Day 28: A Beautiful Mess!

Rachel's sporadic laughter as she sits, reading on the couch; the sounds of sarah's fingertips clicking away at her laptop; the buzz of the cars passing below, and the occasional jet; the crunch of potato chips: an odd assortment of instruments, working together to create the luxuriously lazy tune of a tuesday afternoon.

Yes, well... wasn't that poetic?

Today has been glorious, (despite the early 7:00 start, which made me wary). We spent the morning at the Tower of London-- more of a museum than a fortress, really, but quite enjoyable still. One of my favorite features, architecturally speaking, were the windows. Now, I admit, that isn't surprising, seeing as how I've always had a fetish for windows. (Big windows, Bay windows, window seats, shuttered windows, and of course, stained glass). But these windows were intriguing. There were some very skinny, very tall rectangular ones, set back into deep crevices in the walls, which I suppose were constructed with defense measures in mind. And then there were great, massive windows with intricate moldings, and ivy encroaching on their view. I liked the wavy, hand made window panes. And the heavy, black iron latches and bars. I kept stopping to look out windows, and I'm sure I don't know why-- but that I liked to look at them.

Then there were the staircases. Big, spiraling things. I climbed up and down these tight curling steps, feeling as though I'd stepped into a sea shell. Someday I'm going to have a spiral staircase. And I'll dress up nights, just for fun, so I can walk down the stairs and feel my dress draping after me, sliding from step to step.

They have these gigantic Ravens there... I mean they clip their wings and feed them and everything. Why, you ask? Well, according to legend, as long as the Ravens are at the London Tower, England can't be conquered. The things are absolutely MASSIVE. They eat several pounds of raw meat every day, and a raw egg, as well as a rabbit once a week! Let me tell you, I sure wouldn't want to get into a fight with one of those birds. They're bigger than most cats.

We saw the crown jewels of England, which includes the biggest diamond in the WORLD. It's called the African Star. And it was very very... big. And sparkly. And quite nice. But it seems to me that the English have this awful habit of taking other countries things. ... I mean, there's that diamond from Africa. And I was looking at the coronation sword, and it's got thistles and clovers ALL OVER it. (Scottish? Yes.) They stole bunches of stuff from the Scots. (But ironically, they DIDN'T get the actual Stone of Destiny, which is a funny story, so you should ask me about it later). Anyway, you'd think the English could find their own cool stuff. But apparently not. ;)

Among other things, I saw this GIGANTIC shotgun... it was almost eight feet long, and I still can't fathom how anybody could have actually used it. And a real honest to goodness wooden lance... those things are also huge. Lots of armor... lots of swords... lots of guns... not a lot of torture stuff, strangely. Carvings on the walls from past prisoners, which was cool. And even an indoor toilet! Which was a bench, with a hole, that went straight outside. Gross. And can you imagine the draft you'd get during the winter??

Throughout the exhibits there were things missing, here and there, and we found out why at 12:00 noon. The Queen brought parliament into session today, and she had to use some of the things that were on display to do it. And, lucky for us, they did a 12 round salute at the Tower to signify the event! We got to watch those great big guns with their gaurds, firing huge blanks into the sky, making ear splitting, rumbling bangs, and spewing smoke into the air. Impressive? Quite.

Well after that was over, we headed to the British Library. The stacks at the Library are closed, so you must be a member to see any books, or check anything out. So, why even bother going? Well... it just so happens that the British Library has a treasure trove of special documents on display...

Today, I saw, with my very own eyes, in person...

*Jane Austen's writing desk
*The original manuscript of Jane Eyre
*The earliest surviving manuscript of Beowulf
*A handwritten Wordsworth poem
*Handwritten works from Oscar Wilde and Virginia Woolfe
*The original, handwritten manuscript to HANDEL'S MESSIAH
*Handwritten music by Beethoven, Mozart, Hayden, and Schubert
*Shakespeare's first folio
*The original Alice in Wonderland manuscript
*Pages from Leonardo Davinci's notebook
*One of the first Gutenburg Bibles
*The Magna Carta
AND....

*Handwritten Beatles lyrics!!!

AHHH!! I think that all of my wishes and dreams really ARE coming true! Portobello Road, and now this! ... I stood there, five inches away from John Lennon and Paul McCartney's own handwriting. Seriously.

A Hard Day's Night, on the back of a birthday card.
Michelle, on the back of an envelope.
Yesterday... Ticket to Ride... I Want to Hold Your Hand... Help!
Even unpublished songs, one of them by George Harrison, written on the back of a sheet with directions to their publisher's house in Sussox.

There they were. Just... sitting there. Under the glass. The actual pieces of paper where The Beatles music first found an outlet into the real world... where they first put pen to paper...

So. Freaking. Cool.

And you know what the best part was? They were just as messy and crossed out and written over and doodled on as MY lyrics! I noticed that with all of the handwritten manuscripts, notes, and music... from every author... there were always changes, scribbles, chickenscratch, and mindless drawings... One sheet of music was half completed, and then turned into pictures of a cartoonistic man in a hat... with the words penned at the bottom, "waiting for the third symphony..."

It was a bonding moment with all the artists of the ages. We're all messy in the midst of the creative process, but so is life! And in the end, hopefully, you can make something beautiful out of the mess.

***

Oh, and just a quick PS... A tree fell on our trampoline back home.