leftover beef

Cleveland

2012-01-15T00:02:00.000Z

brunch

2011-12-29T14:23:00.001Z

we're off work until 3 Jan, so spoiling ourselves with food continues. today, huevos rancheros with a side of refried black beans. burp.

Hipstamatic, cont.

2011-09-29T18:11:00.000+01:00

More fun with the Hipstamatic app

The Shard

2011-09-26T20:28:00.000+01:00

Homemade Gyoza

2011-02-22T21:50:00.001Z

...or potstickers in the US? I bough a gyoza maker for a mere £3 in japan centre, and we made these tonight. om yom. looking forward to making all kinds of sealed parcels with this thing. easy ravioli maker? we'll see

re-joining the workforce

2010-12-04T12:06:00.000Z

November has been slightly mad. It started with me in the gym, which is pretty wacko anyway, and ended with me, about 12 job interviews later, with a new, permanent job I start on Monday. It's a bit of a hike, over in Battersea. Not far in theory, but with public transport, will be an hour or so each way. Still, not bad for London. The job seems worth it, too. I had been freelance digital studio manager in an agency in London for the last 3 weeks, while the job hunting chaos was happening, earning some cash, which is always nice.

I have had a bad head cold for the last week, and I can't remember the last time a cold knocked me out like this. Decongestants aren't doing the usual trick, so I've been relying on the tried and true lots of fluids and rest method. Does nothing for the phlegm, but seems to be a little easier to bear with each passing day. Good times.

I have so much clothes shopping to do, a haircut to get, things to do... I think I shall remain here on the sofa instead, with my orange juice and leftover pumpkin cheesecake.

fawaffle take 2

2010-10-13T19:39:00.002+01:00

second fawaffle making--delicious! I used a few diff falafel recipes plus a bit of flour. yum. who knew a little tiny bit of cinnamon is really good in falafel?

London from the bus

2010-09-28T23:16:00.001+01:00

dad style omelette & toast

2010-08-30T09:56:00.001+01:00

remember pop's skill at making these? yum.

sweet potato enchiladas

2010-08-29T18:43:00.006+01:00

So the blog is quickly becoming that place I store all these recipes I come up with and hope I don't forget the next time around.

Sweet potato enchiladas used to be a staple--especially when I had everything I needed for 50 cents a can at the shops around the corner in Chicago. The UK doesn't have basic enchilada sauce or canned jalapenos in most local shops, so I've had to learn the basics of american-style mexican food.

This is I think year 8 or so of me making these--and I made an enchilada sauce from scratch that's pretty much the tastiest thing. I pretty much cried when I ran out of food on my plate. Here 'tis:

Sweet Potato Enchiladas

enchiladas & filling

8 wholewheat tortillas

2 small/ medium sweet potatoes, diced and boiled, then drained and placed in a large mixing bowl

1 white onion, diced

1 cup or so sweet corn (frozen or canned, fresh if you can get it!)

1 large tomato, diced

1 jalapeno, no seeds, diced small

1 cup cheddar cheese (I use medium strength), or an actual mexican-style queso...

1/2 tsp salt

sauce

200 g tomato puree

2 cups vegetable stock

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/8 tsp oregano

1 white onion, diced small

2 small shallots, diced

1 1/2 jalapeno, no seeds, diced small

1 tbsp flour

vegetable oil

topping

1 cup cheese -- cheddar or whatever you like

1. Combine all the enchilada filling in a bowl--first, mash the cooked, drained sweet potato in the bowl. I like to then add frozen sweet corn--it cools down the potato and brings the corn up to room temp. Add everything else, combine, set aside. You can do this while the enchilada sauce is cooking.

2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Add a tablespoon or 2 to a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add onions, cook a minute, then add shallots and jalapeno--saute for 5 minutes or so, until it's all soft. Add another tablespoon of oil, heat up, and add tablespoon of flour and keep stirring for a minute or so, until flour is dissolved and the concoction is all bubbly. Stir in the chili powder and oregano, and stir for 30 minutes or so. Add the stock and puree and salt, and let simmer for 15 minutes. It'll thicken a bit--but if you like your sauce thinner, add up to another 3/4 cup of water or stock.

3. spread a little sauce on the bottom of a lasagna size pan -- 11x13? You want just enough to cover.

4. spoon filling on to tortillas--a couple large spoon fulls. Roll tortillas tight, and place seam-side down in pan. continue until you have all 8 side-by-side in the pan. If you have any extra filling, tuck it in to the ends of the of tortillas in the pan.

5. Generously cover the enchiladas with the sauce--you want every part of the tortilla to be covered so they don't dry out. I like mine ridiculously saucy.... Cover with remaining cup of cheese. Cover pan with foil, and place in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Then take foil off, cook for another 10. Place under broiler for up to 5 minutes, until cheese is as browned (or not) as you like, being careful not to scorch the tortillas.

6. Let sit for at least 10 minutes, then serve--eat on their own, or with sour cream, guacamole, slices of avocado, etc.

7. Cry at how delicious they are, and then despair if you have 4 or more people over to eat them, as you'll have no leftovers.

half a day more

2010-08-29T14:14:00.000+01:00

it's the last bank holiday weekend in the UK. I've done so little with it. need to start packing, as it's only a few days to go until I fly back to Ohio! my last day of 'work' is Tuesday. I'm going in late, waiting on the gas inspector to come for an annual check in the flat, and the I'll basically just pop in to clean out my desk. I did really try to get the guy replacing me up to speed over the last week I had to do so--but with a two month notice period, you really lose interest in helping the people that never really helped you get this position off the ground in the first place. But that's a rant to have over a whisky and beer.

i guess i should get some laundry going. or--just wait until I'm home and can finally go to the banana republic warehouse

sushi & sake

2010-08-22T13:23:00.002+01:00

I'm still a seafood novice. we went with some friends to Tomoe in London, and filled up on sushi & sake, mainly. loved it. was very drunk, so I'll just let the images do the most of the talking. cannot wait to go back...

homemade tofu. by which i mean--they bring this pot full of liquid, and after 20 mins, you take the lid off and have a block of tofu. delicious. i'm hoping to learn this party trick

delicious and evil sake

why i don't remember much. my head on saturday felt chronically full of feathers. we of course met in the pub beforehand, and headed out to the pub afterward. buuuuurp.

first little fish eggs for me. yum. i love the way they pop in your mouth

smoked mackerel. yes, please!

