Tonight

The heater is blasting, I am nibbling on bacon chocolate, my project is on my desk and I am trying to illustrate my designs right now.

I am excited about tomorrow, when I will turn in my first real project and get my first real grade.... which might not be a good grade, but at least I will get an idea of what they are looking at when they grade us.

After we turn in our work, several of my classmates and I are going to get lunch and go to a pub while we await our grades. And then I have social plans that evening. Followed by SLEEPING.

It's a cozy evening, complete with a glass of wine and movies on in the background. And it will be even better when I finally finish this project and can crawl into bed.

Happy

I have so much homework to do tonight. I don't think I will sleep much. No sleep for the social!

Today I was reminded how much I love this city when I got to play tour guide for two of my friends from out of town. They are looking to move here, so my kind of general neighborhoody/wandering/fresh-off-the-plane knowledge was perfect. I might not be able to recommend the best pub in East London, but I can show them around places they might want to live.

Walking around and seeing how excited they were by London filled me with the same inspiration I felt the first few days here. I was reminded that I moved here with a purpose, and that I have come so far since the day I arrived. I feel like I've grown up so much in just six weeks. I think I was ready for something bigger than San Francisco. I need something more at this moment in my life. And London is it. Being here feels right.

Wandering around my neighborhood with them tonight, I realized something very important: I am happy. Deep down, I am actually very happy. I love it here.

It might be cold as all hell today, and I might be facing a very long night of homework, but I truly feel that despite my occasional loneliness, I am the happiest I've been for a long time. I am inspired and empowered here in a way that I've never experienced before.

In my heart I feel sure that I made the right decision in moving here. And that is a good feeling to carry with me.

First Snow

It just began to snow. First snow of the season, and unseasonably early....

Same Redhead, Only Shorter...

Oh also, I got my hair cut last night. Anyone who knows me in person knows that I've been trying to grow my hair out for years with no success. So I finally decided to cut off all the over-dyed bits and do something short, stylish, and fun! I LOVE IT! And my hair feels healthier than it has in years...

Redhead's First Care Package

I actually squealed when I opened my mailbox this afternoon and found a surprise care package from The Boy back home. I rushed up to my room and tore it open.... inside was a pair of cute socks (I NEED socks, and they match a new sweater I got), a dvd of San Francisco (heehee), the most awesome post card ever, and TWO- count'em- TWO bacon chocolate bars. If you've never had the incredible experience of a bacon chocolate bar, you haven't lived. Truly, they are two great things that go great together.

WEEEEEE I feel loved and happy. And I am wearing my socks tomorrow!

On Travel and the American Mindset Against It

On the walk home from the market yesterday my classmate and I compared notes. Being from Australia she has a very different sense of the world than I do. It got me thinking...

As a young person living on an isolated continent, there is an expectation in Australia that you will travel the world. This girl is only 23 and has been to so many places she can't even recall them all. She tells me that while she and a friend would be wandering the streets of Hong Kong or New Delhi, she would often run into other Australians doing the same thing.

In contrast I've grown up in a country that has an inflated sense of self. There is a deep rooted feeling engrained into us that America has it all, and has it the best... so why bother traveling, right?

It is incredibly expensive to travel within the US, much less outside of it. There are many roadblocks and issues to deal with when you leave the country. Just preparing to travel can be a very big chore. It's like they want to make you feel guilty for wanting something more than America. "I'm sorry, I really want to visit Burma, is that okay with you?" you're supposed to ask.

In America travel is seen as a luxury. People who travel often are "lucky" and living an exotic lifestyle. But in Australia, you're an idiot if you don't leave the island. How different the mindset must be to grow up feeling that it is natural and important to travel to unfamiliar places, instead of feeling that it's unusually decadent to fly coach to another country for a week.

I spent the walk home listening to my classmate, realizing I have missed out on a important part of life. And I promised myself that I would take steps to change that fact because I feel so ignorant of the goings on in the world around me. I suppose that is the result of growing up in a culture that encourages us to stay put, and be proud of it. America! Fuck yeah!

Broadway Market

Today I went to the Broadway Market with a girl from my class.

We began the afternoon with strawberry beer in a cozy little pub while sharing a delicious lavender cupcake. And then we braved the wind to wander the food market. I really lucked out, and for the first time since I've moved here I am excited to cook all the healthy food in my refrigerator.

