Grrrrrump

So I don't know how it started, this me not sleeping thing, but it's gotten out of hand.
There's no need for me to see 2 am every night/morning.
Last night I went to bed at 9 and tossed and turned, read, watched tv, coloured, stretched, tried to meditate, prayed, and lay in silence with my eyes closed for 5 hours.
Granted I end up sleeping until about noon everyday so I'm getting more than a sufficient amount of sleep, just not good sleep. I could continue and rant and rave about how i've managed to lose almost 50 Euro this past week thanks to bad luck being strapped to my ankle.
But I won't. negative energy attracts negative things and I refuse to let it get a hold of me.
Tomorrow morning it's me on a train to Vienna spending the weekend at Wombats Hostel (in a 6 person dorm) where they're having a big party to celebrate their 10th Anniversary on Saturday.
Tuesday I'm moving into the apartment that I've subleted for September and going to see Inglorious Bastards (IN ENGLISH!!) and to look for some work.

In other news, can you believe its almost September?! the summer must have happened while I was sleeping.

If you've got some time, send some good vibes my way and maybe some sleeping powder?


p.s. Rach, you're my life idol...knock 'em dead.

My Grandma and your Grandma sitting by the fire...

this is why my Oma is the best :





we're packing to go stay at my Uncles place up the Mountain for two nights and she brings,

- a ziplock bag full of candy
- a pillow
- 10 pairs of underwear
- a leopard print blouse

me: Oma, why so much underwear?
oma: well I like to change my underwear everyday.
me: we're only staying 2 nights.
oma: whatever

WIEN here I come?

p.s.
on the drive to Austria I was the worst possible version of myself. Tired, Hungry and Frozen.
can you even imagine?! but then the sun came out and I got a kit kat and was happy as a pig in mud.
i'm just saying, it doesn't take much.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto!

Oh hello friends!

it's been incredibly hot here this past week, but from what I hear things are the same over on your side, so I'm not asking for sympathy, just something to say. Last night at some point mega rains made way and today is much cooler.
So here's the least interesting post of all time.
What have I been doing here, just kinda chilling out (maxing, relaxing all cool). I've watched A LOT of t.v shows. namely Entourage and Dirty Sexy Money.
so maybe let's talk about that for a minute.
Hands up if you've watched Dirty Sexy Money?!
maybe it's due to lack of choice, but I kinda love this show. well love. maybe not, but I find it incredibly entertaining and though I hate to admit it, Karen Darling is my new Idol.
(watch it and then judge away- ya maybe I am that shallow)
but it's been canceled, which got me to thinking about how shows just don't last like they used to, everything has been done and done again, every character, and story line, again and again.
In fact thinking about the ridiculous abundance of t.v. shows that exist had me going on an internal rant for quite sometime. Because even the shows I like run out of ways to really draw me in after a season or two, but then I thought, maybe it's just my brain catching up to my eyes and saying "there's better things you could be doing"
I've also been reading (better things), not as much as I'd like to be, but consciously taking my time since I don't have access to the amount of reading material that I'd like to, or that it's simply not in my best interest to accumulate a large collection of books while traveling. I did find a book store in town yesterday with an impressive amount of English books, at least 10 that I had to convince myself that I didn't need until I finish the 2 I'm reading right now.

Currently reading : The Witch of Portobello - Paulo Coelho and Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
I don't know just yet how I feel about either, I'm well into the first and only a few pages into the second. I always read like this, maybe I do everything in life like this. 70/30 jumping back and forth.
The Witch of Portobello makes me anxious. it's well written no doubt and interesting, but something about it has me rolling my eyes the whole time - which as you can imagine makes reading quite difficult.
Everything is Illuminated starts off strange, maybe it's brilliant and I don't know my ass from my elbow, especially when it comes to literature. But (prime example) it feels like the kind of book that you need to be in the mood for. Apparently - I'm not in the mood.

I guess more importantly I'm looking for a job, I went into town yesterday and there are plenty of cafes to ask about, but the majority of them, perhaps due to the heat wave were pretty much empty. I was planning on going back tonight when perhaps it's more lively and cooled down, but the sky is threatening to give way again, so we shall see.
I'm also looking into hostles, I think it would be fun and interesting to work in that kind of environment while travelling myself, a good opportunity to meet a bunch a people and get to know different places.
that's kinda it.
Happy Friday!

