Sometimes london is magic. Sometimes London decides, hey, have a warm sunset across a beautiful lake with a lovely friend by your side. Sometimes the squires dance and the flowers totally deliver on every promise of reminding you of secret garden-esc movies you watched as a child. Sometimes.
All of the above, is true. Go London!
Week five of the adventure begins tomarrow. and whynot. Greatfully yesterday filled itself with good people from home who are as shocked as me to be in London, and embrace the unknown of all that. The comfort of simply being in the pressence of the familiar is amazingly fufilling and cozy. Likewise it is such a relief to be able to play a bit. Thankyou for theatre kids!!! (and for magical sunlight in hyde park).
My lovely australian claire is sadly leaving me soon. she's been a terific bar maid for nearly 7 months now and is due for a change. Thus she is off to do some home hospice for 8 weeks and is leaving our discheveled flat. The other american girl and i have taken over the room...but miss claire, even if sharing a room is a bit too cozy.
oh London, yep, london.

Having been rather ill and gross lately, likely due to catching some strange tropical eastern european disease over drinks, i spent much of a night off watching my room-mate's 'sex and the city' dvds, THUS leading me to feel a strong desire to write a carrie bradshaw inspired post. A blog post loaded with statement questions, and code names, and sly not so clever word play. I can not title my bradshaw post sex in the london city as there have been no dirty british affairs(thankfully, as most of the british men who confess their love to me are drunk and so not my type.....or horribly atractive but speak languages not largely regarded on the global scale)----But we can focus on the city, of sex and the london, as there has been loads of city. and that alone is drama, please! When the job is being a bitch, or more so the management on drugs, i do find some relief in my budding relationship with the city. Today i spent my morning accidently wondering through hyde park. Originally the intent had been to check out the v+a and glide by old artifacts untill my evening movie date with anna, but once i arrived in the area, i did not feel the museum vibe, and gradually wondered my self into the park. tree lined pathes made a good companion to my mucus infested cough and pretty, and odly enough, i felt at great ease all on my onesome. The need to "friend" the residents of this city has largely elluded me, as my mean streak hardens and i seem to be gradually more and more particular about who i choose to surround myself with. Like the sinatra song, "she loves the theatre, she never comes late, she'd never bother, with anyone she'd hate."---i have no shame in being particualr. (but am emensly glad when i hear my company is desired by my charming minnesotans spekeling the city).
----if carrie bradshaw were to give us insight, here were go: Do we thrive on our own company? is one a crowd? and so on.....
-back to kate
kate is a particular lady, she'd certainly never bother with anyone she'd hate.
Anywho, it's almost the end of week four, a shocking fact! The job, or more so, the management, have proven to be somewhat of an issue. Mom-gunther has had loads of good advice, so it's looking survivable, and i do like the flexability of not having a serious job, but i do miss doing something i actually care about. I like the fact that i am still able to see the city and adventure and all, but the thought of a change is tempting, and dificult. who knows, it's just oneof those things that bouce through one's head late at night while eating a bar of chocolate.
Anywho, on to girls night out at the movies!!!! anna wisely pointed out that while in a theatre, you could, technically be anywhere, in a dark room, in the world....so we are probably going to try to pretend minneapolis! cheers from kate, london, and carrie bradshaw!

MORE SILLY HAT! and birds...notice the co-habitation, pigion, duck, swan!
oh my god anna hickey! drinking plum wine through a straw? she looks concerned...and should be, plum wine =DANGER....it's like juice....danger juice!

keith hovis...as in the british bread company?! we all knew there was something wheaty and english about you keith!

also here i am scalling the wall to winsor castle.... once i decided to buy a visitors pass instead i put on one of these fun hats pictured below and hugged a guard hand puppet....note the photo.









then i tried to light a cannon with my informational audio guide as a wand.....you know it worked too.






and i wish i could say i tried to eat this swan just to see what the queen would do...but i didnt...i think it wanted to eat me though...it was a huge swan.

