Friday, November 30, 2007

Excuse Me While I Get Nostalgic

Greetings Friends,


Before I get nostalgic, I'd like to share with you a couple of things from the past few days.


WELL, on Tuesday, Meghan,Chelsea and I went ice skating at the Natural History Museum, it was fun! I hadn't been skating forever and am pleased to report that NONE of us fell or got hurt! Even though we did enjoy watching some youngin' who fell like every two minutes, no seriously, I timed him.


We also visited the CLINK museum and learned all about one of the first prisons in the city of London and how they punished people and that: fUn fAcT: the old time "stewhouses" or brothels were actually ran by bishops of the church!


Other than that, its been alot of sitting around, doing last minute gift shopping and watching movies,along with whining about not being ready to leave.




Well the time has finally and unfortunatly come, in approximately 17 hours I will be on plane headed back home to the U-S-of-A., and now that it's here, I'm not ready.


It's raining outside, and it seems perfectly appropriate, ovbiously London is just as sad as I am about my unavoidable departure.


Last night was fitting, a group of us went to RENT(yes I went again) and we realized that our very first show in London was at "The Dukes of York" theatre, when we saw Orlando Bloom. But, it also made me realize on our way back that it was possibly my last time walking through Leiscter Square at night, and it would probably be our last night tube ride.


Today, as Meghan and I did some final shopping it happened again. I realized that I was walking around Picadilly Square and SoHo,two of my favorite places in London, for the last time.


It's hard to believe that 13 weeks-3 whole months have passed already! It seems like so much longer, but at the same time, it feels like just yesterday I was just arriving at 270 Earls Court Road.


I thought my freshman year of college changed me, but it almost seems like nothing compared to how different I feel after spending 3 months over here, however, that's a whole other blog.


But enough about my crying about leaving.


Turns out getting home might not be so easy! According to weather reports, tomorrow is supposed to all freezing this and freezing that and temps in the 30's and well, we could possibly get stuck in Cincinatti for awhile. Which would totally be uncool and they should just let us stay here for a couple more days until the weather passes back home. I mean, obviously Iowa doesn't want us back!


Oh yea, did I mention that I leave in around 17 hours and have not packed a single thing! I blame it on my denial, packing would make leaving seem more real and that its actually happening. So, if I don't pack it means I'm not leaving,as well as the fact I'm the king of procrastination.


I'd like to thank all of you who faithfully read my often times rAnDom, but every once in awhile insightful and witty banter for the past 3 months. I've enjoyed sharing with you the stories and adventures that have occured in this Oh-So-Amazing city, as well as the adventures that occured during Fall Break and Paris. I wish you the best of luck and hope that you come back every once it awhile, to check in on what kind of adventures I've managed to have in Iowa,because trust me-it'll happen.


Officially signing off on my LAST London Blog


CHEERS

Drew


Monday, November 26, 2007

I'm ready

Greetings Friends,
WELL, its finally hit me. Only it didn't really HIT ME. It wasn't one of those smack in the face-I suddenly see and realize type of moments. More of a gradual, realization and understanding. Something that was slowly developing and then you realize it,but its not really a shock because you knew it was coming, you just didn't know when it'd finally happen. Well, that moment happened to me today.

I realized, I'm ready for home. *collective gasp here* Yes, folks, I am finally ready to head home. NO, I"m not like GET ME THE HECK OUT OF LONDON ready. But more, I think I've finally done everything that I could possibly do during my time here - quit while you're ahead and still have some money to your name - accept fate and wave the white flag-ready.

I'm ready to head home and see the family and play with the family dog, well until she gets annoying and I have to tell her to sit down and leave me alone, which actually probably take only 5 minutes. Yes, I love Patches(our dog) but she can get a bit needy for attention,especially when you're gone for long periods of time.

I'm ready to drive my car and see pastures and fields and sky.

I'm ready to walk across the campus of Simpson College and know 90% of the people I walk by, and that when I walk, I won't be busy dodging,ducking,dipping,diving and dodging, my way around people with canes,small crazy children, suitcases,shopping bags,tourists,beggars or street vendors, but actually have space, my one 1ft diameter on everyside of me. Something that I have forgotten what its like to have.

I'm ready to have some of Sally's cooking down at the SAE house and I'm most definitally ready to see all my brothers again and stay up till 2 talking and watching bad MTV shows.

