Hey ho, I'm in Philadelphia. This is my first entry from a foreign (sort ot) country. So far, it's been a blast, though I must say, there is something to recommend flying even if it costs more, just because fifteen hours in travel time is a really, really, really long time to sit in a bus. Okay, so there were a couple of hours of stops thrown in, but you get the idea.

The first segment of the trip, from Toronto to Niagara Falls, Ontario, was greatly enjoyed thanks to the lovely Scottish fellow who sat with me. I met him in the line at the terminal and ask whether I could trust him to look after my things while I ran to buy snacks. His answer was, "I dennoo, cahn ye trust meh?" I just grinned and offered to buy him a snack too. Anyway, I came back and he said, "Ye really shoo not trust strange men," with a big smile. Instant friends ! We sat together and soon enough, the two hours were over and I had to wish him a good journey home, since after seven months of world travel, he was finally returning to Glasgow on Wednesday. He did offer that if I wasn't in a rush to get to Philly, I could stay and wander around Niagara Falls with him and take the night bus to New York (good travel company is hard to find, apparently) but I explained the cause of my journey and he understood my need for speed. We didn't exchange emails, which is sort of a shame as he was quite interesting, but if he ever stumbles on this log, GOOD LUCK, KEN !

I was, naturally, not even bothered at Customs. "You were born in New York State?" "Yes, I absolutely was." "Have a nice trip." Oh well, I'm not sure why it was disappointing, but it was a bit of a let down. I'd hoped for metal detectors or something, hell, even having one bag opened would have been somewhat fun. Shucks.

At Buffalo, I was horribly disappointed to discover that the greasy spoon I like, the one at the back of the terminal that ISN'T the official restaurant, closes at 3pm on Sundays, and naturally, it was 3:30pm when we pulled in. I had a flabby cheeseburger from the restaurant and then got back on the bus. It was suggested I ried the express to NYC, but I declined, as Megs was going to pick me up at 4am in Philly, and I could either sleep on a bus, or sit for four hours at the New York Port Authority. Uh. Ya. Anyway, it afforded me a scenic ride through the Finger Lakes, principally Geneva, where our neighbours at the cottage have a farm - it was a beautiful spot ! Also, I saw Ithica for the first time, and though dusk was setting in, it was still quite a lovely town, full of old, eccentric homes. I had been disappointed by the lame skater that had sat next to me from Buffalo to Ithica, but he got off there, and I had the pair of seats to myself for the rest of the trip into New York.

I slept a bit, on and off, though hardly in any decent way, but by the time we were an hour out of NYC, I woke up and there was no putting me to sleep again. I just got so excited to be gonig home, even if it was only through the Port Authority. I sat bolt upright, watching for that first glimpse of the skyline, and though I knew it would look... wrong, I was quite surprised when the tears rolled down my cheeks. It was that first glimpse, fleeting, over the top of a hill that did it, and when it rematerialised five minutes later, the shock was over. The sight of the city, my home, the greatest city in the world (in my opinion), so changed just by the lack of two buildings remains difficult to describe. Later, in Philly, I told Megan about it and she nodded and said that she felt that way every time she saw the skyline. The city itself was bustling, though, and the terminal was buzzing with thousands of people transfering to buses all over the continent. It was sort of amazing.

The line at the Philly gate afforded me another bonding experience, with a fellow named Vincent, who commutes every month back and forth to school in New Hampshir, from Little Rock, Arkansas. Amazing ! It seems, their masters programme in community development is ranked number one in the US, so he makes the 37 hour bus ride there, stays for three days, and the same bus ride back, monthly He'd fly, only he hates flying. He was quite interested in Canada's take on Bush's 'war' and while I'm not sure of the feelings of the entire country, I was able to tell him that many people were disturbed by the thought of Bush trying to take Canadian soldiers into Iraq, including the Prime Minister. I also explained that Canada hasn't fought active combat since Korea and we weren't entirely keen to be doing it now. We like being peace-keepers. He was very interested in politics and world issues, and his opinions on how communities must act in order to pull out of poverty were quite interesting. He did give me his email and I will write him. He was interesting.

On the bus to Philly, I conked out soundly for most of the trip, thankfully, and before I noticed, my Stephane Grapelli album had played two and a half times and we were pulling into the ctiy. Megan was there to pick me up (bless her !) and we went to the South St Diner. I ate scrapple. It's some sort or pork thing, and after much contemplation and thoughtful chewing, I realised it was a lot like a flat slab version of a Dutch crogeette. Needless to say, it was delicious and probably very bad for me. Yum ! We sat and talked over much coffee and finally, around 7am, she deposited me at Ben's house. I managed to get another hour of sleep (and had a GREAT dream about my mother being given this awesome job in Louisisana where she had to make this old plantation mansion into a viable resort in order to pay for it's renovation. The dream was in vivid 'technicolor' and was something of an Agatha Christie mystery crossed with "Showboat").

I woke up at 9am and dragged myself into the bathroom to change my clothes and make myself presentable in order to go to the Franklin Mint Museum for the Brom exhibition. I was sooooo excited ! We got there late, and I was worried we had caused anxiety to Anthony, but, as it turned out, he too, was substantially late. Let me just express here how FANTASTIC the exhibit was. It was full of his works over the last seven years, or so, up to 2001, and gave a varied spectrum of his talents. I admit that I envy him his talent. He is simply fantastic. What is even more amazing is that so much of his work comes straight out of his head, though it is clear he has studied form and figure, as well as looked at the past masters, and I don't just mean in his genre. He understands that veins show green and blue through translucent skin and that there is solidity beneath flesh. He uses light and shadow to great effect and has an innated understanding of the human figure - and not simply in a comic art sort of way. There was one piece where he'd drawn extensively on the PreRaphaelite tradition, only without the sugary romanticism, yet as evocative of a story as any "lady of Shalot" ever was.

Brom was there, himself, of course. There was much pressure from Anthony and Ally (sp?) - Ben's housemate, and Ben for me to talk to him. It's amazing how none of them thought that THEY should talk to him. Anyway, I finally dug up the courage, mostly because Anthony threatened to approach Brom himself on my behalf and went up to him. He automatically reached for the book of his art that I was holding, and I explained that I had come down from Toronto, Canada just to see this exhibition and meet him. He was pretty impressed with that. Heck, it even beat out the couple that had come from Montreal. They only had to travel 11 hours which is nothing compared to my 15 and a half ! I proceded to ask him some questions, including those on behalf of Ally who had managed to just barely avoid clamming up completely, and he answered readily. He did want to know how I'd heard about his exhibit and I said that it was through his webpage and he got all excited and started to talk about how he wanted to do more with it and he was slowly learning the webdesign programme that would allow him to take over the site himself. Anthony mustered up the courage to jump into the conversation, too, and the three of us had a rather animated discussion about the influences his work was having on industries beyond traditional illustration, etc., and we amassed a rather large group of people who were listening to the discussion. I did not have the nerve to ask him if I could send him some of my work, but his email is on the site and he does read it, so chances are, he'll remember the girl from Canada. He had lots of advice for us wee artists apsiring to his level and we lapped itup. And he signed my book in a most excellent way.

Anthony treated the three of us to lunch because we're poor and he isn't, and he remembers all too well the pain of artschool and the confusion that comes after. Anthony is a lovely guy and Ally and Ben thought so too. He also looked at our sketchbooks and gave us all good advice for what to do to improve our skills and portfolios. To Ben and Ally he said they HAVE to work from life, and from the masters, and he was disgusted at how little life drawing was offered at their school. To me he said that it was time I took some of the stuff in my book and start 'working it up'. I know what he means, and I will.

Anyway, now my two hosts have gone off to their evening classes and I'm going to phone my mom and then take a nap. There is a rumour we might play some D&D tonight, since I never go anywhere without my dice. Tomorrow, Megan and I (and maybe Terry) are going to hit the Archaeology Museum and have dinner. As for Wednesday, I'm not sure if I'll go to the Art Museum or to the Afro-American Art Museum. Maybe I'll do the former and save the latter for the next time I'm out, because there WILL be another time.