30/11/2013 00:23![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
my_thestral
my_thestralI just finished a wonderfully entertaining book called Becoming Nancy by Terry Ronald (I loved it, BTW, a very sweet piece of youth literature), which I bought at the Luton Airport and I think it's an appropriate wrap to my London holiday.
In short: I loved it and I miss London already. I've spent some of my toughest and best times in that city and it will always hold a special place in my heart. It's where I first learned to stand up for myself, I came to terms with my anorexia which eventually lead towards me beating the bitch ;), I was even hit by a car there once - a lot of firsts!
And this time it was no less magical, though, luckily, with no tragic elements, hih! :) I stayed with my friend Tanja, whom I admire greatly. That girl has more education and knowledge than anyone else I know - a master's degree and a Ph.D. - and still no one would give her a steady job. She has to work three jobs just to be able to pay rent, feed herself and travel around abhorrently expensive London - and not much is left for anything else. You've gotta love this girl's resilience, but the life-style is slowly draining her. It's horrible to still be sharing a flat with 5 other people, strangers, really, at the age of 39. :( She longs to have a proper job, a place of her own, a cat and a baby - I think she might have given up a bit on actually finding someone to call her own, so she's dreaming of being a single mom instead.
I can't say I blame her, she's either unlucky or too soft at heart - but she seemed to have stumbled on a bunch of right bastards in the past and it had made her wary of forming another trusting bond. What.A.Bloody.Shame. She's such a nice smart giving tolerant person, but somehow those are always the ones that are left behind. :( And she's fun like hell, we've laughed like idiots deep into the wee hours of the morning every day. I tried to tell her: she should stand up for herself a bit more - after all, being occasional right bitch works wonders for me and for the respect men have for me (actually, I think they might fear me a little, respect is not won so easily!;)) - but she's just not that person! She's also self-conscious about her looks, but I told her time and time again - it's not what you've got, it's how you carry it. I think she might have heard me in the end, I noticed a slight change in her attitude and I liked that new confidence a lot!
Anyway, she's been saving to go around with me, doing some of the stuff I planned to experience, and that's another thing I really appreciated. Maybe it's that we're both Scorpios or that we just get along very well - but we had tons of fun! Even when she gave me the wrong phone number to contact her (she was supposed to pick me up at the tube station - luckily I'm fairly good with finding addresses on my own) and I duly repaid her by taking her room-keys with me when I returned to my homeland (already in the mail) - our friendship had no problem withstanding the tests of those less pleasant experiences and I'm already scheming another visit in a year or so. :)
The first day we went to Warner Bros studios where Harry Potter was filmed - and she's not even a proper fan, but I set my mind on converting her and I must say: mission complete! She loved it there - we took all the silly expensive photos, learnt to do wand-fighting (someone should have recorded us there, a true Youtube moment, we laughed like mental cause it's much harder than it looks!) and just generally ran around with our mouth gaping open! :) And since she's an art history student, she really appreciated the work that went into those movies and the only lament we had really, was the fact that you couldn't buy the replica's of art works displayed at the end. Of course we spent a fortune in their ridiculously expensive shop nevertheless - I think my sons would never forgive me if I didn't go broke in there for them - and even went to seek out the famous Platform 9 3/4 once we returned to London, taking more of the costly photos.
