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LONDON .. LONDON .. LONDON
The vibrancy, the endless nights, the copious amounts of alcohol, the social network, home.
It was my premise that instead of drinking every night and remembering the world in a fuzzy haze and not actually absorbing the sights and indulging in the beauty of the world around me. I would come to this hemisphere and I would in my most dignified and refined way dreamily wander the landscapes, marvel at the architecture and works of art, bask in the glory of a tumultous history.
Then I stopped being a tourist. I moved into the Bishop-Cook residence on Barnesdale Rd. and I commenced work as a retail cockroach ... I say cockroach not because my features at all represent the aforementioned insectoid. (Actually ... question ... does anyone know why the cockroach was invented? If it was some divine creation by the Lord, was he on crack at the time?) Back on track ... no I'm not a cockroach but I certainly was a Christmas casual retail s***kicker that had the wonderful task of asking every customer, their wife, son, daughter, surrogate child, dalmation dog, alturistic pet robot if they needed a hand that day. To be greeted with the "f*** off glare" or the "I'm a lonely lost Londoner shopping for the whole damn family listen to my issues and embrace my darkness beam".
Superficial complaints aside, it was a fantastic time because after living in the life of a novel tourist, to find a routine and consistency, it was more than pleasant. That and I found a whole new social network of friends that are responsible for many questionable acts and situations, but are a grand entourage of characters.
To be brutally honest with the readers of this said blog, this current period of the trip has nothing of great historical importance, no life-changing emotional experiences. I literally assumed the role of a Londoner, and perfected my route of home to work to pub to any location where I passed out. Bricklayers the local alehouse to my place of employment become a homely and familier setting. And I am now more than certain my threshold for alcohol which ... boastfully I feel was considerable in the first place ... now ... could knock out an Ox, if I were to ever go drinking with an Ox that is.
The thing I can say, the aspect that I have thought about is that I was or I am incredibly comfortable in the surroundings of London. I have a wonderful social network and a different lifestyle. I love the idea of jumping into a completely new life and being Iskandar Sharazuddin to a whole new group of people. Understandably if the circumstances were different I could find myself staying in this enveloping city for an indefinite future. There is definitely a return not far away.
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