Something I really want to do

Independent Exploring: Camden Market

For the long weekend, while most of our class was away in Belfast, my friend Monique came up from Germany to visit. We spent our Saturday, along with her friend Cleo who is working as an au pair in London, at the Camden Market.

Camden Town had very little to offer until the early 1970s when it became a hub for the punk-rock movement. Today it offers street markets filled with nearly everything imaginable, from quintessential touristy trinkets to vintage clothes, Lolita and Harajuku fashion, beautiful paintings, rugs, countless food stalls and more. We explored as soon as we got off the Tube, walking up the street past numerous vendors. From stall to stall, store to store, the music changed ranging from the punk rock that made the area famous to EDM, classic rock, Latin, and more. The whole area was extremely colorful– there was street art and even shops were decorated so they stood out with bright colors and animals like dragons and elephants above the entrances of some. Eventually, we reached an area off the streets where the market continued with several more stalls and small stores. Monique and Cleo had already eaten lunch with Cleo’s host family, but I was happy to see how many vegan stalls there were.

We explored several stores, even stopping in one vintage clothing shop and had an almost 80s-like montage of trying on different hats and sunglasses. I didn’t find anything there, but later I found a stall that bought vintage denim jackets and embroidered them. I ended up buying one there for twenty pounds with “Rebel Rebel” stitched on the back (David Bowie felt very appropriate there). It seemed every turn we took there was more stuff; the market never ended. Monique and I also went into a photo booth. Although it was crowded there, it didn’t feel like there were too many people. Apart from tourists, whose ages varied, the majority of the people there seemed to be around our age. Overall we had a really great time and I would recommend Camden Market to anybody who is interested in shopping in a more alternative scene. Although it is touristy now and many of the things sold there are a bit kitschy, there are some gems if you look for them.

Cultural Experience: Britain and Socialism

Something I noticed during my time here in London is the fact that unlike in the U.S., “socialist” isn’t a dirty word. While I haven’t spoken to any native Brits about their opinions on the matter (politics is a tricky subject to discuss with anyone, especially strangers) I’ve seen numerous adverts on the streets for things like Marxism 2019– “a festival of socialist ideas,” a Karl Marx walking tour, other socialist events being held by universities in Bloomsbury, and a socialist newspaper stand on the day we went to Westminster Abbey as we walked by the Trump protests.

I found this so interesting because while there are more progressive politicians now who are using the term in some way (typically as “Democratic-socialist” rather than full-blown “socialist”), it is still very much a word of controversy in the United States, one that brings back images of the Second Red Scare, of the Hollywood 10, of Russian spies, of extreme fear that our democracy in the states could somehow collapse if citizens were given rights to things like free healthcare. I had heard before that the United States was the only country in which the idea of socialism had immediately abhorrent connotations, but nonetheless, the sheer normalcy of socialism as a political ideology is very interesting to me and was not something I expected or intended to observe, but just kept seeing again and again on the streets of London. I likely won’t speak to anyone about their political ideologies while here as it was recommended we avoid doing so, but still, based on sheer observation, the political climate here differs quite a bit in this way from the United States.

Review: The Globe’s 2019 production of Henry IV: Part 1

Admittedly, I had high expectations for Henry IV: Part 1 and so perhaps for that reason it came up so short for me. We were going to see it at the Globe and we had already watched two extremely excellent Shakespeare productions at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Bridge Theatre. While these factors might have elevated my expectations, I think regardless, the Globe Theatre’s production of Henry IV: Part 1 was objectively subpar.

Changing genders in a play can be an extraordinary way to explore and create entirely new dynamics for characters and their relationships. Unfortunately, this play did none of those things, nor did it in any apparent way even attempt to. The genderbent leads, Prince Hal, Hotspur, and Falstaff were simply played as men. Giving women lead roles traditionally played by men and playing it the same as one might with men cast in the roles isn’t inherently bad, but it’s certainly a missed opportunity as far as doing something more interesting with the roles goes. The leads were not the only characters to be cast as the opposite gender– two others were Mistress Quickly and Glendower’s daughter, otherwise known as the Welsh Lady. Both times, this gender change is only played for laughs rather than anything meaningful for the production. Mistress Quickly was dressed up enough as a woman that the actor appeared feminine, but not so much that the audience would not recognize that the actor was indeed a man in order to spark laughter from the audience, which sort of worked. Later in the play, Mistress Quickly speaks a line about being a true woman with a knowing look at the audience who, of course, knows she is being portrayed by a he. To me, this had negative and dangerous implications. The Welsh woman being portrayed by a man without any attempt to cover the fact the actor playing the role was male was another cheap gag at gender that was not actually very funny at all.

