Saturday, July 29, 2006

London

So here are some pictures from London, which is very, very nice and I liked it very, very much, if for no other reason that the great people I hung out with

.
I had to wake up at 3:45 in the morning to catch my train because I had to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast and walk to the train station. All I can say is that it was depressing to see that while I was walking to go on a big adventure, most people still hadn't gone home from the bars because Thursday is party night, and I left Friday before the sun came up.


Traveling on the Eurostar was fun, once I got on it and everything. It was pretty nice. I like train travel, I think. Although all I did was sleep the entire way with my face smushed against the glass.

Once I got into London, Caitlin and Bridget, (after a hug tackle that Caitlin is infamous for) being the kind souls that they were, helped me to find a cheap place to eat breakfast. This cost me 3 pounds. I was so happy I could have cried. (Re: Meat is expensive in Belgium)





Not to mention it was really, really good. All the breakfasts I had were approximately 3-4 pounds, and they were all this size...you know, meal size. It was so refreshing.





This is a picture of Caitlin while we went to look at the Cathedral where Nelson's tomb was. I like this picture for some reason, although it's very fuzzy. Note how very, very smily Caitlin looks. By the end of the weekend she was giving me the infamous two fingers about every fifteen minutes. I won't say I didn't deserve it. (What can I say, I was cheeky.)





This was in front of...St...Paul's? I think? I don't remember the Cathedral name, since we didn't go in (because it cost 9 pounds to look at stuff in there, and Bridget got in for free because she was researching there.) but Bridget was very nice and told me all about the differences between Ionic and Corinthian and...uh...another type of column. Anyways, the long and short of it is (no pun intended) that there are 'male' and 'female' version columns. Who knew? Not me. I really should go look that up, now that I think of it.





This is me looking like a deer in headlights for some reason while I look over yonder. We were in the church waiting to see how much it cost and stuff.







This is what a typical London intersection looked like. Busy. We were on our way to the Virgin megastore, in which Caitlin nearly lost her sanity, and certainly lightened her wallet. The next day when we went there again, I also bought a bunch of stuff, and now I own a bunch more CDs, and they're actually quite nice. Virgin megastores are really, really big. like, not just by European standards...they're REALLY, REALLY big. I can't imagine how much it would cost for them to have a store that big in central London.






This, Caitlin informed me, is where all the famous Shakespeare actors studied. I was really impressed, it looks like a really rundown building, in a pretty normalized neighbourood, but I guess that's where all the genius hides.






Caitlin nearly cried when she saw this sign that said this was once the home of the Pre-Raphaelites. I was like, "Whose the Pre-Raphaelites?" All I could think about was religious orders at the time, so it didn't make any sense to me. I got it later. Good one, Brennan.





This was Caitlin and me in a VERY dodgy going-outta-business store where they literally were GIVING things away. Everything sold for one or two pounds. I made Caitlin try on this hat. I also tried on hats, and she laughed at me. It was fun. Now, it was funny because I practically DRAGGED Caitlin in there, and she was the one who found a nice Dr. Who shirt for very cheap. I tell ya. No gratitude. =D








This I saw while we were walking to the museum. I had to take a picture because I just would not have grown up the same without Calvin and Hobbes, and really, even thoughI practically wanted to own this placard, what would I do with a placard? I certainly couldn't put on some rank smelling clothing and then walk around proclaiming the "End is nigh!" (Even if that's a very Calvin and Hobbes thing to do, really.) I just wouldn't suit me. I'm not tall enough to be a doomsday-guy. They're all lanky and stuff. I thought this was the greatest thing on earth until Caitlin told me she had taken a picture of the very same thing for her ex-boyfriend. Then I was a little embarrassed. But I still really like the picture.







This was the front of the museum...of...uh....um....Liz would know. I forgot already. It was either the V & A, or the British Museum...I think it was the British Museum. =D The best thing about British Museums is that they are, for the most part, completely free, which I think is terrific. If I had any sort of income, I would have given money of large sorts, but, uh, I don't. =(







This was one of the many, many Buddha-buddies in the East-Asian gallery. And, to suit the atmosphere of the culture, it was stifling and hot in there. We basically looked at some jade, chatted about Eastern culture, and headed on out.









THIS WAS TERRIFIC!!!! Well, I was happy, even if Caitlin was pretty disenchanted. This is the Rosetta Stone, and wow, it's big! I thought it would be a little smaller for some reason. Anyways, it was really cool, and I really, really liked the fact that I got to see it. Especially, when I was like, "Hey is this the Rosetta Stone?" and Caitlin said, "Yeah, I guess." Then I started doing my happy dance.







This was the thing I liked best out of everything we saw, I think. This was the Temple of the Nereids. This was a burial temple for a family, I think, and it was just beautiful, and MASSIVE. Like, mega uber massive. And it was just so beautiful. I really liked this.







