The Troy Exhibit

Hello, Lovelies!

I apologize for such a gap in time between posts. I currently am working two jobs, and two podcasts, so my life has been a bit hectic! But I'm happy to say that I've also had many wonderful adventures and cannot complain.

Currently, we're getting a lot of rain in London, partially due to Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis. I'm very grateful we don't have flooding and hope those that too will be able to recover quickly. I'm surviving the rain with fuzzy waterproof boots and lots of warm tea, but it has taken a toll on my mood. I'm recovering from Seasonal Depression, and the long stretch from winter to spring is always the worst. Thankfully, this part of the year is also one of the busiest, so I'm usually inside with my head down working on an essay or script, and that helps me not to notice the gray clouds outside. Like most people here, I'm looking forward to the warm weather, when I can read in the park again.

Speaking of reading, I just recently finished a book called The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth, by Thomas Morris. If you're into weird Medieval and Victorian Medical treatments, as well as some of the weirdest discoveries known to science, you'd enjoy this book. The main thing this book has shown me is how many different objects can be inserted into one's...nevermind. I am interviewing the author Thomas Morris, hopefully, this week, and cannot be more excited to pick his brain about this read.
This past week I visited the Troy Exhibit at the British Museum. Let me clarify, I visited the exhibit twice, once by myself and the other occasion with my boyfriend on Valentine's day.




I digress...

Helen of Troy and Cassandra

The Troy exhibit was absolutely fabulous. There were frescos from Pompeii that had survived Vesuvius. There was pottery telling some of my favorite Greek myths. I'm a bit of a myth junkie, loving all the stories from Thor, King Arthur, Mars and Venus to Athena and Indra. I studied the myths in my undergraduate degree and specifically looked at the use of plants within myths (as I'm also a plant junkie). From my research, I've become very familiar with the myths surrounding the Trojan War, and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the stories come to life in front of me. Some of the pottery I had only seen in slideshows, and never thought I would see it in real life. The cool thing about the exhibit was that some of the pottery had projections near it, so the projections could explain what was happening on the pottery and who the key figures were. Definitely very helpful. It was also amazing to see how much of a legacy the Trojan War has had on our culture, from art to movies to music. I, of course, bought a few books from the bookstore (I couldn't help it, it's a reflex? Not sure that's a good excuse).

Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife

The other major thing that happened this past week was that I recorded another episode of Human Angle. It's on Beatrix Potter, the famous author and amateur mycologist (bet you didn't know that). Unfortunately, my old cohost, Jacqui, has become too busy to help me with the podcast, so I brought in a new cohost, Matthew! I was afraid he was going to be really mic-shy, but he did fabulously. You can find our new episode on all your favorite platforms.

This coming week I'm hoping to get a bit more work done at the British Library, as well as visit a few more museums. I've got a bit of a travel bug, and want to combat the poor weather by getting out of my flat and around London.

Odysseus and the sirens. This fresco is from Pompeii

Until next time!
Kenna

Returning to London and starting the new year

Hello wonderful readers!

I apologize for being late on this blog, I took off more time than I planned. It seems that always happens, doesn't it?

My Christmas was pleasant and I was happy to be home with my family. We didn't get any new snow, so I couldn't go snowshoeing, but I did spend some of the sunny days outside practicing my archery. When I wasn't spending time with my family, I was catching up with friends. It's amazing how many people want to see you after you've been living in another country for 3 months! I was so happy to see everyone and tell them all about my adventures in London. It made me miss London more, and I was ready to travel back by the end of the holiday.
During the holiday, my 15-year-old cat, Joey, passed away suddenly from a seizure. My sister and I found her body in the basement, which was a bit of a shock to both of us. It was hard to lose Joey, as she was one of my childhood friends as I grew up a shy introvert with few others to talk to. Joey would often follow me on walks down my dirt road, or climb up into the apple tree with me when I wanted to be alone from other people. We buried Joey a couple days after she passed, and I made a plaque to go over her grave. She will be missed, to say the least.

