Can I just say that I love the guy in the shop downstairs! Considering that all he really sells are phone top-ups, gas top-ups, electricity top-ups and alcohol, I don't go in there all that often. But when I do (like last night), he's just the sweetest person ever! His tiny daughter is adorable, too!
I did a 25-minute run today, which was excellent. Libby and I haven't had compatible schedules at all throughout the last month or so, so I've been going on my own. It isn't as fun, but an iPod makes it do-able. Well, that, and the promise of Borough market on Saturdays. Yay Borough Market!
Finally, on the running front, I went ahead and entered the Cancer Research UK Race for Life this morning. It's June 4 and in the Ciy of London. There were other locations, some that involved a good deal more green, but it only seems right to be running through the City. I'm excited to prove to the world that I am entirely capable (or I will be soon) of running for 5K, but also because my life's been so totally whacked over the head by cancer. It seems like a fitting tribute to my mom; to Tricia, my godsister; to my best friend's grandfather and anyone else who has been affected by this crappy conglomeration of diseases. If you'd like to donate, then please visit this website. My goal is £100.00, but I would love to raise more money than that, of course! Thanks so much! Woooot!
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Alright, in the end there wasn't any skating. Someone used their puppy eyes to get out of it and we went to the Tate Modern, instead. Not a bad place, really. Half of the galleries were being rehung and closed and the new, rehung surrealist areas were bothering me. See, they've scattered art all over the walls. It's neatly hung, but I'm so ANAL! This came after the realization that I don't like prime numbers because they aren't orderly enough. But, then, who can't love a squared number? Ah, 25! My favorite of all time.
Today's not been the best ever. I'm sick enough that I skipped the LIMUN get together, which sucked, because I really miss seeing everyone from the conference every week. It didn't suck in that I got to talk to Jules in Niger, which was great. She had posted a really, really long entry in her LiveJournal about being injured and in some really, really serious pain. It was a massive gravel burn, sustained by playing football with another NGO. If you know Jules, it's so her. Anyway, it was make-the-lifelong-Baha'i-talk-about-needing-a-drink pain. But, she's in Niamey now and doing much better, which is such a relief.
I hate feeling like I'm just recapping my life again, which I know can be rather dull for everyone at home. Do you really care that I went to IKEA when no one was in the Brent Lib Dem office and bought a new bookcase? I've rearranged my room a bit and I really like the new look. There are a few other new touches, too. I bought a new skirt last week that is officially two inches smaller than the ones I brought with me and several inches shorter! I KNOW! And, there's a new season of The Amazing Race, which utterly and completely rocks. Oh, that and the fact that Television Without Pity (TWOP) will be recapping the 2005 Doctor Who series when it airs in the US in a couple of weeks. This really is a fantastic show and the snark will make it even cooler!
Finally, I think I may have the answer. No, it isn't 42. Although, really, it is. No, I think the reason that Americans don't want to learn other languages may have something to do with the fact that they're never put in a situation where it would be awesome to know one. More travel! Americans of all ages need to travel more! I suspect that's not a surprise to anyone, but still! I'm still pumped about my new language attempts, even if I haven't gotten past the first lesson in German. I'm reading a young adult mystery thing in Spanish and I'm still surprised at how well I manage. Now, I just need to study my grammer book. Who woulda thought? Me! I hated Spanish for the most part in high school and now I wish I'd worked harder. Although, as my friend Megan pointed out (she's the one I met up with in Spain), we would have exploded if we'd put an equally intense amount of work into every subject. I don't know what we were smoking in high school (well, nothing, which might have been the problem) to think that the amount of work we put on ourselves was normal.
Finally, I've uploaded some of the more recent photos from the trips to Ireland, Stonehenge and Spain. Here's a new favorite. It's me with Francisco de Vitoria, who was one of the early "human rights" advocates (see comments on my assessed essay for a badly explained theory of historical colonialism), who was writing to advocate decent treatment for the indigenous peoples in the new world that Spain was conquering. Vitoria was the last stop on the Spain trip (about which I will write at some point) and I didn't realize it was his hometown until reading it in a book, upon which I hit my head and said "duh!" The plaque calls him the "creator of international rights." Others have called him the father of international law (hello? Grotius!), but I'm going to dispute both of those. Either way, his humanism is cool. Observe:
I do look a bit out of it, don't I?
Today's not been the best ever. I'm sick enough that I skipped the LIMUN get together, which sucked, because I really miss seeing everyone from the conference every week. It didn't suck in that I got to talk to Jules in Niger, which was great. She had posted a really, really long entry in her LiveJournal about being injured and in some really, really serious pain. It was a massive gravel burn, sustained by playing football with another NGO. If you know Jules, it's so her. Anyway, it was make-the-lifelong-Baha'i-talk-about-needing-a-drink pain. But, she's in Niamey now and doing much better, which is such a relief.