I'm ready to get normal tv, stations I like and not having to play with an antenna to get the picture to at least stay solid,even if its in black and white.

I'm ready for CAB meetings, SAE chapter meetings, 2 dollar movies on the weekends;along with midnight breakfast, chicken nuggets in the grill and muscians, basketball games, sledding behind LXA and next to Pote, and the 10million other things that makes Simpson home.

I came to my realization today, when for the 20th time, I thought to myself. " You know, I'm ready to go back home so I can __{insert any of the previous statements here}___.
And how I often I thought of friends today and my insides got all giddy and I knew that it would be super soon and I would be seeing them again.

So, London, my love, my pet, buddy ol pal, friend of mine. We've had a good run. We had our good times and our bad times and I know that these next 4 days will still be full of plenty more goodtimes. BUT, I'm ready to go back to the states, to Iowa, to Melcher, to Simpson....to home.

Don't worry though, I already miss you.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Less than a week!

Greetings Friends,



HOLY COW, Only 6 days left in London, its starting to get scary!



We finished classes on Thursday,it was awkward to think about. While everyone back home was enjoying their time off from school, I was taking an English exam and finishing with classes until January!



We had our own London-Simpson version of Thanksgiving (they don't celebrate it over here if you didn't know). We had pizza and crackers and chips and dip and sat around and talked about London and our time here and what we've hated, our favorite places etc. It was minorly awkard though,because I realized that this was the longest time I've spent in the same room as half of the people in the room. It was also saddening to realize though, how little time we had left.

Anywhom, Chelsea's brother is visiting from Cali and we've been taking him around to see some of the sights etc. It's been a nice excuse to see some of the sights again.

Other than that nothing exciting has gone on. Just hanging around,re-visiting sights etc.

Hope all is well!

Cheers

Monday, November 19, 2007

Just to Recap

Greetings Friends,

So, as much as I hate to think about it and admit it, there are only 11 days left in this beautiful relationship full of love,and understanding, of give and take, a relationship that has led to amazing nights and wonderful day after wonderful day.

I am of course, talking about the blissful relationship that exists between myself and the city of London.

So, as our time draws to a close I thought today about all the AMAZING things I've done since I've been in this city and thought I'd share.

London and I didn't waste anytime getting to know eachother, our first week together we
-took a bus tour of the city
-roamed the corridors and exhibits of the British Museum
-admired the paintings in the National Gallery
-Saw a show together "In Celebration"
-and had our first star sighting-Orlando Bloom
-Walked where great men have walked in the colleges of Cambridge
and
-explored the Burrough Market

At this point I could already tell the city and I were hitting it off just great, we continued going steady. We went and viewed the artwork at the Cortauld Gallery and discovered (okay,so we really just looked at the displays,someone else discovered them) ancient scrolls in the British Library. We walked amongst the gorgeous gardens and hedge maze of Hampton Court,took in a glorious view of the city from the top of St. Paul's and had an edu-taining(thats educational and entertaining) experience at the London Dungeon.

We ventured out and realized that the Camden Market is a bit scary while the Portabello Road Market is busy and crazy. We had a few rough patches here and there at times though and wasted it at the Museum of London,but had our eyes opened a little wider when we went to the Imperial War Museum. London taught me about her past when I visted National Parliment and nearly bored me to tears when I walked through Westminster Abby. London took me to see her prized possesions at the Tower of London and introduced me to some of her great musical theatre by showing me Chicago and Wicked; as well as showing me the former home of the bard himself, the Globe Theatre. Together we found out about the amazing food and drinks at "The Rocket" and the glorious heart beating adventures that Thorpe Park had to offer. London introduced me to one of her favorite gameshows, Golden Balls,when I sat in the studio audience and I also discovered one of my now favorite museums, the Tate Modern.

All of these were great experiences, that only strengthed the bond that had developed between London and I, and the best part, it was all in the first month!

Now,even though things were going great and we had done all these marvelous adventures, and also discovered the amazingness of Picadilly Circus, the club life and so much more, London and I decided we didn't want to rush things and took a break, while I toured Europe.

During my time away from London I celebreated Oktoberfest in Munich,walked the canals of Venice, roamed the streets of Rome,where I saw the colesseum and ruins of ancient Rome, I pit stopped in Milan, flounced around in Florence and tasted delicious chocolates in Brussels. However, my time away,however glorious, made me realize how much I appreciated dear ol London.

