As I sit here in the polygon by Turlington, the sun keeps on dancing in and out of the clouds, his light growing bright and dim by turns. The wind is brisk, and though the walls shelter me, tree branches wave above me and I see the clouds racing each other across the sky.
For awhile I closed my eyes and pretended I was back in London - sitting against the pedestal of the Trafalgar Lions, the National Portrait Gallery to my right and the embassy behind me. Buses continually drive past, adding to the illusion, and skateboards over brick sound like British cars on the cobbles.
The chatter is plentiful and gay, and indistinct enough so that accents are irrelevant. Two smokers sit nearby, and the warm smell of tobacco mingles with petrol fumes in a truly English manner.
But it is merely an illusion, and when I open my eyes, I am still in America. I could easily be in worse places, but the paper folded at my side screams of bankrupt corporations, lying presidential candidates and murder.
I hear rumors and whispers as I walk, and I mark them down to investigate later.
Is Thabo Mbeki stepping down? I hope so, as long as the successor is not his own handpicked deputy degenerate.
The bell tolls the half, and I must go.
Until we meet again...
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
shaky foundations indeed
My head is spinning and I know by morning it will ache. My roommates have called a roommate meeting for 8pm tomorrow to sign the roommate contract, and I dread having the thermostat permanently stuck at 70. If it is, however, I have my parents' permission to search for new housing, because living sick is extremely detrimental to both my grades and my sanity.
I dread confrontation.
I haven't painted in days, nor sketched, nor written. A test looms on the morrow, and another the day after, and a quiz the day after that. On the horizon a blissful Saturday of football beckons, but the treacherous stretch I must endure on the way precludes me from anticipating it more than in a snatched moment of prayer.
My throat is already tightening. I should've brought sweats from home this weekend.
There are far too many St. Benedicts. There are far too many saints, and not enough time to study them all. So Benedict of Aniane was a favorite of the Carolingian and a key man in the sweeping Benedictine Reform of Charlemagne...and St. Benedict, the obscure Italian abbott wrote his Benedictine Rule based off of the Rule of the anonymous Master...but what did Benedictine Biscop do? I can't remember. Who was the great man of Jarrow? Wileth? I can't remember either.
I dread tomorrow.
There is still a horrid mark on the back of my leg from wearing my knee brace two weekends ago. I say that you grow used to pain, but when it shifts constantly, it becomes more difficult to ignore.
Bedtime - they say there is no rest for the weary, but if I can't sleep within the hour I'll resort to my trusty friend Tylenol PM to rest myself somewhat adequately.
Adieu...
I dread confrontation.
I haven't painted in days, nor sketched, nor written. A test looms on the morrow, and another the day after, and a quiz the day after that. On the horizon a blissful Saturday of football beckons, but the treacherous stretch I must endure on the way precludes me from anticipating it more than in a snatched moment of prayer.
My throat is already tightening. I should've brought sweats from home this weekend.
There are far too many St. Benedicts. There are far too many saints, and not enough time to study them all. So Benedict of Aniane was a favorite of the Carolingian and a key man in the sweeping Benedictine Reform of Charlemagne...and St. Benedict, the obscure Italian abbott wrote his Benedictine Rule based off of the Rule of the anonymous Master...but what did Benedictine Biscop do? I can't remember. Who was the great man of Jarrow? Wileth? I can't remember either.
I dread tomorrow.
There is still a horrid mark on the back of my leg from wearing my knee brace two weekends ago. I say that you grow used to pain, but when it shifts constantly, it becomes more difficult to ignore.
Bedtime - they say there is no rest for the weary, but if I can't sleep within the hour I'll resort to my trusty friend Tylenol PM to rest myself somewhat adequately.
Adieu...
Monday, September 15, 2008
I will remember you
RIP Paul Lazarowitz
I can't believe you're gone. You were fighting so hard...I believed that you could do it. You are the most positive person I've ever known and I will always remember you as you were before the cancer took over.
