Sometimes life isn't glamorous, David

Song of the Day: The Cuckoo, Gretchen Lohse

London Stuff: A filmmaking duo asked strangers quite intimate questions...while they were running. Watch the eleven minute spot here. Read about it here. And, if you're interested in a stroll through the past, here are some Underground pictures from the '50s and '60s. 

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I was complaining to my friend, Nancy, earlier today, saying that this week's blog post wouldn't have anything new or exciting and that it feels like I have the same five photographs from the past three weeks. Her response: Life isn't always full of awesome day trips, amazing shows, and fabulous food. Sometimes life isn't glamorous, David. Some of us just want to see y'all's faces. 

Fair enough. 

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The big news of the week isn't ours, per se. Whitney, McKenzie's sister, got engaged! 

Congratulations, Whitney and Michael! 

Kenz has already begun her maid of honor duties, shopping for absurdly overpriced bridal magazines here in London. Apparently that's fun. 

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Just over three months ago, during Friendsgiving, our coatrack broke because it's unreasonable to expect that an Ikea coatrack can withstand eighteen winter coats. We'd resigned ourselves to hanging jackets over the mezzanine or simply folding them by the door. Kenz eventually grew tired of that reality and purchased a new one. That was January. She finally put it together this week. 

To be fair, it may have taken her three months to do so, but I would've never gotten around to doing it. 

Just in time for spring!

This past weekend, I registered for an Olympic Weightlifting competition on a lark. At the end of the day, it's an absurd endeavor, but I succumbed to the pressure of some of my gym friends. I figured it was all well and good until I had to register for a specific weight class. Maybe it was the remnants of the wrestler in me, maybe it was an act of delusion - either way, I registered for the weight class below where I am right now. I came home that Sunday afternoon to tell Kenz how much weight I'd have to lose in the next four weeks.

What did she do? She laughed, ate chocolate, and cooked pancakes.

She laughed even harder when I showed her the singlet I'll have to wear (and, no, I don't imagine any photos of that will make it to the blog).

Chocolate eyes!

Look at the size of those pancakes!

And homemade, too!  

Later that evening, our building's fire alarm went off. By the time I'd lost the "who's gonna go investigate" debate with my wife, there were about seven people downstairs trying to figure out how to stop it. It took us about fifteen minutes to disable the alarm. Some jackleg had thrown the alarm and simply walked away. Happy Sunday night to you, too, buddy.

Lots of folks in pajamas, muttering under their breath.

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Kenz has been receiving glimpses of validation on her work over the past few days. There'll be more on that in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I'll share two quick tidbits:

First off, she got a B+ on her thesis. High fives were exchanged.

One of her lecturers essentially retired from creating art of his own, saying that he doesn't really "believe" in it any more, claiming that it's often a "waste of time." He now focuses on art criticism and lecturing at her university.

Last week, he pulled Kenz aside before he left for the day. He asked her to talk to him about one of her current projects saying, I really love it. It's quite interesting. She floated home that day.

She's still working on various iterations of braiding rope, prepping for the chair...

...which forces her out of the (cramped) studio.

She has also begun making some bronze casts.

Again, it's best to email her for explanations...

She was in such a good mood when she came home the other day that she opted to help me unpack and freeze my most recent shipment of meatstuffs.

This is the worst, David.

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The first part of this week reminded me that spring is on its way. I saw few blossoms emerging in Burgess Park on Monday. The sun has made an appearance on Tuesday. I shed my winter coat for a lighter layer on Wednesday. By Thursday, I was even considering a short sleeved t-shirt.

And then I left the house this morning, light layers, baseball cap instead of toboggan, and was blasted with the cold reality that it's still winter. Even though I've been home for the past three hours, my fingers are still cold. As I mentioned in the first post back in January: I'm okay with winter until this time of year - the thrill is gone. It's time for spring.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!

Strategic Theatre Maneuvers

Song of the Day: Byegone, Volcano Choir

If you're interested: Geoff Marshall's Secrets of the London Tube is a good way to spend five to fifty minutes, but if you only watch one London video today, I recommend Simon Smith's side-by-side comparison footage from 1927 & 2013.

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Last Friday - Valentine's Day - Kenz returned to the house with a few surprises for me.

"OK, you can turn around now!"

Aged sirloin, chorizo, and (streaky) bacon from London's #1 organic butcher!

Kenz and I have a mildly interesting relationship with Valentine's Day:

I called her on February 14th, 2006 to ask her out (I know - shameful that I'd ask her out on Valentine's Day. I don't know what I was thinking. I was young and dumb). The conversation didn't go as expected:

Me: I was wondering if you had a Valentine. 

Kenz: Nope. Do you?

Me: No - 

Kenz: - well, my roommate and I are having an anti-Valentine's Day dinner at our house. She's inviting a friend. You're welcome to come over if you want. 

Me: ... sure. 

We had our first date five days later. I didn't tell her I'd originally called to ask her out for months - maybe years. 

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Part celebration of eight years together, but mainly due to my penchant for seeing good theatre, we finally went to see Jude Law in Shakespeare's Henry V last Saturday. I'd had the tickets for a year and a half, having bought them on the first day they became available. 

Kenz has had a somewhat conflicted relationship with the Bard. When we moved here, Kevin Spacey was starring in a sold out production of Richard III, and I stood in line, alone, for "return" tickets for three days straight. On the third day, Kenz joined me and we lucked out, getting two seats right next to each other. It wasn't until we sat down that she mentioned never really enjoying Shakespeare when obligated to read it in high school English class. Afterward, however, she admitted - half begrudgingly, half surprised - that she did, in fact, enjoy the show (it remains one of the best shows I've seen since moving here). 

