Adventures In Dots

I've been battling bursts of insomnia all week, do get them occasionally and usually don't mind too much because I know that at some point I'll be able to sleep again. Unfortunately, it does interfere with my social life.

I was supposed to go out last night, had the ticket & everything, but the thought of fucking my sleep patterns even further didn't sound like a particularly good idea. So I stayed in, messed around on the internet for a bit and went to bed at 1am and actually managed to pass out around 2 only to wake up again at 8. Seriously not impressed with my body at the moment. I stubbornly stayed in bed until 10, because getting up at single digits on the weekend is just not on, got myself some tea and waited for my flatmate to come home. She'd gone to some circuit training thing in the park, which is impressive if you take into account that she doesn't even manage to get out of bed on time when she's got to go to work, and returned when I'd just finished my breakfast (jaffa cakes & cereal with soy yogurt, we're not discussing my eating habits here...).

We pottered around for a bit, some hoovering ensued, showers were had, and then we headed to the station and got the train to Waterloo. Had some food at the Real Food Market behind the Royal Festival Hall, then trekked over to the Tate Modern for some art.

I'd seen the advertisement for the Yayoi Kusama exhibition a long while back and got seriously excited, because, omg, DOTS! The exhibition featured a spread of her works, with the earlier years looking rather tame and a bit boring for my taste, but the later paintings (psychedelic colours FTW) and the full-room installations were simply stunning. The infinity room literally made my brain squee - it's a mirrored room full of hanging coloured lights which looks a bit like this

only it's even more amazingly mind-blowing when you're standing right in the middle of it. I want my living room to look like that. If I can't have shiny things, I'd like a dotty room, please...

(yes, that's UV dots everywhere).

Back home we paid our downstairs neighbour a visit, coz it was his birthday and my flatmate had made him an Oreo cake. A tasty Oreo cake. The world generally needs a lot more cake.

I'm staying in again tonight and might go to Camden tomorrow.

Because I'm rock'n roll like that.

Laughter & Tiny Zen Gardens

I went to the Science Museum Lates last night. Haven't been there for a while, it's always fun, but I just don't really remember it's on unless someone reminds me. In this case, it was Babs.

So I trekked over to South Ken after work, got there early enough to queue in the pouring rain for about 15 minutes until they let us in. It wasn't as busy as some other times, probably because of the shitty weather, but still busy enough. The theme this time was "The Mind", which worked quite well with my recent bouts of the crazies, really.

To start off we attended a Laughter Yoga session which was, errrr, really funny. Not sure if it's something I would actually do on a regular basis, I mean, I think I laugh and giggle enough as it is. Doesn't take much to set me off, either. So year, that was fun.

Then we got lost a bit looking for the Speed Dating that my flatmate (who's very much on the hunt for a boyfriend, quite persistently so) insisted on attending. To our relief it was already fully booked, so no need to spend precious fun time talking to strangers. We wandered on to find the Bouncy Castle. Yes, they had a Bouncy Castle!!!! Unfortunately it came with a rather long queue, so I we just grabbed some space hoppers and bounced around on those. Ended up racing my flatmate on them and won, subsequently falling over rather ungracefully (and, I think, on video), but yay! I'm not really doing very well on the acting like a grown-up part...

Oh, and there were Zen Garden DIY kits. Quite small Zen Garden DIY kits, as in, chinese take-away box small. Was a bit disappointed, I like my Zen Gardens a bit bigger, but nevertheless got a kit and tried my luck. They even gave us some stones to put in them, which seemed to make my garden look a bit like boobies in a box. Ok, maybe I was pushing it (what did I say about that failing at being a grown-up?). The next one I did looked much more dignified, honest. Stole some of the pretty stones from some abandoned gardens as well to take home, didn't take the box and the sand, though.

We tried to get into the Silent Disco, but the queue was too long, so we just went upstairs again to the Launchpad to play around and be educated.

It was over way too quick, as always, definitely have to remember to keep checking for the next one.

Eyeball Tracking

Today I've done some art. My brain feels nice and satisfied and happy now. I like if my brain's happy :)

I've grabbed the flatmate and met up with another friend at the Hayward Gallery to check out an exhibition by Pipilotti Rist. It started with an underwear chandelier (ahem) and went on to be quite awesome with video installations that you could walk through and sit down in. Comfy AND inspiring. Included in the ticket was entry to Condo - Mental States which was, erm, a tad mental and disturbing. Interesting, but really weird. We had to go down and sit in the pretty video landscape for a bit afterwards to get the happy back. Got drawn in by a press photo exhibition in the Royal Festival Hall on the way back, which was good, and then got some food and a tasty brownie at one of the Real Food market stalls. That's what I call a good Sunday!

