the good news is

Somewhere between Minneapolis, Toronto, and London Heathrow, my back pack and duffel bag are having an adventure. This has a number of consequences.
First, contents of the duffel bag were all gifts for my father, as well as a pair of my shorts and a rain jacket for me. Also a 15 mm wrench.
My father will have to go on, for a few more days at least, without the American products he had me gather before I hit the road this weekend. These were
12 packs of Ginger altoids
12 packs of Liquoirice altoids
4 tubes Walgreens-brand antibiotic cream
2 pairs 32x32 cocstco-brand blue jeans
and a pack of mr tuffies tire liners.
He will have to be brave.
Also, there's a copy of the comic, the Fabulous Faery Freak Brothers #2 that I got at Comic College. I was going to give this to my dad, or my uncle.
Second, I have one pair of clothes. This is not a bad thing. I don't have to think about what I'm wearing in the morning, since I slept in it sans pants. This gives me no bullshit time trying to put on something that I think looks more something than something else.
Third, I haven't brushed my teeth since Sunday. This seems to be in keeping with British customs.(stereotype? we'll see.) If I end up staying in the UK, perhaps I'll look back at this week of insulated teeth and remember how it was the first American tradition that I relinquished.
In the huge bathroom at my dad's (and it literally is a Bath room: the toilet hangs out on its one in a small closet. No pretences here. That room is for shitting and pissing only.) I discovered "medicated flavor dental sticks" which promise to help you keep your natural teeth for life. Fantastic! The box proved to hold irregularly shaped splinters of wood. I scraped one on my teeth according to the directions. How the fuck are you meant to massage your gums with a pointy bit of wood? It actually felt good in a clinical sort of way. Toothpicks are so gross, but these are kinda nice.

Okay, so this's my first blog entry. I'm going to use this to get myself writing everyday on the computer. Like a warm up for the essays and strange British correspondence I have to keep up on. Hopefully I'll get my paws on a camera and be able to post photos. No promises. Otherwise I'll just keep a running commentary of my experiences over on this side of the Atlantic.
I'm in Cambridge. Tomorrow I'll take the train to Surrey, just south of London to interview at Royal Holloway. Right now I'm going to go eat potatoes with my dad. and post this email I just sent to my friend Andrew earlier, when I had the brain fart to start a blog. Read on, its like eavesdropping..
thanks for writing to those guys. i'm optimistic always about finding nice folks, if you keep your heart open to it, you can't help but run into potential co-conspirators. i was given some tickets to see this play Equus last night..showed up feeling greasy from the airplane, and walk through a crowd of dressed up folks, only to find that my seat was right next to the most awesome people in the theatre, a couple of straight-shooting local lesbians. new friends make my heart go bang.
this town is so beautiful! i'm going to develop huge jaw muscles from gaping..at the river at the old gorgeous architecture, at the hot 3 speed bicycles that are everywhere at the flowers that are blooming everywhere..the stars are really bright here and the air is damp always.
the toilet in our house has a chain coming from the ceiling that you pull to flush. and everyone in england leaves their butter out.
thinking about making a travel blog. glad you relinquished the phone is face of huge fucking truck antics. keep your eyes on the road and the ones that you love.
love, lucy

that goes for you too. be well.