Dishes, Dancing and Death

It has been quite the last few days!

Thanksgiving dinner!

Thursday was, of course, the time honored American tradition of eating way too much under the guise of gratitude. As was the case last year, the Institute reserved the Windmill pub and I spent a solid day up to my elbows in bread so as to make stuffing. The meal itself was delicious, which is no surprise, and afterwards we had some people back home to drink and have a Really Serious discussion of how the Harry Potter books were adapted into films. I was, of course, a bit sorry to not be able to also celebrate with friends and family back in the states. That said, I am so incredibly thankful that I am here and I know those wonderful people back home are so supportive of me pursuing my interests, which allows me to meet wonderful people here. I am a lucky girl, indeed.

Birthday celebrations

Friday was Red's birthday, so I made pancakes and eggs and we had a really nice at home brunch with her fiance, who was visiting for the weekend from Paris. Of course, our kitchen sink would pick the week of massive amounts of cooking to break, so Red and I continued her birthday celebrations by spending an hour washing dishes in our bathroom sink....she's a champ. We had a nice dinner out with some friends from the Institute and the real celebrations were at the one dance club in Strats. I haven't been dancing in a really long time and forgotten just how ridiculously fun it is.

Jamie and Matt in The Changeling

And throughout all of this, we had The Changeling, a play by Thomas Middleton with tons of questionable decision making and a fair amount of death. I haven't really been involved in the show, but this weekend wound up being brought in to do make-up since one of the characters had to look ugly. I settled on a kind of gross open sore/skin condition type thing that involved painting and tearing latex and then putting a lot of lipstick on Matt's forehead. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was pretty proud of the result and it was satisfying to be able to contribute something to the show and break out my long dormant stage make-up skills. One audience member the show had the best acting they've seen at the Institute, and I would have to agree. There were some cuts that made parts of the plot near incomprehensible but, overall, I enjoyed it immensely and wound up sitting in twice. The cast part was Saturday and we closed down the pub before once again having people back to ours for a game of kings that lasted until 4:30am.

By the end of yesterday, not surprisingly, I was wiped. We went to dinner with some of the cast and it got to the point where I just needed to come home and curl up on the couch. I'm being held hostage by laundry, today, so I think it's going to be a good opportunity to just take a little time and get back to my research, which has been largely haphazard recently.

Hope your holidays were all wonderful! I am home in two-ish weeks and cannot wait...bring on Christmas!

Halloween, Halloween

England is not so much with the Halloween festivities, but there enough Americans/people who like costumes, candy and good time here that I don't feel my season is in anyway affected (though, let's be honest, any Halloween missing my sister is going to lacking a certain something).

Just over a week ago, Matt threw an early Halloween party.* I had been really jazzed this Halloween to reconfigure my 50's style bathing suits into either a pin-up or Poison Ivy costume...then decided it wasn't worth the hypothermia. Not really planning in advance, I was left to figure out a costume out of my closet. I wound up settling on Holly Golightly (LBD, lots of pearls, big sunglasses, ceramic coffee cup to hold my drinks for the night). I am weird about costumes...I don't think so much about what I want to be as opposed to what I can do with relative accuracy. Cold aside, one of the biggest reasons I didn't go the Poison Ivy route is my hair is the wrong color. I don't believe in wigs and I haven't fully committed to dying my hair red this season, therefore, a dirty-blonde Poison Ivy struck me as a travesty.**

The party itself was a lot of fun. Matt's place is kind of small, but that meant moving from conversation to conversation was really easy and it was a great opportunity to get to know the newbies more. Matt didn't have a costume, so he wore a sharp suit and sunglasses and when people asked him who he was, he told them to guess. This became funnier the more beers I knocked back, I won't lie. There was a little dancing and we didn't get home until 2 or 3 in the morning. What more do you need in a party?

