AUGH!!!!!!!! yay!!!!!!!!! HEON! BEON! aww it makes me want to cry! i will try to call you soon! email me! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

awesome. hey everyone! guess who clocked a midget in the forehead while doing the roger rabbit on a crowded dance floor...

not until christmas eve

hiya chris! good to hear from you... are you living with alison? that's what i hear. just down the road from me. my aim name, by the way, is crackvillage. they are some kind of band here and they're funny. do you know when jeffrey is leaving? anyone? meeeery christmas.

YO!!! Aye Matey. in the moving progress. 400 N. 20th Ave. Its going to be wierd living in an even # such as, 400. #582-5337 no sleeping there yet, but will be tomorrow night. All alone.

is anyone left in hattiesburg????

el gato es muy grande

huh?
"Chris, does not be afraid. The school loves it (is sure that its clean check). "

colin, don't let the real world get you down, it will rerun over the holiday, without fucking DOUBT.

As for the rest of it, gotta find a house, gotta move in, gotta complete some incompletes, gotta go home, gotta go to Kenner, gotta go to Charolette, gotta go to work, gotta go to DC, gottta write some papers, gotta take this spanish final, gotta buy an airplane ticket, gotta GET PAID, gotta get my women in check, gotta flex all tha boyz from off my corner, gotta shop for christmas presents.

uh, thats all i've got to do over the holiday, off to more studying for spanish, t-minus 1hr, 30min to spa 202 final. i this has not been the typical fall for me, i usualy love fall semester, and ahte spring, but I could set a new pace and hate all of school.

i would refer you to my earlier post where i addressed this issue. hmmph. nigella lawson is a cook. and she uses sexy camera angles and eats raw eggs dripping from her fingers.

coming back in march tentative plan to attend summer semester. that's it

your sister is a million miles away and all you have to say is that you choked on JELLO? and peanuts IN THE SAME DAY? truly a feat. Loans, little brougham? Glad to see that damn creepy pillow is getting put to some use.

God bless textbook buy-back. Good luck on exams, dude.

And Nigella is soooooo five minutes ago.

new jets ain't that great. I didn't even buy it, i got a promo copy, and still I'm not impressed.

AN ENTERTAINING STORY ABOUT MY JOB:

I once took a claim from a farmer from York. He was driving a truck with a trailer attached to the back and the trailer was full of cows. The cows got excited and decided to start a revolution. They started swaying from side to side and caused the trailer to swing up on top of the truck that the gentleman was driving. The man drove with the cows on top for something like a half a mile. He suffered a broken collarbone. What happened to the cows you ask? Well, two jumped the fence and one ran down the road. All of them had to be put down because of their injuries. His response? "Well, they were gonna die anyway." Then he asked me for my number in London so we could go out sometime. Jonathan tells me that farmers from the north areas have a notoriously difficult time finding a wife. ha. His claim for personal injury, needless to say, did not go through.

Leo has moved into my room at Dame Edna's House of Glory. Venezualan fun all around. Fantastic.

tragically, jonathan decided to postpone the REAL football match because he doesn't have a heavy coat. the wind chill factor yesterday was 20 degrees. i was wearing two wool sweaters over a t-shirt, a hat, gloves, a wool pea coat, and a scarf and i was frozen. the wind has been blowing straight out of siberia. lemme tell you that i can check that off my list. not going to siberia. ever.

duuuudes. chris, is the new jets to brazil album everything they say it is? the best one ever? do you have it? could you burn it and send it with someone across the ocean? any new music from anyone would be much appreciated. i am tired of the 17 c.ds i brought over with me. augh.

alan is school taken care of? good luck on finals everyone and tell alison hi for me.

crap is right dorkwad

No ryan adams sightings so far. Lauren, where are you????? Anna if you're on here, i forgot to email you that i need someone to bring my christmas presents across the ocean. Also, £20 goes to anyone who will deliver the following list of items to me:

1 Box Cap'n Crunch Cereal
2 Boxes Zatarain's Dirty Rice Mix
2 Packages of Sweet Tarts
1 American Coca Cola

Come on guys...£20 times 1.6 (the dollar falls and falls)...monetary compensation to whomever brings my christmas presents in person. Assuming, of course, it would fit in a small bag...HI leigh ann! glad to hear from you all. My boyfriend is wonderful. It is 2 degrees here. that's 36 degrees fahrenheit. COLD. Saw james bond. it sucks. Can't wait. I FINALLY SAW THE DAREDEVIL TRAILER. Why is his costume sooo lame? It could be so cool. Going to see a football match this weekend! Peace out guys.

frontman of band, Whiskeytown, and free lance musical artist as well as bitch to the machine known as GAP Inc. for more:
Check on this, and this
I don't understand Colin's hatred, but there are still alot of things that Colin has unbrideled hatred for, but I have a feeling this isn't one of those things. As for me, I'm indifferent.

hey dudes. you guys are lame. haha just kidding. am coming home march 3 or so. alan are you going to school?

I am sending jeffrey and co money in chunks this week. I would bring Jonathan to the blog but I don't want him to read my past posts! And I have my own jar of cranberry sauce, thank you very much. I dunno, take a vote. who wants to meet Jonathan??

And I am having an excellent time. I miss you all.

hey dude, bring the boyfriend to the blog. We miss yah much but you've got to be having a good time since you're wanting to stay. Let Jeff know whats going on, Glen is giving a relentless barage of stupid comments and stories. happy turkey day!

YES i know what to ask for Christmas now! I think i am going to see Bright Eyes comng up soon. Also, this band my boyfriend likes called Lambchop. Err...I am not sure when i am coming home exactly, I am still trying to work out all of the details but i am going to try to stay as long as march 1. I just have to clear my money being sorted out and that should all be okay as of this week. Then deal with the student loan people. anyway, working on staying longer than planned. And Jonathan swears he is going to come to the states and meet everyone!

The job is as funny as ever. I get asked out alot by my clients. HA. Yesterday someone filed a complaint against Tesco because he slipped on a grape. Awesome. and Alabama...grr...football seems crappy this year but i think that's just wishful thinking since I CAN'T WATCH IT. a bunch of us displaced americans are going to get together to play football in hyde park soon. will inform you all if i suffer any lasting wounds. okay. peace out brothers.