I hate feeling like I'm just recapping my life again, which I know can be rather dull for everyone at home. Do you really care that I went to IKEA when no one was in the Brent Lib Dem office and bought a new bookcase? I've rearranged my room a bit and I really like the new look. There are a few other new touches, too. I bought a new skirt last week that is officially two inches smaller than the ones I brought with me and several inches shorter! I KNOW! And, there's a new season of The Amazing Race, which utterly and completely rocks. Oh, that and the fact that Television Without Pity (TWOP) will be recapping the 2005 Doctor Who series when it airs in the US in a couple of weeks. This really is a fantastic show and the snark will make it even cooler!
Finally, I think I may have the answer. No, it isn't 42. Although, really, it is. No, I think the reason that Americans don't want to learn other languages may have something to do with the fact that they're never put in a situation where it would be awesome to know one. More travel! Americans of all ages need to travel more! I suspect that's not a surprise to anyone, but still! I'm still pumped about my new language attempts, even if I haven't gotten past the first lesson in German. I'm reading a young adult mystery thing in Spanish and I'm still surprised at how well I manage. Now, I just need to study my grammer book. Who woulda thought? Me! I hated Spanish for the most part in high school and now I wish I'd worked harder. Although, as my friend Megan pointed out (she's the one I met up with in Spain), we would have exploded if we'd put an equally intense amount of work into every subject. I don't know what we were smoking in high school (well, nothing, which might have been the problem) to think that the amount of work we put on ourselves was normal.
Finally, I've uploaded some of the more recent photos from the trips to Ireland, Stonehenge and Spain. Here's a new favorite. It's me with Francisco de Vitoria, who was one of the early "human rights" advocates (see comments on my assessed essay for a badly explained theory of historical colonialism), who was writing to advocate decent treatment for the indigenous peoples in the new world that Spain was conquering. Vitoria was the last stop on the Spain trip (about which I will write at some point) and I didn't realize it was his hometown until reading it in a book, upon which I hit my head and said "duh!" The plaque calls him the "creator of international rights." Others have called him the father of international law (hello? Grotius!), but I'm going to dispute both of those. Either way, his humanism is cool. Observe:
I do look a bit out of it, don't I?
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Notes in a hurry
Apparently, I've got a local Labour Action Team. First thing I've seen from any of the parties since I moved here.... And the Council and the MP are both Lib Dem.
I missed Borough Market! I've finally got good bread worthy of my jar of peppers that I brought back from Spain last weekend and some nice salami. On the other hand, the place was packed...but I pretty much know my way around! But, can you believe that Borough Market got left out of Time Out's issue on the best markets in London! I KNOW! BOOOOO!
Finally, many people complain about the weather in the UK (particularly, I've noticed, people who don't live here). But, spring has this crazy way of being crappy all week: cold, dark, wet and then absolutely beautiful on the weekends! Take today, for example, it's crazy sunny out there and it was a joy to go running and walk back from the market. Must dash, though, I'm meeting Ian at 12:30 to go skating. Heh. This should be interesting!
I missed Borough Market! I've finally got good bread worthy of my jar of peppers that I brought back from Spain last weekend and some nice salami. On the other hand, the place was packed...but I pretty much know my way around! But, can you believe that Borough Market got left out of Time Out's issue on the best markets in London! I KNOW! BOOOOO!
Finally, many people complain about the weather in the UK (particularly, I've noticed, people who don't live here). But, spring has this crazy way of being crappy all week: cold, dark, wet and then absolutely beautiful on the weekends! Take today, for example, it's crazy sunny out there and it was a joy to go running and walk back from the market. Must dash, though, I'm meeting Ian at 12:30 to go skating. Heh. This should be interesting!
Saturday, February 25, 2006
¡Spain!
Madrid is wonderful! Why didn´t anyone tell me when I was actually learning Spanish? I might have tried harder. I´m so sad that I only had 24 hours here. I´m about to meet a high school friend and head toward the Basque Country (Longroño), before coming back to London on Tuesday.
In other news, and I was really waiting for this one, my LSAT score came in. I´m up 4 points to a 166! That´s 94%, instead of my old 87%. Not bad for not studying, eh?
Right. Train station. ¡Adios, mis amigos!
In other news, and I was really waiting for this one, my LSAT score came in. I´m up 4 points to a 166! That´s 94%, instead of my old 87%. Not bad for not studying, eh?
Right. Train station. ¡Adios, mis amigos!
Monday, February 13, 2006
The Pairs
Ouch? What else can I say? The silver Chinese pair was mindblowing and they're obviously miles ahead of the other two Chinese pairs. What was that last lift, fourth place Chinese pair? Ewwwww. Bad! Get some upper body strength! But, sigh, the Russians are still fantastic. And, when did they get taste in costuming? Amazing!
Why did I never notice the awfully ugliness of pairs spins before? And no one was holding their death spirals for very long.
And, finally, the best part of watching the Olympics on the Beeb (apart from the lack of commercial breaks and the fact that the prime time events are live)? NO DICK BUTTON! NO PEGGY FLEMMING! Woot! But, for the record, and I think only my mother would get this joke, Robin Cousins also has a thing for soft knees. *grins* But, then, when people (erm, fourth place Chinese pair, I'm still looking at you) either land throw jumps or come out of lifts like a sack of potatoes, we notice (even those of us who haven't watched a skating competition (probably) since Salt Lake City)!