Happy Birthdays!

2010-08-13T14:31:00.002+01:00

My mom and Henry are celebrating birthdays today! Eat an extra slice of cake for me, please :)

sweaty betty

2010-08-03T15:38:00.000+01:00

August, i've decided, is the month i finally get back into exercising, every day. i've made a motivational card for myself using someecards.com

huevos rancheros!

2010-08-01T11:56:00.000+01:00

good morning, month of August! you should make this. it's delicious. i also downloaded the hipstamatic app for my iPhone, which I very much like.

beef's huevos rancheros

1 small onion, diced
1 pickled jalapeño, seeded & diced
1 chopped fresh tomato
1 can of chopped tomatoes in sauce, add half can of water (or slightly less), blend
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 scant tsp oregano
1/4 scant tsp chili powder (ancho, chipotle...)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
4 eggs
4 corn tortillas, or whatever tortillas you need to use up
salt
1. Sauté onion & jalapeño over medium heat 4 mins, or until they start to soften. don't brown. add garlic, oregano, chili powder, cumin and sauté another 2 mins or so. add tomatoes & tomato sauce and a bit of salt. bring to boil then simmer 10 mins or so, til it starts to thicken.
2. Make little wells in the simmering sauce, and drop the cracked eggs in. sprinkle with a pinch if salt, cover (make sure it's still simmering away) and let sit for 5 mins (will make hard yolks; if you want runny, reduce time to your liking).
3. Meanwhile, in another fry pan, heat a teeny bit of oil, and warm tortillas, 30 seconds on each side, until heated through.
4. Place tortillas on plate, spoon the poached eggs onto tortillas, and spoon out as much remaining sauce as you want on or near the eggs. you can heat more tortillas and sop up the sauce.
5. optional--add a little grated cheese, use up some leftover beans, whatever. eat. then nap.

crash, bang, wallop, what a blog post

2010-07-28T19:39:00.000+01:00

i'm just going to skip any apologies about it being forever since i've posted on this or my pub blog.

things you might be interested in. or perhaps not:

we've moved. we're no longer living in the sticks--way out in Guildford. commuting is a breeze, for me. i started out being really good at walking every day, it's about 3.2 miles one way, but realised i just sweat too much. i spend the rest of the day incredibly self-conscious about it. so then i tried to keep up with walking home every day, but just got lazy. i've learned (due to my apparent keen sense of smell) that a lot of other people in the office jog/ walk to work and--holy crap--they smell. there is a shower in the basement, but it's pretty well-used, and the water pressure i'm told is non-existent. so i keep making excuses for not exercising every day, but i'm hoping to guilt myself into it soon.

i'm working out my notice at the jay-oh-be. i had to give 2 months, which is crazy. feels like the longest detention, that i'm in solely for taking the jay-oh-be in the first place. i just fancy a change. realise it's not the best time to hunt for work, and i could be much more diligent in the process, but i really am just done where i'm at. not sure where i'll be heading next in that regard, but i have a solid 5 weeks to find something promising.

i still don't have my UK driving license, but i'm working on it. i took some lessons last year, which went well. we went to a music fest, ATP (i can still drive on the US one, but eventually, i want a car. and to learn to drive manual...), where we rented a car and drove across the country. i decided to practice my manual driving skills. it was a 4 hour trip one way, complete with a now-friend-but-at-the-time-total-stranger in the backseat--but he was good at not crying or freaking out every time i stalled and had random people swearing and honking at me. which was frequently. i haven't been in the manual since--only because the holidays then happened (rented automatic when mom came over, didn't want to deal with two backseat drivers telling me about the biting point whilst stuck in a crowded round-a-bout), and i just got out of the habit.

we're heading back to the States in Sept! can't wait to see the fam, pinch the nephew cheeks... eat delicious food. see you?

i'll try and be better about all this posting. no promises.

some explanation on the title if you're not in the alan partridge know

new blog

2009-11-24T15:07:00.002Z

i've started another blog all about pubs!

you can find it here. i'll keep this one up, adding little bits and bobs... but the other will be more regular than this one has been. sorry for my inability to post much here!

take 2

2009-11-24T15:06:00.000Z

looks sort sci-fi. tasted good!

jasmine flower tea

2009-11-24T15:05:00.001Z

richard's invention

2009-08-30T10:57:00.001+01:00

the Fawaffle (TM)

falafel made in the waffle maker. delicious!

small catch up. with pics of food. and fire.

2009-08-04T19:21:00.000+01:00

you know how I annoyingly share pictures of the food I eat... below--a
jacket potato with mushrooms & cheese sauce, yesterday, on a sleep-
deprived Monday. Both are from konditor & cook, near the office

testing 3!

2009-07-08T22:03:00.000+01:00

testing 2!

2009-07-08T22:01:00.000+01:00

testing!

2009-07-08T21:58:00.000+01:00

snow chaos recap

2009-02-02T19:02:00.009Z

we spent our unexpected snow day off hanging around, playing in the snow, drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies. was brilliant!

i still can't believe that about a foot of snow actually closed down most of british transport, but you know, i won't complain today :) i'm wondering how the trains will be running tomorrow. i'm assuming delayed and with many headaches.

but hey ho, a photo journey of our walk down the river wey, toward arlington where we built our snowman.

meet the snow man

2009-02-02T15:31:00.002Z

yes those are cadbury creme egg eyes. I miss my aunt kathy's solution--aunt charlotte's chocolate cookies! haha.

snow event scenario 2009

2009-02-02T08:22:00.011Z

we got a whole lot of snow over night--in this, the great 'snow event scenario' of 2009*. enjoy the images! we really can't get to work--the trains are all canceled, no bus service in London and the Tube has 'severe disruptions.' My friend from Reykjavik--as a matter of national pride--is walking to work in London this a.m.!** I think I'll pass on the (according to google) 10 hour and 34 minute hike to the capital. and that's in non-snowy weather.

