Dear Abbey
As part of Mark and Carol's riveting International Studies 135 course, I've be charged with finding 3 places in and around Nottingham worth journaling about.... granted the assignment was given months ago, but now with exactly one week to complete it, I've gotten my ass into gear.
....relatively speaking...
Emily and I set off for Newstead Abbey the day started a bit dreary, but the prospect of knocking off one of my journal entries, we were dead set on getting it done. We wandered around the mall, looking for the apparently attached bus station, only to find (two full circles around, inside and out later) that we needed to go up to the second floor of the mall. Who knew.
Second floor discovered, Ems and I boarded a bus which, for all intensive purposes, drove a route parallel to the route that runs to our flat every day... Shit you not, the road to Newstead is all of a half mile to the East of the road that we traverse EVERY day. Because Mark and Carol were picking up the tab, it didn't worry me too much, plus we had the added bonus of seeing a part of town I had never seen before- the quaint neighborhoods, hilariously named beauty parlors, and ever popular Boozers (this time, names like Booze and Cruise, Fast Booze, etc)..
We arrived at the entrance to the Abbey with the newly revealed sun in our faces and proverbial wind at our backs. It was a sign. This would be an ok day. The gate was a good mile from the actual house, and so our trek began.
Visions of The Village echoed in my mind, as a sign directed all travelers hoping to reach the house by foot to enter a creepy side trail that led through the thick brush. A sort of tunnel had been carved out of the woods, but recent growth made it difficult for a behemoth like myself to hunch over into the positions necessary.... Emily, however, pranced though the overgrown trail with reckless abandon.
We arrived at the Abbey, covered in spider webs and sticks, but feeling all the more adventurous for it. Even pedestrian-hating Old Age Persons in Land Rovers couldn't deter us from enjoying the sight of a sparkling lake/pond and the ornate stone building, rising out of the nothingness of the woods.
The home was owned/bequeathed to the poet Lord Byron when he was a young child, and was enjoyed by the famous writer until sometime in the early 1800s, when he sold it. In 1931, the former Abbey was given to the county. Remnants of its past as an Abbey constructed in the 1100s was evident by the freestanding wall, the former wall of the chapel-
The gardens were beautiful, but overrun with chubby twentysomthing mothers and their half naked offspring, who seemed to be enjoying themselves despite the two pound cover charge just to get into the gardens.
Feeling moderately productive for the day, I sat back, made meatloaf for dinner, and wasted my life away on tv-links.co.uk. To be fair, I discovered a cultural phenomenon in The Tudors, the new show on Showtime about Henry VIII- the historical inaccuracies make it a bit shady, but seeing Sam Neil in a role other than Jurrassic Park is puzzlingly satisfying, as is the soap-opera/softcore porn style of narration. It's catchy.
Friday started a little slow. I woke up at noon, just a half hour before I was due down at CineWorld for the premier of Spiderman 3. The flat had attempted to watch Spidey 2 the night before, but there's only so much Tobey McGuire that one human can take before passing out of sheer boredom.
My opinion of the movie was somewhat skewed by reviews I had read earlier on CCN, but after having seen the film, I'm thinking that most of the reviews were pretty accurate. One writer called it 'the best and the worst of the series'.... Basically, the graphics are amazing- possibly the best I've ever seen... the first fight scene had me on the edge of my seat (literally, and I don't usually get like that... I had to calm myself down)- The Sandman was incredible- I guess the technology used is brand new, and about as cutting edge as it gets...
The plot and writing, however, was what you'd expect from this franchise. Bad, cheesy lines, terrible acting from T-Mac, and the stereotypical Superhero paper-thin characterizations. I think you just have to take it for what it is- a movie based on a comic book- it's sugary, easy to digest, and doesn't leave a whole lot of room for thought.
The origin of Venom ( the black gunk ) is never developed, further than the fact that it's from a comet. Some scenes were hard to watch- Peter Parker's dance down Madison Ave? Worth a laugh, but not worth the 5 minutes of screentime.
Overall, I'd say it was what I expected- entertaining, but not worth wringing about come Oscar time...
With one month (I know, I promised I wouldn't count...) until re-entry, It's been a very interesting week. Classes across Iowa are being let out, and I'm not sure how I'll take it once Luther is out. Already I feel stranded... like summer is starting and there's not much for me to do. Facebook isn't helping, but that might be the understatement of the year. While I plan what to bring for class in two weeks, I'm reading status updates that read "twenty more minutes until I'm outta this shithole"...
I don't want to wish my time here away- that's the last thing I want to have happen- but it will be hard to focus on my finals (not until the 19th and 29th) knowing that I could be at home, earning money, seeing friends, or even traveling around Europe for one last go...
On the home front, I'm proud to say that I am, thank Jesus, employed this summer. I tried again for KTC, Johnston's premier little kid stock yard, and managed to stay on staff. The only drawback is that, in my late arrival on the 5th of June, I will miss all of the training sessions and- thanks to my transfer to another site (not happy), I'll have to learn a new building, staff, etc. on the first day.
Lamesauce.
To put a positive spin on life, I also found out that I will in fact be employed by THE Luther College, as part of a writing staff of some kind... I'll be cracking off 2 or so articles a month for 5 bucks an hour.
Not too bad considering I've wasted countless days writing the blog, with nothing to show but 184 posts and carpal tunnel syndrome.
posted by Kevin @ 12:07 AM
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