My life: work, fun and then some...

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Madness!

So, I went shopping today. I was kinda hoping, that if it’s a long week-end (May Day is on May 1st this year), then it should be reasonably quiet, no wild crowds etc. Boy, was I wrong! Oxford Street was completely packed, just have a look:

Oxford Street. I don't even want to TRY to imagine how it looks before Xmas...
Piccadilly Circus wasn’t any better. Wild, wild masses of people. See below.


Piccadilly Circus. Crazy!


Piccadilly Circus 1 hour later. Still crazy...

It was absolutely shambolic and overwhelming, I had to queue for 20 minutes to get my latte at Starbucks, chicks were literally fighting for each piece of apparel… well mad scenes, I have to admit.
But I eventually did my shopping, probably splashed out a bit, but who cares. The only downside is that instead of getting a summer dress, I ended up with 3 tee’s (like I don’t have enough of those), a jacket, 2 pairs of capris (well, gotta wear something, if I can’t get a dress) and a cute little hat. No shoes today! (That I am quite proud of, I am running out of space). So, first spring-summer shopping is behind me, more to come.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Chinese Whispers?

Not quite. Or rather - I wish. This one unfortunately comes from a person who supposedly was involved in what happened. Some might say - steady on, give over, you've got bigger fish to fry, it's been so long, nobody cares. Now that's a load of cobblers, as I do care. And I indeed have a problem when somebody uses me to make his story look better and more exciting.

So, this bloke, actually a friend of mine, is gay. No biggie, I couldn't care less about what people do in their bedrooms. Now, about 7 years ago, when I first met him I had a little crash on him. You know, like the one you have when you come to a new city (like I did), start a new life as a student (like I did) and meet a nice chap, who is friendly and likes spending time with you (like he did). This advisor-mentor kind of thing. We soon realised, or I was rather informed, that it couldn't work. I was a bit upset, but hey, life had to go on and so had I. We eventually became good friends and did many great things together (as well as not so great, like getting completely arsholed the night before a very important test, actually, many nights before many important tests). I soon got involved in a serious relationship with somebody who I am still in a serious relationship with (and it seems it's gonna stay that way for quite a while), got a job, graduated from the university and so did he. We still did hang out, not as often as before, but we definitely kept in touch. I didn't know he was gay.

A year ago I was on a short visit in Poland, flew from San Francisco to spend Easter with my family and catch up with my friends. He wants to meet with me, I am delighted as I haven't seen him in ages. He cancels at the last minute and another friend of mine tells me that he is too embarrassed to meet with me. What the hell? I eventually squeeze it out of her and find out he's gay and wanted to meet with me to tell me that, but chickened out, because he was afraid of my reaction. We then meet all together, the atmosphere is weird, I feel that somebody is making way too much rumour about all that than really needed, as I absolutely don't give a bloody shite about who sleeps with whom.

Today I finally understood the whole thing. See, the official story is that I was supposed to get very upset about all that. As a matter of fact - I was supposed to be really depressed. Why? Well, this is where it gets a bit spicy. Here are the reasons. Unsure which was the official one, as nobody remembers it anymore, but either way - they are all pretty creative:

- I was supposed to be upset, because any ex-girlfriend would be (erm, did I miss something?)
- I was supposed to be upset, because he bonked me once or twice (reads: and now he is gay, there is no way he will do it again; poor me, what am I gonna do?)
- I was supposed to be upset, because he used to shag me (e.g. more than one or two bangs, more like a regular activity)

Unfortunately, the only creative thing about all these are different words I used to describe having sex. It really is rather wretched. No, not even the reasons themselves. The fact that someone I used to be friends with just made up the whole story and used me to add a bit drama to his life in front of both his and my friends, that's what really is wretched. And that's what makes somebody a person I really have no respect for. End of story.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

A night out

So, tonight I had a chance to experience a night out in Blackfriars - St. Paul's - Mansion House area for the very first time. And for the very last time, for that matter. My friend's friends picked this neighbourhood, for a reason that will remain a mystery to me for the rest of my days. They could have picked Canary Wharf or Acton Town, and the effect would have been quite similar. Dead. For crying out loud - the "Financial District" (or whatever they call it here) is DEAD during the week-end! It's like downtown L.A. on a Saturday morning - everything is closed, there're yesterday's newspapers flying around and absolutely nobody alive. I knew that, they didn't. And I was in a minority of one...

