Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Dublin tomorrow!
Last Call for addresses if you want a Dublin Post Card! Leave it in a comment if you don't think I have it and I'll do my best (as I will only be checking my email before work in the morning), I have to moderate the comments so I'll make sure the whole of the interwebs does not have it.
Work today was uneventful except that I was one of the first there in the morning and the last to leave. Which means I'm cool to leave early tomorrow afternoon so I can catch my flight! yay!
I still haven't found my computer cord, but I will have it by Sunday night. Come Hell or high water! I will also be on Skype and AIM at 5 pm EST for those who where wondering.
More stories to come at the end of the weekend.
Work today was uneventful except that I was one of the first there in the morning and the last to leave. Which means I'm cool to leave early tomorrow afternoon so I can catch my flight! yay!
I still haven't found my computer cord, but I will have it by Sunday night. Come Hell or high water! I will also be on Skype and AIM at 5 pm EST for those who where wondering.
More stories to come at the end of the weekend.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Skiving Work to Go to The Globe!
No photos yet, as I cannot find my effing camera cord! :( Very not cool, lemme tell you! I was a groundling in the matinee of Love's Labors Lost. It was very exciting. I got to be one of the front 25 people right against the stage, which was very exciting being as short as I am. The stage comes up to my chin! The play was HILARIOUS and amazing. I loved it, laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee. I did unfortunately see entirely too much of one of the male actors. Older male actor. Like he could be my grandpa. Gross, so very gross. Gah. All of the pretty people were very pretty people, even if one of the men had a ripped crotch. I felt bad, I really wanted to stop staring at it... but I couldn't. I think he thought I was obsessed with his.... well. And I am not! But really it was ripped the WHOLE TIME. They did all sorts of antics, with crazy musicians. Speaking of, during the interval (intermission) one of the girls called her boyfriend on her mobile and the drummer walked up behind her and started playing really loud. It made me giggle. :) I got a bunch of photos, and I will upload them as soon as I can to my picasa site. I'll be on the hunt for that cable. Damn thing.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
And I Get Credit for This:
9 hours worth of credit to be exact. This is the form I have to fill out, or something minutely different each week.
WEEK 3
DATE Sept 17- Sept 21 HOURS WORKED 31 1/2
Work responsibilities- what did you do this week?
I cut rabbit fur. I cut rabbit fur into capes and little diamonds to make ermine tails for coronation robes. I cleaned fur off of things. I hate fur. I did learn how to use an industrial sewing machine on Monday.
Are you beginning to achieve a better understanding of the mission as well as goals and objectives of your company/organization? Do you have an initial sense of how your company/organization fits within the broader niche of similar concerns?
We’re a costume shop. Our goals are to make costumes and make them well enough for more people to hire us.
Have you received any specific types of training and how does that relate to your work responsibilities? If not, is there additional training that you’d like to receive that would assist you in performing your job?
I’ve been taught how to read the industrial patterns, how to cut the leather on the back of fur without cutting too much of the fur off. Mainly I’ve learned how to deal with new fabrics. I’d like to work with the props master to learn how to make some of the things, like wigs and whatnot as it is not something I would likely learn to do in classes.
By contrast, do you find yourself providing informal training to some of your colleagues, particularly in computer or web- based technology?
We have one computer in our office and Ginny is the only one who uses it. The closest I got to informing my colleges on anything was telling them the name for a quilting needle. They just called it a half circle needle, as that is its shape.
What cultural and linguistic differences are you beginning to hear or observe? Be specific and compare with US culture and spoken English.
Trousers are pants, pants are underpants. Zippers are zips and scissors are snips. I’m comparatively more chatty then the others, but they are more than happy to talk with me. Theatre and the artistic communities seem very similar in both cultures. People seem a lot more open with curse words than we are in the States.
Name 2-3 new skills you have developed and how they might help you in the future?
I can now cut out patterns, guestimate yardage and use an industrial sewing machine. The first and last are really the most important, as those are the ones that will get me jobs but the second will help me keep them.
What previous skills or knowledge, either classroom or previous job-based, have you begun to apply in your internship?
Sewing is not too much different on a domestic machine from an industrial machine, and knowing how to hand sew has kept me busy the past few weeks.
After three weeks, to what extent are your ‘levels of responsibility’ expectations beginning to be met? Are there steps you can take to achieve gradual levels of responsibility?
I am gradually being given more and more responsibility, and hopefully by the end of next week I will be using a sewing machine for something other than just learning. I understand the hesitation, as there isn’t always a lot of time to fix something that I might mess up. I don’t mind what I am doing now as far as my responsibility but I will not turn down a little more.
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Anyways, after that bit of boring. My work week was filled with fur, nothing too different from day to day. There is more in store next week as well. 37 coronation robes to be made, but I'm not sure if that's just the mens or both men and womens. God, I hope it's both.
Friday night Flatmate K grabbed me on the way into the building and dragged me out to Islington to watch the France Vs Ireland rugby match. Real men play rugby. It's an amazingly fun game to watch, even if it is on TV. France beat the pants off Ireland, 25 to 3. The rules of the game still escape me exactly, as they seem to be somewhere between soccer and football. We also tried some awesome beer, Blanc, which was a white beer. Very tasty without tasting like beer. Kinda weird, and pretty expensive, but I hope it was just the pub we were at. I went home early, as I'd be standing all day at work.
