it's like the Post-Game Review...Wrap-up...Epilogue...thing... It's really just sad.

We've been back in Nebraska for 17 days and 5 hours. It has been good to see everyone I missed, but it still feels pretty weird to be back here. I'm losing all feeling in my limbs because IT SNOWS HERE, I actually have to do my homework, and no one knows what i'm talking about when i say i'm in the mood for some crisps. I know - my life is SO tough...

Ok, enough of that. On to the good parts.

Europe.

Europe was ok. You know, all the history and art and accents... the amazing food... it was alright.

ok. It was AMAZING.

We began our little adventure with Christmas in Amsterdam. Why Amsterdam?

Why not?! They have a torture museum, 10, 000, 000, 000, 000 rabid pigeons, and a three-story McDonald's ALL IN ONE CITY. It was much better than i'm making it sound. I loved that place. Our hostel was probably the best we saw in Europe, and we learned many important things in Amsterdam... like Dutch. No - really. Can you say "bridge" and "exit" in Dutch, 'cause WE CAN!!!! HA! We're so worldly! No, really - very importanant things, like... you have to take classes and get certified to become a prostitute in Amsterdam. AND, they don't get Christmas off. But some of them wear santa hats. It is joyful and triumphant.

From there we took a train to Eindhoven to catch a flight to Rome. Rome has been my number one place to go in the world for... ever since I can remember. I have always wanted to see the Vatican, and I can say that it was every bit as amazing as I thought it would be. The Vatican, that is - not Rome so much. We didn't actually like Rome much at all. It was just kinds dodgy. We found ourselves planning our explorations so that we could get back to our hostel shortly after dark to avoid being in the streets too late. This is significant - I once went wondering around Deptford in South London - we're talking WAY south of the river - looking for a venue I was featuring at by myself after dark, walking by (practically through) the biggest drug bust I've ever seen, and I felt safer than I did in Rome after dark. It was bizare. The Colleseum was gorgeous, thoough, and looking up at the Sistine Chapel is something I know I will never forget. I can't describe how much that meant to me - it was amazing.

We arrived at our hostel in Florence just in time for New Years, having no plans, and no idea what Italian people do for New Years. We guessed that they drank a lot and threw firecrackers at eacherother. We were correct. Very correct. We met a couple of nice Spanish men who were staying at our hostel and decided to spend the evening with them. They spoke less English than we spoke Spanish, so Allen and I got the chance to use all those worthless Spanish classes we thought we'd never need. It's amazing how much you remember when you don't have a choice. After the festivities in the square (watching people throw wine bottles at people and pavement, singing and yelling in a language we don't know, and clanking bottles of cheap champagne with strangers) one of the owners of our hostel (you can see him in the picture on their website, linked to "our hostel" above - the dude with the really long dreadlocks) invited us to join him at his parents' house for some traditional Italian and Iranian food, so we did. It was really cool to listen to the mixture of Italian, Spanish, and English being spoken around us.

The next morning, we saw him. THE DAVID. He's really tall. And soooo dreamy.... He must work out. We also happened upon the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen (which means a lot - I saw St. Peter's Basillica and Notre Dame on this trip...) I'll try to attach my video of it, but I'm not promising that it will work...

We were sad to leave Florence. We liked it a lot.

Our hostel in Venice was quite nice, mostly because they gave a free meal, which is HUGE when you're carrying groceries in your backpack and living off of spinach-and-cheese or peanutbutter-and-jam sandwiches every day. (have you SEEN the rate of the dollar lately?! Italy was cheap compared to the UK.) Venice was beautiful. Cold, though. The streets are so narrow and winding - it was like a maze at times. In the main part of the city there are no cars - just pedestrians and gondolas all along the canal system. We only had about a day in Venice before it was time to move on to our final destination - Paris.

