Crawlspace Sleepyhead

Something Like That

pkmunches — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:38:07 +0000

A few days ago after a successful dinner at Nando’s, the following conversation occurred:

-I wonder if girls can go into the Gentleman’s Club.
-I don’t see why they can’t.
-But I heard that in some places it’s only for guys and girls can’t go in.
-They can’t do that.
-Why not?
-Because that would be sexist.

As we come upon the club (while we’re still debating the matter) I tell one of them to go ask the bouncers. So one of them does. The following conversation occurs:

-Are girls allowed inside?
-No.
-Why not?
-Because we’re sexist.
[silence followed by the bouncer laughing]
-Just joking. Yea you’re allowed inside.

Crazy shenanigans in England. Thus far i have booked a trip to Paris with the rest of the internationals and then a trip to London with some internationals that I meant the first couple days here and then I booked another trip to London later in March for some personal time and exploration of London.

Everyone here is incredibly nice and it’s great being part of it, but sometimes it’s also rather lonesome, because of the language barriers I suppose but also the personal barriers. These people have gone through similar things and have already bonded whereas I have just arrived, lived in a different country, went through a different education system and life in general, and yet there are still some things that are universal. Overall, it’s a pretty great experience so far. I have a to read two novels a week for my modules but that’s not too bad. I guess over time, over the term, I’m hoping I become closer friends with these people so eventually when I leave I can consider myself truly part of their little group of friends they have created.

Want a cuppa?

pkmunches — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:46:36 +0000

Because it is the acceptable thing to do I am drinking tea with milk and coffee with milk 24/7 here and I don’t hate it. It’s actually quite nice and relaxing although I don’t understand how people can drink it that fast. It’s so hot it burns my tongue! Do these people not have the burning gene on their tongues? I guess not. Or maybe their hands are specialized to cool down the tea to a perfect temperature so they can drink it in one go. I have to wait for ten minutes after the water boils before I can drink from my cup, much less hold it. Ouch, that’s hot.

Sandwiches are my new favorite meal. They are easy to prepare and have simple ingredients plus they cover every part of the food pyramid, food circle, pie chart, whatever nutritional value thing. I do believe you can find that out at myplate.gov but I could be wrong.

I don’t know if we have this in America but they have these packets of soup. Similar to how hot chocolate can be in packages, these are packages of soup in which you add boiling water, mix, and then enjoy (Seriously, that’s what the box says) and I’ve had two packets already (there’s a different name for the packet but I can’t remember right now).

This post was all about food because I need to go food shopping and buy milk chocolate digestives and I also need to buy groceries. Our freezer is full so I can only buy fresh things or things to put in the pantry. Fun.

Birds flying home

pkmunches — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:00:51 +0000

A comment on the title: I just saw a couple grey tailed birds (unsure of their name) fly into this square hole (holes are usually round aren’t they…I wonder if it’s square whether it counts as a hole?) on the other side of the river/canal. I’m guessing that’s where their nest is.

Intermission

The days are so empty. When I was walking back to my flat today I met a couple of my flat mates and as I left them to their walk I began characterizing the members of my flat to a story. I even began composing in my head but unfortunately I’ve forgotten a lot of it. I was going to write it down once I got back but there were four people in the kitchen and in my excitement I forgot about the story. Besides, if I eventually turn it into a story then I might face some copyright issues, but to hell with it. Here’s as much as I can remember (BTW the below story is fictional and is in no way representative of any real life people):

The lady of the house wears black kohl around her eyes, creating the most fierce and haughty stare I’ve ever seen. She dons naturally curly hair and a simple jumper over grey leggings. Her mannerisms are simple but complicated, and though she never explicitly gives commands she is held at the highest respect.The lady of the house does not have a man. Instead there is the loveable butler, but not so much butler as confidant. He cleans and fixes things. The man of many trades but master of none. He is tall and skinny, a physique any fit man would regret not having and his pale blue eyes are kind with the cleverness of a fox. The child, not of the lady but from his disposition, is tall and wears trousers that fall around his knees so he is crossed and waddles like the kin of a penguin. On the kitchen counter lay his belongings, cooked food long forgotten and rotting, dishes piling up into crusted pasta sauce. Eventually the confidant raises his hand and takes the sponge to them. This child parties until he does not know up from down but every night he manages to make it home. He never leaves for education. The quiet one remains in his room and can only be seen in the morning eating a bowl of puffs, staring out the window, wondering about the temperature and the weather. Then there’s me, the final inhabitant of the abode. I am the stranger, the person who has come into their life and shaken things up but barely created a dent. They are kind and feed me and introduce me to their ways. I am still learning.

There it is. It turned out differently from how it started. I’m probably not going to go anywhere with it. When I get a more regular schedule I plan on leaving and going to cafe’s and writing, reading, exploring the hell out of the UK and Europe.

