WASHINGTON DC

So I know I'm a little late, and my weekly thing has taken a sluggish turn. If it were a slug it would lose the race if we raced a whole bunch of slugs. It would be able to reproduce with itself, but that skill is utterly useless in this situation.

I had to make an impromptu move back to beautiful Brooklyn, the reasons for which I will not disclose here (but if you message me, we can have a good bitch about life). My relationship with Manhattan was a whirlwind romance, fast and passionate but burnt out all too quickly like a tiny petroleum match. Our break up was necessary but it hurt none the less. It was a textbook separation, that I realised was mutual after I being dumped, as one does. It was swift, and instead of eating my feelings, I went to Washington DC!
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. We did all the main attractions in one crisp and beautiful day, the photographic evidence of my enjoyment is thus:

Washington Monument- crap. 

LOLJK

Vietnam War Memorial- was ight. 

Lincoln Memorial- boring. 

The Capitol- emotional.
Ella and I linked pinkies throughout the tour of the Capitol, given by an unashamedly sassy man. He was great fun and the headsets were malfunctioning, which only added to the general verve of the experience.

It's good to be back.

The only nice photo we took. Ever. 

We also all got pedicures to lift spirits even higher. Olive didn't get her paws done but demanded to be in the picture. 

Bowen and I being best friends as per usual. In stripes.

If you look closely, you can see a lone John, braving the cold. Alone. 

This is Jack. He is just magnificent. Here he can be seen resting his butt on the sofa...being majestic is tiring. 

untitled. 

SHOUTS to Sharon and Scott, (another extension of the Prince-Hick famalam) who had us to stay in their beautiful house in beautiful DC. One of the coolest parts of the visit was driving through the "Embassy Village" as I have thus titled it. Each embassy had a flavour of their country in the architecture and decor and Britian's building had a lovely statue of Churchill making the iconic peace sign in bronze by the entrance. Nice touch I thought.
Plus, I just adored the idea of all of the ambassadors getting together for dinners and yard sales, coffee mornings and PTA meetings.
"This week it's at your house Germany!"
"France, you're bringing the wine this time"
"Classic North Korea, charades is not his game"
"Brazil, put some clothes on"
etc etc.
I have decided it would be a great TV show, like Parks and Recreation meets Scrubs. But instead of a hospital, it would be government. We'd have to be careful not to be racist. I'll keep working on that one...
In short, I highly recommend DC. Very clean. Overpriced hotdogs though- be warned.


I ALSO went to St John the Divine in Manhattan on an Art History field trip. Incredible building, and they have a fab ethos of acceptance, of all religions and cultures. And they have peacocks residing in the grounds.

The glorious doors of the cathedral.
Do you feel dwarfed by the omnipotent power of God?

HIGH GOTHIC OR ROMANESQUE ?

The highly reviled and most prestigious educator, Mr Ken Rush. Since 1971.
Feel free to get lost in those mad little eyes.
*photo creds to Gemma, who instagrammed this gem*

After a tour by a guy who's haircut I can only describe as a modern day mullet, we were free to roam the cathedral. After a prompting from a friend of mine, I found myself in a chapel, having a cheeky pray when a choir started singing Amazing Grace. It was like a scene out of a soap opera! It was so extraordinary, I was moved to tears. After my dubious epiphany, I felt almost greedy having these existential moments in such quick succession.

TAMAR. Oh my days Tamar. John took Nora and I to a piece of performance art that was performed in his church- St Paul's on Clinton and Carroll- which was sensational. I mean that literally, all of our senses were tingled. It was essentially a choral concert, by Choral Chameleon but it was designed to break down our preconceived ideas of the relationship between performer and audience. So we walked around, following the performance as they sang and acted a bit round the space. The story line was incredibly confusing, loosely based on the biblical story of Tamar, who fought for peace by chatting to a river repeatedly, killing her husband and then sleeping with his father, attempting to blackmail him, failing, and yelling a lot. It was mad. However, the quality of singing was so high, it was easy to forgive the lack of plot line. Plus, Vince the director (who also directs John's church choir, and who I had the pleasure of working with once over advent) squeezed in a lighter collection of songs as a sort of epilogue at the end, so relieve our brain-grapes somewhat after the epic journey we had just taken. It was one of those moments that made me think about what other utterly insane things must be happening at that exact same time in other corners of the world.

