Okay, I'm sorry.

Hi everyone. I know I've really been slacking here lately, and I'm sorry. I just really didn't feel like writing anything for a while.

So here's what I'll do: I'll give you a condensed version of stuff that has happened in the past two and a half weeks. Let's call this a roundup.

Stratford-upon-Avon: Two weekends ago I went to Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace and burial place of Shakespeare, with a large group from my school. It was a cute little town, and I enjoyed it very much, except perhaps for the show we all went to see (I was there for two classes for this precise reason). The Merchant of Venice is a good play, but the way the Royal Shakespeare Company did it was just plain weird, and also unexplainable, at least in my eyes. They tried to perform it in the style that David Mamet, another playwright (who I also mentioned earlier this semester--Kevin Spacey/Jeff Goldblum combo anyone?), but Mamet writes his plays so that the dialogue is the most important part and the actors are supposed to act it out without putting emotion or feeling into it, giving the characters no depth. I'm sorry? You don't do that with Shakespeare. Shylock is a pretty complex character if you ask me. And it began and ended with some Irish jig. It doesn't even end there. There was some ice motif, like the three casks were made of ice and there were icicles hanging over Portia's head during the choosing scenes. Don't ask me why because I don't know. And one more thing: they based the costumes on some obscure abstract painter. WHAT??? Why? What is the point of that?? Portia, a tiny lady, looked like a goddamn elephant in the second half, at least when she wasn't dressed up as a boy.

London Book Fair: For my internship last week, I went to the London Book Fair, which was actually pretty interesting, if boring for me. Really, you don't do anything unless you're buying or selling something. And I was doing neither as I have no idea about anything really. I frequently found myself saying "I'm just an intern" despite the nametag that said I was an executive editor, and also that my name was Deborah. That first day I really didn't do anything but read, and also go on this epic quest with Nina to find a ham sandwich for Peter (yep, he was there...), which ended only in failure and a salmon bagel. But hey, I was there and listened and absorbed, and scored some free books from Duckworth because I finally asked Nina if I could take some home. And they also paid for my lunch, which was cool. The second day was more of me doing nothing, but for most of it Nina wasn't around to do nothing with me. So I was forced to watch after Peter and make sure he had everything he needed, which luckily ended up being only a bottle of water (that I got reimbursed for). Nina and I had lunch and sat down for a while, and we talked about a bunch of things, including her wedding which is this Saturday. She invited me to the after-party but I am having some people over that night so I am not able to attend, which is sad. But oh well. I ended up staying at the table we were at for another hour and a half by myself just reading, because she didn't want me to have to stand outside the Duckworth booth (which was, by the way, the six of a slightly spacey broom closet). Then the two of us had to pack up the entire booth, which was fun. We were really pressed for time because they were closing the building since they needed to clear it for the next event, so here we are throwing books and things in boxes, taping them up and sending them off to the distributor. Except for three boxes and a few bags, which we had to bring to the office ourselves via a hired car. The driver was completely incompetant, by the way, as he didn't know where we were going and was just a terrible driver. I got carsick. I never get carsick. But that was the London Book Fair, and it wasn't half bad when all is said and done.

Dublin: This past weekend I went to Dublin, once again with the school. This trip was a little different, as I was hanging out with a completely different set of people--the theater kids. And I had a lot of fun with them. It was too bad I was completely sick, but whatever. We did a lot of James Joyce-related things--yes Jeff, all Ulysses stuff. I saw pretty much everything in Dublin that was in Ulysses, including the tower in which the book begins and the stretch of sand on which Stephen Dedalus walks up and down trying to figure out what to do. At least I think it was Dedalus. Maybe it was Bloom. Jeff will know. Other than that, I went to the Guiness Storehouse, which was pretty cool. It was a lot more like a museum than I thought it would be, but we still learned how they make the ale. We also learned a lot about the history of it all, and Arthur Guiness, etc. And we got a free pint at the end with our ticket stub! That was pretty cool. My friend Renee stole her pint glass haha, I smuggled it out for her in my purse. We drank quite a bit of Guiness that weekend, since it's best in Dublin. I also saw the Book of Kells at Trinity College, which I hadn't heard of until this trip, but I guess it's this really old book that tells scholars a lot about Celtic history and artwork or something, it's got the Gospels in it. That was pretty cool.

And that brings me to yesterday, which I like to call the Day of Free Food For Tahleen. It began at lunchtime when Suzannah and Nina brought me out to probably the most expensive lunch I've had to date, at a place that I think was called Smith's of London. It was around the corner from our office. We each got a glass of wine (Nina got a wine spritzer), and a three-course meal. I had mozzerella and tomato to start, then lamb shoulder for my main course, and chocolate mascarpone cake with a roasted plum for dessert. And also coffee after that. It was fantastic, and Suzannah used a company credit card. Hooray! Apparently Madonna has eaten there in the past, as it is quite a posh restaurant, according to Suzannah. And my free food day did not end there. Right after work I went straight to Bond Street (after wasting time and money in Waterstone's) to meet my friend Shannon from back home. We went to a Lebanese restaurant called Maroush, but I didn't eat much as I was still kind of full from lunch. But still, I had some really good hummus and lamb shawarma, and some jajegh (yogurt salad, whatever, it's all delicious). I was happy. And then James, Shannon's friend's husband, paid for everyone's meal! It must have been between 100 and 200 pounds, and it was so nice of him. It was great. And THEN we went out to a bar called Match, where Shannon bought me a pina colada. So I really had a great day. Everything I consumed was free, except for the oatmeal at my breakfast which I had previously purchased. How fantastic. :)

And now, as you're all caught up in the life of Tahleen, I thank you for reading and being patient. I'll try to update more often in the future, which not be that much anyway since I'm leaving two weeks from tomorrow. Crazy, huh? I'm really excited to come home though, as tensions are running high in my flat. But I'll have to do as much as I can while I'm still here and have a chance to. I still have to make it to the Absolut Ice Bar, after all!