I love being a frog in the warm sunny summer...but mostly I’m happy because I have you.

I didn’t even really do anything complex today…but my brain gets fried exponentially faster when the things I study are out of my league. Like in tax law, I’ve been trying to catch up regarding depreciation and bad debts/losses. I get it when SHE talks about it but I can so tell that when left to my own devices I’ll be fucked. So I need to up my A game in the tax department. I’m delusionally desirous of an A in that class. Just cause I think the prof is awesome and it’s a 4 hour credit and I want to rock it.

And then I was proofing my study-aid chapter I have to write about international economic law. OH HAHAHAH. So this book series for which I'm writing normally reeks of personality and charm because the authors are so familiar with the material that there’s an offhanded je ne sais quoi about it...so then there’s me, with nooooooooooo fucking clue what’s going on. And you can TELL because the narrative is stale, distanced and sterile. I am working on it. I am also working on getting the SUBSTANCE right. Like I JUST REALIZED I kick off the “bilateral and free trade agreement” section by explaining what bilateral TRADE INVESTMENTS are. If you just glazed over, welcome to my world. I really do love working on this. I know more than I ever wanted to know about international trade law, including the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF. The Financial Times (always dutifully and mysteriously delivered daily at my doorstep but to which I have never subscribed), suddenly makes far more sense than I thought possible.

And! More interestingly, I also finally saw The Merchant of Venice! FMA had told me that they were actually doing student rush tickets (for some reason I thought they weren’t), which meant that I got a ticket in the orchestra section for $20 instead of $94. So I sent him a thank you and a tiny bunch of street roses (there is an awesome Korean vendor near my school and I selected the most antique-y looking pinkish ones). I had never seen the show and you know what, I have also never even read the play, sadcakes.



So I saw it for the very first time last week, and I was really intrigued by the story. First of all, it was hugely modernized (the pots of metals were each represented by a MacBook, wink), but obviously the little things didn't hinder the story. It was alarming at first to be confronted with such obvious anti-Semitic issues, but I can also see how it doesn’t matter that Shylock is Jewish; he easily represents any oppressed people. Especially important (and obvious) is the idea that it is his treatment in life (by these assholes) that forces him to act the way he does. It doesn’t justify his actions, but it’s one hell of a compelling reason. And who the hell wants to be the Christian assholes in this play, anyway? Everyone is pretty loathsome, although the women’s roles are mostly positive...but even they are rife with issues. The whole thing was just crazy interesting for me, as someone who didn't know anything upon going in.

Hell, I didn't even realize this was the play from which the “Hath not a Jew eyes? [...] If you prick us, do we not bleed?” speech is from. I think I knew this at one time, *cough*, but there it is.

And needless to say, FMA fuckin’ PWNED. Seriously, it was an awesome performance and, as appropriate, he got a standing ovation at the end.

But don't worry, I saw some awful stuff, too. Tonight I went to see Arthur. I have a thing for Helen Mirren and I think I want to like Russell Brand? I can't help it, who knows.



I never saw the original, and I went in with lowish expectations. But it was decently cute. To be fair, I was helpless before it. I mean, they had Helen Mirren and then they trotted out Frog and Toad references! I was defenseless...it was probably just the stress. (I mean, gads, I do know it wasn't actually GOOD, so there's that. It was just a guilty pleasure one-off, I don't actually recommend it and I certainly don't plan on telling anyone. Oh wait.)