Archive for the 'In Good Company' Category

Lovely Valentine’s Day

Published by
jessi
at February 15, 2010 in In Good Company. 0 Comments

Sometimes being single on Valentine’s Day is boring. But it’s so much more fun when you spend it with friends.

Whilst the Welcome to the World Baby Morgan party was winding down on Saturday night, those of us who were still around mentioned we should all hang out on Valentine’s Day while the couple-y type people did their couple-y type things. This party included Brad, Mike, VoW, and myself — coincidentally, this was also something of a reunion of the Europe Road Trip people. We made plans to have dinner at Sushi Station at 5 o’clock in effort to beat the Valentine’s Day dinner couples.

After acquiring Tiger and trying to bond with her for a spell (I shall probably use pronouns interchangeably until I suss out what sex Tiger is), I hopped in the car to go to sushi. It’s been just about a year and a half since I’d been to Sushi Station and my memory of how long it takes to get there were a little fuzzled — for the record, it doesn’t take 20 minutes. I was a little early.

No matter since everyone else arrived pretty much within minutes of each other. Once we were all sitting down, I realized and commented on the fact that those of us in attendance were also the ones who went to Europe. This launched a “sometimes its easier to be single” conversation and all the things we unattached are able to do/afford because we only have to think of ourselves.

I’ve said it before and this will probably remain a fact for quite some time: eating sushi frequently reminds me of how much I miss Japan. If anything, for the price of sushi! I’d forgotten how expensive kaiten-zushi can be when not paying all-you-can-eat! I only had about five plates of nirigir, a bowl of miso soup, and green tea. On the amusing side, all of this cost me $21.00 before tip.

Since VoW is the one who gave Tiger his name, it only made sense that she come back to the house and see him. This of course prompted invitations to both Mike and Brad.

Tiger sure warmed up to Mike; when Tiger saw him, she promptly pooped.

It had been something like ten years since Brad was last in my house, and in those years plenty had changed. He and Mike talked about the remodeled kitchen while I stressed about whether or not Tiger had eaten. (He hadn’t.)

Since my brother has a PS3 and Brad caught sight of the Star Trek Blu-Ray DVD, we decided to put it in. At the time it was suggested, it was thought that we would only watch a little bit of the film. What foolish, foolish thought! Being the geeks we are we just had to finish out watching! (Not that it was a difficult thing to do — ’tis a great film!)

I fully expected people to part company thereafter; but no, because I said something about pie, it was decided that we would go forth in search of it. We had our hearts set on Baker’s Square but all the ones we knew of had closed in recent years. After some iPhoning, we managed to find one in Palatine that was still open. It has definitely been years since I’d last been to a Baker’s Square!

You would have thought our evening ended after pie but again, I was mistaken! We ended up going back to Mike’s house for a bit to just chillax. In fact, our evening did not end until midnight! ‘Twas a most unexpected, but incredibly delightful way to spend Valentine’s Day.

It was an even better start to the Year of the Tiger.

Wonton Wednesday 2010

Published by
jessi
at January 06, 2010 in In Good Company. 0 Comments

For some reason, Toni was inspired to cook Chinese food for one and all; and so it came to pass that on Wednesday the 6th of January 2010, those of us who were able to gather met at the Settlement for home-made Chinese food. :-) Amongst the dishes were: fried wonton, chicken and leek bao, sesame chicken with steamed rice, and chicken fried rice. It was quite the fare! (The wonton was not quite as massive as it had been when Darya made them back in 2006 — you know, ‘cuz we had enough to last us a month — but we did have wonton on a Wednesday, and I liked it as a title.) I would like to say I made a great contribution, but really, all I did was bring the party rice cooker. You know, since every Asian household has multiple rice cookers and one of them is always the “party” rice cooker. In sooth, I had not seen that one busted out since the late 90’s, back when my family actually hosted parties and the like. I had joked with Toni that my presence there whilst she cooked would bring positive Chinese energy to the cooking; it was all very Feng Shui.

How sad is it that I don’t actually know how to cook Chinese food? Thanks for the great food and the fun, Toni! Xie xie! :-D

A week full of social

Published by
jessi
at January 04, 2010 in In Good Company. 0 Comments

Not unlike “A Heart Full of Love”.

In my head, I was going to back-blog like I have been doing, but as with so many other posts, I’ve given up on that notion and I am not just posting. And the reason for my lack of blogging? I’ve been social.

