Sarah Jane Elliott
Word Games
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
London Adventure
It's been a busy couple of days. Last night the teachers and their various and sundry housemates went to a Mexican restaurant for fajitas and margaritas, and today Shira and I had another adventure in London, which turned out to be vastly different than our original plan, but still quite enjoyable.The weather was absolutely stunning, and I managed to grab my first actual shot of Hadleigh Castle as we passed it on the train.
This would turn out to be the last time anything went according to plan today.
I got to Fenchurch Street in London and walked to Tower Hill to get on the tube... only to discover the station closed. There is no service today. But they left a handy leaflet titled "continuing your journey from Tower Hill", which pointed out that Aldgate was only a 5 minute walk away. So I got there... to discover them closing the gates, because not only were District and Circle not running, but they'd closed Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan in this area as well. But not to worry, said the staff member locking the gate. Liverpool Street was only a 5 minute walk away.
So I got myself to Liverpool Street (mostly by aiming for the Gherkin -- my dekes in London are where the SatNav on my phone proves it's worth the price I pay for it), and discover... yup, you guessed it. The platform in the direction I want to go is closed. But then, a whispered conversation amongst staff members, and I'm told that if I want to go to Moorgate, I can go up these stairs, through this locked gate, to Platform two. So I got myself there, only to hear an announcement ten minutes later that the next train wouldn't be for another ten minutes (Moorgate is a 5 minute walk from Liverpool).
Realizing by this time that the Universe has wrapped me up in another farce, I did manage to discover that by taking the central line, I could get myself back on track on the Northern line.
The plan for today was to meet at Borough Market and then go see Billy Elliot in the evening. But today also happened to be Tribalondon, and I couldn't NOT stop in to check out the Souk. So I did, and am proud to announce that I now own the beginnings of a tribal performance outfit.
Unfortunately, though I was only just a little bit late to meet Shira at that point, I ran into my tribe. Who were about to perform in fifteen minutes. So of course, I couldn't leave without watching them perform, which set me way off schedule.
I rushed out the door after they left the stage, and discovered a text from Shira saying she had bad news. What was it? She'd ordered the Billy Elliot tickets for the wrong day.
Now, I was at the point where I could have let that really piss me off. Or I could have run with it and let the day take us where it would, and enjoy the ride as much as possible. I went with the latter, and was greatly rewarded.
I met Shira at Borough Market, which is awesome. Basically, any food you could possibly imagine can be found there. I must go back at an earlier time when it's less crowded so that I can try the ostrich burger. We did manage to pick up a few things before it closed (tiny mince pies, yay!), and headed off to Leicester Square, where we endeavoured to find half-price tickets to a show we both wanted to see.
After a quick stop at a pub to refuel, we made our way through the nifty night-time London Streets (and sparkly Swarovski windows) to the Palladium.
As it turned out, we were one row from the back of the second balcony. Our seats were about as high as you can possibly get. But you could still see something, and we discovered that for 50p you could rent a pair of opera glasses stuck to the back of the seat in front of you.
It was kind of funny, actually, seeing how the architecture of the theatre reflected the class system of the time in which it was built. Dress circle and first balcony went in the fancy entrance, but upper circle had a separate door. We climbed a plain, unadorned staircase to a cramped, unadorned foyer with little to no contact with the persons who could afford the good seats.
The show was lovely, the kids were adorable, and Maria was utterly charming. But Captain von Trapp was a bit of a disappointment. He was pitchy and off, and when he did sing, he reminded me of Jennifer Coolidge doing that voice she used for Heidi in Igor.
But, overall, despite the complete derailment of our plans, I had a really, really great time today. I'm glad I've decided to live in England, rather than just teach in it.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Being Erica, Being Away
I've bought myself a season pass of Being Erica on iTunes, which means it downloads straight to my computer whenever a new episode airs. I just finished watching this latest one, and I'm filled with a sense of profound well-being.Not because of the storyline or characters. They're well enough, but nothing I've seen so far feels any different than anything that's already been done before. No, what I'm watching the series for is Toronto Porn.
I love that the series is filmed in Toronto, which is actually playing itself for a change. And it's not just sitting there casually being Toronto in the background. It's out there jumping up and down and singing "Look at me! It's me, Toronto! Aren't I pretty? PAY ATTENTION TO ME!"
And I can't get enough of it. I miss home, and there it is, being all vibrant, and shiny. Look, Eaton Centre! Look, Yorkville! Look, Distillery! And it's twinkly! I love it, and while I'm sitting over here on the other side of the Atlantic missing it, at least I can get a new visual hit of it every Tuesday night.
On the other hand (or side of the ocean), here's what I did last weekend:
