Well, despite all my misgivings about my first attempt to cook a 15-lb turkey, Thanksgiving turned out impressively well. Thanks to days of preparation and some wonderful assistant cooks (or just Nic, really), there was quite an impressive spread for Thanksgiving dinner - which is good, considering I had 18 people to feed. It was a really fabulous party - we all got stuffed and tired and happy - just like Thanksgiving! - and everyone got along - not like Thanksgiving at all. :P It was actually really great - I was worried about my first Thanksgiving away from my mom's delcious feast, but I think I did a pretty decent job attempting it myself. I have pictures of my massive table o'food, but I need to set them up first. Link to come.
I spent so much time preparing for Thanksgiving, that I almost forgot about my birthday, but it ended up being tons of fun as well. Eric flew over to London for the weekend, and in the middle of theater extravaganza number 2, we had a fun little celebration for my birthday. After my £5 Vidal Sassoon Academy haircut disaster, we gathered at the house for pizza and lots of wine. Since everyone else in my house would apparently rather lounge on the couch than go out, I only went out with Nic, Eric, and Jenny, but it was fabulous. :P We headed out to this local Greek restaurant (a REAL one, Denis) to do karaoke, but they weren't starting till about midnight. We went to the World's End - this huge pub - to kill some time, and for some reason, they started playing songs from Dirty Dancing, Aretha Franklin, etc. It was fantabulous. We were dancing and singing at the top of our lungs and generally making a scene. Then some of Nic's friends came bearing balloons and we headed off to karaoke. Apparently the restaurant was hosting this corporate christmas party and we completely crashed it. We goaded people on and managed to get a couple of songs in ourselves before they asked us to buy drinks or leave. Being cheap as always, leave we did, and we headed up the street to Marathon, which is a kebab shop that becomes a kind of speakeasy at night with live music. It's hilarious - their liquor license is illegal, so if you ask them about the music at the front of the shop (which looks just like any other greasy food place), they get all shift-eyed and start talking in code. A couple of drinks and plates of greasy chips later, we were ready to call it a night. So a pretty good birthday, overall.
OH. AND I saw Jeff from Coupling. First celebrity sighting in London, and definitely the high point of my day.
= :)
Dec 9, 2005
Nov 25, 2005
Autumn in Paris
Hi Everyone -
Finally, here's my post on Paris - just after I've completely forgotten all the details. :P But I'll dig into my memory to try and recreate an accurate description.
I went to Paris in October with my friend Pia from work. We took the Eurostar, which is officially the most civilized way to travel. You leave from the city center and arrive in the city center. You travel in a roomy, sunny train, and get to Paris within three hours. Wonderful.
So we get to Paris, and it's about 15 degrees hotter than it is in London and sunny - absolutely gorgeous. In fact, practically the entire weekend was sunny and warm, which made for some great sightseeing. It was almost 70 degrees 2 days in a row - and this is in the middle of October!
We arrive at our hotel (the charmingly named Hotel Perfect, graciously suggested by Kristel), and find that they think Pia and I are some kind of couple, since we have a room outfitted with one double bed. Luckily, they can offer us twin beds the next day, so we decide to cope. On the good side, the room has those fabulous French windows that open out onto a balcony in the front of the hotel. Ah, Paris!
That night, we headed down for a romantic stroll by the river to see the city at night. We saw the Opera House (yaay HAA 11), and then walked along the river for a bit. After trying a ridiculously busy touristy place recommended by someone at work, we ended up at a wonderful little Italian restaurant near our hotel, where we had wine and linguine with clam sauce...mmmm. You can tell already that this trip was all about food. :P
The next day we went up to Sacre Coeur to see the amazing view from the top of the hill. You can see the entire city, and the cathedral isn't half bad, either. :P Then off to the Pompidou Center (HAA 11!), where we saw some amazing modern art, enjoyed more views of the city, and traveled through the "gerbil tubes" on the outside of the building. Then Notre Dame (requisite pose outside) and some amazing ice cream, which we ate on the Seine. That night we went to a brasserie recommended by my mom's friend, where I was talked out of getting pig hooves by Pia. :( I got my french onion soup, though. :)
Monday was a big day - in the morning, we went off to the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty much what I expected, but the views were really amazing. Plus it was cool to be so close to such a famous structure, even though I always thought it was in the middle of the city center. it's not...it's actually a bit down the river. sadness. Then off for what Let's Go quoted Lenny Kravitz as saying it was "the best falafel in the world". Hm. But it was ridiculously delicious (and cheap!) all the same. Yaay Let's Go!
Finding the best falafel in the world led us to La Marais, Paris' Jewish neighborhood, which drove me into a tizzy with all its bakeries and bagel shops. Yaay! We picked up some of the best challah I've ever had and took it off to the Cimitiere (sp) Pere Lachaise, which was this old, picturesque cemetery on a hill a little out of the center. All sorts of famous people are buried there, like Chopin and Oscar Wilde, and it really reminded me of Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA (which I recommend highly). We walked there for a while, saw Jim Morrison's grave (surprisingly small, but of course surrounded by tourists), and enjoyed the quiet of the winding stone paths for a bit. Then off to the Champs-Elysees to see the arch at night (pretty) and back to La Marais for some delicious tapas at a jazz club. (Where, unfortunately, all the jazz was in the basement for an additional - and expensive - fee. boo.) And sooooo much wine. Yummm. I love France.
Up bright and early Monday morning to check out the Musee D'Orsay, which is a museum with a collection of mostly impressionist paintings, including Monet, Manet, and all the other French painters who don't sound like each other. I saw Olympia, which was cool (yaay sophomore seminar!) and some incredible Art Nouveau furniture and decorative arts. Also, the building itself is amazing - it used to be a rail station and has this huge central space with a soaring glass ceiling. I think the architects deserve at least as much credit as some of the painters in the museum.
We wanted to take a quick little trip back to La Marais for some more challah bread, but it was closed. Boo. But no matter - I got some deliciously oozy french pastry instead, and all was well.
And of course no European trip would be complete without a requisite mad dash for a train. After assuring me that our tickets were for 6:30, Pia nervously informed me that they were in fact for 6:00, and that was actually 15 minutes from now. Bear in mind that our hotel was about a 10 minute walk from the station, and then imagine our mad dash (with luggage), through the streets of Paris, dodging the crazy drivers and angry pedestrians. Good times.
When we got to the station - with about 8 minutes to spare - we ran to the Eurostar check in, and presented our passports for approval. Although we were obviously in a rush, panting for breath and looking flushed and ACTUALLY TELLING THE GUY WE WERE GOING TO MISS OUR TRAIN, the French passport officer just glanced at us calmly and kept on talking to his friend, stamping our passports after what seemed like forever. Yaay, the French.
Then, after dashing our way through form-writing, question-answering, and metal-detecting, we jumped on the train and into our seats...an entire minute before the train pulled out of the station. That was fun.
A couple of hours later, we arrived in london, where we parted ways, none too happy to be on our own, I think. :P Let's just say our travelling styles are radically different. And perhaps the way we communicate our feelings. And our capacity for passive-aggressive behavior. I might start thinking about travelling alone.
Ok, this is going on far too long. I think I come off as some food-obsessed maniac, but then again, that's pretty accurate, isn't it? :P Hope you enjoyed the blog...below is the link for the accompanying pictures.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.5ngffh1v&x=1&y=bocbek
To everyone recovering from your Thanksgving binges, enjoy your leftovers for me! My Thanksgiving adventure is set for this Saturday - stay tuned for reports of how that goes.
= :)
Finally, here's my post on Paris - just after I've completely forgotten all the details. :P But I'll dig into my memory to try and recreate an accurate description.
I went to Paris in October with my friend Pia from work. We took the Eurostar, which is officially the most civilized way to travel. You leave from the city center and arrive in the city center. You travel in a roomy, sunny train, and get to Paris within three hours. Wonderful.
So we get to Paris, and it's about 15 degrees hotter than it is in London and sunny - absolutely gorgeous. In fact, practically the entire weekend was sunny and warm, which made for some great sightseeing. It was almost 70 degrees 2 days in a row - and this is in the middle of October!
We arrive at our hotel (the charmingly named Hotel Perfect, graciously suggested by Kristel), and find that they think Pia and I are some kind of couple, since we have a room outfitted with one double bed. Luckily, they can offer us twin beds the next day, so we decide to cope. On the good side, the room has those fabulous French windows that open out onto a balcony in the front of the hotel. Ah, Paris!
That night, we headed down for a romantic stroll by the river to see the city at night. We saw the Opera House (yaay HAA 11), and then walked along the river for a bit. After trying a ridiculously busy touristy place recommended by someone at work, we ended up at a wonderful little Italian restaurant near our hotel, where we had wine and linguine with clam sauce...mmmm. You can tell already that this trip was all about food. :P
The next day we went up to Sacre Coeur to see the amazing view from the top of the hill. You can see the entire city, and the cathedral isn't half bad, either. :P Then off to the Pompidou Center (HAA 11!), where we saw some amazing modern art, enjoyed more views of the city, and traveled through the "gerbil tubes" on the outside of the building. Then Notre Dame (requisite pose outside) and some amazing ice cream, which we ate on the Seine. That night we went to a brasserie recommended by my mom's friend, where I was talked out of getting pig hooves by Pia. :( I got my french onion soup, though. :)
Monday was a big day - in the morning, we went off to the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty much what I expected, but the views were really amazing. Plus it was cool to be so close to such a famous structure, even though I always thought it was in the middle of the city center. it's not...it's actually a bit down the river. sadness. Then off for what Let's Go quoted Lenny Kravitz as saying it was "the best falafel in the world". Hm. But it was ridiculously delicious (and cheap!) all the same. Yaay Let's Go!
Finding the best falafel in the world led us to La Marais, Paris' Jewish neighborhood, which drove me into a tizzy with all its bakeries and bagel shops. Yaay! We picked up some of the best challah I've ever had and took it off to the Cimitiere (sp) Pere Lachaise, which was this old, picturesque cemetery on a hill a little out of the center. All sorts of famous people are buried there, like Chopin and Oscar Wilde, and it really reminded me of Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA (which I recommend highly). We walked there for a while, saw Jim Morrison's grave (surprisingly small, but of course surrounded by tourists), and enjoyed the quiet of the winding stone paths for a bit. Then off to the Champs-Elysees to see the arch at night (pretty) and back to La Marais for some delicious tapas at a jazz club. (Where, unfortunately, all the jazz was in the basement for an additional - and expensive - fee. boo.) And sooooo much wine. Yummm. I love France.
Up bright and early Monday morning to check out the Musee D'Orsay, which is a museum with a collection of mostly impressionist paintings, including Monet, Manet, and all the other French painters who don't sound like each other. I saw Olympia, which was cool (yaay sophomore seminar!) and some incredible Art Nouveau furniture and decorative arts. Also, the building itself is amazing - it used to be a rail station and has this huge central space with a soaring glass ceiling. I think the architects deserve at least as much credit as some of the painters in the museum.
We wanted to take a quick little trip back to La Marais for some more challah bread, but it was closed. Boo. But no matter - I got some deliciously oozy french pastry instead, and all was well.
And of course no European trip would be complete without a requisite mad dash for a train. After assuring me that our tickets were for 6:30, Pia nervously informed me that they were in fact for 6:00, and that was actually 15 minutes from now. Bear in mind that our hotel was about a 10 minute walk from the station, and then imagine our mad dash (with luggage), through the streets of Paris, dodging the crazy drivers and angry pedestrians. Good times.
When we got to the station - with about 8 minutes to spare - we ran to the Eurostar check in, and presented our passports for approval. Although we were obviously in a rush, panting for breath and looking flushed and ACTUALLY TELLING THE GUY WE WERE GOING TO MISS OUR TRAIN, the French passport officer just glanced at us calmly and kept on talking to his friend, stamping our passports after what seemed like forever. Yaay, the French.
Then, after dashing our way through form-writing, question-answering, and metal-detecting, we jumped on the train and into our seats...an entire minute before the train pulled out of the station. That was fun.
A couple of hours later, we arrived in london, where we parted ways, none too happy to be on our own, I think. :P Let's just say our travelling styles are radically different. And perhaps the way we communicate our feelings. And our capacity for passive-aggressive behavior. I might start thinking about travelling alone.
Ok, this is going on far too long. I think I come off as some food-obsessed maniac, but then again, that's pretty accurate, isn't it? :P Hope you enjoyed the blog...below is the link for the accompanying pictures.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.5ngffh1v&x=1&y=bocbek
To everyone recovering from your Thanksgving binges, enjoy your leftovers for me! My Thanksgiving adventure is set for this Saturday - stay tuned for reports of how that goes.
= :)
Oct 31, 2005
Wine Show!
This weekend I went to a huge wine show with Malinda, where we tasted more wines than I can remember. I learned how to properly taste a wine (but I didn't spit any out...not going to waste that!), I found a white that I actually enjoyed (Viognier), and came home laden with 5 bottles of fabulous, inexpensive wine. And if you live in the U.S. and can find this wine, splurge on it - it's absolutely amazing.
http://www.eosvintage.com/unistore/product-info.fsp fsp:unistore: product-id=mnffjnfdiheefboffendmjomdjalihmnmajdmmmo&return-to=/ unistore/eosreservewines.fsp
Also, I saw Broken Flowers, which was ok (you have to like Bill Murray to see this film, which, luckily, I do), and Wallace and Gromit, which was FANTABULOUS. Yaay bunnies.
Paris to come soon, I promise!
= :)
P.S. Happy Halloween!!
http://www.eosvintage.com/unistore/product-info.fsp fsp:unistore: product-id=mnffjnfdiheefboffendmjomdjalihmnmajdmmmo&return-to=/ unistore/eosreservewines.fsp
Also, I saw Broken Flowers, which was ok (you have to like Bill Murray to see this film, which, luckily, I do), and Wallace and Gromit, which was FANTABULOUS. Yaay bunnies.
Paris to come soon, I promise!
= :)
P.S. Happy Halloween!!
Oct 27, 2005
Today is sunny and 65 degrees...
...but in anticipation of the dreary winter days yet to come (Daylight Savings Time is this weekend!), I've gone back to the tried-and-true, emo-tinged title for my blog. Gotta love it. Although, as my experience of British traditions grows, I may have to change it to something having to do with puddings and pubs, or the like.
I'm still working on editing the Paris pics and work is particularly busy, so I'll provide the crowds with something to keep them satisfied in the meantime (I can't exactly let Evil Kanevil go unfulfilled, can I?)
Here are pics of my last weekend in Cambridge, where we ate yummy sausages claiming to be "hot dogs," went punting, consumed several bottles of wine, and went to see Nic's dad's band play a gig. All in all, a pretty good day.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.6c2zd0w3&x=0&y=ukf8o7
= :)
I'm still working on editing the Paris pics and work is particularly busy, so I'll provide the crowds with something to keep them satisfied in the meantime (I can't exactly let Evil Kanevil go unfulfilled, can I?)
Here are pics of my last weekend in Cambridge, where we ate yummy sausages claiming to be "hot dogs," went punting, consumed several bottles of wine, and went to see Nic's dad's band play a gig. All in all, a pretty good day.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.6c2zd0w3&x=0&y=ukf8o7
= :)
Oct 21, 2005
Sep 24, 2005
Important Public Service Announcement
I have not been devoured by ravenous, city-dwelling pigeons.
= :)
= :)
Aug 31, 2005
Camping Fun
Hey all -
I'm back! I survived the camping weekend, and according to the title, apparently had a good time, as well. :P
This past weekend - a three-day one, thankfully - Nic and I went to the Fordham Festival, which was the little music festival near Cambridge. Well, "near" is a relative term when it includes a 40-min bus ride and a 2-mile hike along the highway. But we made it there in one piece and immediately picked a prime tent-pitching spot...which we later realized was unfortunately far away from the stage...oops.
But yeah, camping was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The festival was really small but had some entertaining bands - including Nic's dad's band, who were really good. We hung out with a couple of the other band members and wives/girlfriends, and they were really great. The lead singer has this adorable little 3-year-old, Lizzie, who had ridiculous amounts of energy and was a lot of fun to hang out with.
Food and beer were cheap at the festival, so no complaining here. I had a hog roast, which is apparently some pork on a bun with stuffing, fried onions, and applesauce. mmmmmmm...I may have found a replacement for the late, great, Best Burger of All Time. Played frisbee, which was fun, although I'm apparently awful now and have no idea why. I could play in North Carolina! (well, barely, but still...) I blame it on all the tufty grass.
Can't blame the weather, though, because the weekend was absolutely gorgeous - four full days of straight sunny days (if slightly cold evenings). Actually, it's continued into this week - today is 88 degrees and gorgeous, and Londoners are going on like it's the end of the world. Not happy in the sunshine, not happy in the rain...
Anyway, despite the increasing need to take a shower (the one I took on Monday night was the best on in my life, I think), I had a great time at the festival. Plus, as an added bonus, one of the band members and his wife picked us up from the festival so we wouldn't have to walk, and then treated us to a barbecue at their house! mmmmm steak...especially after a few days of living off of chips and salsa. :P
Anyway, so that's my grand adventure. Lessons learned: camping is not as scary as I thought it was, never attempt to take out your contacts in the dark, and always, always, ALWAYS print out a map of where you're going (Nic...). hehehe...only a few more hours of work and then off to the ballet tonight - ooh lala. Will post again soon!
I'm back! I survived the camping weekend, and according to the title, apparently had a good time, as well. :P
This past weekend - a three-day one, thankfully - Nic and I went to the Fordham Festival, which was the little music festival near Cambridge. Well, "near" is a relative term when it includes a 40-min bus ride and a 2-mile hike along the highway. But we made it there in one piece and immediately picked a prime tent-pitching spot...which we later realized was unfortunately far away from the stage...oops.
But yeah, camping was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The festival was really small but had some entertaining bands - including Nic's dad's band, who were really good. We hung out with a couple of the other band members and wives/girlfriends, and they were really great. The lead singer has this adorable little 3-year-old, Lizzie, who had ridiculous amounts of energy and was a lot of fun to hang out with.
Food and beer were cheap at the festival, so no complaining here. I had a hog roast, which is apparently some pork on a bun with stuffing, fried onions, and applesauce. mmmmmmm...I may have found a replacement for the late, great, Best Burger of All Time. Played frisbee, which was fun, although I'm apparently awful now and have no idea why. I could play in North Carolina! (well, barely, but still...) I blame it on all the tufty grass.
Can't blame the weather, though, because the weekend was absolutely gorgeous - four full days of straight sunny days (if slightly cold evenings). Actually, it's continued into this week - today is 88 degrees and gorgeous, and Londoners are going on like it's the end of the world. Not happy in the sunshine, not happy in the rain...
Anyway, despite the increasing need to take a shower (the one I took on Monday night was the best on in my life, I think), I had a great time at the festival. Plus, as an added bonus, one of the band members and his wife picked us up from the festival so we wouldn't have to walk, and then treated us to a barbecue at their house! mmmmm steak...especially after a few days of living off of chips and salsa. :P
Anyway, so that's my grand adventure. Lessons learned: camping is not as scary as I thought it was, never attempt to take out your contacts in the dark, and always, always, ALWAYS print out a map of where you're going (Nic...). hehehe...only a few more hours of work and then off to the ballet tonight - ooh lala. Will post again soon!
Aug 26, 2005
By request of Eric...