Ever since Rich came home, it’s been a pretty fun week. On Monday, there was the annual Ordonii Christmas Party. It seemed far more crowded than I remember. I was amused when Mr Thiele showed up and I addressed him as such. He insisted I not call him that, but I think it goes back to how we had been introduced; he was my science teacher and sometimes band director, after all. It was odd to see him again after ten years and on a somewhat social level. The party reminded me a bit of the one GrAl hosted, only I was less adventurous in that I did not really talk to that many “new” people. Although, I did finally and formally meet Erika Bromley; a co-worker of Chris’s many people tell me I know but don’t actually until that evening. (I’d been out of the country every other time she’s been at gatherings.)

I was a little surprised at when we all called it a night; it wasn’t long after midnight. We’d always hung about until at least 2 a.m. in the past. What has become of us?

Tuesday night was pretty mellow; I returned to the Halfway House to fix some blog problems and ended up hanging out. Rich and I ventured to Petco and PetSmart as I am still strongly considering buying a budgie. I also annoyed Rich by watching some of Grey’s Anatomy, a show I don’t actually follow but can sit through without wanting to gouge mine own eyes out. Again, the evening was very reminiscent of two summers ago when Rich and I could be found just hanging out in Chris and Mark’s basement regardless of if the Ordonii were even home. Heck, even when they are home, we’re all just kinda doing our own thing.

Wednesday was very similar to Tuesday in the hanging out-ness. Those of us who were inclined to enjoy breakfast indulged in such; then there was hanging out at the Settlement. I won two rounds of Rummikub, yet another game that had not been played in a long while; and there was even another pet store run. (I have yet to fall in love with any of the budgies.) Rich had a dinner thing with his family so I drove him back to Chris and Mark’s and then chilled there whilst people did their dinner things (I was to drive him back to the Settlement for more fun and games later in the evening — not to be confused with “Late in the Evening”, which is a good tune). It was on this day that I gave Glee a go — but more on that in a different post.

Upon our return to Mike’s, there were ships to be sunk and empires to be destroyed; although, I am hardly any good at playing Warcraft III, I do have fun with it. It was a late night there, too, which is something that has not been done in a while.

Now, I’ve always been pretty indifferent to New Year’s Eve; perhaps it’s because I don’t drink or because I’m not one for heavy partying. But this New Year’s Eve was pretty fantastic. We were back at the Halfway House, since Chris and Mark were kind enough to host us this year, and we ordered Yu’s, much like we had the year we toasted in 2005. Several games were played because that’s just how we roll (sort of pun intended), and a decent amount of alcohol was consumed. Heck, even I had a bit; although, if I understood Toni correctly, I had enough alcohol to maybe equal a shot.

Breakfast the next morning was at a place called Egg Harbor, a positively delightful breakfast place that now rivals Richard Walker’s for mine affection. I was a little surprised that people wanted to break our fast on New Year’s Day; my memory of working at Denny’s likened NYD to working a Sunday morning — I imagined it to be hella crowded. I was pleasantly surprised to find Egg Harbor busy, but not packed. I fell in love with their cinnamon swirl French toast and I sincerely hope we will be able to partake in its fare again soon.

And once again, we found ourselves back at the Halfway House. We finally broke out the Rock Band; it surprised me to no end that we hadn’t done so on NYE so it seemed we were going to make up for in on NYD. At least, until the afternoon or so. It was also at this time that the changing of the lodging took place; Rich was now to stay with Brad at his new pad.

The fun didn’t end there as Saturday night found us once again hanging out at the Settlement; and Sunday night Toni made some pretty tasty tacos! I even kidnapped me Da from Oak Park so that he could enjoy delicious, delicious tacos. I know what you’re thinking, just one post ago I was saying how I don’t really dig Mexican food. Well, this is truly an exception because I kid you not, I’ve been thinking about those tacos ever since. (I blame Toni.)

And finally, we find ourselves on Monday: Trivia Night at Emmett’s Tavern. Both our teams did pretty well coming in at first and second, so it was a pretty fab night. The final change of lodging took place as Rich’s final place of stay is now the Settlement. From where, we will set off in a misadventure to a strange and wonderful land called “Arkansas”. I certainly look forward to it, although, we may finally and truly encounter some mountain men. If so, I get to live. I’ve already lobbied for the position and dammit, I’m gonna live!

A Rich Return

Published by
jessi
at December 27, 2009 in In Good Company. 0 Comments

(Not to be confused with a re-return)

As previously noted several posts ago, Rich has left our good company to live in Arkansas; it has been a noticeable absence. For the holidays, it was deemed that he visit, and so it came to pass that on Sunday the 27th of December 2009 Rich returned to us.

