First, thanks to Hermione Way, I knew the location of one of the pianos that had been set out for anyone to play.
What a great idea to put pianos around the city. Keep an eye out for them during the summer!
Also found a link to my video on the Street Pianos website.
I have neighbors who sing. Why am I sharing? Well, I sing too, but not like they do.
Somewhere outside my window and a little above me is a girl with an amazing soprano voice who regularly practices arias. I love opening the window in our kitchen to listen to her. I only wish I had a tiny bit of her talent. WOW!
Now, the neighbors in flat 2 recently have begun singing Spring Awakening, which coincidentally I sing too, but I dont sing out where the neighbors hear. There have been two voices, male and female, who have been practicing. I wonder if they are preparing to audition? Maybe they are actually in the musical already. It’s not impossible. What if they are understudies and that’s why they are covering so many of the songs? I’m tempted to ask, but I dont want to embarrass them if they were just singing for fun and didnt realize they had an audience.
Anyhow, it’s a pleasure to hear music drifting through my window.
I met Mario of Someone Once Told Me a couple months ago to have my photo taken for his website. I had to come up with something that someone had told me that had really stuck in my head. It took me about a month from my first invitation to do the site until I had both time and something to say. In fact, I still wasnt sure what I was going to say when I got there.
As Mario and I talked, I was telling him some funny stories and some things that I had thought about saying. I had sent out and email asking some friends if they could help me, but only 1 person responded. (Gee thanks, friends!) So as I was telling him about the block in my head for coming up with just the right thing, the story of my trying to get into my MA class came up and how I had been struggling with writing something for my essay because I had this conflict about writing something I’m supposed to say versus what it really just my personality and style. My papa then said to me that… (photo response here)
Please post a comment on Mario’s site. He (and I) would love the feedback. Please feel free to pass the link on to your friends too. The site, in general, is a great idea that he came up with when traveling in India a couple of years ago. It has had a huge response by people all over the world who upload their photos and stories to Flickr, email him, or have done the site at his request.
My pic has my neck kinda funny, but there were TONS of shots and I was laughing for most of them because Camden is a crazy town with crazy people who kept walking by and saying things to me as I was posing. I think that it’s quite cute, overall.
Thanks to my papa for the inspiration!!
I was invited to take a night flight on the London Eye and though I tend to stay away from the over-hyped tourist attractions, I was intrigued by the night view and hopefully less of a line out front. I’ve always admired the London Eye from the outside, but as I stepped into the pod while it kept rotating, I did feel like I was in the largest carnival ride ever – second to my experience in the Riesenrad in Vienna.
The pod had maybe 15 or so others with us inside. Since we were the first ones on, I went straight to the front to prepare myself for the big show. The location of the wheel means it has some lovely views of the South Bank and Waterloo area, as well as Westminster, Parliament and Big Ben, St Pauls and other skyline dotting buildings.
If you are planning to visit London, I suggest you go ahead and suck up the cost of the ticket if you want a great view of some of the best known landmarks in London. They keep threatening to take the Eye down, so go before it’s too late!
For the full set of London Eye pics, click here.
I met Mario of Someone Once Told Me for a photo shoot of my something someone had said to me that’s stuck with me. I had no idea what I was going to say, but in the end, I was quite happy with my choice.
The photos were taken in Camden, behind the World’s End pub. Then, we moved to a slightly more quiet location (is Camden quiet anywhere?) for the video portion.
In the photo here, I am signing my rights away. Bye, bye, rights! 
Planomenos Astir Aikaterine
A young woman sits in a room. She sits alone. She sits close to a computer. She looks out the window as she collects her thoughts. She turns to her keyboard to write. She sits there for hours and hours, clicking the tabs, responding to messages and searching for connection. She is obsessed with every note, update and friend.
She sits in a room alone, but she is not lonely.
The young woman looks out the window again, and recalls her childhood when she sat alone. She sat
close to a television. She watched the actors. She mouthed the lines in perfect sync. She sat there for
hours and hours, rewinding movies and watching them again. She was obsessed with every word, lyric,
and expression.
The young woman looks back to her computer screen and begins to type again. She realizes that she no
longer needs a stage or screen to make a story come to life. She connects with an audience online. By
living life like an open book, she builds relationships with strangers who become friends. She consumes
their knowledge, experience and words like precious morsels.
She sits in a room alone, but she is not lonely – through communication she builds a network.
The young woman looks out the window once more and she watches people go by. She wonders if they
look through the window and see her. She looks up at the clouds as they move, watching the shapes
change. She contemplates evolution. From the child who wanted to be a star, to the wandering star she
has become. She considers her future. It is unclear, but she is open to the possibilities.
The young woman turns to her computer again.
She sits in a room alone, but she is not lonely – through communication she builds a network. As her
network grows, so will she.
Artifact objects:
Fish bowl/circular planter/glass
Network cable/red
Queen/Chess/[frosted] glass
I beg your forgiveness. The combination of school and life has left me little time to begin to catch up on all the things that have been going on, but here is my short list of things to tell you about:
Inamo - a cool restaurant for geeking out
London Eye – the night flight was worth the money
Fish & Chips – I found the only place I’d suggest people to go
Chinese New Year – I started a post, but there’s more to come…
Twestival – Where 2.0 + IRL come together for charity
The old place – Why I moved
Moving – Yes, I did
La Casa Perfecta – the new flat and my Italian flatmate Elena
Snow – we had a snow day! A LOT of it.
Reading – visiting Steve and Nora and 30 sec cooking shows
Vince – nice to see a friend from home.
I think that’s what I need to catch up on…but I’m using wifi cafes now to try to catch up on emails and school stuff until the new place has internet. It might take another week. Bah. But I’ll suffer through by using my time better and enjoying the city.
This weekend, my plan w/ Elena is to finish up getting some things for the house and to show her some of London. She really is unfamiliar with all the wonderful things here. So I am sharing my London Town with her so that maybe she can begin to see why I love this city so much.
Dear London Town,
You and I have been having quite the affair lately. We’ve been up early and out late together. But today, dear London Town, you have snowed me in! Yes, six inches of powdery fluff that is still falling heavily from the sky. I cant believe it!
My classes were canceled today. So I am sitting in my room, working on school projects, eating some leftover pasta and cuddling my radiator.
I will have to get out and walk on your snowy streets in a little while. It’s at this moment I wish for my Wellies or some sort of snow-friendly boots.
As I walked home last night from Waterloo, I became covered from head to toe in snow. I was a walking snow-woman! I tried to take some pictures, but the flakes kept falling in my eyes and smearing my mascara.
The streets are beautiful today – almost pristine as the world seems to have stopped. There are no buses on the roads; they are all withdrawn from service in this weather. Most of the tubes have delays. Many people are working from home. The school next door is silent. All has come to a stop.
Dearest London Town, should we go make snow angels together?
xx
I went with some friends from my course to have dim sum for the Chinese New Year. London has a large Chinese population and a fun Chinatown area.
Here Keith teaches how to use Chop Sticks!
