High Table...with Bottom

The high table dinners come fast and tasty here at the Loaf. No sooner do they clear the silver from one high table dinner, and it's time for another. Tonight's pre-high table guest was Joe Dixon, the actor who played Bottom in the production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" we saw in Stratford. Funny and extremely thoughtful about his work, Dixon answered our questions for about an hour. He described the character of Bottom as "enthusiastic" and "innocent," two qualities clearly present in his great performance with the RSC. Afterward, we headed out to the lawn (again, this is the quad where you can stand on the grass) for a reception before dinner.

Here I am with my friend Annie, whom I knew from her admission days at Bowdoin and my admission days at Puget Sound. After the reception, we found seats at dinner and enjoyed four courses of tastiness: 1) gazpacho, 2) small pieces of breaded fish with a little pile of pesto noodles, 3) extremely ginger-y chicken with rice and grilled tomato, and 4) strawberry floofy dessert.

On the short walk home across the quad, I snapped this picture of tonight's sky. The light was weirdly glowy and striking tonight, the afterburn of a genuinely sunny, pretty day. The weather only improves as we move toward the weekend, topping out in the (hold on to your knickers, Oxfordians!) high seventies.

In other news, I finished "Edgar Huntly" this morning. I understand entirely why we read it for class, but it really is a narrative nightmare. I started Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" for a paper I'm writing for the end of the session that formerly focused only on Wharton's "The House of Mirth" and "Ethan Frome" (plus a bunch of fun research goodies dug-up at the Bodleian). Now, I'm loving the Wharton so much, I can't stay away. Alison and I got train tickets for a day trip to Bath on Friday. Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, I'll travel down to London with Ali, then stay over with Ed's high school friend, Ellinor, and her partner, Jon, who live in London.

But, first things first! Tomorrow, I have class. Afterward, my tutor arranged for her two Bread Loaf classes to go punting from Lady Margaret Hall, the college where her classes meet. We'll all bring lunch stuff to share and head out in the boats. Very cool. I leave from the punting a little early to meet the bus headed to London for "King Lear" (with the Page to Stage class) at the Globe. Alison and I are going to bring picnic stuff for dinner so we can pocket the 14 pounds Bread Loaf gives us for dinner money and have more time at Tate Modern before the play. We arrive home late tomorrow night from the Globe, so I'll likely post an update sometime Wednesday. Take care, all! Have a good day!