Also, the second US team's guy used to skate at my first rink in Indianapolis. That was cool.
Sorry about the Olympic musings. I'm a bit of an ex-Olympics stamp collector/former figure skater/all around nerd and it sort of shows at times like these. You know, during the Olympics!
Why did I never notice the awfully ugliness of pairs spins before? And no one was holding their death spirals for very long.
And, finally, the best part of watching the Olympics on the Beeb (apart from the lack of commercial breaks and the fact that the prime time events are live)? NO DICK BUTTON! NO PEGGY FLEMMING! Woot! But, for the record, and I think only my mother would get this joke, Robin Cousins also has a thing for soft knees. *grins* But, then, when people (erm, fourth place Chinese pair, I'm still looking at you) either land throw jumps or come out of lifts like a sack of potatoes, we notice (even those of us who haven't watched a skating competition (probably) since Salt Lake City)!
Also, the second US team's guy used to skate at my first rink in Indianapolis. That was cool.
Sorry about the Olympic musings. I'm a bit of an ex-Olympics stamp collector/former figure skater/all around nerd and it sort of shows at times like these. You know, during the Olympics!
w00000t!
Libby and I did our first, honest to goodness, non-stop run today for TWENTY whole minutes! I know that sounds puny, but we were psyched! It's odd, this, but you really don't feel good on the days that you don't run and somehow wind up compensating for the endorphins with chocolate. Yesterday, for example, we were both bummed because rain kept us in in the morning and my 2-11pm Model UN session kept us from going in the afternoon or evening.
But actually, Saturday was our best day. We took the bus/tube to Hyde Park and ran through the park, partially around the Serpentine and through the Diana Memorial (think a textured, water, Mobeus strip). It was a nice day and we just felt like queens of the world. It was cool.
But actually, Saturday was our best day. We took the bus/tube to Hyde Park and ran through the park, partially around the Serpentine and through the Diana Memorial (think a textured, water, Mobeus strip). It was a nice day and we just felt like queens of the world. It was cool.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
I'm just sort of killing time, waiting for Miss Libby to get over here, so we can go for our run. Tomorrow's the first day that we run non-stop and I'm a bit nervous, but today won't be quite as scary.
I did watch the Opening Ceremonies last night and had a few observations:
1) I want Swedish flag mittens!
2) I want Danish flag ear...covers?
3) I realize that I pay license fees so that the BBC will be commerical-free, but three and a half hours without a pottty break gets to be a bit much.
4) WTF was "From Renaissance to Baroque?"
5) There were not enough cute kids.
6) I actually liked the country sign holder Alps dresses.
7) The commentators kept making really dumb remarks that made my night. (The snarky comments about how much they and the rest of the country enjoyed watching the Canadians beat the Americans at the 2002 hockey final were priceless!)
8) It would have been even more fun if you were drunk.
9) The British are adorable! Their athlete profiles were all about "he was 17th at the last world cup of whatever and might just be our best hope for a medal!" (So it wasn't that bad, but if I have to see the winning shot of the 2002 curling game, I might justcurl hurl.) I love being in a country which has gone back to the "if" of medal winning, rather than the "how many."
10) I don't think the line's "If anyone can, a kiwi can," but thanks for trying BBC.
11) I made salmon for myself. This from the girl who's a) scard of cooking meat and b) had no idea what to do with fish. My roommate's rubbing off. She's an expert, being from a coastal city in the Basque region of Spain!
I know that I had more witty comments to make. For now, just be jealous that I get to watch everything live and you have tape delay!
I did watch the Opening Ceremonies last night and had a few observations:
1) I want Swedish flag mittens!
2) I want Danish flag ear...covers?
3) I realize that I pay license fees so that the BBC will be commerical-free, but three and a half hours without a pottty break gets to be a bit much.
4) WTF was "From Renaissance to Baroque?"
5) There were not enough cute kids.
6) I actually liked the country sign holder Alps dresses.
7) The commentators kept making really dumb remarks that made my night. (The snarky comments about how much they and the rest of the country enjoyed watching the Canadians beat the Americans at the 2002 hockey final were priceless!)
8) It would have been even more fun if you were drunk.
9) The British are adorable! Their athlete profiles were all about "he was 17th at the last world cup of whatever and might just be our best hope for a medal!" (So it wasn't that bad, but if I have to see the winning shot of the 2002 curling game, I might just
10) I don't think the line's "If anyone can, a kiwi can," but thanks for trying BBC.
11) I made salmon for myself. This from the girl who's a) scard of cooking meat and b) had no idea what to do with fish. My roommate's rubbing off. She's an expert, being from a coastal city in the Basque region of Spain!
I know that I had more witty comments to make. For now, just be jealous that I get to watch everything live and you have tape delay!
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