The View From Up Here

pkmunches — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:35:13 +0000

From my window, which takes up an entire wall cut up into three sections, I can see the building across from mine, a twin image of white cinder blocks stacked on top of each other in a fleeting form rising to the slanted roofs of England. The English and their slanted roofs, but really, everyone has slanted roofs. The river is solemn and dry, running twenty feet deep and dark, swelling against the white underbelly of the graffiti-ed building on its opposite shore. There is a single lamp post but its light is not lost in the dark that descends too early, for there are a few yellow candles along the prison walls that I inhabit and they light the otherwise blackness.

My room is small, but large for a single. A single desk and chair, bed, and bedding pack awaited me when I arrived. On the desk was a brown box that said “UEA First Class” and I spent twenty minutes staring at it, looking into its nooks and crannies, wanting to open it but not wanting to break it. For safe keeping, you understand. There are three shelves, four if you include the counter, and then three drawers, which are all stacked in a column next to a closet that came with hangers and more shelves. My shoes are on the floor. There is a furnace and it is warm, but slow to heat. The ledge on the window is where I have placed my beauty products, because I am at a lack of space. Nothing but bags and red carpet are on the floor. When I step into my room I am a movie star.

The city has cobblestones, not good for heels or sneakers and a pain for growing calves. The streets wind up and down and left and right. The market sits multicolored and striped. British people and international people walk by. The buses are double-deckers and if you sit at the top front seats you can see the world. And the castle. It is quite boring, built of leggos.

The university is built so you are forever suspended in mid-air, not knowing if you are on the ground floor or up above. It always seems like you’re standing on the ground until you come upon steps leading down. At the pub they serve you apple sweat and lagers so thick it will melt your blood until you are a gecko stuck to the walls or the windows, whichever is nearest. But really, you’re just a stack of cards.

Hello Old World

pkmunches — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:37:24 +0000

England has been a landslide of old countries and new faces and life in between. We stay suspended in mid-air and drink apple sweat that costs two pound forty or so going up the river or down the river, not knowing which way leads us home. I’ve lost track of time and good friends and new friends and can’t reorient myself because I don’t know where the fuck I’m going. Good night, sweat world, I will greet you again tomorrow morning. I’m guessing English coffee doesn’t have caffeine in it because I am really incredibly tired even though I had a cup.

Here I Travel

pkmunches — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 02:49:53 +0000

In three days I will pass through layers of security, board a plane, fly thousands of miles to a land I have never been to, and reside there for five months. While there I will learn, I will play, I will engage with myself and the world, creating discourse between myself and my subject. I absolutely cannot wait. There’s so many things that I want to do that the ideas are just pouring from my mind through my ears onto the ground. I can’t catch them because there’s too many. I’m also scared, of course, I don’t really know what is going to happen. I just know that I will conduct myself in an orderly fashion until I get admitted into the country, and then I will stare like the silly little tourist I am. Gawking. Real life sport. You should try it. The British will be gawking at me while I gawk at their history and the beauty that surrounds them and their country. Oh my goodness I am getting goosebumps from anticipation!

I will see you on the other side.

Duck Winks, Asfalt Mutton, and Hot Air Baboons

pkmunches — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:35:06 +0000

It’s been awhile since I’ve made New Year’s Resolutions. People seem to find such joy in making them and then hate themselves when the resolutions do not happen. I figure, if I decide to do something or to change something about myself, I should be able to make that resolve whenever I want to. There’s nothing that says because I made the resolution for New Years it’s going to be any better than if I made the resolution in July. New Year’s Resolution (as per the Oxford English Dictionary) is to do or to refrain from doing a specified thing from that time onwards, or to attempt to achieve a particular goal, usually during the coming year. If searched in the Oxford English Dictionary also, to resolve is “to have resolved upon a course of action [wait, why is the OED using the word in its definition?], a firm intention; firmness or steadfastness of purpose.” I suppose the best definition is this one: A formal decision, determination, or expression of opinion made by or submitted to a deliberative assembly, meeting, etc. Therefore this means a resolution can occur at any time. Why the fascination with choosing the New Year to perform these resolutions? Is it the allure of a new year, new beginnings? For many people, life continues on in the same drab tone as it did before. But perhaps it is a point where one can choose to say “I am stopping here and continuing no further. I will change myself.”

Regardless, my whole point in mentioning New Year’s Resolutions is that I’ve finally come up with some for the coming year of 2012. When I say it has been awhile, I mean it. As in I’m not sure if the resolutions should be made before or directly after the New Year has come. Perhaps before, as that makes more sense. Anyway, I refrained from making resolutions year after year because they were all shallow and single minded resolutions of a child, but now I find myself thinking differently. Perhaps I am getting wiser [haha, funny].

