Insert Witty Title Here

It's 1:29 a.m. meaning that the city has just begun to quiet down. Although I can guarantee that at least one more car alarm will go off before the morning, I know that I have about three hours of as close to silence as I can get here. This is always the time where I try to force myself to sleep, to block every thought from my mind so that maybe I will fall into unconsciousness before the birds and the cats begin their early morning spring time battles outside my bedroom window.

But I haven't updated in a while, so here I sit.

Progress is sometimes a slow moving thing. I've made a few more friends, all of which are somehow American, but regardless we all had a pretty good time together. I have an orientation scheduled at the Ministry of Stories, something that I am beyond excited about. And on Tuesday my professor told me that she thinks the story I submitted to class is of a publishable standard. Progress may be slow, but its progress nonetheless.

I find myself dreaming of the familiar, only set within the unfamiliar. I dream of my family and summer vacations, except we are never in a place we've been before. It's always unusual. And just last night I dreamed that I was with the most wonderful Rachel Baransi, in Mexico, sitting on an enormous marble patio. We were laying on beach towels, sweating in the sun, while little tanned and naked babies were lingering all around. Rachel kept telling me how wonderful Mexico could be, while I smiled and stared at the children's darkened bellies.

I'm dreaming of everything I want in one place. The adventure of the unknown with the comfort of the familiar. How wonderful would that be?

Except it is, almost, possible for this to happen. I skyped with my love Kara the other day and was able to see her two gorgeous children. Lilya's getting so big and baby gabbed for me, and I even got to witness one of Aiden's full blown Tasmanian devil tantrums. Today I received an email from Matty, and even though its been weeks since we've spoken, he was able to say everything that I was thinking without even trying. And then there's facebook, the looming, growing, monster of the social media. I'm fairly positive that facebook has actually managed to cause Emily Lease and I to fall in love (don't deny it Emily) and it allows me to send videos to people, because even if I can't see them it somehow makes me feel closer if I know they can see me. Technology has it's perks.

Hopefully a job will be the next step in my slow progression here. Applications have become daunting and enjoying everything this city has to offer has become expensive. But the sun is shining more and the rain is pouring less and soon it will be warm enough for sandals and picnics and pitchers of PIMMS. Soon it will be the season of park sleeping, and park reading, and park writing, and park anything. Soon it will be the season of my visitors: my mother, and hoards of friends, and then eventually the best friends of all, my siblings.

But before any of that it's Paris in April. The chunnel and hostel living and museums and wine and wine and wine. Then it will be Chicago in June (fingers cross) for intellectual stimulation, writing collaboration, and a respectable amount of shopping.

The progress is slow moving, but anything's better than stagnant water.

Sometimes Life is Less Than Exciting

It's been a while since my last post, but don't fret my few religious followers, this is an update.

School is well, school. One day a week doesn't leave much to talk about. Other than that this past Tuesday an actual fight almost broke out in my class over personal preferences regarding The Healing, which I still haven't finished. I honestly think that at some point in the near future, someone in my class is going to smack the ignorance out of one particular classmate that no one can stand. Nonetheless, nothing too interesting is happening on that front.

To file under the category random but awesome, I have made a British friend. Soly and I were on our way to a restaurant a week or so ago, one that we had heard served Mexican food (a rarity in this city). We were discussing how a classmate in Soly's scriptwriting course is working on a porno and evidently weren't being very discreet about it because a woman sitting across from us overheard. She asked if she could join our conversation, and since that never happens on the tube (people keep mainly to their kindles, PS2, ipods, etc) we obliged. After talking for a few stops we invited her to lunch with us and she accepted. So there we were, three strangers, sitting in a Mexican restaurant in the heart of London. Her name is Natasha and she teaches fitness classes and is a really great person. By the end of lunch we were all exchanging emails and phone numbers. I find this whole encounter to be somewhat unusual for the 21st century, personal-handheld-distraction-device time period in which we live.

I am still trying to find a job and am realizing that I may be searching for a while. So far I have applied to a music venue, a bar, a nanny agency for children with disabilities, and an organization that specializes in one-on-one attention for kids with learning disabilities. I've also applied at a place called The Ministry of Stories to help with creative writing workshops for children, but I have yet to hear back from any of these. I am determined though, for the sake of my bank account and my travel dreams, to find a job before spring is out.

That's about it for the european life of Kelsey Kissner. Not too exciting yet, but I am on my way to building it up into something great. And on a positive note, a day trip to IKEA allowed me to fulfill my nesting desires and decorate my flat so it feels more like home.

Also, for those of you who wish to come visit:

My summer is pretty much booked. My mom will be here the end of June through the beginning of July,  2 out of 3 of the remaining BFC members will be here in the end of July, Rachel Baransi (my sisterfran) will be here in ???, and my brother and sister are coming in September.

I am all about the visitors, but if you'd like to come, schedule for the fall if possible. My water heater can only handle so much, and the job that I will hopefully have will want me to actually work.

I have some actual social interaction planned for the next three nights. Making friends is in my near future.