...here are the pictures from my Dad's 50th birthday party. My mom invited a couple of their friends out for a nostalgic trip through Brooklyn - Coney Island, the River Cafe, and a bar in Bay Ridge, my parents' old neighborhood. Eric and I got to tag along for the ride.
Here they are:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.2guwr64b&x=1&y=xyt9ht
In other news, I am going camping this weekend. Yes, me and camping - happy together. Nic and I are off to a music festival somewhere near Cambridge, and I'm off to see whether I can survive without a shower for three days (*shudder*). I'll update on Tuesday (as it's a bank holiday weekend and I have Monday off!), if I make it back alive.
= :P
Here they are:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.2guwr64b&x=1&y=xyt9ht
In other news, I am going camping this weekend. Yes, me and camping - happy together. Nic and I are off to a music festival somewhere near Cambridge, and I'm off to see whether I can survive without a shower for three days (*shudder*). I'll update on Tuesday (as it's a bank holiday weekend and I have Monday off!), if I make it back alive.
= :P
Aug 25, 2005
Stuff I've Done
I went to go see Theatre of Blood at the National Theatre this Saturday. It was pretty good - Jim Broadbent (from Moulin Rouge) was the lead, and it was a campy murder mystery thing - a lot like Agatha Christie with comedy.
Then on to Cambridge on Sunday for shopping, a movie, and a picnic in the park - all complete with sunny beautiful weather. Fabulous.
And now...pictures from New Jersey! It's a huge album...my apologies if you have to slog through it all. It has pictures from my trip up to my aunt's house in the country, my day at the races with Grandma and Grandpa, and my sailing trip to the Long Island Sound. Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.48efuohv&x=1&y=afra8h
= :)
Then on to Cambridge on Sunday for shopping, a movie, and a picnic in the park - all complete with sunny beautiful weather. Fabulous.
And now...pictures from New Jersey! It's a huge album...my apologies if you have to slog through it all. It has pictures from my trip up to my aunt's house in the country, my day at the races with Grandma and Grandpa, and my sailing trip to the Long Island Sound. Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.48efuohv&x=1&y=afra8h
= :)
Aug 19, 2005
Yet more picture fun
Below is the link for pictures from our Associate Away Day - my department took out a bunch of our employees (Associates) for a day of quad-biking, off-roading, and driving these weired little things called Honda Pilots. It was awesome, and I won third place in the quad bikes. Plus, I looked pretty damn cool in my jumpsuit. Enjoy.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbMWTRi5aOGGk
= :)
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbMWTRi5aOGGk
= :)
For your perusing pleasure...
...pictures from Greenwich, right before I left London in June. For the record, it was the hottest day of all time - nice place, though. Good vintage shopping. And the Prime Meridian!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.9mnwluer&x=1&y=-hsww7e
Enjoy.
= :)
P.S. Pics of Jersey coming soon...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.9mnwluer&x=1&y=-hsww7e
Enjoy.
= :)
P.S. Pics of Jersey coming soon...
Aug 17, 2005
Yaay, sun!
Finally feels like summer here again with sunny, 70-ish days. Ah...I love London when it's like this.
So, the weekend of boredom turned out not to be so bad after all. On Friday the housemates went out to a bar up near the canal. It had an outdoor patio right on the lock and it was a beautiful night. The only drawback was trying to find a bar open past 1am...ah, London.
Saturday I slept in and went to the Theatre Museum, which was huge and actually really interesting. More fun, though, was window shopping in Covent Garden. Shopping...mmm. Then we had a "party" at the house, which basically consisted of housemates and about 5 invited guests. We're a big enough house to actually seem like a party when we're all in one room, though, so it was a lot of fun. And I got to see Archie, an old work colleague returned from Australia. That night we went to Underworld, which is a complete dive but a lot of fun.
Slept in again on Sunday (ahhh) and then took a walk in the park with subletter Melinda (from NYC, of all places), despite the gray skies and constant drizzle. We turned a corner and all of a sudden came upon a dance floor with dozens of dancing couples on it. It turns out that Regent Park does something called Tango al Fresco in which they have live bands and a temporary dance floor in the middle of the Broad Walk. It was a pretty amazing sight - there was a big crowd gathered, and most of the couples were in raincoats or holding umbrellas. I wish I had my camera.
Last night I went to my first ballet class in over a year, which was great (even WITH the aches and pains...I'm getting old!). In fact, the whole beginning of the week has been pretty great. The only disappointment? The Best Chip Shop in the World (home to the Best Burger Ever and the Best Chips of All Time) is closed!! Agh. No more late-night trips up the street for delicious, greasy food. No more being recognized by the guys behind the counter and getting extra chips for the privilege. No more taking friends from America there and having them referred to as "cowboys." An era has ended. Sadness.
A moment of silence for the chip shop, please.
Thank you.
= :)
So, the weekend of boredom turned out not to be so bad after all. On Friday the housemates went out to a bar up near the canal. It had an outdoor patio right on the lock and it was a beautiful night. The only drawback was trying to find a bar open past 1am...ah, London.
Saturday I slept in and went to the Theatre Museum, which was huge and actually really interesting. More fun, though, was window shopping in Covent Garden. Shopping...mmm. Then we had a "party" at the house, which basically consisted of housemates and about 5 invited guests. We're a big enough house to actually seem like a party when we're all in one room, though, so it was a lot of fun. And I got to see Archie, an old work colleague returned from Australia. That night we went to Underworld, which is a complete dive but a lot of fun.
Slept in again on Sunday (ahhh) and then took a walk in the park with subletter Melinda (from NYC, of all places), despite the gray skies and constant drizzle. We turned a corner and all of a sudden came upon a dance floor with dozens of dancing couples on it. It turns out that Regent Park does something called Tango al Fresco in which they have live bands and a temporary dance floor in the middle of the Broad Walk. It was a pretty amazing sight - there was a big crowd gathered, and most of the couples were in raincoats or holding umbrellas. I wish I had my camera.
Last night I went to my first ballet class in over a year, which was great (even WITH the aches and pains...I'm getting old!). In fact, the whole beginning of the week has been pretty great. The only disappointment? The Best Chip Shop in the World (home to the Best Burger Ever and the Best Chips of All Time) is closed!! Agh. No more late-night trips up the street for delicious, greasy food. No more being recognized by the guys behind the counter and getting extra chips for the privilege. No more taking friends from America there and having them referred to as "cowboys." An era has ended. Sadness.
A moment of silence for the chip shop, please.
Thank you.
= :)
Aug 12, 2005
Ted Leo!
Last night I saw Ted Leo, and he - as usual - was fabulous. He played at Underworld, which is this small underground venue that reminded me a lot of the Middle East in Cambridge. Ah Boston - how I miss you and your cheap and readily available concerts! Also, I miss my concert buddy Erin. :(
Not too many plans for this weekend - my friends are all still MIA. Maybe shopping, which I can't really afford, or maybe a festival or two, if the weather stays nice. Both seem unlikely, as does the "party" that my house is supposed to have on Saturday. Last time I checked, no one had actually invited anyone. Interesting...
So yeah - it's going to be very low key. Mostly sitting around in the chilly non-summer weather and thinking about how my whole family is enjoying the week at a house on the beach in sunny North Carolina. Ok, I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now. Maybe I'll write some more, most likely out of boredom. Sigh.
= :\
Not too many plans for this weekend - my friends are all still MIA. Maybe shopping, which I can't really afford, or maybe a festival or two, if the weather stays nice. Both seem unlikely, as does the "party" that my house is supposed to have on Saturday. Last time I checked, no one had actually invited anyone. Interesting...
So yeah - it's going to be very low key. Mostly sitting around in the chilly non-summer weather and thinking about how my whole family is enjoying the week at a house on the beach in sunny North Carolina. Ok, I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now. Maybe I'll write some more, most likely out of boredom. Sigh.
= :\
Aug 10, 2005
Thank you...
...for those lovely comments, Barb and Erin. Except for that whole "setting fire with your mind thing." That Jeremy is a dangerous guy.
In all fairness, I suppose I can't expect comments when I don't really write anything interesting. But apparently I can get them by insulting my readers...how curious...
Anyway, to recap what's happened...hmmm. I've been pretty broke lately, so many of my activities have been cheap/free. These include: Fruitstock at Regent's Park, and the Latin American Festival. These involve food, music, and general wandering among booths. Also have been hanging out with some of the new housemates - Andrew, 24, from Sydney is the newest addition and tons of fun.
Hm, in other news...we're getting broadband and digital TV, and apparently I'm the one who organizes the whole thing, so we'll see how THAT goes. There's supposed to be a party on Saturday, but so far no one's organizing it, so hmmmm... Went to visit Nic yesterday (my wonderful boss gave me a day's leave - out of an annual total of 26.5 - haha, suckas!), which was really great, plus the weather was gorgeous. It's been sunny for a suspiciously long time now - over a week! It's supposed to rain tonight, so that should get things back to normal. :P
Now write your comments, my loyal readers. hehe...just kidding - hopefully I'll have something interesting to update about soon!
= :)
In all fairness, I suppose I can't expect comments when I don't really write anything interesting. But apparently I can get them by insulting my readers...how curious...
Anyway, to recap what's happened...hmmm. I've been pretty broke lately, so many of my activities have been cheap/free. These include: Fruitstock at Regent's Park, and the Latin American Festival. These involve food, music, and general wandering among booths. Also have been hanging out with some of the new housemates - Andrew, 24, from Sydney is the newest addition and tons of fun.
Hm, in other news...we're getting broadband and digital TV, and apparently I'm the one who organizes the whole thing, so we'll see how THAT goes. There's supposed to be a party on Saturday, but so far no one's organizing it, so hmmmm... Went to visit Nic yesterday (my wonderful boss gave me a day's leave - out of an annual total of 26.5 - haha, suckas!), which was really great, plus the weather was gorgeous. It's been sunny for a suspiciously long time now - over a week! It's supposed to rain tonight, so that should get things back to normal. :P
Now write your comments, my loyal readers. hehe...just kidding - hopefully I'll have something interesting to update about soon!
= :)
Aug 8, 2005
Feeling the Love
No comments? No words of welcome? No congratulatory messages?
I hate all of you.
= :(
I hate all of you.
= :(
Aug 2, 2005
I'm Back!
My visa went through!
I'm back in London and back at my job. My friends from America and Canada (Rachel and Nick) are gone. :( Oh well, back to the researching. Actually, the job is really getting interesting, now that I have a stake in a much larger project.
Coming back to the weather was quite a shock - leave NJ, 102 and humid, arrive UK, 55 and rainy. Awesome. But today is pretty nice - it's sunny and the temperature even made it over 70 degrees! Apparently all the nice weather happened whan I was home in NJ - yeah, right.
Anyway, new housemate Andrew is great. He's from Australia (they're taking over!) and is tons of fun. In sad news, Jenny's off travelling for 2 months, and will have a subletter (the yet-to-be-seen Melinda, either from New York or Florida). Probably going to go out with people tonight for Andrew's birthday, although I'm now on a strict budget because apparently I get paid monthly now. Awesome.
Ok, time to get back to work. Just wanted to check in - I'll write soon!
= :)
I'm back in London and back at my job. My friends from America and Canada (Rachel and Nick) are gone. :( Oh well, back to the researching. Actually, the job is really getting interesting, now that I have a stake in a much larger project.
Coming back to the weather was quite a shock - leave NJ, 102 and humid, arrive UK, 55 and rainy. Awesome. But today is pretty nice - it's sunny and the temperature even made it over 70 degrees! Apparently all the nice weather happened whan I was home in NJ - yeah, right.
Anyway, new housemate Andrew is great. He's from Australia (they're taking over!) and is tons of fun. In sad news, Jenny's off travelling for 2 months, and will have a subletter (the yet-to-be-seen Melinda, either from New York or Florida). Probably going to go out with people tonight for Andrew's birthday, although I'm now on a strict budget because apparently I get paid monthly now. Awesome.
Ok, time to get back to work. Just wanted to check in - I'll write soon!
= :)
Jul 8, 2005
Jun 28, 2005
Last Day at Work (for a month)
So tomorrow I'm off for my one-month holiday in Jersey - and hopefully I'll be able to come back here and spend another year in London. I've really become more comforytable here than I ever could have imagined...I can't believe that at one point everything seemed strange and new.
Going out tonight for a celebratory pub quiz - craziness. But what it lacks in excitement, it makes up for in quality housemate time. Plus the incentive of winning - woohoo!
Anyway, don't want to spend too much of my last afternoon in the office. Off to enjoy the sunshine!
Going out tonight for a celebratory pub quiz - craziness. But what it lacks in excitement, it makes up for in quality housemate time. Plus the incentive of winning - woohoo!
Anyway, don't want to spend too much of my last afternoon in the office. Off to enjoy the sunshine!
Jun 24, 2005
Death...
Death, death, and more death.
I know I complain abouy the weather. If it's rainy, I'm not happy. If it's sunny, I'm not happy. But whatever - if I wasn't complaining, I wouldn't be happy :P
Anyway, this country has no air-conditioning. I repeat, no air-conditioning. And it's 90 degrees and humid today, and trying to concentrate at work is the hardest thing EVER. Just kill me now. Never thought I'd be going to Jersey to beat the heat.
= :\
I know I complain abouy the weather. If it's rainy, I'm not happy. If it's sunny, I'm not happy. But whatever - if I wasn't complaining, I wouldn't be happy :P
Anyway, this country has no air-conditioning. I repeat, no air-conditioning. And it's 90 degrees and humid today, and trying to concentrate at work is the hardest thing EVER. Just kill me now. Never thought I'd be going to Jersey to beat the heat.
= :\
Jun 21, 2005
London is a giant oven....
Hey everyone -
London seems to be a city of extremes. After the coldest spring in memory, we have had a string of 80-90 degree days for about the past week now. Which would be bearable...except for the fact that London hasn't seemed to have discovered air-conditioning yet (along with water fountains and customer service, but that's another story).
Sure, this would all be ok in New York City, where I could duck into the nearest store and find relief. But over here, it gets this hot so rarely (and yet, I doubt this statement) that they figure air conditioning isn't worth it. So yeah, I spent an hour in the supermarket on Saturday, leisurely strolling down its deliciously air-conditioned aisles. See what I've been reduced to?
But this weekend was actually quite nice, as I managed to (somewhat) escape the heat. On Saturday, I met my friend Rachel in Greenwich, where I spent too much money shopping for vintage clothes and lounged in the park in the shade. While central London doesn't seem to have any breeze at all, Greenwich had plenty. I also rode a ferry to get there, which was pleasant once we sped up enough to actually create some sort of breeze.
Yesterday was T4 on the Beach, possibly the cheesiest concert I've ever been to. It was a weird mish-mosh of good bands (Kaiser Chiefs, Garbage, Doves), and awful acts (Rachel Stevens, a former S Club 7 clone, and Akon, who seemed to think that sampling Alvin and the Chipmunks would be a cool thing to do). And soooo many 13-year-olds. Little teeny-boppers everywhere. I felt old and decrepit. :( But the concert WAS a lot of fun, and it also meant that I got to beat the blazing sun by riding on an air-conditioned train to get there (woohoo!), and a gorgeous sea breeze blowing off the shore. Ahhhh.
Not like today, which is hot. Hot with 5 t's. AND we have the windows open. And the lights off.
Sadness. London, I guess I'm just never going to be happy with your weather...
= :(
London seems to be a city of extremes. After the coldest spring in memory, we have had a string of 80-90 degree days for about the past week now. Which would be bearable...except for the fact that London hasn't seemed to have discovered air-conditioning yet (along with water fountains and customer service, but that's another story).
Sure, this would all be ok in New York City, where I could duck into the nearest store and find relief. But over here, it gets this hot so rarely (and yet, I doubt this statement) that they figure air conditioning isn't worth it. So yeah, I spent an hour in the supermarket on Saturday, leisurely strolling down its deliciously air-conditioned aisles. See what I've been reduced to?
But this weekend was actually quite nice, as I managed to (somewhat) escape the heat. On Saturday, I met my friend Rachel in Greenwich, where I spent too much money shopping for vintage clothes and lounged in the park in the shade. While central London doesn't seem to have any breeze at all, Greenwich had plenty. I also rode a ferry to get there, which was pleasant once we sped up enough to actually create some sort of breeze.
Yesterday was T4 on the Beach, possibly the cheesiest concert I've ever been to. It was a weird mish-mosh of good bands (Kaiser Chiefs, Garbage, Doves), and awful acts (Rachel Stevens, a former S Club 7 clone, and Akon, who seemed to think that sampling Alvin and the Chipmunks would be a cool thing to do). And soooo many 13-year-olds. Little teeny-boppers everywhere. I felt old and decrepit. :( But the concert WAS a lot of fun, and it also meant that I got to beat the blazing sun by riding on an air-conditioned train to get there (woohoo!), and a gorgeous sea breeze blowing off the shore. Ahhhh.
Not like today, which is hot. Hot with 5 t's. AND we have the windows open. And the lights off.
Sadness. London, I guess I'm just never going to be happy with your weather...
= :(
Jun 17, 2005
And Brian Dennehey screams a lot!
Last night, Jenny and I wenr to go see Death of a Salesman, which was both one of the best and one of the most depressing shows I've ever seen. The cast was amazing (especially Willy Loman and his wife), and the set was pretty cool (a revolving set of rooms that was alternately a house, an office, and a restaurant). Gotta love the revolving stage.
Taking a night off tonight to relax. And possibly watch "The Muppets Take Manhattan." Yaay muppets.
= :)
Taking a night off tonight to relax. And possibly watch "The Muppets Take Manhattan." Yaay muppets.
= :)
Jun 15, 2005
Ewan McGregor Sings and Dances!
Went to go see Guys and Dolls with Heather and Rachel last night (and by sheer coincidence, Joe, Collie, Alana, Alicia, and Laura were sitting several rows behind us) and had a fabulous time. The production was really bright and polished, the performances were entertaining, and the choreography was amazing. So what if Ewan isn't the best singer/dancer on the planet? At the very least, he's better than Brando. And that's nothing to scoff at.
Tonight: Death of a Salesman with Jenny.
Possibility later in the week: Hedwig and the Angry Inch and/or The Postman Always Rings Twice (with the Iceman himself, Val Kilmer!)
It's theater extravaganza number 2!
= :)
Tonight: Death of a Salesman with Jenny.
Possibility later in the week: Hedwig and the Angry Inch and/or The Postman Always Rings Twice (with the Iceman himself, Val Kilmer!)
It's theater extravaganza number 2!
= :)
Goodfellas
I saw this movie for the first time last night, and now I understand every single Pesci and DeNiro reference on SNL. I feel so enlightened.
Also, I had Pimms and lemonade and raspberry mojitos this weekend. Mmmm cocktails...
= :)
Also, I had Pimms and lemonade and raspberry mojitos this weekend. Mmmm cocktails...
= :)
Jun 9, 2005
Karaoke Addict
Karaoke last night (this is becoming a regular thing). I sang "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany. I think I'm seriously addicted to karaoke...
= :)
= :)
Jun 8, 2005
Change of Title
In honor of the newly nice weather, I'm going to be (temporarily) changing the title of the blog to Denis' inventive "Pimms and Poms". Temporarily. I'm sure the rain will be back soon. But for now, it actually feels like summer. And I love Pimms. Mmmmm Pimms.
