What the man in front of me...

bought:
2 2-litre bottles of pepsi
1 tub of Greek-style yoghurt
1 can of mushroom pieces

I'm sorry I've been away so long. I do have much to say on: my living situation, Katrina, John Roberts, life without a computer or phone... but alas, it's been kinda tough to write lately. I will be better about this soon. Anyway, tonight, while at the grocery store I took note of the odd purchase described above and I decided that it may be a fun "blog assignment". Everyone reading is to, in the coming days, be alert for things that are just a little peculiar, involving people you don't know and post them in their respective blogs or in my comments section. As I'm sure you all know, talking about people and, indeed, laughing at them, is one of my favorite pastimes. What could be better then, than Trans-Atlantic fun-poking? It doesn't have to be a strange purchase...just peculiar. These are some appropriate entry phrases: What the child next to me smelled (like?), What the couple above me did tonight, What the groom ate, What that bum picked. You get the idea....maybe this reads?

Hooray for CA

After so much destruction, chaos, incompetence, and anger, we finally have something to celebrate. The state government of California, yesterday, approved a bill changing the definition of marriage from "between a man and woman" to, "between two people"!! This marks the first time in the US that gay marriage has been sanctioned through the legislative branch of a state government. Of course, Schwarzie still has a chance to veto but, this is still cause for jubilation. When prodded on whether or not he'll veto, Arnie said he'll do whatever the courts decide. Let's all remember that he's a republican and the line of that party is to curb the courts from making decisions like this. Apparently, the Republican party only wants the input of the court when the court agrees. They're despicable but, at least in California, there are more of us. See the full NY Times coverage here.

A bittersweet romance...

My affair with England has been, shall we say, rocky for the past few weeks. It's been difficult. I swore when I came that I wasn't coming specifically for him but our love was always part of it. Perhaps distance makes the heart grow fonder, as they say. We were so good together with me there and him here. Now, together, we just get on each others' nerves. Night after night, I go to bed and we just turn our backs to one another; better to just let the fight wait until morning. Of course we have our good days also. This weekend for example, we didn't really fight that much. We even sort of reveled in each other. Under gorgeous skies, we strolled hand-in-hand through the streets of the city. Together, we took in the Tower of London and shared a Vietnamese dinner on a sidewalk in Hammersmith. Then, the week starts, as it always does, and once again, we're plunged into angst and anger with one another. I don't think it's something I've done. I think that this whole time, he was hiding his true nature from me. He is, in turns, supremely inefficient, beguilingly witty, quick-tempered, and charmingly beautiful. Perhaps there were stars in my eyes as I prepared to come here and be with him, perhaps they shielded his (extremely) annoying bits. I know that we'll be okay in the long run but right now, times is tough. We've talked it over a bit, or rather, we've yelled about it ad nauseum, and, at the moment we've made a decision; when I'm more financially secure, I'm going to begin seeing other countries. He also, will be entertaining more bright-eyed and intrepid young Americans. I think the occasional separation will be good for both of us. For the moment, it's good that I have the job. At least there, I escape that long-faced, tired (and tiring) stare. Also, I'm going to try to focus on his good points, for the sake of my sanity. I think that, in time, we'll be able to smile again and embrace as we once did. I hope that day will come soon but, at the moment, it seems so far away.

Long ago, in England...

a friend of Someone-in-Charge declared, "Sir, we haven't enough ridiculousness!"

"You're right!" his pal replied, "May it be so, that from this day forth, England shall be ridiculous, in the following ways:

We shall drive on the other side
We shall keep the clubs open till 4 or 5 am but stop the tube at midnight
We shall have banks that say, "You'll get your card in 7-10 business days" but mean 4 weeks
When the card comes, the bank shall say "It'll just be 7-10 business days now to get your PIN"
Furthermore, the banks will only be open while the populous is at their own jobs and we shall make it difficult to bank online
We shall tell foreigners that they must get an NI number and we'll give them 25 phone numbers, all of which will be wrong
We shall sell meat in our stores but only after all the juice has been removed
We shall tell victims of crime to call the Custodial dept to see if their property has been turned in
The custodial dept shall direct the person to the properties dept by way of the operator
The operator shall transfer the caller to the front desk because after all, there is no properties dept
The phone at the front desk shall ring (repeatedly) for 6 minutes before disconnecting the caller
The switchboard operator shall yell at the victim of crime
Cheques, when deposited shall take a week to clear
Every pay phone shall be different
There shall be a line, everywhere and it shall take an inordinate amount of time
We shall have a grocery store and, in the store, we shall use plastic bags but without the handy dispenser. We shall force customers to bag their own groceries while paying. The cashier and people in the line shall glare contemptuously
At Tesco, there shall be 12 cash registers but only 2 shall be open. There shall then be at least 3 employees directing people to the self-service registers which shall never work properly
In addition, there shall be other ridiculousnesses which can not be named right now!