Yesterday I trekked over to North London to meet up with some friends and do some art (well, I didn't, they did) and play a bit of Kinect. I really, really want a Kinect. And a big TV. And a living room that's big enough to play it. There was sociability and tasty foodstuffs and loads of jumping around. Came home happy and a bit exhausted.

Next week might feature two trips to the movies and a visit to the Ideal Home Christmas Show.

Last week I went over to Germany for a long weekend. It was mostly relaxing, as visits to my parents usually are. I've bought new glasses which I'll collect when I got back at Christmas. I also went to my German gynecologist for a long due check-up, which apparently was pretty due - I got told to stop taking the pill as I'm too old now (over 37 the risks seem to go up considerably) and I also seem to have a myoma in my uterus. As such, this is not dangerous and 1 in 4 women have it, it only gets unpleasant when it grows too big. Mine seems to be ok for now, but I have to go back for 6 monthly checkups. I don't particularly like the idea that there's something inside me that's not supposed to be there, but before the ultrasound I didn't even know it was there and the doctor's not worried so I probably shouldn't be, either.

Other than that, all is fine and I'm looking forward to some busy weekends.

The Edges Of The World

This week has been a totally mixed bag. I think I might've messed up my probation *again*, due to sending out a report with data that I thought was ok, but actually it wasn't. Apparently one department had known all day, but had neglected to tell anyone else. I thought the data looked a bit dodgy, but it had been looking like that since a week ago, so decided to send out the report. Big mistake. I don't know if they can really hold me responsible for this, as I honestly didn't know about the missing data logs that were causing problems, but they're probably going to say I should've spotted discrepancies etc. etc.

Due to all of that, I've spent the last 4 days nervous & quite anxious & really not very relaxed. I do like the job, although working with a certain person is hard, stressful & not very fulfilling at the moment. But the rest of his team are nice, I feel like I can move something. I'm very worried that my boss is going to tell me tomorrow that they're not going to make me permanent.

I have decided that, no matter what happens next week or on the 23rd (the official end of my probation), I'm going to try & get certified as a translator. It'll mean studying & exams again, something I thought I had left for good when I started working, but it would also give me a second leg to stand on, career wise. I'm not sure if I'm actually cut out for corporate life.

So, at the moment the light at the end of the tunnel quite possibly could turn out to be a train.

In addition to that, I'm preparing for moving to Acton next weekend. I've packed half of my room, have to sort out actually details for the man&van early next week, the furniture is built & as soon as Lynn has the hoover fixed I'll clean my room to get it ready to move in.

Oh, and I'll get the permanent crown fixed next week as well.

Not sure if that's what they mean when they say when it rains it pours. I'm glad when August is over, no matter which way things go, at least they're settled. This uncertainty is killing me, I just want to sit down & relax & just not have to worry anymore.

To get my mind off things for a little while, I met up with John today to do some culture. We hit the Hayward for Ernesto Neto's "The Edges Of The World", which also featured some Design exhibition which threw up the age-old question what actually should be considered art. We weren't exactly sure, but we were certain that none of the exhibits excited us much. Ernesto Neto, though, was stunning. You could touch it, smell it (cinammon, lavender...), walk through it & over it. It was so much fun!

To round the day off, we ate some al-fresco sushi at SoBa. While all of this didn't totally relax me, it was nice.

My boss is back tomorrow, I'm very apprehensive going to work & having a meeting with him. I so hope that everything turns out alright.

Wish me luck!

My Home Is My Castle

photo credit

I really enjoy having the flat all to myself. It feels a bit weird as I'm so used to always having people around me, but all in all it's very, very nice to have space for a change. 

On Saturday I met up with Cherelle at Waterloo & together we took the scenic route (thanks to various tube lines not running) to South Kensington. I had wanted to go back to the V&A for further exploration since having been there for Decode and Cherelle was up for a bit of culture. The V&A is pretty amazing, lots of fashion, theatre & things from lands far far away. We visited a few galleries, the shop, had a little rest outside at the cafe, then went back for more. I very much enjoy letting my brain out to play in this way.

Afterwards I went up to Piccadilly Circus to see whether Lillywhite's would have the rebounder I want. Apparently they're London biggest sports store, but quite frankly, they're just shite. No selection at all, staff that didn't have a clue & they're not very big by my standards. They did have trampolines which I found without any help from anyone in there, but not the one I wanted & it turned out that they're pretty heavy as well, so I decided to opt to buy a bit more locally or get it delivered.

