Cacoethes Scribendi

"the insatiable urge to write"

Saturday, October 23, 2010

s  t  a  m  p  e  d

THROUGHOUT THE FULLNESS OF THE DAY I QUESTION YOUR GOODNESS. THE WORDS AND WAYS OF MAN EASILY PERSUADE ME, NEARLY SWAY MY EVER WANDERING HEART.

WITH MY EYES I SEE THE EVIDENCE OF YOUR EXISTENCE, YET WITH MY HEART I SEE NOR HEAR ANYTHING...IT IS JUST AN ORGAN WHICH IS FIT TO PUMP BLOOD.

IN THESE WAKEFUL MOMENTS I HAVE ELEVATED MYSELF ABOVE THEE, FORGETTING ALL YOUR MAGNIFICENT WAYS.

YET, AT THE DARKEST HOUR OF THE NIGHT, ASSURANCE TAKES HOLD OF ME.

I FEEL DEEP DOWN IN THE TRENCHES OF MY BEING A HEART

I NEVER KNEW I HAD

ONE WITH YOUR FINGERPRINTS INSIDE.

AND I CAN FEEL YOU MOVE IN ME.

When in England

Blog entry #2, reporting from Greatham, England

Living in a manor house reminiscent of Professor Kirke's in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is just as enchanting as it sounds. There are towering staircases, secret passageways, and fireplaces in nearly every room. Outside, we are surrounded by 3 small gardens, an ancient cemetery, a courtyard, and luscious green pastures stretching for miles. The house itself is brick, complete with ivy entangling the windows and lattices.


There are so many people from all over the world here, it is really diverse. From Germany to Sweden, to Florida to Michigan, to Scotland and Ireland, it has been a great experience making cross cultural connections, and of course, my accent is getting quite good.

The rest of England is just as, if not more, beautiful than I imagined. Took a lovely day trip to Brighton (Capitol Hill meets England) where I pierced my nose and saw actor Jonathon Groff outside a vintage mall and briefly talked to him! (Jesse, from Glee!) In London I saw Les Miserables, which was brilliant, as to be expected. Buckingham Palace may have been the biggest let down as it is situated right next to a large traffic circle and Stone Henge is just as stony and a little more hengy than I expected, it rocks.

The English pubs are wonderful and as romantic as you would expect. I learned the embarrassing way that you do not tip the bartenders here...I must say that the English lads are rather enamored with the young American girl smoking her pipe though. Keepin' it real, Seattle.

I miss you all dearly, and I wish that each of you could be here to enjoy this time with me. It is truly wonderful to be here and I have lots of time and space to think about life and to reflect and ponder its mysteries.

(if you want to check out some of the things I am working on in my spare time, I will be posting creative writing pieces as usual. Thanks to each of my faithful readers, you know who you are, mom and dad. haha. Off to kiss some English men, after all, I'm Irish. signing off....)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

When in England

Blog Entry #1 reporting from Greatham, England

As soon as the plane touched English earth, my heart began to race in a way it never has before. I am in London and despite how displaced I am, something feels right here....An air of excitement seems to surround me, and as the passengers grab their luggage, I can feel the anticipation binding us all together. My feet and hands are nicely swollen from the 12 hours of air travel and I hear a young child behind me tell his mother that his hand is tired of being alive. I chuckle to myself at his lovely little British accent.

An hour later I leave baggage claim and step out onto the airport drive. A smile breaks my face like a pebble tossed into a pool of water as I marvel at the cars traveling along the opposite side of the road I am used to. One short bus ride and I am on the train to Woking Station, my first stop before reaching Greatham where I will be spending the next few months in the South of England. I feel totally adventurous and totally alone. It is odd to be in a different time and place, completely unknown by anyone around. I am invisible, just another face in the crowd. It seems as if it is not until someone calls me by name, I am no more than a backdrop for someone else's story.

Upon arriving at the Manor House, I am aghast at the Victorian architecture which adorns this place. I feel like Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, mystified by grandeur. It is near 4pm and I am invited to tea where I meet a few other students who I will be staying with this term.

(For continued reading...see blog post #2 @ http://kimberlondon.blogspot.com/2010/10/when-in-england_23.html)