awks livin 2oo9

hey everyone!
sorry i suckk updating this thing. life just happens too fast i guess? i don't know quite what it is.

so shortly after whenever i last wrote, i was struck with an inexplicable illness. i was the sickest i have felt in a really long time, probably since my rando virus, dubbed "the vomitosis" i got after new years 2008. i was sleeping about 18 hours a day, my spleen/glands were swollen, and i never ate. i thought for sure it was mono, and you guys all probably know what a hypochondriac i can be, so i finally went to the doctor and as it turns out i shall live to see another, mono-free day. haha i guess the mind really gets the better of you -- i feel about 97% better than i have, and i only got six hours of sleep last night. go figure.

i did, however manage to get out one night despite my ill state -- claire's friends from home were here (the two boys in the pic) so we felt we had to go out.

but basically, the illness took away about a week of my life.

the next exciting event was that it snowed! it snowed only six inches, but that was enough to throw the entire city of london off for two days. i had a snow day! it was amazing. i was feeling awake enough to make the best of it, so i went to st. james' park:

a lil buckingham palace in the snow, if you will.

our snow creation

that was last monday. i took the rest of the week easy, felt pretty good so i went out that thursday and had a pretty good time. it has become something of standard to always go to this one bar called o'neill's, which is cool because they have a live band there. it's usually pretty bumpin and they always play really good music, so much appreciated.

friday night, we went back to lowlanders but it was pretty expensive so we called it an early night. saturday i went to covent garden with claire and encountered the strangest thing i think i have ever seen:this guy almost deserves no caption.. he was one of those people who like dress up on streetcorners and everyone thinks is a statue then when you walk by moves and scares you, well i think that's what he was supposed to be, but clearly he differs in that he was sitting down. he was pretending to be a dog, and kept saying vaguely revolutionary/social commentary tidbits as people passed by. judging by his eyes, he looks drunk?, but didn't seem it? i don't know. it was so strange. i needed a pic. he asked claire and me if we were german, to which we responded with a nod because both of us were so confused as to what was happening.

in every other respect though, covent garden was cool. another shopping-y part of london, similar to camdentown, but with more expensive shops.

on sunday i just kind of hung around, i had to do some assignments. one was to read "The New York Trilogy" by Paul Auster, which i thoroughly enjoyed -- it was super good, and i am bringing it home for my parents :) but i recommend it to anyone else! and i also had to watch The Piano, the 1993 strange movie with Harvey Keitel and Holly Hunter.. it was for a class where we study the representation of the body in various forms of literature and movies. it's kind of a random class, for instance the "reading list" includes everything from Foucault's "Discipline and Punish" to the move Blade Runner, to Bram Stoker's Dracula.. i don't know, but it's pretty interesting. watching The Piano produced a strange reaction in me. like i saw it when i was younger, but seeing it again i clearly had different interpretations.. it's unsettling. haha anyway, we took a trip to the movies and saw He's Just Not That Into You, which i liked a lot more than i'd like to admit. it's kind of a chick flick, but with a ridiculously outstanding cast for what the film is: Scarlett Johansen, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, and Ricky from My So Called Life, among others..

alright, i am sure i am boring most of you. but i hope that picture of the dog man sufficiently creeped you out until my next random update.
this weekend i'm going to Brussels, so i'm sure i'll have something to say of substance next time we speak?

love from the U.K.--