Oh, I heard there was a Tornado in Toronto last night. Hope you're all safe and sound.
xx

Theo, music and a glass (or two) of wine

as a child
and maybe even more recently
I had an uncanny ability to entertain myself with day dreams and imaginary things
even still
I often found myself BORED
but when you have 30 plus GB of music and the vast internet world of downloading possibilities
how can bordem even exist?!

tonight I'm going to a dance party
upstairs
Theo is taking me, though he doesn't know it yet.
(editors note: Theo is the cat, he's going blind)
Theo, this bottle of wine, and I
we're going to dance the night away.

sweet everything sweets.


currently dancing to: I love to move in here - Moby

it's like riding a bike.

turns out
after a year of living downtown
and more than that of just being a pussy
that I can infact,
ride a bike
with no hands none the less.

this is the start of something good.

I think it helped that the summer breeze was calling me out to ride against it.

the stars said today would be a bad day, and I don't want to jinx it, since there's still some day left, but really stars? really?
I had a great day.


oh and yesterday I went out and bought cereal, special K and a mini variety pack.
can I interest you in a cyber cereal date?


currently playing: how many empty calories can you consume in under 30 minutes.

tadooo

coming soon in 2D 3 D

if there was ever any question

I prefer answers in the form of answers.
that's it.
simple.

I've decided today to choose a profession
I'm going to be an artist.
this was based mostly on the pack of pencil crayons I bought yesterday at the bargain price of 1 euro.
I'm going to spend the afternoon drawing hearts and stars, skulls and script, elephant heads and compass'.
on paper. first.

I'm also going to colour myself. with the sun
and some hair dye.

i'm projecting, sure
but what you got?

Beat Your Heart Out

if you ever find yourself on a 9 hour train ride I recommend the following albums in their entirety on shuffle.

Minus the Bear - The Acoustics
Blind Pilot - 3 rounds and a sound
Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
The City on Film - I'd rather be wine drunk
Band of Horses - Cease to begin

Another Saturday

And finally I’m back to not sleeping
Lit by my screen and the fire inside that tells me to write
And I’m trying but then it pushes and says
Go and see the world
Be shameless and careless
With your humour and your smiles
Don’t be afraid of the world
Love it and it will love you back
Breathe life into yourself by exhaling
Seek something different
Learn
Become better
Not new
Improved
And Love
Find passion
Accept nothing less than what leaves you salivating
With cold shake from withdrawal
Not the kind that you’ve known
The kind that grows rampant among your memory veins
That like weeds
Does best unattended
How should any one live up to expectations
That can survive only when they do not
But never stop expecting
Make sure that it all lives up
So I can turn back and turn pages

Live with it
Or Die without

your rock of love tour ends here

cash in your bets kiddies.
even I didn't think i'd make it to the other side of this month.

home sweet homish tomorrow.

i'll think of something good to keep ya entertained.

I just had a thought that will likely only make sense to a handful of people, if that.

Today, 11 years ago the most beautiful girl in the world was born
Natasha Katerina Lee

so maybe that had a bit to do with my black jelly baby.
or it's just a weird coincidence
and dristan plus cold fx equals wacked out dreams.

Happy Birthday Tasha!!!!!!

it could be worse. it could be poppin'

this morning I woke up with the worst head cold ever
the kind where your eyeballs ache
so I slept as long as you can in a Van parked on a residental street with people constantly walking by. finally I had to go to the bathroom so bad that I almost forgot about my eyeballs
I had to haul ass to the subway and all the way downtown to the train station as there are aparently no public toilets kickin around on suburb streets.

I tried stopping in some grungy cafe to use the bathroom, it was full of old people and some one was blasting black eyed peas 'pump it' on the juke box. I went to open the door to the ladies, but it was in use, and the lady inside proceeded to yell at me in Danish for 5 minutes through the door, so I booked it and prayed that I wouldn't be blogging about the time I wet myself on a subway in Denmark.
then I started to think that maybe the woman was yelling for help cause she was stuck in the toilet or something, so I switched to praying that if that was the case that someone would go help her.

and now I'm sitting in a cyber playground where the majority of the patrons are partaking in some form of cyber battle, waiting for the boys and taking advantage of the proximity to a washroom while I down as much liquid as possible (and regretting leaving the wiss cup* at the check out in Hamburg)

I guess this is what happens when you have street beers in the chilly Køpenhaven nights after showering in the train stations facilities and no weather appropriate attire.

if it's any indication of how shitty I feel right now,
I'm too sick to go shopping.
yeah...

in more delightful news, I got to listen to this rad band busk on the street corner last night, have been making some good cash, and am going to party in Norway this weekend.


* a funnel like apparatus used to assist females in a more discret form of public urination

The downfalls of living in a van

it's raining and I have to pee.

or

I have to pee and it's raining.

and my bathroom is the bushes.

and the roof is leaking

twice

and there are no lights so I can't find the paper towel to slow the drip

so i'm using pads.

not to mention that my hygiene levels are dropping below acceptable.

