London Autumn

The leaves are already falling which means Ryan his wearing is pea coat almost every morning to school. I like London autumn so far since the underground is less suffocating during rush hour which is when I have to make the journey home everyday.

This week's been pretty slow so far but I'm looking forward to the weekend. Jon is planning a trip to Oxford and we're taking the train. Train travel is still fun and new and I can't wait to see a little of the country side. Just recently we all noticed that the contents of our Kleenexes are almost always black at the end of the day. We should probably be wearing masks and respirators.

This morning I booked my flight to Scotland for September 19-21! I'm going solo and my hostel is within walking distance of some important landmarks that I should really start reading about. I'm hoping there are good castles and pipe bands to see and hear. If not, I would be pretty satisfied just drinking coffee and relaxing in a park with some sheep or something. I don't really know what to expect but I'm hoping it is "lush" and "green."

Ryan and I attended the Regents Street Festival over the weekend and on Monday night, stayed in. I was able to check out the bird room of the Natural History Museum before class on Monday and I especially liked the pair of stuffed Dodos that were part of the "Endangered Species" case as well as the egg of some massive and extinct flightless bird that was the size of a bowling ball (possibly bigger.) Tuesday I went to the National Portrait Gallery. It was so so impressive and is probably my second favorite attraction next to the fetus museum. I bought tons of postcards and plan to visit again soon. Their collection of contemporary works blew my mind. This piece, called "Zoe" by Jason Brooks, was my absolute favorite:Tuesday night we watched a play at the Royal Court Theatre called "Now or Later" about US politics and adolescence. I really liked it and thought it was poignant and timely and all that crap until a bunch of my classmates joined me outside the theater and started shouting things like "trite," "poorly acted," and "off-base" in my face. Screw them. The Royal Court Theatre has some excellent performances coming up so I may have to suck it up and actually pay out of pocket for some tickets. We've been pretty spoiled so far.

My package from home arrived and I ate Macaroni and Cheese for lunch yesterday. Oh baby was it good.

Friday, I will be touring the Tower of London and in a few weeks I get to go to Stratford to see Patrick Stewart in "Hamlet."

I would really like to see the Jack the Ripper exhibit before it leaves town and I feel like I haven't walked through enough parks yet. I would also like to go on the Princess Diana Memorial Walk and buy a water bottle.