spring! - uh, no

today's spring sunshine

apparently it is going to snow on monday

.

snowed in

"And the city council opened up the Council House in Victoria Square so that people who had abandoned their cars could walk there to get a cup of tea"

.

it snowed heavily in london this week, the most in ten years. i woke up to an amazing snowfall and white-out, and although it meant that walking (on slippery ice and snow and slush) became physically difficult, i felt an incredible sense of child-like wonderment at the wintry weather

i had thought that i would never see it snow like that in london, not during my university years anyway. with all the warnings about global warming and climate change, i was prepared for an uninspiring season. but instead, i found myself happily sinking my fingers into fluffy snow layers on cars, squeezing the frozen liquid through my palm. amazing simple pleasure

i guess nature has its way of surprising us!

.

yesterday ah-vette and i went to twickenham to watch the england v italy women's 6 nations match. while england won 23-0, i thought the scoreline wasn't a fair reflection of the heart that italy had put into their defence

it's an all-too-familiar reminder that history looks at facts, figures, and the obvious; here is almost no place officially for the heart, mind and soul

or maybe i'm just being melancholy!

.

œil pour œil

it was not a pleasant match, for once we had opposition whose backs actually knew how to run their lines and attack our wings. a 52-5 win for us does not tell the whole story, but i'm just relieved that we've pulled through. 2 matches in 4 days, sheesh!

.


wooo i woke up to what can finally be described as a white-out: SNOW. snow EVERYWHERE, and better still as i write this it is still snowing, and getting heavier every minute!

massive snowflakes cascading down from the sky - marvellous

blanche neige

voilà the incredible scene outside our flat. i was awoken this morning (at half past seven - eek) by what sounded like a knock on a door; i grumbled out of bed and headed towards my window where i was greeted with:


snow on trees, snow on grass, snow on cars - "absolutely brilliant", to borrow a british catchphrase. dawn had not yet given way to morning, and in the dimness of the streetlights i spotted a neighbour trying to clear away the inches of snow off his car with a pail of water. in my 2.5 years in urban london i have never seen snow settle like this, effectively producing a white-out

too excited to go back to bed, i stumbled downstairs to make some breakfast (toast with butter and strawberry jam, a satsuma, and milky coffee. mmm). in the kitchen, i heard more noise outside and peeked out of the kitchen window - delighted schoolchildren (some would call them rowdy young male rascals) were scooping snow off cars and railings with their mittens and having a mini-snowfight

my own worries and issues were temporarily frozen and (snow-)shoved to the back of mine as i contemplated the happy (mischevious) innocence played out before me

revelation of the day - happiness doesn't last. but neither does pain.

'tis the season

the few festive decorations around my neighbourhood can be summarised as such:



and voilà a peek at my street

boxing day

on boxing day in my first year, i went to oxford street to check out the notorious sales. the experience was terrifying and daunting, marked by aggressive women (and men! and couples! and kids! and OAPs! ARGH!) pushing and shoving, as well as queues that dragged through the stores


in my second year, i refused to be tempted. nothing was worth the sanity-threatening madness and mayhem. it also helped that i wasn't physically in london for much of december

today, however, i had a change of heart. summoning up bravery, courage and that special "shopping" spirit that all girls possess to varying degrees, i found myself partaking in the sales on oxford street this afternoon


and you know what?

despite the crazy crowds, the numerous near-incidents in which i almost got knocked over, the annoying prams in tiny aisles (why oh why do mothers subject their offspring to the trauma?), the massive polar jacket-wearing middle-aged couples who blocked up entire passageways, and let's not forget the queues that seemed to go on forever

it wasn't actually that bad. it was kinda fun. acceptable as a once-a-year endeavour. there's something appealing about this mass hysteria-type shopping after all



today's haul
river island top
- reduced from £14.99 to £10
h&m dark brown corduroy trousers
- reduced from £14.99 to £7.99
dorothy perkins necklace
- reduced from £8 to £4

there goes my shopping quota for the year

enquête

1) because i'm just not bothered

2) because it's just too yummy to resist

3) because i've ingested mucho caffeine today

4) because it says "dry flat"

5) because i have been too lazy

6) because at some subconscious level i fear rejection. we all do

7) because it's not so cold tonight

8) because it's true, paris je t'aime

9) because it doesn't come cheap

10) because i am woman

.

on saturday afternoon i strolled around camden's markets and took in the vibrant burst of sights and sounds. whiffs of incense from the middle east met the spicy aroma from a mexican food stall, purple-haired dreadlocked punks with black lipstick/eyeliner/nailpolish skalked past middle-aged asian tourist families

i purposely made sure i had nothing more than a few pennies on me, and walked past various cash machines with a determination that should not be underestimated

the commodification of culture in camden exudes a magnetic force - mostly an attractive one - that cannot be denied. there is something for every taste, every fancy, every niche, every kooky bit of curiosity

