Merry Christmas!

I am experiencing a great deal of good cheer right now, not only because it's Christmas but also because last night (Christmas Eve) I had the most amazing meal ever. We went over to a family friend's house as we have done many times before. They always have a buffet and the food choices are pretty much the same (delicious) choices every year, but this year... above and beyond! It was magnificent! My eating rivaled a man. A hungry man.


So in the spirit of Christmas and in order to promote good will towards men, I am going to share with you a piece of advice.
NO. NO NO NO NO NO.
The rest of the world and I had to grin and bear it when the genie pants bomb went off, but what is this? Some kind of weird genie bodysuit? Some kind of cruel joke?

Please note how "flattering" this outfit can be. On a model! Let's hope this never hits the streets.

In hope that this day will never dawn,

MERRY CHRISTMAS.
<3 Adrienne

I fell down the stairs on thursday. I landed. Hard on my butt. An hour or two later I had my last final of the year. I figured with the whole falling down debacle took care of my debacle count for a little while, but I guess it was a week of falling. Thursday night my roommate fell down trying to lock me out after I did a (dead on) impression of her impatiently waiting for people to leave, and friday I was showing Regis and Stephan around Central Park, when around 86th Stephan slipped on some wet leaves and hurt his knee. He had to stay in his hotel room the rest of the day (and the next day too). Moral of the story? You might think it's that I'm like a poison and everyone around me should watch out, but mostly it's just watch yourself. Wet leaves are dangerous!

New New New Updated

So, super observant person, you can tell that this whole bloggy thing looks different. That it does. I spent a good chunk of my night doing the relatively minor yet completely noticeable revisions while not studying for my art final. I mean, my final's not tomorrow so whatever.

In related news, Wednesday at 4pm I am officially finished with my first semester of my last year of college. Hoorah. Actually, I am really happy about it. Happy to be on to next semester (with the seven credits I need to graduate), happy to be eventually out of college (anything gets old after four years), and happy to crack open the bottle of bushmills in the freezer. I'm also planning to dance a lot. Even if it's just me and my roommate doing the cabbage patch to Fancy Footwork in our living room. Or more likely I'll do a little dance, listen to some Cold War Kids and concede to the draw of my down quilt. I've been doing that a lot lately.

I'm actually doing it right now.

This is me at 21, folks. I have a feeling I'm going to be a really boring old lady.

Missing In Action

Since I last saw you I have become a non pet owner, danced the bejeezus out of myself in front of a cross, fallen asleep in a taxi and learned to LOL.

And how were your two months?

AHHH

OH MY GOD I DROPPED MY IPOD IN WATER.

The screen looks like one of those fake mini aquariums. I want to hurt myself.

School is Hard.

Word.

New blog soon. Get ready!

Names?

My roommate and I just got a cat (he's male) and we can't quite figure out what to name him. Sure some things have been thrown around... zoidberg, tom selleck... but we still haven't gotten that name.

Any suggestions?

Still Alive

Many things have happened that I don't feel like chronicling, but the main point is that yes, I am still alive. And yes, I am a very, very bad blogger. The picture below is from a Hiro Ballroom party that Marla and I went to and continue to go to every week (with the exception of the courtney love performance last week). I meant to write about it more, but alas. That week was Boys Noize and Kerowack (very good). There was this girl dj in between the two that basically blew my mind. Best party since london. The next week was Chromeo, which was basically a shitshow in every sense of the term. Lots of Columbia kids. Very sweaty. But the music is fun and let's face it, the guy knows how to dress. I tell my fellow students that don't know who he is to just look out for the sharpest dresser in Butler Library. I think when he's not on tour he lives there.

In lieu of Courtney Love last thursday, Marla and I went to Beauty Bar for the Maximo Park afterparty and had one of the best nights I've had this summer. It was one of those nights where everything happened for a reason. There were no mistakes and no regrets. Hints? There was pizza, good conversation, at least one free drink, a little bit of dancing AND the dancing was to the smiths. okay and throw in an extra cute and funny musician or two. pretty good night.

