Saturday, June 17, 1989

It's My 20th Birthday... and a Farewell to Hull ...

Well, today is my birthday. And also Viv's father's birthday. And my friend Molly Sherman's birthday. And my friend Ted's brother Chip Schaeffer's birthday. And the Queen's birthday (observed.)

So on this, obviously one of the most important days of the year, I turned 20, and had only 2 1/2 hours of sleep at the same time. All the same, it was going to be a "big day" today (as Greg always says.)

I ate breakfast with my parents at the Beck House Hotel (which is conveniently only about a block away from The Grange.), and we dined at a leisurely pace as we chatted and got caught up on a number of things.

Afterward we packed up all of my gear, gave Sam my Social-Political Structures paper to hand in for me so that I could leave a bit early, along with a few other things I gave to him, and also bid farewell to Shannon the Hamster (Lorna, another hamster owner, agreed to care for her). Walked around the residence and bid farewell to J.P., Neil, and other people that I saw walking about.

Next we took a walk up to the Cottingham Road site so that my parents could see the area a bit, and also to return my library books. (Pictured above is a photo I snapped of my parents and sister along that walk.)

At noon, we hopped on the train and I said farewell to Hull for the last time, as we departed for a stop in York. While on the train, we met up with Dave Hart and his parents, who were going to York as well, so we traveled with them for a bit. It was a slow train and we didn't get to York until nearly 4 p.m., but it was another beautiful day and we still were able to see a lot.

We watched some crew races on the river (pictured is Mom and Dad watching the race), walked the shops, went through the Jorvik Viking Centre (third visit for me... my parents enjoyed it). Dad and I climbed up to the top of, oh, what's the name of that castle on the hill there again? Anyway, we climbed up and took some great photos.

At 6 p.m. we went to Pizza Hut for my birthday dinner, which marked the first time I drank a beer with my parents in public (or anywhere, for that matter). In a few days, it won't be legal for me to do that in public for another year.

While there, Dad committed a humorous faux pas. When the waitress asked him if everything was alright, he replied, "No, that will be all" (not listening to exactly what she had said.) I laughed, anyway.

Walked past the minster, and along the wall for awhile (pictured is Mom, Dad and Angie walking the wall), looking at the city until 8.15, when we returned to the train station. Dad called Dr. Morrison, while Mom and I bought drinks.

Another funny moment: Mom asked for a hot tea with a little milk, and when her order arrived, she received a hot tea and a little milk carton. Again, I saw the funny side of this.

We had a hectic train ride, constantly worrying if we were on the right train or not (the Brit Rail men did their best to confuse us). But in the end, we arrived in Liverpool only slightly late, where Dr. Morrison picked us up and drove us back to his house.

I took my parents through my photo albums over some drinks, and got to bed around 2 a.m. Almost didn't seem like a birthday, but it was a great day. Mom and Dad gave me a Beatles shirt on the train, which was nice, and Dr. Morrison and Fiona gave me a Liverpool F.C. scarf and hat. Love 'em both! (Pictured is me and Mom in Dr. Morrison's dining room, modeling my new winter gear over drinks and looking at my photo albums.)

Thursday, May 4, 1989

Lorna is Now Bright Red ...

Woke up bright and early today, ate breakfast, and got to the library before 9 a.m. to get right in and begin typing my essay. Since I already had it all in order, I was able to type straight through with only minor corrections until 12.15, when I let Buffy use the typewriter while I wrote up my conclusion.

When all was said and done at 1 p.m., I had typed about 2,500 words and was satisfied that I had successfully answered the question. I'm still worried, though. I left Buffy and J.P. (who said he didn't start writing his essay until today) to type, and went over to hand mine in.

From there I went to the store and treated myself to another jumbo turkey sandwich (odd: today it cost me 75p, while yesterday it was only 65p), before heading to Modern Prose Fiction class, where Allan McLaurin discussed Graham Greene's "It's a Battlefield." I got the scoop on our essay topic, and left there an hour later to check books out of the library for my next - and final - essay in Geography on Thomas Malthus. Should be fun. I'll be so glad to get it out of the way.

It was yet another beautiful spring day here in Hull, which almost prevented me from going to class. But afterward it was relaxation outside behind St. Hilda's, playing soccer, laying around, etc. Lorna is now bright red, yet she still insists on lying out in the sun. How odd.

Well, it was also Margaret Thatcher's 10th year in power today. No big deal - I figure she will be in for quite a time yet. Wouldn't mind a Labour government though... It'd be nice to see a 1 dollar to 1 pound exchange rate!

That evening I spent most of my time talking to Sam - first in my room, then with Louise Fenton for awhile, then in his room with Cat for awhile. Several hours, actually. Enjoyed several coffees and covered scores of topics. Sam and I are getting along quite well these days. He actually invited me to come to visit his house in Scunthorpe next weekend to meet his wife, Jenny. It should be real good to get away.

Cat told me that we may have some more money coming our way from the school. I sure hope she's right!

Wednesday, March 8, 1989

Hamster dating ...

After a sparcely populated but nonetheless interesting Geography seminar, followed by a morning of rest and relaxation, J.P. and I ran into town to look around, but mainly traveled downtown to see the movie "The Accused" starring Jodie Foster at the Wednesday matinee. It was a very good and thought-provoking film, which showed both sides of the situation quite well.

After the movie, J.P. and I returned to The Grange for a most unmemorable dinner, followed by an evening of television viewing. We watched "Buck Rogers," then an interview with Sirhan Sirhan (oh sure, he's really sorry), M*A*S*H, and then I watched "Thirtysomething."

During this time, Lorna stopped by. She also has a hamster, so we thought it'd be fun to get our pets and bring them here. We set up the chairs so that we could let them run around without fear that they would escape. The biggest problem was not letting them get too close to one another so as to allow them to procreate. One hamster is enough.

During M*A*S*H, J.P. and I re-arranged the chairs again to construct what we decided was a monstrous Christopher Wren-type monument, made out of Common Room chairs.

Returned to my room a bit later to let Shannon run around a bit more before heading to bed.

Pictured is my article that appeared in the March 8, 1989 edition of The Snapper at Millersville. Of course, it was a few weeks later before I actually saw a copy of this article. I wasn't too thrilled with the headline, actually.

Friday, March 3, 1989

10 Days Until Spain ...

Today started another low-cost weekend for me. I went to my Social/Political Structures seminar, which was on the media, so I was able to contribute quite a bit to the discussion.

After class I walked into the library (next door) and checked out some books to begin my Literature essay on Brecht. I also played a lot of Blackjack in Kenny's room today.

That evening, everyone went out, but in the interest of saving money, and because Viv was going to be calling, I stayed in and worked on my essay. I read "Mother Courage and Her Children" while waiting, as well as watched an episode of "Cheers."

When Viv called, she had a bit of bad news. She found out that I would not be allowed to stay at the student residencia where she was living, so now I would have to find my own place to stay while I was there. Considering I'll be there 28 days, that could be rather expensive. I may have to rethink what I'm going to do.

After Viv and I hung up I went and watched "The Twilight Zone." Then, as people began to return for the evening, I hung around with John and he bought me a pizza... which had pepperoni, but also mushrooms. I hate mushrooms. But I was hungry, so I scraped them into one corner of the box... and gave that corner to Paul, who was more than happy to eat them.

I spent the rest of the evening in the Common Room, where Lee, Lorna, some other girl and I sat, talked, and watched "Batman" until 4 a.m., at which time I shot off to bed.