some recent old favourites

so i've been scanning and uploading pictures from my last trip to ireland & the uk (feb/mar 2005) and coming across some photographs that i'd forgotten about. here are a few of my new old favourites.


a lovely missing (york)

i remembered this one, just hadn't seen it in a long while as i'd lent my album to a friend so she could use the pictures as inspiration for her painting. but the more i look at it the more i love it. it was part of a temporary exhibit in the yorkshire museum gardens. i'm now trying to hunt down more information on it (artist, title, etc). it intrigues me. there's something so simple and so lovely about it. and i'm glad for the b&w which accentuates the simplicity of line.


a place to remember (edinburgh)

this one, i don't really recall. i definitely remember the greyfriars kirkyard where i took it. and the strange cold rainy/snowy afternoon i spent there. i remember not taking many pictures, though there were many interesting gravestones and the green grass was glowing in the strange light of the overcast day. but this picture pleases me. perhaps one of my favourite cemetery pictures (and cemeteries are a common subject of mine). there's something in this composition, this almost looking over the 'shoulder' of the gravestone that gives a sense of closeness. a surprising embrace of sorts. oh, and it was fun to realise that it was exactly four years ago today that i took this picture.

which wings? (please cast your vote)

taken at locksbrook in bath, england. this particular angel stood out to me,
nestled among trees--further up, deeper in--the sleepy folds of the cemetery.

i'm not sure which is the better of the two, so i'm again asking for your opinions--
which of these two do you like better? (see below for larger versions)

oh oxford

this was my window view when i woke up. you can see oxford's city centre in the distance. i got in last night and just walking through the streets was wonderful. jackie & i passed by magdalen college and saw this:



and for a moment it was like i was actually seeing a life size version of my photograph from my last visit. it obviously is a life size version, so i'm sure that doesn't make a lot of sense. can't explain, but it was bizarre and brilliant at the same time.

well, i'm off to start the day!

me mum's from lincolnshire (apparently)

okay - so here's the tidbit i promised: on friday i was in bath. as some of you know, i have a tendency to pick up on the accents of those around me. i think b/c i'd been so long amongst non-english speakers, i really soaked up how people were talking once i landed in england. so, much of friday, i would find myself speaking in a british accent. i never knew when it'd come out until i started talking. since i don't know any of these people, it didn't really matter. but i got myself into trouble when i took a taxi to collect my things at my first b&b and head on to my second one. out came the british accent. and once we were on our way the taxi driver became chatty. where was i from? "kansas" but i don't sound like i'm from kansas. "well, me mum's british. she's from lincoln" (sorry mom! my british friends i met in prague were from lincoln & it sounded like a nice place) does she live here or in the states now? "states" does she miss england? "oh, yes." etc, etc. i couldn't believe what was coming out of my mouth. but it seemed less awkward than trying to explain to a complete stranger that i pick up accents from people and i can't help what comes out. i guess at least i'm glad i really did sound british and not like an imposter.

another fun moment was when i arrive in bath, i got totally turned around by my directions. the b&b was only a mile away from the train station so i started walking but ended up going in the complete opposite direction, walking for like 30 minutes. eventually i stopped at another b&b to ask for directions. the lady was the quintessential british b&b-er. she brought me back to her kitchen and had me sit down while she called a taxi and rang my b&b to make sure they didn't give my bed away. she kept going back & forth between the front & the kitchen trying to find info for me and i didn't know whether i was to follow her or stay sitting, but it seemed rude to just sit, so i'd stand every time she got up. finally she turns to me and says, "sit down, love, i'm not the queen."

oh mother MAY i

bought my plane tickets today. nothing makes me nervous like that final click on a flight site. whew. i will be out of the country from may 7th through june 6th. i'll fly into madrid (spain) and out of london. inbetween - i'll be in basel, munich, prague, bath, penryn, saffron walden, oxford, and windsor.





the folks above will be my introduction to mainland europe.

kate & andré are currently in spain while kate works on her masters. i'm a little nervous about going to a non-english speaking country. and spain in particular b/c i should know way more spanish than i do. but kate said she expects me to try, so try i shall. :)

taryn is starting her second year in germany working with younglife. told this girl i'd visit her at some point during her three years there, and so i'm excited to make that a reality. i'm not quite sure what to expect of germany; i don't know much about it except for holocaust history. so i'm intrigued for this first part of my journey.



these folks will welcome me back to the grand ole uk. these pics are actually from my last visit over in 2005.

i haven't seen beki, damon & lucy for over two years, which is way too long considering that beki & i have been friends since we were four and grew up living just two doors down from each other. can't wait to see them & cornwall again.

jackie & clint are still in oxford and i hope to at least pop in for a day or so
to visit and see their new lodgings.

for a nonTV girl [me], the brits win every time

for me, it started with SPACED. my friend beki introduced me to the show during my visit to the uk last year. i watched all of season one during my stay and was desperate to see two, which sadly was the end of the show. i've now watched both seasons multiple times and consider spaced my favourite tv show. co-written and co-starred in by simon pegg and jessica stevenson, it is brilliantly funny, quirky and even amid the madness - real. very hard to get your hands on this, as it never came to the states and there are no "official" region 1 dvds. check ebay. or borrow mine. :) [also check out simon's films "shaun of the dead" and the upcoming "hot fuzz".]

then came, the office...

which i'll let speak for itself.

and then spooks (or mi-5 for us americans)...

this show is frickin fantastic. i've blazed through seasons 1-3 (thanks to netflix) and am now trying to get my hands on 4. after seeing matthew macfadyen in the latest "pride & prejudice" film, i wanted to see what else he'd been in. when i saw that his wife, keeley hawes, who i've liked in a few bbc shows, was also in the series, i decided to check it out. if you like drama, spies, anything british, good writing - you must watch these. i have been blown away by the powerful writing, acting, and filming. and appreciate that not one person in the cast or crew stands above the rest - they are all equally outstanding.

props also go to john cleese's fawlty towers.

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