Christmas was good as it usually is; quiet time at home with my folks, brother and sister.  Good company, plenty of tasty food, some quality presents and this year the snow was a rare treat.

( I am 31, it is 2010. )

So Friday I went down to London, to Purley, south of Croydon, to stay with Snowwy and Keith and prepare for the Standgericht gig. We did five or six runs through the set and it all went pretty well and put us in a good mood for the next day. (Unfortunately, the many hours needed to be sure of success meant we couldn't make it to the new oldschool ( Read more... )

My friend Ely came up from London for the purposes of visiting the famous Morrissey Smiths Disco.  Nobody else has done so before so she gets a hundred points.  After getting her from the train we met Lloyd and ditched my car at his work, then it was a couple of pints in the Lass O'Gowrie and one in the Bull's Head opposite Piccadilly, before ( Read more... )

I did some things.  On Friday I climbed up Darwen moor, which, as the name suggests, is near Darwen, which is between Bolton and Blackburn, not far from where I live.  It was a good walk and on the top there is a Victorian space rocket tower, which was open so I climbed up it.  I like moors.  I am very Northern.

Friday and Saturday nights I stayed ( Read more... )

So finally I went to the capital of the USA, Washington DC.  This involved taking the Chinatown bus, which is very cheap and often for a good reason.  I'd heard about breakdowns and buses going missing, but was still surprised when, fifteen minutes after the bus should have turned up, this woman who'd been on a phone told us we had to get on a ( Read more... )

So then I took the slowest bumpiest train ride ever to get from Montreal to New York.  The scenery through the Adirondack mountains and down the Hudson river was very pleasing to the eye and I did manage to sleep plenty, so the eleven hours passed quite well (the border police asked me a lot of difficult questions but let me in eventually).

So the ( Read more... )

Hello kind readers, here comes part five of my epic journey.  I arrived in New York last night and that part of the trip has gone quite wrong and I want to go home, but more on that subject later.

Before that, Montreal was pretty great.

( France in North America )

I guess not many people are reading these posts, but one day in the future I might.  Arrived in Montreal after a long day of travelling and I'm quite knackered and feel my mood slipping once more.  After internets I will go for a wander to find food and then maybe drink ale in bed and read a bit.  Maybe talk to hostel room mates if they appear, as ( Read more... )

Here I am in Seattle.  Tomorrow I leave for Vancouver and my first experience of Canadia.  We had massive burritos at five o' clock but now I'm hungry again and I'm awake alone and don't know if there is anything I can eat.

( in the Northwest of the USA they brew very good beer )

Hello.  I am in Seattle.  Before that I was in San Francisco, so here are the details of my adventures.

I ended up having to take the feared Greyhound bus up from Los Angeles and it was to take seven and a half hours on a hot day.  Luckily it went better than expected, with sufficient legroom and plenty of air conditioning and a non-stinking, extra ( Read more... )