Because I Needed One

So my foray into the world of going to random houuse parties and having a blast satisfied my appetite for something different but now I want more.

I need to get my ass in gear and go somewhere, but I dunno where. I'm stuck between my inability to plan shit and my strong desire to not plan shit (which is the reason for the innability).  I like to fly by the seat of my pants and do without the plan.

You can't wait for things like this to fall into your lap, however.

On another note, I hate the drama system here.  At least, I'm not really enjoying the class.  I'm sure I would be more accustom to a proper drama school's way of teaching, but here I've been disoriented by the drastic differences between what I am used to and what is going on here.

Basically, they are not trained to be theatre practitioners here, they are trained to be critical thinkers and viewers of theatre.  That is fine, but not what I want by any standard.
I'm used to being on the same page with my professors back home.  I know them all by name and, in the classroom, they are my teacher, but there is still a sense of equality there.  I see David, Carol, Kate, or any of the others and I say "Hello!"  and they respond accordingly like an adult.

My professor here has said on the first day we met in the classroom.
"If you see Pablo or myself out on the street, don't be afraid to talk to us."

... I've seen her three (3) different times outside this classroom setting and waved and attempted conversation.  She has, all three times, awkwardly spun around, feigned a smile, and nipped off with some guy whom I assume is her husband in tow at an alarmingly quick pace...

WTF is that? How dumb. How frustrating.

I am becoming more and more aware that I don't want to be in school anymore at all ever for at least a good.... forever.  I have listened to songs with people that I remember from my childhood and the people there weren't even born yet.  I feel dated and old, and I'm running around with this absolute sense of "I couldn't care less about any of this stuff."

I thought my film class would be rough, but so far I've had more fun writing one paragraph for my essay than I have trying to get this drama class tofether.

I am not about to give up on my theatrical goals, and this expereience will look great on my resume, and I will walk away form the UK with lots of friends, but I can't seem to shake the thought of why the hell did I decide to take these classes?

I suppose I couldn't have known, and these are the feelings  have right night, subject to instantaNEOUS FLUCTUATIONS throughout the day, the week, the month, the year, and this post.

I dunno. Life is strange and I'm running off of 2 hours of sleep. 

Needed to vent that frustration, I'll be back with some more happy shit come this time tomorrow!

I'll leave you with this gem.

Photograph by Emily Rhodes

I was in prime form and have not the common sense to disregard impulses to climb things.

Canter-Bury These Crazy Memories

So I have no idea what has just happened tonight.

I leave my room and head out, April Tan (flat-mate) in tow.  We head downstairs where the film makers meetings are happening, a group of individuals interested in the creation of films through the Film Society here at Kent.
After such meetings, we make out way upstairs where Origins is, the bar at Darwin college.  I grab a Hobgoblin, a nice ale they have on tap, and sit down and meet the last few people in the group that have made it to the bar.  Harry Potter is, naturally, discussed.

All of a sudden, a guy that is part of the film society just asks, "You wanna go to a house party?"  My response... "Sure!"

We jump on the bus, hit town center, and we walk over by the cathedral to a little tiny door in a wall next to a shop. We walk in, open the second door, and we're upstairs in the kitchen. It's me, a few of the guys housemates, and a couple more. I know no one.

All of a sudden people are skinning up on the table, cigarettes are rolled and smoke fills the room. People offer me rum, vodka, "Why not, right?"

Then, more people start filing in. One after the other, people are full to the brim in the kitchen. I hang out on the couch with a flapper and Charlie Chaplain, Mexican skeletons (One of them had the most gorgeous smile I've ever seen) walk in, a devil, witches.

I'm sitting in my regular clothing having a good time on the couch and introducing myself to people. We dance, have a good time. I still know no one here save the guy I came with and my new friends Charlie Chaplain and Flapper (Bryonee and Rose respectively).

I show off my poor excuses for dance moves, more fun is had, there is much rejoicing.

