The Final Entry

I have three days left of living in London. I'm actually really conflicted about this. I'm excited to go home, see my friends and family and my dog, but at the same time I'm going to miss everything here so much.
Well, not everything certainly (I'll be happy to be somewhere without the huge crowds, for instance), but so much. I've been really lucky to make friends here from all over the world, and knowing that there's a chance I'll never see some of them again is really hard to deal with. I'm going to try and come back in April for my graduation, but they may not be here for it. It's great to have friends from all over the world, but that distance is such a pain.
I've been trying to get everything wrapped up these past few weeks, get all of my loose ends tied up, but it's so much to think about. I'm sure that I'm missing tons of things but I have no idea what. I've got packages that I'm sending home tomorrow, a cleaner coming Tuesday, I'm almost all packed though I've got last minute things to sort out of course, and I've got friends who are coming to get things I can't take with me and don't want to throw away. So I'm not sure what I'm missing. Hopefully I'll figure it all out before it's too late.
It's not been all moving panic though, I've managed to do some fun things while here as well. At the beginning of the month I went with my friend Sean to see The Horrors. They're one of my very favourite bands, so my brother bought me tickets to see them for my birthday. It was fantastic! Before the show we ate at this restaurant in Mile End that I've been wanting to go to for a while. It's called Greedy Cow and it specializes in exotic meats. So I ate an ostrich burger and it was fantastic! I love eating exotic meats for some reason, I'm not sure why. Honestly, I'd try almost any food at least once. I love food.
 A few days after the concert I went to see Scottsboro Boys. It's a fantastic musical about the Scottsboro Boys case. It ran on Broadway for a few months, but never got the recognition and success it deserved. Hopefully it does better here because it really is a fantastic and powerful musical about an important story. I've been a fan of it for a long time, but missed its Broadway run by a hair, so it was nice to see it in person for the first time and not just through recordings.
 After that it was time for the London Film Festival. I won't say what all films I saw (there were 10 of them, after all), but I'll go with the highlights: I went to two gala premiere screenings. The first was with Sara: we went to see Jon Stewart's film Rosewater (you know, the one he took those months off to film when he had John Oliver fill in for him on the Daily Show?).
 

This is Jon and Maziar Bahari, whom the film is about, doing a Q and A before the film. It was pretty good, honestly. Not incredibly remarkable, but still very solid.
 The second gala was for Whiplash. I will tell you right now I will be shocked if that film doesn't get nominated for all sorts of awards. Most people seem to find it a very intense and somewhat hard film to watch (though across the board people agree that it's a spectacular film.) I went to see it mostly because I love JK Simmons.

The gentlemen behind the film doing a Q and A: Damien Chazelle (writer/director), JK Simmons, and Miles Teller
 I found it to be a great film, but not nearly as intense as most people say. I don't know why I found it to be that way though. I think part of it is that I've had music teachers similar to ones in the film (they've never thrown shit at me, but they have definitely driven me to tears from their intensity), part of it is that I know people who really are that driven in their career choices, and by far the largest part is that I had just seen Alexei German's Hard to be a God, which is by far the most insane and disgusting film I've EVER seen, just a few days before and frankly was feeling a bit jaded to the whole thing.
 By far the best film that I saw though was White God. It's seriously, seriously incredible. It's not for everyone (there's a lot of dog fighting, you see dogs get shot, it shows a great deal of violent against animals) but it's such a beautiful message and the story itself is really, really sweet. Its big story is essentially Planet of the Apes with dogs, but its core story is the relationship between a father, his daughter, and her dog. Plus, every dog in the film is from an animal shelter and EVERY SINGLE DOG got adopted after working on the film. There were something like 100 dogs in the film and now they all have homes. I think that's fantastic.
 Here is the trailer, in case you want to check it out yourself (but keep in mind what I said about it showing violence against animals):

 Once the festival ended (it was 12 days long, I believe) I went about trying to see all of the last minute things I could and say goodbye to as many people as I could:

Diagon Alley at Halloween

A photo posted by cara (@fredzesty) on Oct 10, 2014 at 2:50am PDT

I went to the Warner Brothers Studios Harry Potter Tour, which was absolutely brilliant.

A photo posted by cara (@fredzesty) on Oct 10, 2014 at 8:49am PDT

I went to the Grant Museum of Zoology and saw all sorts of interesting things! This is an elephant heart.
 

