Jason's Daily Notes

Today I woke up late, and for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel like getting out of bed. I felt content and satisfied.

Then:
I voted.
I followed up with my interview last evening.
I cleaned up (last night we had a get-together for Swag's birthday).
I heard back from my interview yesterday - I got a job offer! :) Minimum wage, but it's something!

Now to help Swag move to Fernanda's; then we'll be partying like it's halloween!

Suddenly the weather has turned full winter! It has broken below the coldest night temperatures in SoCal. And it is supposed to be around freezing this weekend - just perfect for Halloween!!! 😓

I woke up feeling paranoid, worried, and guilty. Not a good way to start the day. I realize that I have been going out and drinking almost every night and I needed to take some time to organize myself, because I honestly have been regretting a lot of things that I have been doing.

I spent the day at home, continuing the job search, which was boring, frustrating, and depressing. I feel like I have no goal and that I'm lost drifting in a sea of uncertainty, while my classmates have already gotten themselves onto a proper career path. (Anyway, I have way too much time to wallow in worry and self-pity, which no one should ever do! I need to snap out of it.) Needless to say, I was having a negative day. I called home and talked with my uncle for nearly an hour. We are both lonely at home by ourselves (my mom is still in Brazil/Argentina).

I had an appointment to regiester with the local GP, so I went there at 4:45pm. Swag texted me to come to the pub at 6pm, he had some good news to celebrate! I rushed over, texting Mike and Amanda to come too. I took the bus to Monument and walked over to Bank, finding Swag after a couple minutes, and Amanda right after that. I managed to avoid drinking, sticking to water with the burger I ordered. (While checking in at the GP, the nurse told me that I had high blood pressure, so I need to cut down on my salt intake.) Mike came shortly thereafter, biking from his work; Amanda had to leave to meet a friend at the Tate Britain; and Fernanda arrive after half an hour or so. (We always invite Fernanda out and end up going home right after). Mike was tired, so he went home. Sandy arrived and we chatted for an hour or two, trying to convince him to hire me (or to start a web series based on me).

Went home, and Mike and I stayed up for a little bit making the eyebands for our costume. I was still feeling pretty negative, so Mike ended up doing most of the work. I feel bad about it - I feel like I'm being a bad friend.

It was Fernanda's birthday.

I went to Brixton during the day to buy fabric for our Ninja Turtle costumes. There were several fabric stores, and I visited all of them to compare prices and to find the best shades of red, blue, purple, and orange (which wasn't easy).

I was pretty much free for most of the afternoon, so I tried to meet up with Fernanda, but she was busy shopping and getting ready for the evening.

Mike returned and we made some dinner (vegetable stir fry - for which I accidentally used Kayleen's sauce!). And then we headed out to Shoreditch, meeting Amanda on the bus. We walked to the Old Blue Last, sort of getting lost due to the construction by Liverpool Street, and there was a big queue outside! Luckily the queue was for the music upstairs, not the bar downstairs. So we found Fernanda and company sitting in the side room. We had a chill evening, no one getting too drunk or dancing, but it was good nonetheless. Giulia (Fernanda's friend) had a Vice discount card thanks to her boyfriend. We all left around 11-ish, as the bar closed down. Mike, Amanda, Ludo, and I took the bus home together, grabbing some food on the way at Liverpool Street.

I spent the day nursing a hangover. Laura stuck around with me, staying at home as I was trying to go about my business. It was somewhat annoying.

I had thought that I had lost my camera at Walkabout, but it was at home the whole time! I also received a phone call from a recruiter, saying that there was a possible opening at another big company that I was very interested in. We walked over toward Oval, where we got some Indian food at Oval Tandoori, which was really delicious, even though the restaurant was completely empty at lunchtime. We walked back, and as I was washing my bedsheets, she fell asleep on my bed. I needed to do something, so I just went for a walk to and around Brixton, discovering much of the market and the neighborhood itself. I returned maybe two hours later, and Laura was still there. She woke up and discovered that she was pretty late to meet her friend in Greenwich. So she finally rushed out. She also had plans to have dinner with some wealthy American friend from Connecticut, so she did.

