A Mad Dash

Well folks, I’m back.
I needed a day or two to recover from the last week, still not fully there but this is what I've got.


I’m going to this one a little differently than my normal huge giant update, I am just going to give an overview of what I did and saw, and then we will discuss my internal insanity.

My mom sister got here on the 28th in the morning, which made Friday a very long day. I got up early, met them at the airport at 8, brought them back to campus, sent them off to the hotel, had class from 11-4, packed up and went into London. When I got there we went on a nice walk past a bunch of landmarks that are cool at night and nobody really goes into on a one week trip anyway, Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, China Town, Piccadilly Circus. We rode the London Eye, which is really beautifull at night, and I am sure very romantic, which was a bit tough for me (trust me I have some stuff to write about that feeling later). We ate in Chinatown, pretty decent little dinner, pretty light night.

Day two was really interesting; we saw a few kind of out of the way things. We woke up early and walked down Portobello Road. It’s a pretty interesting street, antiques, food; I don’t know ,that’s about it, but its quaint and cute, and worth being to at least once in a life. After that we went to Abbey Road to visit the studio where a large portion of the music that has influenced my life was recorded. I say this in all honesty, I have stood in front of Big Ben and been humbled, been to Stonehenge and gotten chills, stood in front of the American embassy and felt patriotic, but the humblest of buildings on Abbey Road is the first place I have been since I have been over here that actually choked me up. I had that lump in my throat and my vision was clouded with tears. It is hard to say why certain things affect people in certain ways, but the Beatles mean a great deal to me. I know that the snobby record store employees out there are going to perpetually make fun of Beatles fans but there is a reason I stopped hanging out with those folks. The words and music just ahvea profound affect on me and drive me to emotion.

After that we went and visited another place that has undoubtedly made an impact on my life, though not in the same direct way. We went to Sigmund Freud’s London residence. He only lived there for a year, after being chased out of his native Austria by the Nazis. But the exhibits were interesting; his couch was there, a room showing home movies being narrated by his daughter Anna. It was all fascinating. So much history in this one town. After lunch we went to this hip little area of the seven dials called Neil’s yard. It was a neat little place, a bunch of hippy/hipster kind of places. Then we went back to the hotel for a nap and dinner. Then sleep for the big trip ahead.

Day three began with quite the undertaking, we went out to the airport and I rented a car. And Holy Shit I was driving, on the wrong side of the road! It was actually not as scary or as hard as I thought it would be. The roundabouts that everyone made out to be so scary, work exactly like the one’s on MSU’s campus, they just flow in the opposite direction and there are more cars. I rented an automatic, so that was no big deal. I think it is the way my brain is wired but because I learn things in a more integrated way and not wrote style (especially the concept of left and right) the opposite thing felt very natural just because I was sitting on that side of the car. I had more difficulty getting used to the size of the car. Remember until the 30th I hadn’t sat in a car let alone driven in about two months. And the last car I drove was my tiny little Celica (which I miss) and now I was sitting in a four door Vauxhall.

We went to Oxford, which was cool. It is a super old college town. That’s about it. Old architecture, dorky but insanely smart student body. And then to Stratford-Upon-Avon, NOT Stratford, there are like 30 Stratford’s in this country and I now have gotten directions to all of them. It was fine, I am not really a Shakespeare kind of guy, just never has been my cup of tea, so it was fine, but not really inspiring or anything.

Then on to Bath.

Ok, if you ever have to drive in this city, don’t, that’s it just don’t. It is Insane. Also if you have to navigate don’t let your mom and sister try to home in on a hotel using only a Rick Steve’s walking map that doesn’t indicate one ways or closed streets. It took us an hour to find the hotel once we got into the city. I was so upset. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. But it was all worth it because I got to see Fiona! My sweet British friend. It is the first time I have seen her since I have been here and the first time in 3 years. It is good for me to have good friends and she is one of them. She has no problem telling me things I dont want to hear and still being very kind and generous. We had some great laughs and some hard talks, and I am definitely better for having done both. We went to her house and met her parents who were very nice and it was fun to be in a British home.

The next day we spent in Bath. It is an awesome city. We did a bus tour in the morning, all around town by the Roman Baths and Abbey, up into the hills, down some famous streets; I was able to actually climb up Solsbury Hill, famous in that song that I feel so close to for my own bizarro reasons. We went into the roman baths, and the abbey later in the day. And I had some good time with my friend Fi.

The next day we drove to Stonehenge and Bournemouth. Stonehenge I am not going to say anything about other than you have to have been there to get it. Bournemouth is a seaside town on the southern coast. It is always good for me to stand near big water. I need that every once and a while to recharge me and ground me. Then back to London where my mom and sister checked back into a hotel and I headed back to Uxbridge for the night. I needed some me time as well as to get started on my three formative essays that were due on Thursday and Friday. I had in actuality started on them, but they were far from done and I had to haul ass on them.

On Wednesday I met Heather and Mom in the city for one last day of free tourism (thanks mom). We went to the British library, which is actually free, and very cool. It’s akin to our National Archives. Magna Charta, Beatles documents, original manuscripts from Shakespeare, Chaucer and others. Maps, and religious documents it’s just so cool to see these things in person. Then we went over to the Tower of London, which is fun. We had a really cool tour guide, and it is one of those places you kind of just have to let go and enjoy, I don’t really care about the crown jewels, but its kind of intriguing. We had lunch at this place across the street at a pub, which was really cool, and then I headed back to Brunel for classes and Papers for three days.

Class and papers were fine. I hate busy work, and when it comes right down to it I feel like that’s what the papers were for me. I understand and respect their intended purpose I just couldn’t get myself excited for topics that I didn’t care and were assigned because they had to assign something.

Friday after class I met Heath and Mom at their B&B and brought them over to show them campus and town, we ate at my favorite little Indian place. Woke up early had breakfast with them in town and saw them off to the airport.


It was really awesome to have them here and I am really glad they came. It was nice to see mom relax and my sister have fun. That being said it was also very difficult. It was an unfortunate coincidence they picked the week all of those papers were due because that really stressed me, but more than that their presence brought out a lot of feelings that I just had left at home. I don’t know that I am going to get into them all tonight but seeing them and Fi really brought up a lot of Kate stuff that I just haven’t allowed myself to think about. I kind of left it at home with them. I am feeling really alone and hurt right now, something I want to feel because I want to understand and move on, but it was/is definitely difficult. It was also hard to have these people who have not been part of my scheme of London/Brunel/Now suddenly thrust into my daily life. I have changed, moved, become a more honest me, and family for some reason seems to bring out a part of me I don’t like so much. Something to work on I suppose but also something to know about my experiences.

Well there ya go folks. That’s a whole lot of words for ya. My computer says 1600. It also says I am writing like a 6th grader. Awesome. Just the boost my ego needed this week.

I am drained, tired and here.

Next week I am going to France to see if I can get them to stop their shenanigans, and then up to Scotland to see my old buddy H.H.D.L. I will get you all more frequent updates this week and next, I promise. Till then take care, and send me some love, I need it.

Hold fast to dreams,
for if dreams die,
life is like a broken winged
bird that cannot fly.
-Langston Hughes-