Of Presentations, Theatres and Visionaries (Part 4)

I woke up but decided to stay in bed until 9:00. I got dressed and strolled into the kitchen to find Mr. and Mrs. C making yet another fine breakfast. As breakfast was being prepared, I presented my collection of my own thoughts of the past year, totaling 34, which we then in turn discussed. The order of the day, to attend Benjamin's Birthday Party. Benjamin is the oldest of Fritz's children and celebrated his 10th birthday this past Sunday. After Breakfast, which was more of a brunch by the time the whole affair was said and done, I packed up all my belongings. As the girls made themselves ready, we began watching "Amazing Grace", the Story of William Wilberforce, the Slavery Abolitionist during the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th Century. A film, which I very much enjoyed, though we only got through about 3/4 of it.
   We then left for Fritz's abode. Alyssa, Ashley and Chloé were to play a significant role in the birthday bash of young Benjamin. The party was in the style of a dress up murder mystery dinner party. Benjamin portrayed Tam MacFinster, a detective of sorts, his friends, family and us, an assembly of other related characters stretching from Col. Heinz Ketchup to Harold Aberthwaite (the butler, Fritz) to Lord and Lady Bernardo (Fritz's Parents who live near by). The Apex of the evening was the presentation of how Detective MacFinster solved the case of the missing Nunuval Diamond as well as the how the dessert for the evening had been stolen and the host of invitees then needed to question the rest of the guests that evening what they may or may not have seen or their alibis for a given time period. Unfortunately,  though to no surprise, the host of 10 year olds lacked the attention span and will power to effectively interrogate the guests, Christy (Ben's Mother) then, after an uninspired round of guessing who might have pilfered the sweet last course of dinner, told the tale of the missing dessert which was subsequently served. Shortly there after, the evening drew to an end as presents were opened and parents began to arrive to take their children home.
    As for me, I was the Photographer for the "Irish Times" (my favorite Dublin Newspaper I might add), I mustered my best Irish accent and took as many pictures as I could. Dinner that evening consisted of deep fried Fish and Chips which were very, especially with Vinegar and Tartar Sauce.
The evening was quite fun indeed and I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to better acquaint my self with Addison, a fellow GBTer and Fritz's nephew, who portrayed Captain Carlisle, a Gentleman Pirate of sorts. At the terminus of the gathering, Chloé, Mr. R and I creatively packed the back of Mr. R's Camry with all our things and made our way back up north towards where I had left my Camry. The trip was low key Up the 5 to the 101 through downtown L.A. Up through Orange and into Encino. We listened to a medley of my music ranging from 70's-80's rock to more modern music including Mumford & Sons. I was home safe and sound and snug in bed by 10:30. High on life and completely content with a most wonderfully of weekends spent.

Of Presentations, Theatres and Visionaries (Part 3)

 Throughout the next hours, waves of relief and joy swept over me. I had successfully presented and defended my paper before my peers. This sudden loss of burdening resulted in a euphoria that lasted the rest of the day and into the next. After Chloé finished her presentation and defence, (her paper was on whether God is in us, because we are of him, or not) we all went out to lunch at the local Chipotle (mexican fast food establishment), which was great fun, again this euphoria was present in us all. The feeling of community and comradery was at its finest. Accompanying us were some of the local GBT I and GBT III students, who had also sat in on the paper presentations. After a Carne Asada Burrito and a Strawberry Surfrider from Jamba Juice we made our way back to the Estate of our benevolent leader as many of our company needed to prepare for the upcoming Choir & Theatre Showcase.
    Those of us who were not actively participating in the choir rehearsals milled about the grounds, whiling away the early afternoon with conversation, banter and plenty a humourous remark. At 4:00 the Showcase began, and thus ensued 3 hours of sitting on the hard wood floor of the great hall. The choir performance as admirable, however to me it was the theatre troop that took the cake that afternoon and evening. With many well performed monolog from both Oliver Wilde and Shakespeare and a handful of other writers. The most inspiring of monologs came from one Reed B, who performed Henry's monolog before the Battle of Agincourt, from Shakespeare's Henry V. It was, in a word, and inspiring performance, inspiring not only to my generation of GBT student, but also, to the generation yet to come. After a brief intermezzo, the second act began. Portrayed was a play about the German Concentration Camp of Theresienstadt, Terezín, in Czech. It was presented from the view of jewish children in the city and their experiences until their final deportation to the furnaces and gas chambers of Auschwitz. It was performed well, though was rather lengthy for my taste, the hard wood floors didn't help in the slightest.
    It finished at 7:00, which was when the next performance was due to start. So after a 10 minute respite, the whole thing was done again. My attention span and hind however couldn't make it through yet another presentation. Instead I opted to hang out with all of the cast of the theatre who weren't performing during the first half. We had a splendid time as this sense of euphoria and good humour reached its peak as weariness too began to take its toll. There are few words that would do justice to the great grande time I had that evening with many a new friend and reacquainting with old. As the second half began, I was instructed to play the minute part of a Red Cross Medic, which brought some excitement and variety to the affair. This glamourous evening reached its end at around 10:30, though it was 11:00 by the time we said our last good byes for the night and 11:30 by the time we arrived home. A burger, a glass of OJ and Bed!