The plan was that Rich would stay at the Halfway House for the initial part of his visit, then he would stay with Brad, and finally round out his visit at the Settlement. Rich’s train was scheduled to come into Union Station at about 2:58, thence there would be a gathering at the Halfway House. At least, that’s how it had been told to me; it was an amusing arrangement to me because we would once again be gathering at Chris and Mark’s house without Chris and Mark. Just like old times. However, because of the snow, Rich’s train was delayed by about two hours. This did not thwart our plans overmuch, though. VoW, Toni, Mike and I had originally thought to kill time out in Schaumburg following our lunch at the Olive Garden, but instead it was to the Settlement; I myself had pulled Dixie duty so I stayed at the Halfway House anyway.

Whilst at the Halfway House, I managed to kidnap Grant from his parents’ house down the street. I knew Al would be coming from work at the zoo and she mentioned to me that me Da would be out in the suburbs anyway. Now it really was like old time with Grant and me hanging out at the Halfway House.

Rich and Brad made it to the house before the others. There was hugging involved and Rich regaled us with a little bit of his journey and how much Amtrak sucks. It reminded me a bit of my first few train journeys in England and how inefficient they seemed to be in comparison with Japan. If I had been in Rich’s place trying to take the train, I might have gone insane. I think my favorite part of his tale was when he taught his fellow delayed passengers how to play Oh Hell.

By the time all was done and gathered, it was something like 7 o’clock. Our original thought had been to go to Yu’s for dinner, but it was way too crowded there so we ended up at Chevy’s. I don’t know if it’s timing or what, but it seemed to me that every time I’ve been to Chevy’s it hasn’t been overly crowded. Being at Mexican restaurants always makes me wish I drank margaritas; they always look super tasty but I can’t imagine my dislike of alcohol would allow me to truly enjoy them as they were meant to be enjoyed.

Back at the Halfway House, we somehow managed to play Phase 10, a game I haven’t played in at least a year. This seemed to be the theme of things to come now that Rich was back in town: we’d get to do things we haven’t done in a while.

‘Twas definitely a most joyous return. :-)

Ye olde Christemasse partie

Published by
jessi
at December 13, 2009 in In Good Company. 4 Comments

There was a time when Al would host her “White Elephant Holiday Party” where the requirement was a gag gift and a donation of non-perishable food that would be given to one of the local shelters. I can’t actually recall if I attended them in high school, but I definitely remember going to them whilst a university student. As luck would have it, she was unable to host them anymore due to moving out of her parents’ house. We were sad to see them go but it was perfectly acceptable.

This year, however, GrAl decided to host people at their condo in Oak Park. (I refer you to my post about Friday breakfast in Oak Park and how I get to live.) It wasn’t going to be White Elephant, but the charitable donation was still a factor.

As previously mentioned, I am convinced I need to earn my way back into the group; thus, I offered GrAl my services should they need any additional help for the party. (I’m fairly certain that even if I were not trying to be on the “gets to live” team, I would offer my help.) This was either amusing or annoying since as of yet, I am still without a permanent vehicle of mine own. As it turned out, it mattered not, as the Ordonii were also happy to help. We had a few errands to run that involved dropping by the supermarket twice as it would happen.

I have always had this weird thing about arriving places ridiculously early. I think it has to do with my Filipino heritage in that Filipinos are always late to everything, as it is good manners. Since I was raised American, and it always annoyed me that Filipino time resembles little to actual time, I made a super conscious effort to always be early. So I was pretty happy to be among the first folks at the party. And I was helpful, hopefully adding more in my favor of “gets to live”.

The party divided into usual groups. People Al knew at university, people we knew from high school, and our group of folk. As the shenanigans continued, all parties started to mingle a bit more. I do confess I was strangely more comfortable interacting with Al’s friends from Butler than I was with the people I knew from Conant. Perhaps it’s the revertigo, but I just feel incredibly out of place with those people now. Also, I was greatly amused with Al’s friends the Connors, and how Ross was keen on naming his soon-to-be child either John or Sarah. I was all about this, since I am a geek, but at the time he posed the question, he thought only the lads would approve of this. Pffft. How can these names not be cool? It’s not like he’s going super overboard and naming the child Kal-El. (I say this not because it’s a Kryptonian name but mostly because Superman is lame. The answer is always Batman.)

Eventually, the party dwindled down to the usual group of folk. We passed the time as we do and were content to enjoy each others company. (Random query: others in its possessive has no apostrophe? Definitely need to re-read Strunk & White.)

A night at the theatre

Published by
jessi
at December 12, 2009 in Arts and Entertainment and In Good Company. 0 Comments

A few weeks ago, Toni proposed going to Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. She had been wanting to go for quite a while and so we picked a date and went with it.

The show we went to was at 11:30 pm. (This gave us a perfect opportunity to eat at Lou Malnati’s before hand.) According to the website, it was recommended that people arrive early in order to get seats, so that’s what we did. We trooped it out there at 10:00 — we were pretty keen on getting into the show! It was quite a cold night, but somehow we braved the winter winds. I couldn’t tell you when it was they let us into the building, but we were pretty grateful for it.

