damnit.

I really suck at remembering to do this.
Which indicates that I have a horrible memory and should try to remember to write so I can remember other things.

This past week nothing too enthralling has happened because last Monday through Thursday I had to buckle down and actually spend time doing work for my crit that happened friday. It went OK, I need to put forth more effort though. It's really bad, I came here with full intention to work hard and improve and I'm too busy enjoying everything else to discipline myself to do homework. Also, Ella, Brett and I momentarily mentioned Senior Thesis on our walk to school this morning and I think I had a minor stroke because my brain couldn't fully process that thought.

But today we spent the entire day in the print studio (!) because we'll be designing print motifs (!!) to make an accessory (!!!) and I could not have been happier. The fact that this school even HAS a print studio (where the inks we use are provided for us!) makes me want to set up camp and not leave that studio. I'll miss this excessively when I go home, and now I'm motivated to actually do my homework.

So backtracking: on Sunday, Chelsea, Brett and I went to the British Museum for the first time. Remember everything you've learned about Egyptian History over the course of your education? Pretty much all of it is in there. Oh, and that nifty rock that helped decipher ancient Hieroglyphs is there too. You know, the Rosetta Stone? AND most of the Parthenon from Greece is on display at the British Museum (because leaving it to the elements in Greece is irresponsible, the Brit's took it and stuck it in Central London) which was absolutely amazing. The craftsmanship and effort to make the high relief Gods and Goddesses that one sat so ethereal on top of the Acropolis is enough to make one's heart flutter.

And flutter it did, my friends.

Learned about this here Lamasseu in art history. Excitement.

Also peeked in on a show curated by a Brit artist called Grayson Perry. Cross dresser and mayor of nut-ville, Perry's show "Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman" was an awesome introduction to his work for someone who had (admittedly) never heard of him before. Need a breath of fresh air? Google him and his teddy "Allan Measles." I giggled and was shocked but reminded that art can have a strong sense of humor without sacrificing a strong commentary on social behavoir.

Back a bit more to Friday night- Britt, her boyfriend Spencer (who's here from NYC for the next few weeks, a kindred spirit, a film guy)  and I stopped by a Bar/Club called 93 Feet East on Brick Lane because a friend of mine's band was playing and we needed something [free] to do. Good electronic music and dancing followed- as did a beer and a ciggie out in the heated back yard. An excellent Friday night to follow an 8 hour critique earlier that day, if you ask me.

Oh, and it snowed on Saturday night leaving central Londres with a few centimeters (look how European I'm being! Centimeters!) while a friend of mine from class who lives outside the city got snowed in! I went for a walk with a friend on Saturday night when it was still falling and it was gorgeous. I think 'stop and smell the roses' should be changed to 'bundle up and stroll in the snowfall' during the winter time. Again, I don't have much to complain about here.

Except last night I had the overwhelming desire for Strollo's...maybe a mango ice with vanilla softserve and to sit in the sand at Belmar beach. But I'm perfectly fine with waiting.

Snowy Central London on Sunday.

OH! and I went to my internship at Holbrook Studio/Peclers Paris for the first time yesterday. Janet Holbrook (who began Holbrook Studio, fancy that?) is really sweet and the girls who freelance there all seem really nice.

Alright, I'm off to sketch print designs like a madman and eat some cereal and biscuits.
Cheers!

east end and what I've done with my life this past week.

Maybe I'll make an empty promise to write down life happenings at least on Sunday evenings.

So this past Thursday we had another lovely [free] outing with the SAI girls (there's like 8 American girls who all came here in the same program) and thanks to Jamie, the ever amazing fabulous gay mama duck of our london squabble, we got to see a show called "La Soiree" at the legendary Roundhouse Theatre in Camden.

So smuggle in a bit of grocery store liquor and then squeeze your way to the front of the standing room only ticket space (I'd rather pay less and stand where we did instead of sit in the nosebleeds!) and watch complete ridiculousness ensue. It was absolutely hilarious and left us all going "how the hell did they just do that?" the whole time.

A Hula Hooper who did at least two dozen hoops at once.
A Stripper doing a magic routine.
A couple who've been doing a rollerskating acrobatic sideshow routine for more than 30 years together where mulleted man skates on a roughly 6 foot diameter platform and spins around his blondie partner by the ankles.
An excessively sexy spinning trapeze-like act.
A boy who dressed in drag and then jumped on a pogo stick and juggled.
HE WAS WEARING 8 INCH HEELS.
A cocaine ridden Irish step dancing act.
and finish with the "Queen" of the ring sing we are the champions and crowd surf while everyone sings along.


Jealous? should be.

Then Friday night Chelsea and I traveled south of the river to Brixton (aka London's Brooklyn) and hung out at a house party with people from her program at CSM. Nice people, a haphazard game of beer pong by non-americans: there were about 20 cups on each side because they didn't know how many to use and no one knew the bounce back rule.

But the best part was the view off the back of the patio we were hanging out on blasting old school hip hop...you could see all of London. And in my true form, I was too busy enjoying the moment and didn't take a picture. Sorry!