Mein besonderen Besuch in Deutschland...

I've had such a fabulous weekend in Germany. Saarlouis is a small, old town, (very) near the French and Luxembourgi borders. All weekend, the weather was perfect and there was never a rush. I absolutely loved everything. Saturday morning, we landed in Frankfurt and rented a car to drive to Saarlouis. I don't know why but I didn't really anticipate Germany being so lovely. After wandering the Cobblestone streets and lounging, we went to Sabine's friends' for dinner.

From Detlaff and Petra's house, it is possible to jog to France but the village is still remarkably German. It was so exciting for me to be able to converse in German. After so many years of my education lying dormant, it's good to know that it can come back when required. We all had such a feast and spent the night drinking wine and talking under the stars. It was VERY storybook-like and perfect.

On Sunday, we walked around more and eventually ended up in a park where there just happened to be a small German band playing traditional German music. So, we sat, in a perfect park, under a perfect sun, sipping a Bier/Lemonade drink called Panache and listened to the perfect music. Ah... Sunday evening, after picking Sabine's mom, Helga, up at the train station, we went to a wonderful French restaurant on top of a hill. We sat outside on a terrace that overlooked 4 different villages and watched the sunset over sorbet. It was totally cliche and wonderful and I loved it.

Now, I'm back, nose to the grindstone, dealing with the endless frustrations the British beuracracy provides. More on this later...

4 days and $97 later...

Oof! Since my unfortunate stint as victim, I've been teetering between maudlin feelings of violation and fuck-em-all feelings of anger. I think that I've kinda evened out now though, though I am still pissed and probably will be for a while. Right now I'm looking forward to a weekend away from London.

Yes, I was able to get an emergency replacement passport in order to go on my planned trip to Germany this weekend. Sabine and Niklas are taking me home with them to Saarlouis. I'm really looking forward to seeing an, until recently unheard of place. Although it's just a short trip, I think that leaving this city for a minute is exactly what I need.

In other news, I don't get to work on the movie next week. Finances are tough and so, we've been laid off until Working Title and Universal decide what to do. Their meeting on Wednesday will determine the future of the film. There are two possibilities: a)we fold b)they give us more money. I'm hoping for b since, as I've said before, it's a really good movie. Blah blah blah,
I'll be thinkin of everyone from SW Germany.

Worst night of my life...

• Batteries and charger
• mobile telephone
• US Passport and Visa
• Laptop Computer
• Mouse for computer
• library book

These were the things in my bag when it was stolen last night! I'm still in some sort of shock. I was even obsessive about my bag and kept it between my feet all night. WORST night ever!

Many Things

Let me, at the start, apologize for both the length of time since the last post and, the subsequent length of the coming post:

Art Dept=fun

I love working on movies. I get to meet the most interesting people and have so much fun. The movie that I'm currently interning on has, a great script, a cool cast, an amazing Production Designer and set dresser, cool coworkers and no budget. Fears were flying recently over whether or not we'd be able to continue. Apparently the British film investment laws have just changed and so, at the moment, would-be investors are very leary. This film is now walking a fine line-the current budget is small; best to fold or best to really amp up the budget? I'm hoping it's the latter cuz it really is an awesome script and I would like to see it made. The cast has been reasonably settled and, happily, amongst some stars that are big here, are also Jim Broadbent and Helena Bonham Carter. Hopefully, with a cast now, investors will be more ready to, uh, invest.