Anyway, they had their lesson and probably won't try to do it again. I had my lesson too - going out with a Kiwi posse is quite a risk. And don't get me wrong - I love the Kiwis, but this is actually the second time "something went wrong" (different crowd, different circumstances)

Either way, it finally ended up being a really cool night out, although the anticipated pub crawl turned into a "is-there-ANYTHING-open-here-craving". We eventually found a neat place, just outside Tate Modern (yep, we even walked across the bridge, that is how desperate we were) and had a great time. Not to mention that we got a really great table, overlooking the Thames, and more importantly - St. Paul's Cathedral, which does look gobsmacking when illuminated.

I might have some pictures and if I do, I'll post them tomorrow. It's a little too late to download them onto my laptop and struggle with Hello.

Good night!

Friday, April 21, 2006

And in case...

In case somebody out there doesn't believe it actually is sunny and warm here:


Source: bbc.co.uk/weather

The spring is pink!

Yes, the spring has finally decided to come to London. It's warm, it's nice and it's even sunny (sometimes). Time for flip-flops, sandals, summer dresses, short skirts, and tee's! And yes, this year spring is definitely blooming pink:


Mmm...

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Booking confirmation

Flight: LH 4745
operated by: LUFTHANSA
from: LONDON GB HEATHROW, TERMINAL 2
to: FRANKFURT DE INTL, TERMINAL 1
Departure: 11. August, 07:15 h
Arrival: 11. August, 09:45 h

Flight: LH 564
operated by: LUFTHANSA
from: FRANKFURT DE INTL, TERMINAL 1
to: ACCRA GH KOTOKA
Departure: 11. August, 10:50 h
Arrival: 11. August, 17:00 h
stop: LAGOS

Flight: LH 565
operated by: LUFTHANSA
from: ACCRA GH KOTOKA
to: FRANKFURT DE INTL, TERMINAL 1
Departure: 20. August, 19:00 h
Arrival: 21. August, 05:30 h
stop: LAGOS

Flight: LH 4722
operated by: LUFTHANSA
from: FRANKFURT DE INTL, TERMINAL 1
to: LONDON GB HEATHROW, TERMINAL 2
Departure: 21. August, 07:30 h
Arrival: 21. August, 08:05 h

Because of many credit card frauds from Ghana it's impossible to buy it online, so I have to go to Heathrow tomorrow to pay and pick up my ticket. After that I'll just have to take yellow fever jabs and malaria pills and I should be ready to go!

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Realistically

The sad reality is that my laptop is dying and this is not a joke. I can hear it moaning and these are moans of agony, not ecstasy (though I can tell it likes these heart-attacks it's getting every five minutes). I am going berserk, nuts, crazy - you name it. But I'll hopefully get a new machine by next Thursday, depending on how long it takes to ship it from San Francisco to London.

Oh, and I almost forgot... My hypothetical friend is still very real and just the best. The pooch's privates, the mutt's nuts or simply the dog's bollocks, so it is!

Monday, April 17, 2006

Hypothetically

Two people, hypothetically close friends. They used to hang out with each other a lot, they can't do it now, for a whole bunch of reasons. They are hypothetically still quite close. Well, maybe one of them would like to believe they are still quite close. Their relationship has changed though, at least the one who would like to believe they're still close thinks it has. Nothing wrong with that, they have two hypothetically separate lives, two utterly different hypothetical worlds of problems.

Hypothetically, one of them (the other one, not the one who would like to believe they're still close) doesn't want to listen, however does share many hypothetical problems with the first one and the first one always has to be there when needed... to listen, advise or just say anything to make the other one feel better.

Hypothetically, the first one (this one, who would like to believe, they're still close) has problems too. It's quite natural, life is not a fairy tale, everyone has his ups-and-downs - sometime more, sometimes less important. Hypothetically, the first one would like to share these ups-and-downs with the other one. Unfortunately the other one is only available when he wants to talk, when he needs a piece of advice, when he needs to be told that everything will be okay.

And as a side effect - the first one is quite up-to-date with the other one's life, whilst the other one doesn't know anything about the first one's life anymore. You do the math...