Upon my arrival I visited the London Film Festival and became besties with Tom Cruise, John Cusack, Christian Bale, Adrian Broday and Jason Schwarzman. Saw the premiere of a glorious movie called "I'm Not There" and began my work at Theatre 503,where I saw "The Last Shot".

Still creating more memories, London and I continued to discover more together and I visited Greenwich Village, continued to walk and discover the city and soaked up every minute of my life with London.

Before you knew it, November was upon us, like a black cloud. But we haven't let that stop us and we've seen Oxford, RENT, and Hairspray. We've continued to hit the clubs,enjoy the food and have our fun on the tube, and most recently I took a little time to myself and went to Paris and tonight I saw CaBaReT.

And,thats where we are now.

However,

All of these wonderful memories are only the ones I've written down and even then its just the icing on the layers of cake and sweetness that has been my time with London. Telling you that I've seen over 20 different landmark sites in the city of London, watched 9 theatre performances, and toured 8 cities doesn't give you the details and stories I've created while here. There is no way I can ever fully describe for you the depth of my relationship with this city and the love that we share, and can only tell you that it is quite magnificent.

It doesn't tell you how I've grown as a person, the bad habits I've dropped, the quirks I've changed or the outlooks I've developed, but I bet you'll be able to tell when you see me.

BUT, my times not over,the fat lady hasn't sung and the last ship is still in port, so I'm going to take these next 11 days and make them glorious,wonderful,exciting and grand and 11 of the greatest days of my life!

But before I do, I just to let London know, that I love him, and she'll always have a place in my

Sunday, November 18, 2007

My Parisian Adventure

Greetings Friends,

Have you ever had one of those does where nothing seems to go right? Or you're just really bored? Or you just really want a good laugh? Well, then I have the perfect blog for you!

If you read the blog before my last you'll recall that this weekend was my trip to Paris all by my lone-some, and I would like to point out that this was my decision and that I didn't go by myself because no one else likes me. Either way, my time in Paris was actually quite eventful and I thought I'd begin by sharing the adventure I had in just trying to get to my hostel.

So, my beginning trekk to Paris went just fine. I decided to travel via EurOlines, which meant I took a bus to Dover, got onto a ferry which took me across the channel and then hopped back on the bus to Paris.Nothing really exciting happened until I arrived at the bus station.

Now, Drew doesn't like to use maps, and its not one of those "machismo-I know where I'm going and don't need to ask where I'm going" type of things. Because we most definitally know I have NO clue where I'm going usually. But more of a maps actually tend to confuse me even more. I'm much more of a hands on type learner, figuring things out as I go, not planning.

Anyway, so I get to the metro station and spend forever looking at the map before finally figuring out what tube will get me to where I need to go. After I figured that out it took me another 10 minutes trying to find a cash machine so I could get money to buy a metro ticket, before remembering that I had a 5euro note left in my wallet from Fall Break. So, I buy my ticket and figure out that I needed to take the 3 tube to St. Lazere where I'd then switch to the 12 line which would take me to my hostel.

Well, I get to the platform and hop on the tube,and wait like 15 minutes before it finally leaves. It's already uncomfortably crowded,but not anything I wasn't used to on the tubes in London. Well, at the next stop another bunch of people decide they can get on too and it was literally a mad shove to make it onto to the tube. By this time I'm slam-jam pressed right up against people.

Suddenly, some woman starts talking to me at French and motioning and I kind of assuemd she was asking me to scoot in more and I just smiled and shook my head, seeing as I really didn't think I and anymore room to move. However, a few minutes later a guy starts talking to me in French and motioning and finally I say "Sorry I don't speak French" and this other lady next to me yells and slams against me,scooting me over,so I'm pretty much giving the lady on my left a lap dance, all while yelling at me in French.

So, here I am absolutly crammed into a metro car in a country I've only been in for 30ish minutes and its like 7am. Well, the train slows down and stops in between stations.Well, I figured it was just a little mini stop, and that we were waiting for the train in front of us to leave or something, but NO, we end up sitting in this tube for 20 minutes and see metro workers walking by in the tube. Finally, the tube slowly lurches foward and we make it to the next stop.

When we arrive, an announcement comes over the intercom,but of course its in French, so I have no clue whats being said, but everyone around me groaned and emptied the train. SO, I took it to mean that the tain was broke.