I've been trying to figure out exactly where my time is going. This is the first summer I've worked full time, and boy that eats away at your days, doesn't it? The job is nice, steady, even fun at times and for an office job it's probably one of the best I could have. The people are great too. But when I stop to think about the summer as a whole, this one seems to be passing so much faster. Like it's being swallowed before I can really appreciate it. It's difficult to stop and notice something while it's still happening. I guess thems the breaks.

But anyway, let me not ignore the important part of this summer - that I'm subletting an awesomely real new york apartment close to campus with my friends and I got a haircut and some extra cute clothes. We're a little trifecta, we are. Marla makes sure we always have beer, I clean, and Pooja invites people over. I realize this makes me sound like the lame one, but really - I can't help it.
roommate picture:

marla, me, pooja.

i am in major need of a dose of cuteness. and at the risk of repeating myself, here it is

Resourceful.

AWWWWWWWW. cute.



just a little mean.

Adjusting is such an odd thing. As much as I'd like to think I'm not affected by where I am, that I'm the same everywhere - can anyone really be the same everywhere? Coming back, can I be london Adrienne or should I be New York Adrienne? Do I even remember what New York Adrienne is? Not that I didn't love being in London, I did - it was a great experience that I don't regret for one second, and I would do it again (maybe a little differently). Being back is great, seeing all my friends is great, but I have to remember the New York Adrienne - the one that was used to having friends around and going to dinner and calling everyone, but it's weird because I'm still in the London mindset, just get a meal and be alone. Wow that sounds kind of sad.
Bottom line is I learned how to be alone and completely independent in London. In a generally good way. Now my situation has changed. It's not like that here. I have opportunities to do all sorts of other things and be around my friends while I do it. It's great to be in the city, but how long until I can get the rest of me back?
I just want to be carefree and happy at this point! Damnit!

homey

I've been back for almost two weeks. I spent a week in columbus (no internet) which was actually very nice and relaxing. Gas prices were not. Boring story short, I am back in New York. I move into my apartment soon, and have a less that full-time, not quite paying job. I'm looking to rectify that. Or should I say, rent is forcing me to rectify that. Here's to getting a job!

It's been nice to see some family and extra nice to see my puppy.

Rewind

England has returned to it's old weather. It's sad, really. We had so many nice days in March and April when we maybe shouldn't have and now May is cold enough that I have to take a coat out with me at all times. In other news, almost all my friends are gone and it's my last weekend in England. 5 days left! The happy side to that is of course that I will get to go home, but also that we managed to have some fun drinking during the day and being generally ridiculous. The cloudy weather wasn't any help, but we managed to have a good time. It's strange to believe I won't see the same people everyday anymore. If I see them again at all!

We've made some tentative plans for meeting next year in New York. I get excited every time I think about going back, mainly because of the delicious food I'm going to make my mother stop and pick up on the way home from the airport, but also because of all the delicious foods I'll get to shove in the face of my friend Janne, who is from Germany, and has never had the pleasure of eating, say, a biscuit. They don't even know what biscuits are over here! It's both sad and shameful. So basically if she comes to New York for a week, I will already have every meal lined up for us because let's face it - that's the most important part anyway. An unsatisfied stomach is an unsatisfied mind!

3/4

Today at 12:30pm GMT I was officially done with my junior year of college.
Shit, that means it's time to get serious now doesn't it?