The upfalls of living in a van

you get to wake up wherever you want

like Køpenhaven

where even the ugly people are beautiful

and it's like moving images from a Vogue and W

the fashion, the faces,

I die and I die

post script

on the drive from Hannover to Hamburg I looked up
and saw your name written in the sky

forgive me, but I'm past my prime

ok,

so it seems as though this is the longest tale ever, and it's starting to lose it's luster

assuming it had any to begin with.

I'll try and stick to the good stuff.

2 hour ferry from Dover to Dunkirk

just prior to boarding the ferry it's come to our attention that our 1/4 tank of gas has depleted quite fast leaving us dangerously close to the red and we don't yet know this tanks capacity.

biting our nails we ask where the closest tank station is on the other side.

7 miles.

we arrive in Dunkirk and mysteriously the GPS fails us. it's out of battery!

but it's been plugged in the whole trip?!?!

we drive through back country roads in complete darkness in search of petrol and a place to sleep.

finally find a station on the other side of the road, is it worth the u-turn?

check the needle which is now well into the red threatening to drop below it.

not worth it, necessary.

we take the exit assuming we can get back on the other way

we become asses.

all we can do is keep driving
I take up several religions and make pleas to their respective deities.
miraculously we find our way back to the station and fill up.
it's well into the night now, 2 am maybe and we're all beat.
decide to pull into a space and get some sleep.
we step out of the car to get things sorted, and D notices a pair of beady eyes peering from the bushes.
"Fuckin Pykies hiding in the bushes mate"
but there's three of us and another camper van in front of us so we're not worried.
suddenly J notices that there are now 4 set of eyes staring out from the bushes.
"guys get in the car"
I look up to see a pykie headed straight for us, I almost want to reach out and touch him, to see if he's real.
we jump in the van and take off as fast as sweet Jane will allow. followed shortly there after by the other camper van.
sorry pykies not this time.

we drove far enough from the coast to where the Pykies wouldn't be lurking and pulled over to have a rest.
then woke up to drive 8 hours to Hannover.

spent 3 nights figuring out the best way to sleep the 3 of us "comfortably"
Hannover is a lovely place, but now we're in the process of mapping our way to Copenhagen.

the end. for now.

here are a few random bits of info that I couldn't be bothered to add in full detail
- I have a cold, it sucks
- since being in Hannover I've been hit in the face by 4 lady bugs
- there is currently a Lady bug crawling in my blackberries
- Beer in Germany is like no other and come in large, extra large and how am I supposed to carry this.
- the only place to shower in Hannover is the train station, it costs 7 euro.
- baby wipe bath in the back of the van anyone?
- I haven't taken pictures in days, except a few on the ferry that turned out bad, half because I'm a dirt bag and half because I can't be bothered.
- I wish I'd taken a picture of the Pykies.
- we got the GPS running, turns out we had cord plugged into the headphone hole and not the power one.
-oh and if you're wondering
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pykie
a close cousin of the Gypsy.
- there ended up being well over 7 of them in the bushes.
- we're over Hannover (hahaha)

Denzil and Jane make 4 or Watch out for the Pykies!

when we last spoke, I'd just finished a day of R&R, after a day of hell and debauchery.
onto to Monday

today we travel via train to the lovely town of Worksop in Notthinghamshire UK to pick up our van/ new home.
get to the station only to find out that our train is cancelled. of course it is.
we can take an alternate train. the catch. we get to stand for the hour and a half ride.
at this point i'm less than impressed. did I mention that I'd caved and ate a tuna sandwhich? (ewww)

get to Worksop. ate some shitty fish and chips which is likely our own fault for choosing the "deep blue restaurant" vs. the one across the street that claims to serve the "best fish and chips in town" I just got turned off by their cocky boasting.

go back and wait...meet the former owners of the Van and chit chat waiting for her to arrive.
finally. here she is!

MANKY JANE!
(she's not an easy ride, but she's a smooth one)

get in an' giver.
no power steering, side gear shift and right side drive - there is no way i'm driving this Van...EVER!

test drive it around the town, partially beacause we're looking for a gas station, partially because I can't read a map.

finally head, hit the highway for the 3 hour ride back.
Com'on Janie, you can do it.
Jane's engine is curiously located under the passengers seat which results in my legs on fire throughout the ride.

get back to London in good time
this is where things start to fall apart.
we have to take the car to a carpark overnight in Fullham since there is NO parking in London.
except for the holiday inn where you can pay 26 pound (something we turned our noses up to at first, but eventually decided to take out of sheer exhaustion and frustration - only to find out we couldn't fit in)
we have directions from google maps, but despite my blog title, we get lost.
now it's true, I can't read a map to save my life, but I still blame google maps for the hour and a half we spent driving around trying to find our way. Listing the actual street / exit names is imperative for directing! I also partially blame London itself for it's stupid one way streets, roundabouts and half assed detour routes.

we eventually find a carpark much closer to our hotel and turn in to find out we can park it overnight. hooray!
drive up to second floor skim the roof and knock of windows.
FUCK!!!

we go back down, find out we have to park in the underground with the tour buses and such
at least we'll be safe from rain until tomorrow when we fix the roof.

back to the hotel and bed.