I have largely noted lately a variety of opinion on appropriate emotional states, or specifically how individuals feel about experiencing a range there of. The fact that being on one's own in a foreign country does not consistently equate to sunshine and daisies is a fact of life i had rather anticipated, and a challenge spotted through with brilliant moments is completely a part of it. Yesterday brought with it a visit of everything dear and safe and comforting and fun and lovely, while also being fully fleeting and bittersweet. (all in all a turbulent flight of emotions, but so much rather that than not at all). There was talk of the comforts of home, loneliness, and unfamiliarity, and the ageree-ment that people who expect an adventure to be easy, dont truely understand. Completely the most lovely meeting if the past weeks.
When asked later how i was doing, i explained that i was in extreem flux of emotion, but that was ok. In response i was told to feel good and not tearful and none of the bitter and all of the sweet do to the shortness of life. I explained that experiencing an emotion, whether good or bad, is completely favorable to me, and that truely a good cry is sometimes exactly what one needs.....this view was not shared.....ah well! for now, emotions are all mine then! and greatfully so, especially for the random few lovely bitter and sweet days.

tomarrow i have off work and am fully touristing with liam. Off to winsor castle in the morning and on to the globe in the evening. A day one could likely suspect to be full of niceness of emotion, but oh we shall see how it plays out! ha!

Also the distant possibility of traveling to france this winter to do theatre has recently popped into the picture, and here's hoping that concept can become a reality!

in other news i killed a keg...not exactly sure how, but it's been taken off the pay check...a whole keg....turned all air bubbly and horrid on my account. i am starting to fear that i am a very personable bar tender but perhaps not a good one. then again i have only been a bar tender for 2 weeks and two days. give a girl a break! i now fear the keg...and dont care much to get back on the keg changing horse. we'll see. oh london you tricksy beast you!

The realization of the duration of this whole london thing seems to rather have hit home this past tuesday. In a fashion that only Laura Lechner(who HAS been touched by sir ian) can fully appreciate, I spent 3 or so hours in the queue for Hamlet tickets for JANUARY. oh and did i ever get tickets, it felt quite victorious and Courtney and I are going to have a lovely time with David Tenent, but the reflection of noting that said tickets are for in 2009 was a bit disarming. That added to a drunken brawl out side my window involving people who live in my flat, and a lovely heart felt conversation via phone with a friend from back home, all started to make me feel a bit vulnerable and out of my element and lead to me calling the rents for good wisconsin lovin'. SO, in an effort to bring things down a size i made a count-down on paper of 26 weeks to monitor my time here, and as it is, am already down to 24 weeks....which seems highly manageable. --and until the next 24 weeks of my life reveal themselves, i am going to keep myself fully entertained. Yesterday morning I went to a reading of Roahl Dahl stories, as performed by three actors on stage while Quinton Blake illustrated live along to the action of the selections. IT WAS AWESOME. and i totally felt like a little kid having so many of my favorite books read to me outloud! it was great.
Tuesday, my lovely friend adam will be passing though on his way back to the states, so a pint is definetly in order, and a tube ride to the airport with a bit of good minneapolis familiarity.
(as long as the euro-star dosent catch on fire again...it happened, check the news)
Thurday I have the day off as well and am making my first trip to the Globe, which is definetly a requirement of any actor living in london i should think. Liam and I are going to go see Midsummers , and then wa-la, it will be another week down practically, 23, bam!

Here's to all of shawn and meg's circus freaks who have ever ballanced anything on their chin.....or attempted to contort them selves.



we also have steriotypical travel shot, man dressed as statue, classic no?












Man with bubbles....and what i think is probably the tourist photo equivalent of monet's 'houses of parliment'.

so i now have two phone's it's like double fisting a drink...only it's a phone. apparently it is hard to do some london things without a london phone number, so i have a pay as you go phone, and am even more accessable to london...and i still have my pretty internation phone so i am constantly safe! London number: 07503936402...intense i know.