That evening, I met up with Mike at Primark on Oxford Street. We had finally decided on a costume (TMNT) and were going to buy the parts of the costume itself. We didn't find anything in the right color at Primark, nor at Uni Qlo, Topshop, or JD Sports. Swag met up with us at H&M, where we found a matching green outfit (shirt and pants, which Mike tried on and modeled for us) and decided to buy the pants. Then, Swag suggested we go to Sports Direct, which was just down the street. There, we found lots of brightly colored clothes for much cheaper than at any other store! It was perfect! We rushed around, and Mike took the lead in finding the best clothes, and within half an hour, we had a full outfit selected, shorts, socks, shirt, and some funny boxers to wear over. Awesome!

Swag and I grabbed some food (roti rolls) at a shop on the way home. Swag went back to Sandy's, and Mike bought some kebab from the store near our house.

Laura messaged me around 11pm saying that she was still at her friend's place, far away (beyond Greenwich) and that it would take her some time to come home and pick up her bags (she was going to the airport overnight). What the fuck!? I wanted to sleep. Her phone was out of credit too, so she couldn't even call me. She used a stranger's phone to call me at 1:30am, because she was (yet again) lost. Needless to say, I was unhappy.

After another night of drinking, I woke up tired as usual. I haven't been getting enough sleep. After a slow start, Laura and I went to Oxford Circus to do some shopping (I returned my coat to H&M, and ordered the same coat online, saving nearly £30!). Laura loves to shop. We grabbed some coffee/hot chocolate at the Starbucks inside New Look. Then, we took a bus to Trafalgar Square, from where we walked over to Westminster and checked out the Houses of Parliament, etc.

We hopped on a bus to get to Piccadilly, where we met Fernanda. We then walked over through St. James's area, where I took care of some business at a Lloyds bank, and Laura and Fernanda had some "girl talk." Fernanda was contacted by a recruiter offering a potentially very high-paying job. Then, we headed to Buckingham Palace, took some pictures. Hungry, but poor, we decided to return home to cook some dinner.

The plan for the evening was to go to Walkabout. There was free entry before 8pm, which I really wanted to make. So, I became rushed and stressed, and it began to stress everyone else out. This was bad, and I felt really guilty about it. Fernanda and Laura bought ingredients for spaghetti bolognese, and we rushed home and started cooking immediately. It was only 5:30 or so. The girls cooked, the food was ready soon, and we scarfed down our portions. We finished our food just a few minutes before Mike arrived. And then, I realized that we didn't leave any food for Mike to eat! I thought that we had, but Laura didn't even think of it. I had eaten too much food; that should have been Mike's! It was partly my fault for not telling her, but nevertheless, Mike had to cook his own food, and he was not happy. I was not happy. Fernanda left, to go home. But I ran out, talked to her at the bus stop, and got her to return.

We then all went out to the Walkabout, making it just in time. (Mike, Laura, and Fernanda ran there, but I was too full from all the food.) I met Amanda right in the queue. There were £2 drinks all night, so needless to say, plenty was drank. Including tequila shots. I don't think I need to go into details. It ended up crazy, and we enjoyed dancing. Luis was there. Laura's friend Jessica from Peru arrived. Mike and Fernanda left. I ended up going home with Laura, not too late (we still got the tube), but thanks to tequila, we were totally smashed. Passed out.

Saturday, 20 October 2012
I recovered a bit from Friday night's Rockaoke. Swag, Mike, Fernanda, Laura, Mel, and I left the house together and went to Borough market. we got some lunch (Springbok burgers, except for Fernanda, who loves zebras and couldn't eat such weird meat). Mike left soon; he had to meet his mom and stepdad.

