Strokes

Yesterday we learned the 8 basic types of strokes and some simple rules for stroke orders. I like the idea of a written language designed with aesthetics in mind. As my teacher explained last night, "If it didn't have that little flick on the end, it wouldn't look nice." I haven't even attempted to write any Chinese before, so this aspect is totally new for me. It's funny that I find being demoted to an undergraduate degrading, but I find being demoted to a five year old (as far as writing goes) delightful.

After Chinese class, I met Brenda to go out for drinks. I ran into Alicia (in theoretical physics, from Mexico; she's in a different office) and invited her to join us. I confessed to them that in walking so much around London, I've been tempted by some of the theaters that I pass on a regular basis. Brenda already knew where I was going with this, but I first mentioned that I really want to see Kevin Spacey in Eugene O'Neill's "A Moon for the Misbegotten". I went on to admit that, right down the street from our office, there's another show that tempts me. Brenda, on the edge of her seat, whose boyfriend already told her she could find someone else to accompany her to this one, was saying "Go on, go on". It's true, I'm won over by the bright pink signs that quip, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner". That's right, "Dirty Dancing" live on stage. I love also the juxtaposition with "Footloose" playing right down the street: the latter is advertised merely as "the hit movie" live on stage while the former is "the classic story" live on stage. I can't wait.