My whole family was a bit miserable after Joey passed, so we decided to try and get another kitten, at least in order to give my dog Emmie some company. We searched a whole day for a kitten, driving around Denver looking at different animal shelters. Finally, we found the perfect kitten. After debating many names for him, we settled on Cooper. He's a character! Unfortunately, I only got a few days with him before I had to leave, but the whole time he would snuggle and loudly purr, falling asleep on my lap or shoulders. He is curious about everything, and my parents often send me pictures of him playing with something he is not supposed to. My dad and I also both have a soft spot for orange tabbies. I was really sad to leave him behind, to be honest, but I know that he is having fun with my family back at home.
When I arrived back in London, I settled back into the fog, humidity, and lack of driving. School started in a couple days, so I spent the weekend relaxing and trying to get over the jetlag. I wandered around Kensington a bit and got myself a membership with the Kensington Central Library. It's not that they're a big library with a large selection (quite the opposite), but they're a quiet and nice area to go to study. Plus Imperial College's library has a very very limited selection of books, so I figure the more libraries I sign up to, the better. Maybe then I'll find the books I'm looking for as opposing to buying them. Part of me just wishes I could ship my entire 900+ book library here from Colorado. A friend of mine asked if I had Crime and Punishment that she could borrow, and it bothered me that I had to say no, because my copy was in another country, halfway across the globe.

I digress...the struggles of being a bookworm in two countries.

I began classes with a slow start. I'm only taking one class this first half of the term, and two the second half. It does sound a bit confusing, but it makes sense to us students. This half of the term I'm taking the class on museums. I thought it would be a good way to explore more of London's museums that I haven't yet seen. Each week we read some articles about a different aspect of museums, and then go visit a museum gallery to complement our reading. So far I've been to the British Museum's Enlightenment gallery (I did geek out on the books and Greek pottery thank you very much), the Science Museum's Medicine Gallery, and the War Museum's soldier exhibit. There are so many museums in London, it's amazing! I also enjoy the fact that most museums here are free. Back in Denver, all our museums are very pricey to get into, so it's difficult to justify as a student, or family for that matter, going there.

From the Enlightenment Gallery 

Besides my museum's class, I've been keeping myself busy by starting up a couple more podcasts. Human Angle is slowing down a bit, as both Jacqui and I are busier this term, so we will only be putting out episodes every two weeks. However, I'm starting a podcast with my friends Matthew and Sunita on young scientists (under 35 years) and their contributions to society. Sunita and I are also making a separate podcast discussing current popular science reads, including interviews with the authors! So stay tuned!!!
Besides podcasts and school (including my dissertation research), I'm still on a job hunt. If anyone has any openings, including some with work sponsorships, as I'd like to stay in the UK for longer than my student Visa allows, let me know!
Until next week!
Kenna

War Museum 

Week 13-Last week of term 1 and heading home

Hello, my friends!
Well, I finally made it to the last week of my first term for my degree. It's amazing to think that ten weeks have already gone by. It seems only yesterday that I first moved into my flat, went traveling around London, and hoped to make new friends. But here I am, leaving on Saturday to head back home for the Christmas holidays. If I don't write, know that I'm taking a break for the holiday, and should be back in 2020. Crazy to think that the new year is coming up.
Last weekend I went and saw Knives Out. Amazing movie, highly recommend. For someone who reads a lot of detective novels, I was on the edge of my seat and didn't actually know who the murderer was until almost the end of the film. The theater I went to was in Notting Hill. Called the Electric Cinema, it's an old movie house with plush armchairs, cashmere blankets, and of course a built-in bar. I was more than happy to lounge in my chair as characters on screen blamed each other for murder.


