Another long interval between posts. I do apologise, but time really is fleeting when it comes to getting on with this sort of thing. There's always something else to consume my time. Consume...

This week saw my first very basic introduction to marine biology. It really reaffirmed something for me, in that I again was rapt by the creatures of the world's oceans, something that I may admit had waned slightly in me.

I also joined a folk jamming group this week, and am all the more confident with the old 'Jo because of it. The guys there are really cool cats, though the "audience" (read: pubgoers) really couldn't care less. Their loss. That being said, there were a buch of canadians who came in after the Union closed, who proceeded to whoop and cheer at us, ant call us all "SICK!", which apparently is a compliment. Ah well.

Also earned kudoes by singing "bad moon rising" at the Thursday night kareoke spree at the Union, much to the plaudits of the group of girls who live below me, and will no doubt call me "banjo man" for the rest of my days. I'm sure there are worse names to go by in this life...

Went to Berwick this weekend, and am just now back. There's nothing quite like the hospitality of your Grandparents to take your mind off everything ,and I never realised how much a really needed it untill it was given to me. That, and the fact that the greatest cheese scones on the entire planet are made there, and there's a recapie for total bliss.

Spending time with people of my granparents' age does throw a lot of things into sharp relief, and also lets the mind wander into darker places - forcing me to address thing I know I need to address, but don't really want to. A few things I saw and heard made me think really deeply about my values and outlook, and I still haven't come to a satisfactory conclusion about them yet. It's something I don't want to lose sight of, even though I know that day-to-day life will most likley take it from me.

Other than that it was a very peaceful weekend, and filled with the most genuine people I'll ever have the pleasure to meet (and never meet) again.

Also, Virgin trains are the most wonderfult trains I've ever been on.

That'll do for now.

Now then. I'm typing this from a very swish public library in Stratford-upon-Avon. Very cultural it is too.
The south of this nation is pleasantly warm, even in February, despite that everyone I see on the street as all wrapped up in various coats.

Stratford itself is a quirky little place, with a mix of industrial age-brickwork sitting neatly alongside various tudor-style oak beamed houses. It's cultural history has now, however, prevented the endless onslaught of consumerisim from digging in like an Alabama tick. Marks and Spencers nestle alongside HMV, all wrapped up in the old preserved shells of more historical buildings. It really does seem that there are fewer and fewer places to hide from this kind of thing. Having just come from meeting relatives in Herefordshire, I know how picture-postcard England can still exist, but this just feels like DisneyEngland(TM).

Maybe it's just beacuse that the Royal Shakespere Company's latest production is totally sold out for the rest of the month, therefore preventing me seeing it, but I feel as if the siginificane of this town is long gone. It is, however, very pleasant to just become lost on your own in these strange places. It's quite gratifying to feeel totally alien, even in a country that speaks (more or less) the same language.

Tomorrow I'm going to Birmingham, as I'm here with the parents as the jouney though a trade show at the NEC. I will be going into the town itself, however, so I'll let you all know how that goes.

Expect a new website coming soon (within the next month or so), as I've got some new webspace.

Right, I'm goona use what time I have left here to surf a bit, so I'll see you all soon.