And why is there a cowboy in Death of a Salesman, anyway?

Much as I moaned and groaned, Hannah would not let me stay in bed all day. Nor would she stay with me. She had to go to work, and this was only five hours after we'd gone to bed.

Anyway, last night we went to see the Merchants' version of Death of a Salesman, and it was far better than I thought it would be. I went to meet Hannah at Waterloo to begin with, and we went up to the boys' school from there, hideously early but it meant we forgot tickets. Amazingly, I forgot to get them in advance when Pritchard's is selling them. Sigh.

So we sat down and exclaimed over the new staging arrangements - in a circle around a lowered stage - and when we'd been there for a while, the chemgeeks appeared. I wasn't expecting them at all, and when I whispered to Hannah who they were she breathed, "Oh god," and I couldn't help but agree.

But they were as wonderful as ever. Sarah, Laura, Emma and Fidan were all together and telling me in breathless voices that Becky O went to McDonald's in the village on Friday and ate seven hamburgers. There is video evidence. Becky is, incidentally, thin enough to thread through a needle. The mind is thoroughly boggled. She was in the play for a total of four lines, but it was a very pretty dress they had her in.

I had actually never seen the play before, and I really enjoyed it. It's tragic, it's a comment on the American dream, etc., etc., it's very very sad. Chris Cooper was playing Willy Loman and he was the best out of them - the only flaw, as Hannah and Sarah noted later, was the talcum powder drifting out of his hair. We were up in the dining-room after that, being fed insipid tea and shortbread, and I got to introduce Hannah properly to my friends. I can't remember what they were talking about, but I hope neither party was the worse for wear after the conversation. I'm pretty sure Fidan was talking about chromium at one point, at which Sarah and I said simulataneously: "That's cobalt!"

Well, they have the epithet for a reason.

After the play Hannah and I came back here and spent the night talking about nothing much in particular, but lots of things. I can't remember. It was nice, anyway. And eventually segued into prematurely interrupted sleep when Hannah had to go to work this morning. I don't like the way the night before recedes in the light of day - it's the night that spawns all the good ideas and world-changing theories. Some of which really are world-changing, and others that are just cracked; there is of course the theory Clare and Colleen have that Terry Pratchett and I are in fact the same person. Item number one on the list of evidence for?

"Have we ever seen you in the same room together? We have not."

I neglected to mention they've never seen me in the same room as Saddam Hussein either, but I digress.

Hannah said she liked the chemgeeks and the play. For a first proper date, it was fun. I am still slightly bitter about not staying in bed all day, but when I am not, really.

Now, driving lesson. Also, my parents are taking part in another event for Comic Relief - they, and many of the other doctors, are walking from Ormskirk Hospital to Southport, a distance of about eight miles. Wish I could have gone, but driving lesson. Sigh.

Fic commentary for Walking Barefoot to Palestine

Last night, Hannah and I got to discussing a subject I've often wondered about: specifically, why do we remember things we have absolutely no need to remember and take up valuable mental disk space? For no reason whatsover, I know nearly all the Stargate episode titles and the lyrics to Barbie Girl, and yet can't remember the oxidation states of cobalt or the fact I have three fic commentaries lurking on my hard disk, written and ready to post. This is the first one, for gamesiplay:

( Walking Barefoot To Palestine - DVD commentary )

I'll do the Love Story commentary next, but first Biology. An essay to write (The Role of ATP in Living Organisms, yay) before Rice-Oxley kills me. Sigh.