I even finally checked an item off my bucket list--I went to the Royal London Hospital Museum and saw The Elephant Man's bones!
 For Halloween, I met up with my friend Maria at Chipotle since they had a deal where if you dressed up you could get any of their dishes (burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, or salads) for only 2 pounds! So Maria and I went and had a lovely time. She was having a party that night that I wanted to go to, but unfortunately I ended up being way too tired--I went home and fell asleep almost immediately. 
Yesterday I met up with a bunch of lovely folks and we all went to a party underneath Waterloo Station.

A photo posted by BECCA (@edamame.chan) on Nov 11, 2014 at 2:51pm PDT

We're such a lovely group (I'm the one in the pink mask in the back).
 I left early because I had so much to do today, unfortunately. The folks in that photo are some of the most spectacular people that I've met here and I am going to miss them all so much.They're just a great, great group of people :(
 Anyway, now I'm just trying to get all my loose ends tied up. Let's hope this works.

And Now Our Story Ends

So I am officially finished with my MA. My dissertation was handed in last Friday, my student discounts all expired today--I am no longer a student.
It's kind of weird (and it makes me sad, because damn it, I loved those discounts) but that's life. I've been applying to jobs all over the world but none of them have responded. So I am at a point in my life where I am terrified because I have no idea what I'm doing. I fly home to Kansas on  November 5th, so I'll be home at least for Thanksgiving if not longer, but beyond that I just don't know. I'm going to keep applying to jobs and just see what happens.
These past few months I've not done much at all. I got a job, so it's nice that I have a little bit of spending money from that but it's not like it will keep me here for long term. I like the job though--the people are nice and the work I do is good enough. It's in a restuarant but it's not customer service, which I appreciate. I've never worked in a restaurant before, so it's weird to see it all from the outside. I've got a few weeks off now since we work in multiple restaurants around the city usually but our pilots just ended at two of them and we won't start at others for a while. So I used my time off last week to write my dissertation and this week I'm using it to clean and get my room ready for new flatmates to come look at it. I've managed to find a wall-cleaner that actually works, which is fantastic. Apparently I'm a pro at leaving scuff marks on walls and when you combine that with white washed walls, it just makes everything really hard to clean. But so far it's working!
I've really only done a few exciting things these past few months. In August I worked at a place called LonCon. It's a massive Science Fiction convention that's held all over the world. This year was London and so I had the chance to work for a company called Skyboat Media that makes audiobooks. It was really fun actually! The people that I worked with were absolutely fantastic and it was great to get to see people in all sorts of costumes and meet authors and whatnot. Plus a few of my friends were there as participants and attendees, so I got to chat with them every once in a while. It was a very good time for sure.
Also, one of the guys I worked for won a Hugo award that weekend. It's pretty much the biggest award you can get in science fiction so it's a big deal. I was really happy for him and I won't li, it's pretty neat to say that I've worked with someone who has won such a prestigious award.
The other cool thing that happened recently is that I won tickets to see Beck at iTunes Festival--it's a month long festival put on by Apple that features massive acts every night for a month. It happens in this venue near my flat called Roundhouse and all the tickets are free, you just have to put your name in a drawing for tickets to each show (or just the shows you want to see) and then they randomly select people. Most people have to go through iTunes, but I'm a member of Roundhouse's student club thingy, so I got to enter for tickets through them.
I'm so happy that I got tickets to see Beck. I've loved him since the 90s but had never seen him before, so it was just fantastic! He's spectacular live, I highly recommend it.
Anyway, this next month I've got a lot of neat things planned. This weekend I'm going to eat Jamaican food with some friends, and to a Horrors concert that Caleb got me tickets to for my birthday (THANK YOU CALEB!!!). Monday I am having lunch with a friend who is visiting from the States and that night I am seeing Scottsboro Boys! It's a fantastic musical and it's opening on the West End for the first time on Saturday, so I'm thrilled that I get to go. Tuesday I am going to a taping of Nevermind the Buzzcocks (assuming I can get in, as they oversell tickets to those sorts of things). I LOVE LOVE LOVE Nevermind the Buzzcocks and have been trying for years to get tickets, so it makes me SO happy that I have the chance now.
After that the London Film Festival is starting. I have tickets to something like 15 movies over a two week period. It's going to be intense, but I had so much fun last year that I'm sure I will love this year too.
Then I've got a few weeks of nothing where I'm going to try and get in some sight seeing (and go to see the Harry Potter tour, finally!) and maybe also go to some fireworks shows since November 5th is Bonfire Night. They tend to celebrate on the weekends here though, so there will be plenty of shows to choose from.
Also, I have tickets to see Cat Stevens on November 4th! He's always been such a big influence in my life (I'm not kidding--that man's music (specifically the soundtrack to Harold and Maude) shaped my childhood. I LOVE him) so the the fact I have the chance to see him the DAY before I leave London is just beautiful.
Last time I moved away from London in 2009 I was supposed to see him a week before I left. I got a call on the day of the concert from the ticket people telling me they had oversold tickets and that as a result I couldn't go see him. It actually made me cry.
But that had better not happen this time! I bought my tickets and I am determined to go! I will raise hell if they try to tell me I can't see him again!

