Five Actions

So today was punctuated by five actions: listening, buying, writing, taking, and attending. You will see the rest of the phrases below.

Listening: We listened to The War Requiem by Benjamin Britten today in Senior Sem. It was really interesting. I can't say I particularly liked it but I thought it was well done if that makes sense. To remind you, The War Requiem was written to commemorate the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral. It combines the old Latin funeral mass with poems by Wilfred Owen. The music was really powerful but I was a little put off by the solo singers. They were singing in an operatic tone and it was just hard to adjust to. Thank God I had the lyrics in front of me, otherwise I would have had no idea what was going on. Like I said, it is an epic piece of work (90 minutes long) but it really puts out the message of pacifism strongly. It would be hard to hear this music and still be pro-war which I think was Britten's point. I also spent a lot of the day listening to my own music on my Zune walking places and stuff.

Buying: I went to the grocery store and bought a whole bunch of groceries. It felt so good. I know that that sounds very capitalistic or something but it felt good to get what I wanted (cheapest option of course, and I didn't get EVERYTHING I wanted, but still) and not worry about not having enough cash. Granted I still only spent £30 and I bought enough food to last me for 8-9 days hopefully but just the comfort of not having to worry about it was great. Mom and Amy will be happy to know that I bought potato flakes and rice/couscous mix things. Just like old times! I also bought some more fruit cocktail, haha Dad. I really like what I purchased which sounds kind of weird but I felt like I got a bunch of each food group, where as before I would basically buy bread, PBJ, pasta and sauce and that was it. Anyway, just exciting.

Writing: I spent a while writing my blog post about my weekend in Abingdon. It is a really long post but worth the read (I always say that). That's all there is to say about that.

Taking: I decided to walk to the National Theatre where we all went to a play tonight. On the way there, I walked by Big Ben, the London Eye, and across the Jubilee Bridge. I had not seen them at night since like my first night here when Vanessa and I walked around. That's terrible but it is probably true. I just don't go out at night. I'm like an anti-vampire. Anyway, since I never see them at night, they were truly spectacular. So all the pictures in this post are from that walk to the National Theatre. It was so cool. Another one of those picture on my Pictures I Truly Love is the first one. On some of the others, I love the reflection on the Thames. Amazing! I think I am getting better at taking cool pictures. Maybe not, you be the judge!

Attending: As I said, we attended a play at the National Theatre. It was called Major Barbara. The main story surrounded the owner of a armament factory in the early 1900s and his search for his successor. The play was really about right vs. wrong and morality and stuff. Like, how does one attain salvation and is there such a thing as that. Pretty heavy stuff but it was actually really funny. A lot of one liners and there was one ridiculous guy who would always say, "Well, I say" but it a really weird and funny manner. I thought it was really good and I enjoyed the main character very much.

One thing I forgot to say was that the best part of my day (no kidding) was my lunch. I made it right after I got back from the grocery store. I made a panini sandwich just like the ones I had in Italy (panini bread, cheese and meat), BBQ chips, peach slices, and a yogurt because I didn't have one at breakfast. It was SO GOOD. I know I center around what I eat a lot but it is a big part of my life here (or anyone's life for that matter) so deal with it I guess.

Well that was my day. I wonder what verbs will happen tomorrow... (haha, good ending, I just never know how to end these things)

Toodles!