Please Don't Touch Anything. Touring London in Three Days: Sunday the Third

Sorry for the delay in posts; it's been a busy week, plus a busy weekend, which I will write about in a separate post. But first, the exciting conclusion of my three-day weekend with my Canadian cousin Kaitlyn.

The weekend had already been busy enough, so I was starting to fall behind on homework. Kaitlyn and Alison decided to go to the British Museum on Sunday, so I sent them off and stayed home to do my homework instead. I got a little work down but looked outside, saw it was gorgeous and sunny, and decided I didn't want to be cooped up.

So off I went to meet them at the British Museum. It turned out those silly girls hadn't seen the Elgian Marbles yet, and were about to leave! So I gave them an art-major lecture and took them to see the Greek stones, explaining the story behind them. I didn't seem to impress them, but at least they've seen them. Maybe someday they'll appreciate the experience...

A fun shot from the Science Museum.

Anyway, after getting a bite of lunch, we headed to South Kensington where there are three museums located right by each other. When leaving the Tube, you can walk through a foot subway to each museum, rather than dealing with traffic up on the street. I managed to slip on the escalator and bruise my thigh big time, so I spent the rest of the day (and most of the following week) hobbling about, as I felt the bruise right in the muscle.

First we visited the Science Museum, which is extremely cool. Obviously, I love art museums. I have one art degree and am working on my second, with the intention to work in an art-related field: including, potentially, museums. I love museums. And the Science Museum is no exception, because there was so much art and stimulus in there! My absolute favorite exhibit was on The Sound of the Internet. It's an award-winning exhibit, and after sitting through it twice, I can see why. If you have the opportunity to visit the Science Museum anytime soon, definitely do, because this exhibit was incredible. Words will not do it justice, so here is a video clip showing part of it:

This exhibit completely mesmerized me, and I may well have to go back just to experience it again. I also enjoyed the technology section, and there was an interesting exhibit about the "code breaker" during WWII.

The only dinosaur I've ever seen at the Natural History Museum.

After the Science Museum, we visited the Natural History Museum. This is a museum I want to like, I really, really do. But it does not interest me at all. I think it's geared more towards children, first off. The exhibits are a bit cheesy. Plus everything is about rocks and bugs and there's a room full of taxidermied birds. Basically nothing remotely appealing to me. Plus I hate birds. Blech. I would love to go see the dinosaurs exhibit, but apparently that's the most appealing part of the museum to everyone, and so there is always a half-hour wait to get in!

Finally, we concluded the day at the Victoria & Albert Museum, which I have spent the most time in of the three. I love the V&A, because right when you walk inside there is a glass chandelier that was commissioned by the V&A from Dale Chihuly. Last time I was in London, I wrote about "a touch of Tacoma pride". The V&A is a fascinating museum; it's full of all sorts of collections. I don't even know how to compare it to other museums; it has art, it has artifacts. It has everything, basically, and it is fascinating.

British Pop exhibit

I had been telling the girls about the theatre exhibit, and a photography exhibit featuring famous actors in live productions from the last time I visited. The photography exhibit was gone, but in its place was a photography exhibit about the rise of pop music in Britain, which was very interesting. We also looked through a photography exhibit from contemporary Iranian artists, which was also fascinating. For such a traditionally censored culture, the photographs made some striking commentary on their own culture as well as Western culture.

Anyway, Sunday ended without any excitement. We parted ways with Alison in Hammersmith, and Kaitlyn helped me make dinner (read: Kaitlyn did the majority of the work while I played British pop music). I came through the weekend with a bit of a war wound, but otherwise unscathed.

To conclude this post: my brother claims there is a Monty Python clip for everything in life, and I believe he is right...for here is a clip of Monty Python in an art gallery, to complement the museum post:

Monty Python Style! Touring London in Three Days: Saturday the Second

This past weekend, I traipsed about London with my Canadian second cousin Kaitlyn and her (also Canadian) friend Alison. A quick recap of Friday: Kaitlyn and I did silly walks all over Leicester Square, bought geek souvenirs, and saw a movie in Polish. Good times.