I don't know why I found this appealing, but I did. I guess it represented to me all the things that I ever supposed that a headless statue would be, if that makes any sense at all.








This is Caitlin taking an ULTIMATE CHOMP out of her ULTIMATE BURGER. There was an honest-to-goodness burger restaurant, and I hadn't had a REAL MEAT BURGER IN, LIKE, A YEAR, and so we had hamburgers, and it was everything I thought it would be. I love meat. I really, really love meat.






Look at how beautiful it is. *Sniff* Look at it. *SOB* I MISS YOU ALL BEEF PATTIES!!!! If you look, you can see the chili fries we had with the meal. While they weren't anything too special, I didn't care BECAUSE THE FRIES HAD MEAT. That made me happy. Really, really happy. I love beef. Regardless how much this meal costed, it was totally worth it. TOTALLY.


After this pleasant meal, we went to the V & A , which had some really impressive fashion galleries, and a bunch of modern art. Because Caitlin said I wasn't supposed to take pictures in most of the galleries, I just took the ones where she said it was alright or didn't yell at me for taking photos. Probably the two most interesting things were





'


This







and this. The hanging...um...whatever it was...was at the start of the museum, dangling above the museum receptionist's head. The crazy bicycle thingy was actually a piece of art which had one of those coin wells where you put in a coin and watch it go round and round was at the end of the museum. It was made to work only for larger coins, we thought, since the small coins basically just went klunk, but like I was giving them 2 pounds to see something roll. I mean, really.






The next day, we went to Trafalgar Square, with the whole history of the battle of Trafalgar, blah blah blah, ask Bridget about it. It was very, very, VERY crowded, and Caitlin didn't like the tourists, even though she accepted the fact that she was one of them. I accepted the fact that she, as she puts it, "At least tried to learn something about the culture before coming here, and not just walking around aimlessly." And, I mean, really, all Caitlin and Bridget did while I was there was fill my head with facts. Very fun.






I don't know why I like this picture, but really, this is just so typical. Don't they both just look so smart? I mean, really.






This is us figuring out how to get to one of the places Bridget needed to see for her research. Very nice. We also mapped out how to get to Church for the evening, and they indulged me by letting me visit Buckingham Palace. (I'm of the impression that they had no desire to go. Especially since that's what they said while they waited outside the gates.)






This was the monument at Buckingham Palace. I was pretty non-plussed with the palace on whole...I was expecting more trumpets, or fountains going off while men on horses talked genially with ladies and tipped their hats. I don't know why I thought that but I did. However, I did get to see the soldiers in fuzzy hats, AND IT WAS EVERYTHING I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AND MAN IT WAS GREAT. I watched them do some marching, and I decided that being a soldier in a fuzzy hat made you a near certain volunteer for shin splints. Keep digging in those heels. I would love to watch a military parade or an English march past now. Military drill. Never get tired of it.





This was 'Mini-Big-Ben' which we saw on our way to Church. I also saw the real Big Ben from a distance, and I didn't see any need to get closer, since it also was a little disenchanting. I was kinda hoping it was...well, bigger. Sad, right? Anyways, this guy was constructed during the time when Big Ben wasn't working, as an apology to the people of London. It said something to that affect on the plaque. That's another thing, everything in London has a plaque. Everything.






This impressive building is where we went to church. It was absurdly big, and I mean that. I was so big that they had....something like six people serving communion. I think there were more than a 1000 chairs in there. It was very pretty, but it had too much smell of tourism, so there just wasn't any 'feel' to it that was probably supposed to be there. Mass was also a bit of a downer because, well, there was no singing. Yeah. It was all spoken, so I was really sad because I wanted to hear some English hymns. But it was still really nice because I went to mass with some very nice people. =) I have now heard Mass in 4 countries. Not bad.


Anyways, that's my trip! After all this, we went back and relaxed and just chatted the night away. I got up at 5 in the morning to catch my train, and I had a wonderful time. I'm SO glad I went. It was a really good break for me, and it was a nice sort of way to forget about school for a bit and just veg. I slept HUGE hours, even though it was really, really hot there. I had fun, and I would say that London is really fun. I liked it. I would certainly recommend you go, since it's so accessible and not too unfamiliar. =)


OK, well, I'm outta hear. It's late, and this took a while because I uploaded so many pictures. =P Later days!

Friday, July 28, 2006

I got a library card! =D




YAY! Isn't it awesome-looking? I mean, besides the fact that I attached hands and feet to it (Can we say, craft deprived?) I just love how SNAZZY it looks. Like it's MORE than a library card. =D I LOVE IT!

I mean, I know there are a total of fourteen english books at the library, and that thirteen of them are harlequin romances, but still. Some things are universal, like the smell and feel of a library, especially the people who work there. It was just so nice, and reminded me so much of why I love books and reading so much. It's just the nice atmosphere.

