As a Southsider, the Get-A-Way Saloon is hostile territory.  They make no bones about being Cub fans and the decor and menu reflect that.  I noticed a billboard for Get-A-Way on I-94 while heading home.  I was supposed to take an Amtrak on Saturday from Chicago back to East Lansing, but my niece was still in the hospital and I wanted to hold out one more day to see if she'd get to go home and I'd get to hold her one more time.  That didn't happen, but now I needed to get home.  My parents like to gamble at Four Winds in New Buffalo and J had been sick all weekend and wanted to get out of the house, so they both agreed to drive halfway.  My parents kept driving and as I was on the phone with J to set up a meeting point, I saw the billboard and told my parents to pull off the highway.  Five minutes later, J was pulling in to a gas station near the highway so we could make the switch.

After saying goodbye to the new grandparents, J and I continued down Red Arrow Highway to grab some grub.  We pulled into the small, neighborhood bar covered with ivy just a few minutes before the White Sox ALDS game.  On the sign out front were the words "Cubbies Why?"  Below that was a scoreboard with the score from last nights NLDS game with the Dodgers in which the Cubs lost.  We made our way though the swinging doors to find a bar covered with Cubs jersey and memoribilia and a dining room.  We started to go towards the dining room, but none of the TV's had the NASCAR race on which was our first priority, so we headed to the bar.  The tables in the bar were empty so we took one where we could see both the race and the Sox.  Even the table had a big Cubs logo and right before the Sox game started, the bartender, who was wearing a Cubs jersey, turned the channel.  We weren't going to say anything, but another guy at the bar wearing a Sox jersey did and the game was turned on.

The menu at Get-A-Way is fun to read.  All the sandwiches have Cub inspired names.  I got a burger dubbed SOSAtional.  The burger was a 1/2 lb patty with worchestshire and garlic salt mixed into the meat then topped with jack cheese and steak sauce.  It was really good.  I haven't put steak sauce on a burger in ages, but it brought back memories from my childhood.  I'm pretty sure the sauce was just A1, but still, the burger had great flavor and was nice and juicy, but fully cooked.  My sandwich didn't come with fries, but I got a side order.  They were regular out of the bag fries, but they were really, really crispy.

J, who hadn't had a solid meal all weekend, ordered the crispy chicken sandwich.  Her sandwich came with lettuce, tomato and mayo.  She left the mayo off.  She also got fries with her sandwich which she loved.  She is a big, big fan of crispy fries.  In order to get fries as crispy as they did, they usually need to double fry.  It's such a simple step and I'm surprised more places don't do that.  It takes an extra two minutes and the finished product is totally worth it.  She was also really happy with the crunch on her sandwich.  She said it wasn't greasy like most crispy chicken is.

The food at the Get-A-Way was really good.  The problem is, by the time we left, I almost forgot that.  The bartender was also working the tables in the bar and he couldn't mult-task.  It took 15 minutes after he took our plates to bring the check.  He would come out and bring something to the table next to us, but not bring our check.  He would look over and say he'd be right back, but then he got busy at the bar.  He then brought soup out to the table next to us and again said he'd be right back.  He went and grabbed the check, then had to get beer for someone at the bar.  It took forever.  Once we finally got the bill, it was just over $16.  A pretty good price for some really good bar food.

If you're a Cubs fan, you'll feel right at home in the Get-A-Way.   J and I are the opposite of Cub fans, but we still enjoyed a great meal.  Thanks to the Michigan House of Representatives, the Get-A-Way was very smokey, but it a real neighborhood bar feel.  It's a place where you can comfortably watch a game and enjoy a few drinks.

