A Breakthrough at Breakbone and Liz's Leaving Do

Breakbone classes are getting easier. I never thought I'd be able to say that but after a few weeks of throwing myself about I'm actually starting to get good at some things. I've mastered a freeze, balancing your whole body on your hand, arm and the side of your head, can do 40 press ups (not all at once, I'm not Fatima Whitbread!) and am pretty nifty with Belgian Rolls, despite sounding like a cake they're actually when you jump into the air with your body parallel to the ground, land on your arms and feet then roll. We also started doing them over other class members just for an added thrill. Terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.

Then last night Liz, the girl I'm staying with, had her leaving party. She's moving back home to North Carolina at the end of the month and didn't want to pack a load of half empty bottles of booze so one of her friends offered to host a BBQ party for her. Great idea, but what actually happened was that Liz took all her booze over to Mary-Lee's then everyone brought wine or beer to drink and now Mary-Lee is left with all the half empty bottles of booze. Well, at least Liz doesn't have to pack them.

We had live music for most of the night courtesy of Mary-Lee and her Brazilian style band with guest trianglist, ME! I have no idea why people insist on handing me instruments at parties, I'm the girl who, in P7, was banned from actually blowing into the recorder as I was so bad at it. Mrs Morrison insisted that I balance the recorder on my chin and just practise the fingering. Scarred me for life.

Anyway, back to the triangle. It's much more difficult that you'd think. You have to hold it in one hand, releasing and holding in time with each strike so it either resonates or clinks in time with everyone else. Now my timing is fantastic, no problems there but my releasing and holding wasn't that great so when someone produced a dumbelek I claimed that instead. Much easier, no releasing or grabbing, just beat the drum in time with everyone else.

All in all a good night, Adam's BBQ technique was pretty good, Mercedes gave me a list of places to go in San Fran, her home town, Kelly offered to read my astrological chart and I got myself a part-time job as head trianglist with the band.

News Just In:
The Chicago Cultural Center have asked me to submit a proposal for their upcoming film festival based on the filming I did with the Chicago dancers, even though it won't be finished until after the deadline. With any luck I could be back here at the end of October.

Lights, Projector, Action

FireBox Dance Theatre's film, Dark Matter, was shown as part of yesterday's performance and to say I was nervous doesn't come close to covering it. I always get nervous when I'm showing something I've choreographed or produced. I'm generally fine if I'm dancing because I'm in control of my movements but when it's out of my control and it's something that I've created it's more personal. Add to that the fact that I knew my film was so enormously different from the other pieces being shown and I was cacking it!

The other pieces were very 'traditional' contemporary dance, if there is such a thing. Mindy Meyers was re-creating 2 pieces from historical contemporary dancers, Isadora Duncan and Loie Fuller, Christy Munch was presenting a piece about purging a relationship, dressed in white muslin trousers, part silence, part 'Hallelujiah' soundtrack and we were dancing in a piece by Nana with lots of imagery and a percussion soundtrack.

Then there's my film: 3 sexy-as-hell dancers gyrating in a night club to nasty, grimy techno music that repeats until you've gone beyond wanting it to change and you're getting into it again, shot in and out of focus with me in silver high heels dancing on a table.

It actually went down really well, with people seeing things in it I had never intended, noticing points that no-one else has commented on and generally just being really enthusiastic about it. One audience member loved it so much she's trying to persuade her friend, a club owner, to use it in the club one night (for a fee of course!). That might be a long shot but it'd be fantastic if it came off.

I also have to say that without Atalee, my hero, we wouldn't have got the film running at all. She came in, hung the white screen, patched up the sound and the projector, focused it all, got it looking great then dis-mantled everything at the end. Given half the day I could have probably figured it out but we had an hour and she did the job.

The best part of the night was when people started asking who Shug was. Well, for a laugh, I decided to say he was an underground DJ/musician/producer from Glasgow who takes pieces of music and turns them into something really unexpected. Now, in Glasgow that would have been met with an "Aye, right, who is he really?". In Chicago, "Yeah, y'know I kinda know that name, I think I've heard some of his stuff before. He's so cool".

So there you are, Shug, get your flight now, there's a ready-made market out here for you.

You've Got to Feel it in your Root Chakra!

Yes, all week I have been getting told that I have to feel everything in my root chakra when I dance. For those of you uninitiated in Eastern philospohies and chakras, your root chakra is your perineum, for those of you still struggling it's the bit just in front of your bum hole.

