Trying to Stay on Top of this Updating Thing

Well, so Tuesday saw me sleeping in late, as the aftereffects (washing up et al.) of the Monday evening dinner party had me up well past midnight. I left 49 Claude just in time to catch the last possible bus that would get me to Nottingham's Broadmarsh Coach Station before the 450 National Express to London pulled out without me. I love the drive from Notts to London, down the M1. It's not what you'd call remarkable: tarmac is tarmac and asphalt is asphalt, regardless of continent. A road is an obviously blighting streak across otherwise pure and unfettered nature or idyllic farmland, no matter the latitudal and longitudinal lines it crosses, but for all that, I love a road. Given that it will probably be asphalt that finally claims the last scrapings of the little bit of geography my family's called home for a century and a half, I derive a sense of peace from a well-paved highway. If you know my road-tripping tendencies, this won't surprise you.

The M1 to London from Nottingham, via Milton Keynes, is certainly the main British road I'm most familiar with. I've lost count of the number of coaches I've ticked past the miles in down said stretch, but I've grown well familiar. I usually try to stay awake the whole trip, but I was beat this time, so I popped in the ear buds and drifted in and out of Jimmy Buffett, the Fray, and Sister Hazel.

That was just as well, as I received a text message from my Australian buddy Davo, whom I met in Spain last year, inviting me out to the Frog and Forget-Me-Not pub for a pint and a spot on his quiz team. Pub quizzes are big affairs here in England, and particularly England. One of the prizes last night was an entire case of beers. Our team, "The-number-of-times-will-we-have-to-play-before-we-win-this-quiz-is" featured returning contenders Ed, of English persuasion; Davo and his girlfriend Natalie, both from Australia; Myself and Yeny (Colombian, if you forget); and her newest to housemates, Demis and Michaela, an Italian couple. There were 3 rounds of 30+ questions in multiple categories. We all had our strengths, but I was able to prove myself by identifying Ray Charles "Georgia on My Mind", among other tunes, and anagramming 'Excitation' into 'intoxicate.' All of our combined knowledge pooled together, unfortunately, landed us only in 4th or 5th place, out of 40+. Our score of 104 simply didn't measure up to the two 106's and the title-taking 109 scored by our competition.

Win or lose, we did have a smashing time, which is an awful good thing, as when my tab came round, the ONE pint of Magner's Irish Cider I'd washed down cost me 4 pounds. It's a wonder the poverty level in London isn't frequented by more of the locals, given the price of alcohol, grog and booze in the imbibing establishments. Quite fortunately, I'm not an alcoholic. If I'd known the levy I'd be laid with for 1 solitary refreshment, I'd've nicked a pint glass bearing the pub or brand name...

Any rate, Happy Wednesday. Hope the weather's fair where you're at. London is mostly cloudy, as per usual, and not raining. As Yeny's at work, I'll probably hit a park or museum for the first part of the afternoon.

Do some stretches. Your body'll appreciate it.
jeff