:: Last night was a great and successful night for the band. We were playing at a bar called MacGradies on the East side of Toronto. The event sponsored by Long and Mcquade was quite the success. Every Sunday, the pub runs an open jam contest hosted by my buddy Andy O’connor. What a great guy; amazing friend, supporter and promoter. He invited the band as a special guest star performance. We’re far from being stars but that’s still quite flattering…lol

The gig was initially scheduled for 3 pm. I left my house a bit behind schedule and got to the bar and realized that I had left my CDs home. The event was running behind because someone had played there the night before and left with the PA’s speakers’ cable. Luck was on my side… I got back in the car with Michelle, my talented musician and back up vocal support and drove back to my place. We picked up about 10 CDs that were left on the floor next to my computer desk and drove back to the pub. The place was packed. That’s when I started getting nervous…

They had 3 contestants to go and then we were on…. Our turn: we get on stage, quickly do our little set up and start the show. We were 3 songs in and all the CDs were gone. At the end of the set, we were wrapping up our gear and people would come by asking for more CDs but I hadn’t brought enough. So I gave away business cards and told people they could buy it online on iTunes and other sites. It was a fun and emotionally gratifying night of good live music.

… It all started in April…

Back in April, I had posted an ad to find musicians to get on the road and promote my new album. I hadn’t been very successful in the past with my ads on Craigslist (apart from selling furniture). This one time, this one guy responded to my ad, but not to be in the band, but just to tell me that he had checked my site and liked my music. We eventually got together just to jam and here we are 6 months later; and full band with gigs lined up. He’s now more than a band mate, he is my friend.

I feel blessed that I have met my guitarist Mike and co-founder of the band “Pascal Live”. Just when I was about to give it all up… Something bigger than life sent an angel my way.

Thank you.

Click here to see the clip.

on the back of a photograph of the garrowhill imps circa 1966 my gran had written only one name and position - glen, 2nd row. on the front in pen she'd added an arrow pointing down on him just for good measure.

15H. Bureau "maquette" du magazine Nada, un jour de fin septembre 2008.

— On peut la descendre un peu, la miss ?
— Dans la page ?
— Ben oui dans la page. Faut qu'il domine plus nettement, lui.
— Ok... Attends... deux secondes... Hop ! voilà...
— Parfait comme ça. Fred, viens voir... regarde... Kèce t'en penses ?
— Moi ça me va mais faut lisser.
— Encore lisser ?
— Ben ouais tu sais bien...
— Elle va pas faire trop jeune ?
— Ils veulent ça, on discute pas.
— Je vire toutes les rides alors Eric ?
— Tu vires tout ouais. Lisse. Jeune. Gonfle un peu la bouche, aussi. Faut qu'ça lippe bien. Que ça allume. Et accentue le sourire... qu'elle ait l'air de kiffer un peu, ha ha ha...
— Ça craint quand même... Tu trouves pas ?... Putain... C'est la femme du Président, merde quoi...
— Ecoute toi t'es retoucheur, tu discutes pas. T'inquiète. De toute façon c'est lui qu'a le final cut.
— Qui ? Sarko ?
— Ben évidemment gros couillon. Ils ont dit : Jeune, Dynamique. Dans l'coup partout. L'image. Si tu la laisses comme elle est, Carla, c'est mort. Pas envie de me faire virer, moi... Elle est hyper importante cette couv', faut assurer...
— Bon ok les mecs. Moi je m'en fous après tout, je fais mon boulot. Rien à foutre de leurs conneries.

Quatre heures plus tard...

— Voilà, ça te va là ?
— Super. Une vraie pub pour Clarins. Tiens, envoie un jpeg la haut, qu'ils le voient avant qu'on foute la typo.
— Si tu veux je peux même lui mettre des tresses... tant qu'à faire allons-y !
— Pas con, fais une version avec des tresses ouais ; et celle-là, sans.
— On dirait sa fille... Génial.
— C'est un peu c'qu'y veulent on dirait. Que les gens sachent pas trop...
— Si tu veux je peux le vieillir un peu lui... comme ça on pensera que c'est sa petite fille !...
— C'est bien ouf Photoshop quand même hein...
— Tu m'étonnes, ha ha ha ha... Le trip pédophile !... Fendard !... En couv' de Nada !
— Sont trop cons avec leur jeunisme de merde.
— Ah ben qu'est ce que tu veux... En plus c'est la fashion week, faut se la jouer mannequin de seize piges à fond...
— Ouais... Des fois je me demande ce que j'fous là moi... commence à me gaver ces conneries, à force... Non mais t'as vu où on va ? C'est l'hallu...
— Laisse Bob, laisse... On s'en fout ch'te dis... On s'en fout nous. On a du taf c'est déjà pas mal. C'est eux les responsables.

