Yes I know I haven't blogged for ages, but I've been busy. I'll get back to it soon.
In the meanwhile...
Huma's Hymn
Oh mighty Arkleseizure, thou gazed from high above.
And sneezed from out thy nostrils, a gift of bounteous love.
The universe around us emerged from thy nose.
Now we await with eager expectation, thy handkerchief, to bring us back to thee.
From The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy soundtrack, by Joby Talbot.
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Monday, 19 April 2010
Oxford
R & H took me up to Oxford on the 17th. It was lovely, if rather imposing. I found it actually quite intimidating. Not sure I'd really like to study there, although I imagine if I did, I'd love it. It's another light and airy town like Bath but with a lot more gravitas somehow. There were some truly beautiful buildings and the attention to detail is amazing - the gargoyles themselves are a damn hoot! I enjoyed it, but perhaps would go back when we didn't have a little person around who had to be entertained. Any hoo, pics are of Christ College x 2, a replica of a Venetian bridge, inside the college of physicians and the library!
Saturday, 10 April 2010
There is no 'R' in 'Bath'
Whence I went today. And a brilliant day it turned out to be. Beautiful weather, beautiful city, beautiful... well you get the picture.I thoroughly enjoyed myself even after being woken up yet again by the ass of a person in the bed next door snoring like a train... anyway.
Bath is full of 'Bath Stone' which is white to begin with, hence the city is mostly a light yellowish colour. Very bright and airy.
I went on one of those bus sight-seeing tours before getting out and trotting around on foot. I saw the Royal Crescent and Royal Circus, went for a tour around the Jane Austen Centre and through the Roman Bath's (Acqua Sulis?) and went inside the Bath Cathedral.
I bought and ate some fudge which was remarkably light. It was ancient and amazing and beautiful and pretty and yes, I enjoyed it immensely.
Images in order of appearance are: The Upper Assembly Rooms, The Royal Crescent, Bath Cathedral, Inside the Roman Baths, and the outside of the Roman Baths and Pump Room
Thursday, 8 April 2010
You'll think I'm crazy...
But I really enjoyed driving around England. Everyone has told me horror stories and say it's blood awful, but I think I have inherited dad's love of driving, 'cause I found it fun. It was certainly very zen.
Yesterday saw me driving from Exeter to London and back to drop off some stuff at my storage thing and I found the trip really easy. The roads are good, the services are fabulous (at least five different shops, always including a cafe. Mmmmm... coffee...), the other drivers are polite, the speed limits are not limiting and with a GPS unit, there was so little stress the nine hour trip was a breeze! I actually found driving through London easier than driving through Sydney because of the GPS taking all the stress out of navigating.
I took the M5/M4 route through Bristol and stopped off at Reading for a job interview on the way back (don't get your hopes up, I'm not too confident about that part), and I didn't get caught in a single traffic jam. I was hellishly lucky about that last bit I know, but all the same, the drive was a lot more pleasant than I was led to expect. Admittedly I have probably done a lot more driving than most of my friends here, what with all the countless trips between Melbourne-Adelaide and Canberra-Bendigo I've done, but still...
So, having spent a lot of time on the motorways yesterday, today I took to the back routes. I drove down to Torquay (Lovely, pretty little town that trades heavily on it's Agatha Christie connection, with a gorgeous Abbey) and spent a relaxing morning wandering around and having tea on the terrace by the water! :) I also went to Cockington, a model village nearby, and spent a lovely time wandering around the grounds there.
And then I wound my way up through Devon to the edge of Dartmoor, and somehow managed to find Castle Drogo.
That was fun.
I really didn't believe that there were as many narrow lanes around the place as I had been told, but I found, and spent hours driving on, a whole heap of them today. So narrow you can't open your car doors if you stopped and passing another car is an adventure. I had to do that several times and it was damn hairy! You can only do it at certain spots on the road, so I actually spent a fair amount of time going backwards so that I could reach said spot and let another car pass me. I'm so glad I spent so long driving a manual when I was younger, otherwise today would have been impossible!
