a few more updates

Hey guys-

I know have been totally shit abt keeping in touch. I apologize. First, I want to say that if you have sent me a letter, please let me know when you sent it! I haven't gotten anything yet because there is a postal strike here, which has been slowing down the mail. This is really upsetting for me, because I ordered a bright pink party wig and if I don't get it by Halloween, I will be very disappointed.

Things are good. I know that some of my updates can lead people to believe that I am having a horrible time and want to go home. I feel like I have settled in a lot more, and am feeling less anxious abt social things (although, let's be real- it's me, I'm always going to be anxious//nervous).

I am going to start a project that I will take back to Hampshire and create into a performance art//one-person show (hopefully). I was reading a book called "Queers in Space" which was all about the history of queer spaces, queer visibility in public spaces, queer bodies as queer spaces, etc... I really liked some essays in this book. It reminded me of the photo pieces that Cheryl, Sarah T and Maddy did for the Black History Month Show two years ago. I remember there was a quote from Sarah where she talked about how there was usually an assumption made when people looked at a picture of a public space- people tended to assume that this space was a white (& heterosexual) space. She mentioned that she wanted to challenge that. I want to do the same, but use theatre and performance art as my tool. So I want to think abt queer identities, and how we relate to these spaces- whether they be "traditional spaces" like home, school, etc. or public spaces like walking down the street, or virtual spaces like media and the internet, or our own bodies, ie- how we feel abt them, how we treat them, etc.

So I am hoping to do interviews, transcribe them, be inspired by them, and write monologues, poems.. or just do some weird installation with them. * I also have to tip my hat to Ashley & Uni for doing similar projects to me and doing them extremely well.I have a lot to live up to.* I might actually "install" bodies in public areas, make people do living statue-esque things... I don't really know. All I know is that I hope this all goes well and that I don't offend anyone in the interviewing process.

I also need to find a way to make sure that the group of people I interview is a diverse group, rather than just my friends (although I recognize that the data is already biased because I am asking people from academia- and all one specific school with a very specific type of education.)

Gah. This will be an interesting project. I am very nervous. But still excited. I realized yesterday that I have three pages worth of questions. I also realized that questions that might be deemed as appropriate to ask at Hampshire might not be taken as well here. So I am also trying my best not to offend people.

But enough of that. Let's talk about interesting things.

My flat has gotten at least five or six notes from the cleaner (YES THEY HAVE CLEANERS HERE- they take out the trash, sweep the floor, vacuum the hall and wipe down the counters... even though the dumpster is right in front of our flat... what. the...).
SO I believe that the cleaners have decided to take our dishes. Yes. They take them and throw them away. And although it sucks, I don't think that it will have ANY effect on the condition of our kitchen. I think that they're just going to buy more plates... It's so strange. Living in 52 last year was disgusting, and we did get in trouble for it at the end of the year (didn't we get fined?). However, we AT LEAST would bring our dishes to the sink. Our problem was that the dishes would no longer FIT in the sink.

We have a "family dinner" every Sunday, and everyone takes their time cooking. Adorable, right? Except that after this Sunday, all of the flatmates looked at each other, looked at the mess that we had all made, and just got up from the kitchen and left. I was SHOCKED. How in the hell...? They didn't even scrape their plates. And a lot of that food (well, the dishes that I didn't wash... I did 6 full sink's worth of dishes) is still on the kitchen table, unless the cleaner threw it away as promised. Craziness. I wonder why I always end up living with people that are a lot of fun and sociable and enjoy doing thing together, but ABSOLUTELY HATE cleaning or being tidy..? I wonder why I can't get the best of both worlds..? Maybe it's cuz my friends are so damn crazy? I dunno.

That's it for now. My life is muy aborrido. Tell ME things instead.