On Saturday, we met up bright and early (it was 10:00 AM, which on a Saturday is bright and early as far as I am concerned, thankyouverymuch). We took the bus to Camden Town, which had been recommended to me by a stranger on the phone at my bank, no less. Who gives better advice than a stranger at your bank, handling your personal finances thousands of miles away?! Anyway. We took a bus to Camden Town, which I am still not entirely satisfied was not in fact located in the Twilight Zone, or an alternate dimension, or possibly the futuristic world in which Firefly takes place.

Camden is probably a place where I should spend more time of my life, though. It's a world full of bohemian-hipster-hippy-young people. There's no end to the tattoo and piercing parlours, the sci-fi market stalls, the goth clothes, the food stands...it's like Bumbershoot every day. With less live music and comedy, I guess.

We wandered aimlessly throughout the stalls, investigating and discovering. Getting lost and finding the street again and delving into other dimensions and through time portals and everything. Until we stopped for lunch, anyway. I had a delicious crepe, because when there are food stands around and I'm expected to eat my food standing in the middle of a market, I always opt for crepes.

After lunch and Camden, we decided to pop over to Baker Street (probably because I told them how terrifying I find that station to be). Baker Street, of course, is home to the world's most famous psychoticly lovable detective Sherlock Holmes. So naturally, we paid a visit to 221b Baker St.

There was a long line out front, but a lady near the front told us she had only been in line about 20 minutes, and it was only 6 quid to get in anyway, plus The Beatles Store was right next door, so we decided to wait in line. I took that opportunity to peruse the Beatles store, and am still seriously contemplating going back to purchase a yellow submarine ice cube tray.

The museum itself is a little silly, and a bit small. It's full of dummies posed to recreate famous Sherlock cases. At least I got to dress up like Sherlock and say "I say" and "elementary" a lot. Still, I can now add Sherlock Holmes' house to my list of famous houses I have been to (he joins the likes of Charles Dickinson, Shakespeare, Anne Hathaway, and Paul Revere).

Before leaving Baker Street entirely, we had to stop in at The Rock 'n' Roll Shop (I know it's only rock 'n' roll but I like it), across the street from 221b. Naturally. As I was buying a Sex Pistols fabric poster, the sales lady asked where in America I'm from. I told her Seattle. So naturally, she was like "oh cool, I'm going to New York." That's cool, it's only 3000 miles away. There is something about non-Americans, you guys. They hear I am American and they want to tell me all about their trips to America, even though none of them have ever been to the same part of the country as me. Never mind the fact that America stretches the entire width of a continent, it's all the same country so I must have an opinion on a place, right? Fortunately for this particular lady, I have actually been to New York, so I was able to suggest things to do and places to go. The night before, my Australian bar-tender informed he was going to LA. At least that one's on the same coast, eh?

So we departed from Baker Street and worked our way to Piccadilly Circus. We were strategically working our way back towards Hammersmith, so our commute home would be shorter. In Piccadilly Circus, we experienced a gay pride/free love type rally, and then split up for an hour to wander around Chinatown. I wandered through the M&M store, got a beer at an Irish pub, and bought a caramel shortcake in a coffee shop (something I discovered in Scotland and am now officially addicted to).

Finally we returned home where we said goodbye to Alison, and Kaitlyn and I got ready to go see (spam, spam, spam, spam...) Spamalot. We got dinner in Trafalger Square before heading to the theatre for a night of Monty Python humor. It was utterly amazing, you guys. The show has everything from classic Monty Python to contemporary jokes (including horse-riding Gangnam Style and jokes about good ol' Boris).

Saturday has now been covered, so stay tuned for Sunday. In the meantime, I leave you with this:

50 Weeks of Creativity: Week Five

Another week has flown right by, and that means it's time for another creativity update! For this week, I was very busy working on copywriting for Fast Web Media. The four most recent blogs on the BIGprofile website are all written by me. So that is the first entry for this week's posting (not to mention some helpful and interesting resources for anybody interested in digital marketing):

Article 1: Marketing Guru: 8 Things Successful Marketers Should Be Doing
Article 2: Google Images Gets a Makeover: How This May Improve Your Image Marketing
Article 3: Skittles Ranks No. 1 As UK's Most-Liked Brand
Article 4: Responsive Design: Bringing Your Website to Mobile Users

I suppose it could be argued that writing up articles isn't the most creative. I could defend that, but there's no need! I have more to show for this week.