Trisha, line up at your local record venue, TOMORROW IS YOUR DAY! How does it happen that Cameron Crowe married one of those hoes? I'm self swamped, overwhelmed and lonely. Sorry Bama lost to AU. Off to clean swimming pools.

hey dudes and dudettes. alan, give chris dad's email and invite him please. collin speak with jeffrey re:situation. london is cold and i've got a cold. trying to get gang together to watch a game of college football this weekend. alas, not the alabama/auburn game. jeeze. but something. it means i will be sitting in a deserted sports bar at one in the morning.

personal injuries claims are the worst people in the world. that's what i've got to say. and my advice: sue, sue, sue you can sue yourself, evidently, and win. ha.

gotta go nerds, post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

don't worry, college sucks

I'm quite sorry to hear about your grandmother, and i hope you are surviving well with your loss, my best wishes to you and your family.

alan, phone number?

hi dudes. heather am thinking abt you. am at terminal with sticky metal keys. my job is hilarious. soon have internet. how did i live without a mobile phone i askyou. have often thought oh ill just text heather/alan/chris and tell them. pollution is rotting my brain. and i bought the new coldplay album. haha. gotta go. heathre could u post the pix of pub somewhere for everyone to see?? tlk tou later trisha

cardiff city?? ahahahahaha. last time i checked, liverpool, man united, and arsenal were the top 3. but that was awhile ago. jonathan's team, sheffield united (hehe) beat leeds and made them cry this week. but they're a tier two team or whatever.

okay jeeze. i have so much to update!!! i have a new job, i think i said, as a person who answers those "have you been injured in an auto accident or at work? call cvi claims at 0800 blah blah blah" yeah, that's me. i get to ask you how you hurt yourself and feign sympathy as i advise you that a team of solicitors will start processing your claim within 48 hours. not really international law, but the office is small and we have a lot of creative control over how things are run. for the most part. it's an ideal job for me, believe it or not. i get hit on sometimes. haha.

i want you all to see this movie!!! i don't know if you can. it is really, actually good and terrifying. i screamed out loud twice in the theater and lauren and i were forced to hold each other.

also saw this crap movie called my little eye with jonathan. going to see harry potter tomorrow maybe.

saw fugazi in concert. was pretty cool. saw them at the forum in kentish town. bought the motorist jawbox 7" for £2. not too bad.

in sad news, you all almost got to see me a few months early. my grandmother, a few of you knew her, has passed away. she had cancer. she was a wonderful lady and i want you all to hug alan for me if you see him. i opted to stay here in london for the duration of my planned stay.

okay, i should go because i have things to do. but i promise that i will be here to update more often. and lemme know news from home!!! with love, trisha

what about the euro symbol, and hey, where did you find this out, i could use a list of those for writing in spanish and whatnot.

my phone # is (601)579-8317

sorry abgout the brains, i know it had some pop-ups, but i thought it was cool, so i owe you half a pound (damn, can't type the cool looking pound sign.)

what lauren didn't say is that the bassist wanted to hangout with her after the show and even pointed at her from the stage. hahaha

chris i am at an internet kiosk in liverpool st station and it costs me a £ for 15 mins. spent half of that trying to clear screen of stupid eating yr brain link. aughhh! what is yr phone number?? i can't remembr. how is everyone??????

Hey guys, hows the halloween over there? Is there much of a hullabaloo for the holiday? In the great halloween tradition...

BOO!

As for the rest, no big halloween party in hattiesburg this year. I guess we're feelin gthe effects of the biggest party people aren't inhabiting this town right now. As for the rest of it, I'm doing a radio show of nothing but dark and scary halloween music thursday night from 10-12, and if i'm feeling randy, 10-2. Who knows, if Jeff helps out, i'll be great. Trisha, the boys are going crazy. For the botched film shoot this past weekend, a black tarp was hung over the windows do give the effect of eternal darkness, since the film takes place at night. It is quite the strange sight, and could be quite disorienting when it comes to a biological clock. Sprayed on the tarp in orange is "NO FUT" which had all the hopes of being "NO FUTURE", but paint ran out. For now, it looks festive, but after the 31st, i believe it will still be there. I'm off.
Notre Dame still undefeated with a 10 point win over Florida St.

gross

i only have precious few minutes to type here. saw stonehenge. was funny because jonathan, lauren, and i were walking around this wonder of the world in the blocked off walking area and realized that we, and most of our fellow tourists, were looking down at our feet. we repented by sitting and staring at stonehenge for awhile. but not before causing a scene by giggling for a few minutes at ourselves. we watched the other tourists and yes, most everyone was staring off into the distance or down at the muddy grass. took entire roll of film.

sorry everyone who emails me or who wants emails!! i can only check the internet once a week for a few minutes. means can check email and send mass message. love to you all.

trisha

I got offered a walk-on part in the new Westlife video. I am not dead. Just short on cash/time. The owl and the pussycat is fun. Strange peeps abound. Yesterday met a guy who did lighting for the pixies and U2. would love to go on and on about how much i love it but you've heard it all before.

jonathan lives on pitfield st. which is near old st. which is near where we are (redchurch st) and it is the hip new place to be in london. up and coming. and yeah, i met a true cockney (born and bred within the sound of the bells whatever that might be) he actually spoke in rhyming slang. then he showed me his knifing scars. someone slit his throat. nice man, though.

btw i took loads of pics of windsor castle and loved it. so funny got stuck behind loud welch women on tour. harrassed the guards. postcards to come soon, promise. i am just not sure how to send them yet. love you all and i have so much more to say, will try to get on it monday am or something. loads of stories.

trisha

brain tumor, now this

Augh. Served beer to an evangelical preacher/performance artist from gadsden, alabama yesterday. went to windsor castle today. cold. can't type much.

collin, jeffrey, God be with you. i don't even want to know anymore than that.

Yes, it's true. I now am the junior bartendress at the Owl and the Pussycat. Lauren and I worked our (probably only) shift together Sunday. It was busy but fun. Our funny mistake:

1. In England the word Pants=Underwear and you call pants trousers (silly antiquated word)

2. Lauren yells to me across a crowded bar: "Hey, Trisha I got us a new pair of black pants! We can share!" I fought the urge to yell "Thanks, honey!" and the guys at the bar either were too drunk to know or pretending not to notice but we giggled for awhile about the error.

If I knew we were counting midgets I would have posted alot sooner. They always seem to appear when I am trying my hardest not to laugh. Strange old women mostly. I have finally seen an old british midget. someone please tell tidwell.

How are you all? It is supremely cold here. Er...17 degrees centigrade however much that is. And that was from last week. It's scarf time. I want to open a bar with lauren in Puerto Rico and call it Cocktails and Crackheads. Good God at the characters we meet. But it's easy, fun work. Ah internet time is short. POST MONKEYS OR PAY THE PRICE WE HAVE NO CONTACT WITH HOME.

I would also like to add that Lauren and I are the ONLY bartemptresses. We switch off shifts. And they feed us. WE OWN THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT. never ever thought i would find myself saying that. okay bye. PS have figured out what a premiership league is. and did anyone know that the us hosted the world cup in 94? i was clueless, much to the amusement/shock/horror of jonathan's friends. peace out

Yegods. America's a crappy place to be these days. Military actions...snipers...the teaching of creationism (as our guidebook says, they should take a long meandering walk through the natural history museum...folks, it's real). More violence is planned for our landlady. She of Infinite Evil or the Laziest Person Alive. She made me take out her trash. Lauren's mum is here and that's nice. But gotta go.

Jonathan is planning a trip for me to the Lake District! he wants to hire a car...a driving trip through the English countryside...mere pipe dreams as of now but we'll see.

Saw, eerily enough, a man wearing a Crimson and White BAMA sweatshirt. I was speechless and just sort of stared at the poor guy as he walked past. ah well
going now. bye

Under pressure...da da da da...last night I dreamed that the secret of the blue print of the entire was contained in a short pressing of "Mr. Roboto" 45s. and I had to find them all from atop a large rope swing that was attached from the sky. And I am completely off the crack.

My official departure date (shudder) is December 18th. I am not sure of Lauren's. You guys say hello to Stephen and co. from London.

