A Work in Progress

Oh, how gullible I've become. Fuelled by having friends willing to go to the gym with me, I agreed to take a class with them. Yeah, the kind where techno music is blaring while an overly-energetic leader shouts things at people. And of course, loads of public embarrassment. Oh, and don't forget the mirror lined walls so we can all see how awesome we are. The class we chose to experience first was called 'body combat' which to me was equally intriguing and amusing. Right off the bat, the annoying remixes were playing and the guy in charge was shouting something indecipherable and it seemed like everyone there knew what was going on except for me. I was shamefully brought back to 9th grade show choir and my pathetic attempts to not participate. If I had not been 14 when I joined that choir, I might have been good. But instead I was a brainless idiot who thought, wrongly again, that I was being civilly disobedient in just not giving a crap. Really, I was just lazy...

What is with those people on the street who are representing reputable charity like organisations, but are constantly bothering everyone? You can spot them from a block away, wearing brightly color coordinated t-shirts or jackets. And it's like spotting an ex coming toward you on the street; suddenly panic stricken and shouting 'Oh, my God!' before spinning around to seek an alternative route around them. But sometimes, it's too late. You've been spotted. Eye contact has been made. Your grimace has been greeted with a bright smile and there's no time to turn and run. I usually pretend I am in a hurry (suddenly) but even that doesn't work. Whatever you're in a hurry for 'this will only take a minute.' “Sorry, I'm in a hurry...” “Oh, this will only take a minute.” “Actually, I'm in labor. Can't you tell? Hoo-Hoo Hee-Hee” “My house is on fire.” “I'm late meeting my birth mother for the first time.” “But I'll take only a m...

I will admit it. I watched American Idol this year. That's unusual for two reasons. Firstly, I've never watched a whole season before. It's usually boring after everyone isn't being made fun of anymore. Secondly, I had to go to a special effort to see it in this country. But that is far beside my point. I was checking up on my favorite, Mamasox, (quit doing that supid contractually obligated tour and cut an album!) and stumbled upon a picture of her new tattoo . No, this blog will not turn into Ugliest Tattoos (always gives me a laugh! and makes me reevaluate my assesment of mankind). But her tattoo is on the inside of her wrist and, very stylishly informs me that she is a type 1 diabetic. And, by stylishly, I mean with a bit of a flourish, a caduceus with a hypodermic, and even a star of life! I am the target audience for this tat. I'm torn between loving this and hating it. It is rather informative and would help cut to the chase in an unconscious person...

A few days ago, Andy stopped over for a visit on his way to Greece. Shout out! He came to visit sunny Coventry and then we headed down to London for a night on the town. We had dinner in Leicester Square then double- decker bussed it over to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to see Wicked. It was a very clever and great show that made me want to a. reread that book and b. sing loudly and proudly as much as possible. It seems like such an awesome job to sing like that every day. There are some amazing voices in that show, wow. Great costumes and set design too, but what do I expect from a proper west end show? Of course the costumes and sets and voices were good! I do wonder what L. Frank Baum would think of it. In the morning, Andy left at some un -Godly hour, and I slept until a more reasonable time before heading to the London Transport Museum. I have just a minor obsession with the London tube which makes this museum awesome. From the beginnings of public transport to how ...

I have been anticipating a 3rd Toy Story installment since rumours of one began back in, probably 2000, during the Disney/ Pixar rift. When I learned that it was actually made and going to come out last year I was embarrassingly excited. I am kind of surprised that I didn't camp out to see it, but there isn't much point when you can prebook cinema seats. (Or just walk in on the day, because the rest of the world is not as excited nor has demanded a midnight showing). Anyway, after waiting an extra month to see it here in the UK (thanks, whoever!) I have now seen it in 2D and 3D and basically it's fantastic. I mean, no unplanned 3rd movie has been so good (take a lesson Pirates 3). It was my first 3D experience and really for this, didn't seem to make much of an impact. It was beautifully animated without it, but the 3D is pretty cool. (I couldn't help but think of the novelty of the cultural arts programs we had in school that were about 3D. Awesome then, ...

I had intended to have the rest of the vacation posts written by now, but dear old lappy broke. With much joy I can report there is life in her yet! We're also running windows 7 which I am still, mere hours later, undecided about. But it's a change. I feel like an old mare set in her ways, unable (more likely, unwilling) to change. I'm sure that my computer usage can be as adaptive as the rest of me. (but why can't I make my start bar anything but blue!?) I've also found, after trying hard to get into it, that I am having a hard time getting out of vacation mode. My mood probably has something to do with feeling in the home stretch of this WAP which truly fills me with mixed emotions. In the last two days I have felt appallingly sorry for myself (again!) watched too much TV and ate just enough ice cream. Also in this time I have had the first glimmer of communication from my dissertation supervisor. After three emails of increasing irritation and panic, ...