My boss, Michael Howells, is amazing. He's a very accomplished man but still takes the time to teach us and joke around, etc. Yesterday, for about an hour, he went over his portfolio with me. HOLY SHIT! The man has designed numerous films, is currently working on (with our help), the Christmas designs for the Selfridges window displays (like Barney's in NY), is the designer for Dior's, Versace's and Louis Vuitton's advertising, designed Kate Moss' famous The Beautiful and the Damned 30th Birthday party, and much more. Yet, he still cares about his interns and assistants and really tries to have fun and help us. It's really amazing to me that I get to work with such accomplished people.

Steel

Telesales sucks but I'm doin' ok. I've sold a few subscriptions and have a few coming up. Most importantly though, I work with cool people here also. The other night, I found myself at a pub with, 2 girls from Slovakia, a Bulgarian guy, a Chinese guy, coupla Brits, a Russian woman, a Brazilian guy, Italian girl, and a South African dude. Of course, because I'm me and forever interested in all things political, conversations did include topics such as: the velvet revolution, degradation of Bulgarian money, Vaclav Havel, racism against Gypsies, and current EU situations. Of course we also talked about US relations with the world. Nice pub talk. Naturally, we also had more mundane/standard discussions. It's cool to be around such diverse experience. Also, after a week of caring about steel and the customers, I think that I've finally reached that place where the it's-just-a-job-and-I-never-have-to-meet-these-people mentality has come into play. It's about bloody time! There were, again because I'm me and think about such things, many thoughts that went like this: "Do I care about steel? What if I don't? Does that mean that I have a poor work ethic? Do I care if I care?" I'm ruff!

Other Stuff

I've just finished reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and for those wondering, yes, it is! I think that this book needs to be required reading for life. If you haven't yet, please begin reading it immediately or make plans to do so soon.

Rach and I have spent the evening reading rough religious/conservative/southern blogs. I have no problem with faith or religion generally, it's just not for me. What I do have a problem with however, is the people that proclaim their faith, merely as some sort-of badge. Why must they forever be telling people how religious they are? It was first funny but then it got a little disturbing. One guy went so far as to post a voice recording of his struggles with "not doing those things that I know He doesn't want me to, even though I know that I do want to do them which makes me kind of not want to do them because this is His life." When religion keeps you from living your life or, as expected in this situation, from coming out of the closet, what's the use? Religion as life controlling force is so sketchy. Organized religion in general is rather sketchy.

Anyway, I've rambled long enough. Later ya'll. Please view Anna M's newspaper debut with this movie review. Also, here's a pic of one of Rachel's classmates; the ruffest individual, G:

Pediculus capitis

Although we did have a brief threat and emergency procedures were taken, I'm happy to report that noone at our house has head lice! Keep livin' with a child...

Read these:

Tired but happy

After a month and a half of joblessness, I now have no free time. My RUFF schedule is as follows:

5am-At the sound of many alarms, I get up and stumble around till
6am-when I leave my house and walk to Ealing Broadway tube station, two stops later, at N.
Acton, I switch to a bus and ride to Cricklewood Broadway to sit on a cold platform and
wait for a Thameslink train to Elstree/Bhoramwood, in order to arrive at
8am-at Elstree studios, where I work until
11am- when I must walk back to the Thameslink train and take it to King's Cross/St. Pancras
and switch to the Northern line south to Bank. Then I walk to arrive at
12:30pm-at Steel Business Briefing's office in "The City". Here, I stay and (attempt to) sell steel
news, via phone, to American business men. I work until about
7pm-when I walk to Bank station and ride for an hour to Ealing broadway, in order to get home
at about
8:15pm

It's a rough life but apparently, someone's got to do it.

Although I hate doing telesales, it's not the end of the world. On the upside, this job allows me to work on the movie in the mornings which is pretty cool. I'm really loving the time I spend in the art department. The script is really great and the people I'm working with are also very cool. I've been doing a lot of odd jobs, ranging from prop construction through random office work. I wish I could spend all day at Elstree but, alas, the film's budget doesn't allow for very many paid people. The experience I'm getting is extremely valuable though. This coming week, I may be required to do some "draughting" (read: drafting) which I'm really nervous about. Although technically, I do know how, I'm nonetheless nervous about my skills. Not least of all because I usually use CADD and here, everything is done by hand. Luckily, we aren't working in metric. I'll let you know how it goes.

