Wow, forgot about this thing until Andrea made mention of it in a livejournal comment. I've totally neglected it. So much has happened since I blogged last. But all the exciting stuff has been told to the few people that read this anyway. Went to New Zealand for Christmas/New Years. Fell in love with it, and would love to move there in the future. I think everyone I know should join me. It's impossible not to love that country. School is kicking my ass. Why did I decide to cram a masters degree into one year? I'm in revision mode, while written up my dissertation. Employee engagement and stress during and after organisational restructuring. Exciting huh? Went home to NY at the end of March. Spent my week making coasters, going to Target, and seeing friends. Fun times, but it all went too quickly and I didn't get to see a lot of people I would have liked to see. I've had only one visitor since I've been here, and it was with a friend from high school who I haven't hung out with in almost ten years. While she was here, we happened to meet up with another high school friend who was over here on business. It was nice to catch up. But where are my close friends?

Had a nice little flashback to 2003 yesterday, when Nik and I went and saw Cursive in Camden. Tim Kasher climbed up on the 'balcony' exactly where we were standing and played a song directly in front of us. So close that I had to duck down to avoid getting hit by the neck of the guitar. Brought back memories of my old school Tim Kasher crush from years back. Got some great photos which will be Flickr bound soon.

My goal for the summer is to spend a lot of time exploring the city. I haven't really had a chance to since I moved here. Sure, I know the Aldwych/Covent Garden area by heart at this point, but if its beyond a five minute radius of campus, I probably haven't spent much time there. I want to visit every free museum and every green park and maybe a palace or two. This weekend we're hiring a car and heading down to Canterbury, Sandwich and Dover. It's only a two day break, and I will have to spend some of the driving time studying for exams, but it's better than nothing. Nik takes his last final tomorrow, so his life will be a bit less stressed at least. Really excited to take my TTV camera contraption with me, although the weather isn't looking too good and I learned at Coney Island that rain + TTV = not so good photos.

Ummm yeah so...nothing new here. I miss you all, and please come visit. It's lonely here. xo

Election Day.

Today is Election Day. I'm spending it in another country and it has been a great experience. It's amazing how intensely political people are over here, even though very few can actually vote in this election. I have yet to meet anyone who supports McCain's candidacy, or thought Bush was a decent president. And while it may be one-sided in that sense, I feel that people here understand the real impact of this election. Obama may not be everything I've ever wanted in a president (gay marriage rights anyone?) but he's still going to be a welcome change not just for Americans, but for people all over the world...

I'm sitting in a building that tomorrow will be visited by the Queen. It just opened this term and still smells of fresh paint. There are men in suits and sunglasses all over, and I'm guessing they represent some sort of security arrangement and they are prepping for this monumental visit. Alas, I will be in class and was unable to get tickets, despite being one of the few invited (EROB department happens to be located in this building) but our teacher has said we will be let loose at some point to try to get a glimpse. Can't say that means a whole lot to me, as I know the chances of seeing her wandering down Sardinia Street are slim to none. I can't imagine the Queen bringing a bagged lunch to eat in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Maybe she'll take a walk to see The Old Curiousity Shop in the midst of campus, or maybe she'll want to walk the scary spiral staircase in the LSE library. But all of this is doubtful, and my guess is that she'll spend her time surrounded by the before-mentioned men in suits and sunglasses.

I wonder if they plan on turing the AC off in this building for tomorrow? It's quite chilly and I really want to stick my hands in my pockets but that tends to make typing hard.

I should really be reading for Employment Relations, but the topic of industrial relations in France and Italy doesn't interest me to a great extent. I've been meaning to blog for some time, and its amazing how much easier it is to do when I have other stuff I should be doing. This weekend is going to consist of practice essay writing and job applying, although no one wants to sponser work visas for overseas candidates in todays economy. I have a Britney Spears song in my head that I've heard only once and its driving me a tad bit insane.

Back to voting, I want to know who is actually voting for McCain. Of my friends at least. No one I'm close to is as far as I know, but I'm sure there are acquaintances/school friends that probably are.