Seeing my parents off while I stayed in the station was one of the hardest things I've done here. We had settled so well back into our usual travel mode, that it was very surreal to not be going home with them. Now again immune to the embarrassment of crying in public, I stood in the tube station for a few minutes before donning sunglasses, popping in the elitist headphones and heading back into the city. It was pretty much decided that ice cream was in order when I remembered that C and I had stumbled across a Chipoltle which I found shocking and incredible and nearly had me licking the windows on the way past. So, I decided that an overpriced burrito was in my immediate future. But where was that? I attempted to retrace my steps for about 45 minutes before seeing it in the distance like a shining beacon of hope. I practically jogged there and excitedly waited in line, ordered my usual carnitas bowl and even got a diet coke. A-Mazing. I was renewed. Now, I think I'm r...

I am sitting here with my travel journal wondering where to start. I have doubled its used pages in the last month. I guess the beginning is always an effective launch point. My parents were meant to visit in April and were interrupted by a little ash cloud problem. The boyfriend had always meant to come in June, and it worked out that he would arrive in early June, and stay for two weeks. My parents booked their flights to arrive the day after he went home, like two jet planes passing in the night. This was a brilliant situation and at the very least saved me a trip to London. Because I love planning, I immediately began sorting everything out, booking hotels, hostels, ferries, hire cars, and train tickets like nobody's business. Then, all I had to do was wait. I remained no more than cautiously optimistic about the whole thing because I knew it would be difficult to take another disappointing blow and I wasn't going to believe in any of it until I saw it. The morning...

I have been travelling around this glorious rock for the last four weeks and will (after a proper lie-in) sort it all out on the blog. From London to Skye and many places in between; over 1200 miles driven, and many more covered in trains, boats, kayaks and on foot, it's been a weird and wonderful time. Nothing beats familiar faces in, well, familiar places. Hours of planning, months of anticipation, and hours of terrified driving were all worth it, and I can only hope that the blog reflects my warm, happy, and exhilarated feelings I have for this country and my loved ones.

I'm proud to ride the tube today.

It's about time I used that line! The parents and I managed to navigate through central Manchester and return the car without incident! Woot! What a relief that is. In Manchester we visited the museum of science and industry which didn't fail to impress. We trained it to Coventry and it felt very good and weird to be home. We were just in time for the Godiva Festival, and we watched the colorful and impressive parade go by before walking to the park to see just what this festival was all about. Oh, and by the way, Lady Godiva was a. fully clothed (not even pretending to be naked) and, b. in a car. I mean seriously?! We can do better. I'll grow my hair out and be ready by next years parade. Bring me a white horse. The festival was pretty fun and there were so many people there! Way to come out, Coventry. They had plenty of carnival rides and games, drunk teenagers, and local crafts. Not to mention some good food stands. A great day out. The next day we went ba...

As far as I can tell, Carlisle is nothing but one way streets in the direction no one wants to go and strange parking rules. Well, it also has a cool cathedral, but who doesn't?! Their cathedral originally dates back to the Normans, built in 1122. I mean, seriously? Then in the 13th century they did a little DIY refurbishment which increased its size and kind of made it not line up properly. It survived the reformation, but during the civil war Oliver Cromwell and his mates decided it would be a good idea to tear down half of the Norman part, leaving the cathedral an unusual shape and quite a bit smaller. But, it is still pretty magnificent, quite a beautiful place and a very interesting history, once we found someone who could explain why the aisle didn't line up properly. Near Carlisle, is the Birdoswald Roman Fort (that's 'bird-oswald' as opposed to 'birdos-wald' like I was saying), where the longest complete section of Hadrian's Wall is. Back ...

There are a few places when mentioned to some English, causes them to get a wistful, faraway look in their eyes and smile dreamily. The Yorkshire Dales is one of these places. 'Oh, the dales!...' they'll say before composing themselves long enough to tell you that there's no way to see it all in one day. Indeed not! But we tried to see as much as we could. We started in Grassington. What a lovely little town. Oh, the dales are also a place that cause me to overuse the words 'lovely' and 'charming' but seriously, there are no better adjectives for it. We stopped liberally, which meant pulled over a lot, because there is no shortage of lovely views, but there is a shortage of safe places to pull over and enjoy them. The hills got higher, sheep more cheeky, and the ammount of dry stone walls was incredible. It's like the dry stone wall salesman came to town, for real! We stopped in Hawes to go into the Wendsleydale Creamery. Cheese, Cheese, Cheese...

In the morning after exploring the metropolis of Dalton, we drove to Ripon , where their cathedral is home to some of the finest miseracords and other wood carvings I've seen. England's oldest crypt is an exciting stop on the tour, dating to the Normans. Lewis Carroll's father was a canon in this cathedral, and some of the carvings are though to have been inspiration for Alice, including a rabbit escaping down his hole. Well, that and pot. Yet another great cathedral. We lunched and headed to Fountains Abbey. We thought Whitby Abbey was a ruin, hell, that ain't no ruin! Fountains is absolutely enormous, and was also home to a monastic order that was dissolved during the reformation. Since then it has, well, sort of fallen down a bit, and is now under the care of the National Trust. It's a very cool place to visit and explore. Photographers have wasted away there looking for that perfect shot. Well, they probably wasted away because they got lost in there a...

