WE EARNED OUR MASTER'S DEGREES!!!

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so incredibly happy at this moment!! Thanks to ALL of you for your love, encouragement, and support! I am so grateful for YOU!!

Right after we processed in...

Getting hooded! Wahoo!

Sara and Jessie

This one's for Nina! We did it!

Dear, dear friends. Sad to say goodbye to them.

Timeless.

Sweet family! So glad they are here with me.

The Hume Team! Jason rocks!

Wait--did Dad give the commencement address?

I have a new hood! Blue and white :-)

Love these two.

Miriam--the best professor ever.

Ahhh...the diploma! Can't wait to put it next to Clay's!

Dumped by a Bus

Dear Bloggees and Bloggettes --

Greetings from scenic (and we do mean scenic!) Oxford from Brad and Glen, who have seized control of the all-powerful blogging machine for the moment, so the world is in big trouble, indeed.

But to begin: We arrived Monday midday after sleeping, or attempting same, on the red-eye from Newark to London, in various positions only a contorsionist would enjoy. After dropping our suitcase off at our hotel, an easy 15-walk from "downtown" Oxford, we walked over to Sara's room in stunningly attractive and historic Lincoln College, and met her equally attractive and gregarious friends, Jessie, Alli, Annie, Teri, "Jules", and . What a wonderful group of girls they are, and it was readily clear that they had become a close knit "family" over these past six weeks. We felt adopted into their family instantly, and have continued to feel a part of this engaging group ever since (well, as much as a couple of 50-somethings can!).

Tuesday Glen and I were off to London for a day of sightseeing. We hopped a bus into the city, but when it started to rain en route our bus driver announced that his windshield wipers didn't work, so he was having to drop us off in a little town short of London, and would be calling in for a replacement bus, which would arrive . . . sometime. Fortunately, we were close enough to London by that point that it turned out that this little town was served by the London Underground (or "Tube", as they say), as a helpful Englishman (or "bloke") informed us. So after being dumped by the bus, we made the final 45-minute leg of our journey by subway, being sure always to "mind the gap" when entering and exiting the train.

We have decided to write a book, the title of which will be: "How Not to See London." A few details (just to tempt you to buy the book, soon to be published by Oxford Press, of course): After the bus fiasco, we arrived in London's Leichester Square to buy discounted tickets to "Wicked," only to be told that "Wicked" tickets are never discounted; then we went to to The Globe Theatre, only to be told that there was an early matinee so we couldn't go into the theatre; then we went to the War Rooms to see the new Churchill Museum, only to be told that we would have to go through all the War Rooms (which we had already seen) just to get to the museum; then we went to Parliament, only to be told that the tickets were sold out for the afternoon; then to Westminster Abbey, only to be told that it had closed three minutes earlier; then we went to the Dali Museum (which had a special Picasso exhibition -- gotta love Picasso!), only to find it already closed, and finally to the Eye (the giant ferris wheel on the Thames), where the ticket line stretched to the outer suburbs of Paris. But along the way we (1) mastered the Tube, (2) saw the Tate Modern Museum, (3) became certified experts on the London pedestrial bridges, (4) worked off enough calories to account for our last 87 meals, and (5) had a delightful meeting with Sara and her Breadloaf classmates in the City prior to a play they were seeing.

So all in all, . . . it was a good day.

Which brings us to Wednesday (yikes! only Wednesday? we're already on the second volume of this blog entry!).

And . . . here . . . we . . . go (only five minutes to finish this post!):

CoveredmarketCroquetPaddleboatsJerichocafeLiterarytourBlackwells
bookstoreSt.maryofthevirginHeadoftheriverTheturfrestaurant
BlenheimpalaceWoodstock(charminglittletown!)cocktailreception
incourtyardThebearpubZizzi'srestaurantBodleianlibraryNewscafe
GRADUATIONReceptionHightabledinnerChristchurchcollege
JesuscollegeTrinitycollegeMertoncollegeNew college

In short: We had great fun this week! Love to all, Brad&Glen

Some pictures!

Before dinner in the Lincoln College Front Quad

On the Thames

Look at our gorgeous views of Oxford!

My room is right there!

The Head of the River

Senior Reception the day before Graduation

Mom and Dad are Here! The Celebration Begins!

What a treat it was to finish my paper, go to bed, wake up, have mimosas with my three Page to Stage friends who also finished their papers (we are DONE with our BreadLoaf requirements!), and then greet my wonderful Mama and Papa! Dinner out tonight at Jamie's Italian (yup, as in Jamie Oliver, one of my Food Network Faves) and then hanging with the girls...ah, summer.

