BDUBS.lattez

Football games are way more enjoyable than I thought they would be.  I have never been a huge fan of watching football (soccer!), opting for a hockey game or an American football match instead, but I think that the Europeans really know how make a game interesting.  I get that it’s not a performance, and nor is it only an event for fans, but there is something alluring about the aspect of show in European football.  It’s really quite the spectacle.  The shouting goal keepers, the dramatic slide tackles, the constant motion, the brilliant colors:  there’s definitely something majestic about the whole thing. 

As you may have guessed, I went to a football game yesterday.  The match was between Alton Villa and, our near home team, Fulham.  Though Fulham lost, and they should have because Alton was playing very well, it was a fun experience that reminded me of being in the stands of a Gustavus Hockey game.  Of course, I immediately started missing home.  The only thing Minnesotan about the whole experience was the chilly weather.  I didn’t mind though. I am definitely ready for some brisk weather.  Must be those Minnesota genes kicking in!



Yaya



Following the match, Jenny, Matt, Jacque, Kelly and I went out to a roller disco in Vauxhall.  Well, when I write it that way, it seems like everything just happened so easily.  Not true!  We ended up getting lost a solid three times in the underground, lost Matt and Jacque along the way, and spent a good 1.5hours trying to get home afterward before eventually splitting a cab.  ICK!  The disco, however, was fantastic.  Next time I go, which, let’s be real, won’t be for a while, I am hoping that I will only be wearing neon and a giant afro wig.  If you’re going to go to a roller disco, as I have learned, you need to do it right!

Of course, the whole time I was there, I couldn’t help but think about the photo shoot on skates from ANTM cycle 3.  Obviously I spent my time posing on skates.

Today I write from a coffee shop that overlooks a little flower stand near Sloane Square.  The woman running the stand has been wrapping her delicate flowers in plastic to protect them from the oncoming chill that no one seems to be ready for.  Oddly, all we’ve heard since we’ve been to London is how out of place the weather has been this autumn. 

Across from me, there is a guy reading from Middlesex and chewing on some chunks of ice.  I chew on chunks of ice too.  They taste like my soy latte, and I notice they are very loud in my mouth.  Then I realize how disruptive I must be.  If I can hear the guy chewing ice from across the room, everyone around me must despise my acute oral fixation.  I apologize to no one in particular and smile to myself like some odd little child.  Meh, all in a day!

I wrote this little note in my phone whilst watching this dude chew on his ice:

            “I think of watching people as a constant exercise in observational learning, a trial in education and discernment.  Discernment.  I’ve used and thought of this word so many times over the course of my life.  Apparently, it’s a spiritual gift of mine.  Sitting in the Larson’s home and taking a written ‘exam’ on our spiritual fruits, I discovered that discernment was at the top of my list, followed immediately by approachability and entertainment.  I suddenly wonder if the only reason I want to be a therapist is because of my heavy involvement with youth group when I was young.  God says I am discerning.  Well, a worksheet that pretends to know what God thinks and simultaneously reminds us that no one can play god says I am discerning.  Oddly, no one else even had discernment on their list.  I wonder what good discernment is when you cannot even place yourself.  Oh, life.”

I wish more than anything right now that I could be at BDubs with my Gusties. I would actually commit criminal activity to get my hands and mouth on some Asian Zing, Caribbean Jerk, Honey BBQ, and Mango Habañero smothered pieces of chicken.  OMG.  Why did I write this down?  I am actually running through all the ways I could get wings delivered to my room at the Res Hall.  This is dangerous, this whole missing America thing.  I haven’t had a soda in a month: there is no root beer here.  Is that even legal?!  It shouldn’t be!  OMG.  BDubs and Root Beer.  I might actually drown myself in my own salivation!

More than missing food, though, I miss people.  Lots of people.  People I think about daily, people I need a hug from, people I need to tell me that growing up is tough, but if they can do it so can I.  I am terrible at being adult.  I figure if I just go into voice over work for Pixar films, I will be fine being a child for the rest of my life.  Oh, that’s what I am doing with my life, by the way.  I am going to drop out of school and start doing cartoon voices 24/7/365. My guess is that it won’t look much different from my current life *smiles wide*.



GOAT

Believe it or not, I have still things to talk about pertaining to Scotland. Right?  How is that possible?  I wrote a flipping novel in that post.  Oh well, I guess the work of a kind-of-writer is never really finished.

The sun is disappearing behind some clouds out in that sky, the sky that connects the buildings of Battersea with the financial centers of Canary Wharf.  It’s getting dark earlier and earlier.  I really do miss the daylight when it goes away.  Either way, I am realizing that this has been one sporadic post.  I guess that’s fine though.

I love the word sporadic.

I also love the word ‘insidious.’  Doesn’t it taste delicious on the tip of your tongue?! 

Yum.