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.)

Sunday, June 11, 1989

A Few 'Classic' Songs Written Today ...

As per usual, today after breakfast I bought the Sunday Times and read it while listening to The Beatles' White Album. A good way to start off a lazy Sunday.

The warm weather has returned, so after lunch and an episode of "Lost in Space," it was time for a bit of sunbathing. I took a few photos outside, read some of my Viz comic, and soaked in the rays.

When I got bored with that, I came back to my room and felt inspired to write a few soon-to-be Yokel classic songs... brilliant tunes with titles such as "Fascist Tendencies" (inspired by the Tienamen Square massacre last week), "Attack of the Killer Stinkbabies from Venus" (inspired by schlock horror-thriller movies from the '50s), "March of the Stupid People" (inspired by stupid people marching), "A Violent End," "I Hate You You're So Ugly" (sort-of a follow-up to last year's "I Don't Like Ugly People"), "Dead Meat" and "Baby I Love You More than Beer" were among the many that emerged from this marathon music writing session.

The evening continued charming, with converations in Jane's room and a phone call from Viv's parents (they're coming to visit on Friday, but are unable to care for Shannon... oh what to do now?) I also did a bit more studying of T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" (a toughie).

At 11 p.m. I called my folks. All systems are go and they will be leaving for England in just two short days. Tonight I tried to go to bed a bit earlier than I have of late.

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Sealed with a Kiss" - Jason Donovan
  
  
• Number One Song in America This Week: "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" - New Kids on the Block
  

Wednesday, June 7, 1989

Farewell, Guitar (And 10 Things I Still Worry About) ...

Woke up far too early, ate breakfast, and then at 9:30 a.m. took my Modern Prose Fiction exam. A few of the questions were not what I'd expected, and on the last question, I failed to catch one of the key instructions... that we were not to repeat use of any author more than once... and I did. Hope that doesn't mess me up too much. Overall, I think I did alright.

After the exam, which used all of the three hours I was given, I returned to The Grange to relax, eat lunch, watch the news, and talk for a bit with Jane. (Jane is pictured here in the center, along with some of her friends. Chris is sitting next to her, Vicki and Ian are standing to the right, and I believe the guy to the left was named Sean.)

Later, she bought my guitar from me for £25. A good deal for her, and a good one for me as well, as that is now one less thing I need to worry about before I leave England.

Here, however, is a list of the worries that I still do have:

1. What am I going to do with my hamster Shannon?
2. When am I going to get that letter from Viv with a check so that I can buy her plane ticket?
3. How am I going to get all of my stuff back home?
4. Money... though I'm not worried quite so much.
5. Exams
6. Housing and registration at Millersville next fall. (Will they get the registration form that I stuck under the office door?)
7. Finding some posters for Mrs. Rogoff, my former high school English teacher who gave me $20 for that quest before I came to England.
8. Finding a job when I return home.
9. Getting my cashpoint card back from Lloyd's bank before I leave here.
10. How can we get a Republican majority back in Congress?

This is pretty much in decending order, and I think I can let George Bush worry more about #10.

Getting back to the day's events, I got a letter from Debbie's parents, which was a nice surprise. That's about the extent of the rest of the day's events.

Sunday, June 4, 1989

Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the Death of the Ayatollah ...

Wow, what an eventful day, though not too much on my part.

Reports are that thousands of protesting students were shot dead in China, then hundreds of people were reportedly killed when a gas pipe exploded in Russia, destroying two trains. Oh, and the Ayatollah Khomeini finally croaked. I wonder where he is now?

As for me in my own little part of the world, I spent the day revising for tomorrow's Geography Exam. But the day started out when I actually woke up in time to grab some breakfast (insane!), then walked up and took out £5 to buy the Sunday Times and the new Viz Comics to read in the morning.

Ate lunch, studied, chatted with folks, hung up the clever Calvin and Hobbes study signs that I made, practiced a little guitar (I think I'm getting better), and then watched the events of the day on the news, followed by "The Cosby Show."

After all of that I called my parents for a further assessment on our itinerary for their impending arrival. Everything is still all go, and I'll call back on Tuesday to confirm a few more things. Nice conversation, though. I'm anxious to see them in person, and to talk to them free of charge! I also told Mom to call Greg and see what is up with him, and if he is still planning on traveling to England.

