Weekend events

First, the weather this weekend was fantastic. It was clear, cold, and sunny (although it snowed—just a teeny bit—Friday night). Weather like that can put you in a good mindset for happy activities in the evenings.

Saturday night, Katherine’s colleague hosted a theme party. The same person who hosted the masquerade ball in November, he has a knack for elaborate decorations. Here he is representing half the theme:


Later that night, we celebrated one of my colleague’s birthday. People are dancing here, appropriately celebratory:

Beer, cake, and dancing—what more does a birthday celebration need?

And finally, I met a new person. She went to high school with a cousin of mine in Washington, DC. Crazy, huh? She lives in my neighborhood. We went to a Thai restaurant nearby, which at least begins to address my delinquency in trying out the restaurants near me.

(As a final note, for those of you who’ve been privy to this particular tragedy: my iPod is working again!! Hooraaaaaay!)

A musical night

I went to college with Devon, one of the members of The Animators, and I’ve been on their mailing list for some time. I’ve gotten e-mails about any number of shows they’ve had in New York and L.A. Now they’re on tour and, lo and behold, they had a show I could go to:


John and I hung out at the venue afterwards and drank a few pints. There’s getting to be a theme here, don’t you think?

It’s a small world after all

I met many people my first year of law school. Some I kept in touch with, and some I did not. About two weeks ago, during lunchtime, I ran into one of them—one of the ones I had not been in contact with. He works right down the street from me. So last night we caught up over a drink in a nearby pub. (And then I forgot to take his picture).

War, what is it good for?

This weekend, among other things, I went to the Imperial War Museum. First we had to find it. Sometimes it’s hard to know when you’ve found the right building.


This was our tour guide. He’ll turn 87 in June. He was an infantryman during D-Day, and landed on Sword Beach in Normandy:

M&A Awards

Last night I went to the Acquisitions Monthly annual awards dinner and ceremony. I didn’t get any pictures, which is really kind of a pity. But in case you were wondering, I will say that the award for Best Senior Debt Arranger went to... Barclay’s Capital! Yaaaaay!!

Culture

Last night some of us from work had a guided tour of one of the art exhibits at the British Museum. Afterwards, we were able to have a few drinks and catch up on our reading at the same time.


A few of us went to a pub to relax after all that culture.

The important things in life

In the past week or so, I have sent or received at least 48 e-mails to set up the next viewing of Battlestar Galactica.

Pub quiz

Last night I met up with some people to do a pub quiz. As Jesse put it, the quiz tends to be a bit Anglo-centric. We did... medium. Here are Jesse and Eve trying to come up with a plausible name for an English soap opera star:

Domestic tasks

This was a weekend full of domestic tasks. First, since I’ve moved in, there has been a lampshade for one of the wall lights missing. The prior tenant put one on order. I’ve gotten multiple calls and e-mails from the estate agents asking if it had arrived. The prior tenant has also gotten calls from them, and then has called me to asked if it had arrived. It finally did! And now you can see what the fuss was about:

Here’s a picture of the sad state of affairs before the shade arrived.

The shade’s in place...

Hooray!

Additionally, after more searching than you’d think, I bought a vacuum cleaner. Ultimately getting this one involved buying one from up the street (politely refusing the offer at the store to carry it to my car for me—*sigh*), carrying it home with much resting along the way, getting home only to discover that a piece was missing, carrying it back, getting on the Tube for some serious shopping, and coming home with this. Cute, though, don’t you think?


And the weekend even involved some fun activities. On Saturday, Jaynna called me up to go to the Russian Winter Festival. There was dancing, there was singing, and there were speeches from the mayors of London and Moscow. Not bad.

Weeknight out

I was supposed to go to a movie with a friend last night, but he got caught at work at the last minute (some things here are exactly the same). So Jaynna and I went out for a drink later on instead. We met at Leicester Square, wandered through Chinatown,


and eventually wound up in a somewhat cheesy, but serviceable, place.


I took the bus home again, trying to repeat my triumph earlier in the week. I would’ve felt equally triumphant, except that the first bus driver ignored me after I ran to catch up with the bus. Perhaps he was feeling vindictive. Perhaps it was the sloppy hot dog I was eating (I would’ve thrown it away).

Emergency vehicles

Often, emergency vehicles are clearly labeled on the front so other drivers can quickly recognize them and give way so that the emergency vehicles can get to their destinations. Sometimes, but not always, the label is backwards, so it can be easily read in a rear-view mirror. It’s an important aspect of road safety.


(Incidentally, these guys asked how I was liking London. I told them I liked the accents. They seemed really pleased.)

A snappy name

I went to a photo place yesterday to get one of the pictures from my vacation printed. I sure hope they can process it quickly.

Thai food

Getting out of work on the late side can cramp your style. Last night I had to miss a puppet show; however, I did manage to meet up with Bernard and Jaynna afterwards at this cheerful Thai restaurant in Shoreditch. I’d already eaten, but I had a little—it was mighty tasty.
Afterwards (with Bernard’s help reading the unbelievably cryptic map), I even managed to successfully take a bus home. I feel like such a local!

Cirque

Now the weekend is over, I have a full week of work ahead, and I suppose life must return to normal, more or less. The weekend ended with a fun event, though: Jed and I went to see Cirque du Soleil. Because the show involves people flying through the air, barely missing each other while catching onto and/or balancing on small moving objects, I decided to respect the no-flash-photography rule. It lacks drama, but here’s a picture taken after the show of the safety net:


Before the show, we started out with some very tasty Lebanese food in the West End. All in all, a good night.

Another London night

Last night was another night of pubbing, which doesn’t make for wildly exciting posts. But the pub itself was pretty cool-looking. Check it out:


It’s called the Clachan, which means “hamlet,” and is derived from Scots Gaelic. (So says Merriam-Webster).

This morning, my landlord came by and, among other things, declared the bed unfixable. Ah, well. It was good to actually meet him, and he seems like a really nice man. And I think he’s right about the bed.

Back on the London Scene

And now I’m back to the London posts. Last night was Friday, and I went out with friends after work. Jaynna just moved into her new apartment, so she, Katherine, Bernard, and I went out in the neighborhood to celebrate. So here’s another friends-in-a-pub picture to memorialize it:


And thanks for all the kind words in the comments, too. I’m back now, baby! Oh, I’m back!

One more New York post

This post is the result of a couple of things: first, I’m still feeling a little homesick for New York. Second, yesterday was a really long day at work, and I got the chance neither to take pictures nor to come up with any other amusing thoughts about London.

So here are a few—hopefully cheerier—pictures of New York. For example, here’s the tree at Rockefeller Center. Hooray for Christmas!

For those of you who were curious about Jay’s comment on the last post, here’s a picture of the vile drink in question. It did, in fact, give me a stomachache, although it has its ardent fans. (It’s hard to tell in the picture, but be assured that it’s a lurid orange color).

And that’s that. Back to happy fluffy London posts tomorrow, I promise. And happy new year.

I’m back

My east coast tour is finished. South Carolina for Christmas, New York for New Year’s—and now I’m back here.

I’m feeling dangerously nostalgic, so here’s a picture of my old neighborhood:


*sigh* Now I have to learn how to cross the street again.