<3
April 11:
Today I should have finished and edited my Shakespeare paper, but I watched Inglourious Basterds instead… yeah. I think that’s a fair substitute. Anyway, I’m now completely obsessed with Eli Roth, Quinton Tarantino, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, and Diane Kruger, oh AND Melanie Laurent… I will follow their work till I die. They were phenomenal!
Also, I ate dinner at GBK, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, cuz celery and peanut butter w/ special k sprinkled on top is not dinner, Lauren, and sometimes you just need treacherously nasty, big ass meat. Period.
April 12-15:
A pretty uneventful couple of days. I did manage to make it to the Victoria & Albert museum before class on Tuesday. I mostly checked out the instrument gallery and there was the fashion of the Victorian age to wonder around and look at, but after being a tourist straight up for the better part of my spring break, I was ready to just be a bum in London for a while. I went to Monmouth coffee and read some monologues from this acting book I bought at the National Gallery a while back, then I went to class…
Oh yeah, and I saw the Caretaker by Harold Pinter staring Jonathan Pryce, who I met after the show. It was a good show, but I can’t help, but compare his performance to that of Ian Mckellan’s in Waiting for Godot, which I liked a lot more than the Caretaker, but both are very good plays with very great leads. I had no idea Jonathan Pryce was such a man o the theatre!
Oh yeah and I finally made it to Anonon, a big deal club in London (I don’t see why) but I had a pretty rad time. Met some cool kids… on Thursday? Yeah.
Oh right, one more thing, I joined twitter. (*sighs*) yes, I finally gave in. Follow me if you dare @cutieclark. (Then find Macgrubes69 and follow him as well, he’s hilarious.)
April 17: Stratford-Upon-Avon!
Because it happens to be the birthplace of William Shakespeare and the root of the Royal Shakespeare company, my Shakespeare class (obviously) provided the transportation on this one. We took a bus through the country on one of the loveliest days I had experienced since my arrival this past January. I saw lots of farms with pigs, horses, chickens, and sheep running about. If it hadn’t been full of those rolling hills so picturesque of the English countryside, I might’ve thought I was back home in Indiana. It was so nice to be out in the open air and kind of get out of the city for a bit. Sometimes, it gets so incredibly packed and although Stratford is by no means considered the country, there was a wonderfully diverting air about the little town known for all its Shakespearean euphoria.
We got off the bus and walked up High Street where Shakespeare’s birthplace was and then we walked around a bit more while Professor Hattaway pointed out some buildings along the way (I’ll be posting the pics just after this, hopefully) including Shakespeare’s grave. I took a lot of pictures of Shakespeare’s grave… it was almost border line sad how many pics I took, I mean, it wasn’t like he was going to jump outta that thing or anything. Still, I do, at least, have more pictures of Morrison and oh my god, I’m really including all of this in this blog because I don’t even care about that so I’m sure you really care about this wow holy crap.
ANYWAY, it was an amazing time and then we all split up for lunch. I stuck with the professor and 2 other students. We went to a pub called the “West End” that was tucked away behind some houses, so it was cool because it wasn’t that crowded and most of the other students were going to Subway….like for realsies though. We sat outside on the deck and the professor bought us drinks! I don’t really fancy the beer served in pubs, or in England for that matter, but the cider was just something I could never turn down, especially in terms of “free pint.”
I ate a yummy helping of fish and chips with mushy peas and professor H gave me a lesson on my pronunciation of the word “mushy”--- “no, no, my dear you’ve gone terribly up north. You’ve got to say Muuh-she, not MOO-she” … ya had to be there, I guess.
I had a really great lunch with these kids, normally I’m in a stuffy old class with them, but they were rather enjoyable this afternoon. Anyway, I remember thinking all the while that I was going to start working much harder in professor Hattaway’s class because not only did he buy me a pint, but he was a wonderful conversationalist! Who knew that buying your students booze could encourage them to want to work harder for you. Now, I guess we’ll just have to see this week how well that pans out.