So now we have that established, try thinking of it everytime you move, even if you move your arm think about your root chakra. Not easy is it? Well, when you can't find it for yourself there's a lady in Chicago who will be more than happy to grope around until she finds it with her middle finger. This lady is Nana Shineflug, the Artistic Director of Chicago Moving Company and part of the old guard of contemporary dancers. She has been dancing since the early 60s, has had 2 knee replacements and a hip replacement and still does shoulder stands with the best of them.

Nana choreographed the piece we performed on Friday night so, along with 4 other dancers, I've been in her rehearsals having my bum felt on a regular basis. Aside from the bum feeling, the work was really interesting, very different from what I usually do, less manic yet more intense and the final piece was beautiful.

Beautiful is really the only word to describe it. The piece involved lots of imagery, again not something I normally go for but it suited this, as well as flowing phrases and group shaping. I definitely won't be influenced by her style of choreography but I actually like the effect of feeling everything from your root chakra. It gives each movement a sense of power that's really exciting to watch and dance.

Go on, give it a try...

Lincoln Park After Dark

With a tripod in hand and the weather playing along nicely the filming could finally go ahead last night. After cycling from the flat to North Shore Beach House (8.69 miles no less!) my first hurdle was trying to identify the dancers, most of whom I'd only emailed. It seems describing myself as tall, blonde and carrying a tripod wasn't clear enough but through various phone calls and a few manic introductions to complete strangers I found my dancers.

The shoot on the beach went well. As ususal there were the ideas I'd had that just didn't come off at the time and there were a few unexpected little gems discovered by accident (probably shouldn't admit to that!). The dancers, Mindy, Kay, Brat, Sarah, Jori, Kate and Ada, managed to jump, turn, kick and roll around in the sand without too many problems - dancing in sand is much harder than it looks - and we were only disturbed by the local wildlife twice.

I haven't looked at the footage yet so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll have enough to make into a short film piece when I get home in September and you'll be shocked/intrigued/horrified/delighted to hear that I put myself in the film this time as well, and not just my usual leg cameo either.

The film will be edited in September with a public airing at some point during the winter. Time will tell whether I make the final cut.

It's just like riding a bike.

What's just like riding a bike? I hear you ask. Well, riding a bike is just like riding a bike.

No I haven't completely lost it, today I was given a loan of a bike for the next 3 weeks. One of the dancers, Mindy, found out how much walking I was doing and that it probably wasn't helping my foot get any better so she offered me the use of her spare bike. When I say offered what I really mean is ordered.

"I've got a bike, come and pick it up and use it. Stop walking everywhere and cycle instead."

Kindness and bossiness seem to go hand in hand with people from the Mid-West. I'm not complaining though, between today and yesterday I've had one person buy a tripod for me to use and another give me her spare bike to save my gammy foot.

She's also invited me out on Saturday night to see the Neo-Futurists show again, I'm expecting at least half of the plays to have changed, and then for a drink at the Green Mill, Al Capone's old hang out which is now popular with arty types and rock musos. So it looks like I have a bike and a buddy all in one go. Fantastic.


Only one thing, between my gammy foot and the Green Mill, Breakbone is going to be even more fun than usual on Sunday!
x

Tripod Tribulations, A Sore Foot and The Hoochie-Mama Store

Having planned to film on the beach last night I then had to cancel everything because none of the tripods I had been planning on borrowing had the camera-tripod connectors with them. This was so frustrating because despite the fact that I had the choice of 4 tripods, two of which were belters, without the connector they're useless. We exhausted all the possible solutions, hiding places, who might have had them last, whether anyone had spares which would fit, and it was all fruitless.

Then, Atalee came in and saved the day. She offered to buy a brand new tripod which I could use before anyone else had a chance to lose any of the parts. She even turned up to class at 10.30am this morning to drop it off for me. How nice is that? She is amazing and my new favourite person in Chicago.

The filming has been rescheduled for next Tuesday so I'll let you know how it goes next week.

Yesterday in Cindy's class I managed to hurt my foot doing a cartwheel into a plank. I landed on the side rather than on the ball of my foot and it's been a bit niggly ever since. It's mostly painful when I'm walking on uneven surfaces, landing or twisting it which is a real pain in the proverbial when I've been walking everywhere (Chicago's pavements are worse than ours) and dancing every day. Luckily there isn't that much jumping in the class but there is a lot of handstands and cartwheel moves which are a bit tricky at the moment. It's all strapped up though and I'm expecting it to be fine by tomorrow (yes, I said that yesterday too!).