*according to BBC Radio 4

**I should say, Sigga lives in london, her hike is more like 5 hours and 17 minutes...

view of the back garden:

views from our bedroom window:

commuting:

your visual guide to cookie making

2009-01-31T15:13:00.021Z

we got a new toy for xmas! a stand mixer with blender, food processor and juicer attachments. so, i give you our step-by-step cookie making recipe, a visual guide:

3 myths about plane crashes

2009-01-16T14:33:00.001Z

i've read interviews with this guy before--now i really want to read his book.

florence pics

2009-01-16T13:37:00.003Z

pictures from Italy! sorry for the delay in posting these--I'm still editing, adding more, etc. hope you all had a lovely new year's, as well. as you'll see, ours was full of food, music, wine and beautiful sites.

countdown!

2009-01-14T14:45:00.000Z

krispy kreme's promotion--walk into any of their London locations,
utter the Obama/ biden slogan "yes we can" and you'll receive a free
americano coffee drink, with Obama's profile in the foam! rare to see
companies and brands counting down the last days of bush.

Hero pensioner thwarts sledgehammer-wielding London raiders

2008-11-01T13:51:00.001Z

what a cool story!

commuting

2008-10-22T22:00:00.000+01:00

the boats!

2008-10-21T20:45:00.001+01:00

on the Eye

view from the London eye

2008-10-21T20:41:00.001+01:00

we went on before the sushi, perfect, clear night for it, just before
sunset. my nephew loved it, especially the view of all the boats in
the Thames!

my nephew is obsessed with edamame!

2008-10-21T20:38:00.001+01:00

here he is, double fisting soy beans

at Itsu in London, eating sushi

2008-10-21T20:36:00.000+01:00

my nephew in the pub, sampling British sea food

2008-10-15T14:27:00.000+01:00

where has this recipe been all of my life?

2008-10-12T18:20:00.001+01:00

mac 'n' cheese pancakes

with butter and syrup!

there's a video, apparently, but it won't play for me.

the next movie on our list of must sees

2008-09-28T23:28:00.000+01:00

we saw tropic thunder tonight. hilarious! I'm a huge apocalypse now
fan, and I usually like ben stiller, but this was so mich better than
I expected. can't wait to see zombie strippers next...

fall is coming

2008-09-27T19:10:00.001+01:00

here's a shot of our back garden this evening. it's getting so cold! I
love fall. one nice thing about where we live is the number of trees--
so we'll get to see all the autumn colors this year!

mum

2008-09-19T09:14:00.000+01:00

if I'm called mum in a tea shop, what does that mean? do I look a
certain age?

Sent from my iPhone

Guildford castle

2008-09-19T08:12:00.001+01:00

lit up in the evening--

lunch

2008-09-17T13:31:00.000+01:00

don't know if it's obvious? wheelchair tango on my lunch break near
the office

new pub

2008-09-16T18:46:00.000+01:00

the pub I'm currently drinking in with my friend Sigga. called
barrowboy and banker, and I wonder, how many bankers in this bar will
soon return to their old barrowboy job, what with the financial turmoil.

optical illusion

2008-09-12T21:02:00.000+01:00

it's not a thong!

it definitely feels like autumn

2008-09-12T14:03:00.000+01:00

pumpkins at borough market really make me miss the states today!

commuting is...

2008-09-12T09:13:00.001+01:00

I like this guy. I've sat in the same train carriage before but never
had the opportunity to snap a photo so discreetly! Yay iPhone! his
book? the history of china, if you were wondering.

because it won't stop raining...

2008-09-06T23:16:00.001+01:00

... richard and I have been lazing about in the flat, cooking, baking,
movie watching, iPhone playing. I must say, these are the best looking
cookies I've ever baked. we're about to sample...

it sure is resilient

2008-09-06T18:46:00.003+01:00

i got an iphone last week. richard and i both did. within 12 hours, i managed to drop mine. underneath a train. as my hear sank and i both laughed and cried, we frantically found some maintenance workers who announced we'd have to wait for the train to leave before they'd be able to retrieve it. it was a nerve-wracking 15 minute wait. i kept imagining my iphone would look like those flattened pennies--you know, when you're 8 it's cool to put a penny on the train tracks and retrieve the flattened copper after the rain runs it over? after the train left, the maintenance man had to turn the electric current off so he could grab the phone. to my complete amazement, you couldn't even tell the phone had been dropped, bounced off the platform before falling on the tracks next to the rail and had a 12-car train rumble by and inch or two away. not only was it still on, it was still paused on the npr podcast i was listening to before the fall! richard was all-too happy to take pictures:

i guess i have no excuse now not to blog, since i'm basically carrying a mini-version of mac book along with everywhere i go now! i actually don't quite know how i lived pre-iphone anymore. it's ridiculously addictive.

a week recap in which no pictures were taken, on accident

2008-07-20T16:34:00.008+01:00

i've tried to add a ridiculous amount of links to pictures, articles and things that sort of give you more information due to the lack of pictures.

wednesday, i managed to find a decent mexican restaurant in london! it's not perfect, but it's as close to a divey mexican paradise with a crazy amount of refried beans and spanish rice that i'm going to find on this side of the atlantic, i reckon. the only complaint--the ranchera sauce on the enchiladas tasted more like an italian tomato sauce, but ah, well. it was tasty! and they have bohemia beer, which i've not seen very often outside of chicago. though to be honest, i'm usually a negra modelo or dos equis fan, so i don't often peruse midwestern beer menus for it.

friday, i had lunch at borough market on my lunch break. discovered some of the best falafel around! the line was crazy long--so i had high hopes and wasn't disappointed.

we also so wall-e on friday night at the cinema, and it was really enjoyable. i managed to eat most of a large tub of popcorn on my own. the UK sells popcorn as either sweet or salty, neither of which are my favorite, but usually the concession stand staff mixes the two together if you ask. they did a pretty poor job friday, so i was eating away at all the sweet popcorn on top searching for the salty when i realised i was nearing the bottom. oops. it's a harrington genetic dominance--the popcorn consumption gene. it's one of those thing that is never wasted amongst us. it's usually gone in record time, too.

we had planned on going to ikea this weekend, but southwest trains are lame and are using buses for part of the journey toward london, so instead we stayed in town. this a.m. we went for a long walk/jog along the river. let's see, richard was worried he'd be charged by a bull (he was wearing red!), and we actually had to 'mind' the cows on the path. i lived in essex when foot and mouth disease broke out in 2001, and i never understood why public foot paths were closed--i assumed it was only people on them, as the foot paths i had been on definitely didn't have livestock. apparently not. was strange being so close to someone's cattle whilst out on a jog.

take the last train to . . . . Dorking

2008-07-13T22:00:00.016+01:00

i've had the flu for the last week and a couple days. i wound up working from home a lot, just so i wouldn't lose my mind with worry that nothing was getting done. i'm a lot better today. generally drained, but no fever. well, actually, i now have hayfever, which i've never had before, and it's crappy, because my lungs and ribs are all still store from the flu, so everytime i sneeze i utter a little 'ow' under my breath. ah, flu and allergies, eh?

so, richard surprised me today. he's been building up a big surprise trip since Friday, and i didn't know where we were going until he handed me my ticket at the train station this morning. it was once-in-a-lifetime trip to the fabulous Dorking! with Dorks walking the street, Dorky antique window shopping and the oldest Dorky building--the 500-year-old King's Arm Pub! We had a nice pub lunch, in which I didn't have any beer. A rarity for me if I'm in the pub.