I wish I could say thank you for all the football advice you gave me over the years. I wish I could have gone back and visited you more, especially last Christmas when I only managed to see you once - although I went twice, and you'd just checked out early. You gave me such a scare, and I was so glad that you picked up your damn phone when I called. I swear, you were surgically attached to that thing.
I hope they have big screen tvs in heaven, and that you get to watch all the football you want. I hope that you watch UF forever, and celebrate when we get our next NC, whenever that may be.
I miss you...I will always miss you
I can't believe you're gone. You were fighting so hard...I believed that you could do it. You are the most positive person I've ever known and I will always remember you as you were before the cancer took over.
I wish I could say thank you for all the football advice you gave me over the years. I wish I could have gone back and visited you more, especially last Christmas when I only managed to see you once - although I went twice, and you'd just checked out early. You gave me such a scare, and I was so glad that you picked up your damn phone when I called. I swear, you were surgically attached to that thing.
I hope they have big screen tvs in heaven, and that you get to watch all the football you want. I hope that you watch UF forever, and celebrate when we get our next NC, whenever that may be.
I miss you...I will always miss you
Monday, September 1, 2008
shadow of a doubt
My first week here in Gainesville was both busy and exhilarating - I'm all signed up for the Real Big Deal Festival (volunteer) and I have my shifts. Saturday I finish at 2 am, and then I have to be there at 10 am Sunday. :sigh:
Classes have been...interesting. Yes, interesting is the best word. I'm really enjoying them all, with the notable exception of Calc II. All I can say is thank heaven for Tutoring Zone and engineering friends who are willing to tutor you!
I finally got a chance to paint the 34th St wall, an ad for the festival, and it was a bit messier than I expected. Still fun, especially when Bobbie started painting the sidewalk and bikers kept on riding through it and getting white tires...
Oh, and we put those car paint things on three of our cars yesterday, mine being one of them. They promised the stuff would come off my baby, the only reason I allowed to them to do it. I'm washing him ASAP...but that's not for two weeks when the festival is over.
UF-Hawai'i was fun, although I'm mad that Meyer let Tebow's streak of 1 rushing TD 1 passing TD die, especially when he had that stellar opportunity right there in front of him. Still, we won after playing a REALLY conservative game, so it was nice. The pouring rain before start time sucked though.
I can't wait to play Miami! Night game in the Swamp with the ESPN Gameday crew there...now THAT'S what I'm talking about!
Classes have been...interesting. Yes, interesting is the best word. I'm really enjoying them all, with the notable exception of Calc II. All I can say is thank heaven for Tutoring Zone and engineering friends who are willing to tutor you!
I finally got a chance to paint the 34th St wall, an ad for the festival, and it was a bit messier than I expected. Still fun, especially when Bobbie started painting the sidewalk and bikers kept on riding through it and getting white tires...
Oh, and we put those car paint things on three of our cars yesterday, mine being one of them. They promised the stuff would come off my baby, the only reason I allowed to them to do it. I'm washing him ASAP...but that's not for two weeks when the festival is over.
UF-Hawai'i was fun, although I'm mad that Meyer let Tebow's streak of 1 rushing TD 1 passing TD die, especially when he had that stellar opportunity right there in front of him. Still, we won after playing a REALLY conservative game, so it was nice. The pouring rain before start time sucked though.
I can't wait to play Miami! Night game in the Swamp with the ESPN Gameday crew there...now THAT'S what I'm talking about!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
It's time to end my lonely holiday
and bid Orlando a hasty farewell...
...I might have left two days ago, but it doesn't feel like I've spent two days here in Gainesville once more.
I woke up around 7 am Thursday and raced up here to beat Fay, and did so comfortably. Unfortunately, she arrived as I was grocery shopping and I had to rush my milk and eggs inside in the driving rain.
Yesterday I intended to walk the routes between my classes, but I took one look at the miserable weather and stayed inside, enjoying the warmth of a cuddly blue bathrobe and my pillows.
Today I bought some textbooks, and will try and get my last one tomorrow. I could go pick up some more groceries and random odds and ends but I feel strangely reluctant to leave.