We flew to Paris because it was cheaper than taking a train, and it was pretty late when we got there. The thing about taking cheap flights, though, is that they seldom fly you into a major, conveniently located airport. After paying for an hour and a half bus ride into the city from the world's smallest and most obscure airport, I realized that I had gotten directions to our hostel from Charles De Gaulle, the airport we were flying out of in a few days. So we found ourselves in the middle of Paris just past midnight, knowing something like 4 words of French between us, having absolutely no idea where we were. Oh, and it was reeeeally cold. It was awesome. We managed to find a cab driver who spoke English, though, and we made it to our hostel eventually. The next day was spent at the Louvre, #2 on my "places I must go before I die" list. It is said that it would take 6 full days to properly view everything on display at the Louvre. We had about 6 hours, so naturally, we missed a few things, but we saw some of the most important and influential art in the world. It was amazing to finally see all these pieces I have been learning about in architecture and art history classes for years. We made Notre Dame our final stop, after visiting the graves of Chopin, Vincenzo Bellini (not the either of the painters, as I thought it was - he's the opera guy,) Jim Morrison, and Oscar Wilde (among others) in the largest cenetary I have EVER seen. Side note - we also saw the statue of Oscar Wilde in Dublin pictured in the article linked above. There is one in Covent Garden in London as well. I have a video clip of Notre Dame as well. You should check it out.

We then made out triumphant return to London for 4 short days of good-byes before the long flight back. We stayed once again with our London family, the Solankis, and they made us AMAZING FOOD as usual. This is Chiya with our final London feast, and all of us at a Southern Indian restaurant with a seven-foot dosa. It was delicious.

So, that's our trip - the very abbreviated version, of course. I have about a million pictures, so if you want to see more, you can post them yourself. This took forever. ;)

We've been back now for 17 days and about 7 1/2 hours, and I think.... maybe.... nope. It's definately still weird.

-stacy

Wow, kids. It has been a pretty insane past few weeks…Allen pierced both his nipples. Seriously. No – don’t ask me why. He just came home one day, flashed me and was like “Beat THIS, Fox!” It was really strange.

Ok, none of that is true. Well, I haven’t seen Allen’s nipples lately, but I think it’s safe to say that they are fine. Don’t worry.

It really has been a pretty amazing few weeks, though. Andrea Gibson, Katie Wirsing, and Buddy Wakefield began their “I am a Lagan” tour here in London and stayed with us for a few nights. It was pretty crazy showing three of the best slam poets in the world how to use our shower. Those guys are amazing, and having them here has definitely been one of the highlights of my trip so far. Their last show was at Farrago (the first “slam” we went to in London) where John Paul organized a UK vs. US “slam-off.” Buddy Wakefield, Andrea Gibson, and Katie Wirsing vs. two random London dudes. Seriously. I don’t even need to tell you how the scores ended up, but after questioning Allen’s score-adding skills, John Paul “misplaced” the scores during the break and, calling Allen’s memory unreliable, decided to call it a draw. If anyone thought that slam was worth it at all, I’m sure we’d be upset, but it’s really just hilarious that he has to pull those kinds of shenanigans. We ate at Mildred’s, a vegan restaurant in Soho, and it was hands-down some of the best food I’ve ever had. Those three are so much better at the eating healthy thing than we are, so Allen and I were inspired to go vegetarian until we leave. It hasn’t been too bad so far. We also went to the Tate Modern (briefly) and wandered around Trafalgar Square for a few hours at night, which was gorgeous.

When they left, I had 2 days to finish my projects for finals that next week. That sucked, but I’m done now. Everything went pretty well, and now I have no responsibilities until we go back…except work, but that doesn’t really count. My job is amazing.

Friday sucked, though. Almost all of our friends from school flew out on Friday b/c it was the last day they could stay in the student housing in Camden. It’s so weird to think that we really might never see those kids again. It’s also a little weird to think that we came all the way to London to make mostly American friends. (We went to an American school. It was the cheapest way to go…) It’s cool, though – now we have places to stay all over the US when we go on the epic road trip I’m planning in my head.

We finally nailed down our itinerary for the rest of the traveling we’ll be doing. It goes a little something like this:
Christmas in Amsterdam (why not?), next few days in Rome, then on to Venice and Florence for about a day each, ending up in Paris for our final days before the grand homecoming on January 8th. Then I get to return to poetry at the Meadowlark, which I am pretty excited about. Lincoln is sending one poet to the first ever Women’s Slam in Detroit in March, and I’m really hoping it can be me... which means I have some writing to do. A few of our friends from school here live in Detroit, so I could save the slam a little money and stay with them instead. See? Don’t you think they should just give the qualifying spot to me? Sure you do… SURE YOU DO…

-stacy

3 hours of my life that I will never get back

Ok....where did I leave off...

I have no idea, so I'll start here.

