A Blog in Three Movements

So this will be a rather disjointed blog, but I doubt many of you immediately think "focus" and "clarity" when my glorious image pops into your head, so there you go...

Movement 1: Worrthless
(2 r's very much intentional, in the manner of "Dirrty" or "Hot in Herre")

If vacuums are places that are completely void of air, then room 33H of Courtyard B, UEA NR5 8NA is completely devoid of inspiration, which is no good since I spent the majority of my time here. I think all these years of school in America has trained me to shut down at this time of year. Basically, I'm on Thanksgiving break with the rest of my American schoolmates. The problem? I'm in England, where they don't really appreciate the story of the Indians and the Pilgrims since we were escaping their tyrannical religious rule in order to establish such a (face it) useless tradition.

But darn that turkey & stuffing is delish...

Movement 2: Felicitations!

Today was perhaps my best day in a long time. Tuesdays are beautiful because I have nothing to do. I can sleep in as long as I want and do with my day what I wish.

Well, yesterday was a day to go into town with my dependable and lovely friend Laura, a.k.a. Spence. I emphasize the word dependable because I admire it as a trait of a friend more than good looks, but she might rather me emphasize her loveliness, so here I go: Spence is lovely.

Anyhow, Spence and I had an official friend date yesterday. We started by going into town and testing out Norwich's attempt at Mexican fare (or fayre, as they would spell it): Pedro's. Well, Pedro's did themselves proud, and were nice enough to seat us at 1:20 when the lunch hour closed at 1:30. We drooled over the extensive cocktails menu, but had our sights set on getting the Sangria, and Sangria we did get. It was delightful, not too heavily red-winey (and as we learned after the meal, they put extra Brandy in it for us!) **slurp, slurp** Anyhow, I got my red meat fix for a long time by having nachos, and they were delightful. I enjoy having good Mexican food... and by good, I mean not from Middining (huuuuurl).

Then we wandered around town, a la 80s movie, trying on funny hats at a store called "Accessorize", trying out the goods @ TopShop (a store very much in the tradition of H&M). Spence also tried to sell me on Caffe Nero's mocha, but a coffee chick I am not. Oh yeah, and then we went to this funny cards and paper store, where we saw chocolate dicks and pictures of grandmas, studs and morbidly obese women nekkid.

Then we purified ourselves with Lilo & Stitch, which I think is the greatest thing Disney has done since the Lion King. It verges on ridiculous at times and takes too long to get started, but little Lilo is the cutest thing EVER! It'll rip your heart out... in a good way. (It will be a definite addition to the DVD collection when I get home... one of MANY -- I'm going into new DVD deprivation over here in region 2!)

So, all in all, it was a brilliant day, and I returned home after purchasing pesto and a variety of "exotic" groceries at Tesco Metro. (Tesco Metro Pesto is the best-o!)

And now for the most exciting news of the day: I got a $3,000 grant for a creative non-fiction project while I'm in NYC this January!!!!

**crowds roar**

Here is how I described my project in my proposal:

In the vein of David Sedaris, Anna Quindlen or Candace Bushnell, my project will be a comprehensive account of my life and experiences in New York throughout January 2003. More specifically, it will be an answer to Toby Young’s recent How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, which recounts the British writer’s failure to make it in the American magazine circuit. I plan to embrace the humor that Young, Bushnell and Sedaris offer but present a less cynical, less stereotypically “New York” take on the city in the spirit of Quindlen. Essentially, the project will be a retrospective, reflection and affirmation of the experience of my inevitable evolution under the guidance of the vast and changing cultural milieu that is the city itself.

I may be florid, and I may be prolix, but apparently it pays off. Big time... In related news, Jay Parini is my new favorite person in the English Department (not to mention a connection to the charming and delightful Stanley Tucci).

Of course, as soon as I got the good news, I was simultaneously excited (I jumped up and down several time, I admit) and terrified. It's amazing to think that someone finds my blatantly derivative idea worth money, but definitely a daunting task because how am I gonna measure up to this? It's one thing to continually get thwarted from opportunities and say, "I coulda been a contender." It's another matter entirely to actually get an opportunity and prove yourself worthy of, say, $3,000 (roughly $100 a day, I might add). But at least this takes care of the fact that I won't be doing any writing in my internship.

Maybe that's why I'm so unmotivated now. I'm just storing up energy and inspiration for January's mini-memoir. **fingers crossed**

Final Movement: La Bella Venezia

So, kiddies, I hope none of you have turned blue now, what with your anxious waiting for my account of international travel to Venice. ("Violet, you're turning violet, Violet!") Anyhow, any of you that were holding your breath can exhale with relief now because here I go!