This past week was the launch of our 44th issue of I, Science magazine! This was the first issue my team made and it was amazing! I have to thank Lucy our designer for making it look so beautiful. I'm taking at least five copies home with me to distribute to family and friends. I know quite a few people who will want one. The magazine is free and is completely run and written by students. I'm so glad I was able to be a part of the process and learned quite a bit from publication. You can find our new magazine online at isciencemag.co.uk for the 44th issue. I can't wait to see what the next issue brings!

I also had an essay due this week which I was busy with. But on top of that, I was also editing the new Human Angle podcast episode, as the air conditioning was on in the studio, which threw the mic levels off. Because of this, it took me around 6 hours to edit 50 minutes of podcast material. I'm just glad to say that it is finally done. When I wasn't audio editing or writing, I was busy packing for my upcoming trip. I have a bit of travel anxiety when it comes to making sure everything is accounted for on a trip. In order to make sure that my bag could be properly checked, I bought a luggage scale. In the dull gray skies over London, I captured this image of a church near High Street Kensington, because it was just so peaceful in the middle of the Christmas bustle. Seeing it calmed me down quite a bit as well, so I'm glad the church was there. My books and gifts alone, when weighed by the scale, were 30 lbs, which means I have 20 lbs for clothes and toiletries and the like. Thank goodness because I had hoped to bring at least some clothes back with me. I can't just wear books, as I keep trying to convince my parents of the opposite.
This week I've been spending time with my friends before I leave since I won't see them for a couple weeks. I went ice skating with a few friends in front of the Natural History Museum which were both fun and perilous, as it was raining and the rink became a giant puddle in the middle. We saw quite a few people fall down and become soaked. I haven't done ice skating in a while and was okay at it. I mainly just held hands with my other friends for support.
I did a gift swap with my friends this afternoon before we all part ways. Some of us are going far away, to Malaysia, and others of us to Romania, or even just staying in the UK. One thing is clear though, I will miss them all.
Until next time, have a happy Christmas!
Kenna

Week 12-Still sick...visit to the BBC

Hi Everyone!
I guess I'm now uploading my blogs on Wednesdays. That seems to work better for my schedule. I'm afraid I'm still sick but I'm soldiering through. I've been trying to take multiple flu bombs (a mixture of cayenne pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and echinacea tea), which I can only take so much of without feeling like I have to throw up. Hopefully, the disgusting taste of the medicine will be worth its benefits. But I am finding that I'm breathing normally more and coughing less, so generally, that's a good sign.
This past week we had an essay due so all of us were a bit stressed out from that. It was also Thanksgiving. And the first Thanksgiving I had without my family. Instead, I invited my boyfriend over and we ate sushi and skyped my family. It was bittersweet. To be honest, I was sad I wasn't home, but at the same time, it was really sweet of my boyfriend to spend time with me and make sure I didn't celebrate alone.
The day after Thanksgiving, my friends and I had a large Friendsgiving party in our campus bar. There was soo much food, all of it delicious. My friend Cristina came over before the party and I helped her cook eggplant dip. It's a traditional Romanian recipe, where she's from, where you cook the eggplant directly on the stove burner. It smells...interesting, and we only set the fire alarm off twice, but it was definitely a success. There was also a freshly baked apple pie, sweet potato pie, some couscous with veggies, falafels, crisps, chocolate-covered strawberries, cupcakes, and more. Everything tasted amazing. Even though I didn't plan for the party to have karaoke, the bar was hosting karaoke that night. I've got some great videos of a few of my friends belting out some tunes, which I'm sure I'll treasure forever. All-in-all, not a bad Thanksgiving.
I spent the weekend in recovery mode from being sick, so lounging and trying to rest. I finished a book, surprise, and of course worked on podcast stuff. It's definitely keeping me busy, but I'm looking forward to continuing the podcast next year, after Christmas break.

