My Buddy Dave

Well I’m sufficiently behind on this blog, that’s really all there is to say! I’m going to do my best to recount all of my experiences that I have had over the past 11 weeks and hope that in the next 24 hours, I can do some serious damage on the weeks that are absent. To those of you that don’t know, my computer crashed about five weeks ago, part of the reason why my blogs slowed and eventually stopped for the last two weeks.

            After the Norwich trip, life got a whole lot less exciting… Most of that had to do with the fact that we had to turn in two papers this week. We all struggled through and I think that the greatest reward that I got was being able to meet David Lloyd, though this did lead to more procrastination. David Lloyd is the artist for the graphic novel V for Vendetta. Most of you probably thought that it was just a movie, but in fact it is an amazing “comic” book that has amazing illustrations. Dave (we’re on a first name basis now) came and talked to our class about his experience with V and basically his entire life history, which was very interesting. I knew we would get along when he walked into the room, sat down and pulled out a Beck’s and asked for a glass. Not only was a speechless because someone so famous was in front of me, but now I had to hold back the impulse to laugh.

            Dave never went to art school, which is insane if you see a sample of his work or if you have ever read V. Those of you interested in reading the book or just looking at the art, I will be bringing my signed edition of the book home with me, don’t worry! He has had a very interesting life and he feels lucky to have worked with somebody as famous as Alan Moore, the co-author of V and also the author of From Hell. From Hell is the story of Jack the Ripper, in a graphic novel… Let me just say, that’s not a book you want to read on a rainy day if you are feeling the slightest bit sad. My professor assigned us Hawksmoor, From Hell and King Lear all at the same time, the most depressing reading combination ever!

            Anyways, I digress, back to Dave. He spoke to us for about two hours, the entire time keeping my attention since I was fascinated that he was such a good artist and he was completely self-taught. After the lecture, Dave, my professor and two other students from my class went down to the local pub for a pint. He bought us all a beer and we started having a life chat. After two pints and an hour and a half conversation, I unfortunately had to go home since we were having guests over to the house at home. As we went to thank him for the pints, he gave us a big hug and kissed us on both cheeks. My friend Emily and I ran out of the pub “fan-girl” giggling all the way to the Tube.

            When I finally made it home, I got to meet two of the girls that are here with the semester program. They share the AHA building with us and I believe there are about 20 students in their program. These two girls are living down the street with one of Alice’s friends so we had them over for tea and crumpets. Actually there were no crumpets, just cookies, or biscuits as they are called here. It was a lovely evening, but it just meant that yet again, I put off my papers until even later in the night! But it was okay, because once those papers were done, it meant that I got to head to Scotland with some friends!