I experienced my first night of London football pride last night, and holly hot damn. the World Cup is apparently going on , and apparently Friend at Hand where i work is on of the few places with a tv showing the international matches, and apparently every man in london knows this. I have not seen so many people fit into a small room, perhaps ever, nor have i ever seen so much beer intakened in the course of a couple of hours, and that is saying a lot considering i fully embraced college. BUT, it was rather fun, lots of cheering and good sport....though if scottland had lost it might have been a rough night indeed.

I am rather starting to miss an existance in an educational system, odd as it is, and may need to investigate theatre workshops, or at least lectures at the art galleries. I got completly sucked into a lecture for children at the national gallery. This woman was captivating and it was everything i could do not to raise my hands and answer the questions before the little british children. She also referenced Mr. Tumnis in her lesson on early 17th century painting, and well, i love james macavoy, so that was totally fine with me.

the theatre watching has begun!

officially- theatre and london are here. Took the train with liam to the Rose Theatre last night to see Doll's House, which was all round a very good production. The woman who played Nora was great, and i always love the Krogstand/mrs linde (sp?) relationship....didn't really like the way the doctor was played...but who really ever likes tragic, kinda creepy old men. Once again got the cheep seats, which in my opinion are the best thing ever due to the fact that i was sitting a few feet from the stage with NO ONE in front of me and felt quite involved, which for ibsen is quite nice.
Claire has returned from vacation and it turns out she is very obviously australian....aparently all accents sound english post jet lag. She is quite lovely, and filled me in on any pub gossip, which of course i love. She might be leaving soon though to pick up a new job, and so who knows, I feel like the London six month adventure could lead me anywhere as well.....granted it's only been a week, but still....not knowing what the adventure is totally about is rather nice.
In the mean time i have been hitting the museums rather hard at both the national gallery and the tate modern, neither of which i was totally able to finish due to the size...but i sapose i have time. Anywho, onward london, onward!

"Y'all are so cute and y'all talk so proper over here. I love England."
---Beyonce Knowles

I decorated...it had to be done, now my wall is covered in impressionist art, which is always better than mildly dingy wall.
Here is Liam with the statue...he refused to strike his best hero pose but did do some lovely bowing in honor of un-named statue lady, very respectful and all.



BIG BEN---
which i am told is actually the bell, not the clock....apparently there is also a little ben in another church somewhere....i feel like being little ben would be like being brad pitt's brother....who is indeed rather ordinary looking...i saw it in a magazine once.


Finally we have statue man pointing to Saint Pauls...well at least from this angle he sure is.

This is where i live/work odd combo but convenient, oh so convenient. Below is the ideal image of wisconsin meeting london, clearly...as well as iconic london lions...













And of course the mounted guards, i mean, i love the ponies.
and finally me striking my best hero statue pose...next to a statue near the Rose theatre. Compliments to Liam for documenting statue pose.

week one done!--and that rhyms suckers

It is officially week one, out of 26 weeks! at this pace, London will have gone and happened in a flash! Steven of the kitchen staff noted that i have visited more of London in the past week then he has gernally at all in his life here in london....it's kinda true, have been hitting the sights rather hard. Liam took me to the PROMS a couple nights ago at Albert Hall, as in Prince Albert, as in the piercing, and yes apparently he WAS that impressive down there....kinky man that Albert. Anywho, the hall, the GIANT monument in the park and the black street posts are all on account of his death. Victoria was in such morning that she ordered all the street posts painted black(which most of them still are) stayed in mourning black for the rest of her days, and made a lovely concert hall....that's love for you...and maybe the piercing? Well the concert was loads of fun because you wait in this very long line, and then the people buying the cheep tickets, like me, get to crowd into the hall and stand directly next to the orchestra, as the rich folks sit in the seats around us. It's very much the commoners going to the theatre, minus the vegtables. Afterwards we wondered all over once again, waved to the queen, or her house rather, but i bet she peeps though windows to see who's popping by to say hello, saw her swans, which are royaly protected, dont eat them or very bad things will happen to you, and eventually ended up in a great little whole in the wall jazz club full of colorful types and a great band packed into a corner and absolutly loving it!
Well today i am setting up my bank accout, which if that dosent make me offical what does? excting much?
MISS ANNA HICKEY is HERE< say what, i say awesome. It makes this all very very cozy. and I recieved a great call from my other london crazies colin and courtney yesterday as they sat at ALS BREAKFAST.....i love technology....and the juans with rye at als.....hmmmmmmmm
Work is going very well, and I am debating attempting to draw shamrocks inthe guinness...though courtney tells me that actual irish men might stab me in the eye for making their beer cute....so this is going to be a careful experiment.
It's quite funny to me how much I think of Minneapolis when i am here, and often have trouble determining what to tell people when they ask where i am from, thus i currently alternate between wisconsin and minnesota in the response. I also swear that i see everyone i know in strangers walking down the street, perhaps a desire to seek familiarity, who knows. But the reality that you are all rather attainable via phone and e-mail is quite nice. I hope you school-like ones are taking care of Rarig.... Improv happening??? let a girl know....any hotpockets? microwaving em????
anywho, that's all for now, LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!

