Lyndsay's World

Monday, July 24, 2006

Good weekend

Hey everyone,

SO I got to talk to a few of you on Sunday which was nice. Just want to give a shout out to all my peeps in the St.Kitts and to Uncle Henry for his 40th Birthday (props H.H). I am just being as confusing as I can, sorry grandpa. I had a really fun weekend but like all good things it had to come to an end. I got to dance on Saturday night which i haven't been able to do in awhile. Jenna introduced me to her french friends who were helping me improve my french...I am making a promise to myself that i will be very fluent by the time I come hme! Last night I went out for Indian dinner in a the city's Bangladesh area. You need to be really on the ball there because so many people come at you offering specials and discounts on your food and it can be overwhelming but we Canadian girls stood our ground and found a good place. It was great because downstairs of the restaurant was a traditional East Indian wedding! We got to see the bride walk down with her entorage...but then the fire alarm went off and didn't stop for 15 minutes.

Today I headed to the Tate Modern, my favorite museum so far. Definitely a place to go if you like abstract art and artists like Matisse, Picasso, Rivera and they had alot of photography by awesome people like Cindy Sherman and Alfred Steigliz. Also they introduced me to a movement by a group of women who were called the Guerilla Girls (mid-80s to 90s). Not sure if you have heard of them but they created advertisments that brought attention to the fact that there was a serious lack of female and non white artists being representated in museums. If you get a chance you should look them up. They also had amazing video art and films by artists like Man Ray. So my point is that is was most excellent and worth the trip to the south side of the Thames.
Peace.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Bohemian like you

Hey Family and Friends,
So I have decided to become a crazy person so I can use my madness to create beautiful art and poetry. My plan is to not eat or sleep for days and let the creative juices flow. Ok maybe I've just been inspired a little too much by the exhibit I went to at the National Gallery entitled Rebels & Martyrs: The image of the artist in the 19th Century. Fun huh? I relate to these crazies somehow. This is a quote by one of the artists that really captured the essence of the exhibit:

"In our oh-so-civilized society it is necessary for me to lead the life of a savage; I must free myself even from the governments...To do that, I have just set out on the great, independent, vagabond life of the bohemian." Gustav Courbet.

I mean come on with a name like Gustav you have to be the coolest guy ever. Anyways the exhibit was great and my friend and I went to the main gallery afterwards and it took hours to go through everything but I withstood till my feet felt sore.

So anyways my friend Jenna and I went to eat and found a pub and were so grateful they served food (we have been having bad luck with finding food) and she thought she would try chutney since both of us have heard of it yet never tried it. She did not like it. All that was left on the plate was the chutney (a jelly type substance for those similiarly unaware) and one chip (french fry for all you Canucks). Then we notice while finishing our drinks the table of boys kept looking over. This dude shimmies his stool over and asks my friend for her chip. She, baffled by this question says "sure I guess" before she had time to say anything else he grabs the chip and like a trophy he brings it back to his friends at the table "i got the chip" and lord did he scarf that thing down. SO that was weird. The weirdest part was the fact that after I thought about it I asked myself "Why didn't he want my chip?" hahaha. Already crazy.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Such Great Heights

k so anyone who wants to know or wants proof I actually live here in London here is my address:
68 Beaufort Mansions
Beaufort Street
Chelsea
London, SW3 5AF

I am getting used to the apartment but a few things are going to take some time. For instance people who know me know I like T.V. T.V is a very good friend of mine but we are in a fight because it's been crap here. I get 5 channels and they have nothing on! AND apparently in the U.K you have to pay a t.v tax which if you do not pay it they can charge you a 5000 pound fine! The other thing is we are on a somewhat busy street so it can get pretty loud when you are trying to watch the crap t.v. Other than that I am having a great time here. We have a Mexican guy, a Spanish woman, a Parisian woman and a Polish woman. I told them they have to teach me Spanish and help me with my french. The Mexican guy has a supermodel looking girlfriend who is on her way to become a pop/r&b singer if you want to check out her stuff you can go to www.myspace.com/jennyrudell . To answer Aunt Robyn's query I have moved in with everything fully furnished including bed so that has been a huge help. I think it would be a little odd for me to search the streets for used furniture which is what I would resort to.

I am happy to say I am trying things here I would never have tried in Toronto (food wise people with dirty minds). I went to an Indian restaurant with a friend who I had known in toronto and had the Lamb Korma and it was not what I expected but it was good! I actually ordered mussels last night when I was out with a friend who knew this great place that I will definitly go back to. Today I am going to check out some museums such as the National Portrait Galley and another one called Rebels& Martyr's about painters who do not follow the rules. Saucy.

I got the pics from Trisha's BBQ, looked like alot of fun (I have still yet to attend one of those). It's getting late in the day here so I will bid you a bon noche - a bad spelling of the spanish phrase meaning good night.

Friday, July 14, 2006

the summer of Lyndsay

Hey everyone!
So things are doing good I am in the process of moving into my new flat and the area is really great. I would say its about the same atmosphere as Queen West with a splash of Bloor for sophistication. I have been taking all my money out by credit card since I got here and since I have a stupid canadian limit on my debit card of 200 bucks which is like 80 pounds here, which is nothing. When I get my most perfect job soon I can start paying off everything in pounds but till then I shall live in debit for the first time in my life! How sweet credit is. SO now I have internet FINALLY so I feel like I am back in touch with the world. Job hunting will go much faster and I will have more prospects instead of heading all the way to the other end of town to use the BUNAC computers. They kick you off after 20 minutes, what can you possibly accomplish in twenty minutes? Not much.

