In the Library

So I'm in the library studying for a midterm. I hate midterms. I hate them even though I don't really know what it's like to experience a real midterm season; I take a lot of classes at King's that are structured differently and don't have them. But here I am, stuck with a midterm tomorrow night in News Media and the Courts.

Sounds fun, I know.

After a few hours of staring at my computer screen, my face hurt. I took a break to grab a drink of water and hopefully find some real, human interaction. I was lucky. I found my friend Clifford at a table, writing a paper.

After a few minutes of idle chitchat about boyfriends, girlfriends, etc, I mentioned how much I was hating studying for my media and law test. Without explaining, he pulled up Google on his computer, and typed in "media law and kittens".

We found this:

"Didn't that make you feel better?" he asked me.

It did.

Valentine's Day Post

I guess on Valentine's Day something that you do is post about Valentine's Day. However, on my Valentine's Day, my Valentine was visiting from out of town.

In a lot of ways it was just like every other weekend when he visits. We spend a lot of time ignoring other people. I ignore my homework. He does adorable things for me.

Valentine's Day is not really my thing. I loved in grade five when you decorated a big paper bag to put cards in and got a whole afternoon of class off for a party (Mmm... pink icing). Beyond that, I haven't really been up on Valentine's Day since. I've never really had a Valentine to moon over either.

I probably would have done something this year if it hadn't fallen on the day after the dance show, and maybe would have done something anyway if I wasn't sick from overworking myself. I told Phil upfront not to do much of anything because I would feel bad. He did surprise me; we were sitting in my room after I came back from striking the set of the dance show, when Saf at called me from front desk to tell me to come pick something up from my mailbox. Obviously, this was all a clever ruse by Phil to lure me away so he could quickly surprise me with dinner. Sushi and green tea! Yum. I have the best boyfriend ever.

Now he's gone back home. Ho-hum.

Coming Clear

Last night was opening night! And the house was really full! And there were minimal problems! The audience cheered and laughed and the faces of the audience, from what I could see, were oh thorough enjoyment. A couple faces of friends made me laugh during my dances. We all had so much fun. Which is the whole point right?

My brain is starting to come out of the all-consuming fog of Planning A Show. It took me an hour to get out of bed this morning but as I was showering, I wasn't mentally making a show to-do list. I started thinking about the paper I need to write and the presentation I need to prepare. I picked out clothes instead of throwing something on to run out the door.

I still feel like there are a lot of cotton balls between my ears, just from exhaustion. My friend (and co-director) and Seana had her mom in town for the night to see the show. After, she took a few of us out for a late dinner, and it was lovely. I love moms. My mom is incredibly sad not to be around for the show, and she really liked someone's mom was around. Seana's mom gave me a big hug and a congratulations after the show, which made me feel good.

We did it. We really did it. I can't believe it.

White Light

White Light, originally uploaded by ekhornbeck.

Maybe you have missed me - maybe not. However, the show goes up tomorrow night so I'm about to get my life back.

Quick recap: I'm on the executive of a society called the Dance Collective. We have an incredible wealth of talent here - especially in the first year. It seems to be full of fabulous dancers! Auditions were really hard because there was so much interest in the show. None of the four exec ever imagined we'd have such a hard time casting the show. We ended up with 34 dancers - 33 girls and one latin-dancing boy.

It's been very hard to corral so many people, but we are so proud of what we have created. The theme of the show is colour and we call it White Light. Each full-length dance has a colour (Highland, green, Latin, red, Jazz, black) and in between are short dances which show the change between colours. A character of "white light" goes throughout.

Last night was the dress rehearsal and it went so well! I was so proud of everyone. There were enough hiccups that my superstition about bad dress rehearsal, good performance is satisfied, but it went smoothly enough that I'm confident.

This morning, the firs thing I woke up thinking was: Opening Night. My stomach is in a giant knot right now. I feel kind of like I might puke and sometimes I forget to breathe for a few seconds. So many people are coming tonight to see this thing that I and three other directors have put together. I hope it goes well. I so hope it goes well.

This is the poster and program cover for the show. I designed it with another director, Seana. That is not me doing a high kick. I wish.

A late surprise

Every day I skip down the stairs to breakfast and wave at Monica who works front desk during the day. Today she stopped me on my way down.

"You have a package, you know," she told me.

I looked into the armchair in front of the desk where all the packages are laid out for students to pick up and recognized the familiar label of a family friend's design company. It was a big envelope with a bulge in the middle, the end taped up to stay closed.

When I opened it, I found a beautifully wrapped gift with a ribbon and a card that said "Happy Late Birthday!" Inside were a pair of red Olympic mittens. I put them on immediately and took myself and my cosy hands to breakfast. Also: the card was pop-up. What a great day to wake up to!