I'm off now. Must get busy. adios. Also, I must look like the most harmless idiot wandering the streets of London because I get stopped for directions at every turn. They sort of grimace when I open my mouth and I want to laugh. haha, you london native just asked an idiot american for directions in your own city. how stupid they must feel. hahaha. okay. in other news, jonathan has big plans for taking me to a "football" match. he has season tickets. lookout joel, i am going to kidnap yr hooligan now. and i get to meet his friends this saturday (!!!) at a drinking-beer-watching-football extravaganza. i know nothing about nor really have ever cared to know anything about the sport. any tips? i am going to keep quiet and hope it's a high scoring game.

and let me just say...oh st. louis how you have fallen. may you be better than detroit and go 0-16. bless.

I believe his name is Vinnie Jones, began in the English Soccer League before becoming an actor. But He was Big Chris in "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and Bullet Tooth Tony in "Snatch" as well as many more movie appearances. So cool, go get his autograph or take a picture with him anyway, even if it isn't him.

HAHAHA I am not dead! Thanks, guys. You have got to be the single most random group of people I've ever met. Ever. Thanks, Ben. Our address for all interested parties and potential stalkers is:

181 Bravington Rd.
London, UK W9 3AP

Lauren has had many, many more marriage proposals and many a drunken Irish man has offered to leave his wife for her. Well, at least I think that's what he was saying. Lauren and I also (lauren caught this) think that one of the guys from Snatch comes in her pub. Sorry, I can't think of his name but I think he had lots of gold teeth. And, Leigh Ann, do me a huge favor and listen to the last track on some Badly Drawn Boy albumn (but not the abt a boy strk) and tell me if they sample from radio or something. See, Jonathan was a Radio One d.j. for three years and they sample his show on the last track of one of their c.ds. But I can't verify this.

Ashley aka Dame Edna is insane. Lauren and I were plotting flinging our poo out of our third story onto the windsheild of her car last night.

Ha ha...Jonathan took me out for curry on saturday but for my birthday he let me pick out whatever I wanted from a grocery store for dinner. I had canned corn, frozen pizza, and cottage cheese. He was horrified but it was good.

There are cool Donnie Darko promos up everwhere here. can't go anywhere without running into that creepy rabbit. Has it not come out here at all? Anyone know?

And family, don't despair, i am doing culturally inspired things when i can. Jonathan (third time i've mentioned him??) took me to Hampstead Heath on Sunday. We saw John Keats' house but it was closed for renovations. Nevertheless I saw the tree he supposedly sat under to write "Ode to a Nightengale." The Heath itself is 220 acres of beautiful, beautiful green land. From Parliament Hill you can see the skyline of London and because of some antiquated law you can see St. Paul's as well. There was also this really tall, kinda spooky hill with a fence around it. I drug Jonathan up there and stood in awe. I told him that it felt like the kind of place that a knight would be charged with some noble but deadly course of action. He rolled his eyes and told me I needed to get out more. As it turns out, some famous queen is buried there. and she died in a noble action. so there.

i had a splendid birthday. watched casablanca with jonathan. neither of us had seen it. and he bought me radiohead's "the bends" and Tess of the D'Urbervilles.

have to go now. love ya!

get thee to a nunery

good luck on 22 trisha!

friends and family are more than welcome to call me on sunday :(

I mean can we re-elect him?

all over the papers here. I mean, there is a picture of him on the front page of EVERY MAJOR PAPER.

peace out

this from my mom:
is how you call us from the states

011 -44 -781-697-4671 cell
011-44-208-969-2444 home

thats all love mom

HORAY HORAH! FEET SMELL!!! As to the rest, I'm am neutral. Say goodbye to New Orleans, the 'cane is a commin'. You're gonna miss one heck of a ride!

P.S. I've lost 16 lbs and my feet smell really, really, really bad.

Hey dudes! It's exciting to see all of your names here. Lauren can't post as often as I do, but she does get the info from me. How are you all? How is school? Another hurricane? It's rainy and the tube strike is in full swing again (24 hours) but I am in London and I haven't been this happy in years. Some fundamental part of my brain is totally relaxed and at home. I wish you were all here because there's no way I could begin to tell you of everything I see that entertains me and is new and exciting. Working in a British office, being able to say "Yeah, I live in Zone 2...Queen's Park," and having a real-live British Boy (sorry, peter the pilot is gone), walking down these streets where someone in stripes, plaid, AND a pinstriped suit is nothing out of the ordinary and where no one knows what the University of Southern Mississippi is and ALL of the commuters are reading in the mornings on the tube it's...just wonderful. Let you all know how Space is (what else besides "Female of the Species??" who knows)

Things I miss:
you guys
open spaces
Wendy's Junior Bacon Cheeseburger
my bed/room
hot AND cold running water

Collin: Jonathan and I have a date to go explore Camden. I want to buy 20 Years of Dischord and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenedies (sp?) for my birthday. He said he'd show me around there. Rough Trade...okay.

My dream of last night: I am walking on a beach and I'm wearing my favorite blue jeans. Lauren and Philippe are with me but we get to the end of the beach and it turns into a long, thin strip of land like an peninsula. I keep walking and leave Lauren and Philippe behind. I look down and someone has cut my jeans up the front and they're now really useless as they're flapping in the wind. The wind is strong and the waves get bigger but I keep walking down the ever more narrow strip of land. Lauren and Philippe yell for me to come back but I keep walking. Then the waves, which are hitting the land on my left and right, knock me over and I can't get up. Then I'm in the water and drowning. But I am happy and I don't get out.

Weird. Vivid. Any interpretations?

hello alison!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lauren had a happy birthday. tube strike version 2.0 tomorrow. FUN. I think we are going to brave it and try to see Space but it's all the way out in Camden and that's quite a hike on crowded busses. Tomorrow is blessed payday. Jonathan came out for Lauren's birthday as well...weee...he's a Project Manager. Complete Crap but I think it's cute. he wears a suit. Was late to work this morning so I can't look like I'm goofing off today. More later dudes.

i sent invites to them, no response. But i sent an invite to Alison.

Our telephone numbers are: Trisha - 0781-697-4671 my cellphone u.k. country code is +44 or 0044
Lauren's is 0798 506 0628 all incoming calls are free (hint, hint).

I wondered if anyone was going to mention the primary songwriter thing. hehe. Shall I entertain you all with my fictional story entitled "Adventures in Stealing Toilet Paper from the British Museum of Natural History"? Nah, it's boring and kind of pathetic. How about "Creative Outfits by Can't Afford to Wash Clothes Yet" nah. Can't wait till Wednesday (payday strikes again). Loving every minute of this.

Lenny: sorry abt the short phone call, i was plagued by not knowing Phantom Planet. Thanks for the Assist.

Peter 3 Jonothan 387. Jono wins. Now dating on regular basis. He's wonderful. He even got his mum to tape the show about Michael Jackson's face for Lauren. Dreamy. ahhh. Never coming home. ahhh.

Everyone call lauren, it will make her day. even if just for a few seconds. i sang her happy birthday this morning but we all know how i sound a cappella. any word on jeremiah and stephen's absence here? still can't check protista. peace out bros.