In no particular order, these are my resolutions:

Discover Myself – This is cheesy, yes, but I have lost sight of who I am. Or, rather than saying that I have lost sight of it, it may be more proper to say that I never set my sights on who I am. This year I want to really delve into this being in which blood flows and air is breathed. Who am I? What makes me tick? What am I doing with my life? What do I want from the world? What does the world want from me? I’m not saying that I will be able to wholly understand myself within a year’s time. It may be possible but more than likely it will not be. I want to make a dent, though, and get started on the path of understanding myself more clearly. I also want to find the means through which I can discover myself better. Maybe I shouldn’t do it in blog form. Perhaps pictures? I am a pretty visual person, but my love for words propels me on. [Propel, remember that flavored water? Gosh that was so long ago.] By understanding who I am I will then know which path I should take as I go into my last year of college and head into the adult world. I must be honest, this whole journey is a bit nervewracking.
Talk to Strangers – and after talking to them, make friends. I am not entirely good at either. I usually stay holed up in my room and browse on the computer for hours at a time. Right after the New Year passes I will be traveling abroad to England and Europe. I am hoping that during my stay there I will be able to “Discover Myself” but also make friends with people my age and people who are not my age. It would be nice to branch out rather than being in a controlled environment like back home [here]. Hoping the self confidence boost will carry over and I will be able to make more friends here in America. [Crossing my fingers].
Explore – Since I will be going to a new place, a new country, I want to learn as much as I can, both academically and physically [?]. I want to see what Europe is through my own eyes rather than how it is portrayed through books and TV shows. Those things don’t show the true side. If you ever want to know a place, go there for yourself. As it is, I won’t be spending every day in London, the stereotypical England destination but a more secluded, quiet spot of Southwest England. I don’t have the guts to travel by myself but I want to go to so many places that I can’t possibly fit it all into five months [really only one and a half months]. I would just love to learn as much as I can about the beautiful country.
Write – Last but not least. Lately I have been slacking off on my writing. During the time I am gone, my boyfriend has decided he will write a book. I figured I would do something of the same caliber. Maybe not a novel, but I definitely want to make up for all the time that I didn’t spend writing in the past three years and also for the time I should be writing for this year. I can only proudly say I am a writer if that is actually what I do, eat breathe and sleep writing. Therefore, this is the big year of writing. I will write on the corners of papers, fill out entire notebooks, and hopefully make headway into my novel. Or start from scratch and go far into another novel. Regardless of what it is, I plan to write until my hands and my fingers shake and my pen runs out of ink. When I return from England I plan on tuning up my typewriter [Xmas gift from boyfriend. Squeal!] and then typing on it until there is a giant stack next to it.

This is the year for myself, making myself a better person but also a better me. I guess we’ll all see by the end of the year, 366 days from now [because 2012 is a leap year] whether I have achieved any of these resolutions. Only four, but these four resolutions encompass so much more than four simple layers. It encompasses the past, present, and future of me.

Good luck to everyone on all of their New Year resolutions. You will be hearing more from me in the coming year [hopefully]. Happy New Year!

The title is dedicated to one and a half hours on the road with my one and only and his dying car.

Another Year, Another Day

pkmunches — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:08:29 +0000

The holiday season is far upon us and we are starting to slow down, but not really. The mall parking lots are filled to the brim, the lights on houses are loud and bright. The holiday spirit is a little peppier. For students this means finals. The frantic copying of notes, emailing classmates you never knew you had so you can hopefully pass your exam. It means sacrificing hours of sleep and working extra hours at the restaurant so you can pay your bills and hopefully have enough left over to buy that fancy watch on display at the jewelry store.

Recently I celebrated my twenty-first birthday by….studying. I know. I was sober for my twenty-first. Strange. And yet, I enjoyed it. I can say that yes, I do remember what happened on my birthday. It was nice. When finals are over I will get the chance to really party. That will be even nicer.

In other news, another political leader has died and I somehow managed to gain 66 views last Friday. Now that is incredibly strange.

———————

After I published this post a sidebar opened up to tell me this was my 111th post. I think that is quite an achievement. This year is the achievement of ones.

This quote was also there. I think me and him share some procrastination values.
“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.” – Stephen Wright

Two More Weeks

pkmunches — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:46:39 +0000

This morning I drove into a wall of white and I saw what I could not see before, looming in the foreground against a background that danced beyond my vision. It changed to the melody of speeding cars and popular music, to going 75 mph and slamming on the brakes. It impeded my aerodynamics and held my speed against my will. But I still arrived early.

There is intent

pkmunches — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:55:43 +0000

in your words, I can hear them dropping from the tip of your tongue like the rain falling from the dark gray clouds. It speaks to me the way dogs whisper to the flowers as they lift their noses alongside a fire hydrant and then proceed to piss up it. Your intent slaps me on the face, leaving a dark red sting not unlike a bee’s sting but far more obvious and more controlled than an insect only trying to protect itself. It leaves me confused and unamused at your playing and the vicious words that you toss in my direction.