Guy Fawkes Day, November 5 is a little like the 4th of July in the states...well, there are fireworks... and... ok, other than that they're really nothing alike... (Don't know what I'm talking about? Go watch V for Vendetta. It's more entertaining than me describing Guy Fawkes to you, and there are pretty masks.) I had lots of homework to do and had to work, so I didn't get the best view of the fireworks, but some of them looked pretty sweet from my bedroom window.

side note: The Smashing Pumpkins' Bullet with Butterfly Wings (Rat in a Cage) just came on randomly for the second time today, and that makes me super-happy... (oh, go on - click the link and watch the video - you're just checking your e-mail at work anyway...) ;)

...Now I'm stuck in the youtube music video pit of unproductiveness... well, here - watch this one too... and this one (see - my constantly changing hair could be much worse)

Allen and I realized that our Britrail passes were about to expire, so we decided to go back to Ediburgh, because we love that place. (Have I mentioned that?) We took an overnight train to Glasgow (with a layover in Birmingham from 2 to 5 am...that was fun) and spent a day there before moving on to Edinburgh. Our original plan was to make a stop at Birmingham on the way back to see the Cadbury chocolate factory, but their website made it look much more like a weird children's attraction with purple cows and talking easter candy than an actual factory tour, so we opted out of that (plus, it cost £10 to get in...£10 for cow costumes and screaming children? really?) We did another ghost tour in Edinburgh, this time going down into the vaults under the city. It was pretty neat, and actually pretty spooky. We also returned to the Elephant House, where JK Rowling wrote much of Harry Potter, for a few hours of writing and scheming, and went back to one of my favorite builidings of all time, the Scottish Parliament Building (left.) In Glasgow, we went to The Lighthouse, a museum of architecture and design in Scotland and the Gallery of Modern Art ...a gallery of...modern art. They were both pretty fantastic and made me want even more to drop out of school to become an installation artist. Don't worry, mom - I'm not really going to ;)

We got back from Scotland on Wednesday night and left Thursday afternoon for Dublin. It was kind of a lengthy little holiday, but I have had a pretty hellish past couple weeks (I'll spare you the details - call me if you really want to know) so it couldn't have come at a better time. I needed a break. The timing was perfect, because the Two Gallants played at the Koko in Camden on Wednesday night, so we caught that before we left. That was such a good show. I just love watching them perform - they bring a kind of passion and emotion to their music that is unfortunately becoming rather rare I think. And they are really nice people, too. We got to hang out with them a little after we saw them with Against Me! in Omaha in August. The best part by far was the last song - Waves of Grain from their What the Toll Tells album. I LOVE that song sooo much. I found a video on youtube someone made using the song, and while I don;t think it communicates everything the song is really about, it does explore one aspect of it, and it gives you all a chance to hear it. Here it is. The lyrics are so amazing. One of the support bands was from Portland - Blitzen Trapper, and they were quite good as well.

Ok, moving on - Dublin. We went to a pub the first night with Gavin and Stu (because really, what is better to do on your first night in Dublin?) I had the best pint(s) of Guinness I have EVER had at that place. SOOOO good... The next day we went to the Guinness factory(also very good) and the Irish National Gallery, which was ok, but not nearly as good as the English or Scottish National Galleries. We tried to go St. Patrick's Cathedral, but it was closed for a graduation ceremony. Lame, I know.

So, you may remember me mentioning in an earlier blog that we went to see Katie's friends' band The Satin Peaches at the Astoria in London? Well, their tour manager, Gavin happened to take a liking to miss Katie, and she happened to like him back, and he happened to be from just outside of Dublin, so we happened to stay with him and his roommates for a couple nights while we were there. It was great - they made us amazing food, and we walked out in the Irish rain and played with their cat, and their house had fantastic carpet.

Oh, Sinead O'Connor's from Dublin - here's a video from her too. She has such a pretty head.

And now we're back in London. And it's raining here too. A lot.

We went to see Andrew in a play, Angels in America, at Royal Holloway, the school he goes to in Egham, just South of London. He played Roy Cohn, and did a phenomenal job. It was quite amusing to hear everyone else in the play trying to do an American accent.

...Whish brings us to today - Thanksgiving. I had an especially tasty peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch today to celebrate (or peanut butter and jam, as they say in the UK - "jelly" is jell-o here.) We intended to have some kind of Thanksgiving dinner at Katie's flat last night, but everyone was busy, so we ended up with plain rice, mashed potatoes, and my pumpkin pie. I doubt I'll get a proper Thanksgiving meal this year, but that's ok. I can miss one out of 23, don't you think?

