Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Midweek Musings from an Unemployed Bum

"It's been a very... sensual day... a day of senses..." said Mikhaila to me this afternoon, as we stood in the V&A at one of the 'Please Touch' cabinets, she rubbing a rock while I grasped a small, stone owl statue (and just thinking to myself that doing this was making me feel oddly content.)
"Yes! That's really true!" I replied, and we proceeded to list off some of the lovely ways that our afternoon together had invigorated our senses...

Sight
- Cast members of 'Wicked', 'Billy Elliot' and the West End Gospel Choir performing at Victoria
- The streets of Kensington and Chelsea- wide and lined by rows of regal, beautiful, Mary Poppins-ish apartment buildings
- Gold mosaic neighbouring blackened brick in Westminster Cathedral
- John Cleese, shopping for a fancy chair, in Harrods

Smell
- The florist we walked past somewhere in South Kensington
- Incense in Westminster Cathedral

Sound
- Our shoes on the steps in the V&A
- The man farting in a spacious V&A gallery (and the giggles from us that followed)

Taste
- Goats cheese
- Arnott's BBQ Shapes
- Orange chocolate in Harrods (the sweetness of which was only slightly tainted by the offerer's pushiness following our tasting: "So which boxes are you getting? Those ones or these ones? Hmm? Hmm?!")

Touch
- A Versace dress in Harrods (my entire London savings in a piece of fabric)
- The cool owl-statue under my hand

I recognise, in part-agreeance with my friend James, that London is, in some ways, not all it's cracked up to be. It's expensive to live in, and it feels too-close-to-home-to-be-excited-by at times because of the cultural similarities.

But then I do things like hang out with Mikhaila and unashamedly take photos of ourselves in front of amazing white-washed buildings with big black iron fences and bright red telephone boxes next to them. Or I put my feet in the sand of the fake beach of the Southbank and drink Pimms with my friend Heidi. Or I watch West End performers on a rooftop at lunchtime, sitting amongst tourists, theatre nerds and business men on their break. Or I sip wine on the top floor of a building on The Strand and look out at The Thames, Big Ben and the London Eye, all three awash with drizzly orange light at 7pm. Or I have a rehearsal for a musical with excited people who love muscials, too. Or I go for a run at 5.30am or 9pm with sun involved in either choice.

And then I think it's also kind of freaking cool.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Friday brain vomit

I've been racking my brain (just prior to Googling whether it's "racking" or "wracking") for the last few days, trying to think of something blog-worthy. Nothing very specific has sprung to mind, so I might be all a bit racked out at the moment.

Perhaps it's just that my brain has turned to mush as I've been taking in a bit more television than usual. Oh, the lure of the British telly. As I write, I sit with a bowl of Pringles and a glass of wine in front of me (cocktail glass, all of the wine glasses have absconded), one woman in a pink tracksuit holding the neck of another woman in a snakeskin, lighting up the screen in front of me. A fairly crazy Friday night, you'll agree.

The other night I watched 'Long Lost Family' and cried.

Bex and I are slightly addicted to 'Waterloo Road': bad script, bad acting, bad-ass fifteen year old boys and that sexy middle aged woman from 'Silent Witness'. It's Wednesday night heaven.

In other news, I've realised it's time to admit something... I have an addiction to dot points. So here, in no particular order, are some bits and pieces from Life At The Moment:

- Next week is my last week at St Christopher's. And I feel sad.
- I play a little bit of the guitar each day. I'm still quite bad.
- Taco is coming to London in less than two weeks and I'm very excited about seeing the lovely Dutchman again.
- Two of the most beautiful girls I know- Emma and Claire- are now BOTH on this side of the world. And by hook or by crook (what a great saying), we'll be The Three Chicas again, for a day, a week, a moment.
- I've been getting up AND going to bed IN THE LIGHT! It gets light before 5am! The sky's still light at 10pm!
- On Sunday I start rehearsals for a little musical I'm going to be in. I'm playing Lucy in 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown' with South London Theatre. I have no idea what it'll be like, but dude, I am mega excited about doing a show again.
- Interviews next week for possible future physio work.
- That might end this little update for now. My brain feels really mushy on Fridays. It seems to often end up being a rewarding but bloody busy and often slightly draining day at work. I love it. But chocolate definitely helps get me through the afternoon.

Will be in touch with more comprehensive words, less dot points (actually that I can't promise), and a little more poetry soon.

Lots of love,

Claire.