.

and then night falls, and i am reminded that london life is harsh and unforgiving for many. a perfectly normal-looking woman carrying a dog under her arm walks past me as i cross at a traffic light; i see her muttering to herself every 2 seconds, but it is only when i pass within earshot that i realise she is derangedly repeating to herself, "she looks like a wh*re doesn't she, yeah she looks like a wh*re....". to no one in particular

slightly unnerved, i continue into the night, heading towards my friend's flat for a typical house party. i walk past another woman who is hurrying along with what looks like a bag of groceries; unlike the previous woman, this one looks a lot... rougher, an older woman with a short boyish haircut, leather jacket and dyed greyish-white hair. she is talking constantly to herself as well, and i can't help but hear the words "...this shitty f***ing &^@*#^@ life..." as she blusters by

by this time, i am tempted to just give up and go home, home to a warm, happy flat, where i know i will want for nothing

instead of remaining out on the streets of a place filled with desperate souls

all said and done

i have a ref for tomorrow! *beams*

.

i am tired of emotional upheaval. i am tired of being disappointed time after time after time. i just wish i knew when to say no, enough is enough. i just wish i could

.

when i came to london 2 years ago i would never have thought that life would turn out this way. beautiful/strange/traumatic/blissful/gritty/cultural/thelistgoeson

it is not who you are. it is what you do

this is where i freak out majorly

i know i shouldn't be joking about this, but it sounds like all my neighbours are trying to blow london up! once again it's the weekend of guy fawkes day/ bonfire night, and fireworks are being set off left right centre and across the road. every 20 seconds an extraordinarily loud "BOOM" sounds and i jump involuntarily. this could very easily descend into a trauma experience

especially since i'm trying to get some serious stuff done

most of all, i resent that i have till wait till tomorrow evening before going off to roundwood park to watch the fireworks display. no thanks to our divergent horaires. tonight i shall make my way to golders green for my friend's housewarming party. please wish me luck, as i navigate my way through an aurally exploding city

though i must admit that the sparkly fireworks that are being set off by my neighbours across the road are pretty and mesmerising

don't let yourself down

yesterday i was confronted with yet more in-your-face displays of london's gritty problems

a drunk guy fell backwards onto me while i was queuing up to recharge my oyster card at king's cross station

as i made my way through the underground mazes of south kensington station, i walked past this drunk/stoned girl who, completely dazed, sat herself down next to a busker. a tube employee was shadowing her, using his walkie-talkie to, i dunno, radio for help

i love london but sometimes the grim aspects seize up on you with no warning

warm nights

it's a warm summer night

it's also mid-october

unfortunately the weather isn't the only thing that's displaced

i can't find my camera!

.

miss me

.

it's all about the little things

the strolls down gordon street, the rush to lectures, the tired trudge to euston station to catch the increasingly elusive bus 390

it's about the squish of cool mud beneath boot studs, the dull thud of rugby balls making contact with eager hands

it's about keeping the curtains drawn tight even during the day, warmness beneath a single duvet, the lingering smoke blanket that hovers

just funny

Dear Lord,
I pray for Wisdom to understand my man;
Love to forgive him;
And Patience for his moods.
Because, Lord, if I pray for Strength,
I'll beat him to death.
AMEN

.

we have a guy (alcoholic? druggie?) living a few doors down the road
he can often be heard at any time of the day yelling expletives at his family members, asking his wife to get out etc etc

sometimes i get stressed just hearing it

.

off to france for a week. later

fun fun fun

the weather has been awesome the past few days. check out today's sunny blue skies! i reckon a frolic in hyde park later is in order




.

tour to newquay - also awesome. more on that another time - sun sand surf and favourite rugby buddies; was marred by the bad news that i received mid-tour though. as we bbqed on the beach one evening, i took time out alone to gaze at the beautiful sunset and say a private goodbye

shock and awe

this afternoon i popped into m&s at euston station to nick some study reinforcements (read: fizzy fish). as i left the store, i was confronted by the dramatic sight of 5-6 police officers pinning down a drunk yelling and swearing red-in-the-face guy

people were staring at the commotion, i had no clue why he was being apprehended but suffice to say it brought back rather unpleasant memories from my own "brush with the law"

n10

i don't like travelling on the tube during peak/rush hour. too many people rushing around, an unebbing flow of bad karma

people in almost indecent proximity to one another, jam packed into small carriages (think jubilee line), conspicuously ignoring one another as best as possible

blank (tired) faces belie each individual's problems thoughts and little lives, leurs petites vies

london is schizophrenic in a multitude of ways. weather-wise i've given up all hope of summer arriving in a predictable fashion. highly likely that one day we'll all wake up in the morning and realise that it's 20 degrees hotter than the day before

