exciting, informative, snarky, and very likely fabricated tales of life as an american expat in london

what i learned last night

by Jen at 9:14 pm on 3.04.2007 | 1 Comment
filed under: blurblets

something i am good at: texas hold ‘em poker (apparently! who knew?!)

something i am not good at: the fine art of drinking on school nights (not feeling like the sharpest tack in the box this morning…)

ghostface killah and method man – the afterparty

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nobody can eat 50 eggs

by Jen at 6:23 pm on 1.04.2007Comments Off
filed under: blurblets, eclectica

but is is bad that i want to boil a bunch and try to peel them after watching this?

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you know you’re a sugar addict when…

by Jen at 7:06 pm on 26.03.2007 | 1 Comment
filed under: blurblets, eclectica

at a work conference at a *very* posh venue (one whitehall place, for londoners – yup, that’s some wicked old architecture. gloved servers, tailcoated doormen and all) we each had a little box of mints at our individual place settings…

and i had absolutely *no* shame in openly scavenging afterwards for people’s leftovers, swooping in like a vulture on roadkill.

oh, and i also ate the brown sugar lumps at the coffee station. this will surprise absolutely no one who’s ever suffered the embarrassment of eating out at a restaurant with me!

frank black – sugar daddy

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the gods must be crazy

by Jen at 9:45 am on 11.03.2007Comments Off
filed under: blurblets, eclectica

best. spam comment. ever. (it’s long – you might need a cup of coffee – but go catch it while it’s still up!)

song of the day: babaloo – what’s in the banana?

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(oops! just realised i forgot a “song of the day” for yesterday’s post! that’s now been rectified!)

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on ann coulter’s f-bomb

by Jen at 9:23 pm on 6.03.2007Comments Off
filed under: blurblets, rant and rage

i find it disturbing, not that a raving lunatic like ann coulter called presidential candidate john edwards a “faggot” in front of a room full of press and cameras – but that out of all the vile slurs she could have possibly chosen to denigrate him, out of all the low blows she could have struck, she somehow judged that *that* would be simultaneously the most insulting and publicly palatable.

and for what it’s worth, it looks like she was on the money on that last count. four days later, and most news organisations are *just now* covering this. what does that tell you?

song of the day:Cake – Satan is my Motor

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ahhhh….

by Jen at 8:19 pm on 23.02.2007 | 2 Comments
filed under: blurblets, mundane mayhem

after i got home from work this evening, i changed out of my work clothes and went for a long run in the cool dark air.

got back and watched my favourite t.v. show, “masterchef” while stretching.

took a long hot shower and got into pyjamas.

had a big bowl of pasta and a large glass of red wine.

it’s 8:00.

life is good.

song of the  day: the cure – friday, i’m in love

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talk dirty to me

by Jen at 6:35 pm on 13.02.2007Comments Off
filed under: blurblets

I’m still getting my ass kicked by this birdflu. it’s now moved into my chest and throat – which is interesting because i’m getting really hoarse. when i get sick, my voice often goes all gravelly and deep, like a phone sex operator, just not on purpose. still, for about a day it’s kind of cool to sound all sultry and smoky, like lauren bacall (in between all the delightful coughing and sneezing, that is.)

the next day, however, my voice invariably heads into the ultrasonic registers that only dogs can hear. i sound like minnie mouse on helium. ummmm… not so sexy any more.

still, i’ll enjoy it while it lasts!

song of the day: ben harper – sexual healing (cover) 

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and we have a winner

by Jen at 11:30 am on 10.02.2007 | 2 Comments
filed under: blurblets, eclectica

i know it’s only 10 days into the new month, but i feel quite safe in calling this particular race early. this month’s winner for “bizarre porn search leading to my blog” is…

women fucking vacuums

song of the day (in keeping with the search theme) Bouncing Souls – Hopeless Romantic

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ugh – more snow

by Jen at 6:28 pm on 8.02.2007Comments Off
filed under: blurblets

another few centimetres of snow, and the nation’s capital grinds to a halt.

snow
(via the bbc)

y’know, i hate to sound like a bitch – but i’m getting really sick of this.

two days ago they were proclaiming how the unseasonably warm winter was a sure sign of the global warming apocalypse. if a little bit of wet, fluffy stuff puts the entire southern half of the world’s second most powerful nation out of commission, how on earth will they cope with real environmental disaster?

forget radiation bombs, or biological warfare – if the terrorists truly want to paralyse london, they just need to watch the weather forecast.

(need I even mention it had melted by midday?)

song of the day (a cheery little piece of fluff) Leona Naess – Charm Attack

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bravo

by Jen at 11:25 pm on 7.02.2007Comments Off
filed under: blurblets

FORT LEWIS, Washington (Reuters) – The court-martial of a U.S. Army officer, who publicly refused to fight in Iraq and criticized the war, could end in a mistrial after the presiding military judge rejected on Wednesday an agreement over the facts of the case.

**snip**

At the center of the dispute is the defense’s assertion that Watada did not deploy to Iraq because he considered it an unlawful order that would make him party to war crimes and as result, it was not his duty to obey it.

in a world and a war where too few people stand up for what they believe is right, i applaud him.

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quick pointer

by Jen at 8:35 pm on 17.01.2007 | 1 Comment
filed under: blurblets

people have said I should link to the shortcut blog when I have a post up, so check the latest out here.