Now for your turn, putting my heart out on a sleave, tear it up:
Jim O'rourke - All downhill From Here
of Montreal - Dustin Hoffman thinks about eating the soap
The Zombies - Tell her no
Beck - ###hole
Braid - Grand Theft Autumn
Elvis Costello - Pump It Up
Echo and the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
Cee-lo - closet freak
Spoon - Jonathan Fisk
Don Henley - Boys of Summer

um baby um, Colin, I wanna hear those two records next time I come over, the Lefte Bank or The Small Faces, good luck on the chicken. Drink while you cook.

Only certain things disgust me about you all, thats why I still talk to you all, and if that wasn't true about me, than I'll come up with something you can detest. Lets start the nitpicking just out of shear boredom.


Trisha, you cheat:
"In no particular order and without using any band more than twice... "
how about no more than one band by the primary songwriter?


Colin
"preferring the Lefte Bank or The Small Faces to rubbish like Trans-Am or Emperor Penguin doesn't make one outdated... So yes, happy to be a relic of the past and not in vogue with the hopelessly modern scenesters."
I think you just sumed up the all time snobbish remark, too bad it didn't come from your lips into my ear. It would ensue into a hearty conversation which would end with me curling into a ball on the floor as a result of your smarmy wit and the kicks of your shiney boots to my abdomen. The end result, after many hours, would be for me to live in your closet to be cultured in the "right ways". Watch out Colin, don't make your opinion too aparent, these scenesters now a days are running out of new, or "fresh" material to their over accepting ears. You could start a whole new scene, do you really want that? Don't worry, you'll always be my lonely little mod.


And Lauren
Happy Birthday!! Hope you have a good one. I'll be mailing a postcard to you soon.

BOREDOM AT WORK:
In no particular order and without using any band more than twice...
The City - Dismemberment Plan
Savory - Jawbox
Flood of Foreign Capital - Burning Airlines
Bells - Hey Mercedes
Waiting Room - Fugazi
Only In Dreams - Weezer
8 Miles High (cover) - Husker Du
Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth - The Minutemen
Sweet Avenue - Jets to Brazil
Generator - Bad Religion
Killing a Camera - Braid

Reduce my mid-afternoon boredoms!!! Submit your top ten or so favorite songs of today or tomorrow!!!!!!!

Oh, that sucks about QOTSA & AYWKblahblahblah. Is Hattiesburg flooded? That, of course, doesn't make the news here. Date with Jonothan was wonderful. Now, what to do about the pilot...hmmm...never dated two guys at once before, not sure of the etiquette involved here.

Strange that talking to people here about the music that I like is quite similar to talking to my mother about the music that I like. No specifics, just sort of vague notions of strange and not quite melodic music. But everyone I've cornered long enough to make them listen to it just LOVES Hey Mercedes. And Save Ferris. Make whatever conclusions you must.

Shower 21 Trisha 4 (today no hot water)

BIRTHDAY SEASON! Poor Lauren, we're both broke and cake-less. We're going out this weekend for her birthday, though. Everyone tell her happy birthday.

Tube strike sounds so much cooler than a hurricane. Queen's of the Stone Age and Trail of Dead cancelled. Good, I didn't feel like driving in that weather. I emailed the guys from Trail of Dead and asked if they wanted to party down in Hattiesburg on their way from Brimingham to Houston. They went ahead and drove home to Houston, but they did inform me that the Queen's tour bus flooded. HA! sorry, that sucks.

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." -Benjamin Franklin

Been trying to think of that quote since Big Brother started clamping down in the States. And here it is at Burning Airline's website. 70% of British people don't support military action against our pal in Iraq. maybe they don't understand Our presIdent's pLan. Have date with the native tonight. He, independant of my input, was going to take me to see Nada Surf. Fantastistic. But it's sold out.

Time left home for work: 8:00
Time arrived work: 10:00
Time left work: 17:00
Time arrived home: 20:20*

Tube strikes are no fun. *i stopped for mcdonald's and lauren's trip was even worse.

I HAVE DONE IT. Instructions on how to take a shower. 1. Turn on sink tap with red "H" 2. Turn on shower tap with red "H" 3. Turn on shower tap with blue "C" until the water stops boiling 4. Check back in five minutes to make sure the water hasn't started boiling again 5. Lather, rinse, repeat. The key is to divert as much of the boiling water as possible to the sink. Why didn't I think of this before. This makes four successful showers that I've had now. They rest have been disasters.

Also, rode bus (do NOT talk to me about tube strike. easily walked over two miles to work this morning. grr.) with Leo the Venezualen DJ/Graphic Artist Roommate. We have come to the unanimous decision that Dame Edna (Ashley, really) is a raving loon. He is going to teach me spanish. HAHAHA I had to ask him where exactly Venezuala is and I had to resort to my limited spanish. Donde esta el Venezuala? Didn't think he was going to stop laughing but there you go. I am a spanish conversationalist now.

Yay for Lauren's job. We are now safely within the realm of the British Working Force. Oh, Bless them. On channel 5 Sunday night there is going to be a show devoted to the bizarre creature that is Michael Jackson's face. Am going to take pictures of the advertisements on the streets. They're hilarious. PAYDAY. Bye!

Oh yeah. We had an earthquake. 4.8 I think and centered somewhere in the midlands. Biiiig news. Supposedly you could feel it in London but I was sound asleep. I think a church steeple was in danger of falling but no other damage. Also, Lauren pointed out that after reading so many British newspapers, the USAtoday is very boring. Not fun and splashy like the Sun and Daily Express.

Also, I am allergic to something, perhaps Hummous. I got weird spots on my tongue that swelled to epic, red, pulsating bulges. They stayed for half an hour after eating hummous and pita bread then disappeared. I thought I was going to die of foot-and-mouth disease. Um. So that's exciting. Any ideas?

By the way Jets to Brazil ARE GOING TO BE IN NEW ORLEANS AND I AM NOT GOING TO BE THERE. Chris, you had better go. And you had better make a fool of yourself as I did for you in front of Blake. Buy me a pin, i will reimburse you. It can go on my bookbag next to my new Nerf Herder pin. Actually, I might get you to buy me a T-shirt. will let you know. Argh. Might see Nada Surf, though. And Fugazi and Sparta and Q and not U. so, some consolation. but still, Augh.

I am duly impressed with Notre Dame. Everyone, my mom. Mom, everyone. Thanks Chris. Am fighting off black plague. Pollution does strange things to my allergies. Gotta go, nothing exciting to report. In love with London still.

P.S. Bama, we're sorry

I retract earlier statements, and go home with my tail between my legs. As for the rest of the super saturday, Notre Dame in possibly one of the best gmaes and one of the best performances by Michigan State. Their reciever Josh Rodgers is made of glue and springs, made some of the most beautiful catches possible, but ND came back with a 60yrd td run to clench the 21-17 win. Notre Dame is 4-0 so far this season and in 2 weeks move from being unranked to beating the 2 michigan powerhouses and ranked no. 10. I'm ranting about a football team nobody cares about. Go first-year coach Tyrone Willingham, from Stanford. GO IRISH!

The saga continues. We've been keeping up with the hurricane. Sort of. Have a hurricane party for us if it comes. Date with the Dane was fun. We went out for Greek food and rented a movie. Then on Saturday, I met a new pal. Jonothan is his name and he sounds exactly like Hugh Grant. He is taking me out Thursday for dinner and to show me around London to some of the touristy things I haven't made it to. My social calendar is full! I am going to be in for a shock when I return to the States, that's for sure.

