Movies and Mascarpone

It’s really interesting to think about how much there is to do and see in London. For example, today I went to Sloane Square, which is just two tube stops away from where I live and it is entirely different from this area! Ok, not exactly a revelation, but it made me feel as if I should just take the Circle or District line to its end and hop on and off at each stop to check everything out. Definitely wouldn’t be the most sensible thing to do, but hopefully I’ll get off at each stop eventually. I was in Sloane Square on a date with my gay boyfriend Brian Galm to see “The September Issue.” The movie was amazing, eye-opening, beyond just fashion and I have now fallen even more in love with André Leon Talley. That man is insane. I’m not really into fashion, but I appreciated how every little detail of the magazine is put together. Also, I love “The Devil Wears Prada,” which was entirely not the point of this documentary at all but whatever. Speaking of amazing things, on Thursday night I saw “Mother Courage and Her Children” at the National Theatre and it was spectacular. “Spec” as in spectacle, and “tacular” as in…. hmm. Anyway, Mother Courage was played by Fiona Shaw, or as some might know her, Harry Potter’s Aunt Petunia. She literally brought the house down.

The play takes place during the Thirty Years’ War in the 17th Century, but the director chose to bring it up to date with a relatively new translation, new music and modern costume. The music, provided by Duke Special and the Band was interesting and a bit strange but had a militaristic, rock-and-roll feel. I love the National Theatre because of the opportunities it gives young people to afford to see plays cheaply, practice their art and receive advice from the staff at the National. I also love how you can get into this bustling place for free to see a concert in the foyer or sit down to have a drink. It also doesn’t hurt that their carrot cake is unreal. The South Bank in general between the National and the Globe is probably one of my favorite places to be at night because there are tons of people, bright lights and you are just a step away from the water. Beautiful.

Friday night we baked chicken in the oven with a mascarpone-tomato sauce and had boiled asparagus and sweet potatoes on the side for dinner. I stayed in to watch “Pretty in Pink” with Brian and an episode of “Glee” with Ashley and Emily. I also ate an iced lemon loaf from this café called Fait Maison up the block. I will be going there often. On Saturday I was productive! Yes, I really was! I wrote a paper for my theatre class, made myself lunch (turkey and roasted red pepper on a kalamata olive roll) and went to the gym. Instead of walking to Kensington High Street to get to the gym, I took the back roads down St. Albans Grove. The combination of beer and smoked wood made these small streets smell fantastically Halloween-ish. The area is sort of artsy with a bunch of restaurants and a few cafés. There is one French café in particular that I’d like to go to one day. But speaking of Halloween, I still have no idea what I’m going to go as. I think we’re going to a Halloween party in France too. My mom said I should be a French maid.

For dinner that night Brian fried our leftover asparagus (scramble one egg, dip asparagus in egg and then roll around in salted breadcrumbs. Heat canola oil in a pan on a high heat, place asparagus in oil and remove after a few minutes. Place the fried asparagus on a plate covered with paper towel to let the excess oils seep out) and made spaghetti with pre-cooked chicken meatballs and tomato sauce. We ate in the dark of our third floor kitchen where the light no longer works, and quickly went back to our rooms to get ready.

I went with a bunch of people (including Jeff’s girlfriend Kelly who is visiting for the week!) to a club called funkybuddah near Green Park.


We had fun dancing and I met some cool people on the twenty-minute bathroom line. I guess women’s bathroom lines in clubs are payback for the fact that girls usually don’t have to pay to get in. I tried sneaking into the guy’s bathroom but one of the many security guards quickly spotted me and escorted me out toward the bar. Oh well, story of my life. We eventually went to O’Neills followed by our ritual trip to the Chinese restaurant with the picture of Mao Zedong hanging on the lime-green wall. Rebs and I split pork fried wontons and vegetable fried rice, which we later supplemented with soy sauce from our room. Today I went to the gym to make up for last night and after our movie date, Brian and I went out to this Thai restaurant down the block from our dorm. We very romantically sat by the window and gazed off into the evening sky while eating sweet and sour chicken with egg fried rice. We finished off our date by eating Phish Food. We are a truly classy couple.