Also, went to the Phantom Planet concert last night, which was absolutely awesome. I went with my friend Rachel (from CA), and we saw it in this really small venue (Mean Fiddler) that kinda smelled like the Garage (that weird mix of pizza and incense from the hippie shops - except not so much pizza). We got a spot around the balcony, which was great, since I could actually SEE the band for once. The two opening acts were pretty lame, although the first one (forgot their name) were more interesting in their high-school-band-fronted-by-a-mix-of-Gerry-Tobin-and-a-cracked-out-Michael-J-Fox quirkiness than Farrah's (the second band's) polished mediocrity. Awesome.
Anyway, as usual, opening acts suck, but PP did not disappoint. They played a good mix of old and new songs (they played She's Always on My Mind, The Guest, and Anthem!!), and really got the crowd involved like no other band since I went to go see Cake in college. Of course the crowd went nuts when they sang "California" (which I'm reaaallly getting sick of), but they performed it really well, so it was less painful than usual. :) AND the lead singer jumped into the crowd not once, not twice, but three times...ridiculous. All in all, I have to say that PP are quite the rock stars - and I had no idea. But great concert, all in all.
Ok, time to do actual work.
= :)
Also, went to the Phantom Planet concert last night, which was absolutely awesome. I went with my friend Rachel (from CA), and we saw it in this really small venue (Mean Fiddler) that kinda smelled like the Garage (that weird mix of pizza and incense from the hippie shops - except not so much pizza). We got a spot around the balcony, which was great, since I could actually SEE the band for once. The two opening acts were pretty lame, although the first one (forgot their name) were more interesting in their high-school-band-fronted-by-a-mix-of-Gerry-Tobin-and-a-cracked-out-Michael-J-Fox quirkiness than Farrah's (the second band's) polished mediocrity. Awesome.
Anyway, as usual, opening acts suck, but PP did not disappoint. They played a good mix of old and new songs (they played She's Always on My Mind, The Guest, and Anthem!!), and really got the crowd involved like no other band since I went to go see Cake in college. Of course the crowd went nuts when they sang "California" (which I'm reaaallly getting sick of), but they performed it really well, so it was less painful than usual. :) AND the lead singer jumped into the crowd not once, not twice, but three times...ridiculous. All in all, I have to say that PP are quite the rock stars - and I had no idea. But great concert, all in all.
Ok, time to do actual work.
= :)
Jun 7, 2005
Photos and the Cuban Festival
Hi!
Just checking in to post some pictures from the past week or so - karaoke, roller disco, and the Cuban Festival, which, while small, was pretty fun. Not much else is going on...tonight I'm going to see Phantom Planet in concert, so that should be fun. It's getting harder and harder to concentrate at work, now that it's actually sunny (!) and warm (!) outside. It almost feels like summer...gasp! Will update again once something interesting happens...
Photos here: http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHD2Q
= :)
Just checking in to post some pictures from the past week or so - karaoke, roller disco, and the Cuban Festival, which, while small, was pretty fun. Not much else is going on...tonight I'm going to see Phantom Planet in concert, so that should be fun. It's getting harder and harder to concentrate at work, now that it's actually sunny (!) and warm (!) outside. It almost feels like summer...gasp! Will update again once something interesting happens...
Photos here: http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHD2Q
= :)
Jun 3, 2005
Sheep, sheep, and more sheep
It's the long-awaited Wales update! But first...
...last night was the roller disco birthday party, and it was fabulous. The club is this warehouse near the railyards, with three different dance (skate) floors with three types of music. And while I tried to dress a bit disco, I was definitely outdone by most of the people there, who also seem to come there a lot, considering they could actually dance with skates on. Jenny, Liam, and I (and a whole bunch of Jenny’s friends), on the other hand, could barely stand (I fell twice), but had a great time. Despite the bruises today, I would definitely go again – there’s nothing like rollerskating to Michael Jackson. :)
Now, about Wales. Erin and I took a backpacker tour for three days, where they carted us around in a big yellow bus (not quite a schoolbus, but barely more comfortable) and showed us the sights of Wales. Our tour guides, Laura and Postman Pat (he looked just like a kid’s cartoon character, apparently) were incredibly hilarious and made the trip tons of fun. We also travelled with 18 other people, who were all really nice (all except for this one crazy Canadian girl…oh, Canadians…)
For our first day, we had absolutely gorgeous weather, which is weird for the UK, especially during this spring, which has been particularly cold. After a couple hours on the motorway getting out of London, our first stop was Tintern Abbey, this 13th century (I think?) abbey that was lying in ruins. It was really nice – and good to stretch our legs – but more importantly, in the larger scheme of the trip, the abbey’s cheesy gift shop was the place that I first discovered Kendal Mint Cake, an English energy bar that’s basically pure sugar and that tastes exactly like the inside of a peppermint patty. Mmmm mint cake – as Erin could tell you, I was desperately searching for it for the rest of the trip, dropping into many, many cheesy souvenir shops (after I was addicted to the sugar rush, of course).
Then off to Caerphilly Castle, which is the second-largest castle in the UK (after Windsor). It was very picturesque and ruin-y, which made for good pictures. Also, Erin had to physically restrain me from shopping after I discovered how much cheaper shoes were in Wales. Then off to the Brecon Beacons, a national park in the central area of Wales. After promising us we would take a “short hike” to see a “beautiful waterfall,” the whole group trudged up a steep incline in now-70-degree weather, passing a little trickling spring on the way. Fabulous. But after sweating and straining all the way to the top, we were rewarded by a gorgeous view and a really nice breeze.
We headed back to the bus, which had baked in the sunshine this whole time (fabulous), and then headed off to Abergavenny, where we would spend the night. After a shower (ahhh), we headed out on the town, where we ate at a cute little Italian diner, enjoyed a pint of Brains (the local brew), and then went off in search of something resembling a nightlife. After being informed by the bartender at one place that Abergavenny “used to be” a lot of fun (after which he promptly walked away, leaving the “why” a mystery), we thought we had solved that problem by walking into a pub playing live music. Unfortunately, it turned out to be open mic night for 50- and 60-somethings (and up), and we walked right out, unfortunately losing one of our group in the process (I think he thought it was on purpose and never really forgave us, although we think he secretly loved it and found himself an…ahem, “mature” Welsh girlfriend). After a bit more fruitless searching, we headed back to the hostel, where we were promised a karaoke party. When the “party” turned out to be an old guy tunelessly murdering Frank Sinatra, we played some pool and went to bed. So, yeah, that’s Welsh nightlife.
The next day was cloudy, windy, and a lot colder. We headed out really early, and stopped for scenic overlooks on the way, almost getting blown off the cliff in the process. We stopped in a really cute little town for lunch, where we saw our first National Milk Bar (exactly what it sounds like), and Erin and I had a great conversation with a cute little old woman in the button shop (where I also got some awesome buttons for earrings). Then off to Castell-y-Bere, a Welsh-built castle ruin high on a hill above a really green and gorgeous valley. After learning more about Welsh legends (and watching a truly hilarious amateur re-enactment of the legend of King Arthur), we went to Portmerion, which is this fabulous resort town built by a really eccentric guy, who filled it with all sorts of eclectic architecture styles and bizarre little touches. It was really weird – it looked like Italy or some place on the Mediterranean, but was definitely on the cold, windy, cloudy Welsh coast.
Then off to see Mt. Snowden (the highest point in Wales), before heading to Caernarfon, where we spent the night (in the nicest hostel EVER). Erin and I walked around, took pictures of the huge castle, walked along the shore, and ate at this cute little restaurant with cheesy nautical touches (where I had this delicious ocean pie, filled with all sorts of fish and shellfish and baked with potatoes on top…mmmm). That night we went out to see if the nightlife in North Wales is any better than in Central Wales. It was…ummm…a little more strange – can’t really call it “better.” We went to the pub next door, which was nice (except for the inexplicable repetition of Keane on the jukebox), and then headed off with a big group to local clubs. The first place we went was filled with Welsh teenagers (including a reeeeally pregnant one – there are TONS of pregnant girls in Wales), and they were playing a techno version of the Titanic theme, which, oddly enough, people seemed to enjoy. After two more bizzaro pubs/clubs, Erin and I called it quits and went back. Welsh nightlife is too weird for me.
The next morning, after a near miss with the toaster (one of the girls on our trip stuck a knife in the toaster and managed to short out the entire 4-story hostel), we headed out for the day. First stop was on the Isle of Anglesea, at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (Llanfair PG to the locals), the town with the longest place name in the UK. We took pictures of the sign, and that was about the only interesting thing about the town. :) We also listened to a (badly-recorded) song by local schoolchildren that put the name of the town to music – apparently so it would be easier to remember? (Although we all agreed that the song sounded like their own version of “Springtime for Hitler” from "The Producers." Weird.) Also, it was strangely catchy, and now wanders into my head at least once a day. Ah, Wales.
Then off to Conwy, which had another giant castle, a nice harbor, and the “smallest house in Britain,” which, unfortunately, didn’t look too small with me next to it. Then our last stop in Wales, Llangollen, which was really cute. We crossed an aqueduct across a pretty deep valley, and then headed back to London. On the way back, we stopped at Stratford-upon-Avon, which was really unfortunate, since it was really touristy and busy, and a bit of a disappointment after all the beautiful scenery and wonderful sights in Wales. But Erin and I dealt with it – we took a picture in front of the Harvard House (where John Harvard’s mother lived, now owned by the University), and had some Pimms and lemonade (the best summer drink EVER) in a pub’s garden. Ahhhh, England.
So, yeah, Wales was really amazing. The weather was (generally) great (hey, at least it never rained), and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. We drove through a lot of mountain passes, and it reminded me of Vermont and New Hampshire, and what I think Scotland should look like (mostly thanks to “Braveheart”…hehehe). Everything was really green and lush, and there were sheep EVERYWHERE – no, seriously, I've never seen so many sheep in my life. Denis, I thought of you and your sheep on a ship. :P It was all very pastoral and peaceful. It was nice to get out of the city (especially on such a warm weekend), and it changed my mind about guided group tours (for the positive). It was a really great trip, and I’m glad I got to see more of the UK. Now on to Scotland!
And...ta da! Pictures!
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHD0Y
Wow, that was long. Congratulations if you actually made it to the end of this. If you’ve just skipped down to this paragraph, shame on you! :) That’s all for now…whew. If anything interesting happens this weekend – and that may be debatable – I’ll check back in next week.
Bye for now!
= :)
...last night was the roller disco birthday party, and it was fabulous. The club is this warehouse near the railyards, with three different dance (skate) floors with three types of music. And while I tried to dress a bit disco, I was definitely outdone by most of the people there, who also seem to come there a lot, considering they could actually dance with skates on. Jenny, Liam, and I (and a whole bunch of Jenny’s friends), on the other hand, could barely stand (I fell twice), but had a great time. Despite the bruises today, I would definitely go again – there’s nothing like rollerskating to Michael Jackson. :)
Now, about Wales. Erin and I took a backpacker tour for three days, where they carted us around in a big yellow bus (not quite a schoolbus, but barely more comfortable) and showed us the sights of Wales. Our tour guides, Laura and Postman Pat (he looked just like a kid’s cartoon character, apparently) were incredibly hilarious and made the trip tons of fun. We also travelled with 18 other people, who were all really nice (all except for this one crazy Canadian girl…oh, Canadians…)
For our first day, we had absolutely gorgeous weather, which is weird for the UK, especially during this spring, which has been particularly cold. After a couple hours on the motorway getting out of London, our first stop was Tintern Abbey, this 13th century (I think?) abbey that was lying in ruins. It was really nice – and good to stretch our legs – but more importantly, in the larger scheme of the trip, the abbey’s cheesy gift shop was the place that I first discovered Kendal Mint Cake, an English energy bar that’s basically pure sugar and that tastes exactly like the inside of a peppermint patty. Mmmm mint cake – as Erin could tell you, I was desperately searching for it for the rest of the trip, dropping into many, many cheesy souvenir shops (after I was addicted to the sugar rush, of course).
Then off to Caerphilly Castle, which is the second-largest castle in the UK (after Windsor). It was very picturesque and ruin-y, which made for good pictures. Also, Erin had to physically restrain me from shopping after I discovered how much cheaper shoes were in Wales. Then off to the Brecon Beacons, a national park in the central area of Wales. After promising us we would take a “short hike” to see a “beautiful waterfall,” the whole group trudged up a steep incline in now-70-degree weather, passing a little trickling spring on the way. Fabulous. But after sweating and straining all the way to the top, we were rewarded by a gorgeous view and a really nice breeze.
We headed back to the bus, which had baked in the sunshine this whole time (fabulous), and then headed off to Abergavenny, where we would spend the night. After a shower (ahhh), we headed out on the town, where we ate at a cute little Italian diner, enjoyed a pint of Brains (the local brew), and then went off in search of something resembling a nightlife. After being informed by the bartender at one place that Abergavenny “used to be” a lot of fun (after which he promptly walked away, leaving the “why” a mystery), we thought we had solved that problem by walking into a pub playing live music. Unfortunately, it turned out to be open mic night for 50- and 60-somethings (and up), and we walked right out, unfortunately losing one of our group in the process (I think he thought it was on purpose and never really forgave us, although we think he secretly loved it and found himself an…ahem, “mature” Welsh girlfriend). After a bit more fruitless searching, we headed back to the hostel, where we were promised a karaoke party. When the “party” turned out to be an old guy tunelessly murdering Frank Sinatra, we played some pool and went to bed. So, yeah, that’s Welsh nightlife.
The next day was cloudy, windy, and a lot colder. We headed out really early, and stopped for scenic overlooks on the way, almost getting blown off the cliff in the process. We stopped in a really cute little town for lunch, where we saw our first National Milk Bar (exactly what it sounds like), and Erin and I had a great conversation with a cute little old woman in the button shop (where I also got some awesome buttons for earrings). Then off to Castell-y-Bere, a Welsh-built castle ruin high on a hill above a really green and gorgeous valley. After learning more about Welsh legends (and watching a truly hilarious amateur re-enactment of the legend of King Arthur), we went to Portmerion, which is this fabulous resort town built by a really eccentric guy, who filled it with all sorts of eclectic architecture styles and bizarre little touches. It was really weird – it looked like Italy or some place on the Mediterranean, but was definitely on the cold, windy, cloudy Welsh coast.
Then off to see Mt. Snowden (the highest point in Wales), before heading to Caernarfon, where we spent the night (in the nicest hostel EVER). Erin and I walked around, took pictures of the huge castle, walked along the shore, and ate at this cute little restaurant with cheesy nautical touches (where I had this delicious ocean pie, filled with all sorts of fish and shellfish and baked with potatoes on top…mmmm). That night we went out to see if the nightlife in North Wales is any better than in Central Wales. It was…ummm…a little more strange – can’t really call it “better.” We went to the pub next door, which was nice (except for the inexplicable repetition of Keane on the jukebox), and then headed off with a big group to local clubs. The first place we went was filled with Welsh teenagers (including a reeeeally pregnant one – there are TONS of pregnant girls in Wales), and they were playing a techno version of the Titanic theme, which, oddly enough, people seemed to enjoy. After two more bizzaro pubs/clubs, Erin and I called it quits and went back. Welsh nightlife is too weird for me.
The next morning, after a near miss with the toaster (one of the girls on our trip stuck a knife in the toaster and managed to short out the entire 4-story hostel), we headed out for the day. First stop was on the Isle of Anglesea, at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (Llanfair PG to the locals), the town with the longest place name in the UK. We took pictures of the sign, and that was about the only interesting thing about the town. :) We also listened to a (badly-recorded) song by local schoolchildren that put the name of the town to music – apparently so it would be easier to remember? (Although we all agreed that the song sounded like their own version of “Springtime for Hitler” from "The Producers." Weird.) Also, it was strangely catchy, and now wanders into my head at least once a day. Ah, Wales.
Then off to Conwy, which had another giant castle, a nice harbor, and the “smallest house in Britain,” which, unfortunately, didn’t look too small with me next to it. Then our last stop in Wales, Llangollen, which was really cute. We crossed an aqueduct across a pretty deep valley, and then headed back to London. On the way back, we stopped at Stratford-upon-Avon, which was really unfortunate, since it was really touristy and busy, and a bit of a disappointment after all the beautiful scenery and wonderful sights in Wales. But Erin and I dealt with it – we took a picture in front of the Harvard House (where John Harvard’s mother lived, now owned by the University), and had some Pimms and lemonade (the best summer drink EVER) in a pub’s garden. Ahhhh, England.
So, yeah, Wales was really amazing. The weather was (generally) great (hey, at least it never rained), and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. We drove through a lot of mountain passes, and it reminded me of Vermont and New Hampshire, and what I think Scotland should look like (mostly thanks to “Braveheart”…hehehe). Everything was really green and lush, and there were sheep EVERYWHERE – no, seriously, I've never seen so many sheep in my life. Denis, I thought of you and your sheep on a ship. :P It was all very pastoral and peaceful. It was nice to get out of the city (especially on such a warm weekend), and it changed my mind about guided group tours (for the positive). It was a really great trip, and I’m glad I got to see more of the UK. Now on to Scotland!
And...ta da! Pictures!
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHD0Y
Wow, that was long. Congratulations if you actually made it to the end of this. If you’ve just skipped down to this paragraph, shame on you! :) That’s all for now…whew. If anything interesting happens this weekend – and that may be debatable – I’ll check back in next week.
Bye for now!
= :)
Jun 2, 2005
Castles and carousels
Pictures from Brighton and Windsor are here! I'll add the Wales one with the big update.
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHDyA
= :)
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHDyA
= :)
College roommates, reunited!
Hi there! Back again. In these past two weeks, I’ve travelled to Brighton, Wales, and Windsor, had Andrea and Erin visit, and sang karaoke in an actual bar (as opposed to in my basement or at Danielle’s house). Whew.
Where to begin? Andrea came to visit two weeks ago from Paris, and I showed her around a lot of the touristy sites in London. We also got to watch the Eurovision contest, which might very well be the most ridiculous thing, ever. The contest, which was formed back in the 50s, features acts from all over Europe, who perform awful songs in gaudy costumes, with hideous choreography and various levels of tunelessness. So, basically, it’s karaoke – Europe-wide karaoke. Then all the countries give out rankings of 1-12 to the performers, which is a purely political exercise (France never votes for England, England never votes for France, Scandanavia votes among itself, Germany makes sure to give a generous ranking to Poland…) Greece won, and England finished 3rd from last. I personally was rooting for the Latvian boy group, who had a tenuous grasp on pitch and rhythm, but you could tell they really wanted it. All in all, a completely satisfying night. Europe’s so weird.
Erin came on Wednesday – yaay! Thursday morning we headed off to Brighton, which is basically the English equivalent of Wildwood in NJ – piers crowded with rides and arcades, cheesy souvenir shops, and a beach (or at least a strip of rocks with tiny waves lapping up on shore). No, actually, it’s a lot nicer than I made it sound. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and we took a really nice walk along the boardwalk. The city also has a lot of history – high society used to head out to Brighton (like Jane Austen characters!) and one of the kings built the Royal Pavilion, an Indian-style palace. Erin and I indulged in some nostalgia by riding the carousel, and almost got bucked off by a racehorse arcade game (which actually warned that game players should have some riding experience.) Eric, you would have loved it.
From Friday to Sunday, Erin and I went on a tour of Wales – more to come about that later. On Monday, we hit up some of the markets in London, and on Tuesday, we headed out to Windsor to see the castle, possibly stalk the queen, and enjoy the (freakishly) nice weather. Windsor Castle is gigantic – it’s the largest inhabited castle in Europe. We got to see the State Apartments, where Henry VIII and the Queen Mum are buried, and Queen Mary’s dollhouse, which is taller than me, has running water and working electricity, and features mini books handwritten by their original authors. Ridiculous. Oh, we also got to see Queen Elizabeth’s doll from when she was young – the thing wears Cartier jewelry! Fabulous.