In other news, I am currently sans computer. Sadly, my computer's power cable decided to short out the other night. Luckily, my computer is fine but, while waiting for the new cable to be shipped, I can't use my laptop. Argh!

snowflake

By the pricking of my thumbs,

Something wicked this way comes...

After an exceptionally drunken night at the Red Lion with Rachel's new classmates and later with Elias and Sabine, Saturday brought some much needed rest and then, a night of art. Since we do live in London, it seems only fitting that we should visit the theatre at least once a week.

So, in a fit of inspiration, Rachel and I behaved like actual people and met up with Allie (British Rachel) and her boyfriend to see a show, have dinner, converse and just enjoy new people. Since we have a soft-spot for all things National Theatre, we decided to see, On the Shores of the Wide World. As billed, this was truly, "a tender play" which centered around a family and their various troubles and avoidances of those problems. "About discord, heartbreak and the redemptive power of love across three generations", this play was, for me, a very beautiful and poignant piece, distinctly lacking contrivance and pretention. I really loved it and am so glad we saw it.

However, after the show had ended and we had spent some time in the book store, we left the complex and chanced upon a performance of Macbeth, which had just begun, in the courtyard, and it really stole the cake for the night. Friches Théâtre Urbain's production involved a lot of pyrotechnics, actors wearing animal heads, on stilts, speaking in English, French and Spanish, really cool music, large flags, and SOOO much stylization. Another cool factor with this production is that it didn't stay in one place very long. Instead, the audience was forced to follow it wherever it wanted to go along the south bank of the Thames. Eventually, for the climax, we ended up back in the courtyard for the final speeches, fireworks, confetti and bows. It's a shame that such things only happen but rarely. If you care to look at the MANY pictures we took, do so by logging into www.winkflash.com with username: seethepics and password: showme.

After the show(s), we went to Allie and Phil's for dinner (at one a.m.), wine, cards, laughter and a general good time. When Rach and I eventually crawled home at 4:30, we had a wonderful (and maybe a little drunken) feeling of elation. (You'll note above my penchant for cliche.)

Bolton...

Please go here to listen to the shit that John Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., spouts.

Deutsch...

Tonight, in an extended, drunken, conversation, I came out, auf Deutsch. This marks the first time that I have come out in German and the amazing thing, for me, is that my German vocabulary allows me to. I'm very happy with the language practice that I'm getting at our intense house and I hope it continues. The coming-out went quite well and noone was shocked. Besides that, I've heard, from a native speaker, that my German skills are quite good. This all makes me very happy!

Denn ich sehr blau bin, sage ich jetzt, "Gute Nacht!"

New and Improved:

It seems my luck life comes in spurts...

The job front here in London has been a constant source of worry and stress since I got here. I eagerly took the job with Esprit catering, only to find there have been NO gigs yet. Then, I had the two temp positions which quickly flickered out. Now, this week! With no promising leads, I didn't expect much. Then Monday happened. On Monday, I received calls for jobs from 4 companies, and my job agency. This week has been rife with interviews and telephone calls. FINALLY!

So, on Tuesday, I was to interview with a telemarketer, offering broadband internet access. I didn't go. That afternoon though, I did meet with Steel BB to discuss my future in the steel industry. It seems they want to expand/start their market in the US and, so, require an American; enter me. The pay is good, the task is challenging, and I have the possibility of transferring the job to the U.S. when I'm done here.

I also received an email on Monday stating this: "Hey, sorry we couldn't hire you before but, the president of the company saw your CV and would like you to come in for a slightly different job." I was excited as this company is an international legal researcher and fairly impressive. However, after sitting for half an hour waiting for dude, he showed up to describe the job like this, "It'll be very mundane. You'll be filing, shipping things, cleaning my office, making coffee, loading the dishwasher, answering phones, etc, for about £5/hour." Ok...but, my C.V is a bit better than that. "Oh, and could you, tonight, write a 500 word comprehensive critical analysis of this magazine? Thanks, bye." Really? Dishwasher boy writes your critical analyses? Anyone that knows me knows that I can criticize but...c'mon. This whole interview pissed me off and Steel just feels better.