So I really did do a lot I was proud of during these last two weeks... I was challenged but came up trumps, found out a lot about myself and the people around me, went to DC, had another incredibly emotive experience I need to never forget and witnessed some performance art I hope I will never forget.

This week, I'm proud I found peace.

I also helped Nora with her spanish homework. The illustrations are my main contribution.

"The boy holds a basket of partridges"

"The boy fights a bear" (in high heels)

"The army is small"
(We observed that it's a tiny army, or ' Just a small group of men with big ideas' as Nora put it. Genius.)

I'm craving banana bread

This week, I'm proud I survived a nasty bout of influenza.

I did so little else that simply existing is all I can be proud of really...
(I did have an incredible epiphany and an entirely new experience this past weekend involving what I can only describe as a new level of consciousness involving my potential relationship with reality but I was heavily intoxicated and shant go into details here)

I was lying all pathetic-like and dying in bed for almost 7 whole days. I attempted school on friday but after a double morning free decided it was too taxing for my frail and withered body so came back to Manhattan and slept a bit more.

Before I fell victim to the pox however, Alan (for those of you uninformed, Alan was the alpha male in my Manhattan chapter) and I had a cultural extravaganza on the Saturday and Sunday before I was bed ridden. We saw "Really Really" by Paul Downs Colaizzo, starring Lauren Culpepper, David Hull, Evan Jonigkeit, Matt Lauria, Kobi Libii, Zosia Mamet (from the hit HBO show 'Girls', she plays the loveable Shoshanna), and Aleque Reid. Directed by David Cromer at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
I LOVED IT. I likened it to "Posh" by Laura Wade, all about a bunch of young educated bucks in uni/college who encounter a bit of real life and need to navigate their way through it, fuelled by the belief that they are invincible and liquor. I won't bore you with a review or anything but it's current and witty, relevant and poignant. I really enjoyed it and It made me think for ages after so I recommend you see it entirely. (Plus, we were in the front row and I was super close to Zosia Mamet and she's fab so weeee!)
We also saw Steppenwolf's production of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?", directed by Pam MacKinnon and starring Tracy Letts, Amy Morton, Madison Dirks and Carrie Coon. Tracy Letts and Amy Morton were just sensational and I fell in love with the play itself. I get why its kinda a classic. If you have not read or seen this play, YOU MUST. Especially if you are a lit or theatre student. You'll get so involved in the possibilities presented to the point of just marvelling at Albee's writing. Plus, you'll understand what everybody is raving about.
The third and final cultural injection was "My Name is Asher Lev" by Aaron Posner (adapted from the novel by Chaim Potok) directed by Gordon Edelstein and starring Ari Brand, Mark Nelson, and Jenny Bacon. Now, I am unsure whether my sickeness had a part to play in my reaction to this piece but I definitely did not love it as much as the other two. The play is about a Hasidic Jewish boy who wants to be an artist but battles with his families beliefs and his unquenchable desire to draw and create. I like the concept but it spanned over about 20 years and the main character's frequent direct address was tiring. I don't mean to cause any offence but the theatre was full of wrinkly jewish men and women who giggled at all the Hebrew jokes that I didn't get. I'm glad we went but it pales in comparison to Really Really and Who's afraid', that may have just been more accessible to a young christian brit.

Virginia. 

I was taking a sunday stroll round Grenwich Village one snowy, sunny weekend and was whatsapping Ham and Ree as I sat and ate the most delicious egg and bacon sandwich by the Hudson. I sent them this pic, and they sent me the following back:

Proving where he is, is just as cool... From Hamish 

Aaaand 'sleepy chic' from Ree.
I miss them both terribly when they send me mad photos like this but it also reaffirms by faith in our collective existence.  

My remedy of choice (along with horrible flu meds that made me vomit. Stupid "delicate constitution")

 OHMY, I ALSO WENT TO A PENTATONIX CONCERT. On Thursday, I managed to rally myself and crawl out of bed to see these guys with a bunch of a cappella buddies. HUGE shouts to Emily and Carroll, who made it happen. The pictures I took were from the VIP section (no big freakin deal) AND WE GOT TO MEET THEM AFTERWARDS. It was the maddest thing, considering I'd only become equated with the band this year, I went completely silly when we went back stage. Mehh, I got caught up and loved it. If you don't know who they are, look them up because you'll be able to appreciate their talent. Being mainly a cover band an all.

