Isn't it good? (norwegian wood)

Last night, I added a new rule to the list of rules of theatre people: Never try to outdrink a man who's played Hamlet. Man. I went out after the show last night to meet with yet more theatre people--shake hands, hand out business cards, etc--and I ended up closing two bars. Mostly because I got into an argument with this guy about the interpretation of Hamlet. He was insisting that to understand it, you had to see it, I was resisting, saying that no interpretation could possibly live up to the poetry that is inherent in the words. I recalled Oliver's "To be or not to be" speech, he cited the Royal Shakespeare production in the early nineties. We became swift friends after agreeing that Horatio was our favourite character. After the actor's bar down the street closed, we went to the Green Mill, which is where Al Capone used to hang out--and promptly got into a fight because the jazz band playing featured a horn player on something that neither of us recognised, so he kept insisting this instrument did not exist. Finally I tapped the horn player on the arm during one of his breaks and asked him, "Excuse me, sir! What instrument is that?" and found out it was a bass trumpet. honestly. actors. The Green Mill is SO COOL--they have live jazz most nights, and the ambiance is definitely old-school bar, with heavy wood panelling, painted walls and a concrete statue of a Greek goddess in the corner. I'm definitely going back. Although next time I'm not going to stay until quarter to four.

I also started my new job yesterday. I am a proposal writer for a small engineering and architecture company, and so yesterday was learning how these proposals were put together, all the ducks that needed to be put in rows. My boss is an older gentleman named Mr. S, and he told me that he wanted to hire someone who was creative--but right now he really needs someone who is organised. I shall do my best. The office is very old-school, and the people that I work with are ok. I think that once I learn the role, and don't have to ask people for help every five minutes, it will be challenging but not difficult. I'll be working under my own direction a lot. I'm definitely looking forward to working steadily for a change. Putting a little money away. Making a dent in my student loans. Getting a desk--I realised after I published my wish list last week that DESK should have been item number numero uno, so I can write in my room. Then the Wii.


In other news, London has unveiled the logo for the 2012 games, the theme for which is apparently "80s Dance Party." Sigh. I've been feeling so good about living in Chicago lately that I haven't had time to be homesick, which is a good thing, but a strange feeling. Especially as I have discovered the stories about Horatio Hornblower, a fictional sailor in the late eighteenth century. They are full of brave men, daring the seas to stop the French invaders--but what makes Horatio such an interesting character is that his actions don't spring from an inherent well of bravery and courage, but rather a "If I don't do this everyone will think I'm afraid, and they won't follow my orders, so I better do this even though I'm fainting from fear." Also the stories feature lots of nautical lingo like "then Horatio slipped from the ratline and fell into the shrouds just as the mizzen topmast gave way and came to rest on the mainsail's royal yards." The hell you say. I love it. I may never learn how to sail a boat, but at least now I know what "fothering" means.

Gregory Peck stars as Hornblower in "Horatio Hornblower and the Hussy Wore a Dress Without Sleeves, the Hussy."