I already have some really cool friends here and I hope to meet more British people because they know where all the really cool back door places are and those are always the most fun. I have decided to do my best and give up sugar since everyone here weighs like 90 pounds ... but my need for a Cola may overrule my wanting to be thin. Who needs to fit in when you have a tub of ice cream and John Cusack to watch on the Tele??

SO i hope everyone has a brilliant weekend and I will do my best to catch on to the accent and lingo so I can annoy everyone at Christmas.
Peace

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Crazy town

This place is so busy it is hard to get around sometimes. People pushing and shoving giving you rotten looks...cheeky buggers ha. Anyways I have a friend here with a car so that will be helpful. We have driven around the city a few times and let me tell you it's insane. I never know where he is turning next I fell like I am on some crazy Universal Studios ride but it's really fun. I would never be able to drive here since its all manual and I am an automatic kind of girl. I do miss having friends around to hang with since everyone I know here is at work during the day (what's up with that?) so I have to amuse myself. Today I am going to Hyde Park to hang out. The other day I went to Notting Hill (did not however find myself a Hugh Grant) and bought some cool older music magazines. I also went to Camden Market where there are quite a few cheap places to shop even though cheap is still out of my price range rigth now it's good to look around, scope the places out.
Yeah so nothing to report on the job front but I am looking into agencies for possible catering postions cause I think that would be fun and will allow me to meet tons of people.
I hope everyone will have a good weekend, the weather here has been beautiful so I hope its nice for you guys to. Peace.

Monday, July 10, 2006

London Calling

So in London in desperate need of a belt, new pants, new shoes ...ok basically everything! I found a place to live. YAh!! I am offically a resident of London proper. A Chelsea Girl to be exact. The only problenm is I cannot move in till the 14th which has made a very good friend of Yolanda for letting me stay this long. Another problem is at the moment I have no way of paying for this apartment since I have no job yet. Who knew you needed a job to pay rent? haha Family memembers reading this do not stress as I do have savings left but having money come in is always a good thing!
I find the subway system much harder to figure out then Paris' but I am learning. MIND THE GAP (that one is for you dad haha).
SO back to looking for a job ... I know I just have to swallow whatever insecurities I have and just go for it. My friend Jermaine said he could probably get me into an agency that works with the BBC so here's hoping! My other friend works in a Strip Club and she says it's really good money so that's always an option too...ahhhh no.
So anyways I will try to be less lazy with my postings but it's hard when I do not have internet on my laptop. SO don't stop reading and I love hearing from you all!
Peace

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Je ne sais pas

Paris was awesome and if I had the means I would stay fro another week. I had to cram in alot of things in just three days which required ALOT ALOT of walking. I now know why no Parisian women are fat - I had to climb thousands of steps to get anywhere and boy are my legs tired. Let me tell you folks though it was worth it, the view at the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart Cathedral) was sooo amazing a description will not do it justice. Everyday I was so sweaty and hot I dreamed of having a long shower or jumping in an ocean. It's amazing how we take things for granted like having a shower , a sink, a toliet all being in the same place which was a failed concept at my hostel.

I got together with the American girl I met in Dublin which was fun - it is good to have someone you can relate to on a trip with you. We went to the Musee D'Orsary and spent hours there looking at the Impressionist art - I got some postcards too for all the art fans.

The Luxemburg Gardens is probably the most beautiful place ever to sit and have some wine and just hang out. Some friends and I bought some cheese, a baguette and just had a great tiem talking ( so Paris can be pretty cheap if you have good company).

Well now I am in London again and looking for an apartment as I do not want to wear out my welcome with Yolanda and Christina since they have been so nice.

Bus Life

So being the genius I am I decide taking a bus to paris would be both economical and scenic, allowing me to see some of the country side. The bus is packed of course with many different nationalities, none of whom seem to be english. That is cool with me of course but while picking my seat I failed to notice the toliet was not at the back where it has been on every bus I have ever been on but rather right in front of what I thought was a desirable seat. It was disguised as a wall and only when someone went into it did the horrible reality and smells set in.

I can't figure out the nationality of the guy who sat next to me - i asked him if he was from Deutshland (Germany)but I think he answered his name or soemthing so I have no idea - so we become seat partners in silence. Europe is sooo much more relaxed with the drinking laws than we are. The first thing the guy beside me did was crack open a huge bottle of Pilners Beer - then later a second.

I am impressed by the amount of languages the bus stewardess has to know to explain to the bus of many nationalities. I barely know a grade school version of Quebec French - the Parisians will hate me hahaha suckers.

Svea gave me a piece of cake she had left over from a dinner at her grandparents which was to be my substitute for birthday cake. My bum is quite numb at this point but I cannot shift my legs however because the headphones I am wearing (which Jesse accused me of stealing) are very tempormental and I finally got them working in both ears and I do not want to spoil it. I guess if I were in St. Catharines we would just end up at Kaz's so I fugure on a bus to Paris was better than that - despite the numbess in my tush.

We just passed a trailer full of horses and I would rather be in there with the horses than this bus - seriously guys it smells THAT BAD. I wonder when the last time they washed these curtains. Thank god being in the film industry I have learned to hold my going to the bathroom yet the need to pee will loom over me like death waiting till someone in front of me has a nasty bout of diarhea to strike.

Ok crisis has been solved, I had to switch buses in Hanover - a nicer smell free bus where I am sitting with friendly people. Except for the police hauling some guy and his young son off the bus the trip went smoothly.