longest. day. ever.

it started the day before yesterday (saturday) when i tried to pack but all my clothes were still sorta wet and hanging to dry. i thought i'd wait so i could pack before the day i had to leave and not stress myself out. except i stayed up until 2, which became 3 because of daylight savings. so i slept. and left my clothes to hang.
so 8:30am rolls around and eike called to wake me up, because i needed to wake up but i wanted more than 5 1/2 hours sleep, but regardless, i was tired.
i had to meet helen and by the time i got back, it was 1pm. i had to get on the tube at 2:30 to heathrow and pack and eat lunch.
so with my handy sidekick don, i managed to get all of that done but not without me frantically running around headless-chicken-like for a little while.
so 2:30, got on the train and just sat in the most packed sunday, heathrow-bound train i've ever been on, having suddenly developed paranoia (thought someone was gonna steal my bag) which just made the train ride seem even longer. then the train broke down and we had to wait for another one, which resulted in a frantic people with suitcases knocking people over to get on the next train, which was already filled with people and suitcases.
4pm, arrived at heathrow to masses of people and not to wish me off, unfortunately. i got to the queue that looked like it would take me several weeks to get to the front of and just started waiting. (god, i hate waiting). every 15 minutes, a tiny woman with a large voice kept coming around the queue asking if people were leaving for "vancouver, calgary, oman, etc" and she pulled people out of the queue to go wait in a supposedly faster queue. however, she first assessed where in the line the people were, so the ones in the back, deemed more urgent, got to move to the front of the other queue whilst they hoped the people who actually got there on time would just get dealt with normally in the week-long queue. this created anger. people were angry. and the british are vocal. so clearly i was torn between drowning the sound out in my headphones and hearing "new york", which i resolved by opting for headphones and just watching the lady all the time.
5pm rolls around and she's only picked people going to new york from the back of the queue, me always being told that i'm close enough to the front (not true). at about 5:15 (flight was leaving at 6:05), i said, "excuse me, miss? i think if i wait in this line and then the security line, that i will miss my flight", to which she responded, "alright. come with me. we'll see if we have space for you."
i discovered 3 minutes later that the flight was overbooked and i'd have to be put on standby. and the other people waiting for me, who were on their honeymoon, were also being put on standby. and we were a little frustrated. more waiting. more waiting. waiting in different queues. brief comical interlude when the guy who asked me for my passport to enter me into the standby system asked me for my visa and i was like, "uhhh i'm american." and he responds, "yea, i know" (waving my passport), "your visa card, which you used to pay for the ticket." oh. ha.
so 5:35 and final call rolls around, ascertaining who would get on the flight. and my name was called. and the heavens sang. however not for the honeymooners. so i said goodbye and ran to, through and away from security.
5:50 and we were all still waiting for the plane to board but the honeymooners made it and all was well again. we sat down, sighed sighs of relief and then i fell asleep. but not before noticing that there was an empty seat next to me. this just pisses me off because, yes, i like extra room, but there were people waiting for seats at the airport and... well... they obviously didn't get on flights. stupid.
we arrived in jfk, with some time to spare (go pilot!) and more queues. not as bad for me, being AMERICAN and all, but they were way way waaay in the back so i just waved goodbye and went through.
as i waited for my bags, i heard my name called over the loudspeaker. i was instructed to go through customs and go to ba customer service desk about my bags. no. i refused to believe that my bags didn't make it. so i waited. until i realised it was kinda stupid to wait for bags that might be outside (because they decided the bag looked tired and probably belonged to a tired owner who just needed extra help).
so i handed my customs form in, went through and said, "i'm only going to tell you my name if the news is good." they asked me what flight i was on and i told them, and the said, "oh yea, some bags didn't make it. what's your name?" to be fair, they did call me honey, but i wasn't having it. "catherine lao" i said. and then they started oohing and ahhing and then laughing and they said, "oh that is so funny" and i said, "it's not that funny" and they said, "no.. we're looking for katherine lau... who is on the same flight." oh THAT is funny. and actually... kinda cool. i wanted to find katherine and take her and say, "we have the same name! and we were on the same flight! but you don't have your bags! that is funny!" but i didn't.
that was essentially the end of my day. after that, my mind shut off. i didn't realise it took me 2 hours to get to eryn's from jfk. regardless, here i am and well-rested.

arcade fire to come soon.
peas pandas

saturday march 3rd - the fratellis @ brixton academy

well, as much as you might expect from a new band who is high-energy and so very popular after just their first album, the concert was...well... high-energy and crowded and they played the songs that are on the album. that isn't to say that the concert wasn't good. it was definitely good. it just wasn't anything spectacular. to be fair, since the concert, i haven't been able to stop singing 'whistle for the choir', but having said that, i can listen to the exact same version on the cd so... think the strokes on their first album tour but without all the apparent boozing and knocking shit over. PLUS the fratellis have a brass band, and that is cool.

you might be wondering why i've included an incredibly boring picture for you here... well... it's a funny story. the lighting show was actually really cool and with a band like the fratellis, it's always fun to have pulsating lights in time with the beat. HOWEVER, i may have felt faint at some point during the show and had to sit down for a good portion of the remainder. so though my memories of the show are filled with bright colours and people jumping around and screaming, i was seated and the picture would have been... well... of people jumping around and screaming and not so much of the band or the stage. i think it was at a particularly strobe-y point in the show that i especially dizzy and i'm wondering who those signs that say, "warning, this show contains strobe effects" are meant for exactly.
anyway, show was alright, but i recommend the cd - it is very very very fun.

a little tale of heaven and hell

i went to brixton academy last night to see arcade fire - it was heaven. even with the tilted floor, i was still too short to see very much and apparently i am the shortest person in the world - it was not quite heaven.

that's all.

crunch time

ok people, several very important things are happening in the next 3 weeks. namely, i am going to see arcade fire at brixton academy. other than that, i just have an assload of projects to do before i head out.
so, what does this mean? besides a potential posting here and there (plus one i owe you from the fratellis concert), i will be on a truly tragic vacation, wishing i were sleeping.

panda out
zzzzzzzz