Happy Offical 100th Post to me!

This time I'm not lying and therefore I had to make an even uglier party hat for the occasion!  Wow, can you believe I'm actually 100 posts old? I can't. Feels like yesterday I was talking my first steps as a blogger. *Sigh* How time flies.

In other news, I am Mr. Gadget. My wonderful mother sent me a package and in that package was an umbrella. But not a crap umbrella like the ones I've been buying. No, this my friends is an awesome umbrella. It looks like a normal umbrella, but it opens with the touch of a button. Sure, plenty of people have umbrellas that open with the touch of a button, but I bet they don't open as dramatically as mine.

Unsurprisingly, it was raining today when I got my umbrella in the mail so I got to try it out right away. When I came out of a store, I would push my button, and instead of just opening, this umbrella would BAM! OPEN! Scared the crap out of me the first time. After that, I rather enjoyed it, saying each time before it opened, "GO GO GADGET UMBRELLA!" then, BAM! Umbrella.

So THAT's what being productive feels like

I've been deadly sick (and NO I'm not being dramatic) and it was Christmas, so my productivity levels sunk to all-time lows this past week. I was starting to really despair.

Then today, I kicked butt!! I totally karate chopped my books and said "Tell me what you know, or this will be your last library check-out!" Most of my books squealed. A few of them took some convincing. I'm not going to say I used torture, but maybe my tactics involved lemon juice and a lighter, maybe they didn't.

Ok, so I didn't get my books to talk to me, but I did get a good amount of work done. I finish a book, Modernity at Large by Arjun Appadurai, which is a fairly dense treatise on modernity and the effects of deterritorialization (globalization) on cultural identity. It was fascinating! (You think that was sarcasm? Unfortunately not. I did really enjoy the book.)

Now: I have only this small stack of books to finish before I can start writing my two essays that are due two weeks from today.

I apparently don't take much convincing

Happy Boxing Day! (Whatever the hell that means other than crazy sales and the thought of crowds larger than Aunt Sally's backside that have kept me inside.)

Now that Christmas is over it's time for some quick updates!

First: Admire my craftmanship! ADMIRE!!!

That is me modeling the scarf that I finally finished in time for SJF's Christmas present. I actually think it looks better on me, but who's judging? (Or rather, it would look better on me if I wasn't making that stupid face. sheesh!)

Second: For those of you who might have read my recent post about "finding my old crazy self?" Yeah, well that didn't take long. I did go out that night and danced my heart out. I chatted with just about everyone in the bar and was a hit! I looked good, people loved me, the night rocked.

And finally, just in case my life wasn't crazy enough. I had the most unforgettable Christmas Eve ever. SJF and I went out shopping to pick up some last minute gifts from him and before we ate lunch, we thought we'd celebrate Christmas with a bottle of champagne. We found a nice bar and had a real choice spot in a corner all to ourselves. We were enjoying ourselves, but before I knew what was going on, we were talking to the bartenders and a few other customers. Then out of nowhere, everyone got in the Christmas spirit and started buying shots for all of us talking (including the bartenders). We did a few rounds and then my cousin showed up. She joined in the fun and the rounds kept coming. We left the bar at around 5:00 in the evening and already being pretty tippsy, the three of us (my cousin, SJF and I) decided it would be a great idea to go to another bar. So by 6:00, or 6:30 I was thoroughly and accidentally wasted. That didn't stop us, as we met up with my cousin's boyfriend and went to another bar.

That was honestly the most spontaneous Christmas Eve ever, but I think that's just how the Brits do it. :)

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! What did Santa bring you!?

Blogger totally made me into a liar

Wow. I'm sorry. Blogger told me I had posted 100 posts and I posted a really fun picture of me in probably the ugliest party hat I've ever seen.

Then I checked, and it turns out I forgot some drafts I had started and never finished. I'm closer to 97 posts. That is nothing worthy of an ugly party hat and that makes me sad.

I'm sorry for getting you excited. I really hope you hadn't already gotten out your ugly party hat before I had to break the bad news.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from your favorite blogger...or at the very least the

only blogger that can 'wow' you with the most horrid Paint skills

this side of Texas.

To keep you in the Christmas spirit, I took some pictures of Oxford street on Christmas day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The creepy window at Selfridges)

 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

OH! And one more thing before I go. It's time to switch hats and once again show off my awesome Paint skills:

That's right! I've posted 100 posts now. Wheee!