Notre ami Gilles, organise
un pot le jeudi 9 octobre à 21h00
au Pub l'Underground
02 35 98 44 84  ,  26 rue des Champs Maillets , rue qui donne sur la rue Jean Lecanuet.
Alors l'Underground est connu pour être un lieu de sorties sympa, donc pour les nouveaux arrivants sur Rouen ça peut être une bonne adresse à connaitre. En tout cas nul doute que Gilles pourra vous en dire plus sur les autres bonnes adresses de Rouen!  ;)

Et question marketing, je me disais qu'un parti qui aurait eu le courage de me pas embarquer dans cette pollution visuelle aurait pu utiliser cet argent pour faire un beau coup de pub. Imaginez combien l'absence de pancarte d'un parti politique dans le paysage aurait eu d'impact si une pub avait réussi à lier fortement cette absence et ce parti.

Ce parti se serait retrouvé nulle part et partout à la fois.

Si un parti veut acheter mon idée pour une prochaine campagne, je ne suis pas trop chérant...

Source: What’s Next In Marketing & Advertising

Stop Press: The filming of local folks watching Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday evening in the Sycamore will be shown on BBC East Midlands in the 1-30pm slot, and more fully in their 6-30pm slot on Monday 6th Oct.  If you miss it the programmes can be viewed after the broadcast at the East Midlands Today website.

Although knackered at the time i went i must say that next time i am looking for a fun evening and am up for a steady stream of drink and dance then perhaps i will come back here as the atmostphere was very fun and the live band were quite good too. They were made up of some sexy local rock chicks singing out some classic cheesy numbers. I particularly enjoyed "Gold" and "Walk like an Egyptian" which i had never heard sung with Chinese accents before, quite funny.

Unfortuantely i couldn't take any photos of the bar at the time because all my phones and cameras were completely out of battery by then. But for those who want to get an idea of the bar i include some photos below that i took from Google image search.

So, to agree with that age old miserable git, Thomas Hobbes, life can indeed be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" - certainly I challenge anyone to spend 24 hours in Doncaster and not reach that conclusion. However, this mortal coil is made more bearable by that great institution, the British pub.

Which brings to the point of this blog. I am, as this introduction demonstrates, mostly bored and so to witter away the hours I`m going to use this blog to bring a probably disinterested world my reviews of each pub I step into. I have already in a potted way done this on such fine sites as Beerintheevening(as pgazz) and Fancy a pint. But I fancy a bit more freedom to talk bollocks about beer, not that those guys are pub fascists - they are without a doubt fine pub info banks which you should all visit at least once an hour.

I`ll be chucking out my first post very shortly. I hope everyone enjoys.

And one final thing. If anyone knows how to make Will Young stop, for Godsake get off your arse and make it happen.

I vampiri di cui parlo? No! Non sono neanche quelli di Anne Rice, Lestat (che detto tra noi è molto più affascinante nei libri), Louis, e Armand (che detto tra noi Antonio Banderas è molto più affascinante di un libro).

Ma allora quali saranno questi vampiri? Gli impiegati dell'Avis il giorno della donazione del sangue? NOOO! Anche se devo ammettere di aver avuto un paio d'incontri ravvicinati piuttosto inquietanti con i collaboratori Avis i vampiri di cui parlo sono quelli "classici e tradizionalisti" insomma i Dracula con le varie concubine di Bram Stoker!

Allora che ci azzecca Dublino? Dovevi forse scrivere Romania o Transilvania e ti sei sbagliata avendo sempre avuto un rapporto conflittuale con la tastiera?