Saturday I went out to Portobello Road Market. It's awesome, packed like crazy though. Anything you could ever want to buy was there. Some of the best street food I've ever seen and some of the most interesting antiques. I can't wait to go again when I remember to bring money with me. The produce there was some of the most wonderfully fragrant and the other things around where at stalls where you could haggle easily enough if you needed to. But I'll deffinately not bring my backpack again. I'm pretty sure someone tried to go through it while it was on my back and not in front of me. They didn't get anything, which is good, because it was all inside my sweater inside my bag. It was a beautiful day to top it off. So nice and cool and sunny. I didn't end up taking any photos because I didn't have anyone to watch my back and it was so terribly packed that you wouldn't have seen much. When I came home I was supposed to go back out to a bar near here with some friends but ended up stepping on a tiny sliver of glass from something we broke earlier in the week. We thought we'd gotten it all up. But apparently not. I attempted to get it out with tweezers then flush it out. I ended up having to walk to the store to get Peroxide thinking that it would be able to bubble it out. I thought I had, but when I woke up this morning I had to have C get it out for me.
Amazing Dr C got it out with very little pain or annoyance. She'll be an awesome mom. Today a small group of us went down to Camden Town to do a little shopping. I ended up getting a cute top and C got one too. There are a billion cool stalls there, but most didn't allow photos, and those that did didn't have anything interesting. It was also very very very crowded. Hello Kitty stuff all over! It was all so cute! I could spend hours walking around there. Even though I have. I didn't see half the market I don't think. I really want to go back to both of the markets I went to today. The weather this weekend couldn't have been better.
Next weekend is Dublin and Inverness! Yay exciting! I can't wait. :) If you want a postcard make sure to email me or comment if you don't have my email and I'll send it to you!
WEEK 3
DATE Sept 17- Sept 21 HOURS WORKED 31 1/2
Work responsibilities- what did you do this week?
I cut rabbit fur. I cut rabbit fur into capes and little diamonds to make ermine tails for coronation robes. I cleaned fur off of things. I hate fur. I did learn how to use an industrial sewing machine on Monday.
Are you beginning to achieve a better understanding of the mission as well as goals and objectives of your company/organization? Do you have an initial sense of how your company/organization fits within the broader niche of similar concerns?
We’re a costume shop. Our goals are to make costumes and make them well enough for more people to hire us.
Have you received any specific types of training and how does that relate to your work responsibilities? If not, is there additional training that you’d like to receive that would assist you in performing your job?
I’ve been taught how to read the industrial patterns, how to cut the leather on the back of fur without cutting too much of the fur off. Mainly I’ve learned how to deal with new fabrics. I’d like to work with the props master to learn how to make some of the things, like wigs and whatnot as it is not something I would likely learn to do in classes.
By contrast, do you find yourself providing informal training to some of your colleagues, particularly in computer or web- based technology?
We have one computer in our office and Ginny is the only one who uses it. The closest I got to informing my colleges on anything was telling them the name for a quilting needle. They just called it a half circle needle, as that is its shape.
What cultural and linguistic differences are you beginning to hear or observe? Be specific and compare with US culture and spoken English.
Trousers are pants, pants are underpants. Zippers are zips and scissors are snips. I’m comparatively more chatty then the others, but they are more than happy to talk with me. Theatre and the artistic communities seem very similar in both cultures. People seem a lot more open with curse words than we are in the States.
Name 2-3 new skills you have developed and how they might help you in the future?
I can now cut out patterns, guestimate yardage and use an industrial sewing machine. The first and last are really the most important, as those are the ones that will get me jobs but the second will help me keep them.
What previous skills or knowledge, either classroom or previous job-based, have you begun to apply in your internship?
Sewing is not too much different on a domestic machine from an industrial machine, and knowing how to hand sew has kept me busy the past few weeks.
After three weeks, to what extent are your ‘levels of responsibility’ expectations beginning to be met? Are there steps you can take to achieve gradual levels of responsibility?
I am gradually being given more and more responsibility, and hopefully by the end of next week I will be using a sewing machine for something other than just learning. I understand the hesitation, as there isn’t always a lot of time to fix something that I might mess up. I don’t mind what I am doing now as far as my responsibility but I will not turn down a little more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyways, after that bit of boring. My work week was filled with fur, nothing too different from day to day. There is more in store next week as well. 37 coronation robes to be made, but I'm not sure if that's just the mens or both men and womens. God, I hope it's both.
Friday night Flatmate K grabbed me on the way into the building and dragged me out to Islington to watch the France Vs Ireland rugby match. Real men play rugby. It's an amazingly fun game to watch, even if it is on TV. France beat the pants off Ireland, 25 to 3. The rules of the game still escape me exactly, as they seem to be somewhere between soccer and football. We also tried some awesome beer, Blanc, which was a white beer. Very tasty without tasting like beer. Kinda weird, and pretty expensive, but I hope it was just the pub we were at. I went home early, as I'd be standing all day at work.