I've held back since then, only dragging her along to one other show - Much Ado About Nothing starring James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave - which she enjoyed as well. It's a strategic move: I wait until there's a "star" taking part in the production before bringing her along (I went to Julius Caesar with Owen since it was "only" the Royal Shakespeare Company). I contend that when it's done right, Shakespeare appeals to all audiences.

She was more excited for this production than the previous two, "Jude Law is, uh, easy on the eyes. I mean...he's gorgeous." I, on the other hand, went and re-read my term paper from a college Shakespeare course wherein I compared models of leadership between Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. And, yes, Kenz gave me endless grief for doing so, "You're such a nerd!"

Pre-show calzone

Walking down one of our favorite streets to get to the theatre. 

You can watch the theatrical trailer for the show (here) and look at the following pictures (lifted from the previously linked BBC site), but, as with any play, the experience isn't replicable. Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in a film version of the play in 1989 (which earned him Best Actor and Best Director Oscar nominations); if you're interested, I'd suggest watching it.

Afterward, everyone collected around the stage door, waiting on a glimpse, picture, or autograph from Jude. We hung around just to get a picture of the crowd; neither of us had the patience or desire to wait on him to come out. We'd already seen what we came to see: a fantastic performance.

It was the final performance, so I imagine he didn't come out for quite some time.

It was an uncharacteristically mild night, so the two of us found ourselves walking across the river via the Jubilee Bridge toward Southbank.

Lit up in red for Valentine's Weekend.

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The rest of the week has been pretty standard:

Kenz has returned home to play video games...

...after having spent all day creating work in the studio.

She did, however, shake it up a bit by hosting friends for dinner & games at ours last night. I returned home just in time to take part in one last game (and some fetuccini) before everyone left.

Ragna, Teddy, Annie, Jessie, and Kenz - post Cranium extravaganza.

We played that damned name game from Christmas. Ragna told us about a fourth round: statues.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading.

Happy Valentine's Day

I'm afraid this will be another hodgepodge weekly post without a cogent theme. Forgive me. Let's press on:

Song of the day: Happy Valentine's Day, Outkast

Miscellaneous London stuff:

This is one way to learn your way around London. Of course, you could just read Randomly London's guide. 

To those of you who were concerned that we may be flooded down here in Walworth: we're not. Here's why. And here's what would've been the case without the Thames Barrier. And, if you're still interested in following links, take a trip down the flooded Thames here. 

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It's been a hectic two weeks. Long story short: Kenz has been plugging away at her thesis every day since her return from the States. The final few days left her in zombie mode due to lack of sleep.

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Last week's highlight was Kenz signing us up for Amazon Prime. I immediately started 'subscribing' to various items; you get 15% off if you subscribe to five or more items at once. The subscriptions come in once per month, which had us scratching our heads: what do we use in a month? My first thought was dates. I didn't quite think through how much 5kg of dates actually was, though. We also went with detergent, mustard, TP, and coconut oil. I know, I know - riveting material.

Can I eat all of this in one month? 

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Kenz was working on her thesis throughout the weekend, so I went to visit Dom on Saturday night. He cooked me dinner and taught me about Alan Partridge.

This is his view.

And he lives right next to a Banksy.

Owen dropped by for some brunch on Sunday.

Kenz decided to wake up for his arrival (at 1pm) before spending the rest of the day with her nose in a book.

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By Thursday, it was time for her to turn in the last writing assignment of the year. Of course, she wouldn't be McKenzie if she allowed for any extra time. The paper was due at noon; she turned it in at 12:01. Apparently she wasn't the only one rushing in, out of breath, at the last minute.  

C'mon, print faster!

The wake of her destruction.

Project completed!

After an all night rush to finish the work, Kenz celebrated in her standard fashion:

Sleeping for umpteen hours at a time...

...and ordering herself some pizza. 

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By Saturday, I had my wife back.

Luckily, the sun had made an uncharacteristic appearance. I rushed Kenz out of bed saying, we need to take advantage of this - it's great - you're finally free and it's sunny! We hurried out of the house for lunch and a stroll around town.

Beaming with excitement to be finished with that dreaded thesis. 

By the time we'd finished our lunch, however, the weather had turned into rain. Of course.

Instead of going back home, deflated, we decided to visit the National Gallery. It had been two years since the two of us had gone together. We spent more than two hours walking around, showing each other our favorite pieces, making jokes about various pantings, and people watching. I think the two of us were just giddy to get to hang out once again; we hadn't had a day to fiddle fart around since before Thanksgiving.

Kenz: Does Adam have a 'fro?

Me: Uhh, yea?

After getting scolded by an employee of the museum, Sir, no photographs!, it was time to leave the museum and see what the weather held.

Cold, but not wet.

We strolled around, taking turns down alleys we'd yet to explore...

...stopping for coffee at one of my favorite locations.

Too busy inside!

We wound up sitting outside, still people watching.

Surprisingly, the two of us stayed out for eight hours that day, finishing with a meal at a Korean BBQ restaurant.

Kimchi & tofu.

Veggie fried rice.

Brisket, short ribs, and pork belly.

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Owen came by again on Sunday, this time with lime & coconut cupcakes for the two of us.

We watched about 12 Winter Olympic events (live).

Kenz enjoyed her cupcake for breakfast.

We received Nancy & Patrick's 'save the date' in the mail on Nancy's birthday - happy birthday, Nancy!

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Random Photo Dismount:

Patti mailed us a Valentine's care package (Kenz ate heart-shaped gummies for breakfast)!

I caught Kenz on her way to school one morning.

One of Kenz's most recent: three legged rope stool

She's currently painting a 'how to' series that corresponds with the stool.

And cooking fake bacon.

And cooking fake sausages.

And smiling a lot. It's good to have her back.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading. Have a good weekend.