Studied more in the evening, hung about in Jane's room with the gang, and then let Shannon run about. That pretty much sums up the day.

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" - Gerry Marsden, Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson and The Christians (for the Hillsborough Disaster)
  
  
• Number One Song in America This Week: "Wind Beneath My Wings" - Bette Midler
  

Tuesday, May 30, 1989

The Return Trip to Hull ...

Today was "Return to Hull" day, so I packed my bags, bid my farewells, and Fiona drove me to Liverpool Lime Street station to catch the 10.52 a.m. train.

No problems on the journey, as I just read pretty much the whole way, changing trains at Leeds. I arrived in Hull at about half two, and then caught the bus back to The Grange halls.

Checked my post (no letters arrived while I was out), then I relaxed in my room. A bit later on, Kofe stopped by and we talked for awhile about Millersville (he was an exchange student there last year), music, America and various other topics.

A bit later on, and after cleaning up my room, I went over to St. Hilda's to visit J.P. We talked about the weekend past, baseball, and our usual fare. He said his last performance of The Mikado went really well.

Dinner in the refectory was poor. But later that evening, there was some good TV. Both an episode of "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series and "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4" were on at the same time. "Hitchhiker" won, and it was fun to watch. It's a shame that I'll miss the last 2-3 episodes, as they won't be shown before I head back to America.

Following that we watched "Moonlighting," then "Thirtysomething" was on, but I left the common room to visit Sam, and we ended up talking for the rest of the evening.

Jenny Rourke stopped by and asked me if I'd be interested in going horseback riding with her and some friends tomorrow, and I said I would. That could be fun (I hope)!

Went up to pick up Shannon the Hamster from Cat, and she said that all went well with her over the weekend. Good to hear!

(Pictured is a photo of the Coca-Cola cans that I collected and displayed on a ledge over the one window in my room. Pretty cool, huh?)

Friday, May 26, 1989

Leaving for Liverpool ...

I spent the morning re-taping Liz's Beatles' tapes for her, while I still had Jane's recorder in my possession, and before leaving on my trip to Liverpool. Once I was finished, I gave the recorder back to Jane, dropped off Shannon the Hamster to Cat (it's not often that a hamster is in good hands when you give it to a Cat!), then caught the bus into town to catch the 4.42 train.

And what do you know? Jenny Rourke was on the train! She was heading home for the weekend. So Jenny and I rode together and chatted as far as Leeds, which is where I had to get off the train and reconnect to the Liverpool train. She reminds me so much of Stephanie LaBella from high school (whom I've only seen once since graduation).

Anyway, I waited a half an hour before catching the train, and during the ride I worked some more on my short story, "The Thirty-Seventh Heir." I finally arrived in Liverpool at a little past eight, and shortly afterward, Dr. Morrison arrived and we rode back to Ness, stopping at the Old Quay for dinner.

We didn't do much more than talk this evening, but it was still relaxing good fun. Fiona was at a friend's house that evening and didn't return until late. I finally got to bed at a little past one.

Pictured: For the past several weeks J.P. had been busy rehearsing for his performance in "The Mikado," which was presented this weekend. For some reason, I didn't get a chance to go. I was at the Elvis Costello concert on Wednesday, and in Liverpool on Friday and Saturday... but I don't know why I didn't go to see it on Thursday. J.P. will have to fill in any details about the show itself. Even though I didn't see it, I did manage to swipe one of the posters for my own personal collection.

Thursday, May 25, 1989

Wear Your New Concert T-Shirt Day ...

Today I slept in quite late, recovering from last night's activities. Needless to say, I missed breakfast. I checked for post, but there was none.

I then found myself sitting in Jane's room with Sam, talking about various topics (the concert came up), and eventually I borrowed her stereo to do a little taping. So I was doing a little bit of taping today. I made a Monkee's tape for Gill, a friend of Jane Goodman's (not the Jane whose room I was in... that's Jane Challis-Whish).