And what a test of our personalities this was! No one wanted to take a photo in a green Slytherin scarf, so I asked the man, assisting in taking the photos, why is that scarf being discriminated against. And he said there weren't many of Slytherin admirers there - so I said "I guess I'm the only one" and took a photo in a green scarf "just because" - I don't really care for house sorting. Tanja wanted the Gryffindor red, but I think it was, in fact, very Gryffindor of me to swim against the tide and stand up for the scarf that was being abandoned because of its ill reputation. ;) I think I might have persuaded the photo assistant that I was a true Slytherin fan, though: when he tied a scarf around my neck none to gently, I told him in my best Malfoyian voice not to attempt to murder me because of my house allegiance and he promised - rather red-faced - that he won't, so I told him: "Oh, I know you won't, I'd hex you!" :D Who would've said my favourite character was Ron Weasley... :)
And after the Potter frenzy was behind us - we also went to the Oxford street trying on the "dead-pheasant" hats and for her birthday, Tanja took me to a proper English Afternoon Tea, with scones, sandwiches, cakes and - of course - a waiter. :) I truly enjoyed that, I never had such an English experience, though I've been in and out of London for years! Then we went to the Norwegian market (expensive but lovely!), and to the holiday market by the Thames and of course we had to go on a merry-go-round - I believe we were the only people above 20. :) Wish I could have bought some of the lovely whiskey-cheese I saw there, but I already had to leave my shoes and half of my clothes at Tanja's just to be able to stuff all the presents in my luggage. BTW - I went to London for 4 days with cabin luggage only - am I brave, or what?! For a woman, that is, I think any man could have pulled it off. ;)
But my absolute favourite was my b-day treat: seeing Mojo and of course, Rupert Grint perform live. I really like that man. Not in a teenage way, though, I didn't exactly wait to meet him at the stage door, screaming for his signature, but I like the way he comes across. He's got a quiet type of confidence about him and that's rare. Like he's a small Universe on his own. I like that about people, not too many of those out there.:) Plus he's an outstanding actor. I told Tanja that I liked him and she teased me forever about it, but I really don't give a fuck: I know good stuff when I see it :) and age difference has nothing to do with it. How is it, that it would have been OK to like Dustin Hoffman, who's old enough to be my father and it's funny that I like Rupert, because he's younger? I'm not out to marry the guy, for god's sake, even if I was the longing-for-marriage type and he was on the market - I do know my limits! ;) - but no one's gonna tell me who to like. Amen. And Rupert aside - I really enjoyed the gritty, raunchy play and the tight performance, it was just such a star-cast that they could hardly go wrong.
And it didn't harm my experience in the least that Alan Rickman, Professor Snape, sat in the same row as I. He made me get up a few times to squeeze himself by and at a certain moment I had an impulse of saying: You cannot pass! - but this would have been a different fandom all together and it might have earned me a Snape-ish smack on the back of my skull.:)
The show alone was well worth coming to London for, especially since the only theatre I've seen in ages were the half-hour kiddy plays I took my son to see. I still lament the days when I had a seasonal ticket and if I ever get to live in London (yeah, like that's bloody well likely!) I'm gonna see as much theatre as I can afford! After all - my parents met in a theatre play and I think my mother and her attempts at (family) drama could have pulled her an early Oscar! Dad's crap on stage, though, all wooden and desperately trying to remember his lines, but mom's a natural. I did a pretty good raven in Orwell's Animal farm as well! ;)
And before I knew it, it was time to go back to the screaming kids and grumpy boyfriend - we talked every day on Skype and phone anyway, it's not like I went on an inter-planetary mission, but the little one seemed to have missed me quite a lot, he cried himself to sleep half of the nights, no matter how brave he sounded on the phone. Poor baby - it was great to be reunited! :) So I guess it'll be a while before I go anywhere on my own again, but it doesn't really matter: those 4 days were for me alone and there's no saying how much they've recharged my flat batteries: I'm less snappish towards the kids, try a bit harder around the BF when he has a bad day and in general - life is good again! And I'm especially proud of myself cause I took a lot of shit from a lot of people who told me I shouldn't be going - much to my disappointment, my BF included - but I went and did it anyway, because this one time it felt really good to be selfish and treat myself. Yey, I did it! :D Can't wait for the next time.;)
And now it's back to writing for me. I've got 2 more chapters of my on-going fic "Choices" finished and another one in progress, all of them still un-betaed and I'm getting my courage together to bug a very special lady for more beta-ing (<- kindly observe my miserable attempt at hinting), but if she's too busy, then I guess I'll just go and embarrass myself some more! ;) Until then!
