Whimsy, food, friends, and so on.

It has been a week of whimsy, history, food, friends, and-- as always-- theatre.

Whimsy:

On Wednesday, I was sitting in the Marlowe room watching a classmate perform a scene. Everyone (including the performer) was absolutely silent. We were engaged. We were interested. We were (I was).... wet? What? I looked up. Kathryn (the teacher) and opened the skylight earlier to let in some fresh air. Now the open skylight was responsible for my very own personal rainshower. I could do nothing about it without interrupting the scene, so I just sat there... I was thoroughly amused by the situation.

Whimsy from the past:
A couple of weeks ago we went to Camden market. As I was descending into the tube station (Chancery Lane) I noticed that a ladybug was clinging to my sweater. Now, I may not be very knowledgable in the ways of bugs, but I knew that the tube was no place for a ladybug. No air! No sun! No aphids! So I cupped her carefully in my hands all the way to our final destination before setting her free outside, in the sun. I named her Gloria.

Theatre:
I've discovered an interesting trends in the flaws of my body. From top to bottom, here's what it is:
1. Head-- I hold my head up, so that my chin is slightly tilted.
2. Posture-- I stand pretty straight, but I hold myself so carefully that I actually over do it, and my spine curves slightly in.
3. Knees-- I keep them locked when I stand.
4. Feet-- Are turned out.
5. Walking-- I haven't figured out quite what I do wrong, but it has something to do with not walking "straight" and "gliding" instead of just walking.

Do you know what the common thread through all of these is? WELL, I would be happy to tell you. It's that all of these are flaws that dancers typically have. I can't tell you the number of times that an instructor has said to me "Do you dance? Because..." It's truly interesting, because I have never, ever done ballet. Ever. The closest I've come is some generic kiddie dance class when I was about 5, and tap dancing in early elementary school. This is the single most puzzling experience of my life.

History:

We went to the Tower of London on Tuesday! Here are some pictures:





I'm not going to lie... if I was locked up in a tower for long enough, I might try to carve the walls with a pocket knife too. That's exactly what the prisoners did. Amazing, isn't it, that they were able to carve this out of stone?
I don't know what the spike on the horse's helmet is for, but to me it just looked like a unicorn.

We spent hours at the Tower of London and had a truly magnificent time. There is so much to see, and it's shocking to realise that the building is about 1000 years old. The Norman conquerers built it to be scary... it was the biggest building anyone in this area had ever seen before.



Food:

Kari and I made nectarine crumble (ohmygoshyum), which we shared with the people of her flat and mine. Don't we look domestic?

If you play your cards right, you can make other people do the dishes. (Yes, of course I helped with the clean up.)

Last night I went to a pub called "Shakespeare's Head." Hanging over the little lighting up machine (I don't know what that machine was for) there was a large portrait of Shakespeare. Fantastic.


Friends:

Lu came to stay for the weekend, which made me so very happy. We had a lot of fun playing and talking together. I do not get to see that girl often enough! We spent Saturday afternoon at Portobello Road, where she got this glorious doughnut the size of her head. Yum. (Also she got an antique ring and I got an antique cream pitcher. It was a great success.)

And now, LUNA!

Here I am at the Tower of London. It's about 1000 years old, and was built by the Norman conquerers. Over the years it's been used for many purposes, including as a treasury, prison, and zoo.

This is Tower Bridge, one of the most famous sights of London.

This guy worked at the Tower of London. I really liked his fancy uniform!

Here I am trying to hold a sword. It was part of a display in the Tower, and was very heavy. I don't think I'd make a very good military-hog!

Here's another one of those soldiers. I still want one of those hats... but I don't want his job! It looks very boring to have to stand so still all day. I wonder how long he has to stand without take a break?

Here I am at Portobello Road, helping Litza find teacups and cream pitchers. I loved looking at all of the things that were for sale-- jewelry, china, clothes, umbrellas, food, and so on. What an adventure!