Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
'this, my friend, is a pint'
itching to go home. itchy.
absolut ice bar (basically they put you in a freezer and make you a mixed drink in a 'glass' made of ice). pub. pub. pub.
pubs close so early here; last night they rang the bell at 11. basically instead of pregaming at 11 and finishing up around 3 you start at 5, straight from work, and leave at 11. on a wednesday. second verse, same as the first.
things i will not miss: the machines at the underground for adding money. seriously if the bill has been folded in half the machine won't take it.
my mattress. i can feel everyyyy spring.
another underground one (all londoners hate the underground, but i think you'll find that in every city): the barriers where you swipe your card and the banisters open; too many times i've been rejected with a swift ram to the gut.
that hole in my pocket that's been growing and growing since i got here. i currently have a cozy six dollars in my bank account.
...that's all i can think of. honestly the pros outweigh the cons by a longshot.
today i thought of my favorite poem; i first read it my senior year in high school and i've found that the more places i go and people i meet i understand it better and better. so i leave you with
Elizabeth Bishop
One Art
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
absolut ice bar (basically they put you in a freezer and make you a mixed drink in a 'glass' made of ice). pub. pub. pub.
pubs close so early here; last night they rang the bell at 11. basically instead of pregaming at 11 and finishing up around 3 you start at 5, straight from work, and leave at 11. on a wednesday. second verse, same as the first.
things i will not miss: the machines at the underground for adding money. seriously if the bill has been folded in half the machine won't take it.
my mattress. i can feel everyyyy spring.
another underground one (all londoners hate the underground, but i think you'll find that in every city): the barriers where you swipe your card and the banisters open; too many times i've been rejected with a swift ram to the gut.
that hole in my pocket that's been growing and growing since i got here. i currently have a cozy six dollars in my bank account.
...that's all i can think of. honestly the pros outweigh the cons by a longshot.
today i thought of my favorite poem; i first read it my senior year in high school and i've found that the more places i go and people i meet i understand it better and better. so i leave you with
Elizabeth Bishop
One Art
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
our finest hour
Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'
Winston Churchill - June 18, 1940
don't mess with this dude. today i learned that in all probability there was a bottle of whiskey strategically placed outside the frame of this and many of his portraits.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
i'm ready
camden market. pub. class. pub.
beer is free when it's for a class. i got my pint and fishnchips and when i go back to sweethome i will miss it so much. i'll miss the scottish accent. i'm planning on bringing the phrase 'good work!' to the states. i'll miss the tube and the newspapers and pret a manger and my hilarious roommate. i'll miss british tv and the people i bump into on the street and seeing the london eye from my window. all the bikes and motorcycles and sandwich shops and pubs and people crowded outside the pubs smoking on a tuesday afternoon and the old buildings the war spared and beautiful parks and markets and children in their school uniforms and the history and the humor and many other things i can't think of right now.
my problem is i went to school so close to home. i'm not as used to missing my family as others in my group are. i have to get used to the idea that i will always be missing someone from moment to moment for the rest of my life.
i will miss london but i'm more than ready to go home. and in a couple months i get to visit boyfriend on his birthday <3.
beer is free when it's for a class. i got my pint and fishnchips and when i go back to sweethome i will miss it so much. i'll miss the scottish accent. i'm planning on bringing the phrase 'good work!' to the states. i'll miss the tube and the newspapers and pret a manger and my hilarious roommate. i'll miss british tv and the people i bump into on the street and seeing the london eye from my window. all the bikes and motorcycles and sandwich shops and pubs and people crowded outside the pubs smoking on a tuesday afternoon and the old buildings the war spared and beautiful parks and markets and children in their school uniforms and the history and the humor and many other things i can't think of right now.
my problem is i went to school so close to home. i'm not as used to missing my family as others in my group are. i have to get used to the idea that i will always be missing someone from moment to moment for the rest of my life.
i will miss london but i'm more than ready to go home. and in a couple months i get to visit boyfriend on his birthday <3.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
and all
. . . I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.