This very hypothetical situation makes me actually really sorrowful. It's overwhelming and I've grown weary of it. I still don't know though, what I could hypothetically do...

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Classic?

Unless you're a real fan of horrors and sci-fi movies, I would highly recommend not watching "John Carpenter's The Thing". Yes, they say it's a cult movie, but other than a few "ew-s" and one question popping out in my head "so, is this spooky already, or we're not there yet?", I couldn't really see anything cult here. But hey, I am not an expert...

Week-end in the Midlands

So yeah, I went to Derby (pronounced "Darby" - the Brits continue to surprise me) and Nottingham last weekend to visit my friend Basia. Two hours on the train - that is all you need to find yourself in a completely different world - the Midlands. It's a rural area, quite picturesque, but utterly boring. I did have fun though, we drank, we played Monopoly (apparently I won), then we drank more. Honestly, there is not so much to do in Derby...

Then we went to Nottingham. It's a lovely town, supposedly very lively and full of students (two big universities), but quite empty last weekend, as most of the students had already left for their Easter break. I didn't take too many pictures, but here is one with the three of us: David, Basia and me.


Nottingham, one of the pubs

I am going to Poland tomorrow, so I'll update you after this week-end. Maybe I'll take some photos too.

Monday, April 10, 2006

"(...) it's time that we began to laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again (...)"

I was going through my mp3s today and I run into something I have almost forgotten about - Leonard Cohen and his first album "Songs by Leonard Cohen" (1967). Beautiful, very subtle numbers like "So long, Marianne", "Hey, that's no way to say goodbye" or a bit twisted like "Teachers" utterly bliss me out. They also remind me of the times almost 2 years ago, when I was just about to leave Poland, but that's a completely different story.

So, it's a Leonard Cohen evening, I reckon. Nothing to complain about ;-)

Friday, April 07, 2006

So what?

Rumours are going round about the Lost Gospel of Judas. The Christian world is deeply moved, as the Gospel says that Jesus asked Judas to betray him. And so goes the story, the guy wasn't really representing the forces of evil, he wasn't greedy and so on. The Gospel of Judas puts him in a really positive light instead, identifies him as a Christ's favourite and portrays his betrayal as "the fulfilment of a divine mission to enable the crucifixion", without which the Christianity foundation couldn't take place.

I don't understand, why people are so worried, though. For me, a 100% agnostic, it doesn't make too much of a difference, but what has really changed for the Christian world since the Gospel was revealed as an authentic piece of a papyrus document? Right, they've been misjudging Judas for ages and apparently he was a genuine guy with a very important mission. Shouldn't they be happy though? One bad person less...

These are some pointless ramblings, I know. What I am trying to say is, that I understand the archeological value of this discovery, but why be so worried about all other things?

Thursday, April 06, 2006

2012

Will I still be here in London to see that? That's a trick question. I can't see the future, but I know I am going to Nottingham tomorrow. And to Poland next week. And to Dublin in 4 weeks. And to Poland again in 5 weeks. And to Singapore & Malaysia in 7 weeks. And to Ghana in about 3 months. And then I'll stay home for the rest of the year, because I won't have any PTO left... Unless... I take some unpaid time off. We shall see.

Anyway, my flat looks like a tool shed, I am off to clean a bit and pack my stuff for tomorrow's trip. Will update you after Sunday with a few pics of Nottingham and Derby.

PS I have gone completely mad thanks to The Catherine Tate Show. Does my face look bovved? Face-bovved-face-bovved-face-bovved... I AIN'T BOVVED!!! He, he, he...

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Spanish for beginners

Well, the original plan was "Italian for beginners", but after weighing up many pros and cons, I have finally decided to sing up for Spanish classes. 2 hours per week, 10 weeks, in the evenings.

I am freaking out a bit, as I haven't attended any classes or actually studied for ages, but I am excited. I am starting in 3 weeks, on Wednesday, April 26th and I hope that 10 weeks later I'll be able to say more than "Entrada prohibida" and "Muchos gracias".

Monday, April 03, 2006

One little number...

I love it. And I can't get it out of my head. Not that I want to, really. "Does that make me craaazy? Probably..." ;-)

If you can't hear it, click
here.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Now, I've got to tell you that...

...I am a slam dunk!!! Pissed as a newt, at this very moment, but certainly a slum dunk. Ladies and gentlemen - good night...