So, I stand on the platform with a sea of other people waiting for the next train. This takes about another 5 minutes and we all cram on again and I'm pretty sure we were close enough that someone owes me dinner, and it only continues to get worse and more and more people attempt to fight their way onto the train.

Finally, we get to St. Lazere and it was literally a shoving match between the people on the train trying to get off and the mass of people trying to get in. But, I made it and found my way to the other platform for the 12 tube.

So, I sit around and see that the next train doesn't come for another 25 minutes;by this point I am starting to get scared as to how my weekend in Paris is going to turn out.

I get onto the train,luckily by this time the crowds have thinned and I was actually able to sit down and I make to to my stop fine and find my hostel, oh and its 11am.

So, needless to say it was quite an exciting first 4 hours in the city! And I later find out that no, the tube systems in Paris don't suck,but rather they're on strike and so everything is crazy!

The rest of the day was the same with travel. I did my best to walk everywhere and don't worry I did plenty, but when I did take the tube it was usually at least a 10 minute wait,often times more. Including a couple more jam packed rides where we were packed in so tight that you could have taken off the top,turned us upside down and nothing would have fallen out.

Luckily, Saturday was better and my weekend turned out amazing!

I visited all the usual places, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur-this beautiful church on a hill, Louvre museum and Museum d'orsay. Lucky for me, the Louvre was free to students on Friday nights after 6,so I took advantage of that and saw the Mona Lisa!

I made friends with the other backpackers who were staying in my room, Jordan a junior from UCLA who was studying in the Netherlands and Ian a recent uni grad from Canada who had been backpacking through Europe since September, and we walked up to the Sacre Coeur to see the city at night. The next day, Jordan and I toured Paris together and visited all the sights,it was nice having someone to talk to instead of being by myself the whole time. The Musee d'orsay was really neat to see alot of the work done by artists we had talked about in art class and I actually knew what they were doing and what was going on.

At one point in the day we decided to try and go walk through the catacombs,which is these underground tunnels made from bones of dead bodies, WELL it takes us forever to finally find it and when we do, we realize that we're like 5 MINUTES LATE to the last admission :( After visiting Notre Dame together we parted ways and I went to the Eiffel Tower.

It was a super long climb but most definitally worth it! I was lucky and climbed it at just the right time,so I saw the city as the sun was setting and also with all the bright city lights and traffic going on, and it was gorgeous!

My trip back to the bus station on Saturday night was just as exciting. I got lost trying to find the metro station,so instead I waited at a bus stop for a bus to take me to a bus station. Well, the bus takes forever but finally shows up, at this point its around 8:00 and I needed to be there at 9 to check in for my 10 o'clock bus.
Well, the bus gets me to the stop I was wanting and I get the metro and find out that the platform I needed was currently under renovations but I could take the 8line to Republique and switch to the 3 line which would take me to my bus stop.

So, I wait and it takes about another 25 minutes for the 8 to show up, and it takes me to Republique and I get to the 3 platform. WELL, at this point its 8:50 and I'm getting nervous, I knew that I didn't need to be there right at 9. I mean, last time it took 30 mins just to wait in line so I knew if I made it by 9:30-I would be fine. But I decided that if by 9:15 a train hadn't shown up I would take a taxi. So, I wait...and wait...and wait and finally at 9:14 the tube shows up and I get to the bus station and everything was fine.

So, you'd think its done. That my exciting adventures were over and I made it just grand to London. WELL, yes...........and no! I get back home to London-its 5am and Im riding the N11 bus to Trafalger Square so I can catch the trust N97 to home. WELL, halfway to Trafalger Square the BUS BREAKS DOWN and I had to switch buses. But, yes, I eventually made it home and collapsed into bed.

So, that was my weekend in Paris. All the exciting transportation adventures and beautiful sight seeing.

Don't worry pictures are already up! Here's the link-

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050510&l=e00fc&id=71804508

I would also like to thank all of you who read the blog last week and helped me win the contest, thanks to you I had 162 hits in just 7 days!!

Hope all is well!

Cheers
Drew

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Destination Unkown

Greetings Friends,



It's another time where I sit here and take a break from the busy life of mine in London and attempt to give you a insightful blog full of witty banter,colorful words, and a read that will leave you feeling,.........something. Whether it be fulfillment OR (and lets hope not),wondering why you just wasted 10 minutes reading it.