This past Wednesday, Red and I inaugurated the 2011-2012 Taco Night season, which incorporated the time-honored tradition of Pumpkin Carving. We still don't have furniture, which worked out perfectly for this kind of thing. We had a few people who had either never carved a pumpkin, never eaten a taco or had never don't either....the cultural exchange continues! We didn't go too late (to my neighbors relief, I'm sure), but it was a fun group and it was nice to have people here for once. I expect we'll do some kind of Christmas thing, which I'm really looking forward to....this time of the year is the greatest.

Remainders:

• I got the job! At the Company, working front of house, Training starts this week. It's such a relief to know I have a paycheck in my future, plus working for the Company is pretty cool. I actually had another interview on Friday there for another job...there's a chance, if I get the second one, I could do both. I just really like doing different things and learning more about theatres. We will see, though. Either way, I'm excited.
• The puzzle that served as the metaphor for my life a few days ago HAS BEEN VANQUISHED. The fact that it was completed with Red at 2am while watching 'The Others' just made it all the sweeter. My flatmate = best flatmate
• Booked my tickets home. December 14, America welcomes me back.

*He and some other friends of mine are doing a charity walk from Strats to London, re-creating the route Shakespeare might have taken, which meant they are away for Halloween proper. Won't you consider sending some money their way?


**The hair thing actually is usually the deciding factor of any Halloween costume. Joan from Mad Men? My hair was already the right shade. Cinderella? Hadn't dyed it in awhile, so it was a suitable strawberryish blonde shade. Holly Golightly? It's currently darker and streakier than usual and photographs brunette. It's all in the details, people.

Jane Austen Social Club

Last night one of the research students decided to celebrate her absence of roommates by having a few people over for that classic empty-house-event—a Jane Austen night!

The first priority of the evening, besides munching on sugar-based confections and drinking wine, was to take one of those Cosmo-esque quizzes to determine your Jane Austen alter ego. Questions ran from who was your fairy tale doppelganger (Tinkerbelle), your movie star icon (Marilyn Monroe) and your reaction should a guy not call you (curse his name and go drinking with girlfriends). These are the type of answers I gave, and, somehow they led to me being pegged as a Lydia Bennet. Good god. It's time to re-examine my life.

Now, we all know that, when it comes to board games invented by my friends, Clairegammon: The Battle for Candyland will always be my one true love. I don't think any game that combines pictionary, cranium, Claire and Elizabeth's irrefutable opinions on life, drinking, drawing on people, racing cars AND glitter covered dinosaurs will ever seriously be threatened. But, if something were to challenge, Austenopoly would put up a noble fight.

The game, invented by our hostess and laid out according to Monopoly framework sees six Austen heroines (Emma, Elinor, Marianne, Jane Fairfax, Jane Bennet and Elizabeth) working their way around the board, picking up property, suitors and acquaintances. If you land on someone else's property, you have to give them an acquaintance or suitor, but otherwise you just pick things up. What you have to be careful of are landing on "plot twist" squares, because those are usually terrible ("Your sister has eloped, bringing shame on your family! Lose all of your suitors and acquaintances and return to the beginning," "Killer Gypsies attack! Whoever has Harriet Smith must immediately give her up," "You go to London to get a haircut. Skip a turn.") though occasionally can help you out ("Your walk to Netherfield brings such a sparkle to your eyes, Mr. Darcy immediately abandons his owner for you"). You also have to be careful not to be sent to Bath, which is Austenopoloy's version of jail.

Cards are color coded and someone wins when they collect all the suitors, acquaintances and properties in their assigned color scheme. Team Marianne Dashwood was victorious last night, but only because Sunny drew the terrible "lose everything" plot twist card right before completing her set. It was heartbreaking, but also hilarious.

Night ended with a screening of my favorite of all Austen film adaptations (and, I think, my favorite of her books), 'Sense and Sensibility.' Emma Thompson is just...the greatest thing ever and the movie is, as Freelancer put it, "England porn." Rolling hills and coded glances and lots of tea? Yepp, sounds about right.

Also, our hostess pointed out that the Shakestitute is a lot like a Jane Austen novel in that nothing happens but all of that nothing starts to mean LOTS of things. Too true.

