Back in London
Aug. 5th, 2010 06:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
camrogersOf all the places I've been so far, Iceland's been the wrong-est to leave. Your mileage may vary, but for me it's such a simply, uncomplicatedly, terribly beautiful place... I really could have stayed for a lot longer. I don't know if I could live there, practically, but the country itself just felt right.
I'll miss white gravel roads; white, yellow and violet flowers bobbing by roadsides; cotton-grass. Moss-covered seas of hard black lava. I wish I could see it all in winter. Make a regular writing hangout of the warm-wooded soup joint on the main drag. Italian meat soup - red wine and pepperoni - served in a bread bowl. A good book.
Part of me fantasised walking out onto the plain by the airport and burying myself, if it meant I could stay.
The PM is listed in the phonebook, the country's most popular restaurant is a hotdog stand, 30% of the people have a degree, the country runs on 99% renewable energy and more than half the population believe in elves. The water is even more delicious than Finland, but smells faintly of rotten eggs. Sulphur.
Waiting in the airport I wonder why so many travelers choose that time to read Dickens and The Catcher in the Rye. Is it part of some traveler mystique or is it that now they just have the time?
Riding the tube back from Heathrow I'd swear I keep seeing the same portly African and thin Middle Eastern guy every time I come here. It's starting to feel a bit like the Matrix.
I was listening to an interview with the guy who writes as Lemony Snicket. His name is... crap. Brad Something? Lives in San Francisco. He was at the studio during filming and was directed to go around and come in through a side entrance. It'd be locked so he'd need to knock. So he did that, walked around, and while he was doing that the crew in the studio had started something involving a lot of noise which meant they couldn't hear him pounding on the door. This door was black, and had LEMONY SNICKET painted on it in large yellow letters. And there he was, pounding on it and yelling to be let in and thinking "I want this moment captured for all time."
Not sure when I'll get to post this. I'm back in London but between homes, so to speak. Seeing Peter Murphy play the Electric Ballroom tonight. Managed to get a bunk for one night at St Christopher's just down Camden High Street a few blocks from the venue, so I'll probably manage to send this off this afternoon or tomorrow morning.
Catching up with Cathe at 1pm near Tower Bridge station. We went to school together, and she was seeing Drew for a while, and was good friends with Will. I'm currently in a Starbucks off Oxford Street - the only place open at 8am with tables. Plan consists of waiting 90 minutes for shops to open, buying a novel, mailing a novel to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bell_man, getting to Camden, checking in, lockering pack, getting to Tower Bridge, meeting Cathe, getting back to Camden, sleeping for a couple of hours, getting to the gig, and then hopefully being able to have a few drinks at the Dev after. It'll be Friday-night-packed though with a close press of leather jackets, unwashed hair, spilled beer. Which sounds pretty good. Might get a spot outside with the chatters and see if I recognise anyone.
Dmetri's been receiving my mail and handling things for me while I've been away. This includes getting my group certificates to the accountant. Now my accountant thinks me, Dmetri and Leigh all live together in a big gay threeway. When DK realised this he apparently went to some lengths to establish my heterosexual credentials. I need to ask him what that entailed, specifically.
Stephen Moffat's got a new show out: Sherlock. Classic Holmes tales reworked and set modern day. It's only three movie-length episodes, available via illicit means if you're so inclined, and worth it. That said, though, it does distinctly smack of "Doctor Who: Consulting Detective." Whatever Moffat does next it needs to not be about a dismissive, self-absorbed, easily-distracted, motormouthed genius who leaves others in awe by machinegunning selfconsciously crafted trains of thought. Y'know, just for a bit. That said though, worth it.
Hard to believe I'll have been home for almost two weeks this time next month. It's taken so long for the stars to align in such a way that I could slip through to this place that I'm loathe to have that mechanism spit me back out again. But it's for the best, and even constant change can in itself be a kind of stasis. Best to take what I can from all this and bring it home, then plan the next one.
Three days in bed, then reactivate. The folks want to see me, so I might be in Cooktown for a little while around the 10th. I haven't seen Danni in a couple years. She and Simon bought a farm outside Brisbane. Might see if I can stop by on the way back.
Looking forward to writing something new. Making up a cast of new characters and making life hard for them in interesting ways.
Rose and Tai are picking me up from the airport on the night of the 24th. That sounds like the best thing ever. Nothing quite like rounding the corner to find a light left on.
I'll miss white gravel roads; white, yellow and violet flowers bobbing by roadsides; cotton-grass. Moss-covered seas of hard black lava. I wish I could see it all in winter. Make a regular writing hangout of the warm-wooded soup joint on the main drag. Italian meat soup - red wine and pepperoni - served in a bread bowl. A good book.
Part of me fantasised walking out onto the plain by the airport and burying myself, if it meant I could stay.
The PM is listed in the phonebook, the country's most popular restaurant is a hotdog stand, 30% of the people have a degree, the country runs on 99% renewable energy and more than half the population believe in elves. The water is even more delicious than Finland, but smells faintly of rotten eggs. Sulphur.
Waiting in the airport I wonder why so many travelers choose that time to read Dickens and The Catcher in the Rye. Is it part of some traveler mystique or is it that now they just have the time?