Charlie has left the building and Rose the Flapper and I head out, her route is on the way home for me so no worries.  I grab a large chips from the local "Munchies" eatery and we snack on the way to her place. I see her off, let her have the rest of the chips, and I mosey on back to my local domicile here at Darwin...  a crazy night here in Canterbury, one I wasn't expecting but one I'm glad I had.

I have no Photographic evidence, but I might have some photo bombed pictures floating around out there. I'll post 'um if I find them.

Crazy night, fun night, life is funny how things work out.

Artwork of the Interpersonal

So i spent the afternoon yesterday bored and not really doing anything. I was prepping myself for the night because it was supposed to be a fun filled extravaganza of Birthday madness with a group of friends eating in city center.

Now, I'm sitting here typing this up. I've made some comfort food soup, "Greek Lemon Chicken" to be precise. I'm tired because I was up to late, and my brain is twirling with whatever happened last night and the build up to this point over the past few weeks.

Interpersonal relationships are never easy.  It always seems that things go well, and then things go very poorly very quick.  Life gets out of your control. More importantly, you thought you had control in the first place, a fallacy you, as a human being, will inevitably make every single day of your life.


What is important is to continue to place yourself out there. Your pride may be hurt, your mind may be reeling, and your heart will inevitably take some flack, but if you listened to your mind all the time, your heart would be fine and your pride would remain and you would sit, twiddling your fingers in the dark recesses of your room trolling websites and commenting on other people's lives as they flickered past your screen.

I've adopted this sickening sense of "Everything happens for a reason" and "Life moves on so live it while you've got it" type of mentality here.  I've had this very zen feeling multiple times before, however, this trip it seems so much more pertinent.  It means more and I am not only preaching it but living it.  I hope that it sticks around when i head back home. I'm sure it will because I'm a winner and I don't f$@k around when it comes to doing somehting I want to do.

"Do what only you can do best... make good art." -Neil Gaiman

Here are my friends. Not all of them, but the ones I doodled up yesterday.

Carla, Amelie, Gabriel, Libby and Begonya, Harry.

(P.S. Having a blast with THIS website. You should to.)

A Step Above Homeless

I cooked Dinner.

It was good.

Here is the recipe I used.

Here is the rub that I chopped.

Here is the chicken that I doctored.

Here is the sauce that I simmered.

Here is the spread that I laid.

Eating better than a homeless person. Not to many students at University can say the same.

That makes me a winner.

You Can Be My Hagrid

Trip to London, money out of pocket and into the hands of public transportation and Warner Brothers alike.

I could not properly express the joy and look upon my face about my trip to Harry Potter Studios... I couldn't.

Here are some photos. Also, I'm eating Fizzing Whizzbees as I write this post.

Neat!

First off was a short walk,

to the Large Benjamin Clock.

Down the River Thames, we talked,

Keeping time with that ticking tock.

Docks, boats, ships and castles,

Street performers dressed up like assholes.

Children laughing, skaters falling,

Birds chirping, gulls cawing.

Following signs, we kept on going,

Never stopping, never knowing.

Stairs lead up, signs point forward,

 We keep stepping more steps toward.

There before us, a Shakespearean ode,

A beautiful monument of theatre, the Globe.

On we walked, on we went,

Looking at maps down alleyways bent.

Ten minutes north, twenty west,

Check the map, we're lost on this quest.

Ask direction, take a tram,

Underground is expensive... damn.

Two trains, two seats,

Two people, four feets.

Anna and I

We took chances to sleep.

On trains, and trams, buses and coaches,

We made our journey towards the place that broaches

Excitement in children and adults alike,

Harry Potter Studio-Tour came into sigh.

Minds willing, papers ready,

Bought three tickets, one too many.

Little care was spent on the money gone,

We'd made it to the place we'd wanted too see all along.

Hogwarts crests and four houses alike,

The Greathall was our first beautiful sight.

 

More and more we saw as we went,

Dumbledore's office with his Gargoyle up-kempt.

Quiditch rules and special effects,

Potions classrooms and magic objects.

