the plague strikes again

So we left off with my possible peril.. let's put that aside for the moment, because i woke up still feeling sick on Monday morning, but not quite deathly. I went to class, then spent lunch worrying about informing my architecture teacher of my decision to leave the class by 4:10 whether he liked it or not. He's very hard to read, so i was not sure how he was going to take it. You see, i had written in to the BBC to get free tickets to the taping of Graham Norton's The Bigger Picture. They gave me the date of Monday the 16th, and i was surprised to find out that we were supposed to be there by 4:40 the latest. Huh. My class runs until 4:20. The studio near Waterloo will take at least 30 minutes to get to if i sprint. Trust me i had carefully calculated this for the past week, so that i knew exactly when i needed to leave. It was pretty convenient that we had a midterm slide test that day, don't you think? Also convenient that he decided to lecture before the test and did not give us our break til 3:45. Right. hmm..

I would have none of this. So i stopped being nervous and went up to inform him of my dilemma during the break. All of my friends had told me to make up something about how i had to go somewhere very important and if he inquired further i was to say "it's personal." However, i pride myself on my honesty; and really, would you rather hear some mildly awkward excuse or the truth? So i decided beforehand that i would just tell him i have to leave, that i would rather accept the consequences to my grade and go to this show than miss out. Most people had left to go get a drink or some food, and i finally got up to talk to him. Unfortunately,I had failed to notice that my entire right leg had fallen asleep during the duration of the class period causing me to sort of limp awkwardly over to the projector where he was. It was uncomfortable...

He looked a bit frightened at first that i have approached him (he's also kind of eccentric.) But i enjoy him. He wears awesome unnecessarily large, round, black glasses and bright blue checked ties paired with red striped shirts and things of that nature. I said , and i think it went precisely as follows:
"So ...yeah... there's probably no chance this test will be done before 4:20 is there?"
he kind of laughed at me in an exasperated sort of way and said " erm....well...it's a very quick test..."
"Do you think it's at all physically possible for me to leave by 4:10?"
He made a ' thats highly unlikely ' kind of face and continued on " well...its very quick and the slides are more to help give you hints. uh...so you can just answer the questions, not look at the slides and leave right when you're done. i am sure you'll get them all right and be done quick"
to this i said HA.
he kind of looked at me for an explanation so i said
"i have a totally unjustifiable reason" and continued on to explain the show and the general situation. He just kind of laughed at me in a ' you silly american' type of way; and then tried to reassure me that i could probably still get there if i left at 4:20 ...(LIES, i say).

He did, however, do our review in about 5 minutes when everyone returned at 3:55. Apparently the review for the other class was 20 minutes and he kept them overtime. After the speedy review, which i was extremely thankful for, i completed the test quickly ( not really paying attention to questions, hence the B+) and speedwalked out of the classroom at exactly 4:10. He was pretty cool about the whole thing, so i am a fan now.

I tucked my binder under my arm, put my oyster card in my pocket and hopped down the stairs two a time. It's tough. Don't try this at home, kids.... Unless your legs are two feet too long ,like mine. I legitimately sprinted to baker street station, down the escalators and successfully weaved through people to jump on the Bakerloo southbound train. I was in luck because that line only had 5 stops before Waterloo. I jumped off, and started jogging towards the station as i called my friends to tell them i was on my way. I startled a businessman as i bounded down the ramp by the National Theatre, almost running him over. Sorry, sir. I saw queues of people for other shows and was directed to the line in the back of the alley. There were 3 or 4 people in front of me for Graham Norton. I checked my cell phone; it was exactly 4:40. As i tried to catch my breath, i heard people repeatedly asking if there was anyone on their own. So when someone asked me that when i walked in, i said i might be but that my friends were supposed to be saving me a seat. They did. It was the last one in the entire theatre, and obviously the one the ushers had profferred to everyone. I sat down, a bit warm, but very happy. The warmup comic came out immediately and the show ensued.

My friend Rebekah told me she had looked online and it said the guests were supposed to be dustin hoffman and andrew lloyd webber. Dustin Hoffman is pretty awesome, so i was pleased. However, once she told me that she was positive that she walked behind Rupert Everett on her way in, i started to think someone was mistaken. Turns out that was for a different week, and this show starred our good friend Rupe, along with Jo Brand , a comedian, and two other actor/ critic people i did not know. Good. Rupert probably thinks we are stalking him now. Which we are not. At least I am not.

Graham Norton is a funny man. The show was very good, although it is quite different than his earlier talk shows. It is a bit more political and they talk more of current events. My five friends and i had a fantastic time, and were possibly on the telly? We are going to try to get tickets again under somebody else's name...but i have given up on hoping for the tickets to Steven Fry's radio show.

Now then, that was all fun and good.

I get home, eat dinner, put on pajamas and go out in the hall where people are studying for our midterm in civilisation of london the next day. Or civ o' london, as i prefer to call it. I had been very hot and cold for the past hour or so, but i also could not concentrate on anything my friends were saying. When i got up to go get something from my room, it was at that moment i realized i couldn't walk straight. FUN! I came back out, sat down wearily, and whenever i moved my head or my eyes, it was a bit blurry and took a very long time to focus. I decided this was less than good. So i stumbled back into my room and just sat on my bed for about ten minutes before i realised i was just sitting there doing nothing and thinking nothing. My friend then came in and tried to begin to figure out our fall break trip (which began in two days, mind). Bad idea. She soon came to the conclusion that i would not be making decisions that night, since i just sat there and stared, shivering, while i repeated that she could book whatever she wanted and i didnt care. I then pointed out that i might be dead at the time. She left , wishing me well on her way out. Instead of going to the desk to see if they had a thermometer to gauge what i must assume was an impossibly high temperature, i decided to just go to bed and hope it got better. I'm good like that.

It did not get much better. Like the good old song by Morrissey, i was "Still Ill." Though by Tuesday, things weren't blurry, i just still couldn't walk straight. So i brought in the big guns: I told the parents who get concerned over things like this and started to work out a doctor's appointment with the insurance people. I like to ignore illnesses, you see, so i have to bring in other parties to force me to go. Usually i consult the office of doctor laura ingwer who then tells me whether or not i should see an actual practicing doctor. She is smart. For example, i will say:" Doctor Laura Ingwer (she insists on being addressed by her full name) - it appears that i have cut off my left hand at the wrist, do you think it will be ok if i just leave it? i put a band-aid on and took some aleve. I am sure it will be fine." She will then say" no, you fool, go to the doctor, you are not a starfish and will not regenerate limbs" "Ah. i see. Well that's unfortunate," i say as i begrudgingly agree to go...