I checked out to new Japan Centre so the trip into town wasn't a complete waste of time. Found some rather tasty (& fairly cheap, all things considered) sushi & spent the tube ride home munching little rolls of rice & fish. I was craving fish like mad, which was a bit disconcerting. I usually assume that any reasonably healthy craving has a reason, I'm not entirely sure why I crave fish (raw salmon, to be precise) occasionally but suspect it's because I don't get enough omega 3 fatty acids. According to my web research there really is no way of getting them in an easy way in a vegan diet (the jury's still out on flaxseed) and I don't mind eating fish, really, so I guess I'll have a chunk of raw salmon every now and again. I've been having tuna & chickpea salad the last 3 evenings & whatever it was I was lacking, I seem to have stocked up supplies now.

On Sunday I woke up rather early for a weekend, around 10am. Argos didn't open until 11am, so I lounged about for a bit, had a lazy breakfast & then walked down the road to claim my mini trampoline. The Reebok rebounder was selling for £30 & was exactly what I wanted. Carrying up the road proved to be somewhat traumatic, the box was heavy & bulky and for some unexplained reason people develop the urge to walk right into you. With arms hurting I made it home & extracted the trampoline. I didn't try it out right away because I still had some grocery shopping to do, but I did have a little bounce later in the afternoon. It's huge fun! It's also harder than one would think, but I have been bouncing every evening now for about 15 minutes & am hoping that I can keep that up once the flatmates are back.

Work has continued to be hectic. My colleagues are still more or less avoiding me, although it seems to be getting better now. The girl that's come back from maternity leave is majorly getting on my nerves now. She's always complaining, about anything & everything. She now feels she's not getting any important work & obviously that can only be because she's got a baby now, not at all because she's been out of the loop for 9 months, is slow & more interested in chatting with everybody around her than doing her job. I don't have to work with her lots as she's got a different manager, but due to a reorganisation of the channels we're covering I will have to help her with one of them. I'm not looking forward to cooperating with her, but I do like the channel and anyway, I'm better than her in the work we do & I'm totally planning on making this job count.

I'm not doing anything exciting this week, but this weekend will hopefully feature another trip to the museum as I want to go to the Darwin Centre with Pinky. Other than that I'm staying in to take full advantage of being able to enjoy some time on my own.

In The Sandpit

Yesterday was on of those days that start out quite rubbish & then turn into a day where the rain stops just when you're about to leave work, traffic lights turn green when you approach them & tubes arrive just when you get to the platform (& you get a seat, of course).

I woke up to a minor nail polish disaster - the sparkly stuff that still looked alright when I went to bed had managed to disintegrate overnight & half of it came off in the shower. I wasn't amused. To make matters worse it was a morning where everything just takes that tiny bit longer than usual. I was running spectacularly late once I'd done my usual things & taken off the nail varnish. There was no way I'd even make my "late" train, so I opted to get the tube to Willesden Junction (there's more trains going from there) & wing it.

That's about the point where things started to go right again. The train I would've missed was late, which meant I caught it after all. I just missed the bus when I got to Gunnersbury, but the next one arrived shortly afterwards. At work no one had really noticed that I was 15 minutes late. All good.

We're still extremely busy & that didn't change during the weekend. Still, I managed to get all the stuff done that I needed to do & could leave on time. Which was just as well, as I had places to go.

I took the train to Waterloo & tried to find something to eat before heading to the Royal Festival Hall. Cue a discussion with the guys from Upper Crust who tried to sell me a tuna salad sandwich as being vegetarian (have they started growing tuna on trees, or what?) & a brie, tomato & rocket salad as not containing cheese (we all know that brie is a vegetable, don't we?). I decided to opt for the vegetable yaki soba from Wasabi.

Munching my dinner I arrived at the Spirit Level of the Royal Festival Hall & joined the queue to sign up for games to play at the Sandpit. Unfortunately there were a million people in front of me who obviously didn't have to treck in all the way from Osterley, so by the time I got to the sign up desk all games were already fully booked. Somewhat miffed I had a wonder around to at least get an idea what's on offer so that next time I'd know if it's worth rushing into town after work. I was almost on my way out when I heard that one group was looking for a player as one of the ones who'd signed up hadn't shown up. That's how I became the forth player of Broken Arrow 1.

Our goal was to save a young man from heartbreak by solving riddles, finding people, fighting a pretty scary clown & trading a bottle full of beans for a box of beauty. Our last task involved rustling up a small crowd to create a living picture. We succeeded & the young man was reunited with his love.