Saturday I went out to Portobello Road Market. It's awesome, packed like crazy though. Anything you could ever want to buy was there. Some of the best street food I've ever seen and some of the most interesting antiques. I can't wait to go again when I remember to bring money with me. The produce there was some of the most wonderfully fragrant and the other things around where at stalls where you could haggle easily enough if you needed to. But I'll deffinately not bring my backpack again. I'm pretty sure someone tried to go through it while it was on my back and not in front of me. They didn't get anything, which is good, because it was all inside my sweater inside my bag. It was a beautiful day to top it off. So nice and cool and sunny. I didn't end up taking any photos because I didn't have anyone to watch my back and it was so terribly packed that you wouldn't have seen much. When I came home I was supposed to go back out to a bar near here with some friends but ended up stepping on a tiny sliver of glass from something we broke earlier in the week. We thought we'd gotten it all up. But apparently not. I attempted to get it out with tweezers then flush it out. I ended up having to walk to the store to get Peroxide thinking that it would be able to bubble it out. I thought I had, but when I woke up this morning I had to have C get it out for me.
Amazing Dr C got it out with very little pain or annoyance. She'll be an awesome mom. Today a small group of us went down to Camden Town to do a little shopping. I ended up getting a cute top and C got one too. There are a billion cool stalls there, but most didn't allow photos, and those that did didn't have anything interesting. It was also very very very crowded. Hello Kitty stuff all over! It was all so cute! I could spend hours walking around there. Even though I have. I didn't see half the market I don't think. I really want to go back to both of the markets I went to today. The weather this weekend couldn't have been better.
Next weekend is Dublin and Inverness! Yay exciting! I can't wait. :) If you want a postcard make sure to email me or comment if you don't have my email and I'll send it to you!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
I Hate Fur.
The past two days have been wholly opposite. Yesterday I did absolutely nothing productive for the company, though had a very interesting day and today I did nothing interesting, but very productive for the company.
Monday I finally was able to get onto one of the industrial machines because it was me, my supervisor Lady and the Turk( mind the Turk not the Kurd). I made a bag actually yesterday. It's covered in crazy stitching that you can actually track my progress on the machine on. The industrial machines are still scary though, as they are very very fast and powerful. It really doesn't help that everyone tells me to mind that I don't stitch my fingers to it. The bag is pretty fun, covered in moderately straight lines, zigzags and sin waves. Yeah, I'm a dork. I put an A on it too, with the reverse pedal. For those of you who know or even care, you lift the foot with a pressure petal that you push with your knee, and you wind the next bobbin while you sew. There is no way to turn off the needle movement to make the bobbin. It was very strange. The slowest constant setting on there is the fastest I've ever seen any domestic machine do. The Turk showed me all the really interesting different machines they have in the back, like two button holers, one to make normal rectangular button holes and one to make "key hole" or the rounded button holes. And even a button sewer!! HOW AWESOME! NO MORE HAND SEWN BUTTONS!!! MOM WE NEEDS IT! (only not really.) Plus the three 4 string sergers they have in the back too. The pattern maker and Fashionista man Skinny came in to work really late in the afternoon and I did a little bit of cutting for him and a jacket and skirt he was making for a fairly famous person's entourange girl. It is covered in sparkles and really pretty. I got to see pictures of the Turk's granddaughters who are adorable. He's very proud of them. I like him a lot, as he tends to take care of me by helping me more than any of the others really seem to have time to do, even though they will when I need them too without letting it be a problem for them. Then I wondered down to the National Theatre to see Chatroom/Citizenship. Both where really good one act plays written for 14-18 year olds to do in High and Middle Schools. I enjoyed them. Came home and went to bed.
Today though, I cut out "ermine" tails from black rabbit's skin. I hate fur. It is the devil. It gets everywhere. I had to wear a woodworker's mask today to keep from stuffing my nose full of loose fur. Skinny said I looked like a cat the way I kept pawing at my nose. I felt like one , and by the end of the day looked like I'd shaved one. COVERED in fur. White fur, because I had to cut a caplet out of the white that the "ermine" tails were going to be attached to. We couldn't even turn the fan on in the shop because the fur fluff would have gone everywhere. Ugh, I am still finding it in places, like my socks. The only excitement there was to be had today was a mouse. That came from no where. I tried to pick the thing up and take it outside and it bit me! It didn't break the skin, but it took a mighty tumble down the pattern card stock and straight to the ground. I was apparently very brave trying to take it outside. We think it ate some poison because of how confused it was. Boss tried to get it outside humanely too, as it survived the fall, but it ran into a corner we can't get too right now. Which means it's going to stick to high heaven in a few days if it did eat poison. Skinny complemented me on my vocabulary today, as I was able to use the word 'colloquialism' in a sentence to explain how English works to the Turk and the Kurd.Until that point I didn't realize it was a word people don't use very often. Flatmate E has just informed me that WE have a mouse in our kitchen. Exciting. As long as it doesn't get into my cornflakes we're peachy. I'll probably end up going to tell the front office tomorrow. Tonight though was bowling! Amazing bowling! Flatmate C made a strike from rolling the ball between my legs! It was CRAZY! This place was really really cool, great music, a lot of fun without being as noisy as normal bowling alleys. There were only 4 open lanes in there actually and a really cool bar in the back. I actually didn't do too terrible and had only one frame where I missed on both balls. We've got some great photos that I am going to have to pilfer off Facebook when the others post them. I forgot my camera in the room, so I wasn't able to take any. And Babe, if you are able to come over, we are so going bowling. I promise.
