oxford: city of dreaming spires.

ah yes, the misery forgotten.

my mother has reminded me that if forgot to mention a minor panic attack i had on the bus to cardiff, during which i full expected to vomit all over myself, and, as it was a severely cramped space, would have been quite unfortunate for anyone in my near vicinity. i noticed brian shifting further and further away from me in his seat next to me. i could not have been happier to exit a vehicle.

and it rained. a lot. while we were in wales. the only time it did not rain was our day at treco bay. thank the good lord. so...our first night and only night there was miserable one could say. although oddly fitting, considering the whole weekend. see, there were two of us with umbrellas and three of us without. and it was quite cold. i fortunately had a scarf that made me look a bit muslim, but kept my head dry while the rest of me was cold. brian and kelline, however, were not quite so lucky. i do not recall the last time i saw someone look quite that pathetic. but we stayed strong. brian thanked me for being positive. i think i was desperate. but we found a wonderful pub there in cardiff, called the cottage and stayed there playing connect four and MASH for about two hours to try to warm ourselves up. then played CLUEDO (british clue) and pool at the hostel. we called it an early night around midnight but probably only got two to three hours sleep each max. thanks to the raucous nature of the hostel. the walls were literally shaking with people pounding up and down the stairs from the time we laid down until about 5 30 in the morning. i am not exaggerating. and at one point, a man burst into our room (we were not the only ones in there mind you) shouted something and then laughed and left again.

so it was quite the hostel experience. this should explain the extreme exhaustion that is evident in the pictures from wales i will post as soon as i can.
so...yes...there were some miserable bits. but really, it was a great experience. i do not regret it one bit. viva la wales.

ha. just a week in the life.

this week has allowed me to sit down and laugh at my life here just a bit. the oddities and unexpected delights. i traveled to wales last weekend, over a week now i mean. THE celtic music festival of wales, at treco bay, our reason for going, turned out to be nothing but a few small groups of dancers, a band, and some marching kilt-sporting bagpipers, but we had an amazing day on a beach there. and we got to eat at wagamamma's on sunday in london, which i love. best noodles in the world. wednesday i went back to london, for a movie premiere, for factory girl, with katie and leslie. it didn't happen either. apparently the website posted the wrong date and it is actually tonight in london. needless to say, i am sitting in my room in london. i will be missing it. leslie also did not find the boots she wanted. i did not find a nut man to buy nuts from. and the london eye was closed when we made it over there to redeem our ridiculous trip. but we spent almost an hour making friends with two police officers in leicester square that said if i got hit by a bus it would be a great loss to mankind, a beautiful flower that never had the chance to bloom. i thought that was nice. and we got to eat with sarah amelang, ms. camille and elizabeth, which the three of us enjoyed thoroughly. we sat on the steps under the london eye sticking yogurt covered raisins up our noses...well...i did. and we got ben and jerry's shakes at piccadilly circus, where i stood outside the theatre that daniel radcliffe, aka harry potter, is performing in. i am determind that is not as close to him as i will get. and we made it home around midnight. i spent friday afternoon with sarah and ms. camille and elizabeth here in oxford, and got to eat at the eagle and child, my favorite haunt, and got ice cream and saw christ church cathedral. it was absolutely wonderful having them here, and ridiculous combination as always. i spent all day saturday painting an old british man's kitchen, which was quite a little ordeal, but a lot more fun than i anticipated. he was fun and had excellent taste in music. he had seen jim morrison live in london.
then sunday morning capped it all off. i slept in (i go to church at night) and woke up and was reading when i started smelling smoke...but i ignored it. people are stupid. always leaving stoves on and burning things. but the smell got stronger. and the fire alarm started going off. this is like...the fifth time, but this time it wouldnt stop. and the smell got really strong. so i went out into the hall, and saw smoke coming up the stairs from the guys floor below me so i run down the stairs. i get down there..its only a few stairs and trevor comes out of his room and then brian, in his boxers, appears out of the kitchen followed by some white billowing smoke. i went to look in the kitchen but was overcome by coughing. i have never seen that much smoke in a room.
so i go back upstairs to heat up water for tea to clear my insides and opened the window in my kitchen and lean out to watch smoke coming out of the window below me, as that is the guys kitchen. and i look up to see a double decker red tour bus driving by the house down our street, which i hadnt realized they had done before. its not exactly a busy street by any means. and the people stared at me. and i realized. i was a sight. for them. some oxfordian girl hanging out a window with her cup of tea. and so i waved. they waved back. and the smoke poured on out the window below me.
brian had burned sausages. so i got to sing "brian started the fire" which made my day. if youve seen the office, you understand.
it was a good day. a good week.
in oxford.

"oh, sweet paris."

| View Show | Create Your Own