Erin left yesterday – sob – it was really great to spend some time with her, since we haven't seen each other in forever. Yaay college days. Alana and Alicia also moved out of the house, so a bit of a sad day all around. For a quick update, the new house lineup is: Me, Liam, Joe (and Joe’s friend Coli, who used to live in the house and is now staying for a month), Jenny, Chris (an Australian, banker, 25 or so, replaced Sally), Claire (Australian, indeterminate age, don’t know too much about her yet), and Geraldine (French, 21?, works in a bakery and is learning English).
Last night, Joe, Coli, Jenny and I all headed out for karaoke, and I actually decided to sing something in public – eek! It might have been the Limoncello I had before leaving the house, but who knows? Anyway, sang R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (thanks for all the practice, Karaoke Revolution), and had a great time watching the other acts, both good and awful. I think I have a the karaoke bug – on Tuesday we’re planning on going to the bar where Joe works and trying out the night there. Awesome. Oh, and Geraldine's job is the most fabulous thing ever, since last night when we came home at midnight (and were absolutely starving), we found a TON of baked goods from the bakery on the table...mmmm. Free breakfast, I love you.
Anyway, off to the rollerdisco tonight for Jenny’s birthday. Should be incredibly fabulous. I’ll write more later!
= :)
Where to begin? Andrea came to visit two weeks ago from Paris, and I showed her around a lot of the touristy sites in London. We also got to watch the Eurovision contest, which might very well be the most ridiculous thing, ever. The contest, which was formed back in the 50s, features acts from all over Europe, who perform awful songs in gaudy costumes, with hideous choreography and various levels of tunelessness. So, basically, it’s karaoke – Europe-wide karaoke. Then all the countries give out rankings of 1-12 to the performers, which is a purely political exercise (France never votes for England, England never votes for France, Scandanavia votes among itself, Germany makes sure to give a generous ranking to Poland…) Greece won, and England finished 3rd from last. I personally was rooting for the Latvian boy group, who had a tenuous grasp on pitch and rhythm, but you could tell they really wanted it. All in all, a completely satisfying night. Europe’s so weird.
Erin came on Wednesday – yaay! Thursday morning we headed off to Brighton, which is basically the English equivalent of Wildwood in NJ – piers crowded with rides and arcades, cheesy souvenir shops, and a beach (or at least a strip of rocks with tiny waves lapping up on shore). No, actually, it’s a lot nicer than I made it sound. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and we took a really nice walk along the boardwalk. The city also has a lot of history – high society used to head out to Brighton (like Jane Austen characters!) and one of the kings built the Royal Pavilion, an Indian-style palace. Erin and I indulged in some nostalgia by riding the carousel, and almost got bucked off by a racehorse arcade game (which actually warned that game players should have some riding experience.) Eric, you would have loved it.
From Friday to Sunday, Erin and I went on a tour of Wales – more to come about that later. On Monday, we hit up some of the markets in London, and on Tuesday, we headed out to Windsor to see the castle, possibly stalk the queen, and enjoy the (freakishly) nice weather. Windsor Castle is gigantic – it’s the largest inhabited castle in Europe. We got to see the State Apartments, where Henry VIII and the Queen Mum are buried, and Queen Mary’s dollhouse, which is taller than me, has running water and working electricity, and features mini books handwritten by their original authors. Ridiculous. Oh, we also got to see Queen Elizabeth’s doll from when she was young – the thing wears Cartier jewelry! Fabulous.
Erin left yesterday – sob – it was really great to spend some time with her, since we haven't seen each other in forever. Yaay college days. Alana and Alicia also moved out of the house, so a bit of a sad day all around. For a quick update, the new house lineup is: Me, Liam, Joe (and Joe’s friend Coli, who used to live in the house and is now staying for a month), Jenny, Chris (an Australian, banker, 25 or so, replaced Sally), Claire (Australian, indeterminate age, don’t know too much about her yet), and Geraldine (French, 21?, works in a bakery and is learning English).
Last night, Joe, Coli, Jenny and I all headed out for karaoke, and I actually decided to sing something in public – eek! It might have been the Limoncello I had before leaving the house, but who knows? Anyway, sang R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (thanks for all the practice, Karaoke Revolution), and had a great time watching the other acts, both good and awful. I think I have a the karaoke bug – on Tuesday we’re planning on going to the bar where Joe works and trying out the night there. Awesome. Oh, and Geraldine's job is the most fabulous thing ever, since last night when we came home at midnight (and were absolutely starving), we found a TON of baked goods from the bakery on the table...mmmm. Free breakfast, I love you.
Anyway, off to the rollerdisco tonight for Jenny’s birthday. Should be incredibly fabulous. I’ll write more later!
= :)
May 17, 2005
Palaces and Plastic Toys
At least that's what I WANTED to call my latest photo album. Damn you, Shutterfly and your ridiculously short title space!
Anyway, here is the link to view my new photos. They've been taking over a long period of time, so they have some pretty random shots in there - highlights include 4 Arlington Road, in all its glory, action shots of Action Man, and a particularly hilarious sequence of pictures of a very animated Liam. Fabulous.
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHDvw
In other news, things are going well here in London. If you haven't already heard, I'm currently in the process of applying for an extension on my work visa. For everyone back home, that means I'll be in Jersey for the month of July, so clear your calendars now. :P Until then, I'll be trying to enjoy the weather (if it ever gets warm here!), traveling to Wales with Erin, taking a trip to Scotland, and generally enjoying the city.
This past weekend was Sally's last in the house - we went out to the club where Joe bartends, and danced the night away. (Sally's off to Manchester for a 2-month job, but should be back in London in July or August.) On Saturday, Jenny and I visited Chinatown for crazy green sponge cake and saw The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which was a fabulous movie. I recommend it highly. Also, I love Bill Murray.
On Sunday, I took a trip to Hampton Court Palace to enjoy one of the (rare) sunny, warm-ish days. It's really amazing - it's this huge palace that has been around since the reign of Henry the Eighth. Since around the beginning of the 19th century, the Queen would grant certain people apartments in the castle, although only a few people live there now. I spent a lot of time out in the gardens enjoying the sun, took a long walk along the Thames, and had afternoon tea (scones, clotted cream, jam, and lemon cake!) in the palace rose gardens. How English... :P New guy Chris (banker, mid-20s, from Australia) moved in, and we all watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (the best of the trio, of course).
The weekend before this past one, I overdosed on fashion by visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum's costume collection on Saturday and seeing the Fashion and Textile Museum on Sunday. Now I want clothes. Sadness. I also had my first-ever Krispy Kreme (from Harrods, which is weird, since I actually LIVE in the US), fresh and hot off the converyor belt. Mmmmm...so melty... (actually they're way more delicious than that makes it sound).
So yeah...life is fairly boring, probably because living in London is becoming more and more familiar. It'll feel weird to leave at the end of June. But I'll be doing more traveling before then, so more postings to come!
= :)
Anyway, here is the link to view my new photos. They've been taking over a long period of time, so they have some pretty random shots in there - highlights include 4 Arlington Road, in all its glory, action shots of Action Man, and a particularly hilarious sequence of pictures of a very animated Liam. Fabulous.
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHDvw
In other news, things are going well here in London. If you haven't already heard, I'm currently in the process of applying for an extension on my work visa. For everyone back home, that means I'll be in Jersey for the month of July, so clear your calendars now. :P Until then, I'll be trying to enjoy the weather (if it ever gets warm here!), traveling to Wales with Erin, taking a trip to Scotland, and generally enjoying the city.
This past weekend was Sally's last in the house - we went out to the club where Joe bartends, and danced the night away. (Sally's off to Manchester for a 2-month job, but should be back in London in July or August.) On Saturday, Jenny and I visited Chinatown for crazy green sponge cake and saw The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which was a fabulous movie. I recommend it highly. Also, I love Bill Murray.
On Sunday, I took a trip to Hampton Court Palace to enjoy one of the (rare) sunny, warm-ish days. It's really amazing - it's this huge palace that has been around since the reign of Henry the Eighth. Since around the beginning of the 19th century, the Queen would grant certain people apartments in the castle, although only a few people live there now. I spent a lot of time out in the gardens enjoying the sun, took a long walk along the Thames, and had afternoon tea (scones, clotted cream, jam, and lemon cake!) in the palace rose gardens. How English... :P New guy Chris (banker, mid-20s, from Australia) moved in, and we all watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (the best of the trio, of course).
The weekend before this past one, I overdosed on fashion by visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum's costume collection on Saturday and seeing the Fashion and Textile Museum on Sunday. Now I want clothes. Sadness. I also had my first-ever Krispy Kreme (from Harrods, which is weird, since I actually LIVE in the US), fresh and hot off the converyor belt. Mmmmm...so melty... (actually they're way more delicious than that makes it sound).
So yeah...life is fairly boring, probably because living in London is becoming more and more familiar. It'll feel weird to leave at the end of June. But I'll be doing more traveling before then, so more postings to come!
= :)
May 10, 2005
Yarrrrrg...
Continuing with the slightly bizarre pirate theme that seems to have marked my entire time in London, I took the final step last Friday and actually appeared in public wearing a real live eyepatch.
Of course, none of this was my idea.
Last Wednesday was the Hot Hot Heat concert - and they were absolutely amazing. The concert was at Koko (formerly Camden Palais), located right down the street from my house. If I have't already descibed the place, it's an old Victorian theater, painted bright red inside and filled with shiny disco balls. Jenny thought it seemed a perfect setting for Moulin Rouge, and I have to agree. Anyway, the theater is the perfect size for a concert - large enough to house a great crowd but small enough to get a good view of the band from wherever you're standing. We were right up front, dancing and bouncing up and down with the crowd. They were just such great performers - all the songs were great and I think all the female members of my house are now in love with the lead singer. Sigh.
What does this have to do with me being a pirate? Well, I was up late with my contacts in a smoky building, so needless to say, my eyes were a little dry the next morning when I put my contacts in. I largely ignored it, but took my contacts out when I came home and went for a walk in the park. Ten minutes later, my eye was burning and squeezed shut. I stumbled home with sunglasses on out of embarassment, probably looking like some kind of freak. Jenny took one look at me, and took me off straight to the hospital. Yaay NHS! Maybe all those taxes I've been paying would finally be useful for something....
Anyway, as I'm sitting in the waiting room in intense pain, Jenny and I talked about how the only thing that could really make this situation bearable would be if I got to wear a stylish eyepatch, kinda like Daryl Hannah's assassin in Kill Bill. The doctor told me I had an abrasion on my eye, and that I'd have to wear an eyepatch for 24 hours. I think she was surprised by how excited this made me and Jenny. :P
But alas! My eyepatch was not of the sleek, black, Pirate Uwe variety, but was a glorified round white cotton pad stuck on with tape. Stuck on badly. Awesome. Housemates suggested solutions ranging from drawing on a skull and crossbones, a red cross (continuing the Daryl Hannah theme), or having the housemates sign it, like some kind of bizarro cast. None of the solutions played out too well, so I just pulled it off the only way I could - I got all glammed up for work, and then stared down anyone who dared to stare in my direction. What? It's completely normal to have a gigantic cotton pad taped onto one side of your face. Obviously.
Anyway, that was a ridiculously long explanation, but at least I got to live out my pirate fantasy, and then be completely disappointed by it. Eyepatches aren't as cool as I thought they would be. Typing and reading took about twice the amount of time, and I kept walking into things because my depth perception was all off. So yeah, eyepatches? Not so much. But peglegs? The wave of the future, my friends.
= :)
Of course, none of this was my idea.
Last Wednesday was the Hot Hot Heat concert - and they were absolutely amazing. The concert was at Koko (formerly Camden Palais), located right down the street from my house. If I have't already descibed the place, it's an old Victorian theater, painted bright red inside and filled with shiny disco balls. Jenny thought it seemed a perfect setting for Moulin Rouge, and I have to agree. Anyway, the theater is the perfect size for a concert - large enough to house a great crowd but small enough to get a good view of the band from wherever you're standing. We were right up front, dancing and bouncing up and down with the crowd. They were just such great performers - all the songs were great and I think all the female members of my house are now in love with the lead singer. Sigh.
What does this have to do with me being a pirate? Well, I was up late with my contacts in a smoky building, so needless to say, my eyes were a little dry the next morning when I put my contacts in. I largely ignored it, but took my contacts out when I came home and went for a walk in the park. Ten minutes later, my eye was burning and squeezed shut. I stumbled home with sunglasses on out of embarassment, probably looking like some kind of freak. Jenny took one look at me, and took me off straight to the hospital. Yaay NHS! Maybe all those taxes I've been paying would finally be useful for something....
Anyway, as I'm sitting in the waiting room in intense pain, Jenny and I talked about how the only thing that could really make this situation bearable would be if I got to wear a stylish eyepatch, kinda like Daryl Hannah's assassin in Kill Bill. The doctor told me I had an abrasion on my eye, and that I'd have to wear an eyepatch for 24 hours. I think she was surprised by how excited this made me and Jenny. :P
But alas! My eyepatch was not of the sleek, black, Pirate Uwe variety, but was a glorified round white cotton pad stuck on with tape. Stuck on badly. Awesome. Housemates suggested solutions ranging from drawing on a skull and crossbones, a red cross (continuing the Daryl Hannah theme), or having the housemates sign it, like some kind of bizarro cast. None of the solutions played out too well, so I just pulled it off the only way I could - I got all glammed up for work, and then stared down anyone who dared to stare in my direction. What? It's completely normal to have a gigantic cotton pad taped onto one side of your face. Obviously.
Anyway, that was a ridiculously long explanation, but at least I got to live out my pirate fantasy, and then be completely disappointed by it. Eyepatches aren't as cool as I thought they would be. Typing and reading took about twice the amount of time, and I kept walking into things because my depth perception was all off. So yeah, eyepatches? Not so much. But peglegs? The wave of the future, my friends.
= :)
May 5, 2005
Work, work, work...
Work = very busy.
Hence, blog = not getting updated. Apologies to all.
But maybe, just maybe...hard work + long hours + great presentation to grateful boss = longer visa.
Maybe.
But then again, I always sucked at math.
Fingers crossed.
= :)
Hence, blog = not getting updated. Apologies to all.
But maybe, just maybe...hard work + long hours + great presentation to grateful boss = longer visa.
Maybe.
But then again, I always sucked at math.
Fingers crossed.
= :)
Apr 29, 2005
Voila!
New title, inspired by Erin.
Thank you, Erin.
= :)
P.S. All the other blog templates are ugly, so we're stuck with this one. Sorry.
Thank you, Erin.
= :)
P.S. All the other blog templates are ugly, so we're stuck with this one. Sorry.
Major Overhaul
My blog is in a rut. And I can't say I'm loving the title. Expect major redecoration in the near future. Also, for the one or two people who read this blog, do you have title suggestions? Any and all submissions will be considered.
Thanks.
= :)
Thanks.
= :)
Apr 22, 2005
Update
Ah, little blog, I've neglected you for so long...apologies to all of the people who live for my constant updates and hang on every word...
Ok, so - how to recap it all?
Florence was AMAZING. I was originally worried that a whole week would be too much to spend in Florence, and it definitely wasn't even close to enough. I got to spend the whole time with Gin, and after an initial day of hell (worst Easter EVER - it rained, no buses were running, Gin and I had to walk 40 minutes to her house, and the first hotel I booked was god-awful), the whole trip was sunny, warm, and wonderful. I saw all the sights of Florence - the Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, the Duomo, Fiesole, etc. We went bicyling a day in the countryside and nearly died going up the hills, but the views were amazing. The Tuscan countryside looks exactly like you would expect it to - all tall thin trees and villas and rolling hillsides. And the ride back down was really fun. :)
We took a daytrip to Cinqueterre, which is this collection of 5 little seaside towns connected by hiking paths through the hills. The water is clear and blue and the towns are amazing - it's a collection of little buildings all piled up on each other, with little alleys and narrow staircases winding through them. I saw the leaning tower of Pisa from the train, which was also pretty exciting. I also got to spend a lot of time with Gin's crazy friends - especially Katie, aka Longines - so that was fun.
But perhaps the best thing about Italy was the amazing food (bet you didn't see that one coming) - and it wasn't too expensive, either. Gin and I went out nearly every night, except for the one when her Italian mamma made us a delicious meal of risotto, eggplant parmigiana, and tiramisu....fabulous. I also tried the local soup and bistecca alla Fiorentina, which is this amazingly thick steak that's crispy on the outside and incredibly rare inside. We went to a wine bar and sampled some great Chiantis while feasting on olives...mmmmmm. I went to Rivoire, this famous cafe, and got their hot chocolate - basically a chunk of bittersweet chocolate melted into a teacup. I also brought a bit home with me...I got a bottle of olive oil, eggplant sauce, and a huge hunk of aged parmesan. It was amazing. Oh yeah, and I got gelato every other day (more like every day towards the end). I'm a fatty.
Then back to London to be greeted by icky rainy weather and grey skies. Gotta love it.
The next weekend, Eric came to visit, and we had our theater extravaganza. We saw 4 shows (Eric saw 5) in 5 days. Craziness. Friday was Billy Elliot, Saturday was Festen (Saturday night was the Interpol concert at Brixton Academy to keep me sane - they were AMAZING, by the way), Monday was Mary Poppins, and Tuesday was Tristan and Yseult at the National Theater - the best of the bunch, in my opinion. It was weird seeing so much theater in such a short time - it reminded me of college - but it was actually pretty good, as was hanging out with Eric. It was a little sad - it kinda reminded me of the things I miss at home. But it was good to spend time with Eric again, even if he IS a whiny bitch. :)
Other London highlights:
- The three-hour Easter vigil at Westminster Cathedral in London, followed by a ridiculous midnight feast of Chinese food.
- Joe's birthday, including Wagamama, champgane on a balcony in Covent Garden, and lots and lots of helium balloons. :P
- Flowering trees! Everywhere! Even though the weather hasn't quite gotten in sync yet, at least it LOOKS like spring here.
- My shopping spree (my first since I've been here! really!) at H&M last weekend, in which I got faaaaabulous clothes.
- The slowly improving weather. The nice weather back in March was such a tease, but maybe it'll work its way up to the 60s again someday soon...at least today is sunny!
Ok, going to go back to my work. Just finished a HUGE project that kept me here until 8:30pm and 7pm for the past two nights, respectively, so really just needing a break right now. Yaay for Fridays!
= :)
Ok, so - how to recap it all?
Florence was AMAZING. I was originally worried that a whole week would be too much to spend in Florence, and it definitely wasn't even close to enough. I got to spend the whole time with Gin, and after an initial day of hell (worst Easter EVER - it rained, no buses were running, Gin and I had to walk 40 minutes to her house, and the first hotel I booked was god-awful), the whole trip was sunny, warm, and wonderful. I saw all the sights of Florence - the Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, the Duomo, Fiesole, etc. We went bicyling a day in the countryside and nearly died going up the hills, but the views were amazing. The Tuscan countryside looks exactly like you would expect it to - all tall thin trees and villas and rolling hillsides. And the ride back down was really fun. :)
We took a daytrip to Cinqueterre, which is this collection of 5 little seaside towns connected by hiking paths through the hills. The water is clear and blue and the towns are amazing - it's a collection of little buildings all piled up on each other, with little alleys and narrow staircases winding through them. I saw the leaning tower of Pisa from the train, which was also pretty exciting. I also got to spend a lot of time with Gin's crazy friends - especially Katie, aka Longines - so that was fun.