Paintings, armors, pictures and more,

The Griffindor Commonroom, A Chamber's door.

Costumes galore, informative signs,

Everything there was a smashing good time.

Hagrid's head, muggle statues alike,

All the deatheater's masks in plains sight.

Along with our thirst for more to see and hear,

We took a taste of Harry's world, Butterbeer.

What makes movie magic, why special effects of course,

We took to the next spot, a full monster course.

Dobby, Creature, and all the goblins were there,

Inferi, Trolls, and things smothered in hair.

My favorite creatures, those eight legged crawlers,

And the main-man him self, all spider's Father.

Larger than life, guaranteed by me,

I hate those damn things, and this was freaky.

We walked Diagon Alley, saw drawings and more,

Concept artists and their art, and models of whiteboard.

 

At the end of the tour, a surprise was in store,

I have never seen anthing like this before.

 

A model, scaled down, but fully realized,

Trees and turrets and Hogwarts castle inside.

 

It's entirety huge, a scaled but massive thing,

I could feel tears in my eyes, they had come welling.

 

I never shed one, but I did get close,

The tour was over but the memories held close.

 

And now I am home, safe and sound in my room,

But more empassioned than ever to get back in those rooms.

 

To see those great movies, and read those great books,

The stories they told and the time that it took.

 

I want to be part of something that keeps people grinning,

I want to be in the movies and bring joy to so many.

KevBot

I was sick

So I was sick. Had/still have a bit of some type of bug rolling around in my noggin and the rest of my body. 102 degrees farenheight fever will get ya everytime.  Spent the past two night ssweating (two s' for emphassiss) through everything in my room. I have personally created a rain forest in this room... kinda gross when I read that back to myself.

At any rate, I will have new adventures posted shortly, including from last weekend. Had a lovely day on Sunday and took plenty of videos so I'll be editing them together and all will be grand.

Much love, see you soon, thanks for reading these posts or, as Howard Moon would say.

"They're not novel's, Vince, they're the scribblings of a retard."- Howard Moon

My Fear of Literature

Books are absolutely horrifying.  Its a small, square/rectangle piece of dead tree and other compounds that is full of ink.

This ink is displayed in a fashion for our eyes to interpret meanings from the shapes that are displayed therein.  These meanings from the aformentioned shapes turn into meanings in our brains, which then converts them into "useful" material.  During this process, your brain mulls over points and connects dots so to make sense of the material.

Boom!

Dogs don't have souls...

(Google Images)

That is something you believe now.

Words are powerful in the hands of even the most dismissive writer.

At any rate, authors that I'm planning on reading but have yet to sit down and do so.

John Waters

Friedrich Nietzche

It is scary to have have a preconceived notion of the world and "know" what you know right before you read a book you "know" will change your views, minor or major and for better or worse.

Age, Class, and Words

The similarities between my country of Origin, the United States, and my host country for the next three two months are not far apart.  The music, all in all, is the same.  Movies are the same.  The shopping system differs but is still similar enough to be called the same.  Some may say we speak the same language although I don't know if I agree.

I have done nothing here in the UK without being made example of by saying words such as "Vitamins", "Math", and "Parking Lot".  These are not the only words which I'm picked apart for, but they stick out in my mind.

Vitamins, said like I say it, is Vie-Tah-Mins.  That is how it is said.  However, it is "properly" (as I've been told) Vi-tah-mins.  Its strange and absolutely unheard of in the states to say that.

Math, as a subject, are called "Mawths". Almost with a long "Oh" sound.  How strange.  I'm corrected on it every time.

Parking Lot is simply right out.  It is called a "Car Park" pronounced "Caw Pawk".


On the topic of people in "my age group", I haven't really mat any.  I've met 18-22 year olds and I believe one 26 year old.  I've yet to meet anyone who is 23.  Blink182 may have had something to say about this age.  I feel significantly older than much of the student I am with during class.  I see commonalities between myself when I was taking these classes a few years ago and I am reminded of my age in comparason. 