Monday I finally was able to get onto one of the industrial machines because it was me, my supervisor Lady and the Turk( mind the Turk not the Kurd). I made a bag actually yesterday. It's covered in crazy stitching that you can actually track my progress on the machine on. The industrial machines are still scary though, as they are very very fast and powerful. It really doesn't help that everyone tells me to mind that I don't stitch my fingers to it. The bag is pretty fun, covered in moderately straight lines, zigzags and sin waves. Yeah, I'm a dork. I put an A on it too, with the reverse pedal. For those of you who know or even care, you lift the foot with a pressure petal that you push with your knee, and you wind the next bobbin while you sew. There is no way to turn off the needle movement to make the bobbin. It was very strange. The slowest constant setting on there is the fastest I've ever seen any domestic machine do. The Turk showed me all the really interesting different machines they have in the back, like two button holers, one to make normal rectangular button holes and one to make "key hole" or the rounded button holes. And even a button sewer!! HOW AWESOME! NO MORE HAND SEWN BUTTONS!!! MOM WE NEEDS IT! (only not really.) Plus the three 4 string sergers they have in the back too. The pattern maker and Fashionista man Skinny came in to work really late in the afternoon and I did a little bit of cutting for him and a jacket and skirt he was making for a fairly famous person's entourange girl. It is covered in sparkles and really pretty. I got to see pictures of the Turk's granddaughters who are adorable. He's very proud of them. I like him a lot, as he tends to take care of me by helping me more than any of the others really seem to have time to do, even though they will when I need them too without letting it be a problem for them. Then I wondered down to the National Theatre to see Chatroom/Citizenship. Both where really good one act plays written for 14-18 year olds to do in High and Middle Schools. I enjoyed them. Came home and went to bed.
Today though, I cut out "ermine" tails from black rabbit's skin. I hate fur. It is the devil. It gets everywhere. I had to wear a woodworker's mask today to keep from stuffing my nose full of loose fur. Skinny said I looked like a cat the way I kept pawing at my nose. I felt like one , and by the end of the day looked like I'd shaved one. COVERED in fur. White fur, because I had to cut a caplet out of the white that the "ermine" tails were going to be attached to. We couldn't even turn the fan on in the shop because the fur fluff would have gone everywhere. Ugh, I am still finding it in places, like my socks. The only excitement there was to be had today was a mouse. That came from no where. I tried to pick the thing up and take it outside and it bit me! It didn't break the skin, but it took a mighty tumble down the pattern card stock and straight to the ground. I was apparently very brave trying to take it outside. We think it ate some poison because of how confused it was. Boss tried to get it outside humanely too, as it survived the fall, but it ran into a corner we can't get too right now. Which means it's going to stick to high heaven in a few days if it did eat poison. Skinny complemented me on my vocabulary today, as I was able to use the word 'colloquialism' in a sentence to explain how English works to the Turk and the Kurd.Until that point I didn't realize it was a word people don't use very often. Flatmate E has just informed me that WE have a mouse in our kitchen. Exciting. As long as it doesn't get into my cornflakes we're peachy. I'll probably end up going to tell the front office tomorrow. Tonight though was bowling! Amazing bowling! Flatmate C made a strike from rolling the ball between my legs! It was CRAZY! This place was really really cool, great music, a lot of fun without being as noisy as normal bowling alleys. There were only 4 open lanes in there actually and a really cool bar in the back. I actually didn't do too terrible and had only one frame where I missed on both balls. We've got some great photos that I am going to have to pilfer off Facebook when the others post them. I forgot my camera in the room, so I wasn't able to take any. And Babe, if you are able to come over, we are so going bowling. I promise.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Yay festivals!
So there are a ton of festivals here. Practically every weekend there is another one. This weekend was the Thames River Festival. It was very much like the art festivals around home, only much much more packed. I went with Cassie, which was nice to have such a small group. We saw a bunch of skaters, and as her boyfriend is a skater kid we went to investigate. She ended up with a skate board deck. She had to fight for it, but she won it. I am proud of her and her pineapple skateboard deck. We got the t shirts too, just because the puffer fish is awesome. We went home shortly after that on Saturday, but went back this evening for the fireworks. They were awesome. Not quite Disney, but really really really cool none the less. We were really close, close enough to feel the blasts when they went up across the river from us. I ate dinner both nights at a really cool resturant called Wagamama's. We had 2 for 1 coupons. That's the only reason we went, and honestly I wouldn't go again. It's really too expensive to go by myself with out that. But yeah, it's near 1 am so it's bed time. Enjoy the photos.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
And the weekend just started
I swear that if my ears don't stop ringing soon I'm going to go crazy. Seriously. But what caused them to ring was a ton of fun. Last night two of my flatmates and another girl got all gussied up and went out to a bar that we knew had a dance floor to have a little dancing fun called O'Neils. They ended up having a live cover band that was really really good, playing better songs than the DJ was before them. Apparently the Brits sure love the song Sweet Home Alabama which threw me off something terrible. Flatmate C got to dance with a really sweet cute kid for a while, I got harassed a few times, the friend got followed around by a creepy dancer guy and flatmate T... well... not too much for her I'm sorry to say. I'm not what about us made half the guys there think we were desperate for their not so sexy attentions. Maybe there have just been a lot of easy Americans in the place before. I dunno. I let it roll of my back, the guys stopped and left me alone when it was obvious that all I wanted to do was dance, not follow them home. I did have a lot of fun dancing real silly like with one guy, he was fun and not creepy. It was a silly Charleston/ Swing thing that was a lot more fun than the bump-n-grind everyone else was trying. He gave me his number with a little note that said I "Look lovely!" and asking me to text him. I don't think I'm going to, but it made me and the other girls giggle. We ended up leaving early because the other girls felt uncomfortable with their respective followers after a while. I was fine with that, I didn't want them to feel harassed or pressured by the guys, though I was REALLY enjoying the band. We went down one floor (the bar had 2) and ended up meeting a couple of banker men who gave T some attention. Which was very good, as she wasn't getting much before. We really did leave after T got the guy's business card! We all thought it was kinda weird, but harmless. After we got home I passed out rather soundly. Dancing is a lot of work, and work yesterday was a lot of work.