I guess it's an inside joke? For a year now, ever since I first saw the Dorking Deepdene train station on a train ride from Gatwick to Guildford, whenever Richard asks where i want to live, where i want to go, I always say Dorking and laugh and he rolls his eyes and shakes his head. I never thought the dream would happn. It's a really nice place--good views of the hills, easy to walk around, cleaner than Guildford and full of old buildings. We did go on Sunday a.m. though, so most of the local shops were unfortunately closed. Here are some shots of the magical day.

pimientos de padrón

2008-07-06T17:13:00.003+01:00

well, i finally got around to borough market on a friday lunch break. it's funny, the only 2 things i've been to london bridge for, before working there every day, were borough market and the george pub. both of which were attended on friday. can't believe this was the first friday i rememberd the market, but ah well. we spent most of yesterday recovering from the george. let's just say we celebrated independence day with many pints, our friend sigga, and no food. was a lovely night! and then, we fell asleep on the train, missed our stop, and wound up in liphook (20 miles beyond the great guildford, in the middle of nowhere, down many a windy road) a £50 cab fare later, we were home. and saturday, we woke up and remembered all the goodies i'd bought at the market--jams, and pimientos de padrón! we were too hazy to make them yesterday, so saved them for today. apparently, eating these as tapas is called Madrileno Roulette. apparently, it' s like Russian roulette, only instead of a gun with a random bullet, one pepper in every so many packs a lot of heat. we made them today, and though neither of us had a particularly hot one, they were fun to eat and wash down with bulmer's pear cider whilst watching 'blackadder goes forth.' a good, post-hungover, incredibly rainy day cure. the cooked version below, cooking version above.

happy independence day!

2008-07-04T08:10:00.001+01:00

um, not surprisingly, independence day isn't a holiday over here, so i'm off to work. but, alice cooper hosts a morning show over here on the classic rock station--so i've been patriotic in rewinding live radio and listening to jimi hendrix's 'star spangled banner.' right. and now off to work.

let them eat crepe

2008-07-03T22:04:00.006+01:00

it's a little delayed, but here's last weekend's delicious recap. first, i bought a digital radio.

the reception is so far medicore, but it seems like every day, i get more stations than the day before. i can record radio on an SD card, kind of like recording shows on cassette tapes back in the day!

then, we ate crepes with sigga in hampstead. we had one, then after catching some morris dancers at the local pub, decided to go back for dessert before heading back to guildford. i'm not sure what it is, but we seem to catch morris dancing
accidentally every time we head to a pub on a sunny day.
this time, it was a roving band of drunk morris dancers, on a morris dancing pub crawl. was um, okay? they only sang and dance and played a flute for one tune.

here are some pics of our pilgrimage destination--the hampstead crepe stand. as you can see, we aren't the only devoted pilgrims. the crepes are so good. seriously. and usually the stand has two people working--but at this particular moment, the other chef was out--so i have a rare pic where you can actually see the teeny tiny crepe kitchen that packs a whole lotta happy, buttery crepe batter. if you're wondering, this is a short queue. this is about a 30-35 minute wait length of line. we've waited much, much longer in the past...

it's sort of like line dancing?

2008-06-24T20:56:00.006+01:00

we stopped off at the keystone for a quick pint on our way home from work. richard wanted to go for a run, i wanted to go for a pint. it wasn't a difficult persuasion. we left early, after the surprise morris dancers arrived. one song is quaint, the second gets tedious.

a couple of my my favorite shots--that's the 'rampant rooster' you see. hmm. and i just like how bored and embarassed the man in the striped hat looks...

sorry i'm not so good at blogging lately. nothing too new--job is good, not too crazy busy, but not much has changed. still getting used to the people, the job, getting up early, etc. i do enjoy my lunch most, down by the river. the weather has been fabulous this week, so i've been hanging out, people watching across the river from the tower of london.

i get my first paycheck tomorrow, woo hoo! we'll be having a nice curry tomorrow night to celebrate. all the onion bhajis one can possible imagine, i'll tell you what...

work

2008-06-17T20:59:00.005+01:00

i seem to have lost the adapter that lets me transfer pictures from my phone to my laptop. i was going to show my daily lunch spot alongside the river thames on the south bank near london bridge--but you can kind of picture it in your mind, right? good.

work is going well. i had a scare last week and thought i was totally in the wrong position for me--but it turns out i just didn't quite understand the dynamics of the company. my company recently merged with an american company. i'm on the team that is handling the first major project between the two, and there is a lot of anxiety going around my department and project--and i kind of absorbed it all like a sponge. it didn't help that my boss was out of the office in moscow for other business things, so i was left to fend for myself in status calls with directors of both companies. my week left me really tired and grumpy all weekend. but after a good talk with my boss yesterday, i have a much better idea of what it is exactly that i do. and i'm really busy, but i'm getting into the swing of things pretty quickly. i'm really glad i'm not expected to do all that other crap i thought i wasn't being paid enough to handle!

other than the new job, i've not been up to a whole lot. richard and i manage to travel to and from work together most days, which is great. i have a shoulder to fall back asleep on in the mornings and the evenings. woo! i'm still way out of practice with the daily routine, but i guess that's normal. richard manages to iron all my clothes, make me tea and breakfast and get me out the door in the morning. i'm not kidding. it's fantastic!

'we apologize for any delays to your journey, but...'