I am now reading sci-fi. It's terrific. My brain is turning into mush and rubbish. It's great!

I've also noticed that my reading speed has diminished. What used to take me very little time now takes me longer. However, this is the first time I have read a 'novel' read for some time, so I guess I shouldn't worry that I lost a little of my speed skill. I mean, really. I am being trained to read slowly, carefully and painfully. Reading fast is bad. Or so they say. =)

Anyways, I will post more tomorrow. Maybe Sunday since I have to play catch-up with reading tomorrow because of that dumb fly who woke me up.

Quizzes

So, I was taking a break from studying, since today has declared itself officially to be the day off, since I was woken at 9:30, AND THEN 10:30 by a FLY, which kept buzzing around my head and continues to do so ALL DAY, and I found this quiz on the internet for a children's site, which asked, "Which kind of animal are you?" Me thinking this would be mildly info-tational, decided to give it a shot, here are some of the common results:

Are you a good swimmer?

Not particularly / Yes, very good

Not particularly

Do you think you're specially cuddly?

Of course I am! / not particularly

Of course I am!

Are you tall for your age?

Yes / No

No.

Do you like to eat meat?

A little or none / Yes, a lot


Yes, a lot


You're a puppy!



*******

?!?


What??? I went back and checked the other answer, which was, 'are you tall for your age', clicked 'yes' and then came to this baffling question:


Do you like playing in the snow?

No, I love the sun and the sand! / Yes, I love snowball fights!


No, I love the sun and the sand!

You're a brown bear!

********************

?!?!??!?

What? Have these people ever seen a brown bear? What the crap? Do they not realize that, according to my knowledge, brown bears generally avoid large bodies of water like lakes and seas, therefore nullifying the idea that if you liked sun and sand, you would be a brown bear??? Not to mention that brown bears take cover from the heat during the day, because, well, they're really quite fat and big, which means big body heat, and they have a fur coat of hugeness. I don't know many kids that would actually agree with anything these people said on their site. I mean, really, even cartoon and child-geared documentaries show bears in their natural habitat, which does not include them lying on the beach under an umbrella. And since when are brown bears tall? They're not regularly bipedial, and just because they can stand up on two legs does not make them tall. AUGH! That's like saying a crocodile is tall, or a really big fish is tall because it's long and large.

Sigh. What are they teaching kids these days. Honestly.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Working, working

Hi there,

Well, I am fine, and exhausted, and these last couple of days have been jam packed with stuff and hence no posts. I will post something tomorrow, but I'm really quite tired, so I can't really do it today. Really, I'm practically yawning as I type, and it's not even 8pm yet. I hardly did any reading today. Anyways, will update with many things soon. Just not today because so tired.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Hey!

Well, I should probably say something because I haven't been on here in a while.

I have stuff to post, just not as much time to post it.

Or effort. It's really, really hot here, and I'm just trying not to die.

Serious.

So, anyways, I will update you after the weekend. =D

Until then, go have a slurpee for me. It's all I can think about at this very moment. Yeah.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Art(?)








I'm practicing colouring things properly, and it's driving me nuts. AUGH.

Other than that little art happenstance, it's been a really good week! =D

Except I lost my bank card. And the man at the KBC bank thinks I'm the biggest idiot EVER. EVER. LOL.

Yeah, I'm really representing, let me tell you.



I'm going to London this weekend. I should be excited, but I'm too travel veteranized to be excited just yet. I know, I just KNOW there's a grand piano waiting to fall on me while I travel. Mainly because I'm lucky like a four-shoed clover, no wait, I mean, lucky like a horse-shoe with five brass leafs? Stuck to a pair of monkey ears?

Metaphors. They can sneak up on you if you're not careful.

I am well seasoned in screwing myself MANY times over when I travel. I know, I just KNOW that I will be going along, all happy like, and someone will hold me up for all the pairs of clean underwear in my bag. In the middle of the day, with people watching, WATCHING while I say things like, "Are you sure you don't just want all the money I have? How about my watch? I have a kidney I don't need, y'know, in case you feel like a compromise for something you could sell on Ebay." Then said person will take my money, my watch, my underwear AND my kidney. While people watch.

However, I am DETERMINED for this trip to be at least a little different. I've decided I'll throw caution and sensibilities to the wind and I'll just go and enjoy being with friends and that's enough for me. (If my brother were reading this right now, he'd say something like, "Yeah, Brennan sounds like he's going to be less of an old man than usual." I agree.) Traveling could be more like a vacation if I let it, instead of like an LSD trip which includes several cathedrals, at least one overpriced cafe with a dissapointing menu, and people which depise you and your camera. I just want to have fun while I spend my money in a place which doesn't deserve my cash.

Or my right kidney.

Well, I'll talk to you all later. Bed time.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

The Wedding




The happy couple ready to get their wedding documents.





