Fellowship of the Blog

I know I said I’d update yesterday and I didn’t. What can I say, I’m a terrible liar.

One of the things that I did over break was destroy my daily energy level. In Falmouth I would walk at least a mile a day, and that sets a physical standard that, quite frankly, America can’t live up to. Between not walking and having 5-star food three times a day, if I put on actual clothes it was an active day. Now that I’m back in Falmouth, I find I’m sleeping WAY later than I’m used to and having to real focus if I want to get myself to do anything. I’m hoping that if I keep pushing myself I can get my energy back to its previous level soon; failing that, I hope I go into some kind of coma so I don’t have to worry about it.

Christmas wasn’t just about great food and sloth, either. I was able to catch up with all the friends I left behind, visited with relatives, and I even got some work done. Not all 30,000 words I wanted to have done by now – good LORD nowhere close – but I have enough to get me through the week I believe, and a strong start towards the rest of it. I even have a kickass rationalization for not doing the whopper 12,000 project, but I’ll keep that to myself for now. Don’t want anyone stealing it.

I also went up to Chicago while I was back in the States, and did a lot of things. I visited my bro and got to meet some of his pals/ fellow students, I got to see what his school’s woodshop is like (think what Norm Abrahms wet dream would be like and you’re halfway there), but mostly I went up there to get my visa. I shall not revisit the trials and traumas that make up my previous attempts at getting a UK visa, nor the consequences of those past failures. Let it simply be known that I have it now, that I am in the UK with complete consent of the ruling government, and leave it at that.

Ehhh, who am I kidding?


I was able to get a few bottles of Cornish delight back to the States undamaged. The Mead would have been better off broken, I guess the people here like their mead tasting of cough syrup, but the beer was wonderful. I got it to give to my grandpa, a connoisseur of sorts, and even grandma liked what she sampled.

Right, now to the central focus of all Christmas-Break essays ever: new material possessions!! This year I was kind of trick to shop for since I can only take back so much. I got a few new books, one of which I’ve already read (and I borrowed a couple more for the plane ride, both of which are now read), a slew of gift certificates ($100 in iTunes money, baby!!) a couple of thermoses (thermi? Thermes? What’s the etiquette here?), a pile of neat food to eat before I left (which I did), new clothes, Spartan on DVD (I like David Mamett, but this seemed a bit dryer than normal. Still good.), and a bunch of other things I’m forgetting. My aunt and uncle gave me my birthday present early: a bottle of brandy and a flask. I discovered on arriving in Falmouth that I’m not a brandy fan, but I do enjoy a good flask. I used one of my gift certificates to pick up Sid Meier’s Pirates! for the PC, purely an impulse buy, but I think it was a big mistake. It’s the main reason I stay up until 2 in the morning these days.

I learned a meaning of the phrase “You can never go home again”. When I got home, it was like getting wrapped in a flannel blanket that’s been near the fire when you just got in from the cold. I was comfortable, I was tired but it didn’t matter because I didn’t have to do anything, everything about it was just nice. Absolutely everything. I really didn’t want to leave, but knew I had to, because as challenging and only rarely frustrating as grad school’s been, it’s been making me a better writer, maybe a better person, and I couldn’t let that process stop. So I left, knowing I can’t go back there and stay without hurting myself a lot. Visits don’t count, though. Visits fucking rule! That’s going to be a recurring thing, I can tell.

The traveling into the UK was pretty smooth, just really really long. I took an Ambien for the flight over the pond, didn’t sleep all the way through but enough to make a difference. Customs took fifteen minutes, I was so thrilled I forgot to flip them off on my way out for last time. It took some doing getting from Gatwick to Paddington, but not a whole lot. Lugging my luggage everywhere when no trolleys were available was a pain, but not so much as when I thought I’d have to lug them from the train station up the hill to my house. Ian called halfway there and told me to wait for him, which I agreed to only to be polite (to him or to my aching muscles???). We were all that had returned at first, then Joanna came back the next day. I’m pretty sure they’re together at this point, we’ve been waiting long enough for them to get over themselves, but being in a house alone with a new couple just ain’t comfortable, I don’t think there’re any circumstances to make that otherwise. Katriona came back last night, so there’s one more buffer at least. Dan’s due sometime today and Duncan tomorrow.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something, actually a lot of things, but I’ve hit my max for this post I think. Please, PLEASE, let me know if I’ve forgotten something. Post it as a reply, even. And Happy New Year!