2008-06-06T20:15:00.008+01:00

so, fairly regularly, you hear announcements on london trains about delays on the tube, delays on the overland network, etc. it's to the point mostly where you never hear the announcement the first time, because you're expecting the delay, so the salt in the wound comes when they feel the need to tell you why. it's usually 'signalling failure,' or 'a passenger who has taken ill.' once, on trip back to guildford, it was because some kid hurled a brick at the 70-mph train i was on, in which the driver's window was shattered. he was okay.

so today, en route to london, they're going through the normal delays, and at first i didn't catch which line was delayed, but i did hear why: '...due to an unexploded WWII bomb that is near the track'

what the...?! i think what surprised me most though, was that in looking for a suitable online story of the event, i found a half a dozen other news stories over the last few years of unexploded WWII bombs found in london. mainly east london, where they're building for 2012 olympics. creepy.

i might actually listen more closely to the reasons for delays from now on. actually, no i won't. it's probably something that's really common, like a 2,200 pound ticking WWII bomb.

ooh, and i just found this--a picture of the detonation!

eurovision

2008-05-29T09:01:00.002+01:00

i've had a hard time explaining eurovision to americans. this does a pretty good job, complete with video of ireland's entry. ireland didn't make it to the finals, sadly. but not that sad when you see the entry.

i watch it because it's so, so, so incredibly bad it's funny. the announcer on the bbc has been doing it for something like 25 years, an irish radio and television presenter named terry wogan, and he's absolutely hysterical. he's kind of like joel, tom servo and crow in "mystery science theater 3000," all in one; he gets progressively drunker and more honest as the night wears on. this year he was relatively tame, but he gets in trouble every now again for his name-calling, which is usually deserved.

this year's winner is russia, who had an ice skater on stage. it was SO bad! i realize it's a lesson in endurance, but try and make it to at least to 2:20 into the song--as that's when the ice skater comes on stage. he looks like jeff daniels in "dumb and dumber." seriously. european countries all vote for each other, and of course the worst songs always come out on top.

france was cool though. i mean, cool for eurovision.

i think all of the countries should have to sing in their own language. for one, it wouldn't be so obvious that the english lyrics are total rubbish.

saturday's discovery

2008-05-24T20:43:00.006+01:00

i'm not a comic-book convention person. we went today with cousins lisa and jeff, because well, we didn't have anything else planned and it was a good excuse to spend the afternoon together. and for that, i'd go again. but, the pushy, pimply, brace-faced high-school aged kids in attendance dressed as their favorite comic book characters were not my cup of tea. however, we did get to see a battlestar galactica panel! i'm an official geek! it was fun, and here's a grainy pic from the event. from left to right--edward jame olmos (admiral adama!), um, the guy who plays chief galen tyrol, the guy who plays felix gaeta, and the woman who plays tory. i'm bad with names.

and certainly not as an afterthought

2008-05-23T08:57:00.003+01:00

i got a job! pending reference and visa checks, i got the job i wanted! i start 2 june. the company is based in london bridge, so i'll have about an hour commute each way on the train (including walking to and from the station), plus a mere 10 minute tube journey, if everything is running on time. woo hoo!

i'm basically a project coordinator, helping to launch a new website this fall. it's similar to the traffic positions i've held before--in that it involves a lot of liaising with people in different departments, freelancers--though these freelancers and the projects i'm working on happen to be all over the world--in 30 countries, actually. so it's very global, exciting, and it's all about trend watching/predicting/reporting. i'm so pleased!

freedom is just a brand name

2008-05-23T08:47:00.002+01:00

i've always liked keith olberman. and wow, his 'special comment' from last week makes me like him even more. 12 minutes of honest, smart, passionate criticism. too rare an event these days. and i can't believe i'm just viewing this now?

this should be required viewing before voting this fall.

senator kennedy

2008-05-21T11:38:00.003+01:00

i can't believe senator kennedy has a malignant glioma--brain tumor. it's so sad, and i think the one politician who really summed up all the emotion surrounding such news yesterday was obama, who described the news as 'heartbreaking.' not saying other politicians aren't obviously affected and upset and pulling for the guy, just that that one word seemed the most appropriate.

reading all the news about kennedy, and about the dignosis and prognosis was unexpectedly raw yesterday--i seriously just had flashbacks to a couple years ago hearing my dad's diagnosis. scrambling for news about what brain tumors do, how they're treated, how the outcomes look--i think the search for answers in my pop's case is still ongoing, albeit with less vigor.

getting one's head around the facts is easy--but brain tumors are such individual little assholes. the one in my dad's head, even if it turns out to be the same type as kennedy's, was it's own entity. so even looking at past cases and statistics is almost useless--most people die from brain tumors. the length of time associated with dealing with them and the affects on everyday actions are what differ.

my pop survived longer than most for his age and health and type of tumor, but it wasn't an easy road. the swelling associated with tumors is great (there's a really great sum up of tumors on npr's site today), and my dad never fully recovered from the initial craniotomy. the swelling from the tumor, mixed with the swelling from surgery, the chemo, the radiation, his medication--it just all added up, quickly. dad needed a shunt to help relieve brain swelling, and remained on steroids at different levels the length of his illness. the steroids caused other massive problems, like bone death, leading to 2 broken hips, possible hairline rib fractures, etc.

my dad started out in speech, physical and occupational therapy, but these quickly waned to no therapy, as he just wasn't making any progress, and combined with the chemo and radiation, he was too tired. and we learned soon after, the swelling in his brain was getting worse and worse and wasn't helping. he received physical therapy after the initial hip surgery, but even that was a major struggle. pop also suffered from aphasia, so his speech, especially at the beginning of his treatment, was difficult to follow. numbers, dates and basic words for things were lost, and he'd often mistake us kids for each other, which isn't all that out of the norm, but when you're watching your father struggling to remember which kid you are, it's tough. i guess his sypmtoms mirrored alzheimers in many ways, but it was a much faster progression, and it wasn't alzheimers. one day he knew what was happening, and the next he didn't. his speech at times got better, and every now and again his memory seemed to be perfect--sort of culminating during his speech at his and my mom's anniversary party, and slowly declining after that.

i guess this all just flashbacked in my mind, reading everyone's well wishes and words of recovery for senator kennedy. the one thing that almost everyone said was, 'he's a fighther, so if anyone can beat this...' but i just cringed. brain tumors aren't the equivalent of the cliche picking yourself up by your bootstraps. they do require great bravery, but they're also humiliating. you lose a lot of functioning in the one organ that dictates functioning. you don't even know where your bootstraps are, let alone that you need to find them and pick them up.