Speaking of Christmas, I can't believe I leave for home in 10 days. That is insane!!! I cannot believe it. I've been busy this week, and it's rushing by me. I was able to visit the BBC last evening to watch my radio professor do his weekly podcast. Their studios are huge and amazing, super techy and professional. I really want to go back and work there at some point. It was an absolutely fabulous experience and I'm so grateful I was able to tour.
Today I was visiting King's College London, as I'm going to be a tutor there next term for their upcoming Science Communication class for Biomedical Undergraduates. It's a brand new class that I get to help develop, so I'm really excited about putting in some ideas to make the class fun and exciting for science students, and show them that there are more jobs out there than just in the lab.
Besides being rushed off my feet, I have managed to do more research for my last essay due next week. I'm also trying to relax and get some reading done, and buy some last-minute gifts for friends. Nothing fancy mind you. But just to lighten the spirit.
Until next week!

Week 11-I get sick...yay

Hello everyone!
I apologize for this post being late...again. I'm afraid I got sick earlier this week. I blame a certain individual who will not be named. But thankfully, I'm doing pretty well, just dealing with a stuffy nose and some sneezing.
This past week I made a book tree for my flat. Granted Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet, but I got bored and wanted to add some festivity to my room. It's amazing because I still had books left over. I also added my color-changing plastic cactus on top which made the tree all the more official.
It was nice to decorate my flat and realize the holidays are coming up quicker than I thought. It's only a couple weeks until I return home to Colorado for Christmas. Crazy how time flies. At school we're doing a Secret Santa with all my classmates, so I do look forward to trying to shop for one of my friends. I wonder who I will get? lol. I'm also hosting a Friendsgiving party this Friday evening for all my classmates. Even though the majority don't celebrate Thanksgiving, it will still be nice to be around people during this time so I don't feel homesick. This week has been hard due to my family getting together without me for Thanksgiving. It will be my first Thanksgiving away from home. But I think it will be okay. I have people here to spend time with, or as I call them, my London family.
I also went charity shopping (or thrift store shopping for us Americans) this past week. I've been a bit before, but I wanted to see if I could find some more dresses, just to add some flair to my wardrobe. I got to experience a bit more of the backstreets of London I didn't see before, and of course, took some pictures.

Oddly enough I found a cat on someone's doorstep, just huddled in the rain. I wanted to take them home with me, but my new roommate actually has a phobia of cats. Plus I don't have the time right now to take care of a cat. Instead, I said hi, snapped a photo, and left. I decided I would name the mystery cat Steve. Bye, Steve!
I did manage to find some dresses in the local charity shops, and it was nice to get out of my flat during the weekend. I ended up spending the rest of the weekend in. I read an entire Agatha Christie novel, The Mystery of the Three Quarters. It's one of the new Christie novels that co-author Sophie Hannah has continued in the spirit of Agatha's old novels. Hannah's new novels are okay, they're a bit more modern and less of the adorable 1950s and 1960s slang. But still intriguing, all the same, I really had no idea that the murderer was....oh I shouldn't give it away. Nevermind.

In other news, the podcast I've been working on, Human Angle, has already gotten 50 plays!

Thank you to all my amazing fans! I couldn't have done this without you. Jacqui and I put a lot of work into these episodes, and we're glad to see that a fanbase is rising. Thank you all so much for your support.
I have another essay due tomorrow, so of course, I'm still trying to keep up with the grind, when I'm not trying to sleep in to recover from this cold. I'll get well eventually, I'm sure.
Until next week,
Kenna

Week 10-International Dinner and job interviews

Hello everyone!