Once we made it up the stairs, we were conducted into what we later discovered was the foyer (it was more like an anteroom). When we initially got into the room, we thought perhaps that was it; so we took seats along the wall. Of course, it didn’t seem quite right since it looked like there would be nowhere for the troupe to perform. It didn’t take us long to make the connection that there would be one more chamber to pass into. Unfortunately for us, we thought perhaps this would mean we would be split up. (Luckily for us, this was not the case.)

Before we entered the performance area, two of the Neo-futurists came out to tell us about the process. One of the fun things about TMLMTBGB is that the price of the ticket is $9 and the roll of a die; so the most you pay is $15, but you might only have to pay $10. Also, once your ticket is purchased, you receive a name tag which bears absolutely no resemblance to your name despite being asked for it in the beginning. I was hoping for Inigo Montoya, but alas, my name, according to them, is Feelings.

Our group managed to find seats in the back of the theatre, house left, right by the booth. It was a thrust stage, but we were still able to get a good view of the performance space. Once everyone was in, the Neo-futurists explained how the show worked; they would perform 30 play in 60 minutes; along the top of the stage ran a string with numbers attached; the troupe would perform each play at the prompt of “Go” and it would end when someone said “curtains”. Once we heard that, we were to shout out the number of the next play we wanted to see. It seemed like a fairly simple process.

For me to go through every single play would be kinda crazy. I enjoyed pretty much every play they performed. Admittedly, some were a bit more curious than others, like the musical chairs one; but for the most part, they were enjoyable. Some of the ones I really liked that I actually do have the names for were: “Taiko P-B-n-J”; “pissing contest” (although incredibly disturbing for me, I couldn’t help but think “Dude, good for you!”); “Back Home We Used to Camp A Lot”; “Insult. Dance. Repeat”; “Sham(e)”; “Death Play with Kites”; “Neo-Hypnotic”; and the one that ended the show “Hate Yourself!”.

So yeah, I would totally go again and for my friends who live abroad (or at least, aren’t from around here), if ever you are in Chicago and someone says, “Hey, you wanna go to this show I heard about called ‘Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind’?” You should do it. (In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I would be the one to suggest it.)

Good times had by all.

Friday fun and games

Published by
jessi
at December 11, 2009 in In Good Company. 2 Comments

Back in 2005, not long before I left for Japan, every Thursday morning, Grant, Mark and I (and sometimes others, but it was the three of us who were the most consistent to break our fast together) would go to Richard Walkers. It was here that I was introduced to the most amazing, delicious, bestest crepes in the known universe; it was also here that I learned to truly love and appreciate breakfast. We were there so often that it did indeed get to the point where the staff recognized us.

As luck would have it, we had to stop this morning tradition. Something about one of us moving to Japan…I forget the details. In any case, since returning to the States, we haven’t been able to go nearly as much. These past two Fridays, however, have been the most consistent we’ve been since 2005. Although, this Friday, we tried something completely different…

Last week, I tried to persuade Al of Grant and Al to join us; I knew that Al usually had Friday morning free, and even though I knew they are uber precious to her, I thought perhaps she would like to start the day off right with a healthy dish of grease…I mean, healthy breakfast. (To be fair, we weren’t going to Denny’s or anything.) She said she wasn’t available that Friday, but next Friday looked good; she even suggested Grant would join us. Mark seemed rather keen on this prospect and said he would even drive us to Oak Park if it helped coax GrAl out for breakfast.

And so, it came to pass that on Friday the 11th of December 2009, we went to breakfast at the Cozy Corner Coffee Shop in Oak Park. Just so you don’t think this was a super planned thing, it took us something like an hour to decide on this place anyway. Come on, people, have you ever known me to be friends with folks who can decide where to eat in under 30 minutes?

The Cozy Corner Coffee Shop was your typical greasy spoon; the kind of place you’d imagine in a film or something. Did it compare to the most amazing crepes in the known universe? No. But it was still quite charming. Enough for me to declare, “Remind me to get the waffles next time.” I have no idea if we’ll ever, ever dine there again, but I would like to think that we would.

Breakfast conversation was our usual breakfast banter. For once, I was not the one to mess with anything of me Da’s food — he did that all by himself! It was also something I would have only joked about but would never do: he put maple syrup in his coffee! Not like, half the container or anything, but not “I thought it was sugar” kind of accidentally either. It was a little alarming. But at least now I know that I can put maple syrup in his coffee and he can’t get cross about it. :-)

Afterward, we were back to the GrAl condo. Mark had his final to finish up and since we were there, and knowing their holiday party was that Sunday, I offered to be useful. I have been trying to rack up points in the “gets to live” column for Zombie Apocalypse. It’s kinda like Santa’s List only far more important. You know, ‘cuz then I’d get to live. (I’m mildly convinced that since I’ve been three years abroad, my place in the “gets to live” category has diminished somewhat. I am now trying to convince my friends that I would be a good person to have on the team.)