Castle Drogo was interesting. The last real castle built in England, it was constructed between 1911 and 1930 I think, with a break for the war. Very stylised. An Englishman's ideal of what a castle should be I think. Luxury and comfort and central heating and grandeur and opulence (three, count them, 3 kitchens!). Not sure it was really worth the 8 quid entry price though. But I found and went and had an actual Devonshire tea, in Devonshire (my first in eight months of living here would you believe?) at the cafe there, so not a wasted trip by any means.
Now, I'm knackered. But yeah, I enjoyed driving in England. Go figure.
Yesterday saw me driving from Exeter to London and back to drop off some stuff at my storage thing and I found the trip really easy. The roads are good, the services are fabulous (at least five different shops, always including a cafe. Mmmmm... coffee...), the other drivers are polite, the speed limits are not limiting and with a GPS unit, there was so little stress the nine hour trip was a breeze! I actually found driving through London easier than driving through Sydney because of the GPS taking all the stress out of navigating.
I took the M5/M4 route through Bristol and stopped off at Reading for a job interview on the way back (don't get your hopes up, I'm not too confident about that part), and I didn't get caught in a single traffic jam. I was hellishly lucky about that last bit I know, but all the same, the drive was a lot more pleasant than I was led to expect. Admittedly I have probably done a lot more driving than most of my friends here, what with all the countless trips between Melbourne-Adelaide and Canberra-Bendigo I've done, but still...
So, having spent a lot of time on the motorways yesterday, today I took to the back routes. I drove down to Torquay (Lovely, pretty little town that trades heavily on it's Agatha Christie connection, with a gorgeous Abbey) and spent a relaxing morning wandering around and having tea on the terrace by the water! :) I also went to Cockington, a model village nearby, and spent a lovely time wandering around the grounds there.
And then I wound my way up through Devon to the edge of Dartmoor, and somehow managed to find Castle Drogo.
That was fun.
I really didn't believe that there were as many narrow lanes around the place as I had been told, but I found, and spent hours driving on, a whole heap of them today. So narrow you can't open your car doors if you stopped and passing another car is an adventure. I had to do that several times and it was damn hairy! You can only do it at certain spots on the road, so I actually spent a fair amount of time going backwards so that I could reach said spot and let another car pass me. I'm so glad I spent so long driving a manual when I was younger, otherwise today would have been impossible!
Castle Drogo was interesting. The last real castle built in England, it was constructed between 1911 and 1930 I think, with a break for the war. Very stylised. An Englishman's ideal of what a castle should be I think. Luxury and comfort and central heating and grandeur and opulence (three, count them, 3 kitchens!). Not sure it was really worth the 8 quid entry price though. But I found and went and had an actual Devonshire tea, in Devonshire (my first in eight months of living here would you believe?) at the cafe there, so not a wasted trip by any means.
Now, I'm knackered. But yeah, I enjoyed driving in England. Go figure.
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Freedom
I have almost left the building. I mean, Plymouth. Well, I've almost left the building in Plymouth.
What am I waffling about? Well, I am about to be homeless. My job contract ended last week and now my rental contract is up, so I am about to take off into the wide world and explore. I have a rental car, I have too much stuff as always, and I have nowhere I have to be and no one I have to please, so I'm going to float. Zen traveling. Well, almost. I have a date with a hostel in Exeter and a desire to see Bath before I might have to leave this country, so some time in the next week, I'll see those places.
But other than that - life is wide open. Scary. Fun.
What am I waffling about? Well, I am about to be homeless. My job contract ended last week and now my rental contract is up, so I am about to take off into the wide world and explore. I have a rental car, I have too much stuff as always, and I have nowhere I have to be and no one I have to please, so I'm going to float. Zen traveling. Well, almost. I have a date with a hostel in Exeter and a desire to see Bath before I might have to leave this country, so some time in the next week, I'll see those places.
But other than that - life is wide open. Scary. Fun.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
ARHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I don't want to go back to Australia. But no-one here wants to employ me. This sucks!
Alice in Someplace Else
Saw 'Alice in Wonderland' last night. The title is misleading. It's not quite Alice in Wonderland - more like Alice through the looking glass but she didn't go through the glass, she went down the rabbit hole - all a bit confusing really. They mashed the stories together. Very Weird. But good on the whole. I saw it in 3D. It's a Tim Burton / Danny Elfman / Johnny Depp production, so very quirky and colourful and strange. A lovely adventure into escapism which was very welcome. Three and a half out of five for me.