Over the weekend, I wandered around Camden Town, Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown, and the museums at South Kensington. I brought along my cameras, and so I have some fun photography to show for that. Here is a selection of some of my favorite images from that excursion:

Part of a display in the Science Museum

Capturing an up-skirt of this model was easy; she was hanging from the ceiling of the Science Museum.

I'm attracted to anything retro/futuristic. Science Museum.

Traveling in style.

A great exhibition at the Victoria & Albert on British Pop.

Terrifying giant horse head right in my face. Thanks, Camden.

The Theatre Wing at the Victoria & Albert is inspiring!

Having breakfast with Sherlock and Watson at 221b Baker Street.

Happy Year of the Snake!

Gay pride rally in Piccadilly Circus.

Entry to Chintatown

To see all of my photos from the weekend (and my time in London in general), check out my Facebook photo album For Queen And Country. Alternatively, I have a few photos from that excursion over on Instagram.

Not enough creativity just yet for you? Well, the good news is that on Sunday, Kaitlyn and I made dinner. It wasn't anything particularly new; more Laughing Cow alfredo sauce and avgolemono soup. We did add chicken to the soup this time. Plus a delicious homemade salad with rocket, carrots, cucumber, and dried apricots. So I leave you with a picture of dinner.

This post is fifth in a series of 50 weekly posts, as part of my 50 Weeks of Creativity Challenge for 2013. To see every post and creation from the series, click here.

Hail Britannia! Touring London in Three Days: Friday the First

This weekend, my second (Canadian) cousin Kaitlyn came to London and stayed with me. Her friend Alison was also in town, staying at a hostel down the street from my apartment. So the three of us traipsed all over this city, doing touristy things.

Friday, Kaitlyn met me at work, and I popped off a bit early to take her back to Hammersmith. But first, we had to make a stop to Forbidden Planet, the ultimate shopping experience in all geekdom. Despite an address and Google Maps in my pocket, it was still a bit of an adventure finding the store from Leicester Square. It was a bit Monty Python-esque as we wandered here and there and everywhere, practicing our silly walks. It looked a bit reminiscent of this:

Anyway, we successfully found the geek shop in question, where I got a couple Doctor Who t-shirts for Jesse and Spodi. I was looking about, enjoying the various cult references of shows and movies I watch, thinking I should buy something for myself but unsure as to what. But then I found it! As I was looking at the ninja-bread cookie cutters and Star Wars ice trays, I noticed the Holy Grail of Sarah's Geek-o-meter. I found letterpress cookie cutters. For the printmaker in me. And the baker in me. TYPOGRAPHY FOR MY BAKED GOODS, YOU GUYS. Anyway, with my quest successfully completed, we left Leicester Square and headed home.

That evening, we met up with Alison, and had dinner in my favorite pub in Hammersmith. Then we wandered down King Street in search of a cinema, where we watched a Polish movie with subtitles about the start of WWII. So actually, we barely did any touristy stuff on Friday, but that's okay. The weekend was just beginning...stay tuned for Saturday and Sunday posts!

Culinary Adventures: Do the Mashed Potato!

Or do the watusi, whatever strikes your fancy.

On Tuesday, I decided to cook dinner using my new kitchen supplies that had finally shown up (and I had finally bothered to wash! Yay me!). I happened to have some potatoes (that I had initially planned to bake), and a potato-masher-utensil thing (I don't know if it has an actual name, but here is a nifty picture of the tool). Here's the catch though: I had never made mashed potatoes in my life, and therefor wasn't sure if there was a special trick to it or anything (inside secret: there is no special trick).

Slice the potatoes and let them simmer in the pot.

Anyway, I Googled around for some recipes and they all followed the same format (like I said: no special trick), so I decided to just go for it. So first I peeled my potatoes. Peeled some carrots too while I was at it, figuring some carrots would be nice. Then I chopped my potatoes into chunks, averaging between half an inch to an inch and a half in width. And I plopped those suckers into a pot of cold water, which I placed on the stove and allowed to simmer.

Meanwhile, I started boiling water in another pot so I could make spaghetti and try out this recipe for Laughing Cow alfredo sauce. It should be well-known by now that I am flat-out obsessed with Laughing Cow cheese, and I like making pasta and experimenting with my own home-made sauces, so it was a no-brainer.