On that happy note, I genuinely have no idea if I'll ever update this thing again (I'll try to get in at least once more before I leave or maybe once more when I get back to the USA), but in case I don't...bye, I guess. See you on the other side.

Post Number However Many

I always feel weird when I post. I never know what to start with. So many people have their "sign offs" down pat (e.g. Anchorman's "you stay classy, San Diego") but damn if I don't know how to start things.

Let's try this one:

Once upon a time in a land very far away called London it was July.

Through a series of events that I don't totally understand, the University of London Union was privatized (yes--a union was privatized). As one final sign off, on July 30th they had a fundraising for Palestine concert that I went to with my friends (please note, I don't care how you feel about the Israeli-Palestine thing and the comment section of my blog is for sure not the place to discuss it). It was a lovely night.
 As one final-final sign off the students had a meeting the next night and ended up occupying the building. I have no idea what happened but taking into account the previous times ULU has been occupied, I imagine it did not go well for them.
 The next night I went to a party at Maria and Sara's new place. It was very lovely! I couldn't stay late but it was so wonderful to see my friends! Now that dissertation season is in full swing, I don't get to see them often.
 The 6th was my birthday. I won't post all of the pictures here since most of you follow me on Facebook, so here is just a brief description:
 I started my day by going to Cookies and Scream, an amazing gluten free and vegan bakery in Camden. It's really small and kind of hidden, so it wasn't too easy to find but WOW was it worth it. I didn't know what I should treat myself to, so I just had something called the Ginger Ninja Ice Scream Sandwich. Essentially it's what in the States we would call Molasses Cookies with frozen icing that tastes JUST like vanilla ice cream in the middle. It looks like this:
 
And tastes like heaven

 It is SO FUCKING GOOD. It was very rich and sweet and molasses-y. I fucking love molasses cookies so much. After that I went down to the Tower of London to see the poppies that they put out for the 100th anniversary of WW1. It's kind of strange to me to see that because while I understand that WW1 was massively important, they always downplayed it in history classes at school. Things always went Industrial Revolution-->Civil War/Slavery/Bleeding Kansas--> Something????? A bit of fighting maybe???-->WW2. So my knowledge of WW1 is unfortunately really minimal. But I've been learning more about it because it's all over everything here, so I guess that's good. After that I rode on a routemaster bus:

I'd been on one before, but it was nice to get to ride one on my birthday. They're really cool.
And also either they're free to ride or I'm not paying correctly on them. So saving that little bit of money was nice as well.
 FINALLY it was time for dinner with my friends. It was this restaurant called Circus. It's one of those places that if you don't know it's there, you probably won't find it (even if you do know it's there you still probably won't find it). It's just a tiny little doorway and its only markings are that it has its on a little stool by the door. I didn't see a sign with its name or anything. Then you walk down a dark hallway, talk to the person standing there, and they take you into this huge room with disco balls and a big white table in the middle and metal spikes on the wall.
 Circus is a restaurant yes, but it's also a Cabaret theatre. The acts perform on the table while you eat. We weren't lucky enough to be sat at the table they perform on, but it was still really cool! It was worth the price I think, but it's not the sort of place I would go often since it is very expensive. Here are some photos:

