2.27.05

i am sitting in the main library at the university of edinburgh. it smells strange and is entirely depressing. luckily, everyone seems to be unable to operate macs, so things are relatively deserted in this lab. my mouth feels thick because i didn't bring any water in my bag. minutes ago, a girl with a pretty southern english accent asked me if i had a pound coin so she could add money to her print account. she gave me two fifty p coins in exchange; i like them because they look like half dollars, but in actuality are worth a dollar. dollar coins. i like the idea. change is more fun when it's worth something.

my feet hurt from all the walking i did with eli this weekend. walking and walking and walking. an hour or so ago i dropped him off at the station and saw him on his bus. it was clean, but they made you pay to use the bathrooms.

we had a good weekend. friday night we got take away from the cheap indian place behind the mosque; i purchased two more pillows and now have a total of five on my bed. i'll still wake up with a back ache every morning. we had two pints at greyfriar's, walked into the last drop and promptly walked out due to the fact that it was standing room only, and ended up at a more local place, the grassmarket pub. rounded out the night at favorit, belgian beer for him and belgian waffles with vanilla ice cream and maple syrup for me. that's the way to do it.

last night started badly and ended well. our dinner party of five grew into a party of nine; the place we were trying to eat, monster mash, is popular. it was 6.30 and the only time they could take us was 8.30; it was too much waiting for a hungry group of nine people who did not actually know each other. emily, brittany, angie, and brittany's two unknown friends went off to grassmarket in search of dinner. eli, sarah, vishala and i managed to actually get a table in sandy bell's (impossible) and had a pint while we waited. with a party of four, the 8.30 reservation turned into 7.45: there was much rejoicing. we had homemade sausage and whole grain mustard mash with fried ice cream for dessert. indulgent, loud, friendly, urban in there. like it.

we went down to grassmarket and worked our way into biddy mulligan's, one of the more stereotypically irish pubs around. emily and company were camped out in the back, already well on their way to drunk. eli got absolutely staggered at the price of a double jack and coke (about ten bucks) and i drank gin and tonics all night. eventually, brittany and her friends left in search of cheaper drinks at one of the student unions, and emily got giddily drunk. 1.30 found us drunk, sitting on a park bench near my building and eating chips with curry. we were looking out at the castle, not noticing the cold; lots of giggling. it was a solid, appropriate end to the night.

tonight, i will vacuum, cook dinner, and call everyone that i've been missing. i will snuggle down in my uncomfortable bed and comfortable pillows and read young, gritty new york novelists named jonathan (there's a lot of them). i am looking forward to it.

tuesday is march. hot damn.