On Sleep

I give up. At one point in my life, I thought this blog would be strictly about photography and similarly related things. I no longer think anything will be posted if this is true. Because of this, I am going to give in and just post things about my life. Who cares? It's not like anyone else is reading this?

Which brings me to the reason I am sitting at my desk, typing a blog post, at 4:19 in the morning. My body has decided that sleeping on a normal schedule is no longer necessary. That the fact I have agreed to go running at 7am does not actually matter. Finally, that the test on teeth I'm supposed to take at 10 is not anything important (it actually is. kind of.). Clearly, my body is wrong. Logic tells us that, but it no longer wants to respond to logic, so here I am, typing a blog post at 4:21 in the morning (it's been 2 minutes, ok?).

For fuck's sake, there are BIRDS SINGING outside my window!! I will now attempt to go to sleep, knowing that my phone and a skype call will awake me far too early, but that a run (if my partner in running shows up) and shower will hopefully wake me up enough for that test (that I'm destined to fail). If not. Well, I have tea sitting in my thermos from this afternoon. That's not too long, right?

Living in Another Country

Just some stray observations of things that are different here: 

1. They drive on the other side of the road. But don't have a set side that you walk past someone on the sidewalk (I'm sorry, pavement). This has led me to almost run into people multiple times.
2. The word pants. I have messed that one up SO many times. 
3. There are no black beans. They don't appear to exist outside of Chinese black bean sauce.
4. I have to go to like 3 or 4 different stores to get my groceries. 
5. The beer is different (this is sometimes a big deal for a PNW native).
6. Laundry is super expensive.
7. Spending time with friends basically means going to a pub. Which means spending money. (Though we've done a few things that aren't that, pretty much everything involves drinking...)
8. People actually drink a lot of coffee. And some of them love it as much as we do.
9. Social tier is a much bigger deal. I see it being discussed in much the same way Americans discuss race. 
10. For 'proper tea' (for most people) you always put in milk.
11. Most people my age are well-dressed. The big difference in this one is that the boys are too. Like they look way sharp compared to most American boys my age (and I've seen more barbers than unisex/female hairdressers).

That's all that comes to mind off the top of my head. I'm sure there's more things (in fact, I've had more things in my head before). We're going out tonight. I'm going to get plastered (I don't know if the Brits use that one... I haven't tried it in conversation). But since that's happening I'll end up slipping into my British accent, unintentionally. It sounds horrible and I actually really hate that I do it, but it happens. I need to start looking for a job and taking some photos again. I also need to work on this essay that I've done like nothing for. I'm a terrible person sometimes. I'm excited that I might be having visitors for New Year's!

Hello from England

Hello. It's been a while. More than a while. It's been months. But I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things. I have photo ideas planned out in my head (along with other creative endeavors that won't be discussed here, for now). I hadn't really taken photos in a while. Not really since I had to when I took that class at the beginning of the year (January-March). Yesterday (Saturday) though, I went for a hike with some friends through the peak district, it was, as I said to someone who didn't go, lovely. I don't know that it really needs elaboration. I finally found myself taking photos again and enjoying it (even if it was with my digital camera due to lack of film). I found myself out in nature, feeling at peace and content with my life. I found myself considering just that moment I was in, nothing more and nothing less. Those three hours of moments helped me to realize what my passions were, where I want to be, and that I need to consider much more than I am, how I want to get there. I've begun to edit the photos from the trip, so above are just a few. I think the bottom one is possibly my favorite photo from the past few years so far. I don't know what it is, somehow it captures how I was feeling and seeing that day. You can see a few more on my flickr. Even more will be coming in the next few days, once I've got some free time from my school-work. 

I've been working odd hours (2-10), it's kind of thrown me off my game more than I thought it would. Instead of mornings being gloriously productive, now they're difficult and never long enough. But I only have three more weeks of this schedule. Three more weeks... and then it's September. And then I have 22 days... 22 days and then I leave for England. This is turning out to be a huge whirlwind adventure. Larger and more stressful than I ever imagined. 

Penny is still broken (I need to take her in) and I haven't had the motivation to leave or clean the house in the morning, let alone take photos. I've been trying to keep my instagram up to date. You can follow me here.

The Return

I'm here. 

I've been here all along.

There is a yearning in me,

To document, create, store, and create some more.

But my methods are broken. 

My mind has lost interest. 

A piece seems to be missing.