I apologize for the lateness of this blog, it has been a very busy week for me with essays to write, a podcast to record, and job interviews. But it's been a fun and exciting week as well with new assignments and opportunities.
This past weekend one of my classmates, Laura, hosted an international dinner. We were to bring a dish from the country of our origin and dress up from that country. I really didn't feel like cooking, and also really didn't know what to make that was truly American (yes, hot dogs, I know...) so instead I went to McDonald's and ordered five large fries. I can't tell you how many stares I received on the tube, but it was a lot! The smell of the fries seemed to fill the entire carriage. The fries were warm so I used the bag to warm my fingers, but 45 minutes later, when I arrived at Laura's flat, they were cold. Most people didn't mind that as they were gone by the evening. We had tomato rice, vegan sausage rolls, Brazilian cocktails, Moscow mules, French baguettes and cheese, Colombian cheese balls with caramel, 15's (a Northern Ireland dish), and stir fry. Wayyyy too much food! But everything was delicious! As the evening went on we played different party games, voting who would be the most likely to... as well as a murder mystery game called mafia. I didn't end up getting home until about 3 A.M., but it was worth it.
Or so I thought until the next day when I had a splitting headache. I didn't leave my flat at all that day, just taking it easy. My new roommate Nishita moved in that day too. She is very nice and friendly. She's a writer as well so I'm sure at some point we will chat books.  I'm sensing that we will get along well.
Monday came and the usual school stuff happened. I have an essay due next Thursday which I need to start writing. Thankfully I already have an outline prepared so it's just filling it in. Monday evening my friend Florian invited the whole class to come back to campus to watch some of the Science Media Production documentaries. It's to be a regular Monday night thing, and I look forward to it. The documentaries were only 30 minutes long, but between the films, we discussed the logistics of the camera angle, different shot sequences, music, dialogue, and other cinematographic techniques.  It was a fun evening, to say the least.
Yesterday I had a job interview for a bookselling position. I walked out of the interview feeling confident, but I never want to assume that I have the job after the interview. It just makes for disappointment. I am supposed to hear back from the company today, so fingers crossed all goes well. I have a separate job interview today for a Science Communications Manager position. I feel the position is too far above my skill level, but I am still going to interview for the experience. Life does throw curveballs, so you never know what you're going to find happening. Fingers crossed all goes well.
Yesterday was extremely busy as I rapidly transitioned from interview mode to school mode. This week is just packed with assignments, interviews, and podcast stuff, all of which I find challenging and fun. Hopefully, I'm not overwhelmed!
Cheers,
Kenna

Week 9-The Podcast is live....and an amazing book to read

Hi Everyone!

So this past week has been a busy one for me, but a very rewarding week. I spent six hours one day trawling through the archives of the I, Science magazine website to make sure all our pictures were not infringing on copyright values. For those of you who don't know, I, Science is Imperial College Science Communication's award-winning magazine. As the web editor, I'm in charge of making sure the website looks pretty and is well maintained, which means that I have to make sure our 3,000 plus photos don't break any legal rules. Thankfully we're all good.
I spent the rest of last week writing my first essay for Dr. Stephen Webster's class: Science in its Social contexts. My essay focuses on whether we can trust our own senses in the case of fear priming, using different philosophies of thought for evidence. I felt rambly with the essay, and of course, will be editing it this week before I hand it in, but often philosophy does get rather wordy, so I'm not too worried.
Jacqui and I also recorded our second episode of Human Angle. I can't give too much away but it's all about the scandal around the discovery of the structure of DNA. We're focusing on two of the main scientists involved, Dr. James Watson and Rosalind Franklin. For those of you who don't know who Rosalind Franklin is, don't be worried. She was never credited with this discovery.
We'll be discussing why that is in the episode. Our last episode on Hedy Lamarr went live this past weekend and is now available on Spotify, iTunes, Alexa+Tune in, and Stitcher. If you haven't listened to it yet I highly recommend. There isn't another podcast like this out there, and Jacqui and I really try to make it a worthwhile experience of discussion and education for our listeners.
I can't give too much away about what I'm recording this week, but this episode is nothing like we've done with the previous two. We'll be discussing John Steinbeck and his lost book on marine biology, Log from the Sea of Cortez. It's an amazing read and I highly recommend it to everyone, as it discusses the friendship Steinbeck had with a marine biologist named Ed Ricketts. Steinbeck, being one of the classic American novelists, loses no style in this incredible read as he discusses how science looks to a layperson, as well as fascinating scenes of marine life in the tidepools around the Gulf of California.
I'm honestly in love with this book and I can't put it down. Some of his quotes are absolutely stunning, and I can't wait to share them in our upcoming episode. So keep your ears open!
Tonight I will be attending the Imperial Late's show called Infectious, which is all about diseases. Imperial College does a once a month late-night show about certain topics in science. I didn't get to go to the last one due to a poorly timed bout of food poisoning (is food poisoning ever appropriately timed?). I'm excited to see what this event has to offer. The I, Science team will hopefully be interviewing people at the event as well so keep looking at our website for updates.
That's all folks!
Until next week,
Kenna