I was so useful! I washed dishes, I took out the rubbish, I even went down into the creepy storage area, which isn’t nearly as creepy and “there’s a monster/slasher-type living there” as their last storage basement. I think I should totally get to live. Of course, after the final trip to the storage area, we got distracted by the Wii. It was a completely natural thing to happen with us, though.

And so, Mark and I spent the majority of our Friday morning and early afternoon in Oak Park with GrAl. It was ever such good times!

That evening, whilst the lads were to play poker with Mark’s co-workers, I invaded the Settlement and kidnapped Toni. We feasted at Boston Market. And thereafter, she introduced me to Death Proof; much like every other cool film known to man that’s been released in the last three years, I was completely unaware of this film’s awesomeness. Toni found this unacceptable and so the film found its way into the DVD player.

I was mildly traumatized in the first part of the movie, but the second part was hilariously charming and delightful. So much so that you know what? I would totally watch it again, if anything for “I’m okay!”

It was definitely a very good Friday. :-)

The last five days

Published by
jessi
at October 14, 2009 in In Good Company. 5 Comments

Okay. If you didn’t know this, now you do. I am a week returned to the States. I’m still not sure how I feel about it but for the time being it’s pretty five-by-five. I’ve reacquainted myself with my friends and things kind of slipped back into routine…sort of. The lack of Rich is fairly obvious. But I suppose the same thing could have been said about me when I left. Although, because I have incurable crazy, I’m pretty sure people didn’t notice. You know, ‘cuz I keep leaving the country. I’ve done it twice now, and I am seriously considering a third time. But that remains to be seen. Why the hell can’t I just stay put?

These last five days have been pretty cool. It’s nice to be with friends. I emphasize the plurality of that ‘cuz there weren’t too many in England. ‘Twas a shame, really, but I’m not gonna pretend it was otherwise. I mean, my first night back, I went to the Settlement and there were five of us in total. Five. It’s been a while since I did anything more than one-on-one. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind just hanging out with one person…but it’s hella nice to be a with a group again. And of course, one of the things we did was play Oh Hell. Oh how I’ve missed that.

We did some fun things, too. On Friday, it was a day in the city for Toni, VoW and me to meet Brad and Bert for lunch and then see the Pirates Exhibit at the Field. That was way cool. After wandering the exhibit, we decided to keep looking at stuff. And seriously, where the hell have I been? I don’t remember the Evolving Planet being there. Was it there when we went in February ‘06? I think not.

The day didn’t stop at the museum, either. We ended up meeting the Ordonii at Portillo’s for dinner. I know it sounds crazy, but I missed that kind of food. The shakes alone are worth it! ‘Twas to Barnes and Nobles and then to the Halfway House thereafter. Pretty great Friday!

On Saturday, Toni and I went to the Gail Borden Library. Okay, so not so cool for some people but SOOO awesome for me and Toni. That is a pretty sweet library. She had to pick up some research material and I wandered around. I don’t go to libraries other than Schaumburg so it was cool to see what others looked like. (The British Library doesn’t really count since I didn’t have a Reading Pass.) And naturally, once the books were checked out it was back to the Settlement. There was Jimmy John’s to be had and general hanging out ensued. In fact, by the end of the evening, it was a veritable party! GrAl even made an appearance, and I didn’t expect to see them until Christmas!

Sunday was an evening wandering the Richardson Farm Corn Maze, the largest in the world. When it was first proposed, I was a little…jack ass-y about it (not gonna lie). A corn maze? What the hell is that? And then we went there and it was all kinds of AWESOME! Although, Toni, Bert, and I kinda separated from the group to try and go through the maze as mazes were meant to be wandered through — WITHOUT A MAP! Sure, we busted through the corn at points (come on, clearly other people had done it otherwise we wouldn’t have known to get through those ways), but we made a game out of it by trying to avoid being sighted by people. We were doing pretty well, too, until we got to the more populated areas.

Since we weren’t trying to do anything fancy like get to all the checkpoints, we made it out of the maze in an hour. The others were keen to stick about in the cold, so we ended up going to Chilli’s for some food. The biggest disappointment of the evening was the lack of Apple Donuts. It was most upsetting since I’ve never had any before and I was kind of looking forward to trying some. Also, my parents asked me to bring some back for them…and they never ask me to bring stuff back for them! Epic fail.