It's like a old-timey Western in my head

The scene: Ghost town in the middle of a desert. A tumble weed tumbles through the shot (cause that's what tumble weeds do). It's a show down between this new boring-self I've developed and my old fun, exciting, spontaneous self.
"Listen kid, this town ain't big enough for the both of us." My two egos stare each other down and all of a sudden they draw!
However, no one dies, because my egos (being my egos) are pussies and don't know how to use guns.

Ok, so it's not going to work that easily, but man something's got to be done! I'm becoming such a boring person. My blog posts are almost non-existent and when I do post, they're lame. I don't talk to random people anymore when I'm out. I almost never venture out of my room if it weren't for SJF. I'm pretty sure I'm boring the piss out of SJF who is one of the most gregarious people I know. And, I haven't gotten excited about anything in a long time.

What is up with this?! Huh?!

I've got to make a change for the better and soon, otherwise I'm going to suffocate myself with my own boringness. (Not actually sure if that's possible, but I'm going to pretend it is.)

I need a step-by-step plan to beat the boring blues. Here's what I propose:

Step 1:
Tomorrow, I'm going out. I'm going to get into the closest thing to "going-out" clothes that I own, do up my hair, and zip up those boots. I'm going to rule this town! I'm going to cut loose, talk to people, and dance my damn heart out, baby! (For those of you who might find yourself concerned, SJF is going out with me. I won't be 'cutting loose' alone. But thanks for caring, that's really sweet.)

Step 2:
Recover from said night. Ok ok, so that's not really a "step" per se, because recovering is actually a pretty boring thing to do. But whatevs, I am pretty sure I'll need recovery time.

Step 3:
The next time I start to feel overwhelmed by work, just take a deep breath, and make a to-do list, prioritizing everything. THEN STAB THAT LIST IN THE FACE!

Step 4:
Talk to strange people. And by "strange people" I mean both people that I find slightly off and odd, and strangers. I have had so many fun conversations with strangers that I don't want to miss out. In fact, that's how I met SJF, by starting a random conversation and enjoying myself, and apparently that's what attracted him to me.

Step 5:
Laugh more often. When I'm stressed out, actually happy, upset, I need to just laugh. Basically because I love the look on people's faces when you start crying and it all of a sudden morphs into a crazy-person laugh.

Step 6:
I don't care for the number 6 so I'm going to skip this step.

Step 7:
Be spontaneous. Not sure if this can qualify as a step either, because by forcing myself to be spontaneous, I loose the whole spontaneity thing. But I should start seeing things and just doing them. And, no, not in a dirty way...although I may think about that one. If I come across a neat looking cafe, just go inside. If I see an opportunity, TAKE IT!


I was totally planning on doing a whole 12 step program, but then I got lazy. I think 7 steps is plenty. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get back to my knitting.

(What!?! I said I was starting tomorrow!)

Bah Humbug

As seems to be the way of things, I'm now on Christmas holidays from lectures and I'm sick. Merry Christmas to me from Mother Nature!

Yesterday, I thought I'd forget the sickness and go do a little holiday window shopping to get into the spirit. I wanted to go out to the Covent Garden area, which is on the other end of Oxford St from me. It would probably be about a 40-45 minute walk, but it was so cold and I felt like shit, so I figured I'd take the bus. An hour later and I had made it about four stops down Oxford St. Fed up, I hopped off the bus to walk the rest of the way and found myself struggling up-stream against the flow of Christmas shoppers. I literally have bruises on both of my shoulders from shoving my way through the crowd that for some reason all seemed to be going the opposite direction.

All that for some window shopping. No wonder I feel worse today!

BAH HUMBUG!

No one will believe me but I just have to share

SJF and I were supposed to have a nice dress up date last night, but he called and cancelled. His boss was making him work until midnight in order to finish a deadline. Bummed out, I spent my evening chilling, listening to Christmas music. Then at midnight, I get a call from SJF. He said "work sucked and I need to let out some frustration. Let's go out. It's a Friday night, let's go dancing." Figuring I had nothing better to do, and it was a Friday night in London, I agreed.

SJF met me at my place and we set out in search of the closest club. We made it a few blocks to Oxford Street and we realized that it was so late that we would probably have a hard time getting in anywhere, AND it was flipping freezing outside. That is when we came across The Quebec City a pub that still seemed to be hopping. So we went inside. It was warm, it was buzzing, there was a dance floor downstairs. We were all set.