Eh no! Perchè uno dei posti che mi è piaciuto di più a Dublino è il Writer's Museum... vabbè forse mi piaceva anche quello che ci lavorava, ma questo non vi riguarda... e visto che una bella saletta era dedicata a Bram Stoker, creatore del più sexy maniaco omicida della letteratura, sorbitevi questo post! Tratto da una storia vera (non la parte riguardante i pipistrelli e i canini e i nonmorti... spero) la storia di Drak l'impalatore è stata trasformata nel bel librone dell'orrore aggiungendovi alcuni elementi del Beowulf (non quello con Angelina Jolie e Russel Crowe... quello vero!) dove uno  dei nemici di Beowulf si chiamava Drak...

Comunque dopo essermi assicurata di non aver succhiotti del collo... con un certo rammarico, decisi di affogare il mio dolore nella "Guiness"!!! E quindi mi iscrissi al Pub Crawl... chi non è stato in Irlanda non saprà cos'è il Pub Crawl... e solo i più alcolizzati di quelli che sono andati in Inghilterra ne avranno sentito parlare... Il pub Crawl è una specie di "gioco"...  ci si organizza in gruppo e si entra ed esce da tutti i Pub, con l'obbligo di bersi qualcosina in ogni bar nel quale si entra! Penserete... più che gioco ci sembra "una sbronza ambulante" di gruppo! In realtà il gioco c'è: tutti i pub devono avere un "tema comune" e chi ti guida attraverso questi pub ti fa domande sull'argomento... se sbagli... paghi tu il giro nel pub davanti al quale sei stato interrogato!

L'argomento nel mio caso erano i libri e la "gente di dublino" ossia gli autori famosi... quali Wilde... Shaw... Beckett (ahahah a me è capitata proprio una domanda su di lui e capirete che non potevo sbagliarla! O non mi sarei fatta chiamare Godot!)... etc. etc.

Comunque dopo aver bevuto tanto... ma tanto... e per fortuna non aver pagato nulla... me ne tornai al mio alloggio per farmi le mie tre buone ore di sonno! Solo tre ore di sonno?! Sì perchè il giorno dopo avevo tutta l'intenzione di andare a caccia degli U2 (senza fucile o carabina) solo con un indirizzo... quello del loro studio di registrazione! Ovviamente loro non erano neanche in Irlanda... ma mi ricordo ancora quella sensazione... la sensazione di vedere quel palazzone così da vicino e pensare... mbè ma è tutto qui? Mi scuserete ma all'epoca ero ancora giovane e senza un tappeto rosso e le maniglie del portone in oro 18kt non mi sembrava un posto degno di nota!

Qualche anno dopo ci sono tornata... e mi è piaciuta sempre tanto Dublino... però non sono andata più a caccia di Bono Vox e compari... al Pub Crawl ci sono tornata... argomento... Fantasmi e Vampiri (ancora!) e ancora una volta non ho pagato neanche una birra! Non è che io sia spilorcia ma, con le pensioni che ci aspettano, mi sto allenando per andare a passare la vecchiaia ai Quiz Televisivi!

Bonjour à tous,

Je me permets de réactiver cette liste de discussion pour vous convier à un débat public sur le « projet de loi favorisant la diffusion et la protection de la création sur internet ». Ce débat est organisé par nos amis de La Cantine (Espace de travail partagé, dans lequel la Fing dispose aujourd'hui de ses bureaux) et de Silicon Sentier.

Le « projet de loi favorisant la diffusion et la protection de la création sur internet », a été présenté en conseil des ministres le 18 juin 2008 par la ministre de la Culture, Christine Albanel. Il doit être débattu au Parlement à l'automne. Il a pour objet de mettre en place une riposte contre le téléchargement illégal et de créer un fichier national des contrevenants.
 