Well, mainly sewing a billion and one jewels onto belts and armbands for ice skating Native Americans. I got to design the pattern that was put on the front of the lead male's vest, which was very exciting. Near the end of the day one of my coworkers put on one of the skater outfits, and at first he tried to put on a ladies'. It was funny! He's pretty small, the same size as most of the skaters so it fit him well. They all just wanted to see how the pieces were coming together and how to attach certain elements. It's pretty funny though to see a skinny whinny PALE little British man in an outfit made to look like a Native American.
Thursday was the day trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. It was such a cool little town! It's where Shakespeare lived and died. We got to tour his house, but no pictures were allowed inside, of course some people snuck them, but I didn't. I may peruse Facebook later to see if I can't pinch any. I got a little bust of Shakespeare to put on my charm bracelet. We ate a a pub called the Black Swan, because it is across from the famous Swan Theater. The actors all call it the Dirty Duck so it actually has 2 signs, one on each side with each of the names. It was good food, but I hadn't had anything fried in a while, so it made me quite sick during the show that night. My camera batteries died half way through the day, so I had to take a lot of my photos with my film SLR camera. I'll be looking for somewhere with batteries and film development later today. The show we went to see was Twelfth Night with John Lithgow playing Malvolio, the head butler. He did a wonderful job, as did most of the actors. There was a lot of gender bending that I didn't understand, like casting Viola as a man. So she is a man playing a woman pretending to be a man. It wasn't even that all of the roles where played by men, as that would have made sense. It was very strange, but still enjoyable. I did end up buying a really cool t shirt at the theater. It's a white shirt with dotted lines as to where all measurements are taken. one across the bust, around the waist and arm, down the front from shoulder to wait and shoulder to hip. I thought it was quite smart. We weren't able to stay late to meet John Lithgow because of our 3 hour bus ride home for us. We ended up getting home around 1 am, and I couldn't get to sleep before 4 am. That really was what made yesterday so long, but man did I sleep well last night.
Today I have plans for laundry, then going out again tonight. Hopefully this time there will be a little less of an attempt on my honor as there was last night.
Well, mainly sewing a billion and one jewels onto belts and armbands for ice skating Native Americans. I got to design the pattern that was put on the front of the lead male's vest, which was very exciting. Near the end of the day one of my coworkers put on one of the skater outfits, and at first he tried to put on a ladies'. It was funny! He's pretty small, the same size as most of the skaters so it fit him well. They all just wanted to see how the pieces were coming together and how to attach certain elements. It's pretty funny though to see a skinny whinny PALE little British man in an outfit made to look like a Native American.
Thursday was the day trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. It was such a cool little town! It's where Shakespeare lived and died. We got to tour his house, but no pictures were allowed inside, of course some people snuck them, but I didn't. I may peruse Facebook later to see if I can't pinch any. I got a little bust of Shakespeare to put on my charm bracelet. We ate a a pub called the Black Swan, because it is across from the famous Swan Theater. The actors all call it the Dirty Duck so it actually has 2 signs, one on each side with each of the names. It was good food, but I hadn't had anything fried in a while, so it made me quite sick during the show that night. My camera batteries died half way through the day, so I had to take a lot of my photos with my film SLR camera. I'll be looking for somewhere with batteries and film development later today. The show we went to see was Twelfth Night with John Lithgow playing Malvolio, the head butler. He did a wonderful job, as did most of the actors. There was a lot of gender bending that I didn't understand, like casting Viola as a man. So she is a man playing a woman pretending to be a man. It wasn't even that all of the roles where played by men, as that would have made sense. It was very strange, but still enjoyable. I did end up buying a really cool t shirt at the theater. It's a white shirt with dotted lines as to where all measurements are taken. one across the bust, around the waist and arm, down the front from shoulder to wait and shoulder to hip. I thought it was quite smart. We weren't able to stay late to meet John Lithgow because of our 3 hour bus ride home for us. We ended up getting home around 1 am, and I couldn't get to sleep before 4 am. That really was what made yesterday so long, but man did I sleep well last night.
Today I have plans for laundry, then going out again tonight. Hopefully this time there will be a little less of an attempt on my honor as there was last night.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
St. Joan and the day at home.
As one of my flatmates described today I was "delightfully domestic." I washed the dishes, cleaned up my portion of the room, knitted a bit. Actually finished one of my wrist warmers, Dashing from Knitty.com. I had to change them a bit, as the are designed for a man, mainly just making them shorter. When I finish the second one I'll take photos of them.