An American classmate is going home this weekend for a wedding, and she asked if there was anything I'd want her to bring back for me. My answer was Target. Is it sad that I miss that place so much? I need new jeans and a comfy pillow, and I'll have to go to Primark, instead of buying it from the love of my life. We tried to explain the wonder of Target to two British classmates yesterday and were unsuccessful. You just can't put that much greatness into words...

Time to go read....

Worst lyrics ever?

I think I just found the worst song ever -

Bryan Adams - (I Wanna Be) Your Underwear
I wanna be your t-shirt when it's wet - I wanna be the shower when you sweat
I gotta be the tattoo on your skin - yeah lemme be your bed baby - when you climb in
I wanna be the sheets when you sleep - let me be the secrets that you keep
I gotta be the spoon - ta stir your cream
I wanna be the one that really makes you scream

I wanna be - your lipstick when ya lick it
I wanna be - your high heels when ya kick it
I wanna be - your sweet love babe - ya when you make it
from your feet up to your hair - more than anything I swear
I wanna be - your underwear

I wanna be the itch that you scratch - wanna be the chair when you relax
I gotta be your razor when you shave
I wanna be the habit that really makes you crave

I wanna be - your hot tub - when you're dippin'
I wanna be - your bathrobe - when you're drippin'
I wanna be - your cocktail baby - when you're sippin'
I just wanna be right there - more than anything I swear
I wanna be - your underwear

I wanna be your sleeping bag - baby slip inside
Let me be your motorcycle n' take you for a ride - alright

I wanna be - your hot sauce - ya when you're cookin'
I wanna be - your sunglasses - hey good lookin'
I wanna be - wanna be the one - you're stick your hook in
I just wanna be right there - more than anything I swear
Oh ya I wanna be - your underwear

If anyone can find something worse than this, please let me know.

Home sweet home...

I have arrived in London. Actually, I arrived a few days ago, but I'm finally settling into London life. Got in Tuesday morning with no issue. Flight was actually early, which messed up Nik's plans to surprise me at the airport, but I managed to drag myself and over 100 lbs worth of luggage to Roman Road none the less. Lucked out and got the friendly guy at passport control and only minimal questions were asked. Luggage came out within a minute (and only 30 seconds before the conveyor jammed and everything was backed up for quite some time. Squeezed myself onto a Piccadilly line tube, changed over to the Central line, and went straight to a taxi outside of Mile End. Luckily there were nice men around to help me whenever I stopped and stared up or down the approaching stairs in horror, trying to figure out how I was going to go about the next 15 steps.

Upon reaching Diamond House, I proceeded to take a nap. Slept a bit on the plane but would have never made it through the day without one. Next stop: Ikea. A lot of pounds (both money and weight) later, Nik and I arrived home with a minicab full of goodies. Spent all of Wednesday putting things together, with help from the little naked Ikea man with the sharp, pointy nose. Then came organizing, which is pretty much complete, minus some of Nik's stuff.

Wednesday morning, tubed it over to school for registration, which I expected to take a few hours but in fact took a total of 5 minutes. That night, the flatmates plus Ian went for a Thai dinner that was quite yummy, particularly the super spicy Som Tum salad that left us all with watery eyes. Passionfruit desserts are my new love. Finally got some food delivered to the flat today (oh Ocado, how I love thee) so I can actually eat something other than pretzels. Been researching lots of school stuff (LSEs way of going about things is a bit tough to figure out), figuring out my cell phone, responding to emails, and other things I'm forgetting at the moment.

Before I left, my mother took an entire day to transfer as many home movies as she could from VHS to DVD (which help from a lovely friend, who lent me his thingamabob to do the transfer) and I watched one yesterday. Nothing better than embarrassing videos of yourself singing I'm a Little Teapot at 6 years old (multiple times) and family parties in Queens with my grandmother cursing in her old blonde wigs.

I will try to keep up with this blog as time progresses (no promises). Hopefully I will have some fun and exciting weekends while I'm here on this side of the Ocean, and pictures will surely come along. I miss my NY friends...so please come visit ASAP....

Oops

IMG_3471
Originally uploaded by killingacamera

Yikes, I've been missing in action for far too long. I'm sorry to the two people who actually read this (if there are more of you, please let me know!) My free time has been limited but at the moment I'm not feeling too good, so I'm not doing the other things I should be doing...