I've been in London for quite some time now. I'm almost done, actually. 2 days, I'm done with school. 2 weeks, I'm flying home. It's been very nice outside, but of course being masochists my friends and I would sit around admiring the day and whining about work that we could have been doing then, but didn't. London has been the scene of many questions for me. Things like - how did I not notice Talkie Walkie was this good? Seriously, it's always been this good and I never knew? or I do a lot, but wow how much do I do nothing?! My ability to waste time is mind boggling. and Drum and bass is fun? That one has been answered though. Drum and bass is fun. It gets a bad rap.
Friday was my friend's 23rd birthday and we went to Fabric. DJ Hype and True Playaz night. 10 pound entrance. yes, 10 pounds. with a student discount. Some of us failed to buy tickets ahead of time (it was 12.50 for those) and we got in very early, around 10. There were three rooms, but the only visible thing was the smoke. There were only 3 or 4 smoke machines that I could see, but it was like a warzone. Example.














Lots of people were on drugs. Example.

But having said that, the parties where there is loud music and most people are on drugs are probably fun, I think. DJ Hype was awesome. As a result, I could barely walk on my feet the next day and after laying around taking half an hour naps for 10 hours, I went to bed at 11:30.
Today I got up at 7:30 and wrote a paper. I have one more, plus reading to go by 4pm friday. These could have been done much sooner. Don't you always wonder why you don't do things much sooner?

Oh yes, and I'm 21 now! when I get back in new york I'm going to take my horizontal ohio drivers license and push all up in the bouncers face at the mercury lounge. Waiting 2 years for revenge is sad. But it still tastes sweet!

toothpastefordinner.com

I went on a tour today.














To Stonehenge.

















and then to Bath.




























I love this kid.


Also, Prince William is now single. My tour guide said that about 12 times.

What Can I Say?

It's been a busy month. It's been raining outside for a couple of days, so I've been mainly indoors. And being indoors gets me a little stircrazy. In case you didn't know - stircrazy is not such a good writer. Here are some pictures:



Lindsay going nuts over the massive pony in a tasteful toy store exhibit named "PONYVILLE!"



Trafalgar Sq.



The Queen's playground, St. James Park.



One very creative Berlin Mural.



yeah I saw LCD Soundsystem earlier this month. I know, I know! I have 100 things I could blog about. If I did write it, you wouldn't read it. Trust Me. A run on sentence with things like "Dude the drummer looks like Mr. Rosso from Freaks and Geeks!" would not be so great to read. As I said, crazy is not conducive to coherent thoughts.

An example of how nice the weather was at the beginning of this week. Now it's rainy and disgusting again, hence the "crazy."

If I leave you with one last thing, it's to buy Modular's "Leave Them All Behind 2." You'll never have a lack of party music again. And it'll boost your work out stamina. Booya.

Ich bin ein Berliner!

more to come, folks. I've had a great run taking time off to go on a spring break that isn't mine, but it's time to come back down...

waah

being sick (and subsequently having to avoid dairy) is painful; what I would give for a chocolate bar!

Cow and Chicken

The sick version.

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) -- When dozens of chickens went missing from a remote West Bengal village, everyone blamed the neighborhood dogs.

But Ajit Ghosh, the owner of the missing chickens, eventually solved the puzzle when he caught his cow -- a sacred animal for the Hindu family -- gobbling up several of them at night.

"We were shocked to see our calf eating chickens alive," Ghosh told Reuters by phone from Chandpur village, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Kolkata.

The family decided to stand guard at night on Monday at the cow shed which also served as a hen coop, after 48 chickens went missing in a month.

"Instead of the dogs, we watched in horror as the calf, whom we had fondly named Lal, sneak to the coop and grab the little ones with the precision of a jungle cat," Gour Ghosh, his brother, said.

Local television pictures showed the cow grabbing and eating a chicken in seconds and a vet confirmed the case.

"We think lack of vital minerals in the body is causing this behavior. We have taken a look and have asked doctors to look into the case immediately," Mihir Satpathy, a district veterinary officer, said by phone.

"This strange behavior is possible in some exceptional cases," Satpathy said.

Hundreds of villagers flocked to Chandpur on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of Lal, enjoying his bundle of green grass for a change.