The rest of us finished our food and, after buying some coffee (and a canned G&T for Laura). We walked over to the Tate Modern (to use the toilets!) while Swag picked up some things from the M&S. Then, after a bit of a wait, we caught the RV1 bus to Tower Bridge and walked back along the river to London Bridge, where we caught the tube. We then went to Camden Town. We strolled through the markets, and then met up with Mike, his mom, and his stepdad (Wim) for a couple minutes. They split off, to have dinner near Leicester Square, whereas the rest of us sat down at a pub (Fernanda's feet were killing her). There, we had some drinks and I introduced everyone to the game "psychiatrist," which was pretty fun! We ended up staying there for a while, so we skipped walking through the rest of Camden Market and the Stables.

We walked up the high street, because I suggested that we get dim sum at the delicious place that I went to. We passed by a costume shop, which had a lot of costumes. (We still had no idea what to be for Halloween, and it was really racking my brain.) We headed back to the dim sum place, and ordered food (but I couldn't remember exactly what we had that was so delicious). Mike joined us.

Exhausted, we all returned home. Laura went out to the Ministry of Sound.

Sunday, 21 October 2012
Mike left to meet his mom and stepdad for Sunday services at Westminster Abbey. Swag and I took some time to get up, but by 12 I had woken up Laura (who managed to make it home alright around 6:30am). The three of us then went over to Brick Lane, where we met Fernanda. Very hungry, Swag and I each had the large order of Tibetan food. Laura had a plate of Ethiopian and an order of Vietnamese ginger chicken, while Fernanda had pad thai. Mike and his family were also there; they joined us with their own orders of pad thai! (And then they left on their own; Mike seemed somewhat stressed and rushed. He wasn't as enthusiastic about showing his mom around as he was with his dad.)

The four of us then went to the park near Brick Lane, which we really enjoyed! Then, we returned home. Swag had to finish packing his stuff and move over to Sandy's that evening.

In the evening, we went to "Bedlam," an underground art exhibition at the Old Vic Tunnels just below Waterloo. Laura and I got on the bus, and Amanda and Ludo got on with us too. At the station, we met Fernanda and Mike (with his mom and stepdad) at the McDonald's. Amanda met her friend (Hazim?) and we walked around together (getting somewhat lost) to the exhibition. It was very cool, and surreal. There was an "electrocution" chair and a swing. It was all-around great. Mike and his mom + stepdad left for dinner at Walkabout Temple. The rest of us went to a pub (The Wellington) for some food (I had pretty good fish and chips) and drinks. Fernanda's friend Luis joined us too.

ROCKARAOKE tonight! It was rainy, so I stayed inside. In the late afternoon, I walked over to Tesco to buy some pizzas and drinks for the pre drinking at our place. Kayleen was there before I was. Lilly and her friend Bernadette (from Netherlands) arrived. Lilly invited me to drive with her to Belgium! Then, Ludo came. Fernanda was lost in the rain, but somehow we found her. Then, after a little bit, Swag arrived, fresh on the train from Belgium! He brought packs of cheap Belgian beer. It was already 7:45, so time to go! I rustled everyone together, already tipsy, and we made our way over to Stockwell to tube it to Kensington. Fun times. Kristine met us at the tube station. We made to the pub just in time, around 8:45. There were signups for songs. Philip was there - cool! I was THE FIRST ONE TO SING. Holy shit! I blasted out a moderately drunken version of "Livin' on a Prayer". Most of our group got to sing, but not Fernanda! They didn't give a free drink for singers :/ There was a random girl who grabbed me and started making out with me. After everyone had already sang, Mike arrived with our couchsurfer, Laura from Finland. Soon the night ended, people parted ways, and although the girls wanted to keep the night going, Mike, Swag, Ludo and I were all going home. Swag got his jacket stolen :( so instead, he took another guy's jacket. In the pocket, was a fleshlight - yuck! But it made for a hilarious journey home on the night bus. Fernanda slept over, with Laura.