"I'm leaving because the weather is too good. I hate London when it's not raining."
-Groucho Marx

IT"S DAY THREE!!!! and a brief overview is in order. today is the first day of my experience of london rain-more to come...aparently. Day one, meet a lovely girl named Ashley who happened to also be flying united flight938, and who also happened to have a giant red suitcase, and who just happened to take mine home as i took hers. Thus i quickly learned my way about the london tube as the two of us struggled to mind the gap, giant red matching suitcases in hand. Post suitcase adventure i decided to wonder around and get to know the area, which lead to wondering around and getting very lost, seeing lots and lots of pretty buildings and unspeakable amounts of shoe stores, began to feel a bit out of my element and lonesome as a man in a cowboy hat sang "the streets of london", a horribly emotional song about isolation, BUT eventually found my way home and felt much much better. The pub is very cute, there is indeed a saint bernard on the sign with a barrel of ale around his neck, which who could argue against that being a definite friend at hand. There is a nice mix of old londoners and young, mostly male, drinkers who seem to frequent the place. I do share a room, which is unfortunetly very dorm like, but in my recolection of the dorms, my freshman year roommate left at semester, married a sailer, moved to washington and had a baby. So here's hoping! (Claire my roommate here is very nice though, i do not wish upon her a fate of early motherhood). I have aquired some very good new skills in the past couple days, such a pouring a beautiful pint...most of the time. People are generally interested in my exotic accent. One charming brit said i sounded belgin, and then quickly introduced me to his american friend from the broncs who was oh so excited to be around another american.
My second night here a lovely friend of a lovely friend took me around london, and gave me an awesome tour. It was so nice to wonder about and not worry about getting lost and seeing lots of shoe stores---and even nicer to chatter away for a couple hours after a long run of emensly short conversations with strangers. We ate some british food originated my miners, got hit on by australians, wandered all over, learned that big ben is acutally a bell not a clock, listened to street performers, meet nice greek women who took our picture--on their camera--and all in all had a very good time.
Today, through the rain, wondered to the british museum and saw many pretty old things, my favorite being a collection of little gold rings covered in phallic images worn by the ancient greeks to ward off EVIL. dont worry i took a picture, and you WILL see it! they also had a great collection of American prints and lithographs, staring my lover Edward Hopper. Besides the rings, this was deffinetly my favorite part.
Over all i think London is going to be good. There have been some lonesome moments, but meeting good people has helped , and the plethora of loving messages in-line from friends has made the world seem much smaller.
Do stay tuned for greek phallic jewlery and every other sort of odd and end.

"I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air -- or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be. Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained."
--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "A Study in Scarlet"

if laura wants a blog, laura gets a blog!

that's right laura, IT"S HERE, the BLOG O"LONDON DOOM!
it is going to be loads and loads of good blogy fun. (you may also read the blog, even if you are not laura.) anywho, i will try not to ramble to emotionaly, but you know me! ha...no really, i turn on the water works like crazy easy. BUT rather, I will try to fill this with a bit of adventure and strife and good fun so my business can be kept track off. I miss you all like crazy but over all think London is going to be a great time. I must off to work for now, but will certainly fill you all in soon!