I'll be seeing Tropic Thunder tonight with a friend and some of his friends...we'll see how that goes. I've heard great reviews, so I'm hoping it'll be funny.
Is it football season yet?
What's that you say?
I must wait until...Thursday?
Damn!
...I might have left two days ago, but it doesn't feel like I've spent two days here in Gainesville once more.
I woke up around 7 am Thursday and raced up here to beat Fay, and did so comfortably. Unfortunately, she arrived as I was grocery shopping and I had to rush my milk and eggs inside in the driving rain.
Yesterday I intended to walk the routes between my classes, but I took one look at the miserable weather and stayed inside, enjoying the warmth of a cuddly blue bathrobe and my pillows.
Today I bought some textbooks, and will try and get my last one tomorrow. I could go pick up some more groceries and random odds and ends but I feel strangely reluctant to leave.
I'll be seeing Tropic Thunder tonight with a friend and some of his friends...we'll see how that goes. I've heard great reviews, so I'm hoping it'll be funny.
Is it football season yet?
What's that you say?
I must wait until...Thursday?
Damn!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
It had to be you
Could I be glad to be sad, thinking of you?
Harry Connick Jr. is a genius. Just thought I'd throw that out there. I haven't found a version of "It Had To Be You" that can even begin to compare with his. And I love his "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" too...
Today was not the brightest of days. I was woken unkindly at 8 am, reminded that I had to drive to the garage to pick up my mother who dropped off my father's car, my father having callously appropriated MY car for the day. When I returned home my mother went off to work, taking my sister with her, and I decided it was naptime. Then there was more delightfully bad football news throughout the day, so despite it being Friday, I have sunk into a gloomy funk, and seem destined to stay here awhile.
In an effort to make the best of things I have put on my favorite "big band" playlist - Nina Simone, Harry Connick Jr., Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Fred Astaire, Billie Holliday, even some Michael Buble as a nod to this generation of revival.
I love Peggy Lee's "Fever" more than ever since Sex and the City the Movie used it in their promo trailers. I remember how my heart thumped when it started playing before whatever movie I'd gone to see...and how it thumped again when I realized it was for Sex and the City. I'm so glad that the movie didn't disappoint - it was fabulous. For no other word could justly be used to describe Sex and the City, now could it?
I think I'll end here, and go to bed. Sleep is the fastest way for Tomorrow to come, and Today has been a cold lover, so I'll leave the known pestilence for an unknown one.
Sorry Hamlet.
Harry Connick Jr. is a genius. Just thought I'd throw that out there. I haven't found a version of "It Had To Be You" that can even begin to compare with his. And I love his "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" too...
Today was not the brightest of days. I was woken unkindly at 8 am, reminded that I had to drive to the garage to pick up my mother who dropped off my father's car, my father having callously appropriated MY car for the day. When I returned home my mother went off to work, taking my sister with her, and I decided it was naptime. Then there was more delightfully bad football news throughout the day, so despite it being Friday, I have sunk into a gloomy funk, and seem destined to stay here awhile.
In an effort to make the best of things I have put on my favorite "big band" playlist - Nina Simone, Harry Connick Jr., Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Fred Astaire, Billie Holliday, even some Michael Buble as a nod to this generation of revival.
I love Peggy Lee's "Fever" more than ever since Sex and the City the Movie used it in their promo trailers. I remember how my heart thumped when it started playing before whatever movie I'd gone to see...and how it thumped again when I realized it was for Sex and the City. I'm so glad that the movie didn't disappoint - it was fabulous. For no other word could justly be used to describe Sex and the City, now could it?
I think I'll end here, and go to bed. Sleep is the fastest way for Tomorrow to come, and Today has been a cold lover, so I'll leave the known pestilence for an unknown one.
Sorry Hamlet.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Early morning dreams casually wither
- but only in the bright light of day.
I have been abominably plagued with insomnia for weeks now. This coupled with joblessness and writer's block has not made my life particularly pleasant. But today at about 6 a.m., after tossing and turning for at least an hour after a few hours' blessed sleep, I finally decided to make the best of a bad job and just "get up".
