7/7 - A day at home

What I did:

I pulled the screen thing over the window in my room last night so that the sun would not rudely awake me at 6am again this morning and not make it really hot so that I cannot comfortably go back to sleep after being woken up. I found out that it worked when I finally got out of bed at about 10am. I tried the cereal weetabix this morning, which for the American readers are these large whole grain cereal bars that soften up under milk. I always wondered why this and not normal cereal, and how to eat them, so after talking to Matt about it last night, I decided to give it a go. It’s a bit different from Lucky Charms, and although not bad, I can’t say I am completely sold (they just get soggy too fast and I am not a soggy cereal kind of guy).

I made a list of things to do today, all online, which basically involves planning the rest of the week. I have different places to go every day, so I will have little time to get everything together again for the next day, and since I had a free day today, I figured it would be good to think ahead a little. So I spent pretty much all morning and afternoon doing that. It was another rainy day for most of the day, so I didn’t feel too bad about just staying in.

After doing about all I could (or at least all I could stand) on the planning side of things, Matt and Rachel got back and we all watched Seven Pounds. It was good to watch it through a second time, being able to better understand all that is happening. I still have a few problems with the film (like why do they have to be ‘good people’? the fact that he is doing it out of guilt, the abandonment of real relationship), but ultimately I do like it, especially in how it shows that life is not necessarily the ultimate thing to live for (haha, I just realized how weird that sounds, but maybe you can get what I mean), how powerful it is, especially as a slow-moving, non-action packed film.

We had some tasty dinner while watching a show about some place that helps rehabilitate animals, then I had the house to myself for a little while I cleaned up. I eventually picked up a book Matt gave me yesterday. It is by the author Bill Bryson, who apparently is American born but lived in England for a long time. He is a travel writer and at the point of this book (which is about America) he had moved back to the States. I only read a little and it was pretty funny, especially some stuff about baseball and how ridiculous Americans can be. One thing I found very interesting though is this: (Speaking of American post offices) “Here there are never any queues and you are in and out in minutes” (Bryson 42). Now, I don’t know his experience of US post offices, and I understand I have no experience in British ones (which I am sure a terrible), but I know that that statement is far from accurate in my minimal experiences of the US post office. I can recall standing in “queue” for an excess of 30 minutes at times in the relatively small town of Sherman waiting for a simple sheet of stamps. And no one is ever happy to see you. Nevertheless, I am sure there are worse things, and perhaps his comment applies well to his own local post office.

I also got to experience a warm cup of Matt’s delicious hot chocolate. He told me before I drank it that he makes good hot chocolate and that people sometimes come over just for it. A little bold to make such claims before even letting me try it, but it held up to its lofty reputation. I thought it was very good and deserves at least twice as many stars as Empire gave Seven Pounds. While enjoying this rich cup of chocolatey goodness (which brought me back to my days of having a cup every night a couple of years ago) I got caught up reading some of my friends’ blogs. A good way to finish off the night.

What I learned:

My bum does not particularly like sitting in the same place for more than a couple of hours, even if it is a comfy couch.

I don’t think I could fully get into Bryson’s work, but it was nice to have a reprieve from any serious reading and I do think it is really good to have stuff like this to read through every now and then that is just enjoyable and fun to read through.

I get so caught up in my own trip, that I too quickly forget that all my friends are having amazing and notable summers of their own. It is good remembering that I have forgotten to keep up with them though, so that now I will hopefully not forget again.

I just realized how appropriate it was to watch Seven Pounds today (July 7). If that is not a coincidence, it is well thought out by someone who picked out the movie.

I really do feel 'at home' here now. I feel less and less a guest in a strange house; unfortunately this is most likely my last night here.