The day carried on with little excitement. That evening, Sam and I sat in Cat's room and talked for a bit. She's going to be taking care of my hamster Shannon when I leave for Liverpool to visit with Dr. Morrison tomorrow. After that, it was back to Sam's room for more coffee, and after that, back to my room for even more coffee. I gave him a copy of a tape he requested. Side one is my parody work with Reed and Reitz, and side two my thrash metal stylings with Yokel.

Tomorrow, I leave for Liverpoo'.

Pictured is me trying to be artsy, I guess, showing off my new tour shirt, as well as the tour program (right next to my arm) and the tour poster (far left), which now joins my two other Elvis Costello posters. And yes, that's an ALF poster right above it, surrounded by Bloom County and Calvin & Hobbes comics.

Sunday, May 7, 1989

Time to Hunker Down and Write. But It's a Lovely Day Outside ...

Well, today was the day to finally begin concentrating on my final essay of the year, on Thomas Malthus for Geography, before next month's exams. But there's plenty of time for that, so I walked down to the newsagents after finishing my letter to Larry and JoAnne, mailed it, bought the Sunday Times, brought it back and read it in my room while listening to The Beatles' White Album.

After lunch, it was so warm and nice outside that I took my books outside to work on my essay... and my tan. In the end, my tan didn't turn out too bad, but I got practically no work done on my essay. So after dinner I forced myself to stay in my room to work... only to be compelled to finish writing the rough draft of the short story I'm writing instead.

When that distraction was finished, I let Shannon out of her cage jumped into my books and wrote for the rest of the evening. I stopped writing at about 1 a.m., after getting about 700 words finished. Although it seemed to be going rather well after three cups of coffee, my throat was sore and bothering me, so I quit writing for the evening.

Today's fabulous quote is from Jodie Hafer: "I don't like Bloom County, because I don't understand it."

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Eternal Flame" - The Bangles
  
  
• Number One Song in America This Week: "I'll Be There for You" - Bon Jovi
  

Saturday, May 6, 1989

A Beautiful Day to Be Outside ...

It was a lazy, beautiful day today, and I should have worked on my essay. But I didn't.

What I did do of significant importance, apart from play a game of baseball, is work on a new short story that I'm writing titled "The Feast." Though I know everything that I'm going to put into it, I only got it partially finished. I also didn't quite get to finish Larry and JoAnne's letter.

Watched a fair amount of TV today, and bought a Saturday Times as well. Watched four Charlie Chaplin shorts before heading outside to enjoy the nice weather with everyone. As the hours passed, various activities took place, such as a soccer game, highlighted by Kenny accidentally knocking out a light with the ball.

That evening was spent first watching "City Lights," a magnificent Chaplin film, followed by a classic episode of "Fawlty Towers" (with the dead body) and a show called "Ripping Yarns," with Michael Palin, which was quite funny as well.

After that I made my way over to St. Hilda's, where there was an international room full of students watching the results of the Eurovision Song Contest, in which Yugoslavia won. Great Britain did manage a second place finish, though. But it was the nationalism that erupted in the room for Britain, Spain and Ireland that was the most fun to watch for me.

I hung around a little while after to talk with J.P., but then returned to let Shannon roam some more before going to bed.

Today's classic quote, from 6'4" "Big" Jon Whalley:

"I'm a gentle giant."

Friday, May 5, 1989

She was right! ...

Cat was right, the American students got £15 extra food grant! Every little bit helps!

It's been a day of ups and downs. First, the downs: I woke up late for class, only scored a 56 on my Sociology essay (a high "C"), and Oliver North was convicted on three charges yesterday. The ups: 15 happy pounds in my pocket, and Ollie was acquitted on nine charges.

When I got back from the class I did relatively little of any significance. Read the newspaper in the library, began to write a letter to Uncle Larry and Aunt JoAnne, and bought yet another turkey salad sandwich at the corner deli (today it was 69p - the price has now changed three days in a row.) I also bought a Daily Express with my new money.

