No Excuses... but I'm Back? Is That Good Enough?

The month of April has been adventuresome, heartbreaking, exciting, devastating, and wet. Very wet. But as I've said before you can't dress in this city, so I currently have my rain boots on and the sun is shining but I swear that it was raining when I left the house this morning. And it will probably rain again this afternoon because its London and I don't know if I've mentioned this before but this town's got a serious disorder of some kind. Whilst Ithaca, New York is sunny and beautiful, London, England is going through some kind of schizophrenic rejuvenation. I don't know. Whatever.

Early April saw Adam's departure (sad), new people, and the yellow 'spring' shirts for Starbucks employees. By the way, I now not only not have to order but I also get Grandes for half the price. Sweet. As far as the Notting Hill Gate Starbucks status goes, I'm a rock star. And I like it. Since the beginning of April I've been doing a lot more writing, which possibly explains my absence from this project. I've been organizing myself for the summer as well, being in contact with the stage manager for Shakespeare in the Park (I'm determined) and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. The talks have gone well on all accounts and I'm confident that this summer will be every bit as exciting and challenging as I expect it to be.

Mid-April brought a new friend who quickly became a thing of the past, Dublin greenery, and the realization that I am ready to come home. But that's the thing about this place. In a city that moves so fast, with so many people zipping in and out - none of them aimless in their ambitions - sometimes you only get a moment with somebody else. I've learned to add these moments together and stitch a story from the anecdotes I've met. I don't know how else to make since of it but I guess that's a part of it. You know... that whole growing up/maturing thing. I used to think that for somebody to be a part of your life they had to be there forever, but now I understand that it only takes one conversation to alter the course of... I don't even know. A lot of things. Personal ethos? Sure its a bit heavy but that's just the way stuff has been here.

Dublin was... Guinness, Bailey's, and Magners. Basically. We went on a musical pub crawl which was really fun and bizarre. These two Irish musicians played troubadour to us tourists and got us tipsy enough to all sing along to traditional Irish songs. Some people danced but I wasn't sloshed enough for that kind of thing. Thank god because Bill was there with the camera and there's no doubt in my mind that those pictures are going to end up in the end of term slide show. Some things don't need to be reminisced about like that, no? We did the whole James Joyce thing whilst in Dublin as well, which for me was a very cathartic experience. Even though I'm pretty positive that I didn't understand very much of Ulysses when I read it last summer the point is that I DID read it. Therefore I was well aware of Sandy Cove and the infamous opening scene that took place in the tower that is now the James Joyce Museum. We climbed up a mountain (seriously) and got some really cool views around the city. Bill sort of fudged it and called the walk a walk, not the hike that it was... but to be fair if he had said what it really was I probably would have just peaced out to Grafton Street (the main shopping strip in Dublin). Clearly he knew his audience. The views were very worth it though. On Sunday I hit Grafton Street and found a really great book store called Dub Ray books. Judy Picoult was going to be doing a talk there this week, and I was very impressed. Not that I've read any of her books, but I feel like I've seen them floating around my mother's bedroom.

This pretty much brings us up to date. Currently it is the week before finals, which brings all kinds of fun and stress into the equation. Most notably the fact that I am going to be home in 13 days. I never thought that I would be ready to leave London but I'm ready to start life in New York. And to all you Londoners that claim New York is rubbish, I beg to differ. You are wrong. It's that simple. If you ever make the venture over I will be sure to escort you around the city, and show you what you are missing! I feel like I've done what I have to do over here. I will miss the excitement of meeting new people and having a great conversations with complete strangers but I figure that there are enough people in New York to sustain me. Especially if I'm bouncing between the cultural vortex's of FSG and Shakespeare in the Park. Now I must go and work on actual work, aka my final paper for European Mass Media and my final drama review. For the record, it is now raining and thundering. I rest my case. I miss you all, and I would like to request macaroni and cheese upon my return. Thank you.

xxxx R