*a non-depressive winter. 2001-12-18 12:57 a.m.*

the first entry is the entry for the family and the second is in the "secret journal."

20-12-00

i am in york today. i've been here since... um... i've been here for a few days. and i'm here until friday morning. it's really beautiful here. part of me wishes i had stayed here for the 4 months, but i would never have gotten my work done, and my money would have just gone. it's much less conservative a place than cambridge. it has some vegetarian places and some fair trade shops and the libertas! women's bookshop, which is very exciting. and the minster and the walls and all that good stuff, too. and i really enjoy the york art gallery. they're having an exhibit on pop-up books right now.

before we came to york, we spent the night in edinburgh, and i went to a gay pub there, and kind of stood there awkwardly until i worked up the courage to talk to some people. these gay boys kind of took me under their wing, and we went to c.c. bloom's, which is a gay club (i highly approve of the name!) and that was fun. one of the guys was this greek guy who told me to call him jerry because i couldn't pronounce his real name. he was so funny! at the pub we talked about kitsch and stuff, and he's a really bright guy, but while we were dancing, he kept checking himself out in the mirror. i told the other guy that i thought jerry really likes mirrors, and he said, "jerry loves mirrors!" at which point jerry started kissing the mirror. very fun.

we passed by newcastle-upon-tyne on the way to york, and i'm glad i didn't wind up there, i think. too industrial for me, i think. and we went to durham as well. the cathedral is gorgeous, but i was so distracted by it that i took a dive off of a curb and skinned my knees.

so yeah... good stuff going on. beautiful country. scotland's beautiful, too. though it was really funny. the exact minute we saw the scotland sign, we got a nice big whiff of cow!

oh yeah! it snowed in wales while we were there. and there was also snow around hadrian's wall. that was actually pretty exciting. it's been a long time since i actually enjoyed snow. but i did, i did!

Let steeple bells be swungen And i-o, i-o, i-o (12-18-00)

it's just not a good scene waking up with britney spears in your head. i do not approve at all.

anyway... i am in york, which so far i've found absolutely beautiful. the hostel is a little weird, but aren't they all, really. it's a very... rickety? old place. like, when the downstairs door shuts, you can feel it through the whole place, and there are interesting dips and stuff in the floor. and of course the joys of being able to hear everything the people in the room next door to you are saying.

the trip has been really really cool, but also really really high school. i met this girl and we really hit it off, and dumb jasmine developed a crush on her and all that, and then discovered she was talking about her behind her back, blah blah blah. and there's all kinds of cliques and gossip and inside jokes and random nicknames and of course the fact that it's basically one giant field trip.

i loved wales so much! i think it's been my favorite part of this island. and we saw snow there! (we also saw snow on hadrian's wall, which was very exciting, as well) it's weird because since living in wisconsin, i've always told people i hate snow... but... i've loved it! very bizarre, i guess. the welsh people really remind me of the people that adopted the gelflings in the dark crystal (and i mean that in the most complimentary way). i met this one guy in wales whose goal in life is to be like tom hanks. he's an actor and he thinks that tom hanks was brilliant in forrest gump. but actually, he has very old school tom hanks hair-- that curly thing he used to have going on. but i don't think i'd like to actually live in wales. ireland still has my heart.

i loved scotland, too, but it was so funny, driving up there... right as we passed the sign that said "scotland" we got this rauncherrific farm smell! and like, honestly, scotland wound up being an incredibly stinky country. lovely scenery, but stinky!

i went to a gay club in edinburgh and that was interesting. there's something about most gay clubs and pubs that's a lot like wandering into a small town local pub... everyone looks at you, and you can tell they're thinking, "what are you doing here!?" so i stood to the side for awhile, and then finally took a deep breath and wandered over to these two girls and a guy and said, "coming to a new city is like coming out all over again" and we started talking and they were very nice, and then the girls left and this greek guy joined us and it was so funny! he was a great guy-- we had a lot in common, loving the same books and art and stuff, but when he danced, the whole time, he was looking in the mirror. it cracked me up.

this one woman on the trip read my tarot, and it was all about how i have to decide on things and stuff, which is what i've been getting from so many people. but they've all been saying, and so did the tarot, that i have to decide, but i can change my mind.

i'm in york for 4 days now, because hopefully, i'm going to be meeting up with this girl i've been emailing for about a year now. it's really nice to be able to take a break from getting on the bus every morning... and i can dry out my shampoo bottles and toothbrush, and do a bit of laundry, too. and to get to know a place a little better than just a few hours. but so far, i highly approve of york. and the library gives free email access. oo baby i like it raw.

Ding Dong! merrily on high

In heav'n the bells are ringing

Ding, dong! verily the sky

Is riv'n with angel singing

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis

E'en so here below, below

Let steeple bells be swungen

And i-o, i-o, i-o

By priest and people be sungen

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis

Pray ye dutifully prime

Your matin chime, ye ringers

May ye beautifully rime

Your evetime song, ye singers

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis

"Ding Dong Merrily on High" (Traditional Christmas Carol)

(link: this is not a hint. i swear.)

*listening to: *
<<< | >>>

*<<<<<* *<<* *<* | *>* *>>* *>>>>>*
*random* *list*