In short: I loved it and I miss London already. I've spent some of my toughest and best times in that city and it will always hold a special place in my heart. It's where I first learned to stand up for myself, I came to terms with my anorexia which eventually lead towards me beating the bitch ;), I was even hit by a car there once - a lot of firsts!
And this time it was no less magical, though, luckily, with no tragic elements, hih! :) I stayed with my friend Tanja, whom I admire greatly. That girl has more education and knowledge than anyone else I know - a master's degree and a Ph.D. - and still no one would give her a steady job. She has to work three jobs just to be able to pay rent, feed herself and travel around abhorrently expensive London - and not much is left for anything else. You've gotta love this girl's resilience, but the life-style is slowly draining her. It's horrible to still be sharing a flat with 5 other people, strangers, really, at the age of 39. :( She longs to have a proper job, a place of her own, a cat and a baby - I think she might have given up a bit on actually finding someone to call her own, so she's dreaming of being a single mom instead.
I can't say I blame her, she's either unlucky or too soft at heart - but she seemed to have stumbled on a bunch of right bastards in the past and it had made her wary of forming another trusting bond. What.A.Bloody.Shame. She's such a nice smart giving tolerant person, but somehow those are always the ones that are left behind. :( And she's fun like hell, we've laughed like idiots deep into the wee hours of the morning every day. I tried to tell her: she should stand up for herself a bit more - after all, being occasional right bitch works wonders for me and for the respect men have for me (actually, I think they might fear me a little, respect is not won so easily!;)) - but she's just not that person! She's also self-conscious about her looks, but I told her time and time again - it's not what you've got, it's how you carry it. I think she might have heard me in the end, I noticed a slight change in her attitude and I liked that new confidence a lot!
Anyway, she's been saving to go around with me, doing some of the stuff I planned to experience, and that's another thing I really appreciated. Maybe it's that we're both Scorpios or that we just get along very well - but we had tons of fun! Even when she gave me the wrong phone number to contact her (she was supposed to pick me up at the tube station - luckily I'm fairly good with finding addresses on my own) and I duly repaid her by taking her room-keys with me when I returned to my homeland (already in the mail) - our friendship had no problem withstanding the tests of those less pleasant experiences and I'm already scheming another visit in a year or so. :)
The first day we went to Warner Bros studios where Harry Potter was filmed - and she's not even a proper fan, but I set my mind on converting her and I must say: mission complete! She loved it there - we took all the silly expensive photos, learnt to do wand-fighting (someone should have recorded us there, a true Youtube moment, we laughed like mental cause it's much harder than it looks!) and just generally ran around with our mouth gaping open! :) And since she's an art history student, she really appreciated the work that went into those movies and the only lament we had really, was the fact that you couldn't buy the replica's of art works displayed at the end. Of course we spent a fortune in their ridiculously expensive shop nevertheless - I think my sons would never forgive me if I didn't go broke in there for them - and even went to seek out the famous Platform 9 3/4 once we returned to London, taking more of the costly photos.