A cabaret dancer does a handstand on stilts on a table
 
Me and my lovely friends
 All it all it was a lovely night! I am very lucky to know such great people here :)
I also had my first day of training that Friday. I am working as a customer representative for a small start up company. I don't want to name any names because I don't want this blog associated in any way with their company, but I'll tell you via email if you want.
 It's worth noting that this will NOT be a full time position and thus they will NOT be able to sponsor me for a visa.
But it will give me extra income and will help me stay here a bit longer than I'd be able to otherwise, which is nice.
 Last week I also won tickets to this crazy event called CityDash, which is essentially this massive scavenger hunt. Sean and Amy agreed to be on my team and so on Sunday we met up with the other players and started the game at a pub near Fleet Street. It was SO MUCH FUCKING FUN. Seriously. I never thought I'd enjoy getting chased through the streets by strangers as much as I did.
I do think that if I do it again I want to run a couple of marathons first. We had the sneaking around part down, and we were able to figure out all of the clues, but if you were spotted by guards who were guarding the checkpoints they would chase you down and then text your player number to headquarters, who would then ban you from finding clues in certain areas of the city.
 We didn't do too well (we came in a solid last place), but we had so much fun. We were the best at losing, which I think is something to be proud of (I mean, if I'm going to do something I am going to do it the best).
 It was really, really enjoyable. After that we went to a gin bar that we found while running around. It was fun and they had board games, so we played Monopoly.
 I learned something: MONOPOLY GAMES ARE COUNTRY SPECIFIC. THIS IS AMAZING TO ME FOR SOME WEIRD REASON.

 Anyway, I ended up doing really well in the game: Like, super well.

 This weekend I'm working at LonCon, which is the World Science Fiction Convention. They're going to present the Hugo Awards and everything! Should be good fun.

"Pay Attention and You Will See How Genius Creates a Legend"

Tonight I saw a show called Mr. Burns. It's a three act show that takes place after the apocalypse and retells the same story three times (first time is immediately after the apocalypse, the second time is 7 years later, and the third is 75 years later)
The story?

'Cape Feare' aka season 5 episode 2 (according to Google) of The Simpsons.
It was three hours of the same Simpsons story over and over again.
I don't think I've ever seen the episode but I'm still pretty sure I could tell you exactly what happens.
It was one of the strangest, and frankly until the third act one of the most boring, shows I have ever seen. It deals with the dangers of obsession and religion and the evolution of mythology, but plays them out in a way that makes you want to rip your hair out.
 Except the third act. The third act is incredible. If this play ever makes it to where ever you live, I'd say skip the first two hours and just show up for the third act. You won't be able to make heads or tails of it, but you wouldn't be able to do that even if you had seen the first two acts and at least this act is pretty and amusing. (and, spoiler alert, Sideshow Bob and Mr. Burns evolve into being the same person and it's fucking glorious. The character is somewhere between Hannibal Lecter, Jack Sparrow, and Captain Hook but with the looks of Riff Raff. Beautiful).

 
Seriously, he's fantastic (though in the show he is wearing full face paint that makes him look like a fucked up skull and he has leather fingerless gloves that say "Love" and "Hate", all of which just serve to make him even more awesome)
I have to say though, the price was right for it.
One thing I will miss about this country if I have to move (PLEASE GOD LET ME FIND A JOB HERE ASAP) is the cheap and accessible theatre.
 For instance, last Saturday I went to see Shakespeare in Love on the West End. I was invited to go through my school and served as a seat filler so not only were the seats incredibly cheap, they were also orchestra seats in the center of the 7th row. And for the record, since a Broadway transfer seems fairly likely for the show, Shakespeare in Love is FANTASTIC. Like, I do not have enough good words for that show. Spectacular. It's funny and poignant and exciting and beautiful.
 
Amazingly beautiful.
I admit, part of my passion for the play stems from the facts that I love Shakespeare, I love the film (go see it now if you haven't before. It's okay, I cant wait), and I LOVE Christopher Marlowe (whose part is beautifully expanded in this production).
 I didn't do much of anything on the 4th. Some of my friends from home (well, Gustavus a least), Paula and Nathan, came to visit me for a few days and they left the morning of the 4th. We had gone out the two previous nights so a lazy day was precisely what I needed. A few days later I met up with some American friends from my course and we went to a big picnic sponsored by the British branch of the US Democratic party, which was lovely. I had pulled pork and an Arnold Palmer, so that was a nice taste of home (though pulled pork made by British people will just NEVER compete with KC pulled pork. Ever.)
I'm really not sure how I want to structure the rest of this entry, so here are some photos of the things I've been up to:


I saw the Tour de France (don't ask me why the Tour was in England, I don't get it either. But it was cool to see nonetheless!)
I went to Abbey Road Studios.