But I do have some photos (stolen from Roo) from our Sunday sashaying about brick lane (which is officially our Sunday tradition). We ate some amazing japanese okonomiyaki and chinese boazi and topped it off with some amazing doughnuts and by getting some crafty accessory inspiration. 

cheap eats. 8 quid lunch!

vintage wares.

obviously, i need a doughnut deep fryer machine asap.

another check off my art history bucketlist

Yesterday my friends Arielle, Brett and I visited Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

My art history geek self was having a wet dream, let me tell you.

To get to wiltshire it takes about two and a half hours, not counting obvious diversions. After hopping on the tube and grabbing the National Rail out of Waterloo station we took an early morning train out to a town called Salisbury, which is about a two and a half ride through scenic England.

Everything you see about suburban/rural England in the movies is true. Mossy roofs, lots o' sheep, the romantic mist over the fields as the sun comes up. It's precious but I'd die if I lived there. Thank goodness for cities.

Anyways, Salisbury is a cute little town with a decent touristy vibe and a gorgeous 13th century Cathedral whose steeple just so happens to be the "tallest in the land" as our tour pamphlets proclaimed (which means it's the tallest in the UK at 404 feet!). It's really a sight, surrounded by luscious green close (which I'm assuming is the term for the grounds around the Cathedral) that we took time to run through and enjoy the sunshine.

Salisbury Cathedral in all its glory.

Sunshine. Despite what all those asshole pessimists say, it does not rain here that often. Yes, rain exists...but no more than in Jersey in the springtime. I think it's rained MAYBE three whole days while I've been here while we've been outside doing things. Other than that I have enjoyed a mild January with temps floating in the 50s. Suck on that New York and your few inches of snow as of late.

I digress, as per usual. But yeah, the Cathedral is gorgy, the town is precious. Finally tasted my first meat pie (pork and apple, wondrous) and then out to Wiltshire we waltzed.

Lie, we were typical tourists and jumped on the 15 quid tour that drives you out to the Stonehenge Landscape. Whatever, I learned a few cool things along the way. LIKE- did you know that in the UK to flip someone off they show two fingers? The middle and the pointer. This goes back to Medieval times when the French would capture British archers and to keep them from ever shooting another arrow they'd chop off their two fingers. So in protest the British do this to taunt the French. And then it caught on. Silly Americans eff'd it up.

So Stonehenge is breathtaking. Large bluestones in the middle of a very expansive and serene landscape where sheep graze (Arielle and I tried beckoning our woolen friends by baa'ing at them. fail.) and there are large burial mounds in every direction which add a little more to this prehistoric site.

Rocks! Blue Skies! Stonehenge! Yeah!

Why Stonehenge is important: 5,000 years ago these early inhabitants of the English countryside decided that Wiltshire is super awesome and a great place to put a spiritual and ceremonial rock formation. The rocks come from the Preseli mountains in Wales, about 156 miles away. The biggest rocks weighed 25 tons when transported (somehow, maybe aliens) to the site. Then they were chiseled and erected in two horseshoe like set ups that we see ruins of today. Oh and most interesting? The main axis of Stonehenge (which literally means hanging rocks in oldspeak) is aligned with the summer solstice, which makes it a big calendar. Why and how? Couldn't tell you. But, Neolithic people Rock!

Har, har, har.

Prehistory never tasted so good.

Ok, I think I've recapped enough now.
Oh, and Brett and I attempted to find Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross today and couldn't get to the platforms because we need a ticket. Tempting, but chose against it. 

By the way, Kings Cross Station is really pretty, I'll take this over Times Square anyway.

hellooo

I kept meaning to start this.... so here it is.
Silly ramblings from my silly mind as I get even sillier being here in London.
Have I mentioned that I'm not leaving?

..I think I have mentioned it to everyone.

...and you laugh, but watch.

let's see how I do at this, because I keep just wanting to make jokes but this is so that I can come back to some sort of a personal account of the time I was here in London and freshen up the memories that I'm bound to lose just because my mind is really difficult to keep closed.

Keep focused Jul. Keeeeep focused!

ALRIGHT. so far? I think it might be best to itemize what I've done so far as I have been on tumblr, where I give reasons why I'm never leaving.

1. Red Telephone booths do exist and they are adorable.
2. Same with double decker buses.
3. Speaking of the double decker buses, it's really fun to sit on the top in the front!
4. Westminster Abbey, Parliament and the adjoining clock tower are gorgeous. (by the by, you know that Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside the clock tower? most people use it to refer to the whole dang thing, but it's really just the very loud bell inside!)
5. Lagertop: beer with a shot on lemonade on top. heavenly.
6. The Tube smells nice and there's practically no garbage. Why would I ever want to swipe my metrocard and descend into hell under NYC again?
7. Getting drunk at pub called Dirty Dick's on a Tuesday is entirely acceptable.
8. If not encouraged.
9. Paris is about 2 hours on the Eurotrain.
10. Same with the rest of Europe.
11. Did I mention we might be making plans to go to Venice for Carnevale? whatttt uppp!
12. Buckingham Palace is also quite lovely.



Ok so, that's all I can manage right now because Bret and I got in around 4am last night (it was a Monday night) because we were in Leichester Square (pronounced Lester) celebrating her 21st Birthday.

Note to self: Jaeger-bombs should not be followed by a 10am class.

Cheers!