It was another grey afernoon so I decided to go dance clothes shopping. All the dancers I've met here have really nice long vests in lovely colours and soft, cotton, cropped trousers to wear to class and they all go to either Target or Discovery aka The Hoochie-Mama Store. The nearest HMS is on Pulaski at Lawrence, about 3 miles west of my flat here, so I hopped on a bus and headed out. Walking into it at first I thought I'd been had. The place makes Quiz and Logo look like they should be in Princes Sq, full of tacky, tight-fitting, nylon clothes, hence the shop's nickname, but when you head further into the shop past all the man-made fibres and lace inserts you discover a whole section of vests and jogging bottoms all really well made, nice and long, in gorgeous colours and cheap as chips. I got all this, 2 pairs of jogging bottoms and 3 tops, for 15 quid which is about the same as I'd spend on one pair of jogging bottoms at home.

More Moves than you can Shake a Tambourine at!

Since the last post I have signed up to Chicago Moving Company's Intensive, daily class every morning for 2 weeks then a performance project throughout the 2nd week; I have taken my second Breakbone class with slighter better results than the first and still no bruising; I have had the torturous pleasure of a pilates class using equipment and I have walked for miles and miles.

Today alone I walked from Hamlin Park on N Hoyne Ave to Body Endeavours on N Halsted St covering just under 3 miles, then from Body Endeavours all the way back to the flat on N Ainslie St covering a foot-throbbing 5 miles! Ok, I'm not running or swimming these distances but, apart from wandering up and down Buchanan St I never walk this far. Somehow it's easier here because the streets are full of small shops, bars and restaurants to keep me occupied. I don't have to walk past the equivalent of Parkhead stadium or an industrial estate or Bridgeton to get home, plus it's nice weather here which always makes walking more bearable.

On the dance side of things, Cindy Brandle is teaching daily at CMC. I really enjoy her classes and they seem to fly in, there's lots of long, luxurious exercises before she mixes it up with some crazy inverted, upside down, landing in a plank, tucking in, pushing up, cartwheel out of it madness. Plus we have a real live musician, Winston, to make nice noises for us.

Both Cindy and Atalee (Breakbone) have the use of the space at Hamlin Park to develop their choreographic work, teach classes and raid the resources all in exchange for teaching a few freebies a week. I think I could handle that. The space is fantastic, a large studio with proper dance flooring that can be turned into a theatre space whenever it's needed. The office has the usual dance company office clutter, books, dvds, mats, stereos, camcorders, tripods (although annoyingly, none of the camera-tripod connectors) and the building has a free outdoor swimming pool.

Thankfully they both appreciate how fortunate they are to be in this position but it's really making me determined to find a permanent space for FireBox. Something to think about.

I have managed to get a small gang of people who all want to jump around on a beach tomorrow night which is fantastic. The downside is that without a camera-tripod connector I'm a bit stuck. I have a few more options and hopefully something will come through as my hands probably aren't steady enough for 4 hours filming. I'll let you know how it goes later this week.

Pros, Cons and Pics

This pic sums up my non-dance daytimes in Chicago, lazing about on an almost deserted beach (most people have jobs, believe it or not!) working on building up my freckle collection.

To see the rest of my pics, go to www.flickr.com/photos/susanelena/

This section is completely nicked from Isla, but it's such a good idea so...

Likes

Turning right on a red - as a driver this is great, keeps traffic flowing and stops me getting frustrated waiting for lights to change when there's nobody around.
The friendliness of the people - Chicagoans have a Mid-West attitude so they might look you up and down and check out your outfit but then they'll smile and compliment you.
The exchange rate - everything is half price.
The dance community - so much going on even though it's summer and things have slowed down.
Having the beach and the city on my doorstep - it's why I loved Brighton so much and it's even better here.
Having a base for the month - feel more relaxed and more involved in life here.
The range of police vehicles - everything from roller blades - bikes - quadbikes - weird robo-cop 2 wheel stand up motorised things.
The weather - a bad day is 28C! Even I can stand the odd thunderstorm (as long as I'm indoors and it's over quickly).
Free Refills - buy one coffee, get 3 mugs full. Brilliant idea!
Getting ID'd - I know they do it to everyone but it still makes me smile when they ask for it.
Cheap, effective public transport - yeah, I know, I don't do public transport but if it was a pound a journey and I could go everywhere I wanted to 24 hours a day I might use ours more.