After lunch, we had to book it to the RSC theatre to get our seats for the Antony and Cleopatra production. We had enjoyed lunch so much, we lost track of time and we literally ended up running to our seats. It was exciting, but unfortunately I can’t say the production was totally worth the rush. It was a 3 hour and 20 minute production (including the interval, I suppose) and it was really hard to keep up with whether they wanted to live in the present or not. The two title characters were pushing their mid 40s or 50s, which I did NOT expect, not that old people can’t pull it off, but I think their ages distracted me quite a bit at first… I feel terribly pretentious writing that… Oh well, I can look at this later in life and have a great laugh, I suppose. Anyway, there was some interesting talent, but it was nothing that I would kill for to see again.
When the production was over, I went to the gift shop and bought some goodies for my fam then I went outside to meet up with my class. We walked along the river and a few of us bought some coffee from the coffee bean house and then we were back on the bus, off again, to London! When I got back home, I was feeling really jazzed up so I talked to the girls in the other flat on the other side of the basement and they were actually looking for something to do as well! I was in luck because I really had a craving to go back to strawberry moons after Ashley and I re-found it in Piccadilly from Emily’s party bus night. I took them there and we partied on the disco floor and geeked out over the bartender’s and their AAAAAmmmazing dance moves up on the stage. They all had their own choreographed pieces they did. It was SO fantastic, I had such a great night. And yeah… we shut down the place. Then we went and got some Chinese food, which was nasty, but we didn’t care, we were ravenous (like Dan! Am I right? am I right? Haha). Jackie, Nan and I made friends with these 4… 3 guys who kept trying to get us to go to a bar whose name they couldn’t remember so we made up a fake day trip that we had to leave for in a couple hours, but when we parted ways I was actually kind of sad that we didn’t meet them at a more legit place because they were so cool and we actually were chatting with them for a while. Oh! and the one who kept beat boxing all over my noodles said I had a pretty good British accent. And Dave, who looked like the Roman Catholic version of Jesus, reminded me of my cousin, Russ, who is a DJ back home in Indy, and so naturally we got along…. For that reason probably Haha. I had fun with my temporary best friends.
We came back to my flat, noticed someone was naughty and kicked over all the trashcans… sad face… and then we laid on the stairs cuz our dogs were killin us!... then we were super loud in my common room… then we made our peace…then we went to bed…. It was 5am, no big deal. Good mo’nin!
April 18:
Woke up in the late afternoon. (I called up Parnell just to see what he’s doin… ? jk) I texted my new bfff Jackie and we went to Regent’s park and just laid out. The sun was shining again and it was impossible to stay indoors. I took my book that I’m reading now, 1984 by George Orwell, but I didn’t read it cuz Jackie and I were mostly talking about how rad our night was and quoting Pineapple Express WHICH we had just recently watched together and it’s basically now like our movie. “You shot me! I’m probably gonna die now. And I had you over for fish tacos!” bahahaha- fantastic.
After the park we got home and made plans to go to the circus---I know what you’re thinking, “wtf, the circus, LC!? Really?” BUT we didn’t actually go because the free tix for students 26 and under were taken by the time we went to go pick them up. The plan is to check tomorrow.
After that mild disappointment, I took them to Hampstead because they had always wanted to check it out and I used to work there so I knew how to get there from where we were. We got there and it was so nice. I hadn’t been there since February and it’s amazing how different I see the area now. I wasn’t rushing by the shops to make it in time for work nor was I starring down at the sidewalk to focus on the two knapsacks of outgoing mail in my arms, but I was actually taking pictures (ch check them out!) and ENJOYING THE AREA! It was really great to be back and kind of remember the few things I actually did like about the theatre gig. When we were done walking around—and by “walking around” I really mean, we ran out of diet coke and walkers Thai sweet chili chips—we stopped off at a little Greek restaurant and bought some dinner. I ordered Spicy lamb, hummus and pita bread and when my food came it was the first time I’ve been out to a restaurant here and did not have the desire to take a picture of the food. Not that it was disgusting, but it wasn’t exactly a meal I wanted to remember. It was overpriced and not terribly authentic, but we live and learn, right? Also, I didn’t tip so I felt okay about it.
After dinner we came back to the flat and we went our separate ways. Everyone had homework to do, but I’m pretty much done with mine for the semester, which is nice and also the reason I had so much time to put some thoughts down in this bloggity blog thing of mine.