Opposite that, it is revitalizing to be surrounded by people who have jsut started their first years at University and still have the magic of the first year in their eyes.

People here are not so different than those back home.  Also, my facial features must not look so distinctly American.  Some people are distinctly European, some are distinctly American, but most are just people.  They're people just like I would see in the states.  A passing face on campus.  A person living their life and going about it like nothing is different.  Gives a great perspective on that "Global Economy" I've been hearing about in my business classes.

Moar Interwebz

I'd really enjoy seeing the Aurora Borealis... that'd be nice.


Slept this afternoon and now I can't sleep. Its rough.

I just watched this video though!

Meet Salesman Pete

It's lovely.

The Film "Seven Psychopaths" looks wonderful

Ever since I was a kid and I would stay up late and watch MTV and their late night music videos. It was always incredibly depressing. Its being a house full of people and being the only person alive. It's such a lonesome feeling and its a bit overwhelming.  I still can't listen to music late at night by myself.

I have a headache and a desire to never go to the damn class they put me in after kicking me out of the class I was most excited about. Damn you educational system. And damn me to!

Out.

Been Dover

After a long night with friends and only five hours of sleep, I awoke to the sound of my alarm at 9 am on a Sunday. By 9:30 I was ready.

Bag, check. Windbreaker, check. Jumper(sweater), check. Comfy shoes, check. Phone, check.

The sun was shinning bright and it was obviously going to be a nice day. Lazy clouds speckled the horizon and glided over the top of Canterbury proper.

Gabby, Quentin, and myself ventured forward following those clouds towards the bus that would take us all the way to Dover. Of course, we started walking at around 9:55 and the bus was leaving at 10:15.

We walked fast.

5 minutes to go and we're 6 minutes away. We run.
 (I wasn't nervous, however,I wanted to be sure to make it.)
Gasping and weezing we catch the bus. We climb on board and ask for our tickets. The bus driver points behind us. We clamber on to the correct bus and wait another 15 minutes because our bus wasn't leaving as early as we thought.

Perfect!

"Today is too perfect. Nothing could go wrong."- Me

Off to Dover castle.

We walk up the steps and see a sign. "Bird's of Prey Showcase Saturday and Sunday, the 6th and 7th of October"

"That's today!"

 
We buy tickets.

"Lets skip it, the show is right now" We walk up the hill towards the castle. Cresting the hill we spot the birds of prey show, not yet started with people gathered around.

"Perfect timing!"

Falcons flew, owls ogled, and toy rabbits were destroyed for our amusement. There was much rejoicing.

We walked the grounds and peeped the peeping areas and the coast.

"Lets go get some food. We'll walk through town and grab some stuff for a picnic on the beach"








Walking down winding footpaths and less-than-crowded streets, we came to city center.

From there we walked towards the coast, stopping at convenience shop after shop looking for a baguette and some lunch meat. All the shops and cafes were closed but we continued on towards the coast.


We're here. The fresh, light breeze hits our nostrils and the restaurant at the end of the wharf met our eyes. We walked in, ordered food, sat out on the deck and enjoyed a light lunch on the deck with perfect weather.

We walked from there down the docks and onto the beach.

Feet in the water.

Gabby is up top, I've got the hobbit feet.

I've been in the English Channel! I've also, unsuccessfully, skipped rocks in the English Channel.

Walked back to city center.
"Still plenty of time before the bus. Lets explore the city!"

We walk into a bar known as the Falcon. Pool 50p per game.

"What have you got on tapped casks?"- Me
    "We're out at the moment." - Bar Wench
"Oh, I'll have a 1664 then."- me
    "We're out."- wench
"What DO you have?" -Gabby
   "We have Fosters! (excitedly)" -wench
"... two of those then." - Kevin

12 taps, fosters is what they have...

We play some pool. I lose but technically win.

We miss our bus...