The parents and the newly wedded bride and groom.


All I can say was that the wedding was fantastic. I had nearly 80 pictures, I think, and it was just a hoot. Honestly, more people need to be married faster. The civil wedding took about 15 minutes in total, and was very pleasant. (They are doing the Catholic half of the wedding in Mexico.) Montseratt's family was so nice, even if all the spoke was Spanish and French (Yet again, I find myself cursing my lack of French, again.) and they were really cool about the fact that pretty much all I could reply with was 'oui' or ' ca va bein.' Very awesome people. Patrick's parents were also really, really nice to me, so I really appreciated that, especially when I got left behind at a certain point in time when I was supposed to catch a ride with them. (Which turned out to be a really not big deal. I am just happy I got to spend some time with them.)

I'll post some more later. Not on the wedding, but probably other stuff. =D

Friday, July 14, 2006

A test

Here's one of those silly things where you go to google images, and put up the first picture that comes up when you search it, so here's mine :


The age on your next birthday:









Your favourite colour:







Your middle name (one picture per middle name):








The last meal you ate:






Your bad habit:





Your favourite fruit or vegetable:





The town you live in:






Name of your pet/last pet/sibling:




Your first name:




Your last name:



Your nickname:





Your favourite book:




Your favourite actor/actress:




Your favourite composer:






Your alma mater:




OK, maybe I should go to bed.

Flashback =D

Well, I was uploading some pictures, and I realized I forgot to put some on the blog. Mainly, Rassa's party before she left, which was a lot of fun. (But she left, and that's not a lot of fun, but it's alright.)


This is a picture of the cake that was made for Rassa. I did not have a hand in making it this time. It looks beautiful, doesn't it? It tastes just as nice, actually. However, we needed to store it in a fridge until the party, and that meant making it change plates. Thankfully, I just took pictures of this process, since I certainly would have botched it.

Here our crew of scientists are hard at work. How to move exhibit A from Plate 1 to Plate 2? Clearly this requires much thought and several spatulas.

No, the cake didn't break. Actually, it went quite nicely onto the other plate. However, there was a lot of icing left over, and so I sample some...er, a lot, really. But so did everyone else there! I swear! And, uh, I may, or may not have started a food fight.

Well, the evidence clearly points in the direction of me looking like a homicidal maniac with icing all over his face while giving someone their 'just desserts.'

A little icing on Montseratt's shoulder was what started it, I swear. Then she gets me straight in the face with it, and then Jean starts LITERALLY THROWING IT at me. I would like to see myself as the victim in this circumstance. Really. It was rather fun, and we all had a good time.

And I had icing all over my face and my shirt.

This was our surprise party for Rassa in the park. It was on Sunday, but it really should have been labeled Sun-DEATH. Seriously, it was around 35 degrees. Sweltering. The nice girl in the blue dress made Rassa's cake. It took Rassa (the girl with the extraordinarily bright red hair) nearly an hour before she realized that this was a surprise party for her. Also, if Sarah D is reading this, yes, we really did pull the same stunt twice. And, yes, she had no clue. And, uh, if Sarah D is reading this, uh, those documents you really, really needed me to send are on their way, in the mail! I swear! Yes! Really! Really really!

Uh, they'll be in the mail tomorrow. Sorry.

This is Rassa posing for the camera right before she left. We sat down and hand a really nice talk before she left, and she then proceeded to be driven away with her two other Lithuanian friends, who were all going home, and it was a really sad day. However, even if it was bittersweet, I'm getting better as saying goodbye to close friends that I don't want to see leave. Or, I just block the consequences out of my mind better. (Yay Jedi mind tricks! Where would I be without them? Probably still on a dusty planet in a solar system far, far away.)

So here's to me and Rassa, who put together some slammin' dances in the theatre.

And on a completely unrelated note, here's my philosophy pal Jim shaking a vinaigarette like a true man of the table. I had dinner at his house a week ago or so, and it was terrific, and his wife is an excellent cook, and he is, uh, an....excellent salad dressing shaker! =D He lent me a book I need to read, somewhere between Anna Karenina and Augustine readings, but it will happen soon, so I can talk to him about all the excellent things that are said to be in said book! =D Also, Jim is like, way, way smarter than me, and he has, what? Three degrees? I don't know, he's been in the military, (Marines, I think) has a music degree, an exegetical degree, and a bachelor of philosophy from KULeuven when they were offering a one year intensive bachelor's degree in philosophy. Anyways, we talked about how we did this semester (Jim blew me out of the water, not a big surprise, his cranium surely weighs more than mine) and we also talked about life in general and just had a relaxing evening. Being at his place made me realize how much work I have to do to educate myself and become a better reader and that I need to keep teaching myself, again and again, to study harder and smarter.

I'll post more later. Later!