BEWARE! Hodge Podge and LOTS to read.

Sooo... I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I've been remiss. Well, actually, I've just been busy as all get out. Been here there and everywhere it seems, and oh yeah... school! That's why I came here, right? Right? Yeah ok. So I'll try and retrack and bring everyone up to date.

School.. well, I dropped one class. Too stressful with a teacher who is getting paid to let me teach myself. If I were the only one feeling this sentiment, I imagine, it'd be different... but well... anyways, not worth the migraine and throwing up from getting stressed out. So done. British Museums is fun, with my... zany... yes, zany suits him, professor. He's very British, with his haphazard appearance, and proper accent, but strangely enough, he knows what he's talking about... although he does like to go off on tangents a bit. lol. Art History... well, it's about the history of art. It is what it is. I will say, both classes have really allowed me the opportunity to work on my sketching for my papers, so that's a bonus. Architectural sketches are still my strong point. I hate people. Therefore I hate drawing them. Anywho.. here are some sketches (Ray will appreciate this)...

MANCHESTER - Had a grrreatttttt time in Manchester! Got to stay with Hannah and her family. Although none of them play the game anymore, we've all managed to keep in touch for the better part of a few years. Met Kev and Darren and her little boys. The first day, the littlest one Bradley, was sleeping, so the next morning when he saw me, he goes, "I don't like you." - LOL. So we were off to a great start! But as all children are fickle, when it was time for me to go, he was like, "Where you going?" So sweet. Also, had the chance to hang out with Phil and Rob for the day... doing a few adult things, like having a few drinks. Doing a few kid things, like playing in the arcade, collecting our tickets and buying a keychain and sweets. All in all a great trip! Back to London for school and then...

YORK - Ahhhh the saga of my laptop! I was en route to York to meet Jackee and James and Liana. It's the busy holiday weekend, so the trains were packed. I had to put my laptop and bookbag up top in the overhead bins. When I got off at the train station in York, I grabbed my backpack and walked right off the train. It wasn't until I saw the tail end of the train disappearing in the distance, that I realized my laptop was still in the bin. Sadly, the customer service rep [bad day much?] was verrrry unhelpful and refused to even attempt to call the guardsman to grab it before the next stop. I was stuck in York, and bye bye laptop. Determined to make the most of my trip, I headed into town to meet up with Jackee. If there is one thing I am grateful for, it is the opportunities I've had to meet so many people that I've always wanted to meet. Jackee was no exception. We hit it off right away, and discovered many common likes and dislikes. It was quite comical. As it was the Easter weekend, York had a bit of a fair/flea market going on. Lots of music, food and artsy stuff.... yeah, right up my alley! Bought this awesome Drachma coin cut-out necklace, some handmade fudge, you know, a bunch of stuff I just couldn't live without. Sadly, I only had an afternoon with Jackee (although we're trying to squeeze in an extra visit) and then it was on to hanging out with James and Liana. We had a great time, especially since the lost luggage people in Glasgow called to say, YAY! They have my laptop! We had a nice dinner, told stories, joked about, watched weird kids hang from lampposts, you know, all that fun stuff. The next day we wandered through York, walked on the Roman walls, went to the Yorkshire Museum (we were being intellectual) and drew pictures with chalk (where we were NOT being intellectual). As the day drew to a close... I hopped on the train to fetch my laptop in...

GLASGOW - £20 later [grumble, grumble...administration fee... highway robbery] I got my laptop back. I did get to meet up with John in Edinburgh for a drink. Last year, he moved there just after I left... like days later. So it was good to catch up. Our text convo went kinda like this: Me: what u doin? John: revising for exams Me: you need a break, come to train station n haz a drink John: ok. So that was fun! Thank goodness for my phone, as I booked a hotel through booking.com via 3G. Hawt! Entertained myself with a few beers and some more... um, interesting texts. Had a good nights sleep. Kind of. Anyways, the next day, I made my way to the Kelvingrove and really had the chance to crawl the halls and see some great Egyptian art. By the way, I liked my room so much, I extended the stay one more night so I could wander about the city some more. However, when I got back to my room, I thought, oh I'll skype Laurel and see how her day went. OH TO MY SURPRISE... my laptop is gone. As are my other things. My clothes, my medication, my gifts for Laurel. Gone. I go down to the front desk, where they were nice but panicked as well, as they went from one room to the next looking to see where it must have been stowed. Obviously lines were crossed between housekeeping and front desk when I extended my stay. They finally found it somewhere, I didn't ask... and I got my stuff back. The hotel bought me dinner that night, minus the alcohol [geez] and I called it a night. It wasn't until the next day that I discovered my toothbrush and medication had obviously been thrown away. Sigh. But, I got my laptop back! ^^

GUILDFORD - Time to head "home" for a weekend of relaxation and getting stuff done. AKA eat something with peppers and wish you had your stomach pumped. You see, what had happened wassss.... Paul and Juliet and I decided to go out to dinner in Guildford. So we walked around town and finally settled on this local pub. I ordered the Salmon en Croute. It was safe when I had it in York, how was I to know they snuck peppers into my pastry shell?! One beer later, my tongue is swollen and I'm slurring my words. I'm like, I know I'm not drunk. Then I proceed to toss my cookies, and then my non-existent cookies, and then the cookies I WISHED I had because there was NOTHING left. Paul had to argue a bit, but finally got my money back. We got back to the house [sorry P&J] and I passed out on the couch! Oh well, so much for a night out. The next day I pretty much lazed and recuperated, despite my desire to be proactive and motivated. I headed back to London and school! Yay! [inject more sarcasm]

LONDON - Richard is sitting on his computer being bah-humbug cranky about not celebrating his birthday. So I figure, I'll give him his pressie early and hope it cheers him up. Oh boy! One good thing is, I'm pretty sure he liked his present [get your heads OUT of the gutter, you gutter rats] and the other thing is, I KNOW he likes Malibu. Several drinks later, he's singing George Michael on ventrilo, belly dancing [while fully clothed] and trying to light a cigarette. For those that are interested, it took the length of three bad karaoke-style songs for him to light this cigarette. Fast forward through the boring exam, the equaling boring tour through the Tate Modern (guess who's NOT a big modern art fan?) Is it blasphemous to say I could do a Jackson Pollack with a few bottles of rum? I had a smidgeon of a hangover, as I trudged through the museum and tried not to be bored to tears. It was a pretty day though, so I enjoyed the walk around the city. When I got home, I finally had the chance to meet Richard's little brother Andy. They are alike, but not. I'll leave it at that. I did shock him a bit, because I came home from school and it was soooooooo hot outside, so i was said, "OMG,  I need to take my pants off, it's too freaking hot for these things." Ahhh I forgot that here in the UK "pants" are actually underwear and what we call pants are "trousers" - damn lost in translation! It was good for a laugh though. Still on the boat, tomorrow is the ROYAL WEDDING ... wooo... yeah ok. I thought I wanted to be in town for it, but the thing is, I want nothing of the hullabaloo that's going on right now. So I'm hoppin' on a train and headed to Manchester again. I've a desire to re-tour the Ryland Law Library once more, have lunch with a friend, and go harass the Rochford's and Tutty's. Oh yeah, I also finally finished designing my next tattoo. I'm happy with the design, just need to work on placement. Will take any suggestions into consideration, with the exception of a trashy tramp stamp or one on my boob, seriously thinking inner forearm. It's in the above next to me before the peppers episode! Promise not to let it go this long between posts again. Til then...