Currently I am stocked with a huge sweet potato, parsnips, carrots, fresh rosemary, a creamy goat cheese, ripe oranges, green apples, an incredible fresh pesto, organic heirloom tomatoes, green onions, chicken breast, and of course a homemade brownie.

I can't wait to cook dinner!

Along the walk to and from the market my classmate and her boyfriend pointed out all of their local hang out spots. I now know a great Chinese place, a yummy pizza joint, some delicious restaurants, a good local cinema, and some of the best pubs in the area by their standards. It's nice knowing people who have lived here a year longer than I have.

Yeay food and nice people!

Catching Up

It's been a long time since I've been wide awake at 2am, curled up in a warm bed, laptop against my knees. Or maybe it was only five weeks ago, but my life in San Francisco feels so distant now. I can recall all the places and people that pieced together my life there, but somehow life is completely different nowadays. Well, not completely different, I suppose. It is somehow still exactly the same while being entirely new.

I meant to write something on October 20th to mark my One Month in London anniversary, but I recall the 20th consisting of a very emotional evening after a very tiring day. Had I been in a more optimistic place that night, I would have toasted making it this far with a mini bottle of champagne and a single champagne glass. But I was not in that headspace, and there will be plenty of other dates that will be more significant in the future.

Some friends from California just emailed me to say that they are in London for the next few days. On top of my friends in Poland coming to scope out apartments, I also have SO MUCH to do before The Boy comes to visit me in ten days. And all of these social engagements are going to have to be worked around a very big homework project that is due on Friday. As I discussed in an earlier entry, I really have to work hard on my next couple of projects to make sure I don't remain at the bottom of my class. This project needs to be Good, as in the Capitalized G and italicized variety of "good". I will not get up in front of this class and present another project that I feel the need to apologize for. I refuse the suffer that humiliation again. So this week I might not be posting much.

It's 2:30 exactly and I am starting to regret that delicious cup of coffee I made at 6:00 after two failed attempts at an afternoon nap. Why oh why can't I be the napping type? I could get away with so much more late-night drawing sessions if I could just nap every now and then. I envy people that are good sleepers. Like beauty or brains, there is a gross inequality of good sleep amongst the human race. Someone should see to that.

2:33, and I am starting to feel a hint of sleep at the corners of my vision. I might be so bold as to suggest a yawn is imminent.

Yep, that was a yawn. I guess that's the sign that this redhead needs to unplug and shut down for a few hours.

Good night dear silent readers, whoever you are. Like my favorite Central Line train operator says on Friday mornings, "please remember to take all your belongings with you when you exit the train. And whoever you are, where ever you're going, and whatever the weather, have a lovely weekend and stay safe."

A Few More Fabric Experiments

Today I went into class feeling like shit. I didn't get any great ideas from all my drawing and painting last night, and spent the better part of the evening having a really difficult State of the Union discussion with The Boy that went until 2am.

I had decided to run with the theme my teacher suggested (peacocks) and to my dismay, I'd come up with nothing I liked. I painted, I printed, I did hideous things to fabric all morning long. Finally I decided it was time for a coffee break. Nothing takes care of your woes like some caffeine, and a few people asking if your quiet morning is the result of sleepiness or something more. It's nice to feel cared about, even if it's just a casually friendly classmate's kind of caring.

I came back to the print room wanting to try something different. So I stopped drawing literal illustrations, and began crumpling up fabric and smearing dyes around until I got something I liked.

The results of these experiments used the colors I kept pulling together for my peacock illustrations, but used them in a less obvious way. And when I smoothed out my crumpled fabric I was reminded of origami. And while talking to my new favorite gay boy, I arrived at the conclusion that I wanted to do menswear tailoring with my brightly colored fabrics.

So I took out a book on origami, a book on menswear, and a book on Pucci (just for good measure) and I'm trying to work from there.

Here are my favorite results from today's experiments in Heat Transfer Printing:

My original test that inspired my new theme:


A follow-up test using a sheer fabric and overlaying fishnet:


A variation of my colors and print method:


And lastly, I shoved this fabric into what used to be a fishnet stocking, tied it up unto a ball, printed it, squished it in another direction, printed it, took it out of the stocking, squished it and printed it again, and did it once more for good measure:



So, yes... peacock colored origami menswear-inspired womenswear. We'll see how it goes....

New Duvet Report: Warm

While at Sainsbury's my room mate and I bought some heavy-weight duvets because we have both been freezing cold at night. After sleeping under mine last night, I can happily report that I am no longer required to sleep in pajamas and a sweater.

Hooray!