It has become custom for folk to go to Quiz Night. So on Monday night, I accompanied the Settlers, VoW, Brad, and Vow’s friend Megan (sp?) to a “pub” in Palatine. (It wasn’t a pub, it was a brasserie! Er, I mean a micro-brewery!) I didn’t anticipate being any good, but I was able to help my team with three questions! I get to live! Yay! I may even continue going with ‘em! :-)

And as it was in the past, Tuesday night I was to the Settlement to watch some TV. It wasn’t the mass gathering of old nor was it the multitude of shows, but it was something familiar-ish to me.

It’s been a pretty good week home.

Oh yeah! And it has been more or less decided that those of us willing to would participate in our own version of National Novel Writing Month. None of us are super keen on registering, but we want to see if we can do it. The rules have yet to be finalized, but we’re pretty set on it. My only problem is I don’t know what to write!

The Misadventures: The British Library and Hampstead Heath

Published by
jessi
at September 03, 2009 in In Good Company and The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London. 2 Comments

For reasons beyond my ken, I woke up this morning feeling pretty knackered. I found this odd since I hadn’t really stayed up late last night nor did I participate in any kind of crazy strenuous activity like trying to stab Dave in the face. I found this feeling to be most annoying and unfortunate because I was supposed to get up much earlier than I actually did, thus I was probably going to be late meeting up with Fiona.

As it turned out, I got a call from Fiona not too long before I intended to head out. We were originally supposed to meet at King’s Cross-St. Pancras at half ten, but pushed it back to 11:00 instead. You wouldn’t know it, but half an hour really does make a difference. Especially since I arrived at the meeting place at 10:50 AM; I prefer ten minutes early to twenty minutes late.

Neither one of us knew where the British Library was actually located, but I had a chance to glance at a map before walking and for once I did not lead anyone astray. Admittedly, I thought perhaps I had since we seemed to be walking much further than I expected, but then I saw a pretty conspicuous sign for The British Library and felt considerably reassured.

It wasn’t overly difficult to figure out how the library worked since there was a sign pointing to the Ritblat Gallery; also, when we stopped by the Information Desk, a rather enthusiastic librarian explained what we would see in the gallery.

The first thing we looked at was the Literature collection. I drooled over Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and wished I could actually take a closer look at it; I enjoyed Alice’s Adventure Under Ground; and even though I’ve never read Tess of the d’Ubervilles, I wanted to do a manuscript study of the one on display because of the obvious handwritten edits (the most obvious one being the title). This isn’t to say I didn’t appreciate all the texts, but those were the ones that stuck out in my memory.

Of course, the music manuscripts were next. I couldn’t help but smile at Mozart’s Horn Concerto K.477; while it wasn’t the one I played for my audition, it was still one I had played during horn lessons. I remembered my five seconds as a music major ten years ago (dude…that was ten years ago now…) and not for the first time marveled at what these composers were able to accomplish by hand. Of course, the same can be said about all the manuscripts on display, but for some reasons full orchestral compositions seem a bit more challenging to me. Fiona had joined me by this point and we commented on Bolero. “Did you know that when a person auditions for percussion in a professional orchestra, Bolero is a common audition piece for snare?” My former music major self seemed to be resurfacing quite a lot today.

There was quite a group gathered around the Shakespeare display, so I bypassed that in favour of some of the less occupied cases. The illuminated texts were all very impressive; I once again wished I had been given the opportunity to a Classical education since the Latin and the Greek were lost on me (as was the Hebrew and Arabic). One of the things that intrigued me was a book written in the 13th century containing the word “elephant”. I think I liked it so much because the word hasn’t changed its spelling in over 700 years. (Of course, I realize the book I was looking at was written in Latin. But still, I thought it was cool.) I breezed in and out of the Magna Carta room since I had already seen a “better” copy of it in Salisbury Cathedral — it had often omitted Clause 61 included in its text. Although, to be fair, the one at the British Library may have had it as well but if it did, it wasn’t as noted as it had been at Salisbury.

I was finally able to go back and look at the Shakespeare display. There were at least three copies of Romeo and Juliet, all referring to the “O happy dagger” line. I was entertained by this for some reason. It also reminded me about Shakespeare study; I seem to recall a question or debate revolving around the folios, performances, and the publications as to which should be considered the most authentic.

For the most part, Fiona and I were done with the gallery. I was disappointed not to see Beowulf, Cantebury Tales, or Le Morte d’Arthur, but it seems these were out of rotation or were elsewhere. It is also possible that I missed them completely, but I’d have thought they would have been signposted or something.

I had a mad taste for McDonald’s fries, so I persuaded Fiona into eating there for lunch. Remembering when the Road Trippers were here, I knew where to find the nearest one. I’m really not a fan of British chicken nuggets — they really do taste different from America and even Japan — but at least the fries still tasted right.

