London with the Wiese Family

I had yet to see Tower Bridge during my visits to London.

This past Saturday I was reunited with my second family, the Wiese family, in London.
I took the first train into London to spend a full day with them.

I was greeted by Thorben at Euston Station at an early 8 am and we headed back to the hotel they were staying at. After a small breakfast of Nestea and croissants, Thorben, Valts, and I left to enjoy the sunny day. The weather promised to be sunny and hot all day-- just another day in the collection of great weather England has been having.

Thorben, Valts, and I headed to Tower Bridge first (they had done all their sightseeing the previous day).

The Underground was stuffier than usual due to the intense heat above ground. Fortunately I had dressed for the weather.

Once we finished our walk across Tower Bridge, we headed back up the Thames. We were in no hurry as we all really just wanted to enjoy the day.

Next stop on the list was to see Millennium Bridge, the site of the Death Eaters torment of Muggles in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Though in the film, Millennium Bridge is a representation of Brockdale Bridge.

At one end of the bridge sits the a reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and Tate Modern Gallery. Opposite sits the City of London School and rising above the other buildings, St. Paul's Cathedral.

The bridge is very interesting because of the swaying motion a pedestrian feels as they walk across. It is due in part to several factors such as the wind, trains, traffic, and pedestrians themselves. I particularly think it is an advanced and state of the art pedestrian bridge. It is definitely a neat design.

By the time we had crossed Millennium Bridge, the three of us were starting to get hungry. Thorben mentioned a sushi bar located behind St. Paul's Cathedral, but unfortunately it was closed for the day for renovation.

We put our budding minds together to find a way to locate other sushi restaurants. Our need was the internet so we went to the Apple Store at Oxford Circus. The closest sushi bar was a place called "So" which was located on Warwick Street just off of Regent Street. It received several positive reviews so we decided to try it out.

It did not disappoint!

So offers a wide range of Japanese dishes at reasonable prices. I ordered the Teriyaki Chicken which included sides of rice, soup and salad. I also couldn't prevent myself from ordering sushi. From the photo it looks like a small portion, but it is very filling and of high class for a good price.

After our meal, we headed back out to Oxford Circus to do a bit of shopping. Valts had had someone step on his sandal which ended up broken so he was looking for a new pair.

Since the day continued to remain sunny, Thorben's parents decided we should meet at St. James Park. It was a brilliant idea as I had not relaxed since the previous day.

Valts introduced me to a new card game that we all played called Wizard. Although I didn't really pick up on it, it was a nice family game to play in the shade.

The last thing on the agenda was to meet the boss of the practice that Susanne works at. He and his wife wanted to treat the Wiese family to a meal-- they extended their invite to me, which I am grateful for!

We met them at a Philippine cuisine restaurant called Josephine's. Again, it was a great quality of food. The main part of the entire day was to be reunited with the Wiese family as they all hold a special place and it always great to see them.

UNCG eNewsworthy

This past March, a representative from UNCG's IPC asked if I would write an article highlighting my time abroad and how hockey with the Manchester Metros has been a huge part of that. IPC knows of my interest in journalism and wanted to continue to give me opportunities to explore and improve on my fascination.

The article for eNewsworthy is the second article I have written this year. Earlier, UTB asked if I would illustrate the journey the Manchester Metros would take prior to leaving for the Czech Republic. The press release is highlighted on the UTB Hockey Team Facebook page and had parts translated into Czech for their local newspaper.

I include how the Metros prepared me for my study abroad experience, the duties that have bestowed upon me, the trip to Zlin, and other league highlights.

I am very grateful for all the opportunities I have been continually given to further my writing ability.

"Having the opportunity to study abroad is one thing, but it is an opportunity that needs to be fully seized. There is no better way of doing that than to be a part of club, or something you’re passionate about. To me, being abroad has been a lot about self-discovery, and I’ve learned a lot about myself through the Metros."

You can find the eNewsworthy article in its entirety at HERE.

Stains Poetry Collection

Photo Credit: C. Antico, 2012

Stains is the first poetry collection I have completed to date. It is comprised of poems written between January 2012 and April 2012 for my course, Poetry Workshop, at Manchester Metropolitan University. Outside of lyric writing for my hiatus band, Beneath Dying Embers, I really have no prior experience with poetry writing. Saying that, I did try to incorporate poetic devises while writing lyrics, but it was a secondary focus to the actual meaning.

The collection contains two sub-collections, the first is Three Nights in Czech Republic, which is a Frank O'Hara and John Ashbery influenced collection. It documents my trip to the Czech Republic with the Manchester Metros to play UTB Hockey Team in a journalist/diary feel and is quite sporadic in its occurrences.

Sub-collection two, Letters Home, is the gateway to the end of the main collection and is composed of four poems. Within this collection I have included a go at a dramatic monologue (III. Blumenthal's Belk Theater). II. Along the Riva is probably my favourite poem of the Letters Home collection. I believe it is the poem with the most depth. At first it reads like a basic setting, but when approached via a second read, it is the ONLY poem I consider to be a "love" or romantic poem within the entire collection. I purposely avoided this topic as most tend to be very cliche.

The title poem, "Stains" is a pretty humanistic poem. Upon its start, I had no intentions of it turning out the way it did. But I did enjoy creating a Shel Silverstein-esque poem. The qualities or characteristics of the poem are quite childish, but again, at further glance, it is a poem loitered with adult themes/issues.

Of the collection, "Elegy" happens to be one of my favourites. We had an accomplished poet, Adam O'Riordan visit and read to our class; he is also currently an instructor at MMU. He spoke of finding influence from different areas thru observation and this poem definitely falls underneath that umbrella.

As a first collection, and really a first attempt at poetry, I am very proud of how the poems finished-- from first draft to revising & editing, they've come a long way. I give a lot of credit to Graeme Roberts, a peer in my poetry workshop for his great editing advice. Not only was he applauding of the poems (even in draft form), he was critical in his tips to better the final product. Being able to balance the two is difficult, but Graeme was very helpful in both areas. A second thanks goes out to Louise Soothill who was also a tremendous help with the final poem in Three Nights in Czech Republic. It is difficult to be as surprising as her poems are so I turned to her expertise for advice to add "spice" to the poem.

And finally, a HUGE thanks to my tutor, poet, Jean Sprackland, who without taking her course, I would not have had an opportunity to build creative writing techniques within poetry. Also, Stains would not have been compiled as a final grade collection!

You may view Stains in its entirety HERE.

"I watch the sea lap softly against the harbor wall, my fingers
complacent against the warm stone as if pressed to your hands."

Notations: Objectivist, not confessionalist.