Well, I went to liberty today, where I drove the salesclerks to distraction by wandering around in circles thumbing the names of materials into my Treo (to discover them again, in situation I wished to buy them at some later date), as well as by looking at Every single bolt on the sale table as well as Every single cut on the remnant table, before buying three meters of very first Prize. (The photo right here is to an eBay auction, in situation you want some for yourself.) I’ve commonly hesitated over the “Buy It Now” button on very first prize auctions before, however it’s much nicer in person. I am going to make (surprise!) a Duro gown with it. Dark red banding, I think.
After that I managed, smugly, to discover the right bus to the V&A, as well as (not so smugly) to miss my stop (there’s some type of “How do you get to the royal Albert Hall/Practice, practice, practice” joke to be made here, however I’m not the one to do it). Thankfully, after I beat my method back against the tide as well as made it there, my good friend S. was still waiting, having not provided up on the Hapless Yank, which is my favored archetype when traveling abroad. We gorged ourselves on the fashion exhibition (there was a bit TV documentary from the sixties on “swinging London/Carnaby street fashion” as well as the thing that shocked me was that they were smoking! In the stores! exactly how times have changed.) then we ransacked the postcards as well as went as well as had a nice chilly drink as well as a poke round Harvey Nichols to pay a polite phone call on the Marc by Marc Jacobs line (some extremely adorable dresses).
S. kindly got me to the right Tube station as well as I rushed back for the last part of The plan of the Day — roller skating. Yes, a city full of theatre as well as art as well as every type of culture imaginable, as well as I selected … roller skating. It’s a sickness. I discovered my train as well as handled to be requested directions which I couldn’t give, a favor I returned after I got out of the Kings cross station as well as accosted two of what I believed were the most local-looking women around as well as asked where York method was. “We’re tourists, dear,” they explained patiently. (I didn’t discover out from where.)
Anyway, I bought directions as well as a pack of gum (the cost of the directions being the pack of gum) at a newsagent’s as well as was soon directed the right way. I might hear the music pounding from a block away; always a great sign. I was frisked for weapons (I believe they did this to everyone, not just people who looked American) as well as made it in without incident, where I got my rental skates. They were horrible wobbly things with the type of speed-closures that affordable rollerblades have, so I asked politely if they had any type of “old fashioned lace-up skates” as well as lo, they did! I tipped mightily. They were overall early-eighties throwback fake-hightop-sneaker skates however they might be laced tightly as well as their wobble was totally manageable.
The actual skating area was no bigger than what I might most likely handle at house if I made my neighbors move their vehicles out of the garage (which come to believe of it may be a quite great concept if I sweep it out), as well as the floor was spotted with pieces of black tape which I believe masked dents or rough places. I was looking mainly at the tape the very first couple of times round up until then all of a unexpected I saw the boards of the floor. They must have been a cubit wide — I believe they most likely predated the invention of roller skates by rather a few years. That provided me pause (metaphorical, not literal, although there were lots of people who felt that the skate floor was a completely appropriate location to pause). sometimes you just don’t comprehend exactly how OLD the rest of the world is, when you come from a location where a home developed in 1920 (or even 1950) can be the oldest in the neighborhood.
It was a great night for skating. The music was excellent, although what people responded to was funny — there was an exhilarating Amerie/Beyonce “1 Thing/Crazy In Love” mashup which fell upon a almost empty floor, however Olivia Newton John’s “Xanadu” had all three bachelorette celebrations rushing to stagger their method around in circles, singing hard. There were rather a few hen parties, which were simple to area — they were using devil horns, or makeshift nurses’ hats, or the bride-to-be had a balloon connected to her butt as well as was being accosted by a male stripper in the middle of the skate floor. No, I didn’t believe it either, however since I was the only one who seemed to discover it anything out of the ordinary, I sat out that tune as well as got myself something to drink.
There were many more people using gowns as well as skirts to skate in than I see in new York, too, even if you discount rate the people hired to skate in drag. They (the ones in drag) were dressed in a type of mixed drink waitress/stewardess-of-the-future getup, extremely shiny, however it looked a bit warm for skating. (I took it as more evidence that OF program people who like to wear gowns — who, in fact, go out of their method to wear gowns — like skating.)
I only fell when (trying to prevent somebody who stopped stock-still to wave at their mates in a type of “hey ma, lookit me” moment) as well as even that was just a skinned knee, so no genuine damage done, however I figured that even though I was having such a great time that time itself stopped (not truly — it was just my watch that stopped, however close enough), I regretfully turned in my skates as well as left. I walked back to the station as well as decided to capture the last juice from my day pass by getting on a bus, instead of the national Rail. I discover that I truly prefer the bus to the Tube right here in London. I can’t truly put together the community jigsaw pieces unless I see where they match up; coming up from the Tube station I may also be landing on the moon, I’m so disoriented. With a bus (or much better yet, by walking) I can stitch them all together to ensure that the disconnected pieces of the city ended up being a whole quilt in my head.
Unfortunately, just like most quilts, I’m going to have to leave the rest of the pieces in a box for a great long time, since I’m headed house tomorrow. Sorry this is so long; I didn’t (as the stating goes) have time to make it any type of shorter!
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