That evening I went up to Buffy's room and we talked for awhile, trying to decide if there was anything to do tonight. We thought about heading to the Architecture Union, but instead went with one of the French girls to the Gardener's Arms for a pint with a few of her friends. Shortly afterward they headed to the Architecture Union, while Buffy and I went to Double Happiness for some much-needed Chinese take away. We both had sweet and sour chicken (she ordered Hong Kong style), bouthgt a bottle of coke, and then returned to The Grange to watch some TV, where Tim the American (Skeletor's friend... at least, that's what Kenny calls the other American, anyway) was watching "Cheers."

Afterward, we watched a new American show called "Roseanne," a really bad "Clive James Show" (a copy of the David Letterman formula), which only special guest Michael Palin was able to save, and then a fantastic old movie called "Trouble in Paradise" from 1932.

After that, I went back to my room, let Shannon run about, then went off to bed.

I think from here on out, just to make things more interesting, at the end of each day I'm going to include a classic quote from someone over the past year. The first one is a classic from Doug, when commenting on the fish that was coming out of the oven in the refectory:

"Oh, this must be the plaice!"

Sunday, April 30, 1989

Further Annoyances ...

Despite my lack of sleep and not setting my alarm, I still somehow woke up for breakfast. Since I was up I couldn't get back to sleep, so I went to the bank to withdraw some dosh, and bought The Sunday Times (which includes a photography special insert), as well as a copy of Q magazine (featuring an article on Peter Gabriel).

I sat in my room and read, with Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road playing (a must for a Sunday!), until lunch time, when I went to the refectory for a traditional Sunday roast beef meal.

That afternoon we gathered to play some baseball out in the field behind The Grange, which was fun until Big Jon Whalley started in on his Doug innuendos, and then made a smart remark about me as well. That pissed me off. Even though I was pitching, I just dropped the ball and walked off the field unannounced. It must have caused a stir, because at dinner that evening, several people commented on it. I said nothing.

After dinner, I did some more reading and avoiding work on my essay. Also took a 6.45 p.m. Cosby Show break.

Oh, backtracking to earlier in the day. When I was walking back from the newsagents, I was approached by a poll taker to take part in a broadcasting research survey, which was pretty cool. I got to say what shows I watched and become part of those select few who decide what you get to watch on TV, heh heh.

Anyway, after Cosby, I returned to my room, rearranged it a bit (it's optimum now), let Shannon out, made some coffee and then reflected a bit on my experiences here in England by reading some past excerpts from my journal.

It made me see how much things have changed for me since earlier in the year, mostly not for the better. But as I can see (and you can, too), definite changes. I also wrote a few letters this evening.

Pictured: Adrian Edmonson (Viv on The Young Ones) wrote this book, "How to Be a Complete Bastard." Funny book. Big Jon and Kenny must've taken some tips from it.

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Eternal Flame" - The Bangles
  
  
• Number One Song in America This Week: "Like a Prayer" - Madonna

Wednesday, April 26, 1989

Today Is Film Day ...

After breakfast I went to a fruitful lecture on food distribution in the third world. A very interesting lecture, I thought. Following the class, I returned to continue rearranging my room, as I was not completely satisfied with how I left it last night. Now I think I am completely satisfied.

Shortly before noon I set off for town, stopping at the University Union to get some flight information. I made my way into town alone again, walking down Newland Avenue, stopping at shops and buying a Batman comic book (part 2 of "The Many Deaths of The Batman.") It was a nice day for a walk, so I didn't mind going alone.

I ate lunch at McDonald's (only 99p), bought some toothpaste and headphones for my Walkman (since Shannon on Monday got a hold of my other ones and rendered them useless.)

From there I dashed to the movie theater, where I saw "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen." Overall I liked it, and thought it was technically brilliant. But I think that I was expecting more.

Returned by bus for dinner, showed J.P. my new room design watched "Buck Rogers" and "Rapido," and then it was back to reading. That's pretty much all this day had to offer.

Tuesday, April 25, 1989

Sometimes it Snows in April ...

I woke up early for breakfast again, and post finally arrived (first time since Friday!) I only received my bank statement, however, which told me what I pretty much already knew.

I read Hemingway for most of the morning, then attended my classes. Geography was alright, but as usual it was highly disorganized. Before Social/Political Structures I spent an hour in the library reading, during which time it snowed for a few minutes. (Hey, Prince is right... "Sometimes it snows in April.") It was the first time in ages that I saw any snow close up.