April 19:
Rain. I hung out with Nadine and Jackie in their flat quite a bit. I did some reading and writing, but could not be in my flat today on account of DRAMA! Nothing that I was a part of, but I figured distancing myself wouldn’t hurt anybody. It was really nice. We clowned around, watched some YouTube videos, talked about music and movies (rather I talked about movies and they listened to all my little obsessions) then Jackie went to bed and I stayed up with Nadine and we just did random stuff. She was actually working on a paper, but she wanted to go to bed so badly, so I stayed in there to help her stay awake. It was a great night and a very random day.
April 20, 2009:
Woke up bright and early to edit and finish the 2nd Shakespeare paper, then went to class where we had a very interesting debate regarding the suspension of disbelief in theatre. Basically, professor Hattaway was saying that we can’t truly believe in what we’re seeing on the stage because, “you’d have to be completely mad.” I unfortunately had to disagree with my professor. What’s the point of taking that (incredibly cynical and academic) point of view? No, I don’t actually believe the actors are really flying in Peter Pan, but watching them soar over the stage and getting lost in the magic that that represents is a form of believing, is it not? I accept what’s happening and then I just go with it, but I understand Hattie’s point. I think he just wants us to be more critical of the shows we’re seeing. I like that his lecture turned into a debate, it made me listen more. Dunno what that says about me, though.
After class, I met up with the two Nan’s and Jackie and we finally went to the CIRCUS!!!! It was so much fun. It was a French acrobat circus. At first it was kind of weird, but then they started stacking themselves up on each other’s shoulders, then doing these flips, and all these elaborate tosses in the air. I was really nervous because they kept messing with the audience like they were going to fall, but it was a good trick. I know they messed up a couple times, but I still couldn’t distinguish between the “mistakes” and the mistakes, which is how I feel it should be. The best part of the evening (a part from the fact that the circus was free for under 26s) was all these pics they had up of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and (weirdly) Andy Warhol because apparently these dudes performed at the Roundhouse back in its heyday… so all the pics and art!... I was basically in heaven! It was an amazing evening.
April 21:
This afternoon I walked around Oxford Circus a little bit and did some minor shopping. I picked up some postcards then found a charming Viennese café off of Regent street and had some tea and wrote. Then I went home for dinner.
THEN…. My life was forever changed….
I saw Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem starring the incomparable Mark Rylance…. And he was an absolute dream! Watching this man work, oh god, I can honestly say my world would have been a bit smaller if I hadn’t ever seen him on stage. Rylance portrayed Johnny “Rooster” Byron, an ex-dare-devil , current freeloader and drug dealer who misleads the younger generation astray by providing them with unlimited amounts of alcohol and drugs and in this way he becomes a quirky kind of father figure to these kids. He’s incredibly charming, a storyteller, and he’s also incredibly dangerous. He represents both the old and new world England as the surrounding “new estate” developers come try to push him out of his home in this little clearing in the wooded forests of Flintlock. The play takes place on St. George’s Day, a very festive time of year all over England, and the plot, to the very core, revolves around the idea of being “British.” I learned so much about England, watching this beautifully written play and even more about performing watching Rylance. This man never takes the easy way out, I mean, never, but he somehow ALWAYS knows what’s going to come of his actions. It was the BEST show I’ve seen so far.
So good.
April 22:
Today I had modern drama (brilliant) I got to geek out more over Mark Rylance… oh yeah, I guess we did have to discuss the Caretaker, too,huh…. Then I hopped on a boat and left for Amersterdam!!!! So cool. So pumped. Yes.
April 22-April 26:
Amsterdam adventures. See pics.
April 27:
Shakespeare class & Macbeth @ the Globe & chill time w/ Nan and Jackie in their flat to brag about amazeballs weekend, made me realize I wish I had started hanging out with them sooner because all the drama in my flat is starting to get ridiculous, but I’m never there anymore now that sb’s over so it’s cool! MACBETH WAS AMAZING. I LOVE SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE!
April 28:
work at the Cavendish today, then home for dinner then POSH at the Royal Court. It was such a fun night. We met the actors afterwards and I was more nervous meeting them than I was talking to Johnny Depp. Seriously, they were scary up on that stage. I couldn’t believe people like that actually exist. ELABORATE ON THIS PLAY LATER FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! IT WAS SO GOOD, LC!!!
April 29:
modern dramz class, a wonderful sunny walk to class and then it started to rain just as I got inside. What luck! Class was fun chatting about POSH. We saw a clip from the paper w/ Boris Johnson and David Cameron back in the day when they were in the Bullingdon dining club together. Like, why are these dudes running the country now?
