Shizz.

Fun things are happening in the land of Jess. As told by bullet points :)

1. On Thursday last my dad was in town thanks to an unscheduled work-related jaunt and so we spent the morning in the National Portrait Gallery looking at everybody and everything, bar the Beatles to Bowie exhibition (which I'd like to see before it finishes on the twenty-fourth). I loved it because Holbein through Hockney, it was like one big history-art-and-literature lesson rolled into one. In the gift shop I had to resist buying several things I didn't need. Hum, perhaps I need to pop back with my Christmas money at some point. My dad skedaddled off to his meeting, I did some unnecessary shopping and later we ended up in Nandos at Euston station for chicken and chit-chat.

2. On Friday, I set off to New Cross in order to watch Taylor in the Shakespeare Society production of Hal V and I missed the bus, so I thought to myself, 'never mind, I'll go tomorrow'. On Saturday I missed the bus again and so, there being no tomorrow this time around, I found myself running all the way down Sanford Street with only a couple of minutes to go until curtains up. My oh my am I unhealthy. The play was pretty amazing and Taylor was in it a lot more than I expected, which was an added bonus. I am a little bit inspired to sign up to this acting malarkey at some point in the future. Afterwards I went home (little dog on the bus with painted toe nails, say wha?), met and vetted Zack and watched far too much Gavin and Stacey before bed.

3. We went to the Hobgoblin on Sunday evening to meet up with Lydia and Oli and as if by magic a pub quiz was produced. We came second = we truly are rising up in the quizzing world. Also, we spent some time devising a full and hearty list of shenanigans for the Scawen Road crew to complete over the next few months.

4. I had a well needed haircut followed by a W.I. meeting on Monday. We have so many exciting activities to look forward to this term, starting with:


I'm looking forward to the jiving and the knitting and the Lomography field day in particular (yes! practise before I buy :)). Afterwards we went to the Hob for drinks and a bit of a catch-up. I'm glad it's all go at the Goldsmiths W.I. again.

5. Small and useless fact: I saw a lot of foxes this week. One on Saturday, skulking in the bushes, two on Tuesday on the way up to Wetherspoons. I stopped the Tuesday night foxes mid-fight, just by staring at them (or as later Alice corrected me, I probably interrupted them in the middle of foxy-sex-making, oops). ALSO, Paris is booked :) tres excited.

6. My auntie came a-visiting this week. We ate pizza and gelato on the Wednesday night and talked long and hard about books and art and films, then we went back to SE8 to play word-related boardgames until bedtime (cozy or civilised or old? Who cares, I had a lovely time). In the morning we went to the Royal Academy to see the GSK contemporary exhibition, Earth: Art of a changing world, which took a good hard look at climate change, etc. in several different medias. In particular I enjoyed the Antony Gormley piece, the story of Sophie Calle and 'Doomed', the disaster movie montage by Tracey Moffatt. One of the exhibits - a small, gold and inconspicuous looking thing - is primed to explode one hundred years after its creation. A generic observation I know, but it really makes you think. Go see for yourself :)

Still to come this (lovely, busy bee) week:
Frank Turner concert, Harry to visit and Manchester ♥.

Poetry vs. Prose.

At the end of the autumn term we had to choose whether we would continue our creative writing course with the poetry module or the prose module, over the coming months. With two minutes to decide I went with my life-long gut reaction, which means no more last-minute poetry come assessment time (uh-oh?). Poems are quick and fun, but I don't really know how to write them. I think I made the right decision, what do you think?

First poetry exercise of the winter term, first prose extract of the prose module:

"I come from North and South,
Books and Rocks,
Farmers and Teachers
And cheese-and-chalk cliffs.
I come from Philip Larkin’s library,
From a seaside village,
A tourist town
Without any tourists.
Bucket and spade in hand,
A seagull on every shoulder.
The English stream,
The American Dream,
7:42 train to London Euston, 2 hours 56.
I come from Sunday School, ballet lessons,
Enid Blyton at bedtime
And pocket money sweets on a Friday.
I come from home-knit, woollen cardigans,
Smocking dresses,
A balled up handkerchief,
A Forever Friends lunchbox.
I am long car journeys across continents
With stiff joints and Meatloaf.
Unspoken ground rules,
Ball on stumps, loud howzat!
Two worn exercise books, fading ink,
The last word at home time,
A bag of shiny twenties, a first class stamp.
I am the Anglo-family tree
(a long line of churchmen on the Dover side)
With a red dragon on my cheek
And a sut da chi?"

