time to get lost

Tomorrow morning I'm jumping on a plane and sleeping away a good 12 hours of my life on the way to Glasgow via Atlanta and London. I'll spend the next five weeks or so making my way through the English countryside to my personal Mecca, London. I'll be with 26 of the greatest people alive (well, 25 and Spencer). I'll be blogging as I go, but you can also follow our progress at Green and Pleasant Land. And no, not my idea.

See you soon!

140 songs

For my birthday my parents gave me an iPod shuffle. I admit at first I wasn't too thrilled, but this is the way I listen to music--I rarely listen to one CD. I either make my own mixes/playlists or I tell iTunes to shuffle for me. Usually it hits the spot and I can move from song to song. So I'm happy.

Here's my little problem: The iPod is coming with me to the UK (in a week!). It holds about 130 songs depending on what it puts on. I've been compiling a playlist for it to draw from, but I'm not sure what I want on there. Some Shins, some Death Cab, but what Shins, what Death Cab? And what about Rachel Yamagata, KT Tunstall, Jem, Andrew Bird, Midlake, Mika, etc? I love my music. It's kind of like walking into a bookstore that's all poetry--it's overwhelming and you have no choice but to ask for help.

Yes, I'm asking for help. What music would you take? What music should I take? I don't need your top 140, but a top 5 or 10 would be nice. Or music you wouldn't hate listening to while walking 200 miles.

And don't let me forget to put some About a Boy on there. That would be sad.

Happy

There is nothing as wonderful as listening to ABBA's "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man after Midnight)."

Except maybe a man after midnight. . .

I can't

I don't trust myself. My trust is dangerously in other places--some traditional, some not so much. Tonight, I'm waiting for a first line. I trust my first lines. They usually launch genius--or at the very least, passable work. I don't have a first line right now. I have a list of things I need to do, a post-it note covered book, and a large Diet Coke suffering from too much ice, but no first line.

I'm wondering why I chose Li-Young Lee. Other than that a treatment of the tradition of the sacred in contemporary American poetry would seem incomplete without him. His poetry is beautiful--mind-numbingly so. Maybe that's why this first line seems impossible right now.

Lee reminds me of Trent. So does England, pink gerbera daisies, speedos, and Riki Tiki Tavi. And wings, although I'm moving from angels to birds.

I've decided to not go to grad school next year. I decided this before I heard from Ohio, and I asked them to take me off their waiting list.

I don't know if I can do this.

I know this doesn't qualify as a "real" blog post, but just do it.

Travel Plans

1. go to www.google.com
2. click on "maps"
3. click on "get directions"
4. type "New York" in the first box (the "from" box)
5. type "London" in the second box (the "to" box)
6. scroll down to step #23