The other day, an age old question "What am I going to do with my life?" crossed my mind. I know we've all had the thought. However, it wasn't that I was totally lost for thought as to what I'm supposed to do when I "grow up", but more the thought that I had the feeling, again, that I'm "destined for something greater." But, I'm also pretty sure we've had had that thought as well. We've all dreamed of fighting AIDS in Africa, or backpacking through Europe or discovering the cure for cancer or whatever. It's kind of like a quote, Tiff showed me, and I think it can pretty much capture what we've all felt at some point.


To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent peopleand the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest criticsand endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, garden patch,
or a redeemed social condition;
To know that even one life has breathed easier because I have lived
This is to have succeeded."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson


Now before you get all "Psh, Drew, please, get over yourself" hear me out. This thought often comes when I'm doing something or watching something I really enjoy or want to do. Theatre for example. EVERY TIME I see a show,as soon as the curtain comes up, my skin tingles, my heart skips and I get excitied, and I see myself, in 5 years doing exactly that, and its not just one of those "Oh, I'd really like to act when I grow up" sorta, see myself type feelings. But a "I feel it in my gut-all the way to my toes-there's no doubt in my mind- it just seems natural" sort of feelings. Like, DUH what else do you think I'd do.

But then another thought often comes to mind, when? If my feelings correct and someday-somewhere I'm going to be gracing the stages of Broadway or cinema screens across the nation, when is it going to happen and how?

Am I going to have the fairy tale story where I'm walking in the mall one day and a model scout sees me and gives me her card and 2 years later I'm modeling and branching into acting? OR Will I have the rough and tumble story. Where, I graduate college, pack up and move to LA where I live in a cardboard box for years,scraping my pennies together while waiting tables and going to every audition possible, before finally getting my big break?

Of course it also falls into the: "everything happens for a reason" catagory and who really knows what will happen and maybe something will come up and I'll totally switch what I want to do with my life and end up being an accountant for Wells Fargo or something.

OR maybe I need to instead follow the "Life is about creating yourself,not finding yourself" mantra and grab the bull by the horns and make something of myself, myself and throw myself at agents and casting calls and go to them instead of them coming to me.

*SIGH* who knows, pretty much though, I've realized I don't want to grow up and would rather just stay in college or London for the rest of my life. Can I do that instead?

So, this wasn't so much a witty banter about something fun, but more of a Drew hyperventilating over what he's supposed to do with his life, SORRY. Oh-well, hopefully you found it amusing.

Cheers
Drew


Paris Here I Come

Greetings Friends,

I hope this blog finds you well! And of course, things are just grand for me!!

It's been another fun-filled busy week, here on Earl's Court Road.

Monday we took a day trip to Oxford with the whole Simpson London group, it was an okay time. A little bit too cold for my liking. We had some delicious latin food at a place called "Las Iguanas" and then spent most of our time in a coffee shop doing homework, or in my case,taking a nap. Then that night Chelsea,Dana and I went and saw HAIRSPRAY (the theatre version,not movie version) and it was AMAZING! I ♥'d it !

Tuesday was class again and we started our intellectual conversation on Mrs. Dalloway,the final book we're reading for class. It's a pretty interesting book, I enjoy it.

Wednesday we had art class and learned more about Pop Art and then entered the diffiicult to understand realm of "minimalism", and looked at some artwork that included: giant mirrored boxes,a big painting in 3 shades of black, and a pile of bricks. However, I accidentially zoned out for some of the lecture, because I got distracted by another painting or something, I can't remember.

TODAY is class again, then I need to pack for my weekend trip to Paris!!! I'm just a little bit excited,since this is the city I've been wanting to see since FOREVER. I'm taking a bus and a ferry there and it was only lik 40pounds! So, I'll let you know how that goes!

The weather is still chilly here,but luckily it hasn't reached unbearable potential yet!

I also really need to do laundry again, and I've been saying that for too long,but its just such hard work and the stupid dryers suck and UGH.

Anywhom, I think that covers the London news.

Stay tuned for more exciting blogging adventures.

Cheers
Drew

Saturday, November 10, 2007

MORE PHOTOS

Greetings Friends,

FINALLY, here are the photos you have been eargerly waiting for!