Lauren is going to end up married to some filthy rich Arabian oil baron at the rate she's attracting them. We can't even walk down the street without loads of guys coming up and offering to take her places and buy her things. Doesn't happen to me as much. I've had one marriage proposal to her three.

Tube strike looming. Of course it happens on the one day that I need to zip around town with ease. I need to pick up and cash my paycheck on Wednesday the day of the Strike. I will get it if it kills me.

We are learning our way around Queen's Park, our lovely neighborhood (haha). At DEHOG, since Philippe's departure (yes, he moved to Wales. everything's okay now, though) we have a new roommate. His name is Leo (pronounced LAY-OH) and he is from Venezuala. He wears sporty clothes and owns a fanny pack. Not much in the way of English language skills but he's nice and quiet. Dame Edna, in the meantime, has taken a shocking turn. She cleared out what appeared to be years of crap and boxes from the hallways and stairwells and replaced them with nice houseplants. Lauren and I somewhat fear this otherwise pleasant change as we are not sure what her motivation for this is. This from the woman who, when I payed her my rent said "And who are you?"

Funny story: Lauren picked up (through no fault of her own) a Mexican named Victor. His long, shiny black hair would be the envy of many mullet wanna-be's. Anyway, Lauren eventually was successful in getting rid of Victor's unwanted advances. He kept rubbing her hair and she slapped his hand. His response: "oh, i looove you" Anyway a week or so later, while walking the streets of London Lauren hears "Lauren Thank God, it's a miracle!" and turns around to see Victor with his arms triumphantly outstreched over his head. "Come, you are going home with me" is his command and Lauren had to run away from him again. A city of seven million and she runs into Victor the Long Haired Mexican? Only Lauren...

CHRIS: could you please extend an invitation to post to Jeremiah and Steven. This request is from Lauren. I can't get their email addresses as protista.com crashes the computers at work. Thanks, trisha.

Leigh Ann: Watch BBC everyday. No sign of Ritchie, yet. Will tell if I see him. Peace out

Hey guys!

Sorry, Collin. All of those two pence pieces are about all l've got these days. Can't afford Morrissey. Yet. You had better feed me some when I return. Lauren and I went out for dinner (cheaply I might add) because we are starved. Ate a chicken ceaser salad like i've never eaten before. I think I'm still full. Things are getting better, though, now.

My predictions of a complete meltdown of the public transit system are about to come true. Well, sort of. Tube strike on Tuesday. HA. I will have to leave about an hour early to work to make it on the busses.

Lauren and I stumbled upon an area of London new to us last night. Have been to Piccadilly Circus a lot because it's the home of the only 24 hour Western Union but last night we wandered in the other direction and discovered the true West End theater district. We are planning to see some shows once those lovely paychecks start rolling in. I really haven't been this happy in so long. I can't believe that just walking down the street could be so satisfying. I miss the plumbing of the States and football. and my bedroom. But I am happy. Won't go on about it anymore, it's boring to be so happy. Will write Monday about tonight's Big Date with the Dane. Strapping Viking lad that he is. Good Weekend!

Lauren, sweeping England by storm on her new tour.

My inner monolouge has a bit of a british accent. Got hit on last night by a corporate lawyer who makes £2000 for two weeks and votes conservative. All this while "Summer of '69" by none other than Brian Adams is playing. What decade am i in? I love london. I love my job. I made friends with Jamal last night, too and we made quite a scene on the dance floor. British people can't dance to save their lives. It was fun. Jamal wants to move to Mississippi. Ha! I am a huge hit here but nothing compared to Lauren.

Drama at DEHOG. Details later. Payday in 6. Date with Peter to go to the cinema Friday night. Fun. Love from london

Yeah on southern miss. sorry bama. my loyalties have shifted. do you know what time that game is? might try to catch it. Yeah on notre dame, too. from what i saw before i left they appear to actually not suck this year. new coach, right? Miss American football. Augh. Keep up best I can on espn.com. NOT the same. Philippe and Harley arrived. Our insane landlady wanted to charge Harley £15 per night to stay with us!! Drama there, dunno what's gonna happen. First day of work on my own. I hate not having the confidence in the job that I had at the library but i get paid approx. $850 (US) every two weeks. YEHAW. Pay day in seven.

As for the chach-dar. Maybe. Okay, yeah. But I haven't gone on at any length about his good qualities. Just wanted to make you laugh. He's really, really smart. Gave up a career in Mechanical Engineering! Just like that. To learn to fly. I think that's cool. Not gonna marry him or anything, though. No worries. Peace out dudes and post any further football news.

PS. HAHAHAHAHA STEVE SPURRIER YOU SUCK. AND SO DO THE REDSKINS. HAHAHAHA. LOVE FROM LONDON.

Oh, Southern is gonna whoop Bama this weekend and Notre Dame is going to have the first good season in the past five years

Some unidentified object has triggered the chach-dar.

Yeah, mom and Joel and other family and friends. Forgot to tell you about the real-live hooligans. Asked Tom if he wanted to come home with me for christmas and he said "I don't think my girlfriend would like that." and got mad that we called him a hooligan. I have gone on my fourth date with Peter the Pilot. Went out to his flight school near Epping. It was nice and very out in the country. Things are going smoothly. I would like you to guess what his favorite movie is. Hint: "I have the need...the need for speed." Am not making this up.

We also (on the cultural front) went up to Hampton Court Palace. Home of Henry the 8th. Lauren and I got there too late to go inside the castle but we got lost for at least a half hour in a maze that is older than our country. Giggles galore and lots of action shot pictures of our aMAZEment. haha. Wandered around the gardens for abt an hour. Absolutely lovely.

Things I have noticed: everyone here is small. everyone here says "cheers" instead of thanks and it's charming. people here call you "doll" and "love" in an absolutely unoffensive way. no one here is p.c. it's hilarious. love it. glad to be employed. glad to have a house. 8 days to pay check.!!!!!!! love dudes, trisha

at work. posts sporadic as internet access is few and far btw. dating (?) 26 year old danish pilot whose favorite bands are bryan adams and joe cocker. more on that later. jeeze have met some crazies but will let lauren tell of that. am slenderizing rapidly. hope.

HA HA! i am back. Escaped the hold of Dame Edna's House of Glory to inform you all that I HAVE A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not entirely sure what I am going to be doing but who cares?! I start Monday at 9. £7.81 an hour for 35 hours a week. I got it through the temp agency that I went to a few days ago. I called and called and pestered them and they finally called me back. Thank God. Haven't got much money to last as Lib. paychecks are to pay rent. It's gonna be cream cheese sandwiches for the next couple of weeks. You know, those are really, really good. I don't know why we don't eat them in the states. They're much better, of course, with tomato and cucumber.

On the food front, meat now makes me largely sick to eat. I just keep thinking about all of the diseases. I can't help it. Every time I eat it (a blt, a sausage roll c/o lauren, and God help me a double bacon cheeseburger from burger king in the past week) it makes me ill. I will be so glad to get home and eat my weight in cornbread. keep thinking about the last meal at grandma's. Cucumber sandwiches and corn flakes it is, then. Gonna be svelte when I come back.

Funny thing...now that I sort of know my way around no one asks me for directions anymore! Fourteen people in the first week and none since. I guess my look of confusion was confused with some sort of demented kindness by passing strangers.