But perhaps the best thing about Italy was the amazing food (bet you didn't see that one coming) - and it wasn't too expensive, either. Gin and I went out nearly every night, except for the one when her Italian mamma made us a delicious meal of risotto, eggplant parmigiana, and tiramisu....fabulous. I also tried the local soup and bistecca alla Fiorentina, which is this amazingly thick steak that's crispy on the outside and incredibly rare inside. We went to a wine bar and sampled some great Chiantis while feasting on olives...mmmmmm. I went to Rivoire, this famous cafe, and got their hot chocolate - basically a chunk of bittersweet chocolate melted into a teacup. I also brought a bit home with me...I got a bottle of olive oil, eggplant sauce, and a huge hunk of aged parmesan. It was amazing. Oh yeah, and I got gelato every other day (more like every day towards the end). I'm a fatty.
Then back to London to be greeted by icky rainy weather and grey skies. Gotta love it.
The next weekend, Eric came to visit, and we had our theater extravaganza. We saw 4 shows (Eric saw 5) in 5 days. Craziness. Friday was Billy Elliot, Saturday was Festen (Saturday night was the Interpol concert at Brixton Academy to keep me sane - they were AMAZING, by the way), Monday was Mary Poppins, and Tuesday was Tristan and Yseult at the National Theater - the best of the bunch, in my opinion. It was weird seeing so much theater in such a short time - it reminded me of college - but it was actually pretty good, as was hanging out with Eric. It was a little sad - it kinda reminded me of the things I miss at home. But it was good to spend time with Eric again, even if he IS a whiny bitch. :)
Other London highlights:
- The three-hour Easter vigil at Westminster Cathedral in London, followed by a ridiculous midnight feast of Chinese food.
- Joe's birthday, including Wagamama, champgane on a balcony in Covent Garden, and lots and lots of helium balloons. :P
- Flowering trees! Everywhere! Even though the weather hasn't quite gotten in sync yet, at least it LOOKS like spring here.
- My shopping spree (my first since I've been here! really!) at H&M last weekend, in which I got faaaaabulous clothes.
- The slowly improving weather. The nice weather back in March was such a tease, but maybe it'll work its way up to the 60s again someday soon...at least today is sunny!
Ok, going to go back to my work. Just finished a HUGE project that kept me here until 8:30pm and 7pm for the past two nights, respectively, so really just needing a break right now. Yaay for Fridays!
= :)
Apr 12, 2005
New pics!
Will update soon, but to keep you busy in the meantime, here are pictures from Virginia's visit to London and mine to Florence:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHDlY
...and Joe's birthday party in London:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHDjA
Enjoy!
= :)
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHDlY
...and Joe's birthday party in London:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHDjA
Enjoy!
= :)
Mar 25, 2005
Happy Easter!!
Hey all -
Sorry for the long delay - moved offices and things have been really hectic at work. Not too much time to update before I head home for the holiday weekend and then head off to Florence(!), but here's a quick recap:
St. Patrick's Day was fun - spent it in two Irish pubs, celebrating my 1/8 Irish heritage. Gotta love it. Still one of my favorite holidays of the year. Pictures forthcoming. Denis and Raquel (his friend from Argentina) came to visit for the weekend, and got to hang out with them in between their sight-seeing trips. Saturday consisted of an attempt at the Circle Line pub crawl, which comes in at about 27 stops. The weather was gorgeous, so I dressed in summer clothes and regretted it as soon as the sun went down. We tried for half the stations, gave up after 7 pubs once we realized we wouldn't make it in time, bought a couple bottles of cheap wine, and drank them on the tube, stopping at every planned stop along the way to take a picture, thereby proving we'd been there and (in our minds), proving we'd completed the actual crawl. And then of course, back to the Camden tube for the requisite Saturday night drunk cheeseburger and chips. (I've been in there sober as well, I swear). The guys know me now - it makes me really happy. :P Heavily-edited pictures forthcoming. :)
Gin flies in tonight, and then we're spending the next two days on a whirlwind (free) tour around London, hitting up all the famous sites and best shopping areas, naturally. And then off to Florence on Sunday! I can't wait to go to Italy - let's just see how my college Italian holds up... :
Happy Easter!!
P.S. T-minus 3 days until I can eat chocolate...counting the hours...
Sorry for the long delay - moved offices and things have been really hectic at work. Not too much time to update before I head home for the holiday weekend and then head off to Florence(!), but here's a quick recap:
St. Patrick's Day was fun - spent it in two Irish pubs, celebrating my 1/8 Irish heritage. Gotta love it. Still one of my favorite holidays of the year. Pictures forthcoming. Denis and Raquel (his friend from Argentina) came to visit for the weekend, and got to hang out with them in between their sight-seeing trips. Saturday consisted of an attempt at the Circle Line pub crawl, which comes in at about 27 stops. The weather was gorgeous, so I dressed in summer clothes and regretted it as soon as the sun went down. We tried for half the stations, gave up after 7 pubs once we realized we wouldn't make it in time, bought a couple bottles of cheap wine, and drank them on the tube, stopping at every planned stop along the way to take a picture, thereby proving we'd been there and (in our minds), proving we'd completed the actual crawl. And then of course, back to the Camden tube for the requisite Saturday night drunk cheeseburger and chips. (I've been in there sober as well, I swear). The guys know me now - it makes me really happy. :P Heavily-edited pictures forthcoming. :)
Gin flies in tonight, and then we're spending the next two days on a whirlwind (free) tour around London, hitting up all the famous sites and best shopping areas, naturally. And then off to Florence on Sunday! I can't wait to go to Italy - let's just see how my college Italian holds up... :
Happy Easter!!
P.S. T-minus 3 days until I can eat chocolate...counting the hours...
Mar 17, 2005
60 Degrees and Sunny...
...yesterday, today, tomorrow, and Saturday.
Suckas!
= :)
P.S. Also, Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone. Try not to freeze to death...
Suckas!
= :)
P.S. Also, Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone. Try not to freeze to death...
Mar 16, 2005
oops...
...forgot to mention beans on toast. Which sounds gross but is really yummy - and for breakfast. mmmmmmmm beans on toast. what a weird country...
= :)
= :)
Long-Lost Crushes and Beans on Toast
Hi -
As I've got a break at work, I figured it would be a good time to update the blog.
So, Friday. Archie (a co-worker) and I got tickets to see one of my professors from school speak at an exhibition he curated in London. Now this isn't just any professor. This is the blue-eyed, fabulously Scottish-accented Professor Roxburgh, who I had a giant crush on at school. So I was more than a little excited to go. And nothing much has changed since college, really...I still fought to keep my eyes open as soon as the lights in the room went down and the slide machine started up, and still prayed desperately that Professor Roxburgh couldn't see my head nodding from where he was standing. But it was all worth it afterwards - I figured I couldn;t go to the lecture without saying hi, and when I did, he remembered me! Woohoo! And then he said I looked grown up, which of course made me start babbling like an idiot. I love my professor. So, yeah, that made my night. :P Also, the exhibition was really amazing - it had a lot of illuminated manuscripts and Korans, as well as gorgeous pottery, textiles, and woodcarvings.
Saturday was a lazy day - woke up at noon, headed off to the fruit market, stayed in watching football with Liam, as well as attempting to understand the rules of rugby (generally unsuccessful). Then went out to the tapas restaurant around the corner with the housemates, which was incredibly delicious, as usual. Plus, Jenny and I got dressed up just for the hell of it, which was great. Jenny's got the best wardrobe and is ridiculously generous with it - going into her room, with its closet, clothes rack, and two sets of drawers, is like going into a candy store. Or, more appropriately, really, a clothes store. But whatever. :) I wore this absolutely fab green A-line dress from the 60s (pictures forthcoming), and I plan on hitting up the charity shops with Jenny, who obviously knows where to shop. I miss my clothes... :(
Sunday = lazy again...slept late, watched the OC, lounged around and had a really good dinner - pinapple chicken stir fry...yummy. In the beginning I felt like I couldn't waste one weekend and had to travel all over the place, but lately, I think I'm ok with just sticking around - I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing...
Monday night entailed of a really good dinner of pate (who knew?), hummous, french bread, and soup...mmmm. Then Haagen Dazs and falling asleep in front of the TV (A Clockwork Orange, which I actually wanted to watch). Hm...don't think the London diet is working quite the same way for me as it did for Eric...
Last night was pretty quiet..had to clean up for guests (Denis and Raquel) coming this weekend (arriving tonight, actually). Tonight is the double feature of Rushmore and Napoleon Dynamite (for £5.50, woohoo).
Tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day, so that should be a lot of fun. No specific plans as of yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion they may include drinking...hmmmm....
Bye!
= :)
As I've got a break at work, I figured it would be a good time to update the blog.
So, Friday. Archie (a co-worker) and I got tickets to see one of my professors from school speak at an exhibition he curated in London. Now this isn't just any professor. This is the blue-eyed, fabulously Scottish-accented Professor Roxburgh, who I had a giant crush on at school. So I was more than a little excited to go. And nothing much has changed since college, really...I still fought to keep my eyes open as soon as the lights in the room went down and the slide machine started up, and still prayed desperately that Professor Roxburgh couldn't see my head nodding from where he was standing. But it was all worth it afterwards - I figured I couldn;t go to the lecture without saying hi, and when I did, he remembered me! Woohoo! And then he said I looked grown up, which of course made me start babbling like an idiot. I love my professor. So, yeah, that made my night. :P Also, the exhibition was really amazing - it had a lot of illuminated manuscripts and Korans, as well as gorgeous pottery, textiles, and woodcarvings.
Saturday was a lazy day - woke up at noon, headed off to the fruit market, stayed in watching football with Liam, as well as attempting to understand the rules of rugby (generally unsuccessful). Then went out to the tapas restaurant around the corner with the housemates, which was incredibly delicious, as usual. Plus, Jenny and I got dressed up just for the hell of it, which was great. Jenny's got the best wardrobe and is ridiculously generous with it - going into her room, with its closet, clothes rack, and two sets of drawers, is like going into a candy store. Or, more appropriately, really, a clothes store. But whatever. :) I wore this absolutely fab green A-line dress from the 60s (pictures forthcoming), and I plan on hitting up the charity shops with Jenny, who obviously knows where to shop. I miss my clothes... :(
Sunday = lazy again...slept late, watched the OC, lounged around and had a really good dinner - pinapple chicken stir fry...yummy. In the beginning I felt like I couldn't waste one weekend and had to travel all over the place, but lately, I think I'm ok with just sticking around - I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing...
Monday night entailed of a really good dinner of pate (who knew?), hummous, french bread, and soup...mmmm. Then Haagen Dazs and falling asleep in front of the TV (A Clockwork Orange, which I actually wanted to watch). Hm...don't think the London diet is working quite the same way for me as it did for Eric...
Last night was pretty quiet..had to clean up for guests (Denis and Raquel) coming this weekend (arriving tonight, actually). Tonight is the double feature of Rushmore and Napoleon Dynamite (for £5.50, woohoo).
Tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day, so that should be a lot of fun. No specific plans as of yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion they may include drinking...hmmmm....
Bye!
= :)
Mar 11, 2005
In which I get fired, but not really...
Hey everyone -
Haven't really updated in a while...being a sheer combination of laziness, sporadic bursts of activity at work, and the fact that the Internet access at the University is less than good. But it's Friday, and I'm bored, so here's the update.
I've found that I tend to do more on weeknights than on weekends, just because things tend to be less expensive. Good for my wallet, bad for my sleep habits. Unfortunately, I still act like I'm in college and stay up until at least midnight every night. I can't help it - it just seems weird to turn in early.
Monday is £1 night at the Prince Charles Cinema, this second-run theater in Leicester Square, so I went to go see Bad Education with some of the housemates. The acting was really good, but I'm on the fence about the film itself. Afterwards, Alana suggested we go to Haagen Dazs, which was a fabulous idea because they have a Haagen Dazs RESTAURANT in Leicester Square, complete with doorman, wait staff, and large comfy couches. mmmmm...all I had to do was try not to remind myself that my sundae was the equivalent of $12 - ouch.
Tuesday was an off-day, which was kinda nice. Made really good bolognese (kind of) sauce and had a fabulously large helping of pasta.
Wednesday was nice because both my bosses were off work (same for Thursday) and I could goof off a bit during the day (not like I had much to do, anyway). That meant I got to book my accommodation for Florence - I'm so excited it's coming up so soon! That night I went to the Australian Film Festival with my friend Joanna from work and we saw Somersault. It had an okay story, but was just a gorgeous film (and also had a beautiful soundtrack).
And last night was the Camden Crawl, an all-night concert crawl (in my fabulous neighborhood, which is unfortunately getting trendified as we speak) with 9 venues and about 40 bands. It was a lot of fun - only Alana and I went (we were the only two to secure tickets). Basically, we just walked up and down the high street and stopped in at random venues along the way. In addition to seeing some cool bands, we also got to check out a lot of live music venues in the area, from the former Camden Palais (now the named-after-a-gorilla Camden Koko), this big, grand old theater to the Electric Ballroom, this cavernous underground music venue. We saw the London Towers, Magic Numbers, the Buzzcocks, and some little Irish (we think) band that I've forgotten the name of already. Also, we got the BEST BURGERS EVER at midnight and the really friendly guy there recognized me, which excited me to no end. AND I got a free CD out of the deal. AND a gold wristband. Rock.
Oh, and the almost getting fired thing. So my boss calls me over on Tuesday and tells me he wants to tell me something before I get a note from HR and get alarmed. He goes on to tell me that the woman I'm doing the maternity cover for is suddenly returning at the end of the month. So I'm thinking I'm out of a job until my boss tells me they like me (whew) and they want to keep me on as a research assistant. So I get to do the interesting (market research) part of my job without all the crappy photocopying and admin part. Awesome. I rule. And I'm not jobless, homeless, and starving in the streets, so I think I came out of this quite well.
Indeed. Okay, that's all for now. I'll update if I remember something interesting...but you guys can feel free to comment all you'd like. Go ahead. Really. Pay some attention to me!!
Okay, bye.
= :)
Haven't really updated in a while...being a sheer combination of laziness, sporadic bursts of activity at work, and the fact that the Internet access at the University is less than good. But it's Friday, and I'm bored, so here's the update.
I've found that I tend to do more on weeknights than on weekends, just because things tend to be less expensive. Good for my wallet, bad for my sleep habits. Unfortunately, I still act like I'm in college and stay up until at least midnight every night. I can't help it - it just seems weird to turn in early.
Monday is £1 night at the Prince Charles Cinema, this second-run theater in Leicester Square, so I went to go see Bad Education with some of the housemates. The acting was really good, but I'm on the fence about the film itself. Afterwards, Alana suggested we go to Haagen Dazs, which was a fabulous idea because they have a Haagen Dazs RESTAURANT in Leicester Square, complete with doorman, wait staff, and large comfy couches. mmmmm...all I had to do was try not to remind myself that my sundae was the equivalent of $12 - ouch.
Tuesday was an off-day, which was kinda nice. Made really good bolognese (kind of) sauce and had a fabulously large helping of pasta.
Wednesday was nice because both my bosses were off work (same for Thursday) and I could goof off a bit during the day (not like I had much to do, anyway). That meant I got to book my accommodation for Florence - I'm so excited it's coming up so soon! That night I went to the Australian Film Festival with my friend Joanna from work and we saw Somersault. It had an okay story, but was just a gorgeous film (and also had a beautiful soundtrack).
And last night was the Camden Crawl, an all-night concert crawl (in my fabulous neighborhood, which is unfortunately getting trendified as we speak) with 9 venues and about 40 bands. It was a lot of fun - only Alana and I went (we were the only two to secure tickets). Basically, we just walked up and down the high street and stopped in at random venues along the way. In addition to seeing some cool bands, we also got to check out a lot of live music venues in the area, from the former Camden Palais (now the named-after-a-gorilla Camden Koko), this big, grand old theater to the Electric Ballroom, this cavernous underground music venue. We saw the London Towers, Magic Numbers, the Buzzcocks, and some little Irish (we think) band that I've forgotten the name of already. Also, we got the BEST BURGERS EVER at midnight and the really friendly guy there recognized me, which excited me to no end. AND I got a free CD out of the deal. AND a gold wristband. Rock.
Oh, and the almost getting fired thing. So my boss calls me over on Tuesday and tells me he wants to tell me something before I get a note from HR and get alarmed. He goes on to tell me that the woman I'm doing the maternity cover for is suddenly returning at the end of the month. So I'm thinking I'm out of a job until my boss tells me they like me (whew) and they want to keep me on as a research assistant. So I get to do the interesting (market research) part of my job without all the crappy photocopying and admin part. Awesome. I rule. And I'm not jobless, homeless, and starving in the streets, so I think I came out of this quite well.
Indeed. Okay, that's all for now. I'll update if I remember something interesting...but you guys can feel free to comment all you'd like. Go ahead. Really. Pay some attention to me!!
Okay, bye.
= :)
Mar 7, 2005
Cambridge and New Pics!!
Hi -
Am spending the weekend in Cambridge - hence the internet access. Yesterday Denis took me on a tour of the colleges, until we got pelted with a combination of rain and snow - I love England. Then we met up with Fred and had a delicious dinner of Indian food...mmmm, I love Indian food. Then a couple games of pool, which were a lot of fun...ah, college. Today was lazy and watched Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and decided that Antonio Banderas is my favorite cheesy actor of all time. Also, have been eating the entire weekend (I love you, Nutella) and need to head home before I stuff myself some more. Am possibly meeting up with Dominic before the train ride home so that I visit every single person I know at Cambridge. Probably would have done more this weekend if the weather wasn't so absolutely frigid - what with the wind and below-freezing temps, it feels more like the Cambridge back in Massachusetts than the one over here. But it's a really gorgeous town - all the buildings are incredibly old and the streets are narrow and winding. And I got to see the inside of most of the colleges here, which was also great - I think I have to agree - Cambridge seems prettier than Oxford, even with the crap weather. I have to come back when it's warm to go punting down the river that weaves through town - it seems quite nice.
And as for the pictures - most of them are from Friday, when, after an always-entertaining trip to IKEA (mmm Swedish meatballs and affordable furniture), my flatmates and I headed out on a pirate pub crawl up the main street in Camden. Yes, a pirate pub crawl. Like a pub crawl while dressed as pirates. Inspired. I think we made it as far as 6 pubs before heading back...not quite sure, actually. :) And the pirate thing went over remarkably well - all the bartenders got into the spirit and started "aarrrg"-ing as well...I love pirates. hehehe...that's about all for this weekend. Click below for the pictures. I'll update soon!