Dislikes

Turning right on a red - as a pedestrian this is a nightmare, the light says walk but you've got a car coming round the corner towards you. Quite nerve-wracking when it's boy-racers heading in my direction.
Perverts - enough said.
The media - the news is read out in 3 second bursts in the most dramatic way they can think of.
Roadside 'honk for X' protests - completely useless for anything other than making a lot of noise.
Policemen smoking in uniform - the majority of bars and restaurants are smoke-free yet policemen can stand around puffing away.
Tax not included - if something is a dollar it should be a dollar not a dollar on the shelf then a dollar plus tax at the cash desk. It's so irritating especially when I have no change.
Finding out about things that my Glasgow mates would love to go to but not having anyone here with the same interests - Derrick Carter.

x

Faaabulous Honey!

Having noticed those ominent back clouds approaching I decided it was probably a good idea to leave the pool and do something indoors for the rest of the afternoon. So I went to Borders to buy a California book and do some research for when I leave here. Just as I was paying, the heavens opened so instead of braving the elements I headed for the coffee shop instead.

Sitting down with my latte and slice of carrot cake, which was so huge I managed a third of it and took the rest home, I opened my book and got reading only to be interrupted by a girl looking for a seat. This was a bit strange as the cafe had several empty tables but I just reckoned that she was looking for some company or felt uncomfortable sitting by herself. It wasn't until she started dishing out the compliments and asking where I went at night and whether we could go out at the weekend that I twigged.

Sorry, I'm straight and I have a boyfriend.

Oh, ok.

Quick exit.

The place was beginning to fill up now, as it's the only place on Broadway (quite a dodgy area, was hoping the rain wasn't going to be on all night) where normal folk can sit without feeling like someone is mentally checking your mugging value, so when a policeman (in uniform) sat down with a cup of coffee I didn't think anything of it. Until he also started dishing out compliments and asking where I went at night and whether we could go out at the weekend.

Sorry, I have a boyfriend.

Oh, ok, but you know, things aren't set in stone and he may not be the right guy for you.

This time it was my turn to make a quick exit.

I knew about a gay bar across the road where I'd had a salad after a day at the beach last week and, as it was a predominantly male gay bar, I was pretty sure I wouldn't get hassled. Within about 5 minutes of ordering a drink and opening my book (ironically at the San Francisco section) a young guy wandered over...

Excuse me, I just have to say you look faaabulous honey!

I gave him the rest of my carrot cake.

x

I think I've found my new favourite dress.

(It's the green one from Forever 21)

Bugley Eyes!

My dad managed to capture this frog on top of Rainforest cafe in Chicago a week ago on an open top bus tour. It's opposite what they refer to as 'The Rock'n'Roll McDonalds' but Bryan and I call it the 'Back to the Future 2 McDonalds'. We didn't take any photos of that because it's still nasty McDonalds but the frog makes me laugh every time.

Breaking Sweat at Breakbone

On the hottest day of the year, so far, I started my classes with Breakbone. 94F or 34C is hot by anyone's standards, add to that a room with windows on 2 sides, black curtains at one end and black flooring, air conditioning units that only seem to circulate warm air and you've got one sweaty betty. In fact, there were 16 sweaty bettys all rolling round the floor leaving little pools of sweat everywhere for other people to mop up or slide on.

Now you've got the picture, the class itself was fantastic.

We started with an hour of boot camp pilates. No stopping between exercises, no explanations, straight into the leg swings and the 100s (for those of you not in the know the 100s are where you lift your head and both legs as close to the ground as possible then beat your arms downwards not quite touching the floor 100 times) followed by a sequence of stomach exercises, press ups, side bends, side dips (you balance yourself on one arm and have both feet out straight to your side - like a sideward press up position - then let your whole body dip and your shoulder lifts you back up), more press ups, lunges (I've never enjoyed lunges so much) and a few more press ups to finish us off.

By this point I've lost about 2 litres of body fluid and my head's beginning to throb.

Quick water break then onto the technique part of the class. They're not kidding when they call it Bodyslam! After a few sequential falls and rolls where you slowly figure out which parts to land on and which parts to avoid you go for it. A little hop up from squat position then land on your back or your side or your forearms. I was actually quite pleased with myself that at no point did I fall onto anything bony. A few of the falls I didn't get at all, one where you start in a bridge position (balancing on your shoulders and feet with your hips pushed up towards the ceiling), lift one leg the push your whole body onto your shoulders before landing in a foetal position. It just didn't happen at all, I understood what I was trying to do but I couldn't get my body to flip up and over like that. I am, however, a dab hand at backward falls. You start in a squat position, tiny hop up then imagine your legs being pulled away from underneath you so you land on the side of your back (either side but never your spine - ouch!).