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the mind boggles

by Jen at 10:51 pm on 9.01.2007 | 1 Comment
filed under: blurblets, rant and rage

I swear, I sometimes just do not for the life of me understand how a country which is trying to arrest suspects *before* they commit a crime (obviously *someone* in the home office was watching “minority report“), collect baby’s dna just in case they grow up to be criminals, and i.d. every innocent citizen to prove they’re *not* criminals… how on earth they can let *real criminals* (including murderers!) just roam free completely undocumented?!?!

but that’s okay – i feel much safer since I can get my terrorism alerts via email.

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the gift that keeps on giving

by Jen at 2:47 pm on 6.01.2007Comments Off
filed under: blurblets, rant and rage

everyone who reads this blog knows full well how i feel about the death penalty, and saddam hussein in particular. But if you ever needed even further argument against public execution, here’s one:

three kids die imitating saddam hussein’s hanging.

i’ve said it numerous times here. violence begets more violence, killing begets more killing. you reap what you sow – even when it’s something as tragic as death. but children should never have to be the victims.

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the burning (bra) question

by Jen at 7:17 pm on 5.01.2007 | 8 Comments
filed under: blurblets

why oh why do 9o% of bras here in london have padding? I got enough up front, thanks – i just want to keep it from bouncing all over the place. lift and separate. not accentuate. why is that so hard?

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alcohol = bad. couch = good.

by Jen at 6:14 pm on 1.01.2007 | 2 Comments
filed under: blurblets, holidaze

Ugh – I am dying.

If this is nature’s way of reminding us how bad alcohol is for one’s body, why on earth make it so yummy in the first place?!? Surely it would make much more evolutionary sense for alcohol to taste like the vile toxin it is, rather than like delicious liquid sunshine in a bottle…

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the curse of “retro”

by Jen at 6:38 pm on 28.12.2006 | 2 Comments
filed under: blurblets

oh. my. gawd. (yes, this calls for valleyspeak!)

when on *earth* did those horrible slouchy ankle boots come back into fashion!?! i can’t even look at them without being reminded of madonna, circa “desperately seeking susan”.

80s “retro” is just ancient bad fashion (the kind that should have been left to die a quiet death) being foisted upon a new generation who are not old enough to know any better.

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boxing day is the best

by Jen at 7:48 pm on 27.12.2006 | 1 Comment
filed under: blurblets

boxing day is like, the greatest invention *ever*. all the fun and food of christmas, but without any of the stress or anxiety! it’s just maxing and relaxing – stuffing your face with chocolates and wine and leftover finger foods, watching bad movies on television, and being a general layabout.

we did venture out of the house to spend boxing day evening with amity (though with no trains running, it was a bit of a mission to get there!) after make-your-own cocktails, and plenty of nibbles, we were feeling fine.

i’m going to start a petition to bring the ingenious holiday of boxing day to the u.s.

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benal fights the big boyz

by Jen at 9:38 am on 29.11.2006Comments Off
filed under: blurblets, family and friends

my friend diana [aka "benal"], (CEO of the Business Improvement District Council for san diego, ca) takes on evil giant wal-mart. you go girl!! give a listen here.

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christmas comes early

by Jen at 8:17 pm on 27.11.2006 | 1 Comment
filed under: blurblets, eclectica

it’s jordan and peter andre singing. and acting.

let the hilarity ensue. because, y’know, nothing says “class” like black and white bath scenes. it’s like casablanca as done by porn stars.

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gossip, american style

by Jen at 12:48 pm on 16.11.2006Comments Off
filed under: blurblets

pet peeve: when newspapers (and I use that term loosely since what i really mean is gossip rags and “the metro”) “quote” american celebs using terminology that would never in a million years come out of their mouths. like christina aguillera using the word “row” instead of argument. or paris hilton saying “disco dolly”. whenever i see very decidedly british words (”bloke” and “mate” are two more biggies) purportedly being attributed to an american, it’s an immediate tipoff that someone has (shock, horror!) made that quote up. and it irks the hell out of me. not that they would fabricate quotes, mind you, but that they can’t even be bovvered to make it sound quasi-realistic.

c’mon people. a little linguistic credibility so I can suspend disbelief for just a few minutes – is that really too much to ask?!?

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more on the world’s most dangerous road

by Jen at 4:56 pm on 12.11.2006Comments Off
filed under: blurblets, world tour

i’ve written about this before here, but yesterday’s article on the bbc website just underscores what i was trying to say:

It seemed at first that they had got off to stretch their legs, while their driver argued with another vehicle coming in the other direction about who should give way. (Reversing is not something you undertake lightly on a cliff edge.)

It transpired instead though, that the bus driver was dying. Blinded by the dust, he had run into the back of a truck. The bus’s steering column had gone through him – severing his legs.

There was nothing anyone could do. Mobile phones do not work here. In any case, who would you call? There are no emergency services.

And no way of getting help through, even if any were to be found. The bus driver bled to death.

High in the Andes, they are building a new road. A by-pass, to replace the old one. But this is Bolivia, and already it has been 20 years in the making.

so much in bolivia goes unnoticed by the rest of the world, and it’s just so tragic that lives continue to be lost at an alarming rate – if only there were something more that could be done.

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