Kidnap / Escape, Countryside, Theatre... Oh, and a GIVEAWAY!!!

Yesterday evening, I went out to dinner with my best friend, Will.

In honesty, I have four people in the world who I might genuinely refer to in such a way... To me, the term is one I personally don't attribute to the people I've known the longest, or neccessarily to the people who know Absolutely Everything - friendship is a voyage of discovery after all! To me, a best friend is someone I feel completely myself with and trust to be able to deal with all my crap if I need someone to be there for me, without worrying they won't be there the next time. (And it goes the other way, as the million-and-one conversations on the kitchen floor with room-mate attest.)

Will is basically my adopted-big-brother. His mother does actually describe me as "the daughter I never had", so that's pretty much correct... These two photos pretty much sum us up - one was taken at a May Week (in June) garden party last summer, and the other was at a friend's birthday party about the beginning of my 2nd year.

Anyway... Carrying on with my ramble...

Will, being the dashing gent he is, recognised, over dinner, the distress I've been in, and immediately decided that I could not spend Easter weekend in Cambridge, but that I was going home with him to his parents' house in the Hampshire countryside. Let me just point out, that I know his parents very well, and this is not an irregular hide-out for me...

So, at 4am this morning/yesterday, after racing each other down the motorway, we arrived at his. Since then, it's been pouring down with rain, but it's warm and cosy and quiet... Well, note exactly true, as they have a dog and a puppy! (I'll try to post pictures of them before the weekend is out, as they're JUST ADORABLE.) Not managed to do work yet, but that's partly due to exhaustion. And yet I do feel inspired. It may be grey, but the colours of the landscape around are so comforting. The greens and browns and occassional flashes of red and yellow from hedgerows and gardens make me smile...

I was also the happy recipient of benefits of someone else's misfortune. Will's younger brother, who came home from Oxford today, was ill and unable to attend the performance of Merchant of Venice that was on at the Watermill Theatre tonight with Will and his mother, so I was roped into attending too.

Oh yes. Such a hardship. I hate Shakespeare I do. Oh wait. I love Shakespeare. I lied. Very Badly.

The production was directed by Edward Hall (Sir Peter Hall's son), and had an all-male cast. They are doing Merchant in rep with Midsummer Night's Dream, which Sally (Will's mum) went to on Monday and proclaimed as hugely successful. Well, tonight's performance was equally successful. Though the women really annoyed me - partly from inconsistencies and partly because the guy who played Jessica was Just Weak! Basically, it was really well staged, in a prison, with a great set of leads and some really strong acting and direction. Merch can be incomprehensible at times, but this interpretation was affecting and clear in direction and speech from the word go. Brilliant. I just hated that Portia was played like a Tranny, while Jessica seemed to be supposed to be a girly actual-girl which were portrayals neither consistent with each other, nor with the prison-setting, in the case of Jessica. But that's small fry really, considering it was a throughly engaging production of a play I've never before liked. Even the gory scenes like the eye-removal were done well! And the choosing of the box for Portia's hand in marriage - pick which of the gold, silver and lead boxes have Portia's picture in, get the clue right, or otherwise get a skull or a mirror with mean verse attached - was extremely well done. Especially considering the last Merchant of Venice I saw, my mother and I almost shouted "sack the hatter" at bows... They did have silly ones.

So anyway. In the spirit of this week's outfit posts, I do have a few, though please accept my apologies for the wearing of the same dress I wore last weekend! This time, with different stuff, but essentially, not Massively interesting...

- "slaving" at the computer...
- poseeeeer! that fire is so so toasty! this is the annexe downstairs, that is basically a self-contained flat, where I'm working / sleeping for the weekend.

- this weird lavender thing makes me happy!

- reading Conrad by the fire...

I wasn't massively dressed up for the theatre... It being a provincial one, there's no need to think more than country-smart and warmth. So I'm wearing my Acne Jeans, Topshop dress, mother's old charcoal cardigan, Kate Kuba heels and Tiffany tear drop necklace, bracelet and earring set. Relatively standard in a countryfied, comfy way.

Hmmmmm. This was supposed to be a short post... So I might stop there. And go to bed. Lol.

But before I go... Lazy Oaf have a SALE on til Monday... 20% off at the checkout with the code youareggshellent until Midnight, Easter Monday! Check it out! I'm thinking of getting one of these... Maybe...

Night night!

Xxxc