The night before Venice, I made 2 CDs, one of which was a compilation of American Idol (Kelly Clarkson, in particular), Aida and (get this) The White Stripes. Random mingling, I know, but all of the American Idol and White Stripes songs were like a minute and a half, so I went for as much music as possible on the least amount of CDs possible.

The other CD I made was my International Traveller Mix. I listened to this and the AIda Stripes mix almost exclusively during my lengthy commute between Norwich-London-Venezia-London-Norwich, so I would highly making at least one of these CDs for yourself. Here are the tracks on the International Traveller Mix:

1.) Christina Aguilera - Dirrty
2.) Holly Valance - Down Boy
3.) Kylie Minogue - Give It to Me
4.) Shakira - Objection (Tango)
5.) Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You
6.) Brandy - What About Us
7.) Nina Simone - Mood Indigo
8.) Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls
9.) Goo Goo Dolls - Here Is Gone
10.) Alanis Morissette - Princes Familiar
11.) Badly Drawn Boy - A Minor Incident
12.) Gabrielle - Don't Need the Sun To Shine
13.) Ryan Gosling - Put Me in the Car
14.) Tori Amos - A Sorta Fairytale
15.) K's Choice - Live for Real
16.) Azure Ray - Displaced
17.) Sixpence None the Richer - Need to Be Next to You
18.) Bryan Adams & Sarah McLachlan - Don't Let Go
19.) Craig David - Walking Away

The trip to Venice itself wasn't that eventful, thank goodness! I did, however, see a line of freaky people with afro wigs and/or dressed in bear costumes in Stansted Airport. Don't even ask me why. If I were going to travel in a group, I think I'd specifically try to avoid being associated with "the group" by wearing something outlandish like an afro wig or a full bear costume, but that's just me. Maybe I'm the weird one... it wouldn't be the first time.

So, I get to Venice (oh yeah, only after hearing this irritating Italian girl sing the last two lines of "Love Me Do" repeatedly for the last 15 minutes of the flight), and finally get to see my Sarebear! I had planned out this whole Italian conversation to have with her, but as usual I pollo-d out. We had a bus ride and a walk ahead of us, and I was wearing a massive backpack. But because of acqua alta steadily encroaching on Venice, that was better than having a rolling suitcase (not to mention the fact that I still haven't fixed the one-wheeled ghetto-case). We immediately indulged in pizza with Sarah's boyfriend Neal. Amo funghi sulla mia pizza!

The next couple of days had nothing of major note or that anyone would immediately recognize as "tourist spots" (for example, Frari, San Giorgio Il Maggiore & La Grande Scuola di San Rocco), but I got to learn things from Sarah (she knows everything), meet some lovely new people from Wake Forest, participate in real-life instant message with their (deaf) Italian friend Fabio, learn a Venetian card game and eat gelato as well as several delicious meals (home-cooked and otherwise)!

Sarah's group was so cool. There were your typical Southern university sorority girls, don't get me wrong, but it was definitely a group. They all live and study together, and they're all (obviously) from Wake Forest, so there's a bond that I am yearning for. It's been far too long a solitary and make-shift journey at this point for my liking. I'm ready for some dependability (a motif of today's blog, I fear) and stability. Unfortunately, I won't be getting that until about February, but I digress...

Anyhow, Venice was beautiful!!! Wake's housing was right on the Grand Canal, so it was water-licious. I had forgotten how important water is; it really just is calming. If nothing else, you can just watch it flow and stop for a minute. Like looking out of a plane when you're about to land. No matter how little the landscape changes below you, it still holds your attention. It also made me realize how much England sucks. No offense, Brits, but you're country is damn rainy, damn dark and damn cold. Sunset at 3:45 in the afternoon and being surrounded by a bunch of pale zombies is not my cup of tea (pun intended), and I really do need to get out of here soon before I plunge into an abysmal depression.

A more pleasant, or at least amusing, side note of the story is that I realized why my shoes don't protect my feet from the water: they have holes in them! The soles are seriously falling off. This fact was really brought to my attention in San Rocco when I heard a scraping noise coming from my feet and discovered that I had some sort of metal tool lodged inside my shoe! Just slightly frightening. Good job, Delia*s!

But other than the frequent changing of socks, the weekend went without too much craziness. It was a nice change of pace from most trips that when I left, I didn't feel the need to leave without killing at least a few people around me. I definitely suffered a post-vacation hangover (metaphoric, not from drinking because I'm a good girl) when I got home and had assignments to do and papers due in a couple of weeks that could no longer be put off.

Concluding (but rather inconclusive) Thoughts

So now, here I am, in that strange limbo between here and there, now and then. Mom, Dad & Graham are coming up in a couple of weeks, and for once it seems like my life is falling into order, ready for the next stage and the beginning to a nice end of my college career, but I know there will be bumps along the way. Send me positive vibes and strength because I need them...