-an old favorite
-an old favorite
Monday, November 30, 2009
bell bottom blues
lots of paper writing. national archives. the nutcracker.
no photography allowed!
mostly wrote my papers over the weekend. basically done with the quarter and only five days left of london.
nutcracker was my first ballet, and it was very beautiful. my favorite was the dancing children. adorable.
very much aware of how much space i take up.
more later.
no photography allowed!
mostly wrote my papers over the weekend. basically done with the quarter and only five days left of london.
nutcracker was my first ballet, and it was very beautiful. my favorite was the dancing children. adorable.
very much aware of how much space i take up.
more later.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
gravity always wins
oxford, aka the search for thom yorke.
today we went to oxford, the hometown of my all-time favorite band, radiohead. it started with a tour of the university area (i've never seen so many bikes in my life---hundreds of them crammed into enormous bike racks), including, of course, the harry potter filming locations. somehow the tour guides never fail to mention when a place has been filmed for harry potter. whatever.
anyway, what was interesting about the tour was all the connections to alice in wonderland---lewis carroll went to oxford ('it was a wednesday') and based alice on the dean's daughter alice, and the white rabbit was based on the dean. and the story goes that before trains made it necessary for times to be constant across the country, different towns would have slightly different times. so oxford was 5 minutes behind london. which is why the white rabbit is always five minutes late. amazing, right?
after the tour, the search for thom yorke began. i heard from a friend where thom likes to write his lyrics, and ventured to find the tiny pub. my goal, my expectation, was, of course, to meet thom yorke, pee my pants, then tell him how much fake plastic trees means to me, and become his best friend. if that didn't happen, then at the very least i wanted to visit the pub where he hangs out.
four of us found the pub, a cute lil pub in a cute lil avenue. got a few pints. asked the bartender, 'i heard thom yorke hangs out here...where does he usually sit?' and he said, 'he doesn't have a usual spot. he mostly comes in the evening. he doesn't like being approached.'
well yea. i don't like being approached by creepy americans either.
so we left him a note. yes, i know. weird. but we wanted to buy him a pint. so we left four pounds and a note letting thom know exactly how amazing he is. we gave it to the bartender and he looked pretty creeped out. whatevs.
i hope thom enjoys his pint.
yet again, no good pictures. distracted by the biting cold and the search for thom, i only got a few pictures of buildings that inspired some of the buildings for my very own school back in sweet home.
today we went to oxford, the hometown of my all-time favorite band, radiohead. it started with a tour of the university area (i've never seen so many bikes in my life---hundreds of them crammed into enormous bike racks), including, of course, the harry potter filming locations. somehow the tour guides never fail to mention when a place has been filmed for harry potter. whatever.
anyway, what was interesting about the tour was all the connections to alice in wonderland---lewis carroll went to oxford ('it was a wednesday') and based alice on the dean's daughter alice, and the white rabbit was based on the dean. and the story goes that before trains made it necessary for times to be constant across the country, different towns would have slightly different times. so oxford was 5 minutes behind london. which is why the white rabbit is always five minutes late. amazing, right?
after the tour, the search for thom yorke began. i heard from a friend where thom likes to write his lyrics, and ventured to find the tiny pub. my goal, my expectation, was, of course, to meet thom yorke, pee my pants, then tell him how much fake plastic trees means to me, and become his best friend. if that didn't happen, then at the very least i wanted to visit the pub where he hangs out.
four of us found the pub, a cute lil pub in a cute lil avenue. got a few pints. asked the bartender, 'i heard thom yorke hangs out here...where does he usually sit?' and he said, 'he doesn't have a usual spot. he mostly comes in the evening. he doesn't like being approached.'
well yea. i don't like being approached by creepy americans either.
so we left him a note. yes, i know. weird. but we wanted to buy him a pint. so we left four pounds and a note letting thom know exactly how amazing he is. we gave it to the bartender and he looked pretty creeped out. whatevs.
i hope thom enjoys his pint.
yet again, no good pictures. distracted by the biting cold and the search for thom, i only got a few pictures of buildings that inspired some of the buildings for my very own school back in sweet home.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
ministry of sound
before last nite i had never ever been clubbing. i know, surprising, right? since i'm such an amazing dancer and my closet is stuffed with shiny tiny dresses. we waited in line to get into this club and immediately i felt completely out of place in my jeans and tshirt, what the hell am i doing here? but then we all started dancing and it was so much fun...the dj was amazing and there was a man of many percussion instruments accompanying the music. very loud and dark, lots of fog, very hot and sweaty. my ears are still ringing. and i had a blast.
but today i write a paper.
but today i write a paper.