I crossed Abbey Road (though I'm in step with the guy in front of me, which kind of makes me feel like I've let Paul McCartney down...)


I marched in the London Pride Parade


I met Ian McKellen (he was marching a few groups behind us at Pride)

And I saw this really spectacular show by one of my favourite playwrights, Tim Crouch, called 'Adler and Gibb'. It was just astounding frankly. It was so emotionally and at time physically violent but it was also so beautifully pieced together and wonderfully acted. I was lucky enough to go on the first night of previews and got to have a conversation with Tim, who was absolutely lovely. I got to speak to him him a few weeks later when he came to my school for a talk as well and that was just incredible as well. He is truly the sort of theatre maker that I aspire to be.
 Tomorrow I am going to a reading of a play by a lovely playwright named May Sumbwanyambe, who is currently the resident playwright for the Papatango Theatre company (an important, and wildly talented company based in London)so that should be wonderful as well.
Anyway, now I'm just trying to sort out how I can go about staying in London. I love the US, but I have never been happier than when I live in the UK. It's so beautiful here, the history is incredible, the people are spectacular, the healthcare is free--it's just a great place. My best bet right now is either get married (which is more or less off the table unless fate steps in like yesterday) or to get a job. So trust me when I say that I am willing to take any job as long as it's full time, they can pay me at least 20,000 GBP a year and they're willing to sponsor me for a work visa (and I can help them figure out how to do it if they don't know how--I have those resources at my disposal). So if ANY of you know of someone who would be willing to hire me, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know and help me get in contact with them.
Seriously. At this point I'm getting quite desperate.

The End of May

I really need to update this thing more. I always tell myself to do it, but then I either get lazy or forget.
Since I’ve not updated in however long, I’m going to have to really skim over things. But that’s okay I guess.
The past month has actually been really fun. I wasn’t able to start working on my dissertation until the end of April, but now I’m knee deep in research for it. I don’t want to explain what it’s about since I feel like my go to explanation just cheapens it. Instead I’ll say that it’s going to be a play about mental illness. Since it takes place in a mental hospital and deals with a mental illness that I’ve not got much experience with, I have obviously had to do a lot of research on it.
As most immersive projects do, it has started to seep into my everyday life where now I’m reading various mental illnesses into everyone/everything. It is haunting me. So of course every chance to get away from it is welcome.
 One mode of escape I’ve been using is rehearsing for three plays I’m directing. They will premiere on June 3rd. They’re only 10 minutes each and I’m using the same two cast members for every show, so the rehearsals haven’t been arduous or anything, but they’ve been a nice way to change my focus. The shows are all a bit odd (they’re about internet dating, kidnapping, and sex dolls) but they’re fun to work on. I’ve also got a play I wrote premiering that day, but I’ve heard nothing about the rehearsals/casting for it so who knows how it’s going. I like and trust the director though, so I’m not concerned.
 One thing I love about living in London are all of the things that I can do for free here. A good example is that in April I joined a website that gets you in to film premieres and screenings for free. I have only gone to one so far, but it was fun. The film itself (Pompeii) was absolute shit, but it was at a pretty posh theatre, they provided free snacks:
And the stars were there, including Kit Harington, whom you might know as Jon Snow if you watch Game of Thrones (if you don’t watch Game of Thrones and you aren’t my mother/don’t mind gratuitous nudity and violence, then I highly suggest you start!)
A few days after that, my friend Eleni and I went to see a retrospective on the work of Martin Creed. His art is very interesting, and I've enjoyed his work since I first encountered it five years ago. I was a student at Queen Mary at that point and went to see a piece of his (work #850) at the Tate Britain. It was just a person running as fast as they could through the gallery every 30 seconds. It was really interesting, frankly. So of course I was excited to see him again. Also I was excited because one of the pieces that was being displayed was A ROOM FULL OF BALLOONS.
 Here is Eleni in the room:
IT WAS SO MUCH FUN.
 Next up was that I saw The Horrors. They're one of my very favourite bands (some of you may remember that Caitlin and I followed them on tour when they first came to the US 8 years ago) and they were playing at the 100 Club. I was so excited that a band that sells out pretty big venues regularly was playing such a small venue and that tickets were only 10 pounds. They did it as an album release party and it was SO fun. Their shows are always so great--I highly recommend seeing them if you get the chance. I adore them. I might be seeing them again this summer too, which is super exciting! They're so lovely to see live.
 Later in May brought a lecture by Slavoj Zizek, who is just wild to listen to. I'll give you a taste:
Now imagine hearing that sort of thing for two hours. Regardless of whether or not you agree with him (and please understand that I don't care if you do or don't agree) you have to admit that he's pretty interesting. His lectures are a bit funny too, so overall I'd say that I enjoyed myself. Plus it was free since it was my school that put it on, which is always a bonus.
 ALSO I went to this thing called Hound Around, which was a fundraiser for a cafe that some folks are trying to open here that will allow people to dine while their dogs get groomed (it's called The Happiness of Hounds) and I got to play with a bunch of dogs! It was so lovely. I miss my dog so, so much. It was nice to have a few dogs to play with in her absence (though they don't replace her at all). I've no photos of Hound Around, so here is one of my dog:
Here she is with the giant teddy bear that she stole from my bedroom after I moved to London.
 That brings us to this weekend. It's not over yet, but already the past few days have been tiring and crazy.
Yesterday I went to see a performance artist named Ron Athey in his show Incorruptible Flesh: Messianic Remains. He is a very well known, highly respected performance artist and I've adored for years. Unfortunately I've never had the chance to see one of his performances even though I've known several people who have worked with him. So yesterday was a real treat for me. I'm not going to post any photos because his work tends to deal with blood, nudity, anal penetration, and body peircings, which while it interests me, is something that I know that not everyone is comfortable with. So I will say Google him at your own risk.
Today I had two things to do: research for some songs I'm writing in the choir that I'm in and go see Birdland at the Royal Court Theatre.
 My research was riding the 38 bus from Hackney to Victoria Bus Station. It was the easiest research I've ever done. And very convenient since the Royal Court Theatre is a stone's throw from Victoria station.
Birdland was just incredible. I had heard equally that people loved it and people hated it, so I didn't know what to expect but having seen it I am firmly in the "loved it" camp. Shame that it was closing night because I'd actually probably go see it a few more times.
 It starred Andrew Scott:
 