I really liked Whitby. The curator at the Captain Cook museum there had an interesting necklace on that was a small picture of Whitby Abbey. We asked her about it and she explained, 'I don't travel very far but my mother always told me that if you can't see the Abbey, then you are lost. So she gave me this so I could travel more.' I really loved this small town sentiment. And how awesome is a town that you'd want to carry a piece of it around with you everywhere? Well, very awesome, it turns out. Well, maybe it didn't have any more or less than any number of seaside towns in the UK; an old church, beach, lifeboat, water, crappy novelty stores, gambling. But it must have caught me on a good day. I can be bought with sand, sun, and a good fish and chips. Whitby has charm. Despite all the usual beachy stuff, the town exuded charm. We visited the abbey in the morning, and that is simply beautiful. A bit drafty, but lovely, and old! 13 th century buildin...

The crushing disappointment at the lack of Viking bones at Stamford bridge did not leave us in despair. We headed to Yorkshire Lavender, which is a lavender farm where one can go and smell lavender, and stock up on lavender products. Yes, I am seeing how many times I can put lavender in a sentence. It was a bit strange, but a lovely place and if you ever need lavender jam or lavender honey or lavender soap or lavender clothes or lavender candles of every shape and size. Five! A new record. I am happy to report that I have kind of figured out how 'rock' is made, and how they get those tiny letters in the candy sticks. It isn't actually magic or oompa-loompas, or other height deficient people with very small pens, but it is still insane. I can't even describe it to you really, but know that all rock, which ends up being a stick of candy about an inch or less in diameter, starts its life out as a huge, 3' long, 1' wide piece of freshly minted sugar. The letters st...

I expected it to feel strange to have people from home visit me here, and it surely did. I absolutely could not believe what I was seeing when I saw two baggage laden, jet-lagged tourists standing curiously outside of a tube station in central London. They weren't just any tourists, with their heads swivelling around, taking in the sights and scanning the growing crowd. They were the tourists I'd been looking for since April, and there they were, right where they were supposed to be. There was no one in that city happier than I was. After Mom got the next picture in the series of me crying in public, we spent an hour at the National Gallery before boarding the train to York. When we were first planning this trip, York was the place that I enjoyed the most of those I'd seen, so, to York we went. Well, and it was convenient to the few things that they had requested to see. In the afternoon, we wandered the charming streets of York and got to the Minster just in time for ...

It was a bit strange playing tour guide in my own town, but I enjoyed it. For the first time since they started charging admission I visited the cathedral and was pleasantly surprised by the changes they've made. There was also a wonderful display of pictures from Afghanistan in the 70's that was touching and frustrating. I'm very happy to report that in my absence, they removed the scaffolding from the ruins, and now they look great. Well, they're still ruins. And how could I take anyone to Coventry and not go to the transport museum? I constantly underestimate the size of the place, and it too has changed a bit since my last visit. I'm proud at its Coventry-centric displays and they've added some stuff to show how the car industry impacted the city. Still, needs more ambulances. Then, of course we got real ale and had dinner with some friends before heading back to London. He even got to experience an early morning fire alarm. I know he was both honore...

Okay, perhaps I should clarify. When I say 'shark' I don't actually mean Bruce, but rather a toothless, plankton eating, basking shark. Still, a shark! With menacing fin and all. It's strange that I was so keen to get closer, as usually if I see a snapping turtle in the water I panic, and that hardly compares to a shark. We kayaked for the day around Arisaig bay which after nine months of life on dry land almost fulfilled my kayaking needs. We were with a group of eight others and in addition to the shark saw many seals either curiously popping their heads out of the water or lounging in large groups on the surrounding shore. We added to our collection of great picnic lunching spots as we perched on the top of a hill overlooking the bay, the ocean, and all the way back to Skye. It was great kayaking too, propelled by changing tides in a 17' venture kayak was just about perfect. The next day we headed through Argyle (didn't get any socks though) and stopped in O...

I spent the rest of the trip overestimating the size of towns. We headed northwest to the Isle of Skye. The scenery continued to impress and it was strange to cover almost half of the Great Glen Way in about an hour of driving (which took us over 16 hours to walk). I can now continue to demand the A82 upgrade with a little more experience on the road other than walking on it. It was pretty rainy by the time we crossed onto Skye, but it seemed the right weather for there. We visited Portree, which is a lovely little harbor town. Little did I think that this would be the largest town we'd see for a couple of days. The roads got curvier, narrower, and more full of livestock. What a joy it was to herd sheep out of the road, truly! We encountered a few camper vans a little close for comfort, and not knowing the single track protocol led us to only a couple of stand-offs with oncoming cars. 'No, you back up, there's a passing place right behind you! Oh, fine, whatever.' We t...