Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Temperatures Rising

It is hot in London. It is damn hot! The weather is 36 degrees Celsius. On the tube, which millions take, including myself, temperatures measured 50 degrees Celsius. There is no air conditioning on The Tube. Privately owned? Privately disintegrating? Yeesh! And London is hosting the SUMMER Olympics in 2012! I am moving slowly, wearing number 50 sunblock, and drinking a lot of water (and eating a lot of corn on the cob). I think it is the salt that I pour on the corn that I am craving. A London chef cooks an egg on the bonnet of her car. Yeesh! Ice cream anyone? Even the shade is just too hot.

The Birthday Sequence

On my actual birthday my friends, Olivia and Andrew (pictured above in Paris), made me an amazing dinner and, at my request, fruit smoothies for dessert. They put candles in the drink for me and I made sure to leave one still burning when I blew them out (for you, Nigel!)

Thursday, July 13, 2006

My Latest Studio

Here a couple of pictures of my latest and best studio so far here in London.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Birthday

It is my birthday today and I have a little something that I am going to do for my 34th year. I am going to "Lent" it. I am going to give up junk food for the year. Okay, maybe this seems drastic, but I am painting chocolate and pastries all day long and there is nothing to do but eat them when I am done. I am tired of junk food, quite frankly. I will make an exception of allowing myself junk on 10 occassions during the year. After all, I do have a wedding and a birthday. I am committed. Anyone else care to join me? (any crazies out there?) It truly is only hard the first week.

Sell, Sell, Sell: The Stink at Degree Shows

Click here for an interesting article.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Listerine

My mom brought a few bottles of Listerine with her on her one month adventure through England and Scotland. I was curious to see how it compared to the local Pound Land (Dollar Store equivalent) that I purchased here in London. Nigel and I brushed our teeth together and I told him all the health benefits I had heard about Listerine. I swigged back a huge mouthful and began my 30 second gargle. OH MY WORD! What a burn! My eyes were tearing up, but I was determined to get the full 30 seconds worth of amazing germ-killing, cavity-fighting action that was promised. I think I spewed it out at 25 seconds. Close enough! I could not feel my tongue or the entire roof of my mouth. The whole thing had gone numb. I blurted out the sensations to Nigel, who seeming encouraged by the "strength" of the product, and swigged back his cap full. We were both panting to get some cool air into our mouths for the next while, like when you've eaten ethnic food and think the scale of how spicy food should get is actually even on your North American radar. Think again! It must have been a good 20 minutes before the tingling sensation faded and I felt like I could feel my mouth again. Needless to say, I couldn't believe the stuff and wasn't convinced that anything that could numb your entire mouth could be that good for you. After all, Ambisol, the topical stuff that you rub on babies gums to numb them, has a daily overdose level. I left the bottle at Nigel's place. Tonight Nigel announced he has been gargling every night with it. REALLY, I asked? "It's sort of like battery acid. I think it's really good for you", he said. You heard it from the doctor!

Sheffield

Other than the first two pictures, these are all within walking distance of Nigel's flat. The Peak District surrounding Sheffield The damn in the Peak District This is the clock tower that sits beside Nigel's flat, to the right Nigel's flat is the middle story you can see the clock tower from here manure