Go and dance yourself clean

It's been a slightly eventful week. I didn't have any classes so it was technically a vacation week and I managed to get some fun stuff worked in there. On Wednesday my Only London Friend (or OLF) and I went to see LCD Soundsystem. It actually turned into quite a little adventure, and it was my first time out of my Zone on the Tube (and I did it wrong so it cost me like 8 pounds in fees). OLF had class until 6 and the show started at 7 and so I met up with her at her school, then we got some delicious Chinese take out (I got the roasted duck on rice, of course) and headed to Crouch End and the Alexandra Palace. When we got there, there was seriously a mile long queue. I have never seen a line so long in my life. I decided to walk to the front to see if I could find a different line for picking up my tickets and I walked and walked and walked, leaving poor OLF behind. (Ha, ok, I'm sorry Sara, if you're reading this, I'll stop calling you OLF. I just thought it was really funny. It's probably not.) Anyway, FINALLY we got in, right in the middle of Hot Chip's set. Sara and I immediately started dancing and didn't stop until the end of LCD Soundsystem's set, but we decided to leave before the encores since there were probably 20,000 people there and we wanted to make sure we got on the bus before everyone else decided to go. I figured since this was my third time seeing them that I'd live, and I did.

I really loved it and I will see them again if I ever get the chance. I love how much fun everyone has at their shows and how much you can dance and totally lose yourself. I love how their songs have a proper amount of tension leading up to a fantastic moment of release. It's euphoric, and I'm totally addicted. I think I liked this show better than the one in New York. They played all my favorite songs, and I was in GREAT company (instead of totally alone like the NY show). Sara seriously is the funnest person.

Also, I have a total crush on this guy. He is adorable in concert.

So the next day on Thursday I went to see a taping of the Graham Norton Show. It was supposed to be the highlight of my life and it turned out to be rather meh. No one makes me laugh like Graham Norton, and so even though the guests sucked, I thought I'd still have fun. I just found out that Stephen Fry and Bette Midler will be on next weeks show and it broke my heart. I LOVE Stephen Fry like no one else. Instead I got stuck with Colin Ferrall (who told nothing but the most boring stories. He has no personality at all), Daniel Radcliffe (who was late and then really annoying, and just ugh) and then a comedian I've never heard of and then Rihanna, who was cute and everything, but I just genuinely don't care about her music. Also I had to stand outside in the freezing wind, and those who keep up with my Twitter area already familiar with the fact that I was not wearing the proper clothing for such an event. It was really really horrible. It hasn't been that cold or windy in London since I've been here. I honestly don't know if it was worth it.

Anyway, on my way to the show I saw this poster in the train station. It made me laugh, because it obviously does not work.

I don't think it does a very effective job of pushing polite behaviour because the Tube is still full of fools who refuse to budge from their convenient spot right next to the door and impede anyone from coming in or out of the train. In New York I seriously got yelled at for doing that one day when I wasn't paying attention. The poster is just too polite, and I think this one will work much better.

Fortunately at the Graham Norton show I was able to fight my way to the front of what had been a very long queue and had turned into a throng of people rushing the door, and I got the best of the worst seats!

HA! The suckers I had to push over to get to the door didn't get to be on the telly at all, but I DID!

So, since Wednesday and Thursday were exhausting I decided to stay in and work on my paper on Friday, and it didn't turn out well. Friday will be one of those days to forget forever.

Moving on, today I took my FIRST real train ride out of the city! I went with my ward to the London Temple. We took the train from Victoria Station to Lingfield and then a short taxi from the station to the temple. I mention this because it was also my FIRST time in a British taxi! And the first time ever driving on the wrong side of the road, and yes, it is the wrong side. Seriously, driving on the left side is totally counterintuitive, and it's the one cultural difference I'm having a hard time getting past, especially since I've almost got hit crossing the street several times because of it.

Anyway, the temple was lovely and I got to talk to more people from my ward, and hopefully made a couple of friends. I enjoyed myself immensely. Here's a picture of me and Sara in front of the temple. We stood a bit too far from the camera, so you can't really see us well, but that's ok because I didn't get a chance to shower this morning and was a bit of a mess.

And that's it for my week off of school! I start back up again on Tuesday and I'll be killing myself trying to get this paper done. I think i might have made some headway in brainstorming with my sister for a bit, but we'll see!

teevee

My life got busy this last week, which was a welcome change, but I'm already starting to get a little tired from the new schedule, and I'm already behind in my school work. I'm not sure how I managed it, but on top of starting a new class and a new TAing job, and working on my grad school applications, I also watched a season and a half of a new show. I can't feel too guilty for it, because it really helped me get through a huge project that I've been working on and need to finish by this week. The downside is that I kind of became slightly obsessed with this show. I watched 5 hours of it on Thursday, 4 hours on Friday and 3 on Saturday. Then throughout the week I went over to a friend's and watched hours of old Buffy episodes and a few movies. I also managed to watch some old Doctor Who episodes in addition to the new one that aired last weekend.

So, my life pretty much revolves around television. Last night at a friend's house we were thinking of something to do after we watched a movie and my suggestions were to watch more movies or go get some food, and then realized that all I ever do is consume. I consume media and food. However, right now I'm not yet at the point to put a stop to it all. I love my shows and movies, and I'm sure that if I were in a world with fewer visual narratives I'd be addicted to novels, to the characters and their lives and their stories. And seriously, how different is a Jane Austen novel from a British teen drama? I watched Persuasion last night and I can tell you, not much.

I will hold back a little. Life isn't just about stories, although since my intended career is to research and write about stories, I guess my life kind of is. Nevertheless, I can't neglect doing my reading for class just because I want to watch my stories. ha. I have to learn to buckle down and do the work if I want to be able to talk about this stuff intelligently.

My little sister sent me an email today, and I loved it. I'm going to share its contents here :

You're not online, and I have things to say at you. I'm watching the first episode of Kingdom at the moment and it's like a lovely warm blanket of Stephen Fry and the English countryside.

Also, last night I watched Dead Alive. That was too awesome. I loved the end with the lawnmower!

I also just watched The Meaning of Life with the commentary with both of the Terrys and it seems like they also think The Crimson Permanent Assurance is boring. Apparently Gilliam just wanted to make a short film and he was off in another studio while Terry Jones was shooting the funny parts of the movie. I don't think any of the Pythons do commentaries in the same room. It's weird to hear their separate commentaries spliced together. I like it when people have conversations in commentaries, you know?

I miss you! Have a lovely Sunday.

Maybe to everyone else it's not so great, but to me it's wonderful. She emailed me specifically to talk about teevee and movies. I love her so much.