Something else I really disliked about this production was the portrayal of Hotspur and Lady Kate. What makes their relationship interesting to see on stage is their quick-witted, playful jabs at one another and shared passion. Once again, this production did not do any of this. Instead, Lady Kate was simply clingy and desperate for her husband’s love while he had only disdain and mockery to offer her. Nothing about this was enjoyable to watch; instead, it was just a bit sad and made Hotspur come across as less likable.

Another smaller issue I had was with the fact that Hotspur’s uncle was portrayed by a man who looked to be in his early twenties while Hotspur’s actress had to be at the very least in her thirties. The actors in the production were not necessarily bad, but the overall direction they seemed to have been given and the way the play was staged was just not great. While the play could have been serious and made its audience legitimately care about the outcome of a literal war, it relied too heavily on humor, often cheap humor, to entertain and overall was of a much lower quality than what one would expect from a renowned Shakespeare theatre.

We learn ethics, but we don’t study it. We learn it by experience. Ethics is not a word to be explained by a simple “who”, “what”, “when”, and “where”, but to be answered by “how” and “why”. It teaches us right from wrong, moral from immoral. In life, we gain knowledge through experiences. Experience is what we get in life. Without it, we have nothing to live for. Living a life without experience is useless, senseless. What do we have to live for? Nothing. For us to learn, we should experience first. Experience is the best teacher. It teaches us life. It doesn’t tell us what life is, but tells us how life is. Experiences can be good or bad. Yes, we experience both to have a balanced life. According to Albert Einstein, it’s just like riding a bicycle. In order to stay balance, we should keep moving. And by moving, we keep on experiencing. Through experiences in life, we learn that what may come and go, ethics is part of life. A just example to this topic is love. Do we study love? No. We don’t study it because it cannot be studied. In order to know love, we need to feel it. And by feeling it, we would learn and understand what love is. Another example, though it is still under the category of love, is how to love and be loved. We also don’t study those. We never study  those. There are no rules, such as a step-by-step procedure, for  us to carry out or to take orders from. Does an accepted and proven study shows that we should and that we are obliged? None. Simply because it cannot be. Not all things in life are guaranteed for us to follow and study in order to acquire and gain knowledge. There are certain things that are bound for us to learn without the sense of studying, but must be taught by and through experiences in life. With these, we learn ethics.

Chastity Assignment #2

You will write your mother’s first name 1,000 times; individually numbered.

After you’re finished, you will write her an empowering letter, assuring her confidence as a mother. Two pages or a thousand words.

*send pictures for completion*

*Send digital text copy of letter for corrections*

Chastity Assignment #1

Write an apology letter to your ex. Empower her. Remember: it’s all your fault. If hand written, type out the letter and send it to me.If text, send me the screenshots.

*expect corrections

Bonus: Tell her about chastity. Screenshots mandatory.

#chastityassignment1 #assignment

Send me a photograph of a realistic dildo:

-between your exposed tits

-rubbing against your cunt lips

-pushing against your asshole

-in your mouth

Your choice, slut.

You took the kids to the pool?  Sneak off to the restroom, pull your tits out of your suit and snap me a pic. Do it.

electron transport chain / oxidative phosphorylation

Designed + drew this electron transport chain(ETC)/oxidative phosphorylation diagram for my Microbiology assignment! The criteria was to draw a diagram based on one of the topics given regarding microbial metabolism + explain it to children in a primary school. It was quite fun to brainstorm ideas for the design + it took me 3 days to complete it. I tried to use food as my theme b/c no kids can resist sweets + snacks right? Hahahah

I had replaced:

• Protein complexes I, III + IVasboba teas/bubble teas
• Protein complex II as a cake
• Cytochrome c as a cake as well
• ATP synthase as a combination of two cakes linked together by a biscuit stick
• Hydrogen ions as the golden (honey) bobas
• Hydrophilic head of phospholipid bilayer as hard-boiled eggs
• Hydrophobic tails of phospholipid bilayer as fries

PS: I used some pictures from laoren-chen and a few textbooks as references! So, credits to them :)