Friday, November 20, 2009
mr churchill says...
national portrait gallery (again). british library (again). tate britain (again) for the turner exhibition. house of lords.
went back to the national portrait gallery to get a better look. saw the only authenticated portraits of william shakespeare and jane austen (though her family claimed it didn't look like her). also, the brontes, many many monarchs, james joyce, and lots of other people. very interesting.
the british library is my new favorite thing. the special collections included the magna carta, some of jane austen's writing, charles darwin's writing, a few beatles lyrics written on the backs of birthday cards and such, freud's notebook, the gutenberg bible, one of beethoven's handwritten scores, leonardo da vinci's notebook, and many others i can't think of. i especially liked examining people's handwriting: john lennon's lettering was pretty large and he crossed out things a lot; mccartney seemed to write letters in the same way but tended to keep it neater and i didn't see any cross-outs. freud's lettering was extraordinarily concise, very circular, and difficult to read, with words blending into one another; darwin's was just the opposite: letters within a word were small and compact, but he put so much space between each word it was ridiculous. da vinci's handwriting, of course, was backwards, and it was very neat and beautiful.
a really old peer from the labour party led us around the house of lords and the house of commons (after we went through airport security to get into the building). he was hilarious; he had two assistants with him at all times to feed him names and dates that he forgot as he spoke, and to answer his phone. he kept doing magic tricks, saying 'hurry up, you lot! americans are so slow!' and introducing us to everyone that worked there with 'they're americans, but it's not their fault!' he told us about what it was like visiting the concentration camps after the war and his involvement in the war crimes act before he became a lord. he led us through the house of lords, where the setup from the queen's opening of parliament was being taken apart, then the less ostentaciously decorated house of commons. there's an imposing statue of churchill right outside the house of commons, and you're supposed to rub his foot before you walk in, and you can see where the varnish on the statue is completely worn off on his foot.
well mr churchill says
we gotta hold up our chins
we gotta show some courage and some discipline
we gotta black up the windows and nail up the doors
and keep right on till the end of the war
the kinks
went back to the national portrait gallery to get a better look. saw the only authenticated portraits of william shakespeare and jane austen (though her family claimed it didn't look like her). also, the brontes, many many monarchs, james joyce, and lots of other people. very interesting.
the british library is my new favorite thing. the special collections included the magna carta, some of jane austen's writing, charles darwin's writing, a few beatles lyrics written on the backs of birthday cards and such, freud's notebook, the gutenberg bible, one of beethoven's handwritten scores, leonardo da vinci's notebook, and many others i can't think of. i especially liked examining people's handwriting: john lennon's lettering was pretty large and he crossed out things a lot; mccartney seemed to write letters in the same way but tended to keep it neater and i didn't see any cross-outs. freud's lettering was extraordinarily concise, very circular, and difficult to read, with words blending into one another; darwin's was just the opposite: letters within a word were small and compact, but he put so much space between each word it was ridiculous. da vinci's handwriting, of course, was backwards, and it was very neat and beautiful.
a really old peer from the labour party led us around the house of lords and the house of commons (after we went through airport security to get into the building). he was hilarious; he had two assistants with him at all times to feed him names and dates that he forgot as he spoke, and to answer his phone. he kept doing magic tricks, saying 'hurry up, you lot! americans are so slow!' and introducing us to everyone that worked there with 'they're americans, but it's not their fault!' he told us about what it was like visiting the concentration camps after the war and his involvement in the war crimes act before he became a lord. he led us through the house of lords, where the setup from the queen's opening of parliament was being taken apart, then the less ostentaciously decorated house of commons. there's an imposing statue of churchill right outside the house of commons, and you're supposed to rub his foot before you walk in, and you can see where the varnish on the statue is completely worn off on his foot.
well mr churchill says
we gotta hold up our chins
we gotta show some courage and some discipline
we gotta black up the windows and nail up the doors
and keep right on till the end of the war
the kinks
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
only two and a half weeks left...
since my last post,
things have been very busy, mostly with schoolwork. we went to severs house, which is a museum in the east end that's basically made up to look, smell and sound like your average 18th century house. you walk through all the rooms (talking not allowed), and all of the very detailed furniture and objects are placed such that it is as if whoever lives there has just left the room. there were broken teacups, half-eaten biscuits, unmade beds, candles dripping, a lazy cat, etc. etc.