I also got an unexpected call from Michael Howells, who is the production designer for "66" with Working Title Films. I had sent my C.V. over there a couple weeks ago but didn't really think I'd hear anything. Anyway, he called, offering me a chance to intern with the art department on this film, at one of the studios here. Unfortunately, they can't pay me. I really want to do this. It'd be such an awesome learning experience, not least of all, because it's a period film (1966). I can't, though, afford to be here and not make money. So, now, my thinking goes like this: Steel BB needs me to talk to people in the U.S., that's up to an 8-hour time difference. I will therefore be working later in the day (which blows but...whatever) so perhaps I can intern on the movie in the morning and then do Steel in the afternoon/evening. 2 birds, one stone, kinda?

Now, I have another interview today which I don't think I'll like but...I'll go anyway. I also may have an interview through the agency tomorrow. It's about damn time. Sorry for the length of this post. Take care y'all.

Remember when...

Wisconsin was a leader in the fight for liberalization? Remember how Wisconsin was the first state in the country to pass an LGBT non-discrimination law (1982)? Remember how we elected the first out lesbian to the U.S. House of Representatives?

And now this:

Wisconsin has passed a bill entitled "UW Birth Control Ban-AB 343". This bill prohibits University of Wisconsin campuses from prescribing, dispensing and advertising all forms of birth control and emergency contraceptives. Wisconsin State Rep. Dan LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, introduced this bill based on the belief that “dispensing birth control and emergency contraceptives leads to
promiscuity.”(MNdaily.com)

Remember how contraceptives DON'T lead to sex and how the women using birth control are a whole lot more intelligent than ass-whipe Dan LeMahieu? Further more, when did promiscuity become something to be legislated? Be disgusted.

A dark day for the U.N.

I hope everyone has been paying attention to the completely tragic appointment of John Bolton as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. On Monday, President Bush placed Bolton in the post through the use of a recess appointment which by-passes Senate approval. This cowardly, back-door procedure has never been used with the very important position of UN ambassador. Until now. In case you don't have a TV or don't watch news, here's a mini summary. John Bolton was nominated and the Senate was blocking the vote on his approval. The Senate had requested documents from the White House on Mr. Bolton's record and public statements but the administration refused to comply. Instead of nominating an acceptable, reasonable candidate, Bushie has gone ahead to abuse his power and install Bolton without the approval of the nations elected officials. It is an outrage and my stomach continues to turn.

So, to recap, we have:
1. Abuse of Power-Recess appointment of UN-hater to post as US ambassador to UN
2. High Treason-Karl Rove's disclosure of the identity of an under-cover CIA operative
3. Dividing, Not Uniting-Nomination of divisive, anti-choice, anti-privacy, anti-environment man to life-long post on the Supreme Court.

Which way should the people look? I think that's exactly the plan. Educate yourselves!

On the prowl--for a job...

I am finally, again, endlessly connected to the internet. It has been a very trying period, especially while trying to find a job. I've felt extremely disconnected and unable to conduct a proper search. Well, the heat is on now and I am very happy. Tomorrow, at long last, I have 2 more interviews. The first is for a telemarketing thing which I already hate but will none-the-less do, to make some money (I have to prepare a 2-minute sales pitch which I don't really do). The second is with Steel Business Briefing which is, of course, a world-wide steel-industry newsletter. I think that I'm interviewing to be some sort of sales rep/article writer. I actually really want the second one. The atmosphere is laid back and relatively hip and the money is good. It will also get me some nice CV building material. Other than that, one of my job agencies has indicated that they have something in the works (it is apparently very delicate, with the client asking if I am "all artsy-fartsy" because of my CV). So, keep your collective fingers crossed for me. I am in dire need of a job. In the past week, I have been praised for my obvious office skills (after their stupid Word, Excell, PowerPoint, spelling, typing tests) only to be passed up for my less skilled, but female, competition. I am quickly approaching my boiling point with this job hunt.

At least, though, my home life is enjoyable. On Saturday, Lenka moved into the previously empty bedroom at the end of the hall and today, the Thai family (which was just visiting?) moved out. Also, Rachel and I are eating very well. On Saturday, Sabine made Chicken Provencal which was totally delectable and today, Lenka created a very tasty Chicken/Onion/Rice dish. I am really enjoying the variety of culture in the house and it's very cool for us all to come together for dinner. Occasionally, after dinner we will all watch a DVD and drink a couple bottles of wine. The pseudo-family thing is really working well.