Week 8-Halloween Party and first podcast recorded

Hi, lovelies!

This past week I was busy! I turned in my first essay on the day of Halloween. I spent the earlier part of the week preparing for Halloween, going shopping with my friends Sunita, Cristina, and Matthew to find some stuff for my Halloween costume. I decided to go as Black Widow for Halloween, from Marvel's Avengers series. The costume was easy enough to make, I found black leather pants,  and had a black long sleeve shirt. I cut some holes into black leather gloves to make fingerless gloves. While shopping with my friends I also found some 6-inch tall black boots to wear. While they are not canon to Black Widow's outfit, I thought I would enjoy the extra height.
While waiting for the party to begin at 8 pm on Halloween eve, I got ready and did my makeup while watching Endgame, the last of the Avengers movies, in order to get into character. Not that I really needed to, this was to be a night of fun and games. I met my friend Cristina at the station. She was dressed as Lara Croft, from the famous video game Tomb Raider. She brought her friend Matthew with her, who was dressed as Kim Jong-Ill, the leader of North Korea. Matthew's outfit was perfect for his character, and he got many stares on the trains. But amazingly, he also got many people asking to take photos with him. He kept laughing at how many Instagram followers he was getting because he posted a picture of his costume on Instagram. Someone had even photoshopped his face in a picture with President Trump.
We spent a few hours in the pub, and then a few of us moved to a more exclusive club called Aquum which was oddly enough deserted on Halloween night. My feet were killing me by the end, and I hated how slow I was walking due to wearing such tall heels. I headed home around midnight and was asleep in bed by 12:30 A.M. As I woke the next morning to sore calves and a couple blisters, I was grateful I got to spend time with my friends at the Halloween party.
I walked to campus, slightly hungover, and very exhausted. Friday was the day that my friend Jacqui and I were going to record our first episode of Human Angle, and though I struggled to focus on the upcoming task, I was excited to see what we would make of it. As I met Jacqui outside the radio studio, we went over our script, discussing the life of Hedy Lamarr.
I can't go into too much detail, as I will spoil the podcast for you, but Hedy Lamarr is a famous 1940's actress who also happened to invent the technology for creating wifi and GPS. Jacqui and I decided to split up our script, me taking the first half of her story and Jacqui taking the latter half. After setting things up in the studio, Jacqui hit the record button and we began. Recording the episode was a lot of fun, as Jacqui and I have a natural banter, which helps us to make a smoother narrative of Hedy Lamarr's life. We discussed bigger key points that we thought were important to understand, hoping to make her appear more as a person and less as a celebrity. By the time we were done recording, our 20 minutes planned episode was 40 minutes long and needed a lot of editing. We sent the audio file to Jacqui's brother in Australia to edit, as he is a professional sound mixer. I decided however that for the next episode this coming week, I'd try my hand at mixing and see how it went. Stay tuned! 
As classes began after an uneventful weekend, my core practical class geared up for our presentations next week. We have to present in our groups four different types of media that for the past month we've been playing around with: TV studio, location TV, location radio, and radio studio. Honestly, and this is no surprise, but the radio studio was my favorite out of the four. And my group put me in charge of snipping out the radio studio parts we want to highlight. So a busy week ahead as I have another essay to write, a radio podcast to record and edit, and a radio studio snippet to create. Oh! And I'm also on air next week for our I, Science radio show. As next week is 11/11, and marking the anniversary of the end of World War I, we're doing a segment about science and war. Stay tuned as I will be talking about the Haber Process and Alan Turing. I promise to include the link for it in next week's blog. 
Until then, hopefully, I won't die of exhaustion, but I'm certainly not dying of boredom right now. 
Plus I need to find a job as well. 
Cheers, 
Kenna 

Week 7-Halloween planning and first essay due

Hello, lovelies!