 AKA Moriarty from Sherlock
He played a rockstar named Paul. I won't go into detail since this is a blog entry, not a review, but I will say that it was an interesting look at an obviously mentally ill (but un-diagnosed) person who is surrounded only by "yes men". It is also a scathing look at the record industry and the effects of celebrity worship. It dealt with mania, paranoia, suicide, depression, drug addiction, hallucinations, even a bit of catatonia (that one might be me reading into it, though). I don't think I can stress how much I LOVED the show. It was so simple, but so, so beautiful. The stage actually sank and became flooded by the moat that surrounded it the more the character sank into his illness. Everytime there was a flash of light he either went into or came out of a manic episode. He was literally tied to the recording industry at one point. Beautiful use of symbolism. Just astounding. It's been 5 hours since the play ended and I've not been able to stop thinking about it. It was nothing like what I thought it would be, but in all the best ways possible.
 Since this is my blog and whateva whateva I do what I want, here are lots of photos and videos related to Birdland:
 




It's one of those shows that I just want to relive forever. It's incredible.
 Anyway, tomorrow I'm volunteering all day at the Hornsey Street Festival which should be lovely, but incredibly tiring. Monday is choir rehearsal and I'm getting my headshots done for free (yay!). Tuesday my shows are opening, so a good chunk of the day will be devoted to just getting them done. Should be a tiring but productive and fun few days!