"The local vets said the cow was probably suffering from a disease but others said Lal was a tiger in his previous birth," Ajit added.

gross. how does a cow get its mouth that open? and with the feathers and everything?

it happens

sometimes you're out having a good time, you've had a few, you start wandering around...
and sometimes things just get lost


or should I say, multiple times. On the same street.

(post longer than two sentences coming soon)

CSG Yearbook Throwback

Adrienne

is - in london

loves - wotsits (yum)

pet peeve - which damn side of the street do I walk on?!

noted for - her itunes library and watching quite a bit of american tv reruns

Imagine that!

I actually have some work to do this week, but I will try to get something good for you soon. I would write about Scotland (where the picture below was taken), but that would most likely go something like this: oh wow. wow. fields, sheep! wow! oceans! wow! wow...etc.
so I won't do that.
Anyways, stay tuned. Maybe you'll get lucky and I'll even include some zombie theory.

The Highlands

The first time this semester I was actually blown away.

Let's skip ahead

ok single people, today is officially february 15th. that is all.

Sono andato all'Italia!

I visited Lindsay in the lovely town of Perugia. There was a lot of eating and drinking. and of course, lots of staring.

stop making me fat, mom!

my mom sent me this package in honor of valentine's day.my goal is to have a little left for valentine's day.

no touching

Friends in bars, friends in close proximity to other people all over the world, I would like you to hear about something. It's called no touching. I understand that when you're out on a friday or saturday night, things can get a little crazy. Maybe there were a few drinks involved, maybe you're feeling a little bit more open and loose, but by all means, whoever you are, stop the touching! If you know the touch-ee, this behavior may or may not be acceptable. But generally, come on guys - keep the hands off. You can act interested without touching. You can even be sleazy without touching!

and my lord, please don't follow any of this advice!

photshop phriday. don't let the bunny fool you; it gets scarier.

Ruckus

Columbia's joined a new free file sharing (but only when you're online and only to your computer) service called Ruckus. It only takes a school email to join, which means I don't have to miss out. Very nice. It is also very nice because it allows me to download all those songs that I never thought good enough to buy, like "Take on Me," "Safety Dance" and just about anything from the shortly-lived Test Icicles. Speaking of Test Icicles, boy do they make some noise. You might even call it a ruckus (hardy har). But honestly, any more than two minutes of their songs (especially "Catch it") makes me want to pull my eyeballs out of my head.

get a mac, british version

apple uk , appleus

so they get points for saying words like "shenanigans and tomfoolery," but the bottom line is these brits ain't got nothin' on our mac. even our pc is cuter, in a nerdy sort of way.

Neon Bible

Neon Bible is the name of the new Arcade Fire album. It has leaked all across the wide internets.
I haven't listened to much yet besides the new version of "No Cars Go," which has always been one of my favorite songs. The new version is nice, very large and extravagant. Every time I listen to the Arcade Fire I can't help but feel like I'm being wrapped in a blanket. It's very reassuring, especially in No Cars Go. I imagine this is what the song always should have sounded like, though I do miss the cute "it sounds like we did this with one microphone" recording from the EP.
I have to listen more, but right now I will give it a yes? There are a lot of organs in this one.

top 7 london

Because seven is a nice number and I feel like sharing

1. Shout Out Louds - Please Please Please
2. Badly Drawn Boy - Once Around The Block
3. Phoenix - Too Young
4. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
5. Keane - Is It Any Wonder? (haha, honestly I wish I were kidding...)
6. XTC - Making Plans for Nigel
7. AIR - Universal Traveler


a throwback, I know. but British music has been so disappointing.

I've decided that you can't say you've been to a party in england until you've seen a few drunk irishman hovering on a balcony to "final countdown." This followed by a 2 person conga line to Modern English.

it's ok to be too young, you can try again later

my girl likes to...

I literally just heard "Party All The Time" playing in my cafeteria. How can I express this emotion I am feeling? Perhaps: hahaha!!!!!!!!!??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!wtf! I was so wrong about crossing the pond. The music was supposed to get better, not worse and slightly older!

nuggets of wisdom

Sufjan Stevens just told me that a good man is hard to find.