And what a test of our personalities this was! No one wanted to take a photo in a green Slytherin scarf, so I asked the man, assisting in taking the photos, why is that scarf being discriminated against. And he said there weren't many of Slytherin admirers there - so I said "I guess I'm the only one" and took a photo in a green scarf "just because" - I don't really care for house sorting. Tanja wanted the Gryffindor red, but I think it was, in fact, very Gryffindor of me to swim against the tide and stand up for the scarf that was being abandoned because of its ill reputation. ;) I think I might have persuaded the photo assistant that I was a true Slytherin fan, though: when he tied a scarf around my neck none to gently, I told him in my best Malfoyian voice not to attempt to murder me because of my house allegiance and he promised - rather red-faced - that he won't, so I told him: "Oh, I know you won't, I'd hex you!" :D Who would've said my favourite character was Ron Weasley... :)
And after the Potter frenzy was behind us - we also went to the Oxford street trying on the "dead-pheasant" hats and for her birthday, Tanja took me to a proper English Afternoon Tea, with scones, sandwiches, cakes and - of course - a waiter. :) I truly enjoyed that, I never had such an English experience, though I've been in and out of London for years! Then we went to the Norwegian market (expensive but lovely!), and to the holiday market by the Thames and of course we had to go on a merry-go-round - I believe we were the only people above 20. :) Wish I could have bought some of the lovely whiskey-cheese I saw there, but I already had to leave my shoes and half of my clothes at Tanja's just to be able to stuff all the presents in my luggage. BTW - I went to London for 4 days with cabin luggage only - am I brave, or what?! For a woman, that is, I think any man could have pulled it off. ;)
But my absolute favourite was my b-day treat: seeing Mojo and of course, Rupert Grint perform live. I really like that man. Not in a teenage way, though, I didn't exactly wait to meet him at the stage door, screaming for his signature, but I like the way he comes across. He's got a quiet type of confidence about him and that's rare. Like he's a small Universe on his own. I like that about people, not too many of those out there.:) Plus he's an outstanding actor. I told Tanja that I liked him and she teased me forever about it, but I really don't give a fuck: I know good stuff when I see it :) and age difference has nothing to do with it. How is it, that it would have been OK to like Dustin Hoffman, who's old enough to be my father and it's funny that I like Rupert, because he's younger? I'm not out to marry the guy, for god's sake, even if I was the longing-for-marriage type and he was on the market - I do know my limits! ;) - but no one's gonna tell me who to like. Amen. And Rupert aside - I really enjoyed the gritty, raunchy play and the tight performance, it was just such a star-cast that they could hardly go wrong.
And it didn't harm my experience in the least that Alan Rickman, Professor Snape, sat in the same row as I. He made me get up a few times to squeeze himself by and at a certain moment I had an impulse of saying: You cannot pass! - but this would have been a different fandom all together and it might have earned me a Snape-ish smack on the back of my skull.:)
The show alone was well worth coming to London for, especially since the only theatre I've seen in ages were the half-hour kiddy plays I took my son to see. I still lament the days when I had a seasonal ticket and if I ever get to live in London (yeah, like that's bloody well likely!) I'm gonna see as much theatre as I can afford! After all - my parents met in a theatre play and I think my mother and her attempts at (family) drama could have pulled her an early Oscar! Dad's crap on stage, though, all wooden and desperately trying to remember his lines, but mom's a natural. I did a pretty good raven in Orwell's Animal farm as well! ;)
And before I knew it, it was time to go back to the screaming kids and grumpy boyfriend - we talked every day on Skype and phone anyway, it's not like I went on an inter-planetary mission, but the little one seemed to have missed me quite a lot, he cried himself to sleep half of the nights, no matter how brave he sounded on the phone. Poor baby - it was great to be reunited! :) So I guess it'll be a while before I go anywhere on my own again, but it doesn't really matter: those 4 days were for me alone and there's no saying how much they've recharged my flat batteries: I'm less snappish towards the kids, try a bit harder around the BF when he has a bad day and in general - life is good again! And I'm especially proud of myself cause I took a lot of shit from a lot of people who told me I shouldn't be going - much to my disappointment, my BF included - but I went and did it anyway, because this one time it felt really good to be selfish and treat myself. Yey, I did it! :D Can't wait for the next time.;)
And now it's back to writing for me. I've got 2 more chapters of my on-going fic "Choices" finished and another one in progress, all of them still un-betaed and I'm getting my courage together to bug a very special lady for more beta-ing (<- kindly observe my miserable attempt at hinting), but if she's too busy, then I guess I'll just go and embarrass myself some more! ;) Until then!
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