Social/Political Structures was alright - only just enough to keep me attentive. Afterwards it was back for some more reading "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (I'm actually quite enjoying it) before dinner.

After dinner I partook in a little television, some reading, taking care of Shannon the Hamster, and rearranging my room a bit to give it a little fresh change.

Not much else to mention about today. If you have been reading this straight through, this part must be immensely boring.

Monday, April 24, 1989

A Six-Month Anniversary ...

Woke up early enough today to grab some breakfast. I spent a good bit of the day reading "For Whom the Bell Tolls" for my Literature class, after taking a morning walk up to Cottingham Road (pictured), taking photos for The Snapper. When I finished with the roll, I put it in an envelope with other various items for The Snapper folks and mailed it. I also bought some food and coffee at Grandways to keep me going.

Class at 3.15 was alright. We talked about T.S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral." I've been pretty much reading the books that I want to lately instead of the ones I'm supposed to be reading. I spent the rest of the evening reading, until about 9 p.m., when the movie version of Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" came on TV, which I watched.

Shortly after the movie ended, Viv called me. Today is the six-month annivesary of when we officially started going together (October 24), so I was glad we got a chance to talk for awhile on this day. We covered a number of topics, such as plans for her visit to America this summer, and of course, how much we miss each other.

Viv is going to call me on Thursday and I'm going to get her some flight information. Following our conversation, I went back to my room, let Shannon the Hamster run around a bit, and then read a bit more of Hemingway to close out the evening.

Saturday, March 11, 1989

No hable ingles? ...

I actually got up for a Saturday breakfast! No mail today, and at 9.30 I gathered my change to make a call to Viv in Madrid. My ears were still ringing from last night's hijinks, but my hearing difficulties soon turned out to be the least of my problems.

I momentarily forgot that Viv was now living in a foreign country with several people in a residencia who no hable ingles. That was true for the person who answered the phone. After a few seconds of hardly being able to hear the other line, and what few things I did hear I could not understand, I finally told the person that I must have the wrong number (momentarily forgetting that they would not be able to understand that, either) and hung up, hoping that Viv would somehow figure out what had happened and would try to call me back.

I went out and bought a copy of The Times, and spent part of the afternoon packing for Spain. I'm looking forward to a little adventure, and maybe getting a nice tan.

Later that evening, after dinner and watching "ALF," several of us headed into town to the cinema to see "Rain Man." Wow, what a fabulous movie! Dustin Hoffman was brilliant and deserves to win a bunch of Oscars for his performance. Even Tom Cruise did a good job in the movie. I'd be surprised if it doesn't win Best Picture as well. Simply excellent.

After the movie we grabbed some milk shakes at McDonald's, then headed back to The Grange, where I hung around with the gang in St. Hilda's until about midnight, then returned to let Shannon run around the room. As far as I can tell, Viv never called back. I finally went to bed at 12.45 a.m.

Pictured is one of my favourite features in Viz Comics: The Viz Top 10. This is the magazines top 10 albums, and it is based totally upon who sends the most money along with their recording. I always wanted to send in a Yokel tape with £10.02, but that was a lot of money to sacrifice back then... and I was always afraid I'd pick the month when everyone sends in £50. (Perhaps I should've spend my money on immortality for my band instead of a hamster.)

Thursday, March 9, 1989

A Day to Work ...

I spent most of today putting the final touches on my essay so that I could hand it in tomorrow. Anyway, the day began like many others, with breakfast, and was followed by a trip into town, where I purchased my coach ticket - £12 return to London. That was a much better price than the £18 one-way fare by train using my student discount rail card. Quite a savings... worth the extra time it'll take for the trip.

While in town I also bought sore throat losenges, batteries, a Spanish Phrase Book, and shampoo, with just enough cash leftover to take the bus home. I averted near catastrophe when I accidentally got on the wrong bus. Fortunately, I was able to switch in time. I guess my mind was elsewhere.

Well, like I said, the rest of my day was dominated by writing my essay. I took periodic breaks, and I let Shannon the Hamster crawl around for a bit. She is getting quite tame. She didn't try to rip up the carpet and most of her efforts were put forth to try and climb up onto the bed or up my leg.