Not been able to do much sightseeing as am broke and have been LIVING QUITE POSSIBLY THE MOST STRESSFUL WEEK OF MY ENTIRE NATURAL LIFE. Lauren and I had to drag all two hundred lbs. of our luggage four blocks to paddington station, down three flights of stairs and one escalator, onto the bakerloo line, off of the bakerloo line, up three flights of stairs and four blocks to our house (D.E.H.O.G.). Rinse and repeat. Took two hours. Move in. Find the toilet leaves much to be desired. British plumbing leaves much to be desired. Let's just say there's lots of flushing going on at 181 Bravington Rd.

British t.v. is good. Six feet under and Sex in the city come on regular bbc which we pick up with the antenna.

This is long but i must say that the fliers that people hand to you are a great way to get to know the city. Been to two "indie" dance nights (never thought i'd dance to blink 182) and one "metal" night. Lauren and I requested Slayer's "Angel of Death" at the metal night and the d.j. got all excited. And all for a pittance because of flier+student i.d. Met 9 guys from Croatia and Kosovo at one dance night. They were a bit strange but nice. They loved us because we were Americans. Because of what the American military's done over there. Never thought I'd hear that. They even walked us to our bus. One of them broke my heart. All he wants to do is get to Miami and see the ocean and the beaches. He wanted clean, open places. And Miami is that to him? I wish him the best of luck. He said he wants to see the sun. Anyway they were fun and paid for our every whim. Thanks to Zim and co.

gonna lay low this weekend and prepare for the job. lots of love to everyone. mom, if you want to call, you know the number but my cell phone time is quite precious these days so i can't call you for awhile.

Oh yeah, why does everyone take it upon themselve to explain to us why the US shouldn't go to war. We are not on speed dial to the president. This accent of mine is more trouble than it's worth sometimes. Today was weird, too. The papers here are hideous and sensational and spashed with full color images. Watched the St. Paul's Cathedral ceremony from BUNAC...so sad. Glad when it's not today. Although we are so cut off here...No t.v. will do that. More on Dame Edna's House of Glory later (speaks like Dame Edna looks like Ms. Cleo) peace out broughams.

Good grief. Yesterday was loooooooonnnngg. Waited for Dame Edna ALL DAY LONG. Because of forces beyond our control (time diffs/dame edna/western union) we were unable to secure the place until 2:00 AM. Yes, Lauren and I wandering the streets of London after dark and navigating the night busses wasn't my idea of fun. Not to mention the stress of HAVING TO GET IT ALL DONE. Went to sleep at 3:00 safe in the warm stench of (both pairs) of my shoes (and Lauren's pink converse sneakers). Poor Rosa, our Italian roommate...she had to suffer through our giggling at the Snoring Korean and the Stench. Rosa's idea of a bath is to stand topless in front of the mirror and sink and vigerously scrub her hairy armpits with the bars of soap the hostel provided. An interesing sight to behold. Yeah, she contributed in no small part to the Stench.

Sent off more CV's today. The job hunt is on top speed now that we have a place to stay. Went to Camden Palace last night to hear five minutes of the Strokes after Dame Edna. Indie rock night was sorely missed but next tuesday is on.

what? high stress for trisha day. soon over. more later. apartment...interesting. details later.

HAHAHAHA. No sooner does Lauren arrive than we run into some hijinks. After the airport and some power napping from Lauren, we went about the town. We looked up this place called Freaky McNasty's Whiskey House near the Angel tube and cruised on over. There was a drunk party celebrating someone's birthday, a thin waitress, a party of soccer-types and some randos. Rando #1 Sean (shawn, jeffrey, not seen). Drunk old irish guy. Good heart but kinda creepy. cornered lauren at the table. Randos #2-4 Mike - the law student from UT Austin, Amit- the unknown guy from Texas, and Igor - a very friendly fella from the Ukraine who is in a band that is "pavement meets country twang" they rescue us from Sean and we ditch Freaky's after an hour or so.

Then we find some place that was lit with purple lights and had gigantic pool tables. Igor and Lauren vs. Amit and Myself (me later substituted with mike). Igor makes the first shot of the game (after many tries by others) and runs around screaming "that's the first ball of my life" and shaking his pool stick over his head like some sword of victory. Pool game ends and we decided to look for some after hours places that Amit knows about. Yeah, and it's only like 10:30. We spend the next two hours running around one end of London to the other. We end up, finally, (after none of Amit's places work out) at Amit's hotel lobby. Swank number called The Leonard. haha. They serve us beer, weird doritos, some prawn-peanut mixture, and THREE HEAPING PLATES OF SALTY CHIPS made fresh to order. Lauren and I take a cab home.

Giggle all night because of loud Korean snoring roommate. Makes most unnatural sounds.

Went to temp agency today and i think it went really, really well. they seemed pleased and i was too. turned in CV to other places. Went to look for flat in HAHA Brixton. It ended up being nice but a fifteen minute walk from the tube station without adequate protection from the DRIVING FREEZING RAIN. I was wearing sandals, skirt, and sweater. Ony time as yet that I have left hostel sans umbrella and met with utter disaster. It is so cold right now! i'm still cold inside! gotta go only 2 minutes left. more detailed account of flat finding as was also hilarity. love all! thanks so much for responding! trisha

Speaking of dreams, i actualy remembered one last night. I was at the Esplenade mall in Meterie, and was acosted by a ver agressive infomercail personality trying to get me to go into his store. As I finally apease him and enter his store, I notice a SWAT team create a barracade/perrimiter around the enterence to the store. As the personality notices, he runs to the back and grabs an arsenal of weapons such as grenade launchers, moarter , etc. etc. Large explosion after large explosion. I think I died, or just woke up.

Nothing exciting today. Stayed in last night. Dinner: hummos (sp?), pita bread, yogert (plain) with cherries on side, apple, and two sticks of cheese. good, good. watched rush hour with italian roommate. bad bad. have amazing snoring korean roommate now. she woke me up out of a dead sleep. making noises i thought were of mechanical origin. every dream i had after that featured her off somewhere in a corner, snoring away. briefly considered smothering her in her sleep but i wasn't in my right mind.

dream: on a theater stage at usm: extra large version of the recliner in my room in hburg. i mean large. and people dressed up in costume, made to look small by the chair. seated on chair: downy snuggle teddy bear and dog. bear was teaching dog how to act on stage. woke up and thought "hope i remember this, its quite odd."

that's it so far for today. lounged on bed reading american mags lauren brought with her. love,

Hello!

Had a much better day today, thanks Collin. First of all last night was so funny. I ate at the Black Lion and was surprised to hear Nirvana in the background. Followed by blur and britney. Odd. Then wandered over to the Highbury & Islington station. Got a bit lost in Highbury but it was intentional. Had lots of time to kill before the famed Nerf Herder show. That, i think is my favorite part of town so far. Freaks like (and way beyond) myself. Then walked to the Garage to see Nerf Herder. THE LINE WAS OUT THE DOOR. It very nearly sold out! Three stage divers (four if you count the lead singer) in three songs! I was amazed. But then again if 1 out of every 20,000 people is a die-hard Nerf Herder fan...times the millions of people that live in London...equals a packed crowd. That was funny. And, haha chris keep your comments to yourself, I got to talk to the bass player for awhile. Got autographs from him and guitarist in my diary. Left early b/c of hardcore style pit and tiredness.