As everything was now sitting on the stove taking its sweet time, I began chopping up my carrots. I documented this part of the process for no reason, but now it's documented, so I obviously must include a mention of it.

*Time elapse*

I let the potatoes continue to cook for quite a while, just to ensure they were nice and soft and ready for mashing. Meanwhile, I cooked the spaghetti as normal, and drained it out. Then I began making the sauce. By this point, it was getting late in the evening and I was getting hungry and impatient, so I actually didn't consult the recipe at all. I did what I do best: winged it (wung it?).

In my still-hot pot, I poured some milk in (eyeballing, of course, an amount that felt appropriate for one person. I also don't have measuring cups, so eyeballing felt like a good course of action. It was maybe 1/3 cup of milk). I stuck a slice of butter in (maybe 1/4 tablespoon?), shredded some English cheddar over the pot, and added two wedges of light Laughing Cow swiss cheese. Sprinkled on some black pepper and stirred. I think it was a little too much milk, as it was runny and never did quite thicken, but at least it wasn't too much sauce in general for my single portion of pasta. Anyway, the flavor was smooth and creamy. I was contemplating adding lemon juice, but didn't as I also wound up making a salad with vinegar for dressing. I would certainly recommend adding whatever spices you enjoy to compliment it (or at least adding garlic like the original recipe calls for) but once again, I am limited on supplies. Let's all pretend I don't live above a grocery store right now.

How to properly use a potato masher.

Now, back to the veggies. I decided the potatoes had been simmering away long enough, so I drained those suckers and put them on my cutting board. Meanwhile, I decided to cook the carrots a little bit in the potato pot with some butter and olive oil. I did this mainly because raw carrots are difficult for my stomach to process. I pulled out my hand-dandy-nifty potato-mashing tool and did precisely what I thought I should do -- and low and behold, it worked! The potatoes mashed easily. Success!





So after giving the carrots about 10 minutes to cook a teensy bit (they certainly weren't soft or mushy), I replaced the carrots with the potatoes in the pot, where I added some milk, some laughing cow cheese, some butter, and a little bit of shredded cheese. I managed to forget salt and pepper, which is a rooky mistake. Ah well. The good news is, my potatoes came out nicely mashed and creamy, as any decent mash should. Turns out, they're so easy to make even I can do it. That's reassurance you can count on.

My final dinner consisting of spaghetti with Alfredo, mash, carrots, and salad.

50 Weeks of Creativity: Week Four

This week marked my first week in London, and my first week interning at Fast Web Media. I was quite busy, but it was a week of creativity at work! I read up on two new services FWM offers, and was given the task of designing a brochure and powerpoint presentation for one service while Alice was away in Vegas. Here is the initial draft for the inside and outside of the brochure:

This provided the bases for the final draft, which reflected the rainbowy colors established for the BIGprofile project. So here is the brochure as it currently looks. I'm sure there is more to be done on it, but this is what I spent my time creating this week:

Anyway, after working on that, I got started on copywriting tasks. So Friday, I was busy learning everything there is to learn about Twitter's new 6-second video app Vine. I'm now addicted to Vine you guys, not to mention my newfound expertise on the subject. You can watch new Vine videos being posted in real time on Vinepeek, or (my favorite), you can watch cat videos on Vinecats. It's like lolcats with video.

While researching all of this, I figured the best way I could learn about Vine was to try the app myself. Naturally. I discovered that 6 seconds really flies by quickly, and you have to carefully plan out what you will create in that 6 seconds. Even if you plan out what you are doing, you can still lose track of those precious 6 seconds. None the less, I came up with a few Vine videos myself, which you can find on my Twitter.

I leave you now with my Tube trip home, in 6 seconds:

An American In London: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Internet Laws...

The Internet is a wonderful, super awesome thing. It's world wide, you guys. I mean like, a world wide web. Connecting anyone around the world to each other. The UN even deemed access to the Internet is actually a human right (don't believe me? I know some Americans don't believe it's a human right...but here's a nice NY Times article to prove it).