amazing. i couldn't take pictures, but here's the website: http://www.dennissevershouse.co.uk/
then we went to dirty dick's, an old pub that has its very own ghost. been working on my project a lot, taking many breaks to go watch QI, my new favorite show. but now that my presentation is done and the end is so near i'm eager to suck what life is left out of london---there are a bunch of museums i have yet to visit, a royal garden i haven't seen, and many other things. today we go see a musical called blood brothers, and next week we spend a day in oxford.
cheers!
things have been very busy, mostly with schoolwork. we went to severs house, which is a museum in the east end that's basically made up to look, smell and sound like your average 18th century house. you walk through all the rooms (talking not allowed), and all of the very detailed furniture and objects are placed such that it is as if whoever lives there has just left the room. there were broken teacups, half-eaten biscuits, unmade beds, candles dripping, a lazy cat, etc. etc.
amazing. i couldn't take pictures, but here's the website: http://www.dennissevershouse.co.uk/
then we went to dirty dick's, an old pub that has its very own ghost. been working on my project a lot, taking many breaks to go watch QI, my new favorite show. but now that my presentation is done and the end is so near i'm eager to suck what life is left out of london---there are a bunch of museums i have yet to visit, a royal garden i haven't seen, and many other things. today we go see a musical called blood brothers, and next week we spend a day in oxford.
cheers!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
vanity, not love
"How despicably I have acted!" she cried. --"I, who have prided myself on my discernment!--I, who have valued myself on my abilities! who have often disdained the generous candour of my sister, and gratified my vanity, in useless or blameable distrust.--How humiliating is this discovery!--Yet, how just a humiliation!--Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. But vanity, not love, has been my folly.--Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment, I never knew myself."
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Thursday, November 12, 2009
jane austen's house!
today i took a train to a little town called alton, then walked to chawton, the tiny village in which jane austen lived just before she died. the house was beautiful and the exhibits were interesting, for the most part. after a while the 'this may have been the fork she used' or 'this is the type of piano she probably played' got annoying. but i got to see her writing table! i actually gasped when i saw it.
i walked around chawton for a bit; it's a very pretty rural area with lots of very old houses, with names. it's the first time i've ever seen houses that have names instead of numbers. went across the street for cream tea. i wandered into alton, where there are a lot of cute shops. it was nice to get away from london, where it's so busy and there are so many tourists. alton was so small and laid back.
again, not too happy with the pictures. but it's difficult to get something unique when there aren't many people around.
ps to my faithful readers (hi mom): the link under where it says 'wings twitch' leads to a map of my adventures!!! i just made it and i'm very excited. i'm not good with computers, though, so i haven't figured out how to put the actual map in the blog yet.
i walked around chawton for a bit; it's a very pretty rural area with lots of very old houses, with names. it's the first time i've ever seen houses that have names instead of numbers. went across the street for cream tea. i wandered into alton, where there are a lot of cute shops. it was nice to get away from london, where it's so busy and there are so many tourists. alton was so small and laid back.
again, not too happy with the pictures. but it's difficult to get something unique when there aren't many people around.
ps to my faithful readers (hi mom): the link under where it says 'wings twitch' leads to a map of my adventures!!! i just made it and i'm very excited. i'm not good with computers, though, so i haven't figured out how to put the actual map in the blog yet.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
edinburgh!
day 1. edinburgh castle. pub. new town.
day 2. arthur's seat. pub. old town.
day 3. visited stirling. stirling castle, wallace memorial. pub.
day 4. national gallery of scotland. pub.
took the tube to a train (i slept) to a plane (i slept) to edinburgh to a shuttle to our hostel, a 'funky church'. indeed, it was an old filthy church. it was drafty and smelled and was freezing cold and the water was cold but it was charming that way i guess, and i liked it. we drank lots of whiskey and beer (to keep warm) and watched rugby and football at lots of different pubs. walked a lot and i'm tired. overall, the trip was hilarious and a complete success. i took 169 pictures but, unfortunately, am happy with only a few of them.
edinburgh castle was amazing. so was stirling castle, but after visiting so many castles all that stuff has become a lil redundant. we climbed arthur's seat, which is basically a mountain/hill made of volcanic rock. deciding to be adventurous, we scaled it not by following the easy path, but by climbing it up the side. i fell a lot and now have rashes on my arms from brambles. the view was absolutely beautiful.
