The Media Literate Mind Never....

Sometimes I think the Tube is one of the most stimulating places in London. With its random smells, sounds, and endless amounts of people watching. Granted, sometimes they are disturbing. A whiff of good perfume one day, the smell of poop another. Great live music tonight followed by loud noises from within the tube tunnel tomorrow morning. This is also true for tube adverts. Take a look:

#1 Coochie Friendly Ad













People! "Coochie" at "Loveyourvagina.com" At first glance, I thought I saw "Cookie" but then I opened my eyes and could not believe there was an ad, in one of the most popular places in London that spelled the word "Coochie"!!? I mean lets face it, British adverts are definitely more blatant than American ads, especially around drunk driving, smoking, etc but this was no public service announcement! Don't get me wrong, I think its great and it definitely brightened my day. Empowered "coochie" is much more fun to witness than waif, starving, airbrushed "coochie." And its for a great cause as it turns out! The "moon cup" which is an alternative to pads and tampons. It did a great job of catching my attention without making me feel bad, ugly, or fat and without degrading a woman! Can't get too upset about that!

#2 Coochie unfriendly ad!










What the eff is this? I mean don't get me wrong, I kinda want those jeans, but it's not because of some freakishly ridiculous ad. It's because British fashion is getting the best of me and I can't resist. Anyway, are we so out of ideas to sell clothes that we have to make some model's airbrushed body look all mangled up? The emotional reaction I get is not "I want" but "ouch!" Nice work Miss Sixty, but perhaps you should take a lesson from Diesel...

#3 Sex Sells (hopefully safely!)













Diesel's is not messing around (no pun intended) with their current storefront campaign! Not that I think this is anything less than a marketing ploy, but I do appreciate their gall to get straight to the point! Still doesn't make me want to buy their jeans!

*btw, this picture was taken in front of the Diesel store near Hyde Park, not inside a Tube station

It's Fun to Eat at the Y-M-C-A!

It's finally here, my post on the Indian YMCA! This place rocks my post-dollar-to-pound conversion-friendly world! It's affordable, the staff is recognizes me AND it feels like I am eating straight from my mother's kitchen...well not THAT good but pretty darn close.

The Indian YMCA offers breakfast, lunch and dinner 7-days a week. I've yet to eat breakfast there, but I can only hope for puri's, yellow potatoes and chai. Okay let me have some expectation management, but I bet its good.

In the last two weeks, I've been lucky to see some visitors from the States, Nancy and Cassie. Nancy is my sister's colleague who came to London to do some venue shopping for a work conference. Cassie is my friend from college who was able to work out of the London office during the week so she could fun it up with me on the weekends in London. Naturally, I had to take both of them to the monument of all monuments. The tourist attraction of all tourist attractions--the Indian YMCA!




I've included some pictures of our food experiences. Is your mouth watering yet?

Haircuts

Right now, I am growing out my hair a bit for the big Fanny Pak wedding, but I am thinking this do (on the left) post-wedding:



I love it!

No Vegetable Day

Many of you either met or remember me talking of my dear friend Nick. Nick passed away a few years ago today and to honor and remember him, I refer to today as No Vegetable Day.

Nick and I met at Cherry Creek High School at the end of my junior year. We quickly bonded over our passion for politics and liberal social views. I remember the many nights we'd be up late talking on the phone about anything and everything related to history and politics. We both went to the same university and of course Nick studied History and I studied Sociology and Political Science.

After graduating from Boulder, he went to law school in Denver and I moved to San Francisco. At the time my parents were still living in Denver and they told me, after he passed away, that he would stop by and visit them regularly to check-in and see how they were doing. That's just the type of person he was. He did countless kind acts throughout the day and never expected a 'thank you' or recognition. He just did and its so admirable.

In some ways, I feel like I am following Nick around the globe. He lived in DC for a summer and also traveled to Ireland, falling in love with Galway. And now, I too have lived in DC and have/will travel around the UK.

So why No Vegetable Day? Nick was known for many quirky qualities--one of the reasons why we hit it off! Of these, included a disgust for vegetables. And by vegetables, I mean most things found in the produce aisle. I have no idea how that man pooped! He was notorious for eating fat with fat. In fact, Nick was the person who introduced me to eating fries with mayo, which I found absolutely disgusting at the time. So I've decided to honor my dear friend with a day dedicated to burgers (no lettuce or tomatoes!), fries, and cakes. This shouldn't be too difficult to do in the UK!

Needless to say, I miss him dearly.

Cassandra Full of Grace

I am so excited to see Cassie in about two weeks!! She is visiting London the last week of March--lucky for her, she has an office in London she can work out of during the week. I am super excited to have her here in London. Of course, I plan to take her (and everyone else who visits) to the Indian YMCA, my jobby-job, the Whitechapel exhibit AND she gets to meet my classmates because we are having a social that week (planned by yours truly). Yay!

Cassie is also sweet to bring me:

1. Trader Joe's brand Peanut Butter (crunchy and smooth, unsalted)
2. Orange Dulce Tea by Mighty Leaf
3. Chipotle in Adobo Sauce
4. Microwaveable popcorn

Woot woot!

To See: Our Struggle: Responding to Mein Kampf

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote a story about a really interesting exhibit, Our Struggle: Responding to Mein Kampf at The Contemporary Jewish Museum, which is housing the exhibit until June 8th. I would love to see this if I were in the area, unfortunately, I will be about two months too late. I am sharing it with you in hopes you will check it out. Here is a bit more background on the exhibit and reactions from holocaust survivors.

Would love to hear your reactions if you decide to visit.

Peep To It

I think its some sort of annual DC tradition to have a contest based on Peeps--the Easter bunny-shaped candy that comes in yellow, pink, purple, etc. Peeps are chefs, prisoners (Guantanamo Peep) television stars! It's quite hilarious and very entertaining. Either Cassie or one of her friends are submitting one based on this years DC's Snowpocalypse (aka Bad Snowmance). Didn't they do a wonderful job?











Here are some more pictures of Peeps from last year's contest:










Its so cute and wonderful and creative that I've decided I want to take part in it one year!! How fun would that be? I'm adding it to my list of life goals! What would I do? The Golden Girls has already be done. Maybe My So-Called Peep? Peep Jovi? Oooh!! I could turn all my friends into Peeps --but nobody would get that really. How funny would "Fanny-Peep" be? Okay I am rambling.

Office Space, Part I

As promised, I've included a few pictures of my new jobby-job's office space. I still have more pictures to take, but here's a little sneak peak. Isn't it beautiful? I also got a shot of most of the staff. One of the pictures at the bottom is of the floor--it's pretty fun. Enjoy enjoy!