Nina Mehta

The weekend started off great though. Because of the bank holiday and Parliament being in recess, work is a bit slow. I had a leisurely lunch with the boss and some of my coworkers. Baking in the sun happily reminded me much of Chicago heat, however there was a bit of squirm coming from the Londoners’ direction. They like their fog I guess!

Because of the bank holiday again, we were encouraged to head off from work a half hour early and grab a few pints on the river. There was a cute little yacht, and by yacht I mean crumbly boat just across the street from the office on the water. So we had a few drinks and started off a great weekend.

A bit tipsy, I talked myself into some KFC (I know I know) and went off to our usual Thursday Pub where they really know our name and expect us there. Also, for students, a pint is one pound. The owner, Paul, jokingly yelled at us when we were late one week! He said we should have called. Gotta love The Aussies.

We go to The Fest, on Fulham. Do it. It’s a German Pub and Cassie got dressed up in one of the embarassing and amazing deustch outfits. She had to put down a 20 quid depost. I’ve got one more visit to the Fest under my belt, HOW SAD.

These are the regulars minus Jason who was in Dublin. Pretty fun crowd!

But since then I’ve more or less been trapped in the flat this weekend. I need 7,500 words on the design of newspapers in London by Wednesday. The only (and most important) thing getting me through this is that I could write much more than that. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ll go over the limit and have to chop down. Also, Hey Guardian… why are you so beautiful?

Shilpa helped me take a break and we put down some heavy clams for Mexican food. I can’t explain how long it’s been since my lips have touched a Quesadilla. Or have chips (and I don’t mean potato wedges) come before the meal with Salsa. Know why Christopher Columbus went to India… spices. This I now understand.

We are going to hit up some of the glorious churches of London tomorrow for Easter. I make no promises, but I’ve got £10 riding on Jesus’ return, his divinity is a different wager.

I feel like I should mention that I’m no longer homeless for this summer in Indy. I’ve actually scored a pretty sweet pad and the tenant and I have a mutual friend (by chance).
This is unrelated, but I found a photoshopped pic of London flooded. Pretty creepy to say the least. My office is about an inch off the photo an surely half under water.

When visiting somewhere new, you hit all the attractions based on a hierarchy. You make sure to visit all the places you ‘have to’ then all the places you ‘want to’ and if you’re lucky all the places you hadn’t thought about.

I took myself to the Barbican Arts Center today and checked out an architecture exhibit by Alvar Aalto and also Tomas Saraceno’s The Curve. I really enjoyed both.
But honestly, my favourite part was sitting outside at the Lakeside Terrace. The sun finally came out, the kind Barcelona had. Where my eyes had to squint, myface and back got warm, but the wind was still pretty cool. Anyway, I bought a set of 9 cards with poems about colors on the backs of each. They’re really lovely, and I read them by the fountains outside. I cannot wait to set them up… when I live somewhere.

Poem Shown: Take a Brush (Green)
By Michael Rosen

Take a brush:
the sky is green
the grass is blue
you are purple
the house is silver
the sun is black
the river is gold
the world has changed.
Did you do that?

from Writers on Colour, Barbican New Poetry Commission