But the Internet has some funny rules that apply to it, and those rules vary from country to country. Licensing rights dictate what can be accessed in certain countries, and content providers then use your IP address to determine where your whereabouts are. Of course, there are always ways around these, but if you don't feel like expelling the energy, it can be quite frustrating when you are used to accessing certain sites and content, and you suddenly can't. It makes me want to throw an American-style fit, contact the provider, and say "but I'm an AMERICAN, I'm just IN ANOTHER COUNTRY". That last bit may be a bit exaggerated for entertainment purposes.

I discovered yesterday, for example, that Pandora is not accessible in the UK. Apparently, it is only available to US, Canadian, and New Zealand IP addresses. Seems a somewhat odd mix, but hey. There you have it. I did see an ad for Netflix in the Tube recently though, so I figured "okay cool, Netflix should work!" So I gave it a shot. And lo and behold, it happily let me in. And I was pretty excited to see that ALL THREE seasons of Downton Abbey are up. A little surprised, since the second one wasn't even up last I looked, but hey.

Then I tried to find Mad Men, to see if the fifth season was FINALLY up yet. And..."sorry, this title is not available for streaming." What? Mad Men is always on Netflix. They have a contract to have every episode available eventually. Poop. The Internet rears its ugly head again. My Netflix content has been changed based on my IP address. Nevermind the fact I am using my dad's Netflix account with a US billing address; I'm in the UK, so I get different content than when my family accesses the same account at home. Crazy.

Some aspects of the Internet have loopholes though, that are quite nifty. Google Voice is a US-only service; but I've discovered that if you set up your Google Voice account in the US and then link it to your email account, you can continue using it free of charge outside the US. I can call any US number for free from my laptop, anytime I want. I can text from my phone, on my UK data plan, for free, any time I want. Oh, Internets. I guess I forgive you.

Jolly Old London Town

Okay, I will begin this post by acknowledging the fact that I am TWO weeks behind on my 50 Weeks posts. I do have work to show for those two weeks, it's just been a busy time, as I was getting ready for London and then actually traveling to London at the end of last weekend.

So; here I am now in London. I had a rough start; after arriving at 6:00 AM, I found my ride with relative ease and he drove me to Hammersmith, where I am living for the next two months. The problem was that we got here at 7:00 AM on a Sunday. Nobody was available to let me into the building or check me into my studio. Fortunately, the driver let me borrow his phone to call the 24-hour call service, who found somebody inside who could come take care of me. This was another American student who evidently works in the office at the apartment building. The poor girl didn't know anything though apart from the fact that there were three rooms for our group. She gave me my pick of rooms and let me in, and I was very distressed to find a disgusting mattress turned on its side, no bedding or pillows, and nothing to cook with in the kitchen. I was supposed to be supplied with all of these items, and it is still being sorted out now; in theory, we will each have bedding, bath towels, and kitchen supplies by Thursday. Oy.

Anyway, I calmed myself down by wandering around London, waiting for shops to open so I could get a UK sim card and local phone number. I bought a Tube pass and rode the Tube over to some familiar locations, which instantly calmed me down. Although I was initially very stressed out, it has not taken me long at all to settle in and readjust to London. Some things you just don't forget, and London has quickly felt like home once again to me. It's wonderful to be back.

The big news right now, of course, is the identification of King Richard III. The most interesting part of this story to me is that his skeleton was found in Leicester (that's pronounced Lester, against all English rules). I have a bit of a personal vendetta against Leicester right now; I pass through the Leicester Tube station every day during my commute, and I switch between the Northern and Piccadilly lines at that point. I got lost yesterday, because you have to walk to the end of the Northern platform to get to the Piccadilly line, which is entirely different than basically any other station I have ever been through. And then I wandered down a long corridor by myself, and wandering around the London Underground is terrifying when by yourself. Those stations are UNDERGROUND, and many of them are 150 years old. No thank you. No wonder they found a 500-year-old skeleton near there!

I've also now been to two days of my internship, and it's a really great situation. The people are friendly and helpful, the atmosphere is laid back, we listen to really good music all day, and nobody has complained yet that I sing along to everything on the radio. My supervisor Alice is in Vegas right now attending a conference, so it's a bit of a crazy week. Our office reminds me of The IT Crowd, which is probably a mix of good and bad things, but I think it's mostly positive.