It was a fun hour & I made my home smiling to myself. I like when things work out that way.

Today was another busy workday, with a brief moment of pissed-off-ness when I discovered that there were research jobs put on the internet that no one had told me of. For some reason they've decided to look for a research executive to fill the gap my colleague who's a senior research exec is leaving. I also thought that my boss' job was on there as well & was serverely annoyed, but a closer inspection of the role revealed that it was for a sales researcher. I'm tempted to apply for the media research manager job shouldn't there be a suitable content role for me. My boss will be back from holiday next week, so I'm hoping thing will move on a bit then. Otherwise I'll have to active all my recruitment agent contact again & leave.

Tonight's going to be quiet, watching Vampire Diaries on ITV & relaxing. In any case I should not spent any more money, it seems to be flowing through my hands like mad at the moment. I've bought a ticket for Beardyman yesterday (yay!), a momiji doll that was just too cute not to buy & a ticket for the Underground Restaurant we seem to have here in Kilburn. Together with the tickets for the Elysian Project & Planet Angel I bought last week all of this is quite some dosh spent on amusement. It'll all be huge fun, I'm sure, but I'm a bit worried that I'm spending more than what I've got coming in at the moment as my salary's just pathetic.

Judging by my horoscopes which exude large amounts of hope for a better future at the moment all will be fine, but it's probably better to be a tiny bit careful.

Decode

 

Photo credit: 

Solar by flight404, 2009, Videogrid by Ross Phillips, Design Museum, 2008, We Feel Fine (wefeelfine.org) by Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar, 2005 – onwards

Yesterday was a totally grey, miserable & wet day. Nevertheless, I had woken up at 10am unable to go back to sleep again. Even worse, I was feeling awake, not quite as lurgyfied anymore & energetic.

I had found a 2-for-1 voucher for DECODE at the V&A on the Time Out website a few days back. The idea of digital art sounded very appealing, the thought of things being interactive even more (I like being able to push buttons & make art do stuff). Also, I'd never been to the V&A before for reasons totally unknown and had got it in my head that I wanted to go there on Saturday. Flatmate had foolishly agreed to accompagny me (when I told her, not on the day), so by 1pm I was bouncing up & down outside her room wanting to go. There was a brief discussion wherein weather was mentionned a few times, also it being miserable & wet, and rooms that are warm & cosy. I was relentless, I wanted to go & anyway, to get to the V&A from our place is doable with only minimal exposure to the outside world. Shortly before 2pm we were ready to go.

The museum was bustling with people when we got in (apparently more people had thought spending a rainy day in a museum was a grand idea), the queue for tickets was massive, mainly due to an exhibition called Maharaja which must be quite amazing as it was sold out for the day & people were buying tickets for future dates. We, however, just wanted our bloody 2-for-1 £5 Decode tickets... finally had them in our hands, entry was in 15 minutes, so we had a quick look around & then popped over to the entrance.

The way in (& out) is lined with interactive light sticks, that make noise & light up when you walk past. I think I could've spent half an hour just running around between them, but there was more to see, touch & jump around in front of. Unfortunately a few exhibits were broken, including a tree that sheds it's leaves & you can catch them, I guess that's what you get for having art on a computer & people poking it with their mitts. Very much loved an exhibit called "body paint" which reacted to your movement with splashes of colour.

Altogether a great exhibition, if a bit small.

Afterwards we hit the museum shop, I made a few purchases of things that you really don't need but which are rather pretty. We still had 2 hours till closing time, so we ventured upstairs to the textiles bit, getting distracted on the way by various other bits, then found the Theatre rooms, which are awesome as well. The Jewellery section is just pure shiny. By the time we got out of there our brains had reached culture saturation. We still managed to run through a few other rooms simply coz we got lost & couldn't find the way out.

A really great way to spend an otherwise pretty useless day. And my brain very much likes getting fed like that. Definitely have to go back there, maybe on my own, and wander around for a day.

We popped into Sainsbury's on the way home, I acquired all I need to make Pad Thai today, which is probably going to be rescheduled for tomorrow coz we're going out for Sushi tonight & I can't be arsed to cook. The evening was spent watching the "Welcome To The Parker" marathon on Bravo or Diva or whatever obscure channel it was.

I'm a bit less energetic today, the cold is still present but not as bad anymore, the weather is much nicer but I am too lazy to go out. All fine, though, it's Sunday which is the day of the week that you're supposed to veg out :)