We wait at a bus stop.
Express bus comes up.
"We need to get to Canterbury but we missed the last bus... could we hop on?"- Gabby
   "Just a straight trip to Canterbury then?"- Bus Driver
"Yes." - Quentin, Gabby, Me
*He waves us on

We ride, tired and well traveled, for the 20 minute trip back to Canterbury, slipping into and out of conciousness.

"Don't miss your coach!" - Bus Driver

We walk away, bus driver didn't charge us a thing.


"Today is too perfect. Nothing could go wrong."

As a parting message that is more vomit-inducing than that of my above stated sunny outlook on life:

I am not a perfect human being. I am a perfectly human being.
-Kevin Bohleber

Tomfoolery on the Interwebs

Alt-J has been the soundtrack of my trip thus far.  I've been enjoying the music thoroughly. Its like a mixture between psychedelic rock and a bit of dub step. Interesting to be certain.

Another interesting artist is Ghost Poet. His vocal patterns are surprisingly enthralling.



Lastly, you need to twist your mind around the insanity of women's jewelery. It's gorgeous.  
 Accessorize, Accessorize, Accessorize.

You're welome for expanding your musical database, bringing great artists into focus.

On the last link, that is precious brain space that you can never have back. Gotcha!


Kevin

Castle, Cathedrals, and Culinary Explorations

No trip to the UK would be complete without a look at an old castle.  During fresher's week, all the foreign students were piled into a few coaches and traveled on over to Leeds Castle.  The castle was absolutely a castle. It had a  moat. It had a visitors center. It had fish and chips. It had everything you'd ever want!

It began sprinkling that morning while we waited for the coaches... It. Never. Stopped.  Constant rain falling on you made the day cold and wet, and by the end of the trip I was soaked through.  It was rough.

Gorgeous. Uh huh.

Me trying to stay dry.

More importantly. The castle and the grounds were absolutely gorgeous.

 I walked with SJ, Anna, and some of our other American and not so American friends. We had a great time touring the castle's innards and learning about the residents that inhabited the castle. An informative and fun trip.

The Cathedral in Canterbury.

 Next up on the list was our trip to the Cathedral.  It was so much fun! Gabriel, Jamie, and myself (flatmates) traversed the foot paths towards Canterbury. It threatened to rain all day but never did, which was nice.

 On Sundays, entry into the Cathedral is free. They also offer plenty of services throughout the day for those wishing to connect with the big G. O. D. in a breathtaking environment. The choir was practicing and singing for most of the trip which was a blast. Also, the architecture of the building was exquisite, its arching halls and angular pillars supporting the ancient building and the stained glass windows.

The sculpture erected for Thomas Becket had so much power behind it.  It looked like three cast iron metal swords, angular and menacing, pointing down, their tips tinted red. 

Picture simply do no justice for these places I've visited. You may laugh about those things you've seen on the discovery channel. You may think you know about so much and seen so much just because you've seen a Television show or a movie featuring the above mentioned places, but you can't possibly use pictures and accounts as substitutes for living these experiences yourself.  Life is far to short to live it through the Television set.

Lastly, Harry, Libby, and myself, after discussing what we were all going to eat for dinner, realized that we were making the same thing. So we combined forces and created a meaty pasta sauce with some rotini pasta and ate like Kings.

Its funny. My freshers, those many years ago, was spent eating junk food and food at the dinning hall on campus.  Almost everyone in my flat makes every meal.  They cook constantly and I've only had one flatmate decide to order a pizza.

They spend so much time reading recipes and learning to cook and its wonderful.  I have so much fun cooking, I have even more fun cooking for people.  I'm glad I have fat mates who enjoy the process as well.

(On a small side note, I got food poisoning from eating that Pizza. A combination between gross pizza and being lactose intolerant. Yes I took my pills with it but they obviously didn't work. I rarely eat at a chain restaurant when it comes to pizza in the states and now I know I won't be eating chain restaurant pizza anywhere in the world.)

Well, thats a big post because it was long overdue.  I'll try and update this a lot more but life's hard to document when you're to busy making sure you ahve things to document.

Kevin