All of this builds up until you're pushing off one hand and landing in the same positions, I think I would have done better at this if I was sure that my arms were still connected to my body and my eyes weren't swirling from dehydration.

The mark of a good class is that no matter how hard you work, if the exercises are organised and performed properly, you shouldn't have any bad aches and pains. There are good aches and pains, ie. you feel all the muscles you've been using and they need a wee bit of a stretch out but you're still able to function normally and bad aches and pains, ie. you have an angry, swollen joint that you can't get out of bed because of.

This was definitely a good class.

At the end of it, I spoke to some of the Breakbone dancers and they're interested in getting involved in a little film project while I'm out here, after all I'm going to need some material to get started on my MSc Screendance course in September.

Pervin' USA

Before I even begin this rant I'd like to point out that I have met several gentlemen while I've been here who have been friendly, welcoming and sincere (John, Phil, Kevin plus some random waiters, taxi drivers, etc) and this is in no way a reflection on them BUT why can't I walk down the street for at least a block (check the lingo!) without some pratt shouting out his window, whistling, making kiss kiss noises or just slowing down like some sleazy kerb crawler?

There are plenty of girls walking around who are prettier than me. There are plenty of girls walking around with skimpier clothes on than me. I always make sure I look like I know where I'm going even if sometimes I need to double check. I'm not the only pale girl walking around either. So why am I getting so much hassle? I haven't had so much unwanted attention since I was about 15 on holiday in Turkey and even then I didn't get some weirdo calling his mate while 'pleasuring' himself next to me on the beach.

Yes, that's right. Not only did some fat old perv come and sit next to me to 'enjoy the view' he also called his mate and described me! When I approached the life guards (at which point pervo left) they told me if he comes back they'll call the cops but they didn't even glance in my general direction after that. If it wasn't for the kindness of another family enjoying the sun I would have been left completely on my own with some sex offender lurking in the bushes.

Which I suppose takes me back to where I started, there are some very kind, decent men here such as the father who threatened to kick his butt if he ever saw him again and made me feel comfortable sunbathing next to them but there are also an awful lot of perverts.

No wonder so many people here have guns...

4th of July and I'm bored!

It's 10pm and all I can hear are fireworks. I'm tired from a fortnight of travelling around different places and I'd like to just have a glass of wine, read my book and fall asleep. Impossible. I can't even figure out where they're coming from, they seem to be all around me and I'm in a residential area so it's a bit disorientating.

My parents and my brother left today to go home while I moved all my stuff into Liz's apartment. It's really strange being in someone's house, looking through cupboards for plates and glasses, trying to figure out where the toilet rolls kept, using their computer which is in their bedroom (I do have permission to be here!) when I've never met her. She offered me her spare room to sublet for the month after I got in touch with the dance company she works for and the deal was when I arrived in Chicago I was to go and collect keys from her as she would be on holiday for a few days. When I got to the studio she teaches at she was in the middle of a class and sent an assistant down with the keys and a letter explaining the air con, computer, etc. So basically she'll get home at some point tomorrow and there will be a complete stranger sleeping in her spare room.

It's extremely trusting of her and I'm not sure I could do it for someone else - although I shoud probably concentrate on moving out of my parents' house before I start subletting rooms!

Favourite so far

Chicago is definitely my favourite place so far on this holiday. It has a great mix of city and seaside, although it's more ike a collection of small towns and it's a lake not a sea. It's probably been better here because my brother has friend's here through his band stuff and straghtaway we met up with them and were told what to do and what to avoid.

Saturday night we met up with John and Mindy, had some really nice Mexican food then went to see John's show which was fantastic. The idea is that each member of the group writes so many plays (really, really short plays - 5 minutes max) and the audience call out which play they'd like to see. Every week a member of the audience rolls a dice and they bin that number of old plays and write some new ones. The ticket price is also determined by a roll of a dice. Each person rolls the dice and they pay that amount plus $7, so it could be $8 or anything up to $13. Some of the plays were funny, some were rude (although I think a British or European company would have taken far more risks) and some were quite thought-provoking. It was a really good night and hopefully I'll see some other things they're doing during the summer.