While we stood at the bar waiting for drinks, I started to get this really strong feeling that I shouldn't be there. Investigating, I began surveying the scene. There were alot of old men...and they were all standing really close to each other.

Great. We had made it to a gay bar. SJF still hadn't gotten us drinks and I tried to convince him to go seeing as the looks I got from the other patrons was one of "what is that thing doing here." SJF called me close-minded and said why can't we have fun at a gay bar. It's an experience. Fair enough. We get some drinks, head down to the dance floor and just enjoy ourselves.

About 30 minutes into dancing, this older man walks my direction, while looking SJF up and down on the way. Once the man approaches he says "My, you look very beautiful tonight." I thank him. Who doesn't like compliments from gays who actually have a sense of style? He then made a bit of small talk about Christmas.

Then SJF, who had gone off dancing his "sexy" dance moves, had come back my direction and yet again this old man pretty much eye-fucked SJF. I thought it was quite amusing and I went to tell SJF that he's got an admirer but it was so loud in the pub, that I had to lean in real close to tell him in his ear. SJF laughs, kisses me, and then whips out some more dances moves. I stand back once again (as I wasn't as much in the dancing mood) and now the old man comes up to me to say "I got the answer. No need to tell this old man."

I laugh and smile at the guy mouthing "Sorry." The man then turns back towards the dance floor for another few seconds before once more coming up to me. At the point, he started talking and all I could get from it was the following bits:

"I'm not afraid to fight...I have 4.2 million....I don't need any girl to come between me and a little Asian asshole...I'll fight...4.2. million...shouldn't be here..."

Completely taken aback by this, I almost just said "no need to fight, take him!" Then I remember that SJF in fact smaller than me and that would be a really bad idea. So, thankfully the man used my shock to take his leave, and I simply grabbed SJF's arm and said "alright, we're leaving." SJF, being the dance-aholic that he is, gave me some flak but once he saw the look on my face we left and just went home.

Yes, I swear to god, this story is true. I got threatened by a rich, old, gay guy because he wanted to rape my boyfriend's "little Asian asshole." You just can't make this shit up!

You can't make this stuff up....oh wait, yeah I did.

I'm pretty sure I bombed that test. Damn. Would have been nice to have a good grade, but whatcha gonna do?

My one claim to fame for the test: I made up a word and it turned out to be right. I had no idea what "Where" was and just threw together some letters that looked pretty good and apparently I nailed it right on the button. Major win for Boots.

Oh well, at least it's over and that's a huge relief. It might as well be vacation already. I still have the rest of the week and classes, but eh, who cares. :)

This is just not funny anymore

Umbrella number 7 has died on me.  Surprise, surprise. This time it broke, I did not lose it.
I almost lost it at the bar the night before, but triumphantly remembered it before I got too far down the street...only for it to break the next time I opened it.

I'm considering buying stock in umbrellas.

Boots is going back in time and reliving her freshman days, y'all!

That's right! I just paid the deposit on my student housing and am moving back into a dorm next week.

I know, totally out of left field, but I think it's going to be a great thing for me. I'll be in town, and when I say in town, I mean IN town. I'll be living near Marble Arch Tube stop, which is only a couple minutes walk from Oxford circus and Hyde Park. I'm going to be living in style and by style I mean off Easy-Mac once again in true dorm fashion. No, actually that's not true either, because I'm pretty certain you can't find Easy-Mac out here. You can't even find Spaghetti-Os out here. No joke. Heinz makes a version of them, and they make me want to vomit. You're welcome for the visual by the way.

So why am I moving back into the dorms? First off, because it's closer and in town. Second, because I'll have a desk and can study in my room! Fourthly (I skipped 'thirdly' on purpose because I don't care for the number 3 (I lied, I just forgot I hadn't said 'thirdly' and didn't want to make it look like a mistake(and now I've probably REALLY confused you with my use of parentheses))) (back to the point) because I can act like a freshman again and run around the halls partying and doing stupid shit.

No, mom. I promise I'll be responsible and do my work. (Yeah, right.) Mom, you were totally not supposed to read that small aside just like you're not supposed to read the next one, so look away....NOW... (jeez. Moms. Always on your case).

Anywho...this should be fun, yeah?!

Oh memories: