i've been a miner for a heart of gold

last month, i read eight different books (excluding the ones i had to read for uni). i think that is an all-time high, and i am quite proud of myself. the book i enjoyed most was notes from a small island - everything bill bryson wrote about britain seemed to coincide perfectly with my own emotions. i nearly cried when i read this (explaining his favourite view near his house in yorkshire):it looked so peaceful and wonderful that i could almost have cried, and yet it was only a tiny part of this small, enchanted island. suddenly, in the space of a moment, i realized what it was that i loved about britain - which is to say, all of it. every last bit of it, good and bad - old churches, country lanes, people saying "mustn't grumble" and "i'm terribly sorry, but," people apologizing to me when i conk them with a careless elbow, milk bottles, beans on toast, haymaking in june, seaside piers, ordinance survey maps, tea and crumpets, summer showers and foggy winter evenings - every bit of it.of course, that passage is an overwhelming generalisation. the rest of the book is not like that, so i don't want anyone to get the impression that bryson has idiotic ideas about britain. it's easy to feel that way when you know you're leaving, and especially after you leave. every one of my 'last nights' in britain has been emotional and teary-eyed, which is the precise reason i keep going back there. no other place has ever done that for me.yesterday, i was in the attic and discovered an old manual camera. you know, the kind that you have to focus yourself. i brought it to a camera shop, and the man there gave me an enthusiastic hour-long lesson on how to use the thing (which was actually enjoyable and helpful). so, i bought a roll of slide film, which will hopefully produce some good photographs. i wish i still had brian for a subject. also in the attic, i found my photo album from high school, and, to be completely superficial, i cannot believe the ugly clothes i used to wear. it's shocking. i also look crazy in every photograph. i will try to scan some of them soon.i bought a scandinavia travel guide last week, and i spent most of the week planning my dream holiday to scandinavia. i'm odd like that. the journey consists of plate tectonics in iceland, norwegian fjords, and dala horses. and elsinore (in denmark) to see the castle from hamlet. if i had the time or money, i would also go to estonia, finland, and st petersburg. this is all fantasy, mind you, but it would be the best holiday ever, and i'm hoping for at least one part of it this summer.