Dans ce contexte, La Cantine par Silicon Sentier en partenariat avec 11.100.34. Avocats Associés. organise un débat public, suivi d'un vote, retransmis en direct, le 16 octobre prochain à partir de 19h en présence d'experts et de grands témoins.

En attendant le jour J, sur le blog dédié http://happening-juridique.com, vous trouverez une liste non exhaustive d'arguments faisant la promotion du projet de loi et s'y opposant. Ce blog est ouvert, nous vous encourageons à donner votre avis dès aujourd'hui en postant vos commentaires.

Nous lançons également un appel à témoin sur le lien suivant :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6x3nb_pour-ou-contre-le-projet-de-loi-had_news

Alors POUR ou CONTRE ? Faites entendre votre voix le 16 octobre à partir de 19h à La Cantine.

----------------
La Cantine
151 rue Montmartre au 12 du passage des Panoramas 75002 Paris

--

Attention, nouvelle adresse ! / New coordinates
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fing - association pour la Fondation Internet Nouvelle Generation
The Next Generation Internet Fondation
Fabien Eychenne feychenne@fing.org
http://www.fing.org / http://www.internetactu.net
151 rue Montmartre - 75002 Paris
CMCI, 2 rue Henri Barbusse - 13001 Marseille
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soutenez les actions et travaux de la Fing, adherez !

So when we finished making out, we calmly walked away from each other.  She went back to studying whatever, and I went back to playing on facebook, which is all I do.  :)  When she was getting ready to leave, she came up to me and said, "I need food.  Do you need food?"  So we went out to eat at my usual place.  We sat there catching up, ate our food, and downed some alcohol.  Then she challenged me to a game of pool.  We went to Maya's and played pool.  Then off to Carey's, where we played darts, then to Leo's, where we played more pool, and then back to Maya's, where we played more darts.  I found myself thinking about sex A LOT, thus proving I'm partially cured.  ;)

I started feeling semi-guilty and ended up not doing anything with her.  She invited me back to her place when she had to leave, and I told her I was going to meet some friends for the Mac Lethal concert.  She left with another kiss.  My last ex couldn't touch my hand in public most of the time, and this engaged girl just fucking kissed me in front of everyone.  It's weird how that works.

She left and I started watching the Red Sox game with Jasmine.  We chatted a little and sort of flirted, but nothing real.  Then Jasmine left and Mandy showed up.  Mandy and I were practically all over each other, touching, feeling -- not in the perverted way, just the I CAN'T KEEP MY HANDS OFF YOU way -- and it was great.  I hadn't even spoken to her in months and this was a very welcome sort of deal.  ;)  Mandy and I spent most of the night talking and then "dancing" when the bands started.  The nice thing about "dancing" is that girls LOVE pushing their asses into you.  There is no where else that this happens for free like it does with "dancing."

So I had two girls practically trying to ass swallow my hands, Mandy eye fucking me, and the thought that I had just made out with an engaged girl.  Now here's the best part.  Mandy and one of the other girls gave me their numbers.  So that rocks.  Some of my friends showed up and I went with them for a while.  Mandy asked me to meet up with her tomorrow for the Cubs game, I said yes, and I walked away.  I hung out with my friends for a while and then started talking to the other girl I'd been "dancing" with and she gave me her number and told me I should call her sometime.  It was fucking unreal.  It was just so great.

At the end of the night, we left Maya Jane's craziness to go next door to the pub and I ran into a girl I've had a bit of a crush on for a really long time.  We were talking and I bought her and her friend Irish Car Bombs.  We kept talking and she kept saying we needed to hang out sometime.  I gave her my phone, she entered her digits.  Life is good.  I have a date with her early next week.

I'm not sure if I was exuding something or if I just suddenly rock, but it was a great fucking night.

At this rate, I can't WAIT for DDays.

Advierto que si quedas con ellos, irremediablemente, sin escapatoria posible, acabas liado por ahí de fiesta sin saber qué va a ser de tu vida las horas siguientes... Repito, cuidaillo con ellos. Fiesteros, abstenerse, peligro de sobredosis.