I am inclined to believe this. Just look at what I have in my bed:

I literally think I need some kind of electroshock to get me to do my reading. What's wrong with me? It's not even that hard!

I wasn't planning on writing anything, but I just got this email and it's too good not to share:

Wellbeing week programme: come and join in
All activities free!!!!
Look out for updated daily programmes all next week
Visit the information desk at the bottom of the main stairs
Tuesday to Friday

Monday 22 January
11am-3pm

Main building foyer
Staff from the health centre available for health information,
blood pressure checks etc

Tuesday 23 January
11-12 Reiki treatments: taster sessions FB01
12-1pm Qigong workshop FB07
12.30-1pm Chinese orchestra Foyer
12-2pm Hare Krishna food in JCR from Bhakti Yoga Society
1-2 Workshop for staff: supporting students vulnerable to stress
B320

5-6pm Yoga for women 4415

Wednesday
11am-3pm
Main building foyer
Staff from the health centre available for health information,
blood pressure checks etc
11-12pm What is dyslexia workshop B103
12-1pm Hypnotherapy workshop 550
1-2pm Falun Gong meditation
2-4pm Free kick (Football for good and bad girls and boys) Regents
Park: meet SOAS steps

4-5pm Aromatherapy taster sessions B320
4-6pm Writing Therapy workshop 536
5-6pm Workshop for men: 21st Century man (!!!!! I really wish I could go to this)

Thursday
12-1pm Acupuncture taster sessions 4427
1-2pm Guitar workshop 4427 (bring your guitar if you have one)
1-2pm Ayurveda taster sessions F104
1-2.30pm Bhakti Yoga Kirtan music Foyer
4-6pm ISHTA yoga workshop FB01
4-5pm Laughter workshop (!!!!!!!!!!)
5-6pm Laughter workshop

Nightline Beat the Blues Hip Hop extravaganza LSE

Friday
12-1pm Alexander technique workshop FG07
1-2pm Alexander technique workshop FG07
12-2pm Head massage taster sessions FB10

4-5pm Homeopathy workshop FG07
5-6pm Homeopathy taster sessions FG07

6.30pm Critical Mass Cycle Ride meets at National Film Theatre by
Waterloo Bridge
Skateboarders, rollerbladers, wheelchair users, cyclists all welcome

wow. ok. this school is awesome. What is a laughter workshop?! I might have to go to that.

Oooh. some shit just went down outside the Tesco down the block. The yelling was all British slang, but I caught the word "prick" a few times. It looked like there was going to be a beat down, tesco employee on rugged mountain homeless/poor dude. I think the dude tried to steal a donut.

No lie

Across the street from this shop, I had a hot chocolate at a place called the Cuban. It played videos of Fidel Castro and had Cuban flags on the walls, but the hot chocolate was £2.50. That's almost 5$, which is even more than Starbucks. Very uncommunist and certainly very unfreakish. Tsk tsk.

Coffee & TV

Two days ago I had a bland egg sandwich. Afterwards, a terrible greasy kebab. Fast forward a few hours and I had a bland cup of minestrone. Then a mushy cheeseburger. Then a bland chicken sandwich. It's looking pretty bleak now at day 5 of blandiness. The chocolate's not bad.

The internet connection here is majorly restricted and won't let me download anything. Also, the stupid US networks only stream shows for computers in the US. C'mon! Leaving me with half a season?! What do I do now? How do I procrastinate?!

In other news, the sky was blue today. This doesn't happen very often. Very good weather day.

I still have not seen the Thames!

Hiya

I'm in London. It's raining.

You so jealous

oh yeah.

London Calling

For those of you who don't know, I am going to London in approximately 24 hours. Now all I need to do is pack everything and go to the post office to track down my passport. easy! oh yes and buy a set of converters. At this point stress and I are good friends. What was normal life like again?