In honor of the 2 1/2 hours it has taken me to right this because of my useless youtube adventures, here's one of my favorite videos ever. It's not a music video, but trust me - it is HILARIOUS.

Ok. Some people need to go get an ice cream sandwich. Stacy needs to go get an ice cream sandwich.

(...that would have been funny if you had watched the video...)

-stacy

"It's cheaper than a movie and there's free coffee"

I feel like you all have an awful lot of catching up to do, and by that, I mean I've been slacking in the blogging dept.

I've been busy - leave me alone.

Let's see...ok - ice bar. I went to the ice bar on Tuesday. It was cold. I couldn't resist the urge to smash one of the made-of-ice glasses on the floor. I didn't get kicked out for it, but if I would have, it totally would've been worth it.

For Halloween, I had the BEST COSTUME EVER. I was Marla Singer from Fight Club, and it was amazing. Allen was Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. ALSO AMAZING. We went on a boat cruiseon the Thames for Halloween with our school, and it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of American fun, but fun nonetheless. I didn't get to carve a pumpkin, though. Sad.

On Thursday night I went to the Electric Ballroom in Camden to see Against Me!, one of my favorite bands. It was a hell of a show, and I only came away with minor injuries (a few clawmarks to the face is a small price to pay, right?) They gave the best performance of "Walking is Still Honest" I have ever seen, and "Americans Abroad" was crazy - the audience LOVED it. They closed with "We Laugh at Danger (and Break all the Rules)", which is the song I remember most from I when I saw them for the very first time my freshman year with Sean in a basement in Omaha. They're so good - seriously, people - follow my little linky thingies and look them up. You'll thank me later.

Also, the Two Gallants are playing on Nov. 14th at the Koko Theatre in Camden. I am soooo there.

And on Friday, I had my first poetry feature. It went pretty well, I'd say. I didn't make a complete ass of myself, but I did feel a little nervous. I need to work on that whole being comfortable with small talk in front of a bunch of people thing. I'd post a picture of me actually doing a poem, but I'm realizing that I just don't look good when I talk - I'm constantly making some kind of weirdo face, so if you want to see it, you'll just have to wait 'til I get back! Ha! Maybe I'll record my next feature (Nov. 28th at the Poet Cafe in Covent Garden) and post the video. Don't hold your breath.

Also on Friday, we met up with Ann H-P (also from UNL, studying in France this year) who was visiting for fall break. We met her at Westminster Abbey , which was sooo beautiful. Right now I really have to pee, and I have 2 mid-term reviews this week to prepare for... yikes. Pray for me.

stacy

Oh, wait! I created my "No, really - I'm a poet, I swear!" myspace page: www.myspace.com/stacylfox If I haven't added you yet, it's probably b/c you don't accept adds from bands, which is ridiculous. I am clearly not a band. Add me.

That is all.

HIS mom never told HIM to stop drawing on the walls...

We attended the last of Mahogany Browne's London shows on Thursday at Neighborhood's near Portobello Rd, which apparently the venue where hip-hop got started in London.

We got there early enough to walk around the area a little before the show, and we happened upon some spraypaint on a wall by some dude who defaces public property. Gosh, what was his name...? Bant...Brink...Blank.... oh, yeah....BANKSY. here's his website. We also saw a really sweet skate park wedged in the space below an overpass.

The guy who runs the Farrago International Slam was there and remembered us from Mahogany's first show. He invited me to feature at their next show (Nov. 2nd - this friday,) but it's a spanish/english night, so he expects me to do at least one piece in spanish or a spanish translation. I know, right? But it's a feature spot, so I'll cover some spanish poetry if that's what it takes. I've never featured before, though, and I'm kinda nervous about it, especially since Allen won't be able to go with me. I know, I know - get over it. I'll be fine. I have decided to make a music myspace page, though, so it looks like I'm at least a little bit of a poet. I'll post the link when it's done. A publisher from Tall-Lighthouse also contacted me after the Farrago slam about doing a feature and submitting some poems for their 2008 anthology. He's giving me a short feature spot at the November reading at the Poetry Cafe on Nov. 28th.

This post ended up being not nearly as exciting as I thought it would be...hmm.... sorry abo- OH MY GOD! A HUGE CHUNK OF THE ROOF JUST FELL IN BEHIND ME! THERE'S BLOOD, ASBESTOS AND PIGEON FEATHERS EVERYWHERE! OH, THE HUMANITY!