Funciona así... Primero tiene lugar cualquier tipo de evento social en el que uno coincide con ellos, en este caso, una barbacoa. A continuación se propone el tema de ir a tomar algo a nuestra calle, y vale, apetece, pero luego... ahí está el secreto, en vez de a la Strada van al Miqui ese, y ahí ya uno deja de preocuparse por lo demás porque ya están las cartas echadas y no hay más tu tia.

Otra cosa, la verdad es que mola, no voy a engañar a nadie. Y eso de 'tic, tac y mucho sentimiento... ' eso es para crear escuela como poco.

So Sunday morning, I woke up feeling fine.  I didn't have a hangover or anything after all the alcohol.  Crazy.  I spent the day at the pub watching football.  The ex and I were talking over text about nothing.  We were back to being like we were in the beginning, and I thought everything was going great.  I was hitting on a girl I know and having fun again.  I decided I should probably start thinking about my thesis again.  Then I drank more instead.  Still, every thing was going great.  In a little over a week, I was so much better off than I had been, it was amazing.

Monday was about the same.  I went to class and watched a movie, talked to Jamie and Emily a lot.  I was back to work on Fat Camp.  The ex and I were still talking about nothing.  I could tell she was annoyed at the fact that other girls were writing on my facebook wall, but you know what, FUCK IT.  She dumped me.  I'm moving on.  I went to dinner with a beautiful girl and a good friend -- no, not like that, unfortunately. :)  After that, I hung out for a few more shots and then went back to the library.

Tuesday I spent the day at the library and going to class.  I slept in until about 1:00 in the afternoon, but that's not overly unusual for me.  I spent a lot of time on facebook, chatting with people.  I was asked on a date.  I said yes, but told her it would need to wait a week.  I did some drinking, but not a ton.  I was starting to feel a lot better.  Emily asked if I wanted to meet her in Lincoln for the weekend, and I told her I wasn't positive.  Still, I thought it could be fun. 

Wednesday, I was having a great day, until I got the stupidest message I've ever gotten on facebook.  The ex is obsessed with personality tests.  Emily had posted her personality type on wall one day, and apparently her type and my type are "natural partners."  It seemed pretty blatantly "you should be with Emily," which she's been trying to convince me for a while, even though she thinks all of my friends like emily are skinny, blonde, sororitutes who can't compete with her.  More or less, it's just her way of getting rid of me.  So we get into it over this stupid fucking message and I simply asked if she thought I was dating emily. She got totally pissed and wouldn't talk to me.  I tried to call her and she told me she didn't want to talk to me anymore.  Fucking amazing, really.  I can't say I even begin to understand what the fuck her problem is.  She dumped me.  I'm dating.  SHE'S DATING.  She's got the man she wanted to be with more than me, so she should just get off my fucking ass and go be happy.  He fits mommy and daddy's perfect little view of how things should be.  I don't.  The girls I surround myself with have more in common with me than she ever did.  I don't have to try to change who I am to make them happy.  I don't have to hide my time with them.  I don't have to worry that someone might see us hold hands.  I can put a pic of me and my friends on facebook without worrying about the backlash of "what if my parents see?" 

Sorry, didn't mean to rant there.

All I'm saying is this:  RECOVERY COMPLETE.  Although that probably doesn't mean what you think it does.

Am I over her?  No.

Part of me will always love her.  I've been infatuated with her for four fucking years.  I used to watch her sing and go home and smile to myself replaying the whole concert in my head.  I know what she was wearing the first time I saw her.  I know the foods she ordered on a lot of our dates.  I know the look she gets when she's dreaming.  I will never forget the smile on her face the first thing in the morning when she'd wake up and see me there.  I will probably always remember how she feels inside.  I can still hear the words "I love you" as she'd bite  my ear.  I remember so much and I will always treasure all of that.

