A SLIGHTLY CHEERIER POST

It snowed today! I woke up this morning, and the back yard looked like something from a Currier and Ives picture. How could anyone not be happy with snow in the back yard?

Well, this is my last blog before I go off and become incommunicado for a month. I'm actually no longer frightened of it, and am actually looking forward to some things. I'm looking forward to seeing how well I do at living within my means--my means in this case being somewhere around £10. I bought some yeast because I have a bunch of flour left over from making Christmas cookies, and I'm going to try my hand at making bread.

Incidentally, I am a completely sick person. There has been a man here, who was discovered chopping up prostitutes and putting them in trash bags, and I have done nothing but make jokes about it. I can't help it.

Hmmm...what else to say? I feel like I should definitely post *something* since I'm going to be gone for a while.

It's kind of odd that I've found myself wandering around London and realizing that it feels more and more like home, and yet I have no idea what else I can do to try to move here permanently. But I have started new friendships, and feel more comfortable with things like shopping and cooking, and in general feel more capable of handling a life here. And now here I am, about to spend a month in which I can't really even do the things I've *been* doing to try to find work.

But I'm no longer scared about it. I think this is going to be for the best. I really do. And I really believe I'm going to be taken care of.

I had the nicest talk with Matthew last night. I actually think there is some hope that we will both get through our lives without killing each other.

In other news, my roommate is still a freak, but he is actually making a sincere effort to be quiet in the evenings. Can you believe it? I haven't told him that I'm not going to be leaving the house much. I would just as soon he doesn't find out.

Tomorrow I have these great plans for cleaning my room. I spent several weeks carting things back to the house, and I haven't really spent time putting them away. But now I'm going to have to be a bit more organized.

Hmmm...let's see. What amusing things have I said to other people in the last week or so?

Oh. I dyed my hair a while back--it's this dark burgundy color. About as "natural" as purple can look. I decided to go with a temporary dye, so that I could see if I liked it, and if not, I wouldn't be stuck with it. The dye in question is supposed to last "six shampoos." That's what it says on the box. That was maybe six weeks ago, and my hair is still purple. My theory is that this particular hair dye was invented by the French, and that "six shampoos", well, you figure, that's good for almost a full year.

I really do believe that having roommates makes you crazy. I mean, I mentioned earlier the thing with the loo rolls. But there's all kinds of crazy stuff I do. I watch the stuff in the kitchen to see what stuff of mine he's using. And there's other stuff, too. For example, one day about five weeks ago, the rug disappeared out of the bathroom. Now it's reappeared. And I wonder...why? What was he doing with the rug? Would I ever ask him? Never! But I will notice and ruminate about it forever.

Oh, a brief job update. The guys who contacted me before Christmas regarding a job really flaked. I mean, they didn't even end up talking to the recruiter. He is disgusted. So that's a no-go. I'm pretty sure that if anything I'm suited for comes up, this recruiter will call me, which is a good thing. But I do think that that last one is history. I guess if people are that flaky, you don't really want to be working for them anyway.

Hmmm. Other stuff. Matthew gave me a bunch of new music, which is really fabulous, and he also gave me speakers for my computer. This will go a long way toward making my next month nice.

I don't know--for some reason, for the first time in a long while, I feel like everything is going to be okay. I have potatoes, and some rum left over from Christmas cooking. I will sit in my flat and pretend to be Irish. Perhaps I will go to the rail station and sit there with the rum in a brown paper bag. Perhaps I shall become a busker. Perhaps I shall make a snowman, and give him the rum in a paper sack. Perhaps I shall entice cats into the yard, just to make my roommate break out in hives.

Ooo, there were foxes fighting in the back yard last night! I had never actually heard the noise a fox makes before. It is kind of bark-y.

All right, I'm rambling with no purpose, so I will go. But I will try to write some things in the next month, and then post them here when I return.

Ciao, everyone!