Double Feature
I’m not much of a stay-indoors kind of guy. If I’m riding past the front lawn and find a group of students sprinting hard to catch a Frisbee, I cannot resist jumping off my board and diving for the catch, no matter who it was intended for. I can’t get enough of the California sun and, fortunately, California usually delivers. On those off days when the weather has actually changed, though, I have to compromise. As crazy as it might sound, it actually gets cold around this time of the year, even in southern California. The cold we experience here is definitely relative, since a cold day during the fall in Riverside is probably a pretty good day anywhere on the East coast. I’m ok with cold weather, but it was the rain that brought me down (literally, I slipped a few times) the week before Thanksgiving break.
I was excited, too, leading up to the end of the week with no homework or work shifts to worry about. That alone is a rare occurrence. Even rarer was the sudden rush of clouds and rain that slowed down the cross-campus commuting as I was forced to forgo my longboard and actually walk to the engineering building. The joy of riding to class was lost until I was quickly reminded why I even bought a board in the first place. The UCO (University Choir and Orchestra) concert in Stamps Courtyard was cancelled, too, which is always an enjoyable time. It was Thursday afternoon, and the International Center was hosting an international sports day on the front lawn, to which I would normally gravitate. It just had to be cold and wet on the only day people actually want to play cricket and badminton. I let weather take those activities from me, but I wouldn’t let it ruin my free afternoon.
I would have to break tradition and enjoy the indoors for once, but luckily tonight was perfect. The CBU theater department was presenting their version of Shakespeare’s 12th Night, and this would be my last opportunity to go. Weeks ago I had told my friend Spenser Deardorff, who played the sea captain, that I would go support the show, and finally I had the time. Now I was expecting to find old European sets, hard-to-follow Shakespearean phrases and, of course, men in tights, which honestly wouldn’t have quite convinced me to stay for the whole two hours. I clearly had no idea what I bought tickets for. The play was indeed Shakespeare’s 12th Night, but the style was entirely changed to steampunk, which involved dark eyeliner and 19th century European outfits. The blend of classic Shakespearean literature with industrial age Europe turned out quite well, and I was laughing the whole way through. If it wasn’t for the smart quips and dramatic monologues, I would’ve forgotten that I was even watching a classic theater production. It was such a great show.
I completed my victory over the rainy day with the CBU Hunger Games: Catching Fire premier immediately following the play. I had bought tickets weeks ago, and I couldn’t have asked for a better day to be inside enjoying a movie. The premiere was only for CBU students, which meant a packed theater full of the best people. They even took into consideration those students with Friday 8 a.m. classes (like me) and set the show time for 10 p.m. I don’t even know how CBU rented out a premiere for a highly anticipated movie, but they did. Way to go CBU!
Rainy days aren’t that bad.
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