I apologize for the blog being one day late. This week our first essay is due, and everyone is extremely stressed about it. The essay is for our class titled the Media Representation of Science. We have to study one topic and how it has been reported in one or more news outlets throughout a time period. My paper is on the reporting of prosthetics, and seeing if there is a change in the reporting due to 3D printing and tissue engineering technology. While my focus was more on a time period, many of my classmates looked at the tone of certain articles, whether it was positive or negative, or which news outlets produced which type of articles, right-wing papers or left-wing? I can officially say that my first essay has been sent off and is over with, but the process of research and the impending grading still looms over me.

I spent most of my week last week in the library or on campus. Over the weekend I shared desks with my friends Cristina and Sunita, as we all struggled through our research together. We shared many memes in order to add humor to our suffering.
On Saturday I did decide to give myself a break from writing by going to Kensington Gardens to read my book. It was a day that felt like something set in an Edgar Allan Poe novel. The wind kicked up moldering leaves onto my ankles. As I settled myself under a tree, I was greeted by the reality of a cold, damp, and slightly squishy ground to sit on. So much for a fun day of reading in the park! It only got worse when it started to rain around lunchtime. By then I had decided that I would rather be in my warm basement flat enjoying the rain out of the window than drenched under a tree.
Classes were normal for this week. Dr. Webster reminded us that besides our upcoming essay, his essay would be due in November, so thoughts of a break between assignments began to dwindle in my mind.
The nice thing is that there was an early Halloween party that happened last weekend for students looking for a break from writing. I, unfortunately, did not attend, but I enjoyed watching pictures of the very creative and unique Halloween costumes. We're having an actual Halloween party on Halloween, and I will hopefully post some pictures of my costume on next week's blog. I'm going as Black Widow, the Marvel Superhero.
As Halloween is tomorrow, I spent most of my day shopping at charity shops with some of my classmates. By now most of us are in denial about the essay, so it was nice to have a break with my friends. It's also amazing what you'll find in charity shops! From fuzzy blue scarves to long lacy dresses, I enjoyed being surprised by what the charity shops of London had to offer.
I did also have a job interview today, for the Illuminating Objects Internship at the Science Museum. The Science Museum pairs with the Courtauld Museum to display an art object from the Courtauld's archives, and has one student describe the science behind the artwork. It's amazing what past objects have been. They will let me know by Friday if I have the position, so fingers crossed. I felt the interview went well, but I don't want to assume I have the job.
Besides the upcoming Halloween Party, I am excited for this Friday, as it is the first episode that Human Angle, my new podcast will be recorded and released! Keep your eyes and ears open for the first episode!
So, happy early Halloween and until next week!
Stay Spooky!
Kenna

Week 6-House guest

Hello, lovelies!

This past week I had the pleasure of hosting my first house-guest, Franny. She is a friend I had back in high school and recently got a scholarship teaching English in Leipzig, Germany. Because she is so close to me, geographically, she decided to come to visit London, and I was more than happy to let her crash on my couch. I wasn't the best hostess, as I have had more homework than usual this past week, what with essays beginning to be due, but we still managed to have fun. Franny and I wandered around the Victoria & Albert Museum as one of her first days here. It was amazing to see some of the floors of the museum that I missed the last time. I literally could get lost in there for days! I recently also registered with their Art Library, so I would have somewhere quiet to study. However, I was told that they have a clear bag policy, and I could only bring pencils into the museum. Isn't that odd?
A couple days I left Franny to wander around the British Museum or the Parliament building on her own. Franny's background is in politics, so she really wanted to visit the Parliament building to see the government in session. While she was exploring, I took to the library, hunkering down to get some of my reading done for a class as well as start developing my new podcast.

