Weekend Update

I'm really exhausted. I'm not sure why because I haven't done anything in the least bit exhausting.

On Friday night I met Alex in Angel and we went to the Chinese buffet in the N1 shopping center that I'd wanted to try. It was better than the nasty buffet Liz and I had in Soho but it still wasn't very good. The best part were the dumplings (oh how I missed them!) and of course the dessert. After that we went into Islington Academy to see The Stands. We walked in at about 8:15 and freaked out because they were already on. Then we did a double take and it wasn't them, but it definitely could have been a tribute band because they sounded and moved exactly like them. We walked in during their last song which is too bad because they were really good and I have no idea who they were. The place was full but we still managed to stand in the third row. The Stands were really great live again like always. And I have to admit that the new guitarist is definitely good looking (he looked like he could be Dave Grohl's cute younger brother) and was a great guitarist too (he's still no Luke though.) He seemed to be watching everything Howie Paine (singer) was doing as to take cues but he really got into it about halfway through the show. They did a few new jams; one during Soon Come and another during a cover song in the encore, and like usual the best live jam ever during Always Is the Same. That was the highlight, but my other favorites of the night were Just Enough Love and Here She Comes Again. The new guitarist doesn't play the sleigh bells as well as Luke but is definitely a satisfactory replacement.

We didn't end up staying for XFM night because they chucked us out of the venue and I had no patience to wait on line and then pay again to re-enter.

On Saturday I read for my class all day. I'm really not kidding! I read a whopping 100 pages of The Twenty Years' Crisis 1919-1939 by E.H. Carr. Fun times.

Last night I went to Laura and Mairead's housewarming party. Most of us here have very tiny refrigerators with practically no freezer, so they stored bags of ice in the washing machine. How clever is that?! It was Zoë’s debut back in London too so I was very happy to see her. The party was fun; I mostly remember being really hot and hearing I Predict A Riot four times. I also asked Dan Dan's friend Andy 472 times if I could come over to his house when his mom makes sushi for dinner, I'm really annoying sometimes!

They also had these cute plastic shot glasses (which Mairead apparently sweet-talked a local bartender into giving her for free) that had a divider down the middle and the girls filled half with Baileys and half with Crème de Menthe. It was the best shot I've ever had and tasted like a liquid Andes mint. Does anyone know what that shot is called?

Back to the weekend. So I stayed over, and then this morning Laura, Alex and I went for brunch at The Brondes Age (which is in, well, Brondesbury.) I had an omelet with spinach, but it really isn't the same without feta cheese. I miss NY diners.

After that I came home, and then walked up the Kentish Town Road to get money out of the ATM which was predictably broken. I then bought the wrong light bulbs for our new lamps which is really annoying. After that I hit up my favorite supermarket, Iceland. Fine, it's not my favorite supermarket, but it's my favorite cheap one. Almost everything in that place is 1 GBP! I came home and dropped the food off, then had to go back outside just to take advantage of the lovely 60 degree weather. I took a walk down to Camden to go to the HSBC there, but the line predictably had 20 people on it so I didn't wait. Okay, I didn't really go to Camden just for the ATM and the nice weather. I actually went so I could go to my real favorite supermarket, Sainsburys. I seriously love food shopping. Plus Iceland didn't have grapes and I'm dying without them. I forgot that they close at 5:00 pm on Sundays though (damn you Sainsburys!) so I took a brief walk up the main road instead. I popped into a few sneaker stores because I'm desperately trying to find a pair of outdated black Pumas (btw pronounced Pew-ma here.) I also bought some toiletries at Superdrug which is much cheaper than rip-off Boots.

I just downloaded the newest version of iTunes. After I installed it I plugged in my iPod (just for a general song update) and it updated 4293 of my 5968 songs. I don't understand that - has that ever happened to anyone before? The iPod is working okay though so I'm not complaining.

Now I'm back here and am not attempting to turn on the TV because I know there is bound to be only crap on the four channels I have. I did watch Top of the Pops Reloaded yesterday which is my new favorite show. I know that only 13 year olds watch it though so don't tell anyone.

It's already 9:30 pm; there is no way I'm going to end up reading for school tonight which is really bad.

Current Music: Bell X1 - In Every Sunflower