but there's also the yawning division between the highs and lows of life in the city. i never tire of strolling in the classy high-end retail area that is knightsbridge, past a dozen french tourists laden with shopping bags ("on va à 'arrodz?"), popping into h&m for a quick window-shopping fix and descending upon the krispy kreme stall in harrods like a (wo)man on a mission in search of a warm sugar fix (but you know that already)

but then i find myself in camden town at 4am in the morning (don't ask why), consciously pulling my hoody over my head in a bid to "blend in" with the more dodgy characters lurking around

the other night i was waiting alone at the bus stop in a deserted side alley off king's x when a guy walked past and propositioned me

jaded and not for one second taken aback, i just firmly asked him to leave me alone

and spent the next 15 minutes scanning the street every 5 seconds for prowling characters

you can never be too careful with karma

onions on the carpet

i'm high on costa mocha coffee and too much sleep over the last couple of days. this heightened my senses which therefore meant that

i was walking home from camden just now and suddenly the whiff of spring hit my nostrils

the scent of newly blooming flora, damp air, white-flowered trees decorating the avenues, sporadic droplets of water dipping in to the pavement.. bliss

i really like living where i'm living at the moment. such a calm peaceful neighbourhood, stone's throw away from camden, good bus transport links..

but we're in the midst of negotiating with the landlord/agency about summer rent etc and we might end up moving out. i hope it doesn't come to that

in other news, people power has won in france. i'm not sure that's gonna help the french economy in any way.. had a brief but interesting conversation with the frog about the eu and immigration into france because of the lifting of borders etc and what emerged was a pretty bleak picture

it's all good to study scholarly speculation in the form of academic books for exams but then it's so much more interesting to examine what's happening here and now

breaking monotony with monotony

according to weather.co.uk, local temperatures are hovering around 0°C

great, another freezing gloomy cloudy day weatherwise

trying hard to find joy these days

and fortunately, am finding it here and there and everywhere

at the moment have no one to watch this sat's match with though, which is a bugger, because a team mate pulled out. i can watch rugby all alone, no problem ever. but it's always more fun to yell along with someone, especially a friend. needless to say

.

last night we dressed up and went as cheerleaders to the union for sportsnite. it was the first time i'd gone out to sportsnite proper since, oh i dunno, last term's initiation?

oh and boat ball, who can forget boat ball where i slipped down the stairs etc

logistics

the stuff of nightmares - trying to get all of us from central london down to canterbury in a matter of 2hours. with tube train taxi involved. ticket queues will kill us. and so will any tube delays. arrrghhh

given all the trouble we'd better win this match!

.

can hear a drunk/stoned guy somewhere outside around the estate. going f-off and everything. living in london tends to shake you to the core sometimes, and i don't mean in a scary way. so what if this is a developed country - there's poverty on the streets, mean hearts about and lost souls tripping over one another

but then there's also joy to be found, strangers who will help you carry your luggage up the inconvenient stairs in the tube stations, the occasional kind bus driver, lovers locked in a fleeting but deep embrace on the tube escalators

sometimes i figure london as a city can be whatever you want it to be - exhuberant gritty vibrant weary...

e.g. massive throngs of people on the street have the power to overwhelm me or revive my spirits, depending on my mood, the day, the hour, the weather...

.

ok that's enough warbling. back to homework. back to the factory

more about the weather

according to some meteorological websites, apparently localised london temperatures around my area are sub-5 degrees celsius today

which is just crazy! i am going to freeze over!

was running around uni teeth chattering yesterday. yet i'd rather it be freezing and have clear awesome sunny blue skies any day, than some rain pissing down in temperate weather.

rock on

.

been Dazed and Confused for so long it's not true
wanted a woman, never bagained for you
lots of people talk and few of them know
soul of a woman was created below...yeah...

you hurt and abuse telling all of your lies
run around sweet baby, Lord how the hypnotize
sweet little baby, i don't know where you've been
gonna love you baby, here i come again

every day i work so hard, bringing home my hard earned pay
try to love you baby, but you push me away
don't know where you're going, only know just where you've been
sweet little baby, i want you again

been dazed and confused for so long, it's not true
wanted a woman, never bargained for you
take it easy baby, let them say what they will
will your tongue wag so much when I send you the bill?

- "dazed and confused"_led zeppelin

london weather

is schizo. this morning there was fog, honestly you couldn't see like 500m ahead

and now it's early afternoon and the sky's blue and clear, its sunny albeit a bit chilly

it's like this whole crazy thing isn't it. i feel like i'm on a rollercoaster ride

can't be bothered to write eloquently or stylistically today, i've got too much schoolwork and rugby stuff to worry about. and that other thing too

plus we may not have enough players this year - oh no!

i have two pieces of coursework due at the end of this week

on a positive note, i am going to meet up with my bulgarian ex-colleague (let's call her pet) from the hospital later at a bar in farringdon

always feels good to catch up with people

i just wish the frog would catch up with me