It's REALLY pissing me off that my blog header picture has disappeared on me and the images on my site refuse to behave. I never professed to be an expert with these things and for the time being I can't be arsed, so I'll solve things the old-fashioned way: hope.

Days pass here happily but as far as my course goes, with a certain level of discomfort: I'm either doing sweet fuckall for my work and find myself bumming around for 4 days straight, or stressing in the library for 7 hours on end looking through [legal documents the details of which I won't even bore u with].

I watched Pan's Labyrinth yesterday which depressed me loads; ironically the older I get the more sensitised I get to sad, violent and tragic movies. In particular torture scenes just fucking kill me. Considering I come from a family of 4 doctors, my intolerance towards blood and pain is so laughable; I still remember running out of Passion of the Christ to sob my lungs out while my mercenary doctor brothers sat there without even flinching.

Not that Pan's Labyrinth is anywhere near that; in fact, the violence is mild relative to the horrible stuff these filmmakers seem to think we enjoy watching these days. I guess it's good to know that I'm not a total monster (maybe a wimp - still the lesser of two evils).

I've been throwing around promises of a grand July trip to London and NY to see everyone I love in those parts of the world and I really can't wait to make it happen. Some of the people who mean the most to me are there and dearly missed. I'm even being ambitious and entertaining stopovers at other locations - Paris, Belize, Bristol, Warwick, but clearly I won't have time for it all.

I can't wait to see everyone, but aside from that I think I miss Europe, MY Europe.

I miss Bristol cobblestones shiny with rain. I miss Rue Mouffetard in Paris lined with fresh Pain au Chocolat and spit-roast chicken. I miss coming fresh out of a tube station in London to marvel anew at a city at once so old and so cosmopolitan. I miss Venice, particularly when we'd hit a small quiet street and the sounds of the tourists disappeared. I miss free Paella and sexy tap-dancers in Barcelona. I miss weed and museums (everyone forgets that there ARE museums, and good ones) in Amsterdam. I miss lakes and rivers and morning jogs up the hills of the lake district. I miss people who kissed me unabashedly on both cheeks, anytime, every time.