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.42u4yorn&x=0&y=-dgl5oe
= :)
Am spending the weekend in Cambridge - hence the internet access. Yesterday Denis took me on a tour of the colleges, until we got pelted with a combination of rain and snow - I love England. Then we met up with Fred and had a delicious dinner of Indian food...mmmm, I love Indian food. Then a couple games of pool, which were a lot of fun...ah, college. Today was lazy and watched Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and decided that Antonio Banderas is my favorite cheesy actor of all time. Also, have been eating the entire weekend (I love you, Nutella) and need to head home before I stuff myself some more. Am possibly meeting up with Dominic before the train ride home so that I visit every single person I know at Cambridge. Probably would have done more this weekend if the weather wasn't so absolutely frigid - what with the wind and below-freezing temps, it feels more like the Cambridge back in Massachusetts than the one over here. But it's a really gorgeous town - all the buildings are incredibly old and the streets are narrow and winding. And I got to see the inside of most of the colleges here, which was also great - I think I have to agree - Cambridge seems prettier than Oxford, even with the crap weather. I have to come back when it's warm to go punting down the river that weaves through town - it seems quite nice.
And as for the pictures - most of them are from Friday, when, after an always-entertaining trip to IKEA (mmm Swedish meatballs and affordable furniture), my flatmates and I headed out on a pirate pub crawl up the main street in Camden. Yes, a pirate pub crawl. Like a pub crawl while dressed as pirates. Inspired. I think we made it as far as 6 pubs before heading back...not quite sure, actually. :) And the pirate thing went over remarkably well - all the bartenders got into the spirit and started "aarrrg"-ing as well...I love pirates. hehehe...that's about all for this weekend. Click below for the pictures. I'll update soon!
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.42u4yorn&x=0&y=-dgl5oe
= :)
Mar 1, 2005
Adventures of a Secretary
Because that is my job. As much as I try to tart it up (calling it "Administrator"), it remains a stark truth - I am a secretary. And not the best one, either. I swear, I'll never look at secretaries the same way again. They're expected to know every single little thing going on in the office and in the lives of their bosses, while at the same time keeping tabs on every single development, project, and procedure in the department. I'm beginning to think I'm not really cut out for the job.
No, actually, it's not that bad - there are just some days when I feel like I'm meant to understand what's going on, and I simply have no idea. Like apparently I'm supposed to know how to induct a new employee, put through purchase orders, and make a good cup of coffee. Also, my boss called me a "silly girl" yesterday with not the smallest hint of disdain in her voice. hm.
Anyway, work isn't incredibly busy, as is obvious from the fact that I'm writing this post during work hours. Hm, so updates. Spent a relatively quiet weekend at home...watched a bunch of DVDs and got to bed early. All the housemates were out and about or going to bed earlier than me, which is incredibly weird, since everyone is usually up until about 4am on the weekends, but it made for a bit of a relaxing change - I'll just make sure I have weekend plans in the future.
It was ridiculously cold all weekend (30 degrees is cold for London, trust me), but I managed to venture out of the house to go shopping and visit the Imperial War Museum. The museum is really amazing - it just has a huge amount of good exhibits, as well as a special one on POW escapes, which was a lot of fun. I actually got to go in for free b/c of a chance meeting with a museum guard when the zipper pull on my purse broke at the entrance. He offered to get me pliers, we got into a 20min. conversation about how he started working for the museum, and then I got to go into the exhibit for free as his guest, where he gave an awesome insider tour. Very nice guy - both his father and his Grandfather had fought in WWI and WW2, and he had a lot of interesting info on the museum and war in general. But before you go thinking anything, remember the kind of man I attract (anyone remember 60-year-old John from the ballet) and keep in mind that John (the museum guard) is around the same age, with much fewer teeth. :P Awesome.
Shopping-wise, I went to Portobello Road and had to restrain myself from buying any clothes - the skirts were so pretty!! And £5 earrings! And bags!! And vintage prom dresses!! Ahhhhh! Someone stop me before I blow all my money.
Ok, boss just walked in - must start the day. Bye!
= :)
No, actually, it's not that bad - there are just some days when I feel like I'm meant to understand what's going on, and I simply have no idea. Like apparently I'm supposed to know how to induct a new employee, put through purchase orders, and make a good cup of coffee. Also, my boss called me a "silly girl" yesterday with not the smallest hint of disdain in her voice. hm.
Anyway, work isn't incredibly busy, as is obvious from the fact that I'm writing this post during work hours. Hm, so updates. Spent a relatively quiet weekend at home...watched a bunch of DVDs and got to bed early. All the housemates were out and about or going to bed earlier than me, which is incredibly weird, since everyone is usually up until about 4am on the weekends, but it made for a bit of a relaxing change - I'll just make sure I have weekend plans in the future.
It was ridiculously cold all weekend (30 degrees is cold for London, trust me), but I managed to venture out of the house to go shopping and visit the Imperial War Museum. The museum is really amazing - it just has a huge amount of good exhibits, as well as a special one on POW escapes, which was a lot of fun. I actually got to go in for free b/c of a chance meeting with a museum guard when the zipper pull on my purse broke at the entrance. He offered to get me pliers, we got into a 20min. conversation about how he started working for the museum, and then I got to go into the exhibit for free as his guest, where he gave an awesome insider tour. Very nice guy - both his father and his Grandfather had fought in WWI and WW2, and he had a lot of interesting info on the museum and war in general. But before you go thinking anything, remember the kind of man I attract (anyone remember 60-year-old John from the ballet) and keep in mind that John (the museum guard) is around the same age, with much fewer teeth. :P Awesome.
Shopping-wise, I went to Portobello Road and had to restrain myself from buying any clothes - the skirts were so pretty!! And £5 earrings! And bags!! And vintage prom dresses!! Ahhhhh! Someone stop me before I blow all my money.
Ok, boss just walked in - must start the day. Bye!
= :)
Feb 24, 2005
Time for a new post...
Hello all.
Haven't updated in a while...so here's a bit of a recap. Last Friday night I went out with the housemates to Popstarz, gay night at Scala, a club at King's Cross. And no, Mom and Dad, I'm not trying to tell you anything...it's just that Joe does most of the social planning - and the crowd's a lot better than that at most clubs. More Madonna and Whitney, as well. :P
So anyway, yeah, Popstarz was fun. Spent a fortune buying a round of drinks (missed the 2 for 1 special by 5 minutes), but at least got in for free (after a desperate dash through the Euston Tube Station to get in before 11). Danced with housemates and generally had a great time. Weird...I didn't really like clubbing in the States, but it's a lot more fun here. I think it might be the music...we spent most of the night in a room that played Franz Ferdinand, Jet, and the like.
Um...stayed up FOREVER that night and managed to get up by 10am to see the National Portrait Gallery in the morning. It was ok...basically a lot of British people I don't know, but the photography exhibits were good. Then a walk through the snow (snow!) and home to spend a quiet evening watching a movie. Sunday wasn't much more exciting...mass, the OC, and then reading/TV/hanging out with everyone. What I DO like is how social everyone is on the weekeneds and weeknights...since the new people moved in, I noticed how much time we all started spending together.
Ummm...what else? Oh, saw "Sideways" on Monday - that was pretty good. Also, went to free Argentine tango workshop last night - that was also pretty cool. Oh, and it's been snowing all the time here, but nothing ever really sticks - at least in the city. So it's pretty great...all the beauty of snow (usually big wet flakes like in a movie) without all the grossness and inconvenience of piles of slush. OH, and I had the BEST BURGER IN THE WORLD. Imagine a White Castle Burger with cheese and onions. Now make it huge, toast the bun, and get rid of those faintly nauseating overtones. MMMMMMMM...and only for £1.30. It's only up the street from my house (Imagine, the BEST BURGER IN THE WORLD, and only a few blocks away), and we've already made friends with the extremely happy owners. Oh, and huge servings of (good) chips (fries) for £1. LOVE IT.
Ok, there was my requisite food reference. Staying a bit late at work to make up for yesterday (I left early to get a National Insurance number...something along the lines of a US Social Security number...I think) Whatever...it means I can come back and I'll have a real number - yaay!
Ok, off to finish up. Will try and post again soon.
= :)
Haven't updated in a while...so here's a bit of a recap. Last Friday night I went out with the housemates to Popstarz, gay night at Scala, a club at King's Cross. And no, Mom and Dad, I'm not trying to tell you anything...it's just that Joe does most of the social planning - and the crowd's a lot better than that at most clubs. More Madonna and Whitney, as well. :P
So anyway, yeah, Popstarz was fun. Spent a fortune buying a round of drinks (missed the 2 for 1 special by 5 minutes), but at least got in for free (after a desperate dash through the Euston Tube Station to get in before 11). Danced with housemates and generally had a great time. Weird...I didn't really like clubbing in the States, but it's a lot more fun here. I think it might be the music...we spent most of the night in a room that played Franz Ferdinand, Jet, and the like.
Um...stayed up FOREVER that night and managed to get up by 10am to see the National Portrait Gallery in the morning. It was ok...basically a lot of British people I don't know, but the photography exhibits were good. Then a walk through the snow (snow!) and home to spend a quiet evening watching a movie. Sunday wasn't much more exciting...mass, the OC, and then reading/TV/hanging out with everyone. What I DO like is how social everyone is on the weekeneds and weeknights...since the new people moved in, I noticed how much time we all started spending together.
Ummm...what else? Oh, saw "Sideways" on Monday - that was pretty good. Also, went to free Argentine tango workshop last night - that was also pretty cool. Oh, and it's been snowing all the time here, but nothing ever really sticks - at least in the city. So it's pretty great...all the beauty of snow (usually big wet flakes like in a movie) without all the grossness and inconvenience of piles of slush. OH, and I had the BEST BURGER IN THE WORLD. Imagine a White Castle Burger with cheese and onions. Now make it huge, toast the bun, and get rid of those faintly nauseating overtones. MMMMMMMM...and only for £1.30. It's only up the street from my house (Imagine, the BEST BURGER IN THE WORLD, and only a few blocks away), and we've already made friends with the extremely happy owners. Oh, and huge servings of (good) chips (fries) for £1. LOVE IT.
Ok, there was my requisite food reference. Staying a bit late at work to make up for yesterday (I left early to get a National Insurance number...something along the lines of a US Social Security number...I think) Whatever...it means I can come back and I'll have a real number - yaay!
Ok, off to finish up. Will try and post again soon.
= :)
Feb 19, 2005
Feb 18, 2005
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For Dad and all others, it's now possible to post a comment without registering. So post away, people.
= :)
= :)
Feb 17, 2005
Mid-week update
So I haven't updated in a while...let's see...
This weekend I took a little daytrip out to Oxford. It was actually really great - I mean, Oxford is nice with the ancient and ornate stone colleges and all, but the weather was really the main attraction of the day. When I woke up, it was sunny and clear - like really sunny, with the brightest sun I've seen since I've been here - and pretty warm (around 45-50 degrees maybe). It was nice to get out of the city - I loved the train ride there, through parts of the countryside (amazingly, everything is still green, even in the middle of winter), and then walked around a huge meadow while in Oxford. Pictures soon to come.
Oxford was pretty nice - there were all these narrow little streets and old stone colleges (which actually reminded me of Yale, to tell the truth). It had some great little shops, including the (not-so-little) Blackwell's, which apparently is the largest bookstore in the UK, and has this amazing subterranean room where the shelves of books seemed to go on forever. The place is packed with tourists, though. I mean, I thought Harvard Square was bad in the summer. This place was overrun in February. I also think that Japanese tourists must sign up for some kind of international university package tour, because they REALLY seem to like the colleges. I got my picture of the college they filmed Harry Potter at, so I was happy. :)
Sunday was the Chinese New Year's festival in London, so I ended up going to that after going to mass at Westminster Cathedral, which is ridiculously gorgeous. They have all these clear glass windows high up behind the altar, and the sun was shining right through them (it was amazing - TWO sunny days in a row) and casting these giant sunbeams everywhere. Chinese New Year was also a lot of fun - I got my fill of yummy pastries, threw some firecrackers, saw about 10 million lion dances, and saw a longer fireworks display than on New Year's. Good times.
Monday, the dreaded Valentine's day, actually turned out much better than expected. My housemates and I had planned on drinks to celebrate the fact we're all single (well, all but one). So a bunch of us went out at 10pm, expecting to stay for a drink or two and get back at a reasonable hour to sleep. But Joe had bigger plans, and we all ended up going to G.A.Y. (no subtlety there), a huge club at Tottenham Court Road. They played the BEST music - tons of Madonna, Footloose, and eighties favorites (Tiffany, anyone?). I had such a fun time, and we got a lot of housemate bonding in, as well. Also, I have to say I was impressed with my straight guy roommates, who had absolutely no problem with the club and were dancing like maniacs. Of course, it could always be the alcohol. But whatever.
Anyway, so after getting home at 4am and not getting to sleep until 5am, the next day at work was less than fun. And then last night I made the decision to go to bed early, only to be dissuaded with a viewing of Y Tu Mama Tambien and a long conversation with housemates, finally realizing it was 1am. Arg....not in college anymore. Have a job I wake up for in the mornings. Must remember this at all times.
So, that's about it. Am booking all sorts of flights and making travel plans, which is really exciting. Virginia's going to come here, where I'm apparently going to take her on the grand fountain tour of London (vpatrone.blogspot.com), and then I go off to Florence for nearly a week(!) I can't wait.
= :)
P.S. Coming soon...a title change. I hate mine, but have no ideas. Any and all suggestions welcome.
P.P.S. Oh, and Dad, you should be able to post comments now, no problem.
This weekend I took a little daytrip out to Oxford. It was actually really great - I mean, Oxford is nice with the ancient and ornate stone colleges and all, but the weather was really the main attraction of the day. When I woke up, it was sunny and clear - like really sunny, with the brightest sun I've seen since I've been here - and pretty warm (around 45-50 degrees maybe). It was nice to get out of the city - I loved the train ride there, through parts of the countryside (amazingly, everything is still green, even in the middle of winter), and then walked around a huge meadow while in Oxford. Pictures soon to come.
Oxford was pretty nice - there were all these narrow little streets and old stone colleges (which actually reminded me of Yale, to tell the truth). It had some great little shops, including the (not-so-little) Blackwell's, which apparently is the largest bookstore in the UK, and has this amazing subterranean room where the shelves of books seemed to go on forever. The place is packed with tourists, though. I mean, I thought Harvard Square was bad in the summer. This place was overrun in February. I also think that Japanese tourists must sign up for some kind of international university package tour, because they REALLY seem to like the colleges. I got my picture of the college they filmed Harry Potter at, so I was happy. :)
Sunday was the Chinese New Year's festival in London, so I ended up going to that after going to mass at Westminster Cathedral, which is ridiculously gorgeous. They have all these clear glass windows high up behind the altar, and the sun was shining right through them (it was amazing - TWO sunny days in a row) and casting these giant sunbeams everywhere. Chinese New Year was also a lot of fun - I got my fill of yummy pastries, threw some firecrackers, saw about 10 million lion dances, and saw a longer fireworks display than on New Year's. Good times.
Monday, the dreaded Valentine's day, actually turned out much better than expected. My housemates and I had planned on drinks to celebrate the fact we're all single (well, all but one). So a bunch of us went out at 10pm, expecting to stay for a drink or two and get back at a reasonable hour to sleep. But Joe had bigger plans, and we all ended up going to G.A.Y. (no subtlety there), a huge club at Tottenham Court Road. They played the BEST music - tons of Madonna, Footloose, and eighties favorites (Tiffany, anyone?). I had such a fun time, and we got a lot of housemate bonding in, as well. Also, I have to say I was impressed with my straight guy roommates, who had absolutely no problem with the club and were dancing like maniacs. Of course, it could always be the alcohol. But whatever.
Anyway, so after getting home at 4am and not getting to sleep until 5am, the next day at work was less than fun. And then last night I made the decision to go to bed early, only to be dissuaded with a viewing of Y Tu Mama Tambien and a long conversation with housemates, finally realizing it was 1am. Arg....not in college anymore. Have a job I wake up for in the mornings. Must remember this at all times.
So, that's about it. Am booking all sorts of flights and making travel plans, which is really exciting. Virginia's going to come here, where I'm apparently going to take her on the grand fountain tour of London (vpatrone.blogspot.com), and then I go off to Florence for nearly a week(!) I can't wait.
= :)
P.S. Coming soon...a title change. I hate mine, but have no ideas. Any and all suggestions welcome.
P.P.S. Oh, and Dad, you should be able to post comments now, no problem.
Feb 10, 2005
Give me back my phone!!
So, I needed to get my phone unlocked, because T-Mobile sucks. (For the uninitiated, mobile phones in the UK run off a GPS system. You can switch your phone between service providers by changing the SIM card in the back of the phone, this little dime-sized chip. When a cell phone is "locked," it means that the mobile service provider (in my case, T-Mobile) has done something to the phone to prevent you from changing companies.)
Anyway, you can get the phones unlocked at nearly any really cheap and sketchy electronics store. It's not actually illegal, but I can't make out whether it's completely legal, either. That should have been the first sign of trouble.
I head out after work one night to get the phone unlocked, and the sketchy people at the store tell me to come back at 7. I do, but then they tell me since my phone is ancient (thanks a lot, Eric), it'll take longer. Definitely by noon tomorrow, they tell me. So I come after work again, and they haven't gotten the phone back yet from wherever they do their dodgy unlocking activities. They tell me to come back at 7, and I do, but the phone STILL isn't there. And not only is it missing, apparently it's broken as well. The shifty guy's explanation: "um, we tried to unlock it and something exploded inside. whoops." Now, this is like my fourth time at this place, AND now my phone has been destroyed as well, so I completely lash into them. The guy tries to pacify me by telling me they'll give me a brand-new phone for the same price as unlocking the first, and maybe he'll even take off a discount, and I bitched back, "you'd BETTER give me a discount," and walked off with their number, ready to kill someone. I think I might have scared them...Denis later told me that I acted very "American," whatever that means. Demanded some decent customer service? (which, by the way, is nearly non-existent in this country)
Anyway, it must have done the trick, because the next day I came back to find a shiny new color phone with polyphonic tones and a camera, much nicer than anything I have back home. Yes I'm awesome. And Eric, now you've got a brand new phone out of the deal, so no bitching about your crappy old one that died on me in my time of need.
Ok, no more updates...have to actually do some work today...
= :)
P.S. Also, while my title might appear completely lame, I think my dad will get the reference. :)
Anyway, you can get the phones unlocked at nearly any really cheap and sketchy electronics store. It's not actually illegal, but I can't make out whether it's completely legal, either. That should have been the first sign of trouble.
I head out after work one night to get the phone unlocked, and the sketchy people at the store tell me to come back at 7. I do, but then they tell me since my phone is ancient (thanks a lot, Eric), it'll take longer. Definitely by noon tomorrow, they tell me. So I come after work again, and they haven't gotten the phone back yet from wherever they do their dodgy unlocking activities. They tell me to come back at 7, and I do, but the phone STILL isn't there. And not only is it missing, apparently it's broken as well. The shifty guy's explanation: "um, we tried to unlock it and something exploded inside. whoops." Now, this is like my fourth time at this place, AND now my phone has been destroyed as well, so I completely lash into them. The guy tries to pacify me by telling me they'll give me a brand-new phone for the same price as unlocking the first, and maybe he'll even take off a discount, and I bitched back, "you'd BETTER give me a discount," and walked off with their number, ready to kill someone. I think I might have scared them...Denis later told me that I acted very "American," whatever that means. Demanded some decent customer service? (which, by the way, is nearly non-existent in this country)
Anyway, it must have done the trick, because the next day I came back to find a shiny new color phone with polyphonic tones and a camera, much nicer than anything I have back home. Yes I'm awesome. And Eric, now you've got a brand new phone out of the deal, so no bitching about your crappy old one that died on me in my time of need.
Ok, no more updates...have to actually do some work today...