or

"Drama school, class of '93. We met in the autumn, Newman theatre, Shakespeare try-outs. He bounced Laertes off my Hamlet and we jousted with wooden swords and nervous wit. We went out afterwards, bought beers and traded tales of the bard and the board and of yesteryear. Our knowledge of Star Wars quotations went unrivaled, he'd vacationed in my hometown, I admired his K-reg Polo and we talked horse power and gear boxes until last call. We left the pub like brothers, arm in arm, thick as thieves. Thieves. He stole my Ophelia, opening night, amid the stage props and the bustle. Four sweaty arms groping in the wardrobe, noise drowned out by the static of the gathered crowds. Later I saw him, Act i, Scene iii, lipstick smears and wandering hands when the curtain dropped. Incest of the first degree. So now I stand, with rock and glass cuts and petrol spilt, drunk on whiskey and post-show euphoria. I am Hamlet, King of Denmark. Laertes, bastard, K-reg, dies."

Can we go to Paris?

You can tell I have an essay to write when my holiday plans are in full swing and not a lot else :) Paris at Easter with Hannah and Vicki, oui/oui? Right now my 'things to do in Paris' list is bigger than my essay plan. A little touristy perhaps, but that's neither here nor there:

Eurostar
I ♥ Paris tshirt plan
Eiffel Tower
Laduree macarons
Louvre
Arc de Triomphe
Amelie cafe
Moulin Rouge
Hot chocolate and pain au chocolat
Crepes
Notre Dame
Photobooths (Palais de Tokyo)
Disneyland Paris
Galeries Lafayette = ♥

Disposable.

It was dark and cold outside but come eight o'clock I put my coat on happily enough and left the house for Tesco. Finally, my 'holiday' disposable camera was finished and the processed photos (ranging from June-December) were ready for collection :) I couldn't remember when or where I'd taken the photos so I was looking forward to seeing the end result. It had been several years since I last had film developed and I'd all but forgotten the pot-luck excitement of it all. When I got to the counter I decided I was going to 'wait until I got home' before opening up the paper wallet and taking a peek, but in reality I barely made it as far as the pasta sauce aisle before flicking merrily through this diverse selection; enjoy :)

SE8.

London, I'm back.

As per usual I was the last one to leave home (bar perhaps Paris, who was well and truly snowed in) and dragging my feet about it, all the way. I did two times goodbyes at Vicki's house before I left and watched an awful lot of Gilmore Girls with my mum and dad, then went to bed on Saturday night wishing for a last-minute snow storm that did not arrive. As much as I put off my packing and refreshed the delay updates on national rail, the skys were blue, the trains were running, so back to the city I went. Today, I almost used the old 'couldn't get back because of snow' excuse, but instead I went to all my classes like a good girl. On the one hand, pre-Raphaelites. On the other, start as you mean to go on, eh? And on that note, I'm off to cook some food and read some Shakespeare and write some letters to all the lovely welsh people I miss already.

Oh S-no-w!

Yesterday, I went to Chester with my parents. I bought an embroidery thread kit and a hairband and spent several unsuccessful hours searching for a cheap pair of brown brogues. Everything was just fine. Then it came to the return journey and all of a sudden it was a snow fest. Usual duration, Chester to Colwyn Bay: 45 minutes, max. ETA yesterday: 5 hours later. My dad drove an average of 10mph the whole way home, yet still we slipped and we slid all over the place. At one point I had a nap under a pile of coats while we waited for the road to clear. And nor was this our first snow-based calamity of the holiday. On the way back from Durham last week we were stuck on the snowbound A66 for a good hour or so, before we were able to brave the ice and the wind of the moors. We almost had an over night adventure in Penrith. Snow is perfect when there's a warm pair of mittens to wear and a snowman to build and a crackling fire to return home to, but when you're driving home on a dark and stormy night and people are abandoning their cars left, right and centre it's not so fun. More Day After Tomorrow. Hopefully a little igloo building will make things better today though :)

Salmon, like the fish.

My new year tidy up just descended into weeding out my wardrobe, putting everything else into a big pile and browsing through trailers on youtube. I'm looking forward to these films in 2010.