Now that Spring Break (or, as it's called here, "Easter Holiday"...I think. It's Easter something for sure) is almost over, I thought another update might be in order. It's been a pretty low key break. I don't have the money to travel so I just stayed in London. I don't mind that though, as I traveled around extensively last time I studied here. It's nice to have a chance to just lounge around a bit. Plus, most of my friends have been here the whole time too, so I got to see them a lot. One of the most exciting things I did this month by far was the giant pillow fight in Trafalgar Square. Amy and I went together.
This is us before the excitement started:
Before all hell broke loose, you might say.
This is Amy in the middle of the fray:


And us at the end: As you can tell, it was a bit chaotic but incredibly fun.
 Afterwards we had to clean up a bit and then we headed out to a speakeasy. Though most speakeasies in this city (which there are plenty of) are well established if you know where to find them, this particular one apparently moves around the city, so it was good fun to try and hunt it down. The entire thing was lit by candles, there was a jazz band playing, all of the drinks were 20s themed, they really ran with the theme nicely. None of the drinks were too impressive frankly (except for one that was mint and watermelon--it was glorious) but I had a good time none the less.
 Next week we're going to a masquerade, which I'm excited about. I've already got a mask since I got one from the Globe when I saw Merchant of Venice, but I've no idea what I'm going to wear. Other then that, all I've really been doing is theatre related stuff. I took a few free producing courses courtesy of IdeasTap (not sure who introduced me to that, but wow is it a great resource for theatre folk)and I went to press night (which is this country's version of opening night) of A Small Family Business at the National Theatre, which I wuite enjoyed. I also had to write a theatre manifesto for one of my classes. I'm not sure how it's going to be received since my thesis is that technology and commercialism are ruining the theatre and one of my teachers is super into using technology in the theatre, but we'll see I guess.
 For Easter all I did was write my manifesto and eat chocolate, but I am totally okay with that. I was never a big fan of the holiday, so as far as I'm concerned eating chocolate is really the only important part. I do miss eating peeps though. They are so hard to find in this country, it's upsetting. I'm going to see if I can't find some today as I know a few places that might be selling them, but it's a slim chance I'll find them. Oh well.
 Anyway, I start working on my dissertation next week, which is super terrifying. I'm going to have to spend a lot of time in the library for it, which I'm not looking forward to. I've already started a little bit of research, but I still need to do a ton more. I'm writing a play so you'd think I wouldn't have to do as much research as I'm going to have to do. Kind of a bummer, but it's an interesting subject (how mental illness is represented in the theatre) so it should be intriguing at least.

I apologize for being gone for so long, it has been a busy term. Most of you probably follow me on one of the many other platforms I post on, so I'm you've been updated about my life to some extent, but here's an entry about life just in case: January saw one of my dearest friends, Caitlin (aka CV Peterson) come visit for a month. She had never been to London, or even Europe, before so it was certainly all very exciting to have her! We spent a great deal of time wandering around and experiencing many of the incredible things that London has to offer:
Here she is in front of the Blue Rooster statue in Trafalgar Square

We of course explored the area down by the river a bit (this is her walking across the Millennium Bridge--you can see the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral in the background) Because we both appreciate the macabre things in life, we went on a Jack the Ripper Walking tour (also pictured: our friend Amy whom Caitlin met while living in Japan)
And of course, one of our nights was spent hanging out with Amy and Sean and doing karaoke, which was immensely fun! I always enjoy a good round of karaoke. February was mostly just school, with a few notable exceptions that I'll post about below. School this term was okay, there were certainly classes that I enjoyed more than others. My directing class was particularly useful I think. It's all over now which is weird to think about. I've just got my dissertation left this summer and then I'm all done with my degree! One year doesn't really seem like enough time to get a Master's degree, it seems like all of this just started! I've enjoyed it though. I've met some good people and I feel like I've learned quite a bit and am more reassured in myself as a theatre maker. So that's lovely, I suppose. Anyway, on to more photos: I got sick earlier in the term and missed my friend Kaci's birthday. So to make it up to her I took her out for ice cream at bar Caffe Ciao, which is this incredible gelato shop down by Leicester Square. You'd think because of the location (right off of Charing Cross Road, just behind the National Portrait Gallery) it would be super touristy and expensive, but it's actually not at all. Plus they serve ice cream (yes, that's ice cream in that photo) that looks like food. It's great. Shoutout to my Uncle Sean for introducing that place to me a million years ago. My mom then sent me a massive box filled with some of the foods that I miss most from home. My flatmate was the one who got it from the postman, so it was so nice to come home and find that big box leaning against my door. This does not properly show the amount of Skittles that were in that box, it was bananas! For the record, while I can get Skittles here but some of the flavours are all messed up (for instance the purple ones are blackcurrant flavoured! Blech) so it's nice to have such a large supply of the ones that actually taste good. :) For St. Patrick's Day this year my friend Kaci and I went down to Trafalgar Square because London was haivng a huge fstival there. It was actually really fun! We went to the parade, listened to music, explored some of the shops (where I found a lovely Irish bakery that sold gluten free lemon poppyseed cookies! I had been craving them, so it was lovely!), and when we were sitting down to the side of the festival we were suddenly confronted by this giant, dancing chicken! It was such a fun time, though I admit that I was surprised by all of the American accents I heard. I know there are many of us in this city, but sometimes I feel like I just can't escape them! Anyway, these past few weeks have predominantly been me in rehearsals for a few shows (one of which there is talk to taking to a festival in France this August, so that's exciting! Not sure how it's going to pan out though) and writing essays. I have to say one thing I dislike about school over here is that there are essays due during the breaks. I don't remember that ever happening in the States, but I might also be remembering it wrong. I've still got one more essay due on the 20th even though I'm one Spring Break right now, but it's all manageable. I've also got tickets to see several plays and lectures in the next few months, which I am extremely excited about. I can't remember what all they are, but I know for sure I'm seeing the new Tim Crouch play and will be going to Press Night (aka "opening night") for A Small Family Business at the National Theatre. I will also be going to see Mark Ravenhill, who is my favourite playwright, give a talk about it in May. Dissertation time starts up in May as well, I'm writing a play though, so at least I won't have to worry about being in rehearsal all the time. That's nice. These next few months are going to be so exciting but also so stressful.