= :)
P.S. Also, while my title might appear completely lame, I think my dad will get the reference. :)
New update
Wow, I can't even remember where I left off. (Sorry, Grandma and Grandpa). Also, sorry, Virginia, this is going to be another one of my marathon posts, since I have about a week to recap.
Um, let's see...I went to the BUNAC pub meet, but it was just as lame as the other one, and full of annoying people on the visa program. Oh, and I remembered how annoying Americans can be, after getting repeatedly elbowed in the head by a giant drunken amazon woman wearing a tube top and about 10 pounds of makeup. Maybe tall people shouldn't be allowed to wear heels. Anyway.
So, then on Thursday, I completely forget what I did, but it may have involved hanging out at home with my housemates, who are all pretty fabulous. On Friday, I went out with people after work, and then went to a Harvard meetup thing, which was an incredible failure. Everyone already seemed to know each other (and also to be from Cambridge or Oxford), so they all chatted while I sat around and thought how bored I was. And then when I actually started talking to them, I remembered how stuffy and boring some Harvard people are. So, yeah. Grand failure. But there were free Doritos. (random information - Doritos are pretty big here. Are they distributed by Pepsi or something? Also, they have flavors that are called "Latino" flavors...try getting away with that in the states)
Ah, let's see - Saturday. Went shopping at my local fruit and vegetable market, and got a whole bag (my Dreyer's Farm bag!) full of veggies. That's what I'm really going to miss about London - there are so many places to get cheap (and good!) fresh fruits and vegetables. Then I went to the National Gallery with my flatmate. I can't say I was too impressed - I think I may just not like paintings all that much. Or at least anything that isn't more modern. I saw Hero for £4 (I LOVE the Prince Charles Cinema), and it was really gorgeous. Not the greatest story, but pretty nonetheless. I wonder why I never went to movies alone before...I actually don't mind it at all. I had no plans, but came back home to find a huge surprise birthday party going on - an 18th birthday. Eek. Most of the guests were my flatmate Nick's friends. Some of the people there were only 16 - I felt ridiculously old. There was a lot of drama and debauchery, but I didn't get involved...which was probably a good thing. Don't want to hook up with a housemate or anything - what with all the drama sure to ensue...
Sunday I woke up late with a bit of a headache, but set off determinedly in search of bagels - real bagels, not the pre-packaged junk they have in Sainsbury's. And I found them, and they were fabulous. I actually had to travel all the way to East London to Brick Lane, which is this old Jewish neighborhood that's now Bengali. However, the Beigel Bake has stood in the same spot for years, and still serves fresh, warm bagels and challah. Except they call it chola. weird. (And Gin, all I can think about is Chessie saying "she has...a cholera!"....hehehehe) But it was good, and reminded me of Sundays at school...especially when I ordered a bagel with lox. mmmm.
Then I saw all these people walking with flowers, and followed the line of them to this little street market that only sold plants and fresh-cut flowers. It was great, and I got a bouquet of tulips for £1. Yaay fresh flowers. Then off to Spitalfields Market, which is sooo full of accessories and clothes, mostly made by local designers. I wanted to buy everything, but restrained myself. (Erin and Shelley, I'm going CRAZY. I want to buy the entire city.) Then back to the flat to make Rice Krispie Treats, which were a giant hit both at home and at the office, where no one had ever tried them before. I just had fun playing with the giant pot of melted marshmallows. Yummy.
Monday...didn't really do anything. Tuesday is Mardi Gras in the US but Pancake Day in England, so that was fun. At about 11pm, my flatmates decided they wanted to make pancakes, and we ended up eating them until about 1:30am. whooops. They're quite different from US pancakes...they're thinner and less sweet, and you top them with sugar and lemon juice, or golden syrup, this thick, gelatinous, sugar syrup that's better than it sounds.
I love how all my entries have to do with food. i think I might be a little obsessed, and it scares me. :) But there are so many new things to try...haggis, beans and toast, golden syrup, Marmite...and not ALL of it is awful. :) Next thing to try...curry sauces from the supermarket (as well as pre-packaged naan)! Can you even GET those at a normal store in the US? Chicken tikka masala, here I come.
Up this weekend: possibly a trip to the countryside on Saturday, if the weather holds, Victoria and Albert Museum's architecture wing, and the huge Chinese New Year celebration in Trafalgar Square. yaay dragon dance. Will try and update more often - bye!
= :)
Um, let's see...I went to the BUNAC pub meet, but it was just as lame as the other one, and full of annoying people on the visa program. Oh, and I remembered how annoying Americans can be, after getting repeatedly elbowed in the head by a giant drunken amazon woman wearing a tube top and about 10 pounds of makeup. Maybe tall people shouldn't be allowed to wear heels. Anyway.
So, then on Thursday, I completely forget what I did, but it may have involved hanging out at home with my housemates, who are all pretty fabulous. On Friday, I went out with people after work, and then went to a Harvard meetup thing, which was an incredible failure. Everyone already seemed to know each other (and also to be from Cambridge or Oxford), so they all chatted while I sat around and thought how bored I was. And then when I actually started talking to them, I remembered how stuffy and boring some Harvard people are. So, yeah. Grand failure. But there were free Doritos. (random information - Doritos are pretty big here. Are they distributed by Pepsi or something? Also, they have flavors that are called "Latino" flavors...try getting away with that in the states)
Ah, let's see - Saturday. Went shopping at my local fruit and vegetable market, and got a whole bag (my Dreyer's Farm bag!) full of veggies. That's what I'm really going to miss about London - there are so many places to get cheap (and good!) fresh fruits and vegetables. Then I went to the National Gallery with my flatmate. I can't say I was too impressed - I think I may just not like paintings all that much. Or at least anything that isn't more modern. I saw Hero for £4 (I LOVE the Prince Charles Cinema), and it was really gorgeous. Not the greatest story, but pretty nonetheless. I wonder why I never went to movies alone before...I actually don't mind it at all. I had no plans, but came back home to find a huge surprise birthday party going on - an 18th birthday. Eek. Most of the guests were my flatmate Nick's friends. Some of the people there were only 16 - I felt ridiculously old. There was a lot of drama and debauchery, but I didn't get involved...which was probably a good thing. Don't want to hook up with a housemate or anything - what with all the drama sure to ensue...
Sunday I woke up late with a bit of a headache, but set off determinedly in search of bagels - real bagels, not the pre-packaged junk they have in Sainsbury's. And I found them, and they were fabulous. I actually had to travel all the way to East London to Brick Lane, which is this old Jewish neighborhood that's now Bengali. However, the Beigel Bake has stood in the same spot for years, and still serves fresh, warm bagels and challah. Except they call it chola. weird. (And Gin, all I can think about is Chessie saying "she has...a cholera!"....hehehehe) But it was good, and reminded me of Sundays at school...especially when I ordered a bagel with lox. mmmm.
Then I saw all these people walking with flowers, and followed the line of them to this little street market that only sold plants and fresh-cut flowers. It was great, and I got a bouquet of tulips for £1. Yaay fresh flowers. Then off to Spitalfields Market, which is sooo full of accessories and clothes, mostly made by local designers. I wanted to buy everything, but restrained myself. (Erin and Shelley, I'm going CRAZY. I want to buy the entire city.) Then back to the flat to make Rice Krispie Treats, which were a giant hit both at home and at the office, where no one had ever tried them before. I just had fun playing with the giant pot of melted marshmallows. Yummy.
Monday...didn't really do anything. Tuesday is Mardi Gras in the US but Pancake Day in England, so that was fun. At about 11pm, my flatmates decided they wanted to make pancakes, and we ended up eating them until about 1:30am. whooops. They're quite different from US pancakes...they're thinner and less sweet, and you top them with sugar and lemon juice, or golden syrup, this thick, gelatinous, sugar syrup that's better than it sounds.
I love how all my entries have to do with food. i think I might be a little obsessed, and it scares me. :) But there are so many new things to try...haggis, beans and toast, golden syrup, Marmite...and not ALL of it is awful. :) Next thing to try...curry sauces from the supermarket (as well as pre-packaged naan)! Can you even GET those at a normal store in the US? Chicken tikka masala, here I come.
Up this weekend: possibly a trip to the countryside on Saturday, if the weather holds, Victoria and Albert Museum's architecture wing, and the huge Chinese New Year celebration in Trafalgar Square. yaay dragon dance. Will try and update more often - bye!
= :)
Feb 3, 2005
Same old, same old
So, I've managed to steal a few minutes away from work, and can update. Cause I know you're all dying to hear from me. :)
This past weekend was fun - I met up with some friends from college (Denis and Fred) and went out for Fred's 25th birthday. Unfortunately, London's pubs close at 11pm on the weekends, as well (or at least the one we went to), so the party was cut a bit short, as Fred had to head back home after forgetting his keys. Silly, silly boy.
Luckily, some places were still open, so four of us went out and got some wine and pizza...mmmm. Then headed home and talked till 4am....ah, just like college. But not really. What sucks about graduating is that you actually have to leave college. :( Sadness.
But I have to say I like not having to worry about homework all the time, so graduating's not all that bad. :) So yeah, Monday was fairly uneventful. I have two new roommates - Liam and Sally, from London and Melbourne and 24 and 25, respectively. They're really great - we all cooked dinner together, hung out in front of the TV, and generally got to know each other. And now I have a football team to cheer for! The Tottenham Hotspurs, favorite team of Liam, are now my favorite team as well, because I really couldn't think of any other good way to pick a team except to latch on to someone else's. Apparently they're not that good, but they have lots of heart. :)
A little bit about the house, if I haven't already posted it. I live with 6 other people in a big 4-story rowhouse in Camden Town, which is fabulously cheap without being less-than-fabulously dodgy. We all have our own bedrooms and there are two bathrooms, so it never really feels too crowded. I'm on the top floor with Sally and Alana, another Aussie (21 years old). Downstairs is a big lounge and a pretty big kichen, and on the ground floor are Joe (English, 21) and Jenny (English, 29). In the basement are Liam and Nick (English, 18). It's a really fun and social place to live, and I've made my room quite cozy, what with the IKEA decor and all. :) I'll try to get more pictures of the house for my next album.
Last night, I met a couple of friends from BUNAC (the organization that gave me my visa) at a pub for drinks and had a Pimm's and lemonade, which is absolutely delicious. Pimm's is a citrusy British liquor, and it's mixed with 7-up or sprite, referred to as lemonade here. Again, England is weird.
Tonight BUNAC is holding another big pub meet right near my house, so I'll most likely go and try and meet a few more people. That, and I have to get my phone unlocked, which is an extremely sketchy process. Basically, I walk into any dosgy-looking electronics store and ask them to unlock the phone, which technically is a little bit illegal. But if I have to keep my shoddy T-Mobile service anymore, I'm going to go broke. 300 free texts a month, here I come!
= :)
This past weekend was fun - I met up with some friends from college (Denis and Fred) and went out for Fred's 25th birthday. Unfortunately, London's pubs close at 11pm on the weekends, as well (or at least the one we went to), so the party was cut a bit short, as Fred had to head back home after forgetting his keys. Silly, silly boy.
Luckily, some places were still open, so four of us went out and got some wine and pizza...mmmm. Then headed home and talked till 4am....ah, just like college. But not really. What sucks about graduating is that you actually have to leave college. :( Sadness.
But I have to say I like not having to worry about homework all the time, so graduating's not all that bad. :) So yeah, Monday was fairly uneventful. I have two new roommates - Liam and Sally, from London and Melbourne and 24 and 25, respectively. They're really great - we all cooked dinner together, hung out in front of the TV, and generally got to know each other. And now I have a football team to cheer for! The Tottenham Hotspurs, favorite team of Liam, are now my favorite team as well, because I really couldn't think of any other good way to pick a team except to latch on to someone else's. Apparently they're not that good, but they have lots of heart. :)
A little bit about the house, if I haven't already posted it. I live with 6 other people in a big 4-story rowhouse in Camden Town, which is fabulously cheap without being less-than-fabulously dodgy. We all have our own bedrooms and there are two bathrooms, so it never really feels too crowded. I'm on the top floor with Sally and Alana, another Aussie (21 years old). Downstairs is a big lounge and a pretty big kichen, and on the ground floor are Joe (English, 21) and Jenny (English, 29). In the basement are Liam and Nick (English, 18). It's a really fun and social place to live, and I've made my room quite cozy, what with the IKEA decor and all. :) I'll try to get more pictures of the house for my next album.
Last night, I met a couple of friends from BUNAC (the organization that gave me my visa) at a pub for drinks and had a Pimm's and lemonade, which is absolutely delicious. Pimm's is a citrusy British liquor, and it's mixed with 7-up or sprite, referred to as lemonade here. Again, England is weird.
Tonight BUNAC is holding another big pub meet right near my house, so I'll most likely go and try and meet a few more people. That, and I have to get my phone unlocked, which is an extremely sketchy process. Basically, I walk into any dosgy-looking electronics store and ask them to unlock the phone, which technically is a little bit illegal. But if I have to keep my shoddy T-Mobile service anymore, I'm going to go broke. 300 free texts a month, here I come!
= :)
Feb 1, 2005
Second try...
Ok...this link might work better. And some of you could have possibly received the pictures already. I'm not really sure.
But anyway, here it is:
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.9zct6nnv&x=0&y=-j0o0ov
Give it a try and let me know if it works!
But anyway, here it is:
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.9zct6nnv&x=0&y=-j0o0ov
Give it a try and let me know if it works!
By urgent request of mom and dad...
...here are the photos I've taken so far. None of them actually feature me, but they give a pretty good picture of London itself. :)
Enjoy!
http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=782239472203&page=1&sort_order=0
Hope the link works. If not, I'll send out an email tomorrow.
= :)
Enjoy!
http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=782239472203&page=1&sort_order=0
Hope the link works. If not, I'll send out an email tomorrow.
= :)
Jan 26, 2005
Weekend Update
Hehehe...I just got this great image of Norm MacDonald cracking up at all his own jokes - good times. Those were the days when Saturday Night Live was actually funny - sadly, that's not the case anymore. But I have British TV to watch, so I don't care. :)
So this weekend was a lot of fun. I can't really remember when I last updated, but I'm sure this should cover it. Despite getting to bed pretty late on Friday, I woke up on Saturday really early. I took advantage of the early hour (okay, it was 10) to go see the Robert Frank exhibition at the Tate Modern. It cost a bit to get in (gasp!), but it was definitely worth it. There were 12 rooms of photographs, most from London, the US, and Peru. I could have done without the bizarre experimental films, but the proof sheets from Frank's book The Americans more than made up for it. I spent about a half hour looking at the wall of tiny little pictures - probably a few hundred in all. It was great to see the shots that made it into the book, and the ones next to them that just didn't quite catch what he was going for. There were a lot of good unpublished ones, too, which was incredibly cool to see.
Ok, since that paragraph is really only interesting to me, more about my day. I headed over to Portobello Road to check out the market there. After pushing my way past all the antique shoppers, I found the fruit and vegetable stalls, and got more than a week's worth of food for about £4. I love the markets here - I think I'm really going to miss them when I head home. It's like Dreyer's, but cheap. Incredibly cheap.
Unfortunately, the same doesn't exactly go for the clothes farther up the road. I had to push my way through tons of stalls on my way to the Tube, and wanted to buy something from just about every one of them. They have the most beautiful skirts with embroidery and big, full, skirts - arg, I need to go shopping. But not until the 2nd month at least - I want to try out my budget and see how it goes for at least a month.
Saturday night brought the house party, which was quite fun. I think about 30 people came over, but I really only spent the night hanging out in my housemate's Joe's room. Tons of fun ensued, as I got quite a bit drunk. Luckily, I only had to crawl up the stairs and fall into bed.
I got up at around noon on Sunday (thankfully without a hangover), and just did a bit of shopping. I took my first try at making Mom's tomato sauce with British ingredients, and while it went pretty well, I think it'll actually cost me less to buy prepared sauce here. No giant 40-cent cans of Red Pack tomatoes in London. :( I also watched two movies with my housemate Nick - Cold Mountain and the Girl with the Pearl Earring. Cold Mountain was ok - just interesting to see Jude Law and Nicole Kidman pretend to be Southern (who cast that movie?). The Girl with the Pearl Earring wasn't as good as the book, but was gorgeous - it really looked like a Vermeer painting. Also, any movie is improved by the addition of the wonderful Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth, of course).
Ok, think I've written enough for now. Will try and update tomorrow, too.
= :)
So this weekend was a lot of fun. I can't really remember when I last updated, but I'm sure this should cover it. Despite getting to bed pretty late on Friday, I woke up on Saturday really early. I took advantage of the early hour (okay, it was 10) to go see the Robert Frank exhibition at the Tate Modern. It cost a bit to get in (gasp!), but it was definitely worth it. There were 12 rooms of photographs, most from London, the US, and Peru. I could have done without the bizarre experimental films, but the proof sheets from Frank's book The Americans more than made up for it. I spent about a half hour looking at the wall of tiny little pictures - probably a few hundred in all. It was great to see the shots that made it into the book, and the ones next to them that just didn't quite catch what he was going for. There were a lot of good unpublished ones, too, which was incredibly cool to see.
Ok, since that paragraph is really only interesting to me, more about my day. I headed over to Portobello Road to check out the market there. After pushing my way past all the antique shoppers, I found the fruit and vegetable stalls, and got more than a week's worth of food for about £4. I love the markets here - I think I'm really going to miss them when I head home. It's like Dreyer's, but cheap. Incredibly cheap.
Unfortunately, the same doesn't exactly go for the clothes farther up the road. I had to push my way through tons of stalls on my way to the Tube, and wanted to buy something from just about every one of them. They have the most beautiful skirts with embroidery and big, full, skirts - arg, I need to go shopping. But not until the 2nd month at least - I want to try out my budget and see how it goes for at least a month.
Saturday night brought the house party, which was quite fun. I think about 30 people came over, but I really only spent the night hanging out in my housemate's Joe's room. Tons of fun ensued, as I got quite a bit drunk. Luckily, I only had to crawl up the stairs and fall into bed.
I got up at around noon on Sunday (thankfully without a hangover), and just did a bit of shopping. I took my first try at making Mom's tomato sauce with British ingredients, and while it went pretty well, I think it'll actually cost me less to buy prepared sauce here. No giant 40-cent cans of Red Pack tomatoes in London. :( I also watched two movies with my housemate Nick - Cold Mountain and the Girl with the Pearl Earring. Cold Mountain was ok - just interesting to see Jude Law and Nicole Kidman pretend to be Southern (who cast that movie?). The Girl with the Pearl Earring wasn't as good as the book, but was gorgeous - it really looked like a Vermeer painting. Also, any movie is improved by the addition of the wonderful Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth, of course).
Ok, think I've written enough for now. Will try and update tomorrow, too.
= :)
Jan 22, 2005
So, just when I thought I'd never make any friends in London and have to spend every night in watching Eastenders on the telly (it's a nighttime soap opera, kind of like England's own telenovela. Of course, I even utter the word "telenovela" and people start looking at me funny, but that's what it is, so that's what I'm going to call it. So there.), my social calendar has been filling up at an alarming rate. But it's good. So not really "alarming." More like "fast."
This week I actually went out every night of the week except Monday, which, like all other nights at home, was spent watching many, many episodes of the OC (the new season starts next week here - yaay!). But then on Tuesday, my hosuemates grabbed me as I walked in and dragged me out to the pub. It's a local place with cheap drinks (my housemate works there) and the BEST CHIPS EVER. Made with cheese and chilis...mmmmmmmm.