I worked on my essay until 3 a.m., getting all but the final two pages of my re-write completed. I even managed to do some late-night laundry in the process.

Pictured is an ad for the upcoming Macc Lads Tour, featured in Viz Comics.

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.

Monday, February 27, 1989

No 'amsters in the Room, Luv ...

Well, after breakfast things didn't start off too hot for me, as Gloria the maid discovered Shannon the Hamster in my room and informed me that I couldn't keep her. Which, of course means that I need to find a good hiding space for her in the closet, out of Gloria's sight. So after I vacuumed my room, I cleared a space for her in my closet.

I went to the library and began to work, like about 50 other students, on my essay. All went well for me, and although I ended up missing class to put the finishing touches on my essay, I managed to complete an essay that I was happy with, in plenty of time.

I spent most of the rest of the evening around Kenny's room, where we played cards, including the longest game of Blackjack ever (one game lasted 30 minutes!) This is, of course, British Blackjack and not the "21" variety.

We also just relaxed and for about 2 hours read Trivial Pursuit questions to each other. It sounds boring, but it was actually rather fun. We also listened to AC/DC's "Back in Black" three times in a row. Kenny was heading over to hit play for the fourth time when I intercepted him and put in one of the other four CDs he owns, Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells." - an excellent album.

Later I returned to my room, and when I checked on Shannon in her new hiding space... she was absolutely petrified from spending all that time in a dark area. I let her out for awhile and decided that I would keep here in there only when it was absolutely necessary. It calmed her down when I got her out, but I had to change her cage because she had ripped it all up in her panicked state. Went to bed at 12.30 a.m. listening to George Winston.

Pictured: This is an interesting ad that I spotted in a British newspaper, exact date not remembered. However, 1988-89 this was right around the time that Marillion was looking for a new lead vocalist. Could I have possibly missed my opportunity to replace Fish in the legendary prog rock band?

Thursday, February 23, 1989

More Snappers! ...

I woke up early for breakfast today, but after eating I returned to my room and fell asleep until about 11 a.m.

My parents package that included my Sam Kinison/Steven Wright tape came today, along with £60 in travelers checks... all going toward my upcoming journey to Spain. I hope I won't have any trouble cashing them in!

After I took a shower I started listening to the tape... when a knock came at the door. It was a lady who brought me a package with more copies of The Snapper! Yaaaay!

Sam stopped by for a visit while I was opening it up, but unfortunately, my attention was focused on my new collection of Millersville University student newspapers. Later, before heading to class, J.P. and I listened to the tape, then went to class, where we discussed D.H. Lawrence's "The Rainbow." When we returned after class we continued to listen to the rest of the tape, with breaks for dinner and the news.

Later that evening I watched "Mona Lisa," a bizarre movie starring Bob Hoskins. It was interesting partly because it was filmed in London and Brighton, and I had been to several of the places featured in the film.

Came back to the room, let Shannon the Hamster roam for a bit, then read for awhile before going to bed.

Sunday, January 29, 1989

Conservative living ...

I woke up late again this morning, but just in time to grab some roast beef for lunch in the refectory. I spent a good bit of the day working more on the tape that I'm making for Greg, and by the early evening, it was completed.

The final product included the things I recorded yesterday, as well as a parody of BBC1 News, A Tour of Britain, an interview with E Conspectu (one member, anyway. Even though Greg doesn't know J.P., I think he'll like it.), and various music from over here that I've compiled... among other miscellany.

Viv did some more revising in preparation for her exams, but not too much. Most of the day was careless and cheap living in order to save money. I did buy Shannon the Hamster a new house, though. Conserve, brave soldier!

Picture: One of the pictures that I took during my trip around Britain last month was of an interesting graveyard located near Sid's house outside London. The picture didn't come out so great, but that, combined with a photo of a family I cut out of a newspaper ad created the inspiration for "Death Beach," one of the songs I wrote while in England for my band Yokel to perform when we reunite next summer upon my return to America. It's sort-of a Beach-Boys-meets-thrash-metal-type song.

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• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" - Marc Almond and Gene Pitney
• Number One Song in America This Week: "When I'm With You" - Sheriff