And So It Is, The Shorter Story.

I woke up today singing those words in my head. And then I slept. When I woke up again this song was still playing in my mind. So the first thing I did upon leaving the warm sanctuary that is my bed was to go on youtube and listen to The Blower's Daughter. Simply amazing. I have no idea why or how this happened though, I haven't heard the song since watching Closer, which has got to be many many months ago now.

Maybe it was reading When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro. Something about the understated emotions perhaps. Maybe not as good as Never Let Me Go, but life invariably sucks if you go around comparing stuff all the time, so let's not do that. It was nonetheless quite a good read. Japanese fiction writers are da best. I snapped up 1Q84 as soon as I saw it in the bookstore, and it ably accompanied me to Portsmouth and back :D

I'd slept only about an hour prior to leaving on the train (no thanks to an ill-conceived idea to start reading 1Q84 that very night) and barely slept on the train(s) for fear that I'd miss my stops. Mini-catnaps (kittenaps™ probably. so clever it deserves a trademark.) When I arrived I was like, meh, where is my hostel, where is the venue, I am so lostzomg. And wandered around aimlessly, thinking, this sux. Until I decided to eat breakfast. The wonders of a hot meal can never be overstated. Instantly rejuvenated, I struck out with vim and vigour and verve (the traditional v and v just doesn't cut it, I had something extra.) So travelling tip #1, always satisfy your poor tummy before making a judgment on wherever it is you are!

I must say I was expecting something of a dump, prior to actually going there. Maybe something to do with Portsmouth FC's prowess (or lack thereof), which I certainly realize is not a very good gauge at all of how nice a city should be. But I hadn't really heard anything nice at all about the place. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! Say what you want about cheap thrills, but lowered expectations work magik indeed.

Right on the seaside, historic naval base, home of Charles Dickens, long long strips of beaches, when all I expected was a squalid town of rubbish. Okay maybe not as bad as that. I was chatting with the owner of a bookshop and her friend though, and apparently Portsmouth is quite nasty afterall! Bike theft capital of the world (or so they say) and unfriendly people (which I think is somewhat true, through my limited experience with the locals). Well. Nothing you can't remedy with a tirp to the Rose Gardens!

I was just walking around, largely along the coast, for hours on end, had to be close to 8 hours probably. Along the way there was this girl (which self-respecting narrative would have no romantic figure?) whom I spoke to not at all. She was ambling about too, camera in hand, so I surmised she was a tourist travelling alone as well. I guess sometimes you just want to reach out to people whom you think are like you. People who share the same circumstances, people who'd understand. Well we pretty much walked together (by that I mean within 20m of each other, not that there was any agreement that we were walking together) for almost and hour maybe. And then I decided to walk another route in case she thought I was stalking her or something, I admittedly could have been a little creepy, if she were the mega-paranoid sort. Or maybe it was just because she looked like a character on House that I took special notice of her, haha.

And then I was hovering around the concert venue, scoping out the place a few hours before it was due to start, when I am 80% sure I saw The Naked And Famous walk past me and into the building. At first I was thinking, Asian girl with 3 angmohs? Not a very common sight. A few steps later I suddenly thought: zomg, is that TNAF IN THE FLESH?! I'm pretty sure it was, hehe. Starstruckz.

The opening act opened an hour late, so there was alot of lame sitting on your hands waiting. But I cleverly decided to stand right in front of the speakers, so as soon as the first note was struck I'd wake up 500%. I think they were called Post War Years, and they didn't disappoint, even factoring in the one hour wait. But then ofc we were all waiting for TNAF and when they came out we went WOOooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOooooo!!!!

I liked that they played the stuff from their EPs like Spies Spies Spies and Birds etc, instead of just everything from Passive Me Aggressive You. But the most awesome parts of the night was definitely shouting out just that, "PASSIVE ME AGGRESSIVE YOU" midway through All Of This, and the amazing Girls Like You. Sick stuff man. I bought a poster and I can't help grinning everything I look at it now (Y).

On the subject of posters, I bought 2 more from a sale in school. One was a map, because you can't have any pride as a mariner if you don't possess at least one, and the other was this amazing poster of the Eiffel Tower.

Nochoicebut2buy.

I thought it'd be the best reminder to start my travel planning/booking ever. I'm sure you agree, no?! I wake up to this picture everyday now, cause it's right by my bed. (Y) Makes waking up that much more bearable.

Anyhow, I thought I should add a bit about all the benches at Portsmouth. Each of them was dedicated to the memory of someone who'd passed away. And they'd have stuff like "This was his favourite spot." or "From Mom, to the many happy hours spent here together." on the little plaques. It was pretty heartbreaking to see, and strangely enough, a little uplifting as well. Sobering and uplifting, a strange a combo as any. Maybe it's something about the things people do to remember a loved one. The ability to mourn and grieve. The human spirit is not as far gone as many people like to think in this modern cynical desensitized world.

That, and reading When We Were Orphans made me realize how I could be so much better to my parents. When they think of me, do they think of the good stuff or does the bad outweigh all that? Have I given them cause to think fondly of me? When they look back, will they say that I have been worth their effort, and their tears? I hope so. But that's not the end of it, there's still time yet to set things right, hopefully an awful lot more time.

Can't wait to come across Remains of the Day. It isn't quite as fun to purchase stuff online, it's so much more awesome to hold the book in your hands in awe and happiness at a random bookshop you stumble into. I bought When We Were Orphans for 1 quid at the secondhand bookshop with the nice owner. I also bought The Princess Bride and Lord of the Flies (which I can't quite imagine how I have never read before.) I wanted to buy Battle Royale but the only copy the shop had was in a bad state.

So I'm gonna watch Never Let Me Go at long last, cause after watching Drive last week and reading Ishiguro this, I would really be letting myself down if I didn't watch it.

Anyway I have resolved to start working extra hard, on account of all the $$$$ I have spent over the past week. I didn't think I'd spend so much travelling, stupidly forgetting that when I was away I'd have to eat out every meal which really isn't cheap at all. And posters don't come free either. And books. I know I'm doing things in the wrongest way possible, most people indulge in retail therapy only upon the completion of schoolwork, while I chose to reward myself before doing anything at all! Can't be a very good plan, seeing as I haven't done anything of note since returning from Portsmouth hehe. And we all know how new year resolutions work out, or at least how mine do. They don't.

Okay, on that depressing note I end.