i hope his tumor is small, moderatly aggressive, and that they caught it very early on. i hope his recovery is successful, he falls into remission as soon as possible, and that he survives a long time. but i'm slightly pessimistic. and i feel kind of bad about it. i think the one 'good' thing about it is that senator kennedy raises the awareness factor of brain tumors, their nature, recovery, outlook.

i'm pleased that i was able to participate in the brain tumor walk. it's easy to lose someone to a hearbreaking illness, and then to forget that funding for research for any improvement in the field is essential. it wasn't until i read the high-profile diagnosis that i remembered that, sadly.

w(h)ales (re)visited

2008-05-20T12:22:00.017+01:00

wales was good! we rented a little chevy and drove to shirenewton/usk/chepstow just over the wales/england line to see heather, john and 7-month old owain this past weekend. i'd never been to wales, but my pre-conceived notion of narrow roads, hills, valleys and really nice people proved correct. we managed to not drink much at all saturday, which was good, considering there was no way i'd have been able to manage the dark, winding roads with any kind of blood alcohol level. i've created an amateur photo collage for you, pointing out the highlights. explained below:

let's see, from left to right, top to bottom--1. welcome to wales--hope you can read welsh; 2. welsh sheep; 3. the severn bridge crossing the mouth of the river severn; 4. the happy caricature of a toll-both worker and (5.) the amount of change necessary to get from england to wales (£5.30)--this was funny because the suckers in the 'fast'--'exact change only' lane took so much longer to clear the toll booths than those not paying with correct change; i guess tossing a billion coins and expecting it to be calculated quickly isn't really as efficient as say, the $.80 booths in illinois; 6. the husband and i at the party making odd faces; 7. driving at night in wales--the roads are winding, dark and i was driving on the wrong side of the road (um, as in, not on the right) and apparently in chevys, the brights only stay on manually, so that was fun, turning the wheel with one arm permanently grasping the brights lever; 8. narrow road in the daytime--not much easier than at night, but slightly less scary; 9. view of the valley, looking down toward the severn river over shirenewton; 10. heather and owain!; 11. our hotel--the rat trap hotel and restaurant. despite the name and the hot pink exterior, the hotel was cozy, the breakfast delicious, and the staff extremely polite and helpful. and we saw no rats; 12. my pint of choice at the hotel rat trap: the rev james. was tasty!; 13. a shot of wales--taken on usk road, looking at some farms or something idyllic like that.

w(h)ales

2008-05-16T16:07:00.003+01:00

i have a second job interview on monday! yay! if for some reason i don't get the job, it's off to burger king. or mcdonalds. they have to hire an american, right?

richard and i went to see ladytron in london last night. was horrible! the sound actually made the newport music hall in columbus sound good--which is saying a lot. about 7 songs in, the staff announced the power was out. perhaps no one noticed the sound was so awful until then? regardless, we stood around for half an hour or so until the staff came on stage and announced the show was canceled. ah, well. that's just my luck these days.

richard and i are off to wales for the weekend to see our friend heather, her husband and newborn. they're in town from seattle, visiting family and celebrating their one year anniversary. i can't wait! i haven't seen her since i left the UK in 2006. should be good, but we're staying about 20 miles away, so no drunkeness for me. i have to drive.

our new shortcut into town

2008-05-13T18:47:00.010+01:00

we live really close to the guildford castle. actually, we've lived really close since i moved here, but now we have an excuse to walk through the grounds on our way in and out of town. i snapped a couple quick pics over the weekend, on our way into town to find food.

it's funny, i mean, for most people in the the UK, finding a decent meal is easier than taking a picture of a castle built by william the conquerer. but not for me.

richard's friend john was in town this past weekend. we met up in london and record shopped most of the day, and spent the evening having pints and food with my friend sigga. it was such a beautiful weekend--the warmest for the UK this year. i guess i wasn't expecting it. i seem to have left all of my sandals and tank tops in the states. whoops.

on sunday, we met up with cousins lisa and jeff, and sigga. jeff had two gigs--one acoustic show in clerkenwell and one with slim's cyder co near kings x. both were great!

i haven't seen him play with slim's in a few years. always a good time. i need to track down a recording of 'is it love or food poisoning?'

does anyone have a spare spy cam?

2008-05-03T11:23:00.005+01:00

seriously. i think i need to start recording my interviews.

thursday: i narrowly escaped what could have been an excruciatingly awkward situation. the office i was interviewing at had no running water due to a water main break that occurred the day before, so the interviewer suggested we go get a cup of tea (it was 4 p.m. some british people are programmed at this time to need tea. i'm not complaining). cool. interview goes well, he mentions he still has other candidates, but that i'm definitely on the short list for people to call back for a second interview. woo hoo! i'm hoping it wasn't just something british people say, because the company and position look great. okay, so he gets up to leave after the tea, and i don't know if he saw what i saw--a young woman stood up near the door to leave, and was, i don't know, putting her jacket on or something, but her very-short skirt was in need of some smoothing--all i could see was ass. no underpants, just ass! and she stood there for what felt like an eternity--it was to the point where the radius of tables around her were all looking at each other, somewhat horrified, with that 'are you seeing this?!' look on our faces. i was so relieved that at that moment, i wasn't expected to tell the interviewer where i wanted to be professionally in 5 years, because it would have come out, 'oh my god look! she's just standing there with her ass out!' which would have either clinched the interview or left me without a hope.

friday: i sort of thought the eye-rolling troll at my last horrible interview would forever be untouchable in the ranks of rude and awful interviewers, but no. i showed up 20 minutes early, and the woman comes down to meet me, shakes my hand and says 'you were supposed to be here 2 hours ago.' um, really? i had 4 p.m. in my email confirmation. 'no, i have 2 p.m. in my calendar.' the guy who set up the interview is conveniently out of the office, so it's my word against hers, and she's hearing nothing that i'm saying. she shrugs her shoulders and says, 'well if you're still interested in the position, perhaps you can email the confirmation you received [subtext: she thinks it will say 2 p.m.] and maybe we can re-schedule. so i stand up, visibly pissed off but remaining calm, to take off my visitor's badge, and she asks if i've come far. yes, guildford. with that, she walks off! no kind word, no nice gesture, no, hey sorry for this mess, we'll get to the bottom of it, blah blah blah, NOTHING! just WALKS AWAY!

