on the Westminster walk, and since it was also short, we backtracked a little when it was finished and went to the Imperial War Museum. I love that museum. I went through the WWI part (nostalgically) and the Holocaust exhibit, as well as making a quick turn through the art section, before it was time to head back for a dinner of fish and chips. Mmm.


After dinner, I went to find Erin, because she said she had something funny for me. And she did. A huge chocolate medal that says, "Thonton's 'You are the Greatest' Medal" on it. It's amazing and hangs on a blue and gold ribbon.
Erin saw it and thought only of me and how funny I would think it was. (Later on tonight David said I must be pretty easy to read - Erin knew I would think the medal was funny, he knew I would think the popped collar was ridiculous. Yes friends, I am an open book.)
SO, now we're up to date and I can tell you about the play. The memoir and the play were written by Joan Didion, a writer who lost her husband and her daughter in the space of a year. The "Magical Thinking" she talks about is this attempt she makes to do everything right so that they will come back or not die, and the whole play is focused on her grieving process. And it was absolutely beautiful.
The set was minimal (as I mentioned before) - several backdrops in grey and other neutral watercolors, until the end, when it was just Vanessa on the stage with blackness all around her. For the first 3/4 of the play Ms. Redgrave was just sitting in a chair talking, but it was all so wonderful. It was fun watching her change her speech into an American drawl, but after the first couple of minutes I stopped thinking about it and just got lost in the beauty of the story and the thinking and the acting. Truly an experience.
I still need to post pictures, but the Chittock walk is tomorrow, and I'm tired, so I'll probably post them when I should be doing homework tomorrow night. However, I will leave you with this: my songs of the week.

• "Torn Blue Foam Couch" - Grand Archives
• "Loose Change" - The Morning Benders
• "I'll Believe in Anything" - Wolf Parade
• "I Asked When" - Brett Dennen (moment of explanation: this song is very long with a repetitive and very political (or perhaps humanist?) message that isn't even subtle, but I really like it.)
• "Love Isn't Made" - Jon Foreman
• "Shakespeare's Sister" - The Smiths
• "You Could Do Better Than Me" - Death Cab for Cutie
  

There you go. Knock yourselves out.