at least there's always dream cake
and my vision for a geology shop
on wednesday i had a day off work, so I set about having the Perfect Olivia Day, a tried and true recipe of cake and geological wonders.
i booked at ticket for the natural history museum, entering at 10am on the dot with all the other enthusiasts. one of the team working there was grinning a toothy smile, saying “come on in, you crazy people!” with a bit more enthusiasm than was warranted for the occasion, but it made me smile.
naturally i went straight to the mineral room, which, at 10am on a wednesday, is unsurprisingly quiet. my plan that day was to draw, and draw i did:
rocks are hard to draw because, really, you get to a point where you realise you could just sort-of freestyle it and it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference to the outcome. anyway, i looked through the minerals and rocks and drew some i liked.
my favourites were these three pebbles from brazil. they felt like they had a story of friendship to tell. maybe like the homeward bound of pebbles.
as expected, i grew tired of the mineral room. there’s only so many minerals a gal can take! my next port of call was the british geological survey shop, to squander my dwindling pounds on perhaps, a copy of GEOLOGY FOR DUMMIES (which absolutely exists). it was a sad moment when i realised that the shop was gone forever, now located online. the information point had also been relocated upstairs.
it’s funny being a non-geologist geology fan, with none of the technical jargon and all of the enthusiasm. i would love there to be a space that could be easily accessed by the public, which was colourful and fun and also educational, where people could buy books and talk to experts and, i don’t know, buy bedazzled rock hammers. a place where complete novices felt at home, and we all just wanted to share stories and information with each other.
i guess the museum is kind of a space like that, but i want something smaller and cosier. with storytelling events and scientists and music and beanbags which look like boulders. i only got to visit the BGS shop once before it closed down but it felt like a nice place, although an academic place. it would be cool to create something more open and fun.
if i ran a geology information shop, it would be decorated like this, with big murals, art for sale and items like this:
and, of course, books and maps.
anyway, mildly put-out and hungry, i got back on track by visiting one of my favourite cafes in london. lately in my adventures i have discovered that my most favourite place for coffee is this little cafe in kensington, called hjem (which is danish for home). the coffee is good, but the very very very best part is this cake called DREAM CAKE, which i believe is called drømmekage in danish. it’s a vanilla sponge with caramelised coconut on top and it is a literal dream. hence the name.
when all else fails, dream cake.
music news
i am still writing geology songs! will have a demo for you all next week about ‘ruined marble’ which is quite cool
also i am looking for places to play in scotland in july! if you know of anything, or wish to host a house concert, then send me an email
things i liked
✶ one of my friends told me that they ended up reading an entire academic essay about knights depicted fighting snails in the margins of medieval texts. he said it ended up being completely irrelevant to his phd but, nonetheless, knights fighting snails
✶ i saw this today:
and it reminded me of this twitter discussion about exchanging gifts with birds.
✶ your instagram pic of the week:
that’s all for this week! have fun, be good,
olivia 🍰