i can handle inconvenience. i find it intolerable that she just completely insulted me! i am a candidate for a position in her company, they've checked out my CV, so obviously they're interested in me, i'm interested in the role--who would ever do that? i could never treat someone that way, especially when she has no idea what emails/ phone calls i've received from the HR dept. i immediately call the husband before i even leave the building and have him open my email to verify that indeed, i was 20 minutes early and not 2 hours late. yes, that's exactly what the email says. so he meets me and we storm off, livid, for coffee and bitching. i sent the forwarded email back to her--totally objective and not full of obscenities like i would have preferred--and she writes back, 'sorry for the misunderstanding.' yeah, there was no misunderstanding on my part. she wrote back again 'if you're still interested...' yeah, like i want a chance to meet with you again, you cow. i'm waiting until next week to see what HR has to say, as i forwarded my email back to them, too. i'm thinking formal complaint. it was so out of line.

back and not jet-lagged!

2008-04-30T14:32:00.014+01:00

we arrived back in the UK on monday night. we left my sister's house around 4 a.m. local time, and arrive back at our flat around 11 p.m. england time. was strange, leaving in the dark and arriving in the dark. but, i'm really happy we found a flight that left monday and arrived monday, as the overnight flights really toy with one's body clock. the flights were non-eventful, no jettisoned fuel, etc.

lots and lots of turbulence; in fact, on our flight to newark from cleveland the drinks service was canceled because the pilot feared the flight attendants would be injured trying to serve coffee. haha, i've never really experienced that level of shakiness, but it surprisingly wasn't that big of an issue, perhaps because the flight was only an hour long. we had equal amounts crossing the atlantic, but due to the near-emptiness of the flight, it didn't really matter. something about being able to stretch out across aisles of seats makes all air-related issues more tolerable, i'm learning.

the abta walk was a success and lots of fun. we raised more than $1000 for brain tumor research! was a cold day, and some of us opted to jog instead of walk. i think for an ex-cross country runner, 11 minute miles was very respectable, considering i haven't run a 5K in probably 10 years. i'm hoping next year i'll be in better shape.

my friend charlie was in london, on holiday from his teaching job in france, so richard and i met up with him, his friend jen and my friend sigga yesterday evening. after drinks in the nordic bar, we headed to brick lane for an impromptu curry as well. i like brick lane curry, but i wasn't blown away by last night's meal. we noticed a curry house across the street after we sat down that we'll try next time.

oh, and i have 2 more job interviews this week. tomorrow's is still being set up, and to be honest, i'm not that sure what the job entails exactly. i'd agreed to the recruiter sending my CV last friday, and i'm still waiting to receive the job specs. it's a proj management job with a marketing research company in london bridge, and that's all i know. the second interview is a 3-month contract. so, we'll see what happens.

we brought back insane amounts of cheap toiletries and american food that i still need to sort through. but ah, here are shots of our last american breakfast (if you don't count burger king at the airport--and really, is that food?). goat cheese and fig omelet, pancakes... mmm. this was from dali's cafe in downer's grove, illinois. i think most of the table concurred it was probably the best breakfast we'd ever eaten. er, the best breakfast we could remember in recent memory.

british invasion

2008-04-22T23:18:00.002+01:00

wait, can i say that? i guess i'm not really british.

we're off to the states tomorrow--ungodly early, and arriving at 11 p.m. GMT. but, i think we'll manage, only because i know we'll be consuming mas enchiladas y margaritas once we land--yes, mexican food, i can already smell the onions, cumin and cilantro (read: NOT coriander!).

it's a short trip, but it should be good. i mean, the mexican food will taste good. and my sister's manicotti, of course! and oh yeah, the brain tumo(u)r walk--saved the best for last. we're at $900 of our $1000 goal! i'm sure we'll reach it!

two favorite recent onion articles

2008-04-21T15:25:00.002+01:00

New Chemical Weapon 'Ennui Gas' Induces Listlessness, Dissatisfaction With Life

Grandfathers Accidentally Switched At Hospital

booked

2008-04-15T15:34:00.004+01:00

richard and i are heading to the states in just over a week to participate with the family in the American Brain Tumor Association Path to Progress 5K in Chicago. whew. luckily, it's a 5K run/walk.

my mom and i participated in the event last year--had no idea or preconception as to what the event would be like. it was great, albeit emotional. i was very weepy and basically bawled for the first mile or so, if i remember correctly. but a good bawl. cathartic bawl.

the event is basically an effort to raise money for brain tumor research, and most teams raise money in memory of a loved one. we were blown away last year by the t-shirts and sizes of the teams. this year, i think we're hoping about 10 of us can make it. richard designed some pretty cool logos--and coupled with my sister's color-choosing skills, i think we have some rather stylin' threads.

you can check out our team blog, and the blog links to the fundraising site as well, if'n you want to join the team or donate some cash. i'm just hoping i'm in good enough shape to make it across the line, haha.

and then the interviews turn into downpours...

2008-04-11T15:43:00.009+01:00

the interviews--the first one didn't go well. i got the impression right away that i didn't 'click' with her--and i'm not kidding--she rolled her eyes the WHOLE time. it was to the point where i thought she had something medically wrong, some kind of strange tick. really, she was just a cold bitch. we couldn't even find common chit-chat about her favorite american city--chicago--which sort or prepared me for what i was in for right off the bat. i got the impression she already had someone in mind and she was curious if i'd 'blow her away,' which she really gave me no chance to. she kept repeating that it was 'informal' but it was anything but.

it wasn't just her--i got REALLY nervous. but when someone is sitting there rolling their eyes at everything i say, i mean, it wasn't conducive to relaxing. i feel rotten about the whole thing; but, i stuck with it, was asking lots of questions, showed that i understood what the company does and that i'm interested, yadda yadda, but she totally didn't care. i talked to the recruiter after, and she said the interviewer could tell i knew my stuff and was articulate and well-presented but that i lacked confidence. ugh. yeah, i flopped, like a cartoon goldfish flopping around after escaping from a fish tank.