I did have to go see a play tonight for my Intro to Theatre class. St Joan by George Bernard Shaw at the National Theatre. It was AMAZING. I loved it. The girl playing Joan was really good, and looked appropriately androgynous for being Joan of Arc. The set was really minimalistic and crazy. I actually may have to write an essay about it later in the week. But for now, bed. To get better, to go back to work tomorrow.
I did have to go see a play tonight for my Intro to Theatre class. St Joan by George Bernard Shaw at the National Theatre. It was AMAZING. I loved it. The girl playing Joan was really good, and looked appropriately androgynous for being Joan of Arc. The set was really minimalistic and crazy. I actually may have to write an essay about it later in the week. But for now, bed. To get better, to go back to work tomorrow.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Flu
Doctors offices are horrid. Doesn't seem to matter if it's here or in the States. Walk-in Clinics are the slowest things in existence and half the people there don't seem to be sick. Just hanging out. I spent 2 1/2 hours waiting to be told that I've got a cold. Seriously. I only went today because I felt like I was going to die yesterday. Migraine so bad that even the flatmates talking in the next room made me cringe. They told me I have the flu and just need to rest up. So I went home and attempted to call into to work sick. But my supervisor wasn't in. So I went in to work. Three pounds and thirty minutes later I'm headed back out the door to go home and rest up. It was kinda annoying, even if they were right. So I'm home resting up. I may not end up going back to work until Wednesday. I really do sound and feel like dodo. My voice is slowly coming back to normalcy. Hopefully I have better news than this later in the week.
my weekend
Sorry, it's been a few days since I've posted. As always I've loaded up my photos from the weekend on my picasa site. Friday was fairly uneventful, crazy at work to get out an order of costumes by Saturday night. I did go out Friday night, though I really shouldn't have. I completely lost my voice that night and have yet to regain it. Have I mentioned yet that I'm a bit sick? I'm headed to the walk in clinic after class this morning. Saturday was pretty fun, we attempted to go to Buckingham Palace and ended up not waiting in the big butt line to get in. All my flat mates and I ended up hanging out in the parks instead. E and T ended up going to the biggest concert of the year held by BBC called The Last Night of the Proms. Apparently they had been holding concerts all summer and this was the big end all be all of the concerts. I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to pay the 23 pounds to get in. I did end up spending a bit of money, on a very nice pair of boots. The boots I have been dying for since I was 15. I found them, I love them, and they aren't going back. On Sunday most of us flatmates decided to try Buckingham Palace again. I don't have any pictures of the inside as the entire place is copyrighted. Seriously. One of the wardens told us so. Kinda crazy if you ask me. It was a really beautiful place though. They have a special events thing going about the Diamond Anniversary of the King and Queen. I was amused at the fact that mom has the exact same black Singer sewing machine at home as was given to the Queen as a wedding present. But I'm running late so I have to go. More later I promise.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Work
So Hurrah for the Tubes being up and running again today. It was my first full day of work today, working from 9 to 6. I spent most of the day tracing and cutting patterns for a new TV series. Everyone there is really really nice, and they are really patient with me. I love them. The fact that the head boss guy has my same name causes a few confusions. I've got them to call me a nickname instead to keep the confusion to a minimum. One guy calls me America. Seriously. I think it's pretty funny, he's enamored with the States apparently. I was attempting to explain where I was from to him, but I didn't have a map so it was hard. He was going on for a half hour about how BIG the US was. He didn't believe me that it takes more than a day to drive cross country. Everyone at work tends to treat me like a little sister. They've been keeping me busy too, little stuff mainly but I don't mind. The big industrial machines kinda scare me. I'll learn to use them next week.
But nothing too exciting has really happened around here. I've been to a few pubs, stayed in a few nights. We all plan on doing a bunch of touristy stuff this weekend like touring Buckingham Palace and maybe the London Eye. I really want to do that, so I hope we can.
But nothing too exciting has really happened around here. I've been to a few pubs, stayed in a few nights. We all plan on doing a bunch of touristy stuff this weekend like touring Buckingham Palace and maybe the London Eye. I really want to do that, so I hope we can.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Great nights and Terrible Mornings
Sorry that I haven't updated in a few days, it's been a bit hectic around here with all of our meetings and classes and more meetings. And the STUPID Tube strike making life around London hell. Monday was fairly uneventful until the evening, when we went to see Spamalot. AWESOME show, if you love Monty Python. Which I do. :) It was hilarious and campy in full form. While we were their a few of the kids in our group thought they saw Eric Idle. They did... and so did we!! We all waited around the stage door and waited for him to come out. I got his signature and a few pictures with him. I was the epitome of squee-ly fan girl. They are here in my flickr set of Spamalot (if I don't post for a few days, there will still probably be new photos in the flickr sets or my Picasa page. They have the same photos really.) I was giddy for hours. I swears.