Riding the tube back from Heathrow I'd swear I keep seeing the same portly African and thin Middle Eastern guy every time I come here. It's starting to feel a bit like the Matrix.
I was listening to an interview with the guy who writes as Lemony Snicket. His name is... crap. Brad Something? Lives in San Francisco. He was at the studio during filming and was directed to go around and come in through a side entrance. It'd be locked so he'd need to knock. So he did that, walked around, and while he was doing that the crew in the studio had started something involving a lot of noise which meant they couldn't hear him pounding on the door. This door was black, and had LEMONY SNICKET painted on it in large yellow letters. And there he was, pounding on it and yelling to be let in and thinking "I want this moment captured for all time."
Not sure when I'll get to post this. I'm back in London but between homes, so to speak. Seeing Peter Murphy play the Electric Ballroom tonight. Managed to get a bunk for one night at St Christopher's just down Camden High Street a few blocks from the venue, so I'll probably manage to send this off this afternoon or tomorrow morning.
Catching up with Cathe at 1pm near Tower Bridge station. We went to school together, and she was seeing Drew for a while, and was good friends with Will. I'm currently in a Starbucks off Oxford Street - the only place open at 8am with tables. Plan consists of waiting 90 minutes for shops to open, buying a novel, mailing a novel to
bell_man, getting to Camden, checking in, lockering pack, getting to Tower Bridge, meeting Cathe, getting back to Camden, sleeping for a couple of hours, getting to the gig, and then hopefully being able to have a few drinks at the Dev after. It'll be Friday-night-packed though with a close press of leather jackets, unwashed hair, spilled beer. Which sounds pretty good. Might get a spot outside with the chatters and see if I recognise anyone.Dmetri's been receiving my mail and handling things for me while I've been away. This includes getting my group certificates to the accountant. Now my accountant thinks me, Dmetri and Leigh all live together in a big gay threeway. When DK realised this he apparently went to some lengths to establish my heterosexual credentials. I need to ask him what that entailed, specifically.
Stephen Moffat's got a new show out: Sherlock. Classic Holmes tales reworked and set modern day. It's only three movie-length episodes, available via illicit means if you're so inclined, and worth it. That said, though, it does distinctly smack of "Doctor Who: Consulting Detective." Whatever Moffat does next it needs to not be about a dismissive, self-absorbed, easily-distracted, motormouthed genius who leaves others in awe by machinegunning selfconsciously crafted trains of thought. Y'know, just for a bit. That said though, worth it.
Hard to believe I'll have been home for almost two weeks this time next month. It's taken so long for the stars to align in such a way that I could slip through to this place that I'm loathe to have that mechanism spit me back out again. But it's for the best, and even constant change can in itself be a kind of stasis. Best to take what I can from all this and bring it home, then plan the next one.
Three days in bed, then reactivate. The folks want to see me, so I might be in Cooktown for a little while around the 10th. I haven't seen Danni in a couple years. She and Simon bought a farm outside Brisbane. Might see if I can stop by on the way back.
Looking forward to writing something new. Making up a cast of new characters and making life hard for them in interesting ways.
Rose and Tai are picking me up from the airport on the night of the 24th. That sounds like the best thing ever. Nothing quite like rounding the corner to find a light left on.
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no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 05:41 pm (UTC)He's written some adult books under his real name - I've got his first novel The Basic Eight, which is sort of Heathers crossed with Fight Club.
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Date: 2010-08-05 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 10:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 10:55 pm (UTC)*googles*
*goes nuts*
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Date: 2010-08-05 05:59 pm (UTC)Can't imagine, myself. My longest vacation ever was 11 days in Oahu. That felt like an eternity away from home. You've been on the road for ages, it seems.
Then again, perhaps your Iceland urge could result in something a bit longer term. That's how I ended up in Texas, after all.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 10:31 pm (UTC)Luke Rhinehart has the law of the dice, Chuck Palahniuk had the whole male nihilism thing, whereas I built this whole thing on one rule: Say Yes. Fucking incredible what happens when you run your life according to the rules of improvisational comedy.
Can't imagine, myself. My longest vacation ever was 11 days in Oahu. That felt like an eternity away from home. You've been on the road for ages, it seems.
It'll be almost 4 months by the time I get back. And it was a lot easier than I expected, based on previous experience. That said, the other day I found a photo of my bed. Man, it was like my ribs swung open to accommodate a swelling heart. Not leaving that thing for at least 24 hours once I get back.
Then again, perhaps your Iceland urge could result in something a bit longer term. That's how I ended up in Texas, after all.
If it does it won't happen in my thirties. I'm not an EU citizen and I can just barely fit the criteria for a UK right-of-abode. Do that for 5 years and then maybe. Otherwise I need to make millions and brute-force my way through the system.
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Date: 2010-08-06 09:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-06 10:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 10:26 pm (UTC)Otherwise, believe me, there's nothing I'd like more than to see you at the airport. Can't wait 'til we can hang out again. Jonesing, actually.
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Date: 2010-08-05 10:47 pm (UTC)And ditto. Very much looking forward to seeing you and hearing about your trip. :)
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Date: 2010-08-05 11:27 pm (UTC)See you tomorrow...oh wait...today now.
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Date: 2010-08-05 11:42 pm (UTC)Enforced erudition
Date: 2010-08-06 12:24 am (UTC)