This is Halloween

Tau and I woke up with a plan to hang around Strats/home all day and not do much that wasn't directly related to preparing for the party that was going to be thrown at casa mia that night. Caffeine being directly related productivity and productivity being required for a successful party, we stopped by Starbucks where OH MY GOODNESS a sign outside promised that "red cups are coming." It's like they are finally recognizing the legitimacy of the holiday! I feel utterly justified.

"Preparation" really just meant a trip to the grocery store for plastic cups and extra junk food.While taking a stroll through the Halloween aisle in search of special drinking vessels (alcohol tastes better form a goblet, it is a scientific fact), I found a marked down devil costume. It was slinky but not inappropriate and, lacking a costume due to the fail of international postage practices, I bought it and a pair of similarly synthetic bright red elbow gloves. Devil take the hindmost!

Tau had brought cookie cutters in festive shapes, but, sadly, England does not seem to believe in cookie dough the way we Yankees do. We attempted smooshing chocolate chip do into pumpkin and ghosts only to be rewarded with a bunch of indistinguishable blobs. Indistinguishable TASTY blobs, though. Between the misshapen chocolate chip cookies and the Old El Paso fajitas we threw together, we wound up eating quite well.

And then there was the party!

Costumes from the night: Little Red Riding Hood (Chi.Roomie), Griffyndor student (Tau, in incredibly envy-invoking official HP robes), two pirates, the Oxford Complete Works, the textual companion to the Oxford complete works, an autumn tree (Freelancer), Dr. Who (Keeper), a butterfly (TX.Roomie), two witches, Minnie Mouse, a Greek goddess and, my personal favorite, Desdemona's handkerchief (MASSCHRE buddy). We are dorks.

Dorks who love to get down! Minnie Mouse had made a great playlist with the right amount of club tracks and theme appropriate tunes and we just had a grand old dance party for most of the night. At one point, Tau, MASSCHRE buddy and I went to the store for some more beer and I got a hefty does of cat calling (including a tiger growl...really, who does that?), which, honestly, on Halloween, I didn't mind so much. Later, Chi, MASSCHRE buddy and I went to the American fountain for some air and wound up singing bizarre showtunes and patriotic anthems. I love those random moments.

Happy Halloween, everybody! I believe it was our most horrible yet. Thank you, everyone.

Pumpkins Scream in the Dead of Night

Got home from Bham with my MASSCRE buddy and opened the door to a house filled with people getting ready to carve pumpkins. Wonderful!

I had made the suggestion we have people over a couple of night previous, sending out a Facebook message to all ten of the Institute students I had communicative access to, but Chi.Roomie was the one who really made it happen. There was a thousand types of junk food and candy and alcohol (because what you want to be while carving slippery spheres with steak knives is sugar high and drunk*) and pizza was ordered and Chi had rounded up a lot of people through word of mouth, so our happy home had become Halloween central.

I cannot tell you how fantastic it was! Almost everyone had brought a pumpkin to carve, and for at least one person, it was their first one. I talked to some students I hadn't spoken with before and managed to stay awake and alert long enough for all the pumpkins to be hacked to (artistic) pieces.

I cannot say enough good things about the night. It was really the first time we had hung out in a non-Institute related setting (there have been pub trips, but either with very small groups or on the heels of an official event) and I loved that our home was the hosting location and it just was so...comfortable. And home-like, to see all of these people I enjoy having a good time together and being festive and whatnot.

Went to be earlier than maybe I would have in other situations, but I was dead tired. Manged to be conscious long enough to see my Yankees stay in it and then promptly passed out, and hard, but people stayed long after I was out and that ALSO makes me really happy. It reminded me of PH2, in a way, and those are some of my happiest housing memories.

Some pictures from the night:

(The first shift of pumpkin carvers in the kitchen)

(More pumpkin punishing)

(The finished product)

(A closer look at the craftsmanship)

(My pumpkin, which I am quite pleased with!)

*Truth be told, no one was either. The worst that happened was people were full and sleepy.