Homework on a Saturday

I love sleeping in. I love the feeling of waking up and not needing to get up anytime soon, so I bury my head under the comfy covers. Love it. This ritual is the main reason that I love Saturdays. This morning was a classic Saturday morning except the construction noises and the building vibrating. I woke up with a start and a “Holy Crap what is Happening!!!” as I was convincing the building was falling down. It turns out that someone is renovating the “Fountain of Life Christian Bookstore” that has been out of business since I have moved in. Well SOMETHING is happening down there and it started at 8:30 this morning.

After I recovered from my morning heart attack and spent an ample amount of time with my head under the covers, I got up and actually had to clothe myself in street appropriate clothing because I was headed out to the British Museum. This sounds like a fun afternoon activity BUT… I was going there to scout of the Enlightenment Gallery for my Curatorial Report.

I get off the bus and head towards the museum in a drizzle of London rain, walk into the museum and instantly regret it. Who is dumb enough to go to a museum on a rainy Saturday afternoon?? Apparently I am. I headed towards the Enlightenment Gallery and started to look around. The problem with this project is that it to too blaring obvious what the Enlightenment Gallery is trying to do. (and succeeding). I don’t understand what I am supposed to say about it. Everyone’s report is going to be exactly the same… Its too easy. This sounds like a good thing, but its hard to write 3000 words on something so obvious, and it makes you feel that you are missing something and need to come up with a new layer of meaning. Grrr… The Gallery is actually remarkable. One of the best I have seen. It conveys the themes extraordinary well and shows off it strange collection in a concise and cohesive way. There. That is my paper!

After I had mapped out the layout, looked at the objects, identified the themes, and picked what I wanted to focus on, I headed to find the Olympic Medals. I spent quite a bit of time wandering trying to find Room 37. One thing that I hate about the BM (British Museum) is that they charge 2 pounds for their stupid map. I know that it is free to visit, and I understand that they have to raise funds and I am extremely grateful that it is free to see some great stuff. BUT…. 2 pounds for a piece of paper?? No way. So my stubbornness causes me to wander through the BM labyrinth of artifacts for ages until I find where I want to be.

Every time I go into the BM I just have this feeling that everything in that place is stolen. At least at the Met, National Gallery, etc the painting were BOUGHT not taken from their home country/culture by an imperialistic culture. I realize that you cant demand that all the stolen cultural heritage at the BM should go back to their native country (if you do that where do you stop??) But still. Everything in the museum was taken. Don’t even get me started on the Elgin marbles. I see both sides of the argument except when the BM insists that Elgin was a cavaliering hero who SAVED the marbles from destruction. PLEASE. One of his boats sank… thanks for losing those marble Elgin. Im sure that they would have been destroyed if you left them in Greece (NOT) so Im so glad you put them on the bottom of the ocean. And thank you BM for scrubbing the marbles with WIRE brushes. I bet that really helped them too. Oh and they were lucky that the Germans waited for the Brits to put sand bags around the marbles before they were bombed, but they waited for the most of the war before they decided that the marbles should have some protection. (the gallery got hit right after the marble were moved out.) Anyways… don’t get me started on the Elgin Marbles :)
Anyways… I found the Olympic medals. They were cool! They are really THICK! I thought they were thin, but nope! They are definitely a HUNK of medal. Impressive! I want one! If I am ever a Paralympic candidate Im totally going. I have no shot at an Olympic medal…

After the Museum I decided to take the bus back down Oxford Street and hit up Primark. ( A cheap clothing store). I took a new bus route down Oxford Street. I had never been on the 73 before and MAN are the buses NICE. It was the first electric hybrid bus that I have been on and it was sweet. The seats were new so they were all squishy.. it was luxury public bus riding. Pure luxury. I got off at Primark and as soon as I walked in I regretted coming. I HATE going in there. It was PACKED with people. I headed to the tight section because I needed a ….. slip. Sigh. Yup I think I am 23 going on 85. I bought a dress at H and M and it is slight see through if I stand in light (if I wore it at night id be ALL set) So I needed to invest in a slip. I cringe just saying that. I wandering into the undergarment section and I was shocked. There were things in that section that I didn’t even know what they were for and Im a GIRL. There is something to hold in everything. There were stretchy things that held in anything from stomach, butt, boobs, ankles, necks, wrists… anything that had potential for a fat roll. I was overwhelmed… all I wanted was a slip. I would like to mention that I was the youngest person in this section by a good 27 years. Not. Joking. I finally found a simple slip that didn’t suction to me and make me a sausage. I grabbed it and was on my way out when I saw…

The shoes. I want to make this clear before I get a transatlantic phone call from my mom, yelling at me for buying a pair of shoes… I did NOT purchase ANY footwear. I did though have blast trying on crazy heels. (Hey Im a student. I need free entertainment) Imagine a pair of heels that you literally have to be on your tip toes to walk in, and them paint them the brightest hot pink that you can imagine. Those are the shoes that I put back on the shelf. I cant believe I had the will power to put them back, and I cant believe I wanted them. It was so weird… I think I get why girls wear them. I felt like I could take on the world with those crazy things on. I also resembled the Sears Tower, but still… I loved them but didn’t purchase them (Mom this is where I get brownie points.)

After standing in line for ages (which caused me to pick up a package of gummies for a pound. They know what they are doing when they place food in the line) I hopped back on the bus and headed home. I finished my Bill Bryson book and was all happy that I was getting down on my list of things to read. That is until I got home and found my Vanity Fair magazine waiting for me.

Tonight Im going to attempt to make an outline for this report that I could have written as a freshman in undergrad, and then maybe watch a movie. I love weekends. Especially when I have done enough work that I can reward myself with being lazy instead of me just being lazy. I have nothing else to say, but I wish I did. I am having so much fun typing. My nails are currently a bright hue of Highlighter yellow. It is fun to watch my fingers type when they are this bright. Maybe I should do this when I have a paper due, or when Im writing my thesis. It really is fun and it makes me type….

P.S this picture was taken by mom when we all went to see the marbles at the BM. I love this horse. It would probably look stunning in GREECE too.....