Back to School

Time for another update
I had a very lovely, low key Christmas.
On the 24th I went out to dinner with some friends at a restaurant in North London called Belgo Nord. It's apparently well known for its beer selection. I'm not a beer drinker by a long shot, but my friend who is liked it. Plus we were all impressed that every single beer is served in a different glass. Honestly I liked the restaurant I guess, but I mostly enjoyed the company (duh) and the restaurant's decorations:

Yeah, that says "blowhard" and "assface". Insults were carved into the wall along with food related words. It was pretty funny. Especially since there were Christmas decorations everywhere too, so it was both cheerful and offensive.
 Christmas itself was low key. I skyped with my parents in the afternoon and unwrapped presents. I made myself a lovely dinner of beef stroganoff with chocolate Christmas pudding for desert. My roommate was out of the flat for the week so I had the entire place to myself.
The next day ("Boxing Day"--which is a shopping day on par with Black Friday here) I met up with my friend Sara and her friend Suri and Suri's boyfriend to go see Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland. It's essentially a huge fair with lots of local vendors and delicious food and rides and music and whatnot. I had been there earlier when Hildegunn came to visit me, but I hadn't spent a great deal of time there so it was nice to walk around with them and really see the place. Sara and I decided to go on some rides since they looked incredibly fun. She likes upside down rides and roller coasters at least as much as I do, if not more, so it was nice to have someone to go on the big rides with.
We went ice skating too. I only made it for about half an hour (the entire session lasted an hour) since I'm an atrocious skater and the skates hurt like hell. But I did it! With Sara's coaxing (and hand holding) I even made it off the wall a few times. So overall I wasn't a complete failure.
The rest of the break was pretty boring. I had to write an essay on whether catharsis is possible today, which was a terrible way to end the break frankly, but whatever. I got it turned in. It's done. Moving on.
I also managed to see both American Psycho the musical  (yes, they turned American Psycho into a musical) and Tori Amos' new musical 'The Light Princess'. Monday night I also saw Richard II by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
I wasn't particularly impressed by any of them, frankly. The only one I truly HATED was The Light Princess though, thankfully. I don't think I could handle three shows in a row that I loathed! The next one I'm seeing is Midsummer Night's Dream. It's created by the same people who did War Horse, and it looks like it's almost all puppets (and one of my favourite Shakespeare plays), so I have high hopes for it.
Classes started last week and they've been going fine. I've got two directing courses, a movement class, and one that I'm not really sure how to describe other than theatre theory. Not really sure what to say about them other than they're happening and I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to enjoy them or not. We'll see, I guess.
Anyway, one of my very best friends from home, Caitlin "Owen", is in town now. She's staying with another friend until  Sunday when she's coming to stay with me for a few days. I'm so excited to see her! We're going to meet up on Saturday night for some karaoke in Soho. It's going to be glorious.