Friday, 26 March 2010
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
The WWIP
The title of this post stands for The Writing Work-In-Progress. Ie, the current NaNoWriMo story. Which is called 'Coeurmorph I: Dragons of Death' by-the-way.
I decided that this year, I was going to complete my NaNo story. I've done three NaNo's so far and the end result has been three complete messes. This year, the mess is going to be sorted into a linea-storyline, with-complete-sentences, as-few-mistakes-as-possible, first draft.
I am determined to do this and to do so before the first of July.
This way I can get an actual bound copy of my draft, which as a winner of NaNo, I am entitled to. This is one very cool thing about doing NaNo, of which I have yet to take advantage.
In order to facilitate this achievement, I have persuaded the three young ladies who, along with myself, managed to complete NaNo in Plymouth, to join me in finishing their stories. We meet every couple of weekends and write and discuss problems and are going to exchange our (hopefully) finished masterpieces with each other so that we can also get some feedback before the actual publication.
Exchange is to occur at the end of March. Ie, less than four weeks away now.
I have only edited about a quater of the damn thing and that took me from January to now.
EEEEEEEK!
Of course, in writing this post right now, I am procrastinating. I'm brilliantly good at doing this. So, back to the story woman!
I decided that this year, I was going to complete my NaNo story. I've done three NaNo's so far and the end result has been three complete messes. This year, the mess is going to be sorted into a linea-storyline, with-complete-sentences, as-few-mistakes-as-possible, first draft.
I am determined to do this and to do so before the first of July.
This way I can get an actual bound copy of my draft, which as a winner of NaNo, I am entitled to. This is one very cool thing about doing NaNo, of which I have yet to take advantage.
In order to facilitate this achievement, I have persuaded the three young ladies who, along with myself, managed to complete NaNo in Plymouth, to join me in finishing their stories. We meet every couple of weekends and write and discuss problems and are going to exchange our (hopefully) finished masterpieces with each other so that we can also get some feedback before the actual publication.
Exchange is to occur at the end of March. Ie, less than four weeks away now.
I have only edited about a quater of the damn thing and that took me from January to now.
EEEEEEEK!
Of course, in writing this post right now, I am procrastinating. I'm brilliantly good at doing this. So, back to the story woman!
Sunday, 28 February 2010
London and Chicargo.
The first a city, the second a musical!
I went up to London on Friday and spent the evening playing Agricola with Richard, Hillary and Helen. It was nice to say hi but we were all pretty pooped. Afterward I actually had a bit of a mini crisis; I couldn't for the life of me remember why I was in the UK and it was all rather overwhelming.
But then Saturday was a beautiful day and reminded me why I like this side of the earth so much.
I started the day by shopping around Camden Markets for stripy over-the-knee socks; an item of clothing I have found it difficult to purchase elsewhere. Oh, you can get over-the-knee socks, but not the incredibly dazzling ones you find in Camden. I got eight pairs :D.
Then I proceeded to have a lovely cuppa at my favourite tea-house (also in Camden Markets - in the Camden Lock Market out the back if you're looking) called YumChaa. This is a place where they have smelling pots of every tea variety they sell out on display so you can choose what you want to drink that day by sniffing it! Heaven! They also sell chocolate brownies that are to die for.
Jason joined me for brunch at Foggs. Of around-the-world-in-80-day's fame. Need I say more?
Then we went off to do tourist stuff - and decided to see and to climb St Paul's Cathedral. I hadn't been inside St Paul's before, it was under wraps the last time I was in London, but it is indeed beautiful. I couldn't take photos inside but the detail was literally awe inspiring - the point I guess. It was built by Christopher Wren after the London fires 300 years ago. 528 steps later you get an absolutely awe-inspiring biew of London too. Hoooowee!
Atferward, the requirement for energy and a place to rest my dead knee led us to a Paul's. Jason will stand testament that I drank the whole of a large hot chocolate in no time flat and the rhubarb flan was as incredible as I remembered... yaum!