Of Presentations, Theatres and Visionaries (Part 2)

I slept tranquilly, at least until 4:00 am, where a fitful sleep of anxiety began until 6:00. At 5:45, my friend Anne, as is her custom, texted me, wishing me good luck on my up coming paper presentation, and waking me from my troubled slumber. This paper presentation was indeed the primary reason for my trip down south. I am a student of the Great Books Tutorial (here after GBT). In the 5th year of this great course of philosophy, cognition and learning, one must not only write 2 Essays of epic proportions, but must also present them. Finding my self for the first time in nearly half a decade back in my native Southern California, I decided to capitalize upon the opportunity to present my paper locally.
    After a brief shower, during which I boosted my morale and confidence by listening to a selection of my favorite Irish Rebel fight songs, I suited up and sauntered out into the kitchen. There I found  my hosts and a generous breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausages, berries and potatoes. Furthermore, was a tall glass of orange juice, which was much appreciated and caused me to relax, if only for a little while.  I went over a few of the difficult passages in my paper and shortly there after we made our way from Murrieta to Escondido. We arrived shortly after 8:00, just in time for the beginning of the first paper presentation. This presentation was by Jessie, who did a wonderful job in explaining her findings about the nature of Evil in the world. She also did well in the defense of her paper by a bombardment of questions not only by our teacher, bu by the audience as well. All too quickly though, the bells of the clock chimed 9:00. As they did so, I knew that these bells tolled for me.

Presenting the paper

    I took the stage and stood behind the podium. Fritz, our glorious teacher, then introduced me and my paper topic. I began, and after the first paragraph, fell into that oh so important rhythm of reading, and in doing so my anxiety subsided. As I finished, I looked up to behold all of my fellow classmates and friends, this vista was quite a heart warming sight and yet further reassurance. I was asked many a question ranging from the Health care debate, to Abortion to Hitlers Germany and its influence on decision making today. As the bells tolled 10:00 I returned to my seat in the front row, relieved.

Answering Questions

Of Presentations, Theatres and Visionaries (Part 1)

On Friday last, the 27th of the first month, I packed my weekend bag and made my way to the Hesby Oak Elementary School to meet the parents of a dear friend of mine, too make the trek down to Escondido. I would like to take this time to express both my disgust and acceptance of traffic in and around the L.A. Basin. I arrived at the agreed Rendez-Vous point at the agreed time. Mr. and Mrs. R, were in a word, delightful. I met their Son and Daughter, Bryce and Chloé, two years ago on a Italy trip organized via our online World Literature class, though Chloé was and still is my classmate. After making our way back onto the 101 and eventually the 405 headed south. Again, the L.A. Basin at 6:30 on a Friday night, is well, more a parking lot than anything else. Our Gypsy (the GPS) continually told us we were perpetually an hour away from our destination. By around 9:30, after 3 hours of traffic, and much great conversation, we arrived at our lodgings in Murrieta, at yet more dear friends of mine. The C's house an endearing family who loves me like a son. Their daughters, Ashley and Alyssa, are also classmates of mine. Incidentally, they too were on the afore mentioned trip to Italy. The rest of that evening was spent in song, music and catching up. 11:30 found me fast asleep. The last few hours of that sleep so precious was troubled however. Morning loomed, and as that new sun rose, so too did my anxiety.