THIS IS AVI THE BASE. HIS VOICE IS JUST INCREDIBLE

I also watched the Oscars with Nora. We made millions of mini muffins and didn't even come close to eating half of them. 

NEXT UP: WASHINGTON DC.

I forgot to upload this when it happened, but it was no pants day or something and it made me laugh.
Maybe I did upload it. But I'm going to do so again. 

We walked past a PUPPY SALE, 50% OFF ON A LARGE SELECTION OF PUPPIES AND YOUNG DOGS?! I died a little bit that day because my heart swelled up and a little bit broke off because it wouldn't fit inside my rib cage. 

First ride in a yellow cab. 5 months in. After seeing Fiddler on the Roof by the theatre company Applause.  BIG UP SAMANTHA.

FOUND A TWO DOLLAR BILL! WHAAAAAA

*not my photo* But it illustrates the small but intense dance party the seniors had in the student centre once 2nd semester began. 

lil momento of Dance Concert 2013

I also lie about my name in Starbucks. HowIGetMyKicks.

It snowed so I defiled the white canvas with my initials. Yes I know  it looks like a J.

Stupid buttface genius brother. 

Miss you guys. 

View from my new room. No big deal. 

OH HAI NEW JERSEY

OH HAI MANHATTAN 

Also got a hair cut. It no longer looks like that. 

Darling Frankie really is MA GURL. 

Jack and Eliza. The space. Watch it. 

This is the sledging hilarity that occurred this saturday. The goggles aren't mine but I feel like I am rocking the 'ski chic' look. 

We got milkshakes afterwards. SWISH. 

MANHATTAN

This week, I'm proud I put myself out there.

Not only did I move house from Brooklyn to Manhattan (eeeep), but I was in Dance Concert.
It's like this student run (virtually) and choreographed dance showcase thingy. I am no dancer and felt incredibly self conscious in the run up to the first performance but I saw the others practising and just revelling in the whole tradition and atmosphere of the night, I thought screw it. I can get over my body image issues for what, 12 minutes of my life?!
And it turned out to be incredible! The after party was at a studio in Dumbo, which was like a heaving, swaying mass of adolescence in a small, totally bare room.
I ALSO, auditioned for the musical- Bye Bye Birdie and am now Mrs Mae Peterson, darling Albert's momma. SWISH.

MOREOVER, I watched the Super Bowl for the first time. American football is incredibly boring and I didn't really get the thing about the adverts... $4 million for 30 seconds?! Is that right? Not sure, you should check that...but it will still be just a shocking. We also studied the incredibly (homo)erotic Calvin Klein advert in Art History the next day.

This can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yelvxwTRUY

FURTHERMORE, as well as being in Bye Bye Birdie, I'm in a friend of mine's Senior Thesis (Rocky Horror Picture Show) AND I've decided to embark on my own thesis. I got my grades back for the first semester and I have a nice range from A's to a D-. I guess it showed that I do well in the classes I give  a crap about. So I thought doing a senior thesis would fire me up. I don't have to drop a class because I have an inordinate amount of free periods and "homework" seems to never derail me ever so imadoit. The Senior Thesis idea is basically exactly like the Extended Project Qualification I did at Marlborough...except without the write up part (lol).  I thought about just handing in my old project buuuut that would be unfathomably dull. More on that later.


IN ADDITION, I got tickets to see Time Flies, but it got cancelled because of the blizzard... The last time I tried to go to a concert, hurricane Sandy hit. Should I be taking the hint?
Which reminds me, I was in my FIRST New York blizzard! What utter larks. After the horribly cold and intrusive blizzard, humans natural response was to turn it into something beautiful and sled on the remains the next day. Bliff.
And instead of going to Time Flies, we went to this thing to see Jack perform which was wicked. Watch this space.

PEACE X

UPCOMING EVENTS: Grammies are on tomorrow, I'm going to see The Laramie Project, Its presidents day weekend, PENTATONIX CONCERT ON THURSDAY, and I'm off to Washington some time later in the month.