Today though. It really could have been better. The tube strike made it almost impossible to ride the busses around town. EVERYONE was on the bus. I was able to find someone who was very nice and helped me find my way to the work visa office. That part wasn't too bad. Really it was just the coming back with two safety pins holding my skirt closed because 5 of the 8 buttons that are on the stupid thing decided to fall off. The three that remained? I had stitched them back on Monday afternoon when they fell off as I tried to wear it then. To make matters worse I got off on the wrong bus stop and got lost trying to walk home. I did find my way there after one phone call and 4 policemen (they travel in sets of 2). Work was alright, I met a whole bunch of fun people. I'll be working Monday through Friday, and maybe Saturdays when they need me. Mondays and Wednesdays though I'll be going in late because of my Theatre class. I'll actually be going to see 10 plays for that class, but I had no real inclination to see any of them on the list. I really want to see the big name plays that everyone else has probably seen. Roommate C has agreed to go with me to anything I'm going to though, which is awesome of her. She loves watching plays too.
I did book tickets to Ireland for a weekend the other day too. For the end of the month with most of my flatmates and a few kids from other flats. I'm really looking forward to that. but right now I need to sleep because I think I'm coming down with a cold. Gross. I'll try to post again tomorrow with any more London excitement.
Today though. It really could have been better. The tube strike made it almost impossible to ride the busses around town. EVERYONE was on the bus. I was able to find someone who was very nice and helped me find my way to the work visa office. That part wasn't too bad. Really it was just the coming back with two safety pins holding my skirt closed because 5 of the 8 buttons that are on the stupid thing decided to fall off. The three that remained? I had stitched them back on Monday afternoon when they fell off as I tried to wear it then. To make matters worse I got off on the wrong bus stop and got lost trying to walk home. I did find my way there after one phone call and 4 policemen (they travel in sets of 2). Work was alright, I met a whole bunch of fun people. I'll be working Monday through Friday, and maybe Saturdays when they need me. Mondays and Wednesdays though I'll be going in late because of my Theatre class. I'll actually be going to see 10 plays for that class, but I had no real inclination to see any of them on the list. I really want to see the big name plays that everyone else has probably seen. Roommate C has agreed to go with me to anything I'm going to though, which is awesome of her. She loves watching plays too.
I did book tickets to Ireland for a weekend the other day too. For the end of the month with most of my flatmates and a few kids from other flats. I'm really looking forward to that. but right now I need to sleep because I think I'm coming down with a cold. Gross. I'll try to post again tomorrow with any more London excitement.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Bus Rides and Street Festivals
Today I got up early. I am quite proud of myself, as I actually got up early enough to go on the 8:45 am bus tour of London that the study center provided. I took A LOT of photos too, a whooping 121 that if you click here you can view. They are under London Bus Tour. I was too lazy to move them over to Flikr, but I'll move my favorites over later. Our guide was an amazing little British woman who had lived in London her whole life. She showed us all the usual sites, and a few times we got off the bus to take photos. I'm really really glad I went on it. I took a bajillion (yes that is a real number) of photos of Parliament and London Tower, which by the way is not a tower at all. That confused me. Yes there are a few pictures of ducks in there for the sister. I hope she enjoys.
Well after that all my flat mates and I spent an hour viewing and labeling all of our photos while we could still remember everything we had seen. We had a don't-be-a-jack-butt-to-your-flatmates meeting at 3 and I had a Theater Program orientation at 5. All of the others left just after our flat meeting, as none of them are in theatre to go to the Regent Street Festival. I had to go to the theatre thing, so I couldn't. I just ended up hanging around my room and conference calling the Boy and the Parents + Sister before the meeting. After a fairly informative and quick meeting with the theatre crew I ended up heading out with a bunch of the theatre kids to find said Indian Street Festival. That we had heard was to be a Spanish street festival. It took us 45 minutes to walk there, but only 15 to walk back. We had inadvertently taken the really long scenic route. It was ok though, actually a pretty fun walk. The street festival was getting ready to close up by the time we got there, and we went into Piccadilly Circus to find a restaurant that our tour guide from earlier had told us about. We found it, and it was everything she said it was. Cheap, filling and awesome. It was called Stockpot. I didn't get a picture of the outside but I have a feeling that I'll be going back. After eating and talking there we all headed back and into our perspective flats.
But it's late now, and I'm dead tired. So good night all, and I'll post the rest of the pictures in the morning.
Well after that all my flat mates and I spent an hour viewing and labeling all of our photos while we could still remember everything we had seen. We had a don't-be-a-jack-butt-to-your-flatmates meeting at 3 and I had a Theater Program orientation at 5. All of the others left just after our flat meeting, as none of them are in theatre to go to the Regent Street Festival. I had to go to the theatre thing, so I couldn't. I just ended up hanging around my room and conference calling the Boy and the Parents + Sister before the meeting. After a fairly informative and quick meeting with the theatre crew I ended up heading out with a bunch of the theatre kids to find said Indian Street Festival. That we had heard was to be a Spanish street festival. It took us 45 minutes to walk there, but only 15 to walk back. We had inadvertently taken the really long scenic route. It was ok though, actually a pretty fun walk. The street festival was getting ready to close up by the time we got there, and we went into Piccadilly Circus to find a restaurant that our tour guide from earlier had told us about. We found it, and it was everything she said it was. Cheap, filling and awesome. It was called Stockpot. I didn't get a picture of the outside but I have a feeling that I'll be going back. After eating and talking there we all headed back and into our perspective flats.
But it's late now, and I'm dead tired. So good night all, and I'll post the rest of the pictures in the morning.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Uneventful night.... I could only wish
At 8 I decided that I couldn't stand it anymore, no one was going out to eat, so I was going to cook dinner. I had some left over curry that had served me from 2 previous meals (it was 9 pounds guys, I needed to make it last), eggs, rice and spinach.
Let me say that today has not been a good food day for me. I got rice today, because it goes with everything and I'm not as fond of bread or potatoes as my daily starch. Plus, I make awesome egg and rice dishes. I get ready to make my lunch, which was curry over rice, and I discover that everything in the little fridge on the bottom shelf has frozen. Eggs, spinach for salad, tomatoes, and my curry. Everything. I get annoyed so I move everything up to a higher shelf and hope for the best. I end up microwaving half my curry block and eating it over rice. Quite tasty. Though, we don't have a measuring cup, so I've managed to make rice on the stove with a glass. Half a glass of dry rice makes the perfect amount of rice for one person. Which rocks hard core.
Moving back to dinner. The eggs had dethawed, yay!!! Rice was well on it's way to done. Spinach... was... well... sparkly still. But I used it anyways. the pan was WAY too hot for my eggs so they started to burn. Just alittle at first, but then a decent amount of smoke. But! the fire alarm didn't go off! Phew! So I serve up my food and sit on the couch. Not five second later, the alarm starts. Shit. That's me. This was also followed by a string of non-parent-approved-words. I left my eggs on the counter, and everyone in my room resignedly put on their shoes and trudged downstairs, through the corridor, down another flight of stairs, through another tinier hallway, up a third flight of stairs and finally out. Did I mention that the fire escape and emergency exit doors don't work? If that had been a real fire, it would have killed us all. We all pool outside, and wait. The security guy turns off the alarm and yells out to whom ever lives in Flat 8. See? Told you it was me. I told him what happened. He told me next time to just let him know on my way out, he'll turn off the alarm and fix everything. The sensors are sensitive but kinda... slow. Gah. Mind you that this was the entirety of the program who wasn't out for the night that had to leave their room. I told most anyone who asked that I was sorry, but no one really seemed to mind that much.
I mean other than realizing that if one of the other buildings lit on fire, we'd all die.
And yes, after all this, I ate my burnt eggs. Wasn't too bad actually, the curry covered most of the burnt.
Let me say that today has not been a good food day for me. I got rice today, because it goes with everything and I'm not as fond of bread or potatoes as my daily starch. Plus, I make awesome egg and rice dishes. I get ready to make my lunch, which was curry over rice, and I discover that everything in the little fridge on the bottom shelf has frozen. Eggs, spinach for salad, tomatoes, and my curry. Everything. I get annoyed so I move everything up to a higher shelf and hope for the best. I end up microwaving half my curry block and eating it over rice. Quite tasty. Though, we don't have a measuring cup, so I've managed to make rice on the stove with a glass. Half a glass of dry rice makes the perfect amount of rice for one person. Which rocks hard core.
Moving back to dinner. The eggs had dethawed, yay!!! Rice was well on it's way to done. Spinach... was... well... sparkly still. But I used it anyways. the pan was WAY too hot for my eggs so they started to burn. Just alittle at first, but then a decent amount of smoke. But! the fire alarm didn't go off! Phew! So I serve up my food and sit on the couch. Not five second later, the alarm starts. Shit. That's me. This was also followed by a string of non-parent-approved-words. I left my eggs on the counter, and everyone in my room resignedly put on their shoes and trudged downstairs, through the corridor, down another flight of stairs, through another tinier hallway, up a third flight of stairs and finally out. Did I mention that the fire escape and emergency exit doors don't work? If that had been a real fire, it would have killed us all. We all pool outside, and wait. The security guy turns off the alarm and yells out to whom ever lives in Flat 8. See? Told you it was me. I told him what happened. He told me next time to just let him know on my way out, he'll turn off the alarm and fix everything. The sensors are sensitive but kinda... slow. Gah. Mind you that this was the entirety of the program who wasn't out for the night that had to leave their room. I told most anyone who asked that I was sorry, but no one really seemed to mind that much.
I mean other than realizing that if one of the other buildings lit on fire, we'd all die.
And yes, after all this, I ate my burnt eggs. Wasn't too bad actually, the curry covered most of the burnt.
excitement
Today has been interesting. I woke up too late to go on another walking tour because of my still eastern central body clock. My whole flat was up until 3 am and no one got up before noon. Terrible. Anyways I was invited to go out to the shop to look around and get aquianted with the place before I start work on Tuesday. I grabbed my camera and Oyster card and headed out. The Tube was fairly easy to navigate, and really not that crowded. I got turned around leaving the Station, but figured it out pretty easy that I was going the wrong way. The section of town I was in was incrediably more residential than where I am living. Not nearly as many people walking around. Then I find the street the Shop is located, and evening the building. But there is no one there or around. I got a bit creeped out and called back to my flat for the number to the costume shop. I call and no one answers. I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures either, because...well... if I was taking a picture I'd look suspicious or just obviously a tourist.. Or so I think. I decided at that point to just go home and call again to see when someone WILL be there to answer the phone so I know it's good to go back out there. Thankfully the trip is only 2 trains and 20 minutes long. Unfortunately, now I have to up my Oyster card.
and it's only 3 o'clock.
and it's only 3 o'clock.
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