Stress Relief

I’m not quite sure how to describe the past few weeks. It’s been a blur of illness, clients and chaos. Through the madness, I’ve made an effort; I suppose I should say that my friends have made an effort, to make sure I had some stress free fun.

First, my wonderful flatmate, Veronica, had a “Happy Birthday” banner hanging in the kitchen, when I arrived back in London. This was accompanied by a chocolate cake, with a champagne bottle candle, and a watch locket necklace she found for me in Camden.

She, some friends and I tucked in, the proper way. No knife required.

Then, I requested she throw some dye on my hair again (we do this when I’m bored). She went above and beyond, providing me with a relaxing oasis, complete with fresh flowers, champagne service, and early 2000s tv shows (the kind I longed to watch in middle school, so I would know what all my classmates were talking about). Specifically, we watched The OC. I know, I know, but it was a big deal back in the day. Anyway, I digress.

Most recently, on Saturday, I went for an afternoon on the town with Abigail. We met at Charing Cross, and checked out the ticket stalls, to determine what to do. We were about £10 away from seeing Shrek the Musical. However, the price was a bit too steep for an afternoon of ironic musical attendance. Instead, we landed on the matinee showing of Seven Psychopaths. We were just in time, riding the endless escalators to the top floor of the cinema. We entered the pitch black theatre, quickly realizing that we were the only people inside. I got excited! I had not been alone in a theatre since seeing Alien vs. Predator II, in high school, with Kelly. We took full advantage, running around the theatre and trying to pop up behind each other to make the suspenseful parts more interesting.  However, on this afternoon, the trailer for Jack Frost seemed to be running awfully long… oh wait. We are watching Jack Frost (this year’s Christmas movie for children). Are we in the right theatre? Yeah, we are. It’s just an hour before our show.

Laughing uncontrollably, we quickly finished our breezers and fell giggling out of the theatre (not before I tried to throw my empty bottle in a bin, which turned out to be a folded chair - It was REALLY dark). We had an hour to kill, so we ended up at a Mexican Restaurant a few blocks away.

After catching up over some delicious snacks, we made our way back to the cinema and saw the proper movie at the proper time. I really enjoyed the film. It was witty, funny and brutally honest.

Abigail had made reservations at Inamo, a Japanese restaurant with an emphasis on the use of technology to enhance the dining experience. The tables were white squares, with touchpads in the right corners. All of the ordering was done on the table, as well as any service requests, like asking for the bill. In addition, we were able to personalize the “tablecloth”, due to an overhead projector, specific to our table.  It was a unique experience and the food was good. We both enjoyed ourselves.

Currently, I am just trying to get through this week, because **drum roll** The McGarrys will be in London a week from today! I am so excited; I have literally been jumping around in all waking hours, since I found out, last night.  It is going to be fabulous!

The city has slowed to a crawl, due to the “heavy” snowfall here. However, I am loving the weather. The view out my window reminds me of home.

Edit:

This is a photo album I just found of my campus in the snow.

Goldsmiths in the Snow

Tying up Loose Ends

I realize that I neglected my blog a bit at the end of last term, due mostly to projects, papers and packing to visit Michigan. There are quite a few things that I should have written about that I let slide. I can’t do all of it justice, but I will try to fill you in as efficiently as possible. Prepare yourself for miscellany!

1. The hip hop class that I taught went really well. The enthusiasm of the group was overwhelming, as was the “street attire” many of the participants donned. Foreign perceptions of American street culture are generally shaped by images seen in music videos and blockbuster films. In other words, HILARIOUS! I could not contain my laughter during the Q&A section of class:

“Why don’t the East and West sides get along?”

“Do people in the ghetto really eat McDonald’s all the time?”

“Why is Kanye West so rude?”

“Did you bring your gun with you from Detroit?”

2. Leona came to London! She is studying at La Cordon Bleu, in Paris, and took a trip with her flat mate to see a concert in London. I was really busy with my course when she arrived, so she came out to my neighborhood to catch up over a drink.

We stayed for a while, and then my flat mate stopped by.

We stayed for a while longer, and a friend from my course stopped by after visiting the library.

Everyone got along splendidly and I adored spending time with such a mixed bag of awesomeness.

3. Ionut came to London! We took to the streets and frolicked about town. 

The highlights of our time together included a visit to a unique bar basement, hidden away in Waterloo, as well as a rooftop wigwam bar in Shoreditch.

We rambled through The Tunnel on our journey toward Dover Street, and ate Indian food on Brick Lane with friends. It was a weekend full of wonderfulness.

The Tunnel, photo credit: Ionut Gitan

Dover Street, photo credit: Ionut Gitan

4. I picked up some bizarre work, helping a color therapist cut and organize swatches of fabric. The work made my back ache and my fingers bleed. However, I gained the valuable knowledge that my best “fun” color is teal or turquoise and my “power” color is chocolate brown. I was paid in cash, a bag of groceries, free lunch, wine, stimulating conversation, and a home cooked dinner, eaten while watching Miracle on 34^th Street on the TV. Not to mention, the morning walk to work was beautiful.

It was totally worth it.

The New Year

Today, I attended my first classes of the second term, after a much needed 3 week holiday in Michigan. The New Year is widely regarded as a time for fresh starts and new beginnings. Our minds are overflowing with resolutions; much like our glasses did with Champagne, on the last night of the previous year. Personally, New Year resolutions have never worked for me. The many discarded gym memberships and torn bags of potato chips that will appear in the coming weeks will be a testament to me not being alone in my resolve. I have never had a gym membership or been partial to salty foods, but you get the point. Here’s the problem: the change of date on a calendar does absolutely nothing to motivate me. Instead, I get motivated at random times, and just run with it (arguably, how I ended up in London). When this happens, and I see results, it motivates me to do more.

Throughout last term, I adopted a few lifestyle changes, that I found beneficial, which is all the motivation I need to keep doing them. As a person with “health nut/hippy bullshit” tendencies, these may sound less than practical. However, these little changes helped me immensely, so I feel like spreading the wealth.

- Oil pulling. You take a tablespoon full of sunflower or sesame oil and swish it around your mouth for twenty minutes in the morning, and spit it out before brushing your teeth. It’s an antibacterial, antifungal, that whitens your teeth and improves gum health, directly related to coronary health. It felt weird at first, but I received validation at my dentist appointment a few weeks ago. It’s a keeper.

- Honey masks. The water here is really harsh, so I went looking for natural remedies to help with irritated and dry skin. I take normal honey and spread it in a thin layer on my face. After 15 minutes, I rinse is off with warm water. It’s so much easier and less of a mess than it sounds, and, for me, it has worked wonders.

- Journaling. Ok, we’re required to do it for my course. But, despite that being my initial motivation, it’s really helpful. I swear I sleep better the nights I take an extra half hour to just write free flow, and shut the notebook.

- Breathe/stretch/dance/meditate. This changes daily, or weekly, but it’s just a general check in with body and breath. It’s grounding and important.

I'll leave you with the lyrics from a wonderful song, "The New Year", by Death Cab for Cutie and one of my favorite pictures from my New Year celebration.

So this is the new year.
And I don't feel any different.
The clanking of crystal
Explosions off in the distance.

So this is the new year
And I have no resolutions
For self assigned penance
For problems with easy solutions

So everybody put your best suit or dress on
Let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
As thirty dialogues bleed into one

I wish the world was flat like the old days
Then I could travel just by folding a map
No more airplanes, or speed trains, or freeways
There'd be no distance that could hold us back.

There'd be no distance that could hold us back

So this is the new year