Martin Luther King, Jr Day

Turns out going to the gym is next weeks challenge...
Probs.

This week, I'm proud I have my crap in order.

By this week, I mean last week, but I like the phrase and I'm thinking of keeping it. Plus, I spent the weekend upstate and didn't bring my laptop. Small price to pay though, we get a 3 day weekend because of Martin Luther King, Jr Day and we spent all weekend playing Monopoly, trying to complete an Escher puzzle. Escher. Listening to old records, and reading. I loved it.
We also saw Les Mis' and when I didn't cry at Fantine's death I thought my heartlessness knew no bounds but I then proceeded to weep at the rest of it.
Fave performance? I am torn between Eddie Redmayne and Sacha Baron Cohen...We all know Eddie is fab but no matter what Sacha is doing, I love him for it. So there.

I don't really know if I actually do have my shit together, or that I ever will but i'm about to move house so I feel a new chapter is about to begin and my waters tell me I'll have a smooth transition.
(Heads up, if you're on tenter hooks about what this coming weeks moment of pride will be, chances are it's going to be the moving to Manhattan thing. It's going to be emotional but we all knew this day would come, even if it is bittersweet. Luckily, my alt fam know that my excitement for the new does not detract from the gratitude I feel towards them and the fabby fab time I've had so far. And, they are mine now. Whether they like it or not, forever my Alt Fam.)

So it's weird to say that I have my crap together, but the point of this New Years resolution was to effectively stay busy, and so far I have done just that.

DISCALIMER

After receiving a hilarious text, I feel I must let you know that I did not have chlamydia at any point ever in my life ever.
For you few that either did not read my previous posts or did not get the joke, I shall explain myself.
Way back when, I was in the doctor's office feeling lack luster and she was spewing words at me about my illness. The one word I picked up on was 'chlamydia', but after a concerned face and titter, Dr Pytlak explained to me that the bacteria responsable for causing my sickness was called "chlamydia PNEUMONAI". Meaning I had the virus pneumonia. NOT the STI.

See? The joke was worth it.
Right?

ALSO, I did not get up thrice in my flight to 'be' but I didn't change it because I like the idea of having to stand up and walk around to just 'be'. I wonder what that would look like...
I hope I 'am' all the time, regardless of stance.
I in fact needed to pee.

I'm in a history lesson as I write this... I'm not entirely sure what I am supposed to be doing, but writing this looks official and I'm being quiet so I think he's just rather not disturb me.
HURGH HURGH HURGH THE POWER.
(One day the faeces will hit the air circulator I'm sure and I'll be expelled. It should not be this easy to slip through the net)
BUT more on that later. My bum has gone numb.

BE PROUD

What did I do, that I am proud of this week?
WELL.
Last week, I actually came back to the US of A WITHOUT a hitch and I didn't get too drunk on the plane. I did watch a whole bunch of lame films, but I didn't mind annoying the fat, loud, snoring dickbutt face man next to me by getting up to be thrice during the flight- for reasons I believe are apparent.

So. This week, I'm proud I stayed busy.

I haven't been to the gym yet, but I believe that is next weeks challenge.
I wrote an essay BEFORE the deadline, and I actually really enjoyed writing it for a lovely change. Is THIS what My Lady Mother was talking about when she was chatting about learning for the sake of self improvement or someshit...? Dammit. THE THRILL OF KNOWLEDGE.
Urgh.
I also went up to Litchfield Connecticut for the weekend (shouts to the Azi) and saw some snow:

It was thrilling.

Also, I thought about posting some of the pics from my NewYears Eve but if you are reading this you were probably there. So, no need. Plus, facebook exists.

OH GOLLY HECK I NEARLY FORGOT,
I WENT TO MY FIRST BASKET BALL GAME.
It was a school game, Boys Varsity Vs St Annes (big deal apparently) and I had so much fun, sweetened only by the fact we won.
Here are the pics:

Nora and Ellie came too. We took creeper photos of Bowen which he secretly loved but never said so, only with his eyes. 

ahhhhh they are warmingg uppppp

Thats our mascot thing, Magellan the Pelican. 

Sexy boys. hashtagnoshame.

TENSE CROWD.

The golden globes just finished and I need to shower so hard. So I'll leave the rest of the things I was going to show you till later.
OKEYBYE.