as bad as i felt, when i walked away, after asking her about a hundred questions as to what the role entailed, she couldn't answer them very well. in the end, i don't think it's what i would have wanted, and honestly, if i had to work with someone like her--haha. but i hate when i don't perform as well as i should. i let it get me down too much.

it did force me to reflect on exactly what is that i want to do (for work). which, i'm realizing, has the opposite to do with a company with a stupid name that creates reports punctuated with an abundance of exclamation points that are full of really obvious observations about customer habits in retail. i mean, seriously, do you need a report telling convenience stores that because customers like to buy milk, you should stock milk? seriously. i read that report. i guess i should be even more selective when job opportunities cross my path--really research the hell out of them. make sure their company name has no exclamation points! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! not that i'm bitter. hmph.

the second interview was cancelled about an hour beforehand. that was the job i REALLY worked hard to prep for--had about 10 pages of notes, had all my interests stacked up and aligned with their guiding principles. was so well up to speed--but i guess i just take that enthusiasm for the next one. sigh. it was cancelled because apparently, the company ALREADY MADE SOMEONE AN OFFER and they accepted yesterday. so, um, i guess i wasn't technically in the running from the get go?

when it rains, it pours job interviews

2008-04-08T11:28:00.004+01:00

i have another interview, this one via phone, on thursday afternoon. guess i'll be haulin' ass back to guildford so i don't have to interview on the train in the bathroom! this one is for a project manager position with a digital marketing agecny. better sounding company name than the first company i'm interviewing with. i hope i'm offered both jobs. would be lovely to go from no prospects to 2 in less than a week's time.

job interview!

2008-04-07T15:49:00.004+01:00

i have a job interview on thursday, with a promising-sounding role as client executive in a 'research-based retail consultancy' company in london. yay! should i go in and sing this song, i wonder?

surrey snow!

2008-04-07T12:29:00.005+01:00

we woke up yesterday to find snow! here are some shots; from the front window:

and the back garden:it snowed like crazy on our way to the train station, but by the time we got to london, it was melted. and of course, by the time we got back to guildford in the evening, the snow was melted. but it was fun to see proper snow! albeit in april.

i'll have the fish, too

2008-04-07T00:27:00.003+01:00

i sort of feel like my nephew, sharing foods i've tried for the first time on my blog. i had haddock today, in fish-and-chips style, deep-fried with garden peas on the side. i must say, i wasn't that impressed. we went to the sea shell restaurant, a decidedly 'best of' fish and chips spot in the UK. but, according to the from-the-north husband, and even our american guests, it wasn't what they'd expected. it was good--buttery, flaky, non-fishy tasting... but i don't know. i just don't eat meat. i don't eat fish. i don't like the taste of either, or so i remember, and eating deep-fried haddock today didn't really change my mind. but i'm willing to give it another shot...

they grow up fast these days

2008-04-05T23:47:00.003+01:00

can you believe, my nephew is only a year old--look what he gets away with! we airbrushed out the cigarette...

kidding, of course! ah, photoshop...

ban ugg boots!

2008-04-04T14:15:00.002+01:00

a woman was hit by a train and killed in Colchester when her ugg boot became trapped in a cattle grid while trying to cross railway tracks. so, besides the obvious--ugg boots are a hiddeously ugly--they also cause fatal accidents. burn them!

madonna still trying to find herself

2008-04-04T13:39:00.001+01:00

this post from the onion blog 'the hater' made me laugh really hard. especially the semester abroad in costa rica advice, as that's exactly how it works in foreign lands.

the job front

2008-04-04T13:00:00.002+01:00

well, perhaps my meeting with a recruiter last week is helping. and suddenly, my posting on monster from last november is working now, too. this a.m. i had 2 calls in 2 minutes, both from recruiters with prospective jobs! i'm still sorting out interviews and all that, but should know more by the end of today. both jobs actually look quite promising--both are in london, both in digital marketing/media, both traffic/project management related, etc. basically, both jobs i feel i can land. woo!

moving

2008-03-31T13:43:00.003+01:00

we're mostly moved in to our new place! we still have a few odds and ends at the old place to collect and move, but we have a bit of time yet. i'm at the old place now, as we're still waiting for our broadband to be switched on.

friends of mine from chicago/capital are visiting now. i'm glad they came--it forced us to unpack our boxes rather quickly, haha. we showed them around town yesterday and treated ourselves to curry. and we'll have curry again tonight. mmm. i like out-of-towners with vicious appetites for indian food.

i'm still mega-sore from all the moving; we're on the third floor at both flats, so the move involved lots of stair climbing and calf muscle pulling. it's really sad how out of shape i've become. i can hardly walk without wincing. sigh.

whistling busker

2008-03-22T15:06:00.007Z

this man is by leaps and bounds my favorite street musician in guildford! he has the dedication and to be honest, is the most refreshingly original busker i've seen outside my window. he started sometime before 9.30 this a.m., as that's when i originally heard him, and he's been going, albeit with short pipe-smoking breaks, ever since; it's after 3 p.m.! and he's blind! which makes his standing in the freak hail storm, whistling his heart out, that much more sincere. this isn't his best song for sure, but you can see his pure determination, his british stiff upper lip, if you will, at belting out the notes despite the large ice balls cascading down around him!

and a picture--

so, hail! i've never seen hail in england, and it's been a long time since i've seen any in the states. we've had a few hail storms now, all in the last 24 hours. what was so freaky, especially yesterday, was the cloudless sky about 2 minutes before the hail storm, which was followed by rain and thunderstorms. and then sun. just before the hail, we'd been out walking around town, running errands etc., talking about what a lovely day it was to take a long walk--which we canceled soon after uttering the words. today was similar--sun, hail, snow flurries, more hail, sun. then more hail, snow, sun.

and it's easter, right? if not, i'm worried that people are starting to crucify everyday guildfordians at the top of the high street on saturday afternoons--

number of five-year-olds i could take in a fight

2008-03-17T10:17:00.004Z

i didn't expect to do this well! i thought i could take maybe 4... but 18!? bring 'em on! thanks for the link, brian! and happy birthday today, too!

18

new flat, homemade bread...

2008-03-14T16:54:00.004Z

we found out yesterday we've been approved for the flat we applied for! hurray!

i've been wanting to try this bread recipe now for months, but, as you can see from the pics, our current fridge definitely will not hold a bucket of dough. thankfully, the new flat has a large fridge