I didn’t really feel like partying it up tonight, but I did want to watch Billy Elliot and so I did…. And so I found a new thing to majorly geek out about! Ha! love it.
April 30:
walked around Hyde park today, it was sunny this morning, but then it started to rain a little once I went outside. Not horrible, but it was typical British overcast for the rest of the day. It was marvelous. I went and got some of the old Earl Grey tea from another one of my beloved café’s Le Pain Quotidien (they’re all over the place, too, AND better/cheaper than Starbucks) then I met up with Emily V. She’s leaving for Italy (everyone had to have one- an Italian vacation) tomorrow for a week, but we hadn’t seen each other in about 2 weeks. We caught up on some gossip, ate some fruit in my room, I talked to her about Amsterdam, Alpha Chi Omega, and my going home in 2 weeks! (oh god, I can’t handle that) and class, people, and drama--- it made me feel a bit better about my living situation because she’s not all Snow-White-happy-ending on her end of town either. Mostly everyone is just ready to go home, (I’m not) and some people are starting to get really really really strange (I’m not… much stranger), but it’s alright because we’re all strange creatures anyhow, now aren’t we.
Yeah, today was a pretty chill day, but we made extensive plans to chill tomorrow in Covent Garden so hopefully we will stick to the schedule and have great fun on our last 2 weeks!!!
May 1:
Today was absolutely beautiful outside. I, unfortunately, could not go with the girls from my flat to Covent Garden though because my phone was acting up and I had to go see about that and then it ended up taking longer than I thought it would. We were supposed to meet up for Burritos and tequila, but instead I got to go check out the Carphone Warehouse on Baker Street!!!! What!?!? No, I love Baker street and the sun was shining so brightly (especially for England) I couldn’t be sour this morning. Not on a day like today. Well, everything eventually got sorted and I topped my phone up just fine so I called Jackie and she was headed to the National Portrait Gallery. I’ve been there, but only briefly so I decided to tag along. We took it slow and walked there… only took about an hour, but like I said, it was gorgeous out, so no worries. It was like summer it was so hot, so we stopped, like true Americans, into a nearby McDonalds and grabbed McFlury’s with Cadbury chocolate eggs in them! So good! We finally got to the museum and checked out some pretty sweet photos. We walked around for a good 3 hours then decided it was time to get food. We went back to the respectable flats and watched Clueless and X-Men on SKY…. Oh and played ridiculous drinking games to them. It was fun. Even being a bunch of Americans. We almost went out, but then were… unable. Happy May Day, yeah!? whoo!
May 2:
Today, I went with Sarah to the Tate Modern (finally) and I absolutely loved it! Sure some of it (a lot of it) pissed me off, but that’s what I loved about it. There was so much in there that pissed me off, made me laugh, made me uncomfortable, or even reminded me of my childhood. Either way, I was always thinking about why each piece of art effected me and, furthermore, about why I cared. Sarah was also a great person to go there with because not only is she an art history major who’s pretty into modern art, but she’s brutally honest about what strikes her fancy and what’s just “fucking ridiculous.” It was a great day in the museum and we pretty much saw it all and I would totally go back. The craziest thing I saw was this film of a woman (I already forget her name) who poured blood all over her body (yeah, she was naked…. What else is new) and then rolled around in feathers. And that was supposed to represent body mutilation and self-harm or some crap. It was interesting, to say the least….
THEN WE WENT AND GOT BURRITOS! Cuz I was hungry and was still craving some Mexican food. Great lunch at Wahaca and we got some free chili seeds to plant later, Um hm…
Tonight wasn’t so bad. I went with Jackie, Lily, Hilary, and Sarah to the Albany and got a pint of some beer called Tiger while they ate Sunday Roast. Obviously, I had my burrito so I was fine, but I tried that Sunday roast and it was the ladybugs ankles (I’m trying to avoid saying the “bees knees” in yet another post….)
We wound up hanging out that night in Jackie’s flat till 3am just watching crazy stuff on the internet… like 30 rock and my favorites from YouTube such as “Laughing Baby” and “My Son is Gay.” THAT kind of crazy...
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(Don't make me leave this wonderland....)
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