What? You weren’t expecting pictures or anything were you? Of course you weren’t. Last night after I got home we watched the second episode of a new series Greg has called The Event. I’d never heard of it, but it’s pretty interesting, it definitely draws you in. I watched the first episode today as well as the latest episode they have of Chuck and finally got around to watching Super Size Me. Wow. That sheds a whole new light on things for me. I mean, I knew that stuff, it was just seeing it all happening. Let’s hope that the feeling I got while watching that sticks with me enough that I don’t want to eat a lot of fast food. Half the time it’s not even that I want to, it’s just the sugar in it wreaking havoc with my glucose levels which make me crave it and ‘need’ to eat it even when I don’t want to. If that makes sense. Right, this wasn’t supposed to be about fast food and my unhealthy attachment to it.
Just so you all know I had a GREAT time this weekend. I’m bushed and my calves are killing me from all the walking we did. I don’t know how much we actually walked, but I want to try to figure out as best I can so I can make an estimate. I think it rivals how much we walked in Paris and Amsterdam. Maybe not Amsterdam, but close. I do have one recommendation. If you’re in London and you’re thinking about taking one of the London walking tours (where you just show up where it says to meet, pay your £8 or whatever it is, and go), consider going on the Jack the Ripper tour. And if you consider that, try to do it on a Saturday night when Steve is the tour guide. He’s awesome. I’m sure all the guides are awesome, but Steve was so entertaining, engaging, and energetic. In the pamphlet I got it lists all the guides and a tiny blurb about them. Then it gives a list of all the walks and who guides them on which nights. For Saturday it just said Steve, but there were two there. Thank goodness. There were so many people they split the group in two and I think there were at least 25-30 people in our group. That’s enough of that though, I don’t want to ruin it before I actually get to writing about Saturday!
I also managed to score a 1920’s (I think) publication of Ivanhoe for £5. There was this book market on along the Thames and I found it there. It doesn’t have a publication date and the guy selling it gave me a ballpark time frame, but I can’t remember what he said. Based on something mentioned in the foreword I’m guess 1920’s-30’s. It’s in really good condition and hardcover to boot. I’ve never read Ivanhoe, but seeing as it’s a classic, it looks cool because it’s old, it’s hardcover, and it was relatively cheap for the age I thought it was a good buy. I’ve started it and while it’s sometimes more description and less storytelling (which I don’t always mind, but it makes the ‘classics’ hard to read for me when they’re like that) I’m intrigued enough to keep going. I realize the description is necessary because of when it is set and when it was written, but that doesn’t mean it makes it any more thrilling. I’m excited to get further along. Which reminds me…I’m still only about half way through reading David Copperfield (Dickens not the magician :P) and I started that a couple of years ago! I won’t lie when I say I purchased and am trying to read some classics just because they’re classics. I also started reading The Count of Monte Cristo, but actually only got a couple of chapters in before I gave up. I really liked the movie so I wanted to give it a chance, but no dice. Someday I will try again. I also want to expand my Jane Austin collection. I’ve read the usuals – Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and about 3/4 of Emma, but one I want to read that I know almost nothing about is Persuasion. I think I need to make an actually list and then stick to it.
This post just goes to show what can happen when I have no clear writing plan and just go where my fingers take me. Ha! So you got a little glimpse into my weekend. It was really awesome to see Martha and to get a little closer to her. Despite that we’ve known each other for, well, I guess 20 years now, there’s still new stuff to find out about each other. That comes from not seeing each other very often over some of our more formative years (eg. university). That time in between high school graduation and university commencement can really change a person. In both good and bad ways. And sometimes it can just to a fine tuning of who you already were. And then there’s going abroad for a year. You don’t come back unchanged from that!
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Holly Abroad 
Lorna's Voice
/ November 22, 2011Supersize Me is a very eye-opening film. It should be mandatory viewing here in the States. I’m glad you had such a productive and enjoyable time on your trip. The memories you’ve made during this past year are so vast and varied. You’ve lived more in this one year than a lot of people live in their whole lives. 🙂
hollyjb
/ November 22, 2011I think it should be mandatory for all North Americans!
It’s funny how you say I’ve lived so much this year. It’s true, I just never thought of it that way. Since I like hang around at home not doing much I always thought of myself as someone who needs to learn how to live my own life instead of the lives of the fictional characters I so love to read about. But you’re right. I think I’ve accomplished a lot this year! Thanks.