stirling is a nice little town. we saw the wallace memorial, which is enormous, and went in the castle, situated so that apparently at one point in history whoever held the castle at stirling 'held scotland'.
shortly before leaving for london we stopped at the national gallery. i loved it. they had a few degases and a couple of monets and an entire exhibit of just scottish art.
tomorrow i will do exactly nothing. but for the rest of the break, i don't know. i want to go, finally, to jane austen's house and maybe head to...someplace else.
day 2. arthur's seat. pub. old town.
day 3. visited stirling. stirling castle, wallace memorial. pub.
day 4. national gallery of scotland. pub.
took the tube to a train (i slept) to a plane (i slept) to edinburgh to a shuttle to our hostel, a 'funky church'. indeed, it was an old filthy church. it was drafty and smelled and was freezing cold and the water was cold but it was charming that way i guess, and i liked it. we drank lots of whiskey and beer (to keep warm) and watched rugby and football at lots of different pubs. walked a lot and i'm tired. overall, the trip was hilarious and a complete success. i took 169 pictures but, unfortunately, am happy with only a few of them.
edinburgh castle was amazing. so was stirling castle, but after visiting so many castles all that stuff has become a lil redundant. we climbed arthur's seat, which is basically a mountain/hill made of volcanic rock. deciding to be adventurous, we scaled it not by following the easy path, but by climbing it up the side. i fell a lot and now have rashes on my arms from brambles. the view was absolutely beautiful.
stirling is a nice little town. we saw the wallace memorial, which is enormous, and went in the castle, situated so that apparently at one point in history whoever held the castle at stirling 'held scotland'.
shortly before leaving for london we stopped at the national gallery. i loved it. they had a few degases and a couple of monets and an entire exhibit of just scottish art.
tomorrow i will do exactly nothing. but for the rest of the break, i don't know. i want to go, finally, to jane austen's house and maybe head to...someplace else.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
gah!
so busy writing paper dickens project planning trip to edinburgh (aka watching others plan trip for me) will take lots of pictures and post them tuesday!
Monday, November 2, 2009
something witty
mother courage and her children. john lill piano concert at the southbank centre.
unfortunately, photography was prohibited at both of these events. i did enjoy them, and it turns out that the character that i loved in mother courage (named swiss cheese) also plays dudley in the harry potter movies. his eyes are very close together.
doing a lot of thinking. researching grad schools, thinking about going to china next year to teach english, need to find a job for this winter. what i'm going to write next and why. letting go of some things and holding on to others.
i can't think of anything to say. hopefully more interesting posts to come. next week we go to edinburgh!
unfortunately, photography was prohibited at both of these events. i did enjoy them, and it turns out that the character that i loved in mother courage (named swiss cheese) also plays dudley in the harry potter movies. his eyes are very close together.
doing a lot of thinking. researching grad schools, thinking about going to china next year to teach english, need to find a job for this winter. what i'm going to write next and why. letting go of some things and holding on to others.
i can't think of anything to say. hopefully more interesting posts to come. next week we go to edinburgh!
Friday, October 30, 2009
'ello!!!
westminster abbey. chelsea football match. cambridge.
westminster abbey-tombs of charles dickens, charles darwin, isaac newton, elizabeth I, bloody mary, and many many others. also saw the coronation chair, which is very unassuming.
chelsea football-so much fun!!!!!!! our seats were around the boundary between chelsea supporters and the bolton (the opposing team's) section. i learned some new words and hand gestures. we won 4-0; every time they scored it was o so exciting!!!
cambridge-the university is like 800 years old!!! that's i think about twice as old as harvard. very beautiful school, in a nice quiet little college town. we went punting! that's when you're in a boat in very shallow water and use a stick to propel the boat forward. much fun was had.
westminster abbey-tombs of charles dickens, charles darwin, isaac newton, elizabeth I, bloody mary, and many many others. also saw the coronation chair, which is very unassuming.
chelsea football-so much fun!!!!!!! our seats were around the boundary between chelsea supporters and the bolton (the opposing team's) section. i learned some new words and hand gestures. we won 4-0; every time they scored it was o so exciting!!!
cambridge-the university is like 800 years old!!! that's i think about twice as old as harvard. very beautiful school, in a nice quiet little college town. we went punting! that's when you're in a boat in very shallow water and use a stick to propel the boat forward. much fun was had.
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