Wake up Tuesday and wait to hear from Denzil - who is now joining us in our adventure.
breakfast and make the first trek to drop our stuff off to the car.
it's a typical summers day in London. 15, grey skies and raining
hit the streets to look for a GPS, after yesterday only electronic forms of direction will be trusted.

things that are impossible to find in London: GPS with European Maps for under 200 pounds.

get a GPS (with EU maps for 100 pound, 2 hours 5 tube trips and 8 stores later)
meet up with Denzil and arrange our ferry ride to France.
book th 10 pm depart head to the van for some roof repairs.
tape and H&M bags for a roof anyone?

make our way to Dover, 3 in the front, asses on fire....



I needed a break, pretty sure I've got swine flu.
I'll have to get to the Pykies later.

p.s. Hannover, where are you?!

am I supposed to take a picture of the phone booth?

So.
I'm not even sure where to begin.
London - I'd rather be dead.

i'll break this down as nicely as possible, it's a lot, and most of which is probably not worth mentioning, but what else do I have to do while waiting for my ipod to charge?

it started with a 7 am wake up on Saturday (Aug 1st) morning, followed by a 65 euro taxi ride to the airport.
then an hour wait to check in, only to find out that we had to pay an extra 18 euro each for our luggage tickets, which we had to go to a new line up for.

Aer Lingus- you suck.

arrive at Gatwick. Lug 30 lbs of carry on through the longest corridor ever. roll through customs, pick up 50 lbs backpacks head to change our money and get the train into London.

it's lunch time in Germany, but we're in London so I guess we'll wait.

30 minute train to Victoria station - massive line up for tube tickets - have lost the feeling in both my arms. Grab the tube to Glouster Station - trek to Hotel. check in. drop bags. collapse onto bed.
Get in contact with some of J's friends who are around and make tracks to do some shopping so that we have appropriate attire for London night life.
food and shopping 2 of my favorite things. day is looking up

Meet friends at bar soho - 1 Scottish, 1 New Zealander, 1 Aussie, former Brit. or 2 Sarah's and a Denzil - all lovely.
(met some drag queens out front of club G A Y- they told me I was beautiful and cursed me for my appearance after a day of travel- they were also lovely)
we moved on to some pub, but only after being propositioned for club 101, 49 and 62.
the Sarah's peace out after pub drinks and the boys and I roam the streets for something good. we wrangle some street hustler and he gives us a deal in to club soho, where the drinks apparently are always doubles.
dance dance dance - FINALLY!!!!

leave and grab a rickshaw ride to club 101, or 49, or 62
where the phrase, "no thanks, i'm here with someone" translates into "sure, I've got a minute to bump and grind"
dance dance dance

it seems in London taxi are often replaced by a series of regualr dudes and their cars that will bargin you a price to get home. we have 15 quid between us and it's a long way home. but bargin we do and we're off.

wake up in the morning to this;
Jez (turns over in bed with a piece of leafy branch in his hand) : where the hell did this come from?

- answer for those interested; it came from just out front and around the corner, I felt as though we could use something to spruce the place up a bit


lazy sunday - decided to be touristy, but what to do?
and then this revalation came about:
THE INTERNET IS A LIFE RUINER
it pretty much sucks the fun out of a lot of things, we took to the internet to explore all that London has to offer, as a result, we explored London from our hotel room, and no longer felt the need to trek around the city hungover.
Besides, there's a lot more to a citys charm than it's renouned landmarks.
we took a walk anyway and passed by Big Ben and the London Eye (oooh, ahhh)
grabbed some late as lunch and called it a day.
I later went to go see Harry Potter. but thats not really worth mentioning
- Katie, you are right. it's worth the gingerlicious everytime...is it wrong that i'm jealous of Lave?

internet Cafe is closing in 3 minutes, so we'll have to explore the remaining highs and lows of London some other time. Believe me there's more.

next time on I ain't lost just wandering: Denzil and Jane make 4.

(german blogger does not recognize my shit english spelling errors...sorry folks)

Dear London,

please stop raining.
I just straightened my hair.

thanking you in advance,

Veronica