Wednesday I made plans to meet up with the Harvard guy I met last week at the ballet. We went to go out for drinks, saw La Fille Ma Gardee at the Royal Opera House (which is GORGEOUS, by the way) for £4 (woohoo!) and then out for a (very late) dinner. And before you go jumping to conclusions, John (the Harvard guy) is approximately 65 years old. But fun nonetheless.
Then last night Abby (from college - lived in Lowell House) texted me about going to an American meet-up thing (there's a bunch of American expats living in London who are on Meetup.com and meet once a month for drinks and such). The meet-up was a bit lame (it was at TGIFs - why do they even HAVE one of those in London?) and it was incredibly loud inside, but I did get to catch up with Abby (who's doing a planning degree at UCL) and meet a few cool people. And I might have a Superbowl party to go to, now, which might be fun. You know, buffalo wings and all. And, by the way, the area between Leicester Square and Picadilly Circus, where the TGIF is located, is like America Land. There's a Baskin Robbins, a McDonald's, a Burger King, a Pizza Hut, a Subway, a Ben and Jerry's, a Hard Rock Cafe, and at least one Starbucks. It's like walking through a weird outdoor food court that purports to be "America." Weird.
And a side note - after reading the blogs of several friends, I have realized that I'm not quite as...entertaining a storyteller. And so I apologize to my audience and promise to work on being more quirky/exciting/avant garde. Yeah.
Off to what should be an interesting weekend - my house is hosting a Rocky Horror-themed party, and apparently a) I need a costume and b) there are quite a few people invited. So yeah, most likely going to spend Saturday night looking like an idiot in front of lots of people I don't know. But at least I'll have an excuse to buy some fishnet stockings. Yaay.
= :)
This week I actually went out every night of the week except Monday, which, like all other nights at home, was spent watching many, many episodes of the OC (the new season starts next week here - yaay!). But then on Tuesday, my hosuemates grabbed me as I walked in and dragged me out to the pub. It's a local place with cheap drinks (my housemate works there) and the BEST CHIPS EVER. Made with cheese and chilis...mmmmmmmm.
Wednesday I made plans to meet up with the Harvard guy I met last week at the ballet. We went to go out for drinks, saw La Fille Ma Gardee at the Royal Opera House (which is GORGEOUS, by the way) for £4 (woohoo!) and then out for a (very late) dinner. And before you go jumping to conclusions, John (the Harvard guy) is approximately 65 years old. But fun nonetheless.
Then last night Abby (from college - lived in Lowell House) texted me about going to an American meet-up thing (there's a bunch of American expats living in London who are on Meetup.com and meet once a month for drinks and such). The meet-up was a bit lame (it was at TGIFs - why do they even HAVE one of those in London?) and it was incredibly loud inside, but I did get to catch up with Abby (who's doing a planning degree at UCL) and meet a few cool people. And I might have a Superbowl party to go to, now, which might be fun. You know, buffalo wings and all. And, by the way, the area between Leicester Square and Picadilly Circus, where the TGIF is located, is like America Land. There's a Baskin Robbins, a McDonald's, a Burger King, a Pizza Hut, a Subway, a Ben and Jerry's, a Hard Rock Cafe, and at least one Starbucks. It's like walking through a weird outdoor food court that purports to be "America." Weird.
And a side note - after reading the blogs of several friends, I have realized that I'm not quite as...entertaining a storyteller. And so I apologize to my audience and promise to work on being more quirky/exciting/avant garde. Yeah.
Off to what should be an interesting weekend - my house is hosting a Rocky Horror-themed party, and apparently a) I need a costume and b) there are quite a few people invited. So yeah, most likely going to spend Saturday night looking like an idiot in front of lots of people I don't know. But at least I'll have an excuse to buy some fishnet stockings. Yaay.
= :)
Jan 19, 2005
Work is progressing quite well - I really feel like I'm getting the hang of the job, AND I've already whittled my morning commute down to a half hour. I'm working on shaving time off of that, but I don't think it's going to happen.
Today is a "cold" day in London, meaning it's about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and windy. Granted, that's cold, but generally balmy when you compare it to Cranford (15 degrees, feels like -1) and Boston (10 degrees, feels like -7). This is like a vacation...except for the cloudy weather, of course.
Although, I've come to the conclusion that London is like Florida. Stick with me on this one. There are generally storms (thunderstorms in Florida, rainstorms here), but they come along with plenty of sun. Granted, Florida has beautiful tropical weather and London has some grey, not-so-beautiful weather, but they both have humidity. Ok, I'm not being so clear, but basically what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't rain in London as much as I thought it would. And that's a good thing. But of course, it isn't actually the spring yet.
Ok, so quick update...moved into my house this weekend and am loving it. Everyone's really nice, and we've bonded over our O.C. DVD collection...hehehe. The market's just around the corner and I've been able to cook for myself, which helps to save a little money. I also got to go to IKEA (which is kinda stange because the layout of all IKEAs are apparently the same, no matter what country you're in - I could have been in Elizabeth once I got inside), but also fabulous, because IKEA is fun and cheap. After an incredibly meandering way home, I finally got all my stuff into my room and made it beautiful - hooray!
Ok, just about to leave work, so I'll sign off for now. Will update soon!
Today is a "cold" day in London, meaning it's about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and windy. Granted, that's cold, but generally balmy when you compare it to Cranford (15 degrees, feels like -1) and Boston (10 degrees, feels like -7). This is like a vacation...except for the cloudy weather, of course.
Although, I've come to the conclusion that London is like Florida. Stick with me on this one. There are generally storms (thunderstorms in Florida, rainstorms here), but they come along with plenty of sun. Granted, Florida has beautiful tropical weather and London has some grey, not-so-beautiful weather, but they both have humidity. Ok, I'm not being so clear, but basically what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't rain in London as much as I thought it would. And that's a good thing. But of course, it isn't actually the spring yet.
Ok, so quick update...moved into my house this weekend and am loving it. Everyone's really nice, and we've bonded over our O.C. DVD collection...hehehe. The market's just around the corner and I've been able to cook for myself, which helps to save a little money. I also got to go to IKEA (which is kinda stange because the layout of all IKEAs are apparently the same, no matter what country you're in - I could have been in Elizabeth once I got inside), but also fabulous, because IKEA is fun and cheap. After an incredibly meandering way home, I finally got all my stuff into my room and made it beautiful - hooray!
Ok, just about to leave work, so I'll sign off for now. Will update soon!
Jan 14, 2005
Good times at work continue. I'm starting to get familiar with the place, and people were even friendlier the second day - of course, I'm sure the wine at the midday party (yes, office drinking is allowed, and quite possibly encouraged, in my new workplace) for the girl I'm replacing. I actually look forward to going to work in the morning - it's just a very pleasant place to be, and everyone's a lot of fun.
Also, it's been bright, sunny, and clear for the last few days (and is expected to stay that way through the weekend), so that's made my mornng commute to work all the more pleasant. My bus crosses the Waterloo Bridge, and I get a gorgous view of the sun hitting buildings up and down the Thames. We all gathered round the windows today at work to see a particularly beautiful sunset - I guess it's a rare enough occasion here to merit the excitement. Ok, off to meet some friends at the pub!
= :)
Also, it's been bright, sunny, and clear for the last few days (and is expected to stay that way through the weekend), so that's made my mornng commute to work all the more pleasant. My bus crosses the Waterloo Bridge, and I get a gorgous view of the sun hitting buildings up and down the Thames. We all gathered round the windows today at work to see a particularly beautiful sunset - I guess it's a rare enough occasion here to merit the excitement. Ok, off to meet some friends at the pub!
= :)
Jan 13, 2005
I'll keep this one short because it's late and I'm tired. :)
Today was my first day of work and it was wonderful. The people I work with are incredibly friendly and a lot of fun. I get along quite well with them. We're all going out this Friday already, and I'm very happy I accepted the job. The actual work part (hehehe) also seems much better than I initially thought - there seems to be a lot of interesting things going on in the department, which basically pairs promising recent graduates and academic advisors with businesses to help them find new and innovative ways to improve their companies. See - I already sound like a brochure. :)
Plus, the office is incredibly relaxed - I can listen to music on speakers and probably get to download my pictures off my camera - yaay! And since it's one big room with a workstation plan, everyone just throws comments back and forth - it's very informal.
To make today even better (as if the HUGE noodle bar lunch didn't cover that), I got cheaper-than-expected (£5!) tickets to see the English National Ballet's production of Romeo and Juliet, originally choreographed by Nureyev. AND my seats were good. Hooray for Wednesday performances. It was a very good production, and really unlike any other ballet I've seen so far.
Ok, off to bed, so that I don't fall asleep at work tomorrow!
Today was my first day of work and it was wonderful. The people I work with are incredibly friendly and a lot of fun. I get along quite well with them. We're all going out this Friday already, and I'm very happy I accepted the job. The actual work part (hehehe) also seems much better than I initially thought - there seems to be a lot of interesting things going on in the department, which basically pairs promising recent graduates and academic advisors with businesses to help them find new and innovative ways to improve their companies. See - I already sound like a brochure. :)
Plus, the office is incredibly relaxed - I can listen to music on speakers and probably get to download my pictures off my camera - yaay! And since it's one big room with a workstation plan, everyone just throws comments back and forth - it's very informal.
To make today even better (as if the HUGE noodle bar lunch didn't cover that), I got cheaper-than-expected (£5!) tickets to see the English National Ballet's production of Romeo and Juliet, originally choreographed by Nureyev. AND my seats were good. Hooray for Wednesday performances. It was a very good production, and really unlike any other ballet I've seen so far.
Ok, off to bed, so that I don't fall asleep at work tomorrow!
Jan 12, 2005
Working Girl
Today was my first and last day as a temp worker - sadness. Judging from how today went, though, I'm glad I have a more permanent job.
I worked at Nova Capital, some kind of financial firm, as a receptionist/admin assistant type. Highlights of my incredibly slow day include balancing precariously on a pile of printer paper as I tried to reach the highest shelves in the stock room, making endless cups of tea and coffee for visitors, and requiring a full-length tutorial to figure out how the phone system worked. So yeah, maybe I'm not cut out for the PA/Admin assistant kind of position. Too bad that's what I start doing tomorrow. :)
Tomorrow's my first full day of work, and we'll see how well that goes. The people seem really friendly, and I'll have the current job holder to guide me through for three days (until she leaves). I'll get back to you on how it goes.
Random observations: The more time I spend in London, the more sense Harry Potter makes to me. "Cellotape" is the brand of Scotch tape they have here, making "Spellotape" all the more understandable. Also, at the Post Office, I saw an Owl Brand post box - very clever. :) Also, speaking of the post office, it's the weirdest place. It seems to provide just about every service you'd ever need, from selling car insurance to providing a phone plan to selling lottery tickets. And they have these cute little cartoon ants to advertise each of their services - so, for example, the phone ad features a cute little ant talking on a huge phone, or the win a vacation ad has some ants lounging on the beach. It's weird that the post office has an ad campaign that's so...adorable, but it's nicer to see than the characters from Shrek, who were gracing American post offices last year.
Also, globalization = not so great. Sometimes when walking through London, I feel like I might as well be in New York. The place is covered in KFCs, McDonald's, Starbucks, Niketowns, the Starbucks look-alikes Costa Coffee and Caffe Nero, and most inexplicably, Subways. Subway like the sub-par sandwich shop. At least KFC has some tasty mashed potatoes to justify its presence.
= :)
I worked at Nova Capital, some kind of financial firm, as a receptionist/admin assistant type. Highlights of my incredibly slow day include balancing precariously on a pile of printer paper as I tried to reach the highest shelves in the stock room, making endless cups of tea and coffee for visitors, and requiring a full-length tutorial to figure out how the phone system worked. So yeah, maybe I'm not cut out for the PA/Admin assistant kind of position. Too bad that's what I start doing tomorrow. :)
Tomorrow's my first full day of work, and we'll see how well that goes. The people seem really friendly, and I'll have the current job holder to guide me through for three days (until she leaves). I'll get back to you on how it goes.
Random observations: The more time I spend in London, the more sense Harry Potter makes to me. "Cellotape" is the brand of Scotch tape they have here, making "Spellotape" all the more understandable. Also, at the Post Office, I saw an Owl Brand post box - very clever. :) Also, speaking of the post office, it's the weirdest place. It seems to provide just about every service you'd ever need, from selling car insurance to providing a phone plan to selling lottery tickets. And they have these cute little cartoon ants to advertise each of their services - so, for example, the phone ad features a cute little ant talking on a huge phone, or the win a vacation ad has some ants lounging on the beach. It's weird that the post office has an ad campaign that's so...adorable, but it's nicer to see than the characters from Shrek, who were gracing American post offices last year.
Also, globalization = not so great. Sometimes when walking through London, I feel like I might as well be in New York. The place is covered in KFCs, McDonald's, Starbucks, Niketowns, the Starbucks look-alikes Costa Coffee and Caffe Nero, and most inexplicably, Subways. Subway like the sub-par sandwich shop. At least KFC has some tasty mashed potatoes to justify its presence.
= :)
Jan 11, 2005
The Job Hunt
I had two job interviews today, and nearly ended the day in disaster. How, you ask? Let me explain.
The first job was at London South Bank University, and entailed filling an administrative post for the Centre for Knowledge Transfer, a government-funded project that pairs academics with businesses to...well, maybe I wasn't listening that hard. I'm pretty sure it's for bringing new academic methods and discovery to businesses to help them run better, but hey, I could be wrong.
Anyway, the people there seemed very nice and the interview went reasonably well, but I wasn't too impressed. The area is a bit run-down, and the job's duties seem fairly boring - receptionist-style tasks, market research, scheduling meetings, etc. I DID get to meet up with Peter the architect, though, who is friends with my mom's student's father. Yeah. Anyway, we had some nice mid-morning tea and croissants (and I think I'm getting the hang of the "right" way to take tea...it's a lot tastier with milk) and a good talk about American and British politics, and "royal families" on either side of the Atlantic.
I set off to the second job interview of the day, at University College of London's Pharmacology school, for a job assisting the head of curriculum there and helping him to edit a pharmacology journal. Despite the pharmacology aspect, it really seemed like a great job, with a lot of different things for me to be busy with, a large group of grad students working nearby, and some great bosses. That, and I already knew I liked the neighborhood - it's about 5 minutes from Goodenough College.
So, Job #1 at LSBU promised they'd get back to me by Tuesday. This boded (bade?) well for Job#2 at UCL, which was supposed to get back to me by 6pm, and which I decided I liked much better. Problem is, Job#1 called me back a whole 24 hours early and offered me the job at 3pm today. Panicked, I told them I would like a little time to think about it. They told me the latest I could get back to them was 5pm.
So now I'm watching the clock (while also trying to run errands - in the pouring rain, no less), waiting nervously for Job #2 to call me back, because of course I want that one much more. I begin to weigh the odds of me getting Job#2 (25%, as one out of four applicants) and wonder if I should gamble and just turn down Job #1, for the chance of getting Job #2.
Frantic, I start pacing my room. I can't decide whether to turn down Job #1, because if I'm NOT offered Job #2, I'll end the day with no job and no future prospects. However, calling Job #2 to tell them I had another job didn't seem too smart, either. Did I wait for Job #2 to call before 5pm, or do I give in and call them? So rather than start from the beginning all over again, I relent and call Job #2 at 4:45 and explain my situation to them - that I have another offer, but would much rather have their job - did they know their decision yet? I was told that the woman responsible for the decision had just stepped out of the office, but would get back to me as soon as possible. I pace a little more, wondering just how long past 5pm Job #1 will wait for me. At 4:52, I get a call from the woman at UCL (Job #2), telling me I didn't get said job. Disappointed, but somewhat relieved, I call Job #1 at 4:55 and accept, at which point the woman there said SHE was getting nervous, since she were convinced I was going to turn them down for some other offer because I was making them wait for so long. Of course, that was the truth, but I just told her I had to make the decision, but then got stuck in traffic on the bus and couldn't call till then (which was also the truth...sort of). She congratulates me and tells me when to show up, and I hang up the phone, and promptly collapse on the floor. I work well under pressure, but THAT much pressure is ridiculous.
So, that's how I started the day with two great interviews, and almost ended the day with no job at all. Except I do have a job, and it pays quite well. There are some things to be thankful for.
= :)
The first job was at London South Bank University, and entailed filling an administrative post for the Centre for Knowledge Transfer, a government-funded project that pairs academics with businesses to...well, maybe I wasn't listening that hard. I'm pretty sure it's for bringing new academic methods and discovery to businesses to help them run better, but hey, I could be wrong.
Anyway, the people there seemed very nice and the interview went reasonably well, but I wasn't too impressed. The area is a bit run-down, and the job's duties seem fairly boring - receptionist-style tasks, market research, scheduling meetings, etc. I DID get to meet up with Peter the architect, though, who is friends with my mom's student's father. Yeah. Anyway, we had some nice mid-morning tea and croissants (and I think I'm getting the hang of the "right" way to take tea...it's a lot tastier with milk) and a good talk about American and British politics, and "royal families" on either side of the Atlantic.
I set off to the second job interview of the day, at University College of London's Pharmacology school, for a job assisting the head of curriculum there and helping him to edit a pharmacology journal. Despite the pharmacology aspect, it really seemed like a great job, with a lot of different things for me to be busy with, a large group of grad students working nearby, and some great bosses. That, and I already knew I liked the neighborhood - it's about 5 minutes from Goodenough College.
So, Job #1 at LSBU promised they'd get back to me by Tuesday. This boded (bade?) well for Job#2 at UCL, which was supposed to get back to me by 6pm, and which I decided I liked much better. Problem is, Job#1 called me back a whole 24 hours early and offered me the job at 3pm today. Panicked, I told them I would like a little time to think about it. They told me the latest I could get back to them was 5pm.
So now I'm watching the clock (while also trying to run errands - in the pouring rain, no less), waiting nervously for Job #2 to call me back, because of course I want that one much more. I begin to weigh the odds of me getting Job#2 (25%, as one out of four applicants) and wonder if I should gamble and just turn down Job #1, for the chance of getting Job #2.
Frantic, I start pacing my room. I can't decide whether to turn down Job #1, because if I'm NOT offered Job #2, I'll end the day with no job and no future prospects. However, calling Job #2 to tell them I had another job didn't seem too smart, either. Did I wait for Job #2 to call before 5pm, or do I give in and call them? So rather than start from the beginning all over again, I relent and call Job #2 at 4:45 and explain my situation to them - that I have another offer, but would much rather have their job - did they know their decision yet? I was told that the woman responsible for the decision had just stepped out of the office, but would get back to me as soon as possible. I pace a little more, wondering just how long past 5pm Job #1 will wait for me. At 4:52, I get a call from the woman at UCL (Job #2), telling me I didn't get said job. Disappointed, but somewhat relieved, I call Job #1 at 4:55 and accept, at which point the woman there said SHE was getting nervous, since she were convinced I was going to turn them down for some other offer because I was making them wait for so long. Of course, that was the truth, but I just told her I had to make the decision, but then got stuck in traffic on the bus and couldn't call till then (which was also the truth...sort of). She congratulates me and tells me when to show up, and I hang up the phone, and promptly collapse on the floor. I work well under pressure, but THAT much pressure is ridiculous.
So, that's how I started the day with two great interviews, and almost ended the day with no job at all. Except I do have a job, and it pays quite well. There are some things to be thankful for.
= :)
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