Tomorrow our class meets for 3 hours and then heads to London for our last play: The Revenger's Tragedy. Nothing like ending on a really dark note, huh? But hopefully Mom and Dad will be able to meet us for dinner in the city before they see a play themselves...and then Brittany comes on Wednesday, Mom and Dad's anniversary on Thursday, Jason on Friday, graduation on Saturday, and then home on Monday!!!!

Mary + Jamie=AWESOME

Check this out: www.welltrainedcollies.blogspot.com

Could they BE any nicer???

I'm DONE!!!

It's 3:40 a.m. and I just finished and submitted my final paper EVER for Bread Loaf!! AAAHHH!! I am so excited!!!! Let the parties begin!

Mom and Dad are on a flight to the U.K. as we speak...I can't wait to meet them in Oxford in just 7 hours! Life is SO good.

Good night, dear friends.

What a piece of work is David Tennant...

...How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god...

Hamlet: What a way to end our experience with Shakespeare this summer. It really was the ultimate conclusion; in my mind, Hamlet is the best display of Shakespeare's genius. It has everything--eloquent soliloquies, internal conflict, strained family relations, complicated romantic pairings, political strife, murder, incest, betrayal, a dumb show, metatheatre, and of course ruminations on the meaning and worth of life. I love every word of it. And I loved every second of the RSC production last night.

David Tennant (supposedly a British TV and film star over here--the crowd went crazy for him) starred as Hamlet, and he charmed us through and through. Clearly, he was in control of his madness--and he knew everything that was going on with everyone else around him...but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what was going on in his own head. I don't know exactly how Tennant achieved that dynamic, but he did, and we all were pulling for him despite the fact that he is directly or indirectly responsible for everyone's death in the play. Wearing jeans and a red t-shirt (no shoes) for most of the play, Tennant capitalized on many of the lines that were never totally clear to me, showing me what they could mean and how they could be played. It was his relationship with Gertrude that most affected me--you could tell that they were close but that her marriage to Claudius was a hurdle they would never be able to overcome. She was a woman conflicted from start to finish, but her clear suicide at the end of the play (she knows the cup is poisoned and drinks anyway) suggested that even she was weighed down by the recent events in Denmark. Lucky for us, we get to talk to Gertrude today at Miriam's house. We also get to have a Q&A with the actress who played Kate in Taming of the Shrew. Once again, let me just say that our professor is AMAZING. I could not adore Miriam more.

Back to the play: Patrick Stewart played the Ghost and Claudius, and while it was a thrill to see him up close and personal, I have to admit I wasn't bowled over by his performance. He is an RSC legend--he was a principal actor here from 1966 to 1982 before he went on to things like Star Trek and The Christmas Carol--and it was pretty special to see someone so dedicated to the stage return in such a pivotal role. His version of Claudius was pretty much what you would expect: manipulative and charming.

I am perhaps most grateful for the performance of Polonius. I have always been intrigued by the father of Ophelia and Laertes. What's with all of the hypocritical advice he gives his children? Why does he send a spy after Laertes? Why does he sound so glib in several scenes? Oliver Ford Davies (supposedly another RSC legend) was brilliant in the role. He portrayed Polonius as a protective father who is keen enough to know what is going on in their lives but old enough to sometimes lose track of his thoughts and trail off into nothingness. When Hamlet calls him a "knavish fool" after he kills Polonius through the arras, it was too perfect. That's exactly what he was in the play: a knavish fool.

Ophelia=Haunting. I couldn't stop thinking about her last night. Just so sad. You ache for her in this production.

The set was pretty cool, too. It was a mirrored stage, and the panels of mirrors served as the walls behind which characters stood when they were spying on each other. When Hamlet shot Polonius through the mirror, the entire wall cracked with a big boom. Fantastic. And mirrors are just too appropriate for this play--everything is a reflection. The opening scene ("Who's there?) was also really special--all of the lights were down in the house, so we were just as surprised as Barnardo when Francisco entered. They also set up a neat graveyard scene--they must have used a hiding door on the floor to achieve the depth they conveyed on stage. And the fight scenes were vivid and intense.

All in all, a night to remember. and remember it I will. This entire summer has been so meaningful for me, and such a growth experience personally and intellectually. I am feeling profoundly grateful and humbled to have been able to do all of this. As I finish my final project this weekend (a lesson plan for R&J), I will surely be stimulated by the immense exposure I have been granted this summer to great literature and inspiring people.

Off to Stratford today for our interviews with the actors and for class on Hamlet. This weekend I will be working hard in the library--but I am so excited about it. I am focused and eager to get some good work down on paper before I leave. Mom and Dad arrive on Monday!