Outside the downtown area where all the big hotels are heading towards the north of Chicago there are lots of little neighbourhoods which are quite similar to the West End or Merchant City but a lot bigger. This makes the place seem very friendly and more personal than New York. The people here are also fitness obsessed with gyms and yoga/pilates classes everywhere - even on the beach! I've found some aerial classes to go to as well as the dance stuff I already had organised. Can't wait to get started and now I've moved into my rented room I'll be able to cook normal food as well not the Giant Haystacks portions we've been getting so far.

Still in the tourist trap

The city of Toronto is lovely, very cosmpolitan, the people were really friendly and the place felt very clean and safe. We went on yet another tour, this time out on Lake Ontario. The views of the city were gorgeous but the tour guide wasn't up to much and there were lots of bored kids making a lot of noise... I think one might have gone overboard by mistake - oops!

How did you do that?

I'll be right back.
I'm thinking.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Here I am.

Imagine all these phrases coming from a set of 3 year old, Canadian twins who like to play Hide and Seek but aren't very good at hiding and tell you where they are when you're seeking!

In Toronto we were staying with my mum's uncle, Teddy, and his wife, Isabel, and they babysit their granddaughters, Rowan and Kielyn, every day which was great as we got to spend some time with them and get to know them. I had never met Teddy and Isabel before but I had been told he looked like my granda. This turned out to be the understatment of the year. Not only does he look EXACTLY like him, he has the same mannerisms and the same ability to ignore everything else around him and focus on just one thing.

Rowan has already decided she's moving to Scotland to hopefully we'll see them more often in the future.

Go Kart driving

Manual cars don't exist in America so the only car we could hire was an automatic which means that instead of changing gears you just accelerate until there's loads of revving and the car changes the grea for you. Weird at first but surprisingly easy to get used to. Less easy to get used to was slowing down. Each time I came off a main road or motorway I found myself trying to put the clutch down and brake.

I'm sure by the time I get to LA I'll have it sussed.

Blackpool with a waterfall!

It's safe to say I wasn't that impressed with Niagara Falls. The Falls themselves are amazing and doing the Maid of the Mist boat tour where you get dressed in a blue bin bag then still get soaked as a tiny boat pushes close to the bottom of the waterfalls was really breathtaking but the town itself is like Blackpool, tacky, glowing with neon and packed with casinos, amusement arcades and crappy restaurants.


In contrast, Niagara-on-the-Lake, half an hour up the road, is gorgeous. It's been preserved as a historic town so there are lots of little shops and bars that fit in with the surroundings instead of being an eyesore.

Possibly the weirdest place in the world.

New York is mental. Everywhere you go you recognise things and places and there really is something happening on every corner. Some people are overly friendly and helpful and some people are so rude they wouldn't keep a job for more than 5 minutes anywhere else.

Day 1 was spent travelling via Heathrow (where Slash from Guns'n'Roses hassled my brother for a photo) to New York then after checking in to a very nice hotel on Broadway we proceeded to walk in the wrong direction for almost 20 minutes trying to find a restaurant only to come back to where we started and eat in the Greek restaurant opposite the hotel. As well as getting a plate of meze which resembled an Iceland party pack we were also treated to a performance by the staff who were all obviously having a bad night and keep arguing with each other.



The next few days we wandered round Central Park, took the Staten Island ferry for the view of Liberty Island, went on a couple of open top bus tours, some of which were better than others, and decided that if I was going to move there it would have to be Greenwich Village or SoHo I lived in.

The whole area around Meatpacking - Chelsea - SoHo - Greenwich Village was a lot more manageable, more relaxed and less manic. There also seemed to be a lot going on without it all being in your face and OTT, it was comfortable wandering around taking everything in, and, believe me, we did a hell of a lot of wandering around. We managed to spend hours looking for restaurants or bars only to end up going back to the first one we saw. It was starting to become a joke, 10 blocks in one direction then straight back to the start. Nightmare.

Pure Hunners tae Write Aboot

Loads of things have happened since I left Glasgow including;

crazy New York driving,
a showdown at the Alamo,
getting soaked at Niagara Falls,
wandering for miles to find a restaurant only to walk back to the first one we saw,
meeting my 2nd cousins for the first time,
being called "Over Easy' at my brother's friend's show and
getting laughed at in the Stussy shop in SoHo.

I will write in full about all these things and more when I move into my home for the next month on Wednesday.

In the meantime, Have a Nice Day!

x