...too much? it was too much, wasn't it? i should have kept it small... no one goes for roofs caving in - too dramatic. oh well...i tried.

stacy

my legs = jelly

We did it! We found poetry! And Mahogany Browne was featuring! And she was AMAZING! The slam was WEIRD, though. I had to go first, and my score of 23 was the HIGHEST of the night until the last two poets read. Yeah - a 23. Out of 30. Freaking crazy. It gets weirder - one guy read 3 short poems instead of one 3-minute, another guy passed out brochures with his poem and promotional material for himself before he read, and the last poet was introduced by the very impartial host as "by far the best poet living in london." It was a zoo. I got candy, though, which was pretty cool, and a publishing fellow talked to me after the slam about doing a feature sometime while I'm here, so we'll see how that goes. I should probably start memorizing some poems. Mahogany is doing a couple more features this week, so I think we're gonna just follow her around and look for some more poetry connections in the city.

In other news, I hiked over seven miles on Friday, and my legs almost fell off. No, seriously. I almost needed peg legs. Yes, both of them - don't question it.

It was beautiful. We hiked somewhere around Surrey, by Boxhill to Leatherhead (small towns about 30 minutes outside of London.) Apparently there is something in Jane Austen's Emma about Boxhill (any idea, Sarah?) This was one of the paths we took - a little stepping-stone bridge.

I started my new job at HMV on Saturday, and I LOVE it. I had no idea how hard it apparently was to get the job, but one of my managers told me he gets 400-500 CVs (british resumes) a WEEK. Yeah, that means I'm amazing. Or lucky.... we'll go with amazing. Apparently it's also the 2nd largest music store in Europe. (The largest is HMV's Oxford Circus location, just a few blocks away.) I work in "back of store" which is the rock/pop, metal, vinyl, dance and urban section. It's been tough to remember to say "pounds" instead of dollars when I'm working the till (that's what they call the cash register...silly, isn't it?) I messed it up once, and the guy I was helping was a real dick about it, so I punched him in the throat. Ok, that's not true, but I gave him a less-than-cordial "thank you" when I was done. Take that, man.

Let's see...what else.....umm.... I decided that I'm starting to get just a little home-sick, but not necessarily for home. I think I'm starting to miss familiarity in general. I'm having a really great time here, and I still love it, but I have been wanting nothing more than to play zombies with the roommates, sit in my hammock, or have a Wednesday night at the Coffee House. These things are all very regular and familiar to me, and though I'm building my own familiarities here, I still feel like a visitor. And I miss people. You should all come visit me. Get on that. You can take turns sleeping on my couch.

Wait a minute! Have I posted pictures of my room yet?! I don't remember. Here you go.... aww....it's small! Well, look at it on facebook, then.

I am going home. To my small room. Goodnight, moon.

stacy

Minor Delays

Some dude's suicide totally put a damper on my evening.

This is a ridiculously long and whiny story, so I'll try to sum it up for you quick-like:

We went to a museum for our Literary London class on Tuesday (which is worthless, by the way) and I was scheduled to meet my Hospitality Design class at Dans Le Noir (see previous post) for dinner to research unique dining and all that jazz. We didn't have to meet until 9 and it was 6 when we got out of the museum, so I thought I had plenty of time to go home and change. I should have had plenty of time to go home and change, but NO, the world hates me, and the central line (of the tube - the London underground train I use to get EVERYWHERE) was partially shut down b/c of "a person under the train." So by the time I got off I had to run home and change and get right back on the tube, realizing that the restaurant was only one stope away from the museum I had just come from. Ugh. But I had an hour to get there, so I thought it would be ok.

Nope.

Not only did it take me an hour and a half to get there, but it started pouring rain as soon as I got off the tube. Not a biug deal, though, right? I can meet my class late - no problem. So I finally get there, and they wouldn't let me in to meet my class! They said that once a party enters the "dark room," it is not possible for them to be joined by anyone else until their meal is done - not even if that person has just spent a hellish hour-and-a-half on the tube and in the rain. So I yelled at the lady and left.

Seriously, if you are going to kill yourself, don't do it in a way that inconveniences me. Ok, that's not entirely fair... I also heard the guy might have been pushed. If you are planning a death of any kind - yours or someone else's, please do it in private or at some obscure tube station that no one (meaning me) uses.

Thank you.

stacy