The Old Smoke - a London series

I've always been drawn to the aura of big cities. There's something about the hustle and bustle of it all - the car horns blaring through the never-ending traffic; the steady hum of voices that seem to carry all the way up to the roof of the highest skyscrapers; the people, always having somewhere to go, something to do, someone to see. It's thrilling, isn't it?

London isn't a stranger to me. But I've never truly experienced the sentimentality of a place that practically drips with memories. Not my own, of course - aside from a few painful excursions with tour groups - but I want it to leave a mark on me. Not the other way around. I want to be embellished by what London has to offer. I want it to treat me like a project; an experiment, a shapeable, moldable figure that weathers the elements and comes out like a diamond that was once just sand.

I know I'm being overly ornamental with my words, but I'm determined to embrace my inner creativity that's dying to escape. North Carolina only holds so much for the writer and as picturesque as Chapel Hill is, I'm looking for something more. Hopefully this journey across the pond will give me what I want.

ak