One may as well begin with . . .

My name is Andrew Lucchesi. I'm always uncertain, in situations like these, how much introductory information is really necessary. Clearly, it's important for you to know what you're getting into with my blog, if indeed you decide to get into it at all.

For the entire four years of my undergraduate education I kept an online journal, totaling some five hundred entries. More than anything, that journal functioned for me as a social tool--to connect with my peers also on the journal--and as a forum to sort myself out mentally. For that reason, it broke down into nothing but to-do lists half the time, and mindless prattle the other half. There were some really good posts in there, I think, but its function wasn't eloquence or brilliance: it was a tool for dealing with life, and a useful one, especially in the first few years.

In the last few months I've been through a number of dramatic changes. I can't say that they weren't all for the better, but still, any upset of the rhythm of life is jarring. In May I graduated from college. By the end of May, I had reduced my possessions down to two suitcases full of clothes, and four small boxes of books (down from twenty-four). By the beginning of June, I had moved out of my little apartment in Tacoma, Washington, and begun a summer of couch surfing with my closest friends in Seattle--one, a pair of former classmates also about to pack up and move away (Nathan to Philadelphia, Daniel to Germany), the other an old friend whom I once kept in my campus apartment for a number of months, against all rules. By the middle of June I had a very boring, but well paying, part-time job. By August I was saying goodbye to all of my friends. By the middle of August, I was packing up two entire homes into a twenty-six-foot moving truck, and driving it three thousand miles from Seattle to Philadelphia, only to unpack it there into two separate apartments. By the end of August, I was staying in my parents' basement in Washington D.C., and reading everything in sight to keep sane. By September, I was on a plane to London. And by today, I have been living in the U.K. for ten days.

I am entering into a masters' program at King's College London in English literature. My focus in the program is on contemporary literature (from about 1850 to today), and I have about fifteen peers working on the same program; I will be working for about a year. A few days ago we all got to meet one another for the first time--not just the fifteen of us, but all eighty people getting an M.A. from the English department, some of the PhD students, and the professors. I managed to take a picture somewhere half through the night, in the pub many of us went to (both professors and students) once the snack and wine reception was finished:
The shorter pint belongs to a Ph.D. student named Brian; the taller one to another Ph.D. student named Jamie; the wine glass and arm belong to Sam, my identical twin in terms of classes; and the empty one belongs to me. I think this was drink number four or five, and was soon followed by two other rounds that my new friends bought me. The professors were in the booth behind us, and I can only imagine the impression they got of us.

I also had occasion to take a few other pictures, these of my living spaces here in London. Since they are where I'll be spending most of my time, they are probably worth a quick mention. This is home:
This is the Maughan Library, the student library for King's College, Strand Campus. As a humanities student, surely I only need to access a small portion of this gargantuan building, but still, finding only a handful of books, I moved through no less than three floors, twenty seperate rooms, and miles of bookshelves. The fact of the matter is, I study in a castle, and that it's going to take a very long time to adjust to the environment.

The other place where I'll be spending much of my time, as I have already begun to, is here:
That is the British Library, England's largest public research library. I have already spent around eight hours there, and will undoubtedly be spending many, many more. Whatever they don't have at the first library, I can surely find here.

And finally, the place where I sleep. My flat is in university housing, about half an hour away from both of these libraries (or campus, for that matter). Here is a picture of my cell:
My flat is small. Very, very small. Still, it's very inexpensive, and will function fine while I'm here. More than anything, it's good encouragement to get out of my room and get to work, or go see the town.

I'm going to finish up with one last set of photos. These, I feel, make the flat situation, and the amount of library time well worth it. Here is my campus:

This is the Summerset House, which my campus shares a building with. More importantly, here is London, as seen directly to the right and left of my campus:
This, for the next year, is my home.

In this blog, I'm going to try to narrow down the content a bit from my previous journals. Every week, or as near as I can manage to my weekly goal, I will be posting something on this journal. About half the time, it will be something more general--something about London, something about me, perhaps some pictures, maybe a play review. The other half of the time I want to talk about literature. I'm doing more reading right now than I ever have before, and I want a forum to write about it in a way that is not quite as academic as I am used to, but still interesting for literature folks and lay persons alike. Between those two sides, you can expect a post from me every week, and I will try not to disapoint.

Please leave me comments, or get in touch with me personally through my e-mail or through Facebook. If you are interested in reading though my previous journal, you can find it at http://anythingelse6.livejournal.com . It makes for an interesting read every now and then, especially to see how far I've come.