I'll start taking and posting pictures one of these days, and I'll get caught up on my 50 Weeks posts (which I will promptly backwards date).

50 Weeks of Creativity: Week Three

This week, I spent a day working on making a padded carrying case for my Nikon D3100 DSLR camera. I hate lugging it around with me (I'm barely a photographer, you guys), but I payed good money for it and it's nice to have a fancy-pants camera sometimes. I didn't have the money or the interest to pay for a nice fashionable camera bag, so I started looking around online for more inexpensive options.

I found this great tutorial on how to turn a purse into a camera bag, and it inspired me. Rather than commit an entire bag to my camera, why not take this concept and create my own case for my camera, which I can then throw into whatever bag I'm carrying about with me?

So I went to Hancock Fabrics, where I bought a square of eco-green foam and four squares of fabric scraps. Then Erica came over, and we had a craft night where she edited photos from an engagement shoot and I put my camera bag together. Also, she brought her sewing machine over for me, which cut back on time immensely. Plan A was hand-sewing.

I should have documented the steps, but I didn't. If you want to know how I made my bag, use the tutorial linked above for steps, and augment it with the following information:

Obviously, I had to iron the fabric first. Got to get all of the kinks out of the fabric so it will look pretty. Washing it first will help, but I was trying to do laundry so I could get packed for London, so I skipped that and went straight to the ironing.

Next, measure the size of your camera. You're going to create a box for it to fit into, so you need to know its dimensions. I tacked on an extra inch to ensure that it would fit nicely inside. I determined that two sides should be taller than the other two; this is because I decided when I sewed the whole thing together, I would have two pieces on TOP of the bottom piece, and the other two pieces on the SIDES. If you want to sew all four pieces on top, make sure the bottom piece is big enough to still fit the camera.

Once you have the measurements, you can cut individual pieces of foam out that will make up the sides of the box. I chose not to make a lid for my box, so I had five pieces of foam, not six. Next, measure the fabric. Tack on enough fabric to cover the sides of the foam, plus a 1/4" for sewing allowance. The blog tutorial provides great explanation of that. Despite my affectionate feelings towards math and my anal OCD tendencies, I went the eyeballing-is-good-enough route. I measured according to the foam, rather than using a ruler.

I decided that I wanted the inside of my box to be a different fabric than the outside; this was done mainly because I didn't have enough of one fabric to do the entire thing. So with this in mind, I needed more of the outside fabric (to cover the sides of the foam as well as the outside).

Once everything is measured and ready, lay the fabric on top of each other, with the design facing inwards on both pieces. Sew along three sides, leaving the fourth side open. Turn the fabric right-side out, so the seams you just sewed are inside, and squeeze your foam inside. It should be a snug fit, but it will work. The foam is flexible, which helps greatly. Go to the side that is unsewn, and turn the fabric inwards, then hand-sew it closed. Do this for all five pieces of foam.

Once your pieces are put together, you have to sew them all together! This part is the most annoying part of the process. You won't have much structure or sturdiness until you have all of the pieces sewn together, so you have to hold your pieces in place as you work. Just be patient, and it will come together. The above tutorial didn't give the best instructions on this part, so I had to wing it.

I started with the bottom piece. I placed one side piece where it needed to sit, and began sewing the fabric to the fabric. I found I didn't need to sew through the foam; it holds well enough sewing just the fabric, and it's far easier on you to sew it that way. For the sake of having minimal visible seams, I sewed the hand-sewn seam of the side piece to the hand-sewn seam of the bottom piece. This also reinforces the hand-sewn seams. Once that piece was sewn on, I put another side on. Again, I sewed the bottom to the side, then I sewed the sides to each other. Continue in this fashion until all four sides are sewn on, both to the bottom piece and to each adjacent side piece. Ta-da, you have a padded box!

I tested the final product out, and found that my camera fit inside nicely. Due to the shape of the camera, there was a bit of space left next to the lense. I had left over foam and fabric, so I cut a basic rectangle piece of foam, covered it, and can stick it inside the box as a removable divider when I want to throw my little point-and-shoot camera in as well.

Since putting this posting together, I have traveled to London with the camera packed away in its box in my suitcase. Everything made it for the transatlantic journey quite nicely! Successful project.