We hadn’t really planned much else. The day was starting to look a lot better so it was decided that a visit to Hampstead Heath was in order.

Perhaps the best part of this plan was when on the way to the heath, it started to drizzle. I think one of most amusing things about weather in England is the rain; it can rain/drizzle for like ten minutes, turn sunny, then rain/drizzle whilst sunny. This was our experience today at the Heath. It was all five-by-five though because whilst we were chillin’ out on Parliament Hill we got the sun. We sat on one of the benches and had a lovely conversation. There were also plenty of dogs about; that is definitely something I enjoy about England — they seem to allow their dogs off-leash far more frequently than in America. I really enjoyed traipsing around the Heath. Fiona said that it was a very common place for films because of its view of London City.

The wind started to blow a little colder, so we took that as an indication to move on. Fiona had talked up going to The Diner in Camden Town and getting milkshakes so it was back to the Tube Station for us. It’s been a while since I had a milkshake!

The Diner amused me, but then again, most “American” restaurants do. I squealed about the menu, though. They had breakfast, like proper American breakfasts. I was wickedly excited but at the same time annoyed that I hadn’t found out about the place when I was especially homesick. I also got to explain what a Monte Cristo and Philly Cheese Steak were; Fiona seemed a bit unnerved by the Monte Cristo, though. “Like proper deep fried? How does the sandwich stay together?”

Fiona and I ended up splitting a chocolate milkshake and onion rings. I told her that when she and Dave visit Chicago, I’ll take them to Steak ‘n’ Shake. She’s pretty keen about her visit to the States and I hope to be able to take her to a few American restaurants like Lou’s, Denny’s, and Portillo’s.

It was our separate ways thereafter. Fiona and Dave were to have their mates from Australia in tomorrow and I was feeling tired again. It was lovely hanging out with Fiona; she’s definitely good people.

“We really need to do this again sometime.”

Published by
jessi
at February 14, 2009 in In Good Company. 2 Comments

As professional courtesy, some of the names in this post have been changed.

This past week was the end of the first half of Spring Term. Usually, at the end of the week, people go down to the local pub. At the end of Autumn Term, it was decided that for the next big break we ought to do something other than just go to The Fox. So “Sean” organized a staff outing that involved meeting up in a more or less central location and hanging out until well after midnight.

Shelby and I were invited to stay the night at Fiona’s place in the event we didn’t want to catch last trains. I was a little reluctant to accept the invitation at first, but then decided it would probably be a good thing if I did.

I’m really glad I did. But we’ll get to that later.

I was gettin’ pretty excited about being social with colleagues. It ended up being a lot of the people who usually frequent The Fox anyway. But it wasn’t going to be in our usual place. For some reason, that made a difference.

Shelby and I got ready at Fiona’s…or rather, Fiona and Shelby got ready. Let’s not forget the part where I am totally and completely lame and don’t put a whole lot of effort into “getting ready”. Whilst Fiona and Shelby spent time being proper ladies and such, I hung out on the couch with Fiona’s husband watching a really bad made-for-TV movie called “Terror in the Family”. Wow. It was way quality. Some of the cinematography was very moving. And the acting…

Fiona and Shelby got a laugh out of it ‘cuz they got to see the geeky side of me. I thought Fiona’s husband was pretty cool. He was able to speak a little geek so that made me happy.

We were meant to meet up with everyone at half seven. It was nearly seven by the time we were out the door and we still hadn’t eaten dinner yet. Fiona had me all kinds of excited to eat at a pizza place round the corner from her flat. In fact, various times throughout the getting ready process I just shouted out “Pizza!” ‘Twasn’t meant in a “hurry your asses up” way, ’twas more of a “I’m so excited about pizza!” way. I was kind of thinking we weren’t going to get our pizza ‘cuz of time, but Fiona and Shelby assured me that no one was going to show up exactly at 7:30!

Now, as an American, when I envision going out for pizza, I think of Frato’s or Lou’s or a place like that. More hanging out with your mates than ambiance and candle light. So when we walked up to Caminata (website not very informative, but it gives some contact info), I was feelin’ a bit…out of place.

“I feel like I’m in the Hills,” Shelby declared.

I was glad that I wasn’t the only one finding the place a bit posh. Fiona kinda laughed at us ‘cuz it wasn’t like we were dressed in cut-up jeans or anything, and even if we were, it wasn’t like there was a dress code.

Fiona had a voucher for a buy-one-get-one-free pizza so we decided we would go with that deal. It also happened that the waitress was super nice and let Fiona and Shelby get their buy-one-get-one-free drink as well, even though it was slightly after 7:00.