Today: Slept in. Lovely, although sleeping in is now 9 o'clock. Ate breakfast at leisure, watched insane saturday morning cartoon/variety/game show. Then walked around Hyde Park. The day was absolutely stunning and the park is beautiful. Took pictures. Then I hopped on the bakerloo line and went to the Imperial War Museum. Their Holocaust Exhibit was so amazing. I actually cried at two points. I don't have words to describe it, the exhibit is just fantastic. The lighting, the design...not to mention the artifacts. Primary documents. Diaries, shoes, pictures, first hand accounts, a trolley they used to wheel out the dead in the Warsaw ghetto, one of the train cars that went into aushwitz (sp?). It was so good and covered every aspect from 1923-1948. Not biased, either...they weren't afraid to offer more than one side to stories. It took my breath away.

Then (thanks to dumb luck) i stumbled upon the london eye, westminster bridge, big ben, houses of parliament, and westminster abbey. I wasn't looking for them. The day has turned colder and the air is brisk. It was a lovely walk around all of those amazing buildings. Then rode tube here. And that's my day. Mom, i am 24 pictures down on a roll of 36. will send soon.

Might go to "indie rock night" at some clubby thing. It's cheaper than a movie. Then, I pick up Lauren tomorrow at the airport! Yay. I have two flats to look at and job-service places to go to monday.

Boys: may i suggest continuing the car park scheme to pick up the slack in bills since i'm not there? You could have a garage sale and sell everything in the garage. broken microwave, spare lumber, etc.

Adios, friends. PS, collin, where are cool places to meet locals? and know anyone to show me around? Lenny?

Er today was no fun. The interview went well but I didn't get the job. So, I've spoken with two employment services and i have an appointment monday. I spent all day worrying about something or another. SUCKED. but at least i had a crappy day in london instead of hattiesburg.

so now i am going to notting hill. to eat dinner and bum around. i might go to the cinema or to see....nerf herder. just to meet people! i don't even know if i've heard nerf herder. yes, the dillinger escape plan is playing tonight but i am not in the mood for anything of substance/heavy.

saturday=the great tourist outing. i am going to do something big, like westminster or buckingham palace or something. and a river tour. big day, lots of pictures. i went out with my roommates last night to "the pride of paddington" pub for dinner. had tomato and cheese fallini (sp?). and two pints. man, they know how to make it here. err, vegetarians: are veggie burgers supposed to resemble burgers? mine resembled poorly mixed frozen vegetables battered and fried.

i feel battered and fried. errr... more tomorrow.

john, please. this is absolutely not how i wanted to start my day. i let you know that my family reads this. and you had no respect for that. this is not your livejournal. save it. no more posts for you. if you have a problem with it, email me. this is absolutely the last thing that i am going to say about this, period. now, i have a job interview to go to. i hope everyone's day started with such delight as mine did.

I HAVE A JOB INTERVIEW TOMORROW AT 10 AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha ha. Thanks guys. Wanna hear something lame? Well, GW has decided to go headlong into a war that no one else on earth supports (saving Tony Blair but it could cost him his political career if he does...everyone here is veeeeery anti-war), that 56% of americans give their wavering support to, and that would further stress our economy and military resources. Don't believe me? Yesterday I went to a Bureaux de Change and traded in $47.00 for £23 (yes i understand they charged a commission but get online haha you are online...and check out the exchange rates). Hmmm...when GW made his announcements this week, the stock market plunged and American currency lost ground worldwide. BECAUSE NO ONE THINKS THIS IS A GOOD IDEA. You know what else sucks? Stuff here has the same price tag (gap jeans aprox. $43, hamburger $2 or so, etc.) but it's in £££££. So they really cost so much more. I have to buy a hair dryer.

Felt kinda crappy yesterday so i went to see a supreme crap-o quasi-punk band in Islington. I wanted to check out the venue for GBV. They sucked! No direction was their name and they played the kind of crap that would get them signed to Fat Wreck Chords in America. Only less punk (does that make sense?). Very 2002 west coast pop-punk but with less annoying vocals. Anyway there were some hard-core London punks at this gig! And they were really digging the show! Especially this drunk Italian who was slobbering all over the place and half-yelling along to the vocals. It was funny. I looked very "emo" too. Well, it was fun. It made me laugh and I made friends with the Italian. Alex (not very Italian, eh?) was his name. I got complimented on my hair by a homeless man. Then he asked me for £100. I like bums with a sense of humor. Anyway, have much to do today yet. I am going to take a boat tour on the Thames. About £5. FUN!

my telephone (and for heaven's sake, do not call it unless you absolutely have to!) is 07816974671 I think the country code is 44, but I'm not sure. There you go, internet freaks, call me in London. Thanks for the advice heather, but i was sure to delete that from the bottom of my email. Although, it would be hilarious if I didn't. Love, dudes.

Hi Grandma!

"Just put this on your resume...."I've seen a million faces and I've Rocked them all". Employers will think you are not only qualifiedand experienced, but awesome."

God, I don't think I've heard better advice in my entire life.

lamentations! "I have already offered the position to someone else." Thus the job search begins anew tomorrow. ah.

Good luck on the GBV show, but they some old men with a huge brittish following (i.e. british Bob). But more importnatly good luck with the job hunt, hopefully you can find something to sustain your imagination for the next few months in a new land.

Hello. KEEP TO THE LEFT. Every time walk in front of a car stopped at a traffic light I feel a moment of panic. THAT CAR HAS NO DRIVER. Mind the gap, they say, because you have to step over a big (sometimes six inches wide) gap to board the trains. I can handle the drivers on the wrong side of the road but I just cannot manage to stay to the left hand side of the sidewalk. The tube is fun. Everyone here has been so extremely nice! I guess they all must think I'm mildly retarded but everyone I've talked to has offered advice/questions about America/help and are pretty interesting. I have been so busy looking for jobs/flats that I don't get much time to go out and do touristy things. I will later this week (assuming i don't have a job which i think i will!!!!!!) or this weekend.

Made friends with my hostel mates and ate breakfast together. I am so sore from carrying luggage and walking everywhere but it's so invigourating (sp?). I love it. I don't want to leave. Public transit is where it's at. Well, I'm off to get a used mobile phone now. Then lunch, vegetarian style. I did eat pizza last night. In London, eating at Pizza Hut. Everything else was closed. Ate 'chips' as well. Going to try to see GBV this sunday. Still feel dumb trying to sort through the change. Who on earth needs 2p (=2 cents) pieces??

Will write tomorrow with news on the job front. The prospect is a legal firm (the same that i spoke with before i left) and the secretary sounded thrilled to hear from me. Wish me luck! Thanks for writing back, it makes me not so homesick. Mom, if you're reading this, spread the word. And if anyone else wants to be able to respond, email me. love.

good to see you made it in multiple pieces. BUNAC sounds fun, interesting, exciting, etc. etc. MIND THE GAP?! why and how? have fun.

Glad you made it, I didn't want to tell you but I had my doubts. They didn't do the strip search at customs? That was my favorite part. Jacques had such strong, yet gentle hands. Gently probing my anus in search of illicit drugs.