This past week my friend Jacqui and I talked about starting a podcast. We hopefully will have the first episode up by next week, after we can figure out all the radio studio scheduling. The podcast is called Human Angle, and it goes into the hidden lives of famous, and not so famous, scientists. Our first subject of study is Hedy Lamarr, 1940's fashion model and inventor of...wifi? Crazy right?

Episodes will only be 20 minutes long, so they're perfect for a commute or a walk around town. Once the podcast is up, you'll be able to find it on iTunes, Spotify, stitcher and wherever you get your podcasts from.  So besides doing some researching on Hedy Lamarr, I've become somewhat proficient in sound-mixing, podcast marketing, and platform learning. Gotta love the internet!

On Friday, Franny and I joined some of my classmates at the White Horse pub down in Peckham Rye, very south London. Some of the students in my program who are from London wanted to show us their part of the city. Franny and I didn't stay very long, as we wanted to be at Parliament the next day for the Brexit vote. It was still fun to see everyone outside of class and to socialize. I'm pretty sure I may go deaf at some point if I keep going to pubs because they're so loud!

Some of my classmates

It may just be that I'm getting old, but I know all of us were yelling at each other just to hear everyone. By about 10:30, Franny and I headed back home, slightly tipsy and having a great time.


The next morning we went to Parliament. Weather-wise, it was a nice day to stand outside and watch protests over the vote. The sun was warm on our backs and the shade was cruel and unforgiving. The line inside was long, and it took us about two hours to get to the front. By the time we did get to the front, we were told that it would take at least another 3 hours to get in, and even then we would miss the vote on Brexit. Franny wanted to stay, and I decided to head home to get some more work done. I kept texting her throughout the day to make sure that she was okay.

She never got into the Parliament building that day but had a fun time watching the protests swell in the streets, as over 1 million people came to demonstrate. The tube lines were closed, so by the time she made it back, she had to do a bit of walking to find an open tube to move into.

The next day was Franny's last day, and so we decided to wander into the British Library and Regent's Park. It was a fairly chilly day to walk around, but it wasn't raining, so at least that was a bonus. The British Library was quiet for a Sunday, and we were able to spend a lot of time in their rare-book room. Since being there last, I could tell that some of the books had had pages turned to show different illuminations, such as in some of the medieval Bibles. I walked into a side room that I missed the first time to see a display of the Magna Carta.

Illuminations from medieval Bible

Amazing experience, and I was glad I found it. After wandering through the rare book room, we decided to walk over to Regent's Park, which was only 20 minutes away. As the clouds clustered together and the wind picked up, we wandered into the park, admiring all the dogs, the football and rugby players out for practice, and the yellowing leaves. Surprisingly, we paralleled the London Zoo and watched some camels enjoying their lunch in peace. I do have to say that Regent's Park has to be one of my favorite places and I'm excited to go back when it's warmer and do some writing. It definitely has a writing atmosphere to it.

As we finished our walk around the park we headed back south to Kensington. We found a cute burger restaurant with gluten-free buns to enjoy. Then back to the flat to watch the rest of this season's The Great British Bakeoff. For those of you who haven't seen the show, it's a huge hit over here and in the States and is a wholesome treat. I didn't think I would get that involved in the show, but I'm loving it. Franny is a huge fan too, so we watched it throughout her time here.
Monday, Franny and I parted ways, as she headed west to Wales and I headed east to school. I looked forward to seeing my classmates again and discussing the dreaded upcoming essays that were looming over us.
Here's hoping I don't die in my pile of readings.
Kenna