We met up with Belinda Knott (incredibly, she stepped off the bus right in front of us whilst Jason was talking to her describing where we were - coincidence incomparable!), and went for a beer, found with difficulty due to the number of closed pubs. I couldn't tell you the name of the bar though, as I gulped my (very tasty) beer in order to get changed so that I could rush off to meet up with Helen and Hilary... who were late.
But I got a few good pictures of the Cambridge Theatre at the Seven Dials (a roundabout with a statue on it with seven dials and seven streets leading away from it). We were there to see the musical Chicargo, and after a hurried dinner at some italian restaurant which looked remarkably like a wagamamma inside, we did so.
It was magical! I am squirming right now as I type due to the exquisite enjoyment I derived from those incredible dancers and singers. The reason we went was to see Ruthie Henshall - a legend of the theatre, and she was absolutely fabulous as Roxy Hart. Not quite as young and naive as perhaps the role required, but her acting was truly superb. And the men.... ooooooh the men! Their hips! They could DANCE!
Wow.
And we topped the evening with cocktails at a hotel bar across from the theatre. I had a cosmopolitan, which was really delicious. Must remember to have that again some time.
So, yeah. A great day. And a good trip. All I need now is a job.
I went up to London on Friday and spent the evening playing Agricola with Richard, Hillary and Helen. It was nice to say hi but we were all pretty pooped. Afterward I actually had a bit of a mini crisis; I couldn't for the life of me remember why I was in the UK and it was all rather overwhelming.
But then Saturday was a beautiful day and reminded me why I like this side of the earth so much.
I started the day by shopping around Camden Markets for stripy over-the-knee socks; an item of clothing I have found it difficult to purchase elsewhere. Oh, you can get over-the-knee socks, but not the incredibly dazzling ones you find in Camden. I got eight pairs :D. Then I proceeded to have a lovely cuppa at my favourite tea-house (also in Camden Markets - in the Camden Lock Market out the back if you're looking) called YumChaa. This is a place where they have smelling pots of every tea variety they sell out on display so you can choose what you want to drink that day by sniffing it! Heaven! They also sell chocolate brownies that are to die for.
Jason joined me for brunch at Foggs. Of around-the-world-in-80-day's fame. Need I say more?
Then we went off to do tourist stuff - and decided to see and to climb St Paul's Cathedral. I hadn't been inside St Paul's before, it was under wraps the last time I was in London, but it is indeed beautiful. I couldn't take photos inside but the detail was literally awe inspiring - the point I guess. It was built by Christopher Wren after the London fires 300 years ago. 528 steps later you get an absolutely awe-inspiring biew of London too. Hoooowee!
Atferward, the requirement for energy and a place to rest my dead knee led us to a Paul's. Jason will stand testament that I drank the whole of a large hot chocolate in no time flat and the rhubarb flan was as incredible as I remembered... yaum!
We met up with Belinda Knott (incredibly, she stepped off the bus right in front of us whilst Jason was talking to her describing where we were - coincidence incomparable!), and went for a beer, found with difficulty due to the number of closed pubs. I couldn't tell you the name of the bar though, as I gulped my (very tasty) beer in order to get changed so that I could rush off to meet up with Helen and Hilary... who were late.
But I got a few good pictures of the Cambridge Theatre at the Seven Dials (a roundabout with a statue on it with seven dials and seven streets leading away from it). We were there to see the musical Chicargo, and after a hurried dinner at some italian restaurant which looked remarkably like a wagamamma inside, we did so. 
It was magical! I am squirming right now as I type due to the exquisite enjoyment I derived from those incredible dancers and singers. The reason we went was to see Ruthie Henshall - a legend of the theatre, and she was absolutely fabulous as Roxy Hart. Not quite as young and naive as perhaps the role required, but her acting was truly superb. And the men.... ooooooh the men! Their hips! They could DANCE!Wow.
And we topped the evening with cocktails at a hotel bar across from the theatre. I had a cosmopolitan, which was really delicious. Must remember to have that again some time.
So, yeah. A great day. And a good trip. All I need now is a job.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)