In search of passion.

Cheerio mate, party your arse off, and MIND THE GAP!!!

Hello. Here I am. The shift button is all in the wrong place. Okay, since my mom is reading this I am going to give a play-by-play of what's going on so far. The plane ride was an eternity. Seriously. I watched Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya blah blah. Great book, terrible movie. Turns out that the plane is over-run with BUNAC students. I was cornered in the window by a snoring businessman for the majority of the seven hours and couldn't make friends. We arrived at about 11pm. The last Heathrow express train left at 11:23. There were no luggage storage places. I comandeered a luggage thingey and raced around Heathrow with aprox. 150 lbs of luggage. The fun part was racing around the express train (customs? where? no one seemed to notice that I was entering a new country...did get my passport stamped but...I always expect these boarder crossings to be more complicated than they actually are). Yay. Express. WELCOME TO LONDON. MIND THE GAP. Very soothing automated voices to give you directions.

Me + 2 fellow BUNACers were on train together. They helped and made it not so scary. One actually split a cab with me since I was unable to carry all of my luggage. Nice people abound. The hostel owners think I'm nuts. After travel and no sleep in Dallas (!) I was speaking gibberish. Got to my room. Full of sleeping girls. Managed to find alarm clock, find c.d. player, remove batteries from c.d. player, place into alarm clock, set time, set alarm, change, and get into bed without any light and without waking anyone up. Slept like the dead. I woke up at 7:30 clutching the alarm in my hands with some vague memory of it going off.

Went to BUNAC orientation with new friends and loads of others. BUNAC is a very nice organization. I highly reccomend it. Am now going to see abt getting a cell phone (evidently everyone has one and they are quite necessary) and will soon be calling abt jobs and places to live (ugh). Am hanging out in street market full of people who are obviously way cooler than me. Excepting the woman in the pink polka-dot dress and nude fishnet stockings, of course.

Number of times lost, going wrong direction: 5
Number of successful navigations of famed Underground: 1
Number of times regretted not bringing shower shoes: 37
Weather: Beautiful, cool, humid but nice.

love, updates (more exciting, i promise i know you're all on the edge of your seats). everyone wears tight pants, not hats.

my room had better be pristine although you might want to run through and check for civilizations of mold in glasses for health's sake.

John is a big fat jerk. I am in Dallas. Barn raisin' was a booming success. Got molested by wandering guitar player (complete with garth brooks/michael jackson style microphone). Leave for London @ 6:05 AM. Will be in Chicago for 1 hour. One hour too many.

I heard about the N.O. trip, Chris. No more puking on the sidewalk, right?

LBIII-You're always the only one who knows what is going on. or something. Remember in Mexico you said "Well, I would like to see you navigate the London Underground by yourself." ??? Hide and watch, bro.

Peace out till LONDON.

uh, another 9am morning, walking out of harrah's casino, with bags full of money

wow, i'm posting on a blogger thing. okay, I had a dream too, which is totally off topic to anything but which i will relate to the fine readers of this 'blog'. I use single quotes in a meager attempt to not appear too demeaning towards the word blog. but i digress. I was taking a quick 15 minute nap before work, and thought I woke up and heard someone arguing outside my window, and then fighting with chains, 1980's ghetto style. I stayed absolutely still so they wouldn't see me lying in bed through the open window. I then ACTUALLY woke up, and immediately put my body in motion by running outside like "what's the commotion?". as i was clearing the front steps to walk around to outside my window and catch these thugs in the act, it started to dawn on me that the whole fight-outside-my-window scenario was just a dream. then i felt stupid for just standing there on my front lawn shaking my head up and down like "ahhh, it all makes sense now". then i went to work.

anyway, on topic - trisha you have a bruise on your face? is travis beating you? you can take his 5' 2" ass. you don't need that kind of abuse. you are a strong woman.

yo. tomorrow: barn raising (not kidding) sunday: flight to dallas monday: LONDON.

hello everyone! chris check email. love, trisha

water valley. yeah. chris: i have dial-up for the near future. invite at will. sporadic postst until dallas.

people who actualy use computers on a regular basis would be good candidates to invite. Rick, Steven, Matt Howel, Ben, Brad, John. etc. etc. etc. Just think of all the nerds you know who will actualy read this.

Sorry sorry Collin. Please post again (someday, not the same post).

Compuserve and Blogger do not mix. I deleted Collin's post and my own. If it posts twice, I will take care of it. Well, zoo dudes, glad to see so many of you here! I feel special. I promise to get more interesting as I do more interesting things. Tell me people to invite. Tell me how to make it blue and not eggplant colored.

Travis Morrison: uniting world powers since 1985. Collin: please explain Donnie and makeoutclub. don't worry, I saved the info from your post. AUGh. someone sedate me. I am ready to BAMF to London and not worry. Will keep you posted from Water Valley and Dallas. lylas, Trisha

Travis looks realy realy funny to me in that video. That look he gives the camera when all the other bands dissapear should be sold to our cross sea alies, and then they would want to fight Iraq with us. Check out the QotSA, and video for "No One Knows"

hey hey hey

i am so jealous.

God bless the judicial branch. Keep it in check. "Democracy dies behind closed doors" indeed.

So, I booked a hostel . Looks to be cramped and "spartan" although clean.

I'm getting nervous abt the international flight, wings falling off, landing in a strange country late at night, customs, and somehow finding my way to this hostel without losing my luggage or my life. But they have an American Pool Table! should feel right at home.

Chris: did you see the d-plan video yet? could you help heather with signing up (heather i am going to re-send your invite)?
RANDOM BABBLE:
Oh yeah. love is for the birds. just kidding. I'm in love with Travis Morrison. Anyone hear from Alison? The bruise on my face has turned yellow. It matches all of my new earth-tone hippie clothes. Keep an eye out for London shows that are too obscure for me to recognize.

love

oh, also, I have a live journal going on at www.livejournal.com/users/badablum

speaking of Sparta, they will be here with Cave-In Sept. 17th. For the huge southern show listing go to http://www.datasync.com/~spongey/shows.htm.
Include Radio 4, +/-, dj shadow, the strokes, q and not u, sleater-kinney, rye coalition, apples in stereo and even The Boss is playing Birmingham. Trisha I'm in love, and you know who it is.

oh yeah, chris, I think I am going to see Sparta again in London. Just saw on Pitchfork.

Step one: Birmingham. Step two: actually tell everyone about this so I won't be typing to myself. Hope this all works out. Have nothing exciting to report. Boldly attempted to pre-book a hostel on one of only six bank-holidays in GB. I would like to have a place to stay when I get there. Bought some new clothes. I need one of those succo-vac thingeys to magically reduce the size and weight of my luggage. T-minus six days.

I plan to seek asylum to escape US Foreign Policy. Go GW go!

If you make it here, post so I know you are alive.

My email address is freefall1980@hotmail.com

love

Hello everyone.

Now entering the kingdom of cracked out lamesville. This has a purpose, I promise. I will be posting my wild and crazy misadventures with Lauren and Phillipe straight from London. I figure this is the easiest way to keep everyone posted and I know you are all dying to find out what happens when I leave the country. Anyway, this beats the hell out of writing 28 emails that say about the same thing. So here. I am still home. Haven't left yet. This is a test. Further updates as travel warrants.