And of course, by "get up", I mean fold my duvet in half so that it only covers to my knees, leaving my sheet up where it normally is, getting one of my sham pillows to prop myself on, turning on my bedside lamp, the television and my faithful laptop.
Insomnia - 296,357 Sleep - 0
Originally I was watching Animal Planet, a half-hour "cable in the classroom" documentary on giraffes. It was very interesting, especially when I realized that the Kenyan park they were showing is quite likely the one Professor Palmer works in every summer. I wonder if he's there now? I didn't realize that giraffes' patterns were unique to the animal. The naturalist AP interviewed kept track of them by photographing the left side of their neck, and cataloging them until he had about 240 animals. Twenty years after his original stint in Kenya he came back with his team to see if they could recognize any of the animals (giraffes typically live 25 years) and they found one - Mabel. I'd have thought they'd find more, but the documentary didn't say.
Right now VH1 is on. Every half-hour I flick to Nickelodeon to see if Rugrats is on. If I must suffer from insomnia, I'm going to get something out of it!
Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" just came on. I like this song, but I'm not sure I like the underlying synth. That and she's much too lovely for her own good.
Yesterday I drove up to UF to watch the football practice. I didn't on Monday because of a doctor's appointment, I can't today because of my last jewelry class of the session, and if anyone thinks I'm driving up to UF for the day twice or thrice in one week to watch football practice is crazier than I am for driving up to UF to sit in the sun for three hours plagued with bugs and jealousy for the beautiful cameras that the media possesses...
I would just like to interject that it is damned unfair that the fans can't use cameras at the practices. What on earth could we photograph that a professional member of the media couldn't? It's not like they practice anything we haven't seen before at the open week!
So it seems that I can write after all. Perhaps this would be a good time to look at my manuscripts again. I miss them, I miss writing. I miss them almost as much as I miss UF when it's the holidays, and how much I miss being on holiday when I'm at UF...
I have been abominably plagued with insomnia for weeks now. This coupled with joblessness and writer's block has not made my life particularly pleasant. But today at about 6 a.m., after tossing and turning for at least an hour after a few hours' blessed sleep, I finally decided to make the best of a bad job and just "get up".
And of course, by "get up", I mean fold my duvet in half so that it only covers to my knees, leaving my sheet up where it normally is, getting one of my sham pillows to prop myself on, turning on my bedside lamp, the television and my faithful laptop.
Insomnia - 296,357 Sleep - 0
Originally I was watching Animal Planet, a half-hour "cable in the classroom" documentary on giraffes. It was very interesting, especially when I realized that the Kenyan park they were showing is quite likely the one Professor Palmer works in every summer. I wonder if he's there now? I didn't realize that giraffes' patterns were unique to the animal. The naturalist AP interviewed kept track of them by photographing the left side of their neck, and cataloging them until he had about 240 animals. Twenty years after his original stint in Kenya he came back with his team to see if they could recognize any of the animals (giraffes typically live 25 years) and they found one - Mabel. I'd have thought they'd find more, but the documentary didn't say.
Right now VH1 is on. Every half-hour I flick to Nickelodeon to see if Rugrats is on. If I must suffer from insomnia, I'm going to get something out of it!
Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" just came on. I like this song, but I'm not sure I like the underlying synth. That and she's much too lovely for her own good.
Yesterday I drove up to UF to watch the football practice. I didn't on Monday because of a doctor's appointment, I can't today because of my last jewelry class of the session, and if anyone thinks I'm driving up to UF for the day twice or thrice in one week to watch football practice is crazier than I am for driving up to UF to sit in the sun for three hours plagued with bugs and jealousy for the beautiful cameras that the media possesses...
I would just like to interject that it is damned unfair that the fans can't use cameras at the practices. What on earth could we photograph that a professional member of the media couldn't? It's not like they practice anything we haven't seen before at the open week!
So it seems that I can write after all. Perhaps this would be a good time to look at my manuscripts again. I miss them, I miss writing. I miss them almost as much as I miss UF when it's the holidays, and how much I miss being on holiday when I'm at UF...
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