Sunday, March 18, 2007

Los Angeles > London | Part III of Driving to London

I awoke early Saturday morning to shower and gather my things together. The concierge had hired a car for me, and it was to arrive at 6:30am. Too early for breakfast — too early for much of anything — but the drive was pleasant and fast. My driver and I chatted along the way, which made the trip all the more of both.

A quick check-in (I never have more luggage than a single carry-on), and I was boarding... and from there, I can't much remember what happened when — or on which leg of the journey. Of the trip East, I remember a delay in Chicago due to a storm in New York that kept me from making it to church in London. I also remember Felecia joining us in Chicago — an engaging, lively, and beautiful woman on her way (via a short holiday in London) to South Africa to complete a Fullbright Scholarship... and I remember spending two hours (TWO HOURS!) in customs upon arriving at Heathrow.

But the rest, well, I can't recall exactly.

Some time during my trip — Los Angeles to London, or the other way around — I saw Little Miss Sunshine, which was a delight that brought me to tears and to laughter a few times — and whose soundtrack I've since purchased and listened to many times. I saw The World's Fastest Indian, which was wonderful and which reminded me of home and friends who had been extras in it (part of it was shot in Utah). I saw Marie Antoinette... which would have been twice as good had it been just a little bit shorter. I saw pieces of Man of the Year, and agreed with the assessment of one reviewer who said it was Wag the Dog minus the insightful political commentary. And I saw Running with Scissors, which somehow held my full attention despite being filled with unlovable characters and suffering from a pace which could only be described as glacial. It did, however, sport a wonderful sound track — which I also purchased upon my return home.

And that's it: a fog of memories at 36,000 feet, interrupted by bags of peanuts, orange juice, and two perfectly horrendous in-flight "meals". The strange thing in all of this, is that I love to fly... and loved my flights… I just can't recall why.

Next Stop: The Flat!

7 comments:

callie said...

do you have any tips or howtos for uploading video clips? it seemed simple enough but i can't figure out what i'm doing wrong. it uploaded successfully, then gave me the code/html to copy and paste into my post...hmmmm...

a very confused callie

Silus Grok said...

Let me take a look at what you did... see what happened. Give me a call today, and I can go over it with you.

: )

Loyalist (with defects) said...

"interrupted...(by)two perfectly horrendous in-flight "meals".

This, indeed, seems to be my standard experience with long distance flights.

I long for the days of steam trains and dirigibles. Where meals, good company, and the enjoyment of wonderful vistas is the style, not the "image" of travel.

Silus Grok said...

Indeed.

I love travelling by train... and have gone hot air ballooning on a number of occasions.

* le sigh *

Anonymous said...

thanks uncle silus! i would give you a nice slobbery kiss if you here...

Silus Grok said...

So glad I could help!

callie said...

Susie Q left you a message on our blog...just thought you'd like to know!