At the same time, I remember the hurt and the pain.  I remember the first time she broke up with me and how fucking pissed off I got.  I remember all the nights she'd get drunk and say horrible things to me.  I remember every time she'd lie to me and think I didn't know.  I remember the first time she couldn't look me in the eye while talking about her friends in DSM.  I remember her birthday, when we were broken up but had sex like 18 times in 3 days.  How she kept telling me she loved me and wanted to have my babies, but then would tell me that it was never going to work and we shouldn't be together. 

The days after she told me she wanted to be with him were about recovery, but not about the kind of recovery where everything is healed.  They were about finding myself.  They were about accepting the truth.  They were about realizing I didn't have to bow down to her and not tell anyone that we had been together.  They were about realizing that there are WOMEN out there who want relationships, who want to have a shot at forever, who don't hold it against me that I have a past, because they understand that we all do.  Women who may hurt me just as much down the road, but who won't set out from the beginning knowing it's the only possible option. 

I will never fully get over her any more than my knee has ever fully healed from being dislocated three times.  I will inevitably meet someone, and I will fall again, and it might be the same or better or worse.  There will be days when I look back at what we had in anger and days when I look back and smile knowing that I had the opportunity to date one of the best friends I had ever had (until we started dating).  There will be days I might wonder how her life turned out or where she is now or whatever.  And there will be days I will lament the loss of what we shared. 

Still, I am better.  I have realized it was unhealthy.  I have realized it wasn't the love I imagined it to be.  I crashed and I burned, but in the ashes, I recovered and I will fly again.  It probably won't be tomorrow, but now I realize that it could be.

On a slightly sillier note, my flat is incredibly ridiculous. I love everyone on my floor to bits and I think that the concept of sharing a kitchen is possibly the most ingenius thing ever. Seriously. You don't understand how much scrounging for food amongst loads of Top Ramen and pasta really ties you to people. It's pretty much amazing.

Culture shock! I had my first pub crawl last night, and I've gotta say, I picked the best damn group of people to go for it with. You know why I can say that? Because I totally went with the Clay Pigeon Shooting Club, of which almost every member was decked out in tweed and hunting gear. As an introductory event, remembering names was a nightmare, so I ended up being both simply California and "the Yank".  It was absolutely fantastic. Just imagine starting out at a real pub - The Fat Cat, as it were - and then from there, making your way as a group of crazy drunken tweed bedecked loons through three more pubs - singing God Save The Queen to end each stop - and chugging pints from a ten-year-old-boy-sized Wellie boot. Yeah. Um. That's as English as it gets, my friends. And it was awesome.

Still in England, still living an incredibley amazing life filled with awesome Aussies, crazy Lithos, ridiculous Brits, and surprsingly well-cooked college freshers food. What can I say? It's the life. =]

Supongo que no llegué a desconectar de ellas tal vez ayer, pero imagino, quiero pensar, que estando allí, fuera de los espacios que tan familiares me resultan, fuera más sencillo intentar encontrar respuestas. Las tenía ya, muchas veces conocemos las respuestas, sólo que las obviamos y las pasamos por alto, no creemos que sean las que responden a nuestras preguntas sino las que debemos emplear para contestar las preguntas que nos hacen otros. Ayer no dejé de pensar en las cosas que quiero, en las cosas que creo que tengo que hacer para conseguirlas... y así pasé el día. ¿Hacia dónde debo caminar mañana? ¿Qué está bien y qué está mal? ¿Debo hacer esto o aquello? Me encantaría tener un Urim y un Tumin... La cuestión es que creo que sé qué quiero. Pero evidentemente no sé qué elecciones debo tomar ni que caminos debo recorrer para alcanzarlo. Y pienso que no lo sabré nunca. Puede que eso precisamente sea lo que hace que la vida, cada día, sea interesante y merezca la pena vivirlo. Porque seguro que en la búsqueda de nuestro 'sueño' encontramos cosas que no creíamos ni pensábamos encontrar, sorprendentes y fascinantes desde luego. Por eso merece la pena encontrar el modo de seguir adelante.