friday, 3 mar 06

i decided to take on the victoria & albert museum. from what i'd read, i didn't think it was anything much.
..boy howdy, am i an ijit. try six floors, along with another newer wing i didn't even touch. it was like the art institute on steroids. oh, and my camera died after two galleries. not floors, galleries. i was less than pleased. as i went along, they had a large collection of old keys and locks, which i absolutely adore. and the plaster cast section...! unbelieveable. they'd taken life-size casts of medieval architecture and plunked them down into this enormous space. it was astounding. trust me :( one thing i did have a problem with was the HUGE amount of christ-y stuff they had. i know it was the middle ages, but jeezy creezy...

i also took down a poem i was quite taken with.. it surrounded the four faces of a woman's marble sarcophagus:
I
when the knell rang for the dying
soundeth for me
and my corse coldy is lying
neath the green tree
II
when the turf strangers are heaping
covers my breast
come not to gaze on me weeping
i am at rest
III
all my life coldly and sadly
the days have gone by
i who dreamed wildly and madly
am happy to die
IV
long since my heart has been breaking
its pain is past
a time has been set to its aching
peace comes at last
E.G.W. & N.

according to the inscription, she was an earl's wife, aged 39, actually buried in lincolnshire. it was the third verse that hooked me.

and that was just the morning. in the afternoon i threw caution to the wind and tubed it over to piccadilly circus, not really knowing what all was there. i ended up with a bunch of souvenirs, a boatload of CDs (london has a much healthier attitude towards my kind of music) and a new face. apparently virgin (of virgin records fame) has a makeup line. i'd left my bag in chicago, so i permitted my looks to be played with until i looked all clubbed up. (she ran out of purple and brown.. ok, that was bad) then to top things off, i went to fabric like that.

now i'm kind of sheltered club-wise; i'm used to walking into neo with no big deal. this was an EVENT. i was almost afraid i was out of my element, but once i got in and got into the music, there was no turning back. everything was going quite well until i felt some joker put his hands on my hips from behind. homey don't play dat. i didn't look behind me, i just danced away.. he found me again. i eventually left that room. ffs.. i hope his only excuse was that he was on some powerful mind-altering substance. but i wasn't, so fuck dat shit.

i had to catch a cab back, since the tube had stopped running. the £18 price kinda sucked, but i was neither raped nor murdered, plus i got a nice nighttime view of the thames. could have been a looooot worse.

pics