The conversation was only mildly school-related. We mostly talked about traveling and our respective experiences traveling. I think I get on with Shelby and Fiona so well ‘cuz none of us our resident UK folk and we came here to try and see the world. I’m still frustrated with myself for not going and doing more traveling when it comes to these holidays, but I also have that crazy “save money” mindset. I mean, I didn’t really start doing things in Japan until I had reached a certain amount of money saved up. I may complain about it a bit, but I’m glad that I’m meeting my mom in Belgium ‘cuz it at least gets me out of the UK.

The pizza we ordered arrived. One of the reasons Fiona loves this place is because you can watch the guy toss the pizza up in the air right at the bar. It’s pretty cool. Apparently it’s a very family-run place. I was glad to have ordered outside of my eating comfort zone. I can’t remember the name of the particular pizza, but it had Buffalo mozzarella, Parma ham, mixed greens that included fresh basil and had a cherry tomato sauce. Now, that might not sound overly adventurous to y’all, but when I’m pretty lame when it comes to pizza.

Dude. That was like the best pizza I’ve ever had! It was Italian-style and absolutely gorgeous, as my British friends are wont to say when describing food. (I’m writing this post several days later and I’m still thinking about how good that pizza was!)

After our meal, Fiona decided to take a picture of us together.

Me, Shelby and Fiona at Caminata

Me, Shelby and Fiona at Caminata

Aren’t you proud of me? I willingly sat for a picture!! :-)

We were to the train station thereafter. It was closer to 8:00 than half seven, but I was going to be late with people I knew so it was all five-by-five with me. Fiona was the one with directions, or rather, she memorized the directions. We started to question her memory a bit as we continued to wander the streets of Clapham, but it turned out that Sean’s directions were a bit off and The Duck was not as close to the station as he made it out to be. We also ran into “Belle” on our way; she was equally at a loss in finding the place.

The cool and fun thing about Fiona is she’s not afraid to ask random people for directions. Or maybe it was more entertaining because she was wearing her scarf around her head in a very interesting fashion.

Eventually, we found the The Duck. Phil, Sean, “Lisa” and “Rory” were already there. Our seats were situated around couches so that was pretty cool. Drinks were ordered and room on the couches was made for one and all.

The weather was starting to get pretty bad. We laughed about it, wishing that it could have happened earlier and maybe we could have had another snow day out of it. Unfortunately, the weather was cause for some of the other people who were supposed to join us to back out. ‘Twas a shame really. But enough people trickled in to make it into a split bit of a group. “Tim” and “Kate” were amongst our later arrivals and a bunch of people went to shoot some pool.

We stayed at The Duck up until closing time, which was round 11:00. It was to the The Clapham Grand. The weather had calmed down by this point so it wasn’t too bad walking outside, just a bit chilly.

At first, we weren’t going to be allowed into the club ‘cuz of our shoes or something like that. But Sean smoothed it over somehow and the bouncer let us in. He made some comment about the fact that I was wearing trainers and I got really, really annoyed. I can tolerate rudeness from students, but I’m less tolerant from adults. I’m actually a very violent person and I really wanted to unleash my violence on the bouncer. So what if I would have totally gotten my ass kicked. That put me into a bit of a mood for the beginning of the time at the club, but I eventually got over it.

Now, y’all know I’m not one for dancing. I seriously have to be in a certain mod to dance, and usually situations like that make me uncomfortable. And yet, I was perfectly content to sit and watch everyone else dance. It was so loud at the club anyway that it would have been impossible to try and talk with people. A couple times throughout the night, people asked me if I was having a good time and I wasn’t even trying to be polite when I told them that I was.

For the most part, we stayed until that place closed too! Some others in our party parted company around last train, but Sean, Fiona, Shelby, Tim, Belle, Richard, and I all hung in there until the place closed. (And again with the rudeness from the staff. Can’t say I’m overly impressed with The Clapham Grand. Maybe they have to be jerks ‘cuz they’re used to dealing with drunks, but I thought they were unnecessarily rude.)

Shelby, Fiona, Belle, and I caught a taxi from Clapham. It was an entertaining ride home. We didn’t get back to the flat till round 3 AM or so, and we were still awake for a bit thereafter.

The following morning, Fiona took us to a little cafe on the High Street for breakfast…er, lunch. Can’t say I’m overly impressed with English breakfasts, but that might be because I had my heart set on pancakes or waffles and English breakfasts don’t have either of those. Instead, they have beans. (I know, right?)

The conversations elude me, I just know that they were good. It was really nice to hang out with people in general. I’d really missed doing so.

As we walked to the station, it was mentioned several times that we really need to do this sort of thing again sometime. We’re hoping to make this type of hanging out a more regular occurrence.

Here’s hoping!