Photos from the weekends,the Film Festival, and etc.

http://simpson.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046890&l=ac57e&id=71804508

London is still GREAT and FAnTaSTIC.

We went to the movie, Good Luck Chuck tonight and it is AbSOLUTLY HALARIOUS!!!

Hope all is well!

Cheers
Drew

Friday, November 9, 2007

SO, Barb told me I had to blog some more!

Greetings Friends,

So its already been a few days since I've blogged, and I deeply apologize.

Once again though, not too much has gone on.

Tuesday was class and we got our exams back and I did pretty well, I'm content with how I did.

Wednesday was art class and the service learning mid-term, its funny to think that I'm actually taking mid-terms just 3 weeks before I leave, and about a month after everyone back home. It was a little scary but I think I held my own against it....hopefully :S

Thursday was class and all that fun stuff again, so yea, not a too exciting week for me.

Wednesday, Chelsea,Anne and I went to RENT 'remixed' at Dukes of York and it was AMAZING! We got 2nd row seats for only 20pounds! And if you're wondering how RENT remixed differs from RENT, its exactly the same except they worked with Kylie Minouge's musical director and uptempo-ed the songs and it was neat. One of my favorite songs "Today for You" that Angel sings was escpecially neat. My theatre nerd came out again though and the 3 of us also critiqued the set and lighting designs and they were pretty amazing, with rotating gobo's, smoke and flashy lights! I give mad props to the lighting designer and stage manager, except I did notice a few lightings things they should have fixed, in my expert theatre Simpson light crew opinion anyway.

Today has been another lazy day and i've sat around and watched movies, the current favorite is "John Tucker Must Die"!

Its also been getting chillier the last couple of days :( Which is getting to be a pain, but luckily it hasn't been too bad!:)

So, the harsh reality hit me again today, we only have 3 weeks left here!! It's so crazy to think that a whole semester has already gone by!!

Hope all is well for you!

Cheers
Drew

Monday, November 5, 2007

Remember,Remember the 5th of November

Greetings Friends,
Today marks the anniversary of Guy Fawks, and for any of you who haven't seen the movie "V for Vendetta", its a celebration remembering the blowing up of Parliament and the beginning of of a revolution of sorts...I think.

But this weekend has been full of fireworks exploding and bonfires everywhere, unfortunately, I wasn't in the know as to where 90% of this was taking place, so I didn't get involved.BUT I did hear lots of fireworks going off tonight,when I was sitting in my room!

Friday, Meghan and I had a day date. We slept in until noon, then we sat around and was lazy for awhile before we finally got dressed all nice and fancy like and went out on Oxford Street to visit all the stores that are nice to look at but we could never afford! We also made a visit to the most AmAZING Toy Store in the world, Hamleys. It was almost like a trip back to my childhood, with 5 floors of stuffed animals,toy cars, Barbies, and everything else. Workers were playing with the toys and giving demonstrations, children were running around screaming and I was really wishing I was 5 again. Meghan and I decided to get ourselves something and bought Teddy bears! YES, I am willing and comfortable in admitting that I am a 19 year old boy who sleeps with a teddy bear still. We also ate out at one of my new favorite diners "Ed's Diner" which is a 50's American diner.

Saturday, Me,Chelsea, Dana, Meghan and Dana's mom(Barb) and sister(Julie) went shopping. We made another trip to Primark and Drew finally bought his blazer and new dress socks,because the ones I had were getting a little gross. We also went to Harrods and took a look at the Princess Diana memorial and all the other glorious things Harrods had.Saturday night, Chelsea, Meghan and I got dressed up(I wore my new blazer) and we had a fancy night on the town!

Sunday was spent being lazy. I slept in and lounged around and watched Catch and Release, a movie which actually makes you never want to fall in love (at least, that's what it did for me) and then we went to the "Pop Art Photo" exhibit at the National Gallery and it was really neat and had alot of works from Andy Warhol and other pop art artists and it was pretty interesting. After that we went and rented more movies, and found a great Chinese place that lets you get as much as you get fit into a little Tupperware container for 4pounds.

Today was supposed to be a productive day for me, but it failed. I slept in. Then I took a trip to Covent Gardens and I finally had my waffle w/ chocolate ice cream that a few people told me to get. I have NO CLUE if it was the right place,but I do know it was delicious! After that I took a nap and then have sat around and tried to book my trip to Paris.