I started a temp assignment a few weeks ago at a vitamin company called Country Life. I almost didn't accept it because they called at 8:15 in the morning and asked if I could be in at 9. I decided just to go for it and I'm glad I did. Here's a few key things about them:
They were the first Tea Tree Oil company in the US.
They are also the first vitamin company to be certified gluten-free.
Products in the Desert Essence Organics line are 100% vegan, wheat free, and gluten free.
"All of the Desert Essence Organics products are free of parabens, sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates, phthalates, artificial fragrances or colors, silicones, EDTA, glycol, and petroleum-based ingredients"
"We have made a pledge to reduce the negative impact our products may have on the environment by offsetting our carbon footprint."
and a bunch of other stuff. Basically, they're a really cool company to work for - and the free body products help as well haha. Yesterday I got an aluminum-free tea tree deodorant, and I'm constantly using the relief spray I got a few weeks ago (which even helped ease the pain of Bruce's post-accident burn)

Coaster sales have picked up and I spend a lot of my evenings doing Etsy related things. Last Sunday I vended at the Brooklyn Flea, which I'll be doing again this coming Sunday. It helps to be making some extra money for...

London. I leave in four and a half weeks. My going away party in September 19th. And you better be there.

I've been neglecting other things in my life (ie this blog) thanks to work and Etsy, but at least time is moving pretty quickly.

I'll try to keep up on this from now on, but no promises...

Second Chances

I gave the Raine Maida solo album a second listen....and I still don't like it. Sorry Bruce.

Dawn goes to NY

I'm back on Long Island. I arrived at JFK at approximately 1pm on Monday. My flight home was filled with a bad selection of in flight entertainment and drifts in and out of sleep. I followed a familiar looking boy to the airtrain and arrived to Jamaica station, which was prettier than expected. I've never done anything more than change trains at the mysterious and large station. I blindly grabbed what I thought was a Babylon line schedule but it turned out it only gave information as far as Freeport. I estimated my arrival to be 3:20 and alerted Bruce to this fact. I ended up being only one minute off, and walked down the stairs to find Bruce and his yummy sunflower seeds sandwiched between the curb and a bus.

I arrived home and walked around dumbfounded for no reason for a bit. The house was missing the usual full stock of food, except for the snack drawer that consisted of five bags of licorice. My first attempt at eating was strawberries, which ended up being moldy. My second attempt was the pretzels, which ended up being soggy. I can't remember what I settled on, but I know it made me sick. The night before I left, Nik KimEx Cam Steph Rosco and Matt ventured to Ping Pong for all you can eat Dim Sum. Never doing that again, as it took my body 36 hours and a long sleep to recover. The rest of Monday was a blur but I do know I fell asleep around 10 and slept until 8 the next morning, which only a few brief wake ups in the midst. My body adjusted to NY time quicker than my mind. I keep finding myself subtracting five hours from the current time to know what it is in NY which is completely unnecessary when that's where I am.

My time has been spent coastering. I just received a wholesale order for 24 sets that I'd like to ship out by Saturday, but that's dependent upon me getting to Lowes tomorrow for more tiles, and to a few craft stores looking for a particular style of scrapbooking paper. I'm hoping the humid weather doesn't keep my coasters from drying in their usual time. Was Long Island always this humid? My body must have adjusted to London's lack of humidity as of late because I've been absolutely miserable the past two days. I've showered countless times, and every piece of clothing that has touched my body (when I've even bothered wearing any) has been tossed into the hamper soon after. I think I have more dirty laundry already since I've been home than I had in the past three weeks in the UK.

I'm listening to Bon Iver, a Bruce suggestion, and I think I'm impressed. Granted, I have a fan going right next to me which means the sound is a bit muffled. I haven't heard from Nik in a day and a half and I'm left to believe he is working ridiculous hours. Temp jobs seem to be few and far between thanks to the struggling economy and I'm hoping I can get something for at least part of the time I'm home. My bank account is slowly dwindling and I'd prefer to not leave NY with nothing to my name. Anyone know anyone who wants lots of coasters? Sell ten sets and I'll bake you cookies.