Rewinding back to Catch and Release though. I willingly admit that besides sleeping with a teddy bear, I enjoy "chic flicks" and believe crying is healthy and that all real men cry. But, this isn't the point I'm trying to make. My new topic is, why do we like "chick flicks" ? Why do most women and the rare,but amazing man, enjoy watching a movie that: makes you cry,makes you sad,makes you question if you'll ever find love,why you want to find love, wonder what loves like or make you miss that one love you once had and have since lost? Movies like "The Last Kiss" where every relationship gets torn apart or "Catch and Release" where Jennifer Garner's fiancee dies the day before the wedding and if that's not bad enough, she finds out he was cheating on her, and the list could continue.

But really, why are we drawn to these movies? What makes us want to watch a movie that we know is going to make us cry and sad and eat too much ice cream and think about the shoulda' ,coulda', woulda's of previous relationships...but I think I have the answer.

ONE because a good cry is needed every once in awhile.

and TWO because it reminds us of a time when things were better and we were in love or maybe just madly in like. It reminds how happy we were when we had those special moments. LIKE: When you see the movie starlet look into her prince charming's eyes and he whispers something sweet and they share that picture perfect movie moment kiss, and everything in the backgroud fades and melts away. You remember the butterflies in your stomach ,you remember how fast your heart was beating the tingle in your fingers and the thoughts that rushed through your mind.

OR

If you lucky enough to have already found that love and held on to it, it just reminds you and makes you appreciate it that much more and makes you remember the beginning and what it was like and how happy you are that you've somewhat in someway lived those moments. (or at least I'm assuming. I ovbiously don't know for sure.)

BUT it also gives you a beacon of hope, reminding you that someday you'll have that moment and though he (or she) probably won't sit on your porch for days on end to let you know how much he cares, or stand outside your window holding a boombox or make you a mixtape, someday something like that WILL happen.

I do now feel slightly embarrassed for just going off on that tangent,but remember that time I talked about a stream of consiencenous, yea, that's an example.

Anywhom, its back to the grind tomorrow with classes,503 and living up my remaining 25 days in London.

Cheers
Drew

Friday, November 2, 2007

Cram Session

Greetings Friends,

Tuesday we took our first mid-term of the semester in English and it actually didn't go that bad, at least that's I'm hoping. I feel like I knew what I was talking about, but I could most definitally be wrong.

After class, I went and got a haircut, FINALLY! I was getting a lil too long and poofy and it wasn't fun. I found an advert in "The Metro" for a FREE HAIRCUT if you go to Toni&Guy Academy,which is one of those beauty schools. WELL, turns out its a big to do, when they do this. I walked in and checked in and then they lined me up with all these other people who were getting their haircut as well and they went down the line and asked "what we wanted done with our hair" before parading upstairs to get little smock things put on us. After that, we were given to one of the students who sat us in a chair and looked at our hair and played with it before decided what they were going to do. THEN they would grab their teacher and check with them to make sure its okay. Then I was moved to get my hair washed and then sat back down in front of a mirror. All in all, it took 2 and half hours to get my hair cut! BECAUSE the girl would cut some, then have to get her teacher to check and make sure its right and then he would show her what to do next and it just went like that. BUT I got my haircut and I'm happy with it!

After the haircut I went over to "503" and helped out a bit, got trained on front of house and got to see new show they're doing (which was AMAZING). I also got to meet the writer of the show and a few more of the people who work at the theatre.

Wednesday was art class and we learned more about the Bloomsbury Group and then we had a meeting with Housing Justice for service learning. After that, we went back to the flat and got ready for our Halloween BASH that we had in the backyard! It was fun!!

Thursday, was class and more theatre 503, Chelsea and I were sent out to distribute little flyers advertising the show. Lizzie(the general mang) of the theatre,wanted us to put them in the mail slots of all the buildings,but Chelsea and I felt awkward doing that when we saw the signs that said "NO JUNK MAIL" and also since we felt like we were in the ghetto and people probably couldn't afford to go to the show anyway. So, we walked a bit and then found some places to distribute the flyers.

Then we went to the Closing Night GALA for the Film Festival and this time we got our picture taken w/ Adrian Brody and Jason Schwartzman,PLUS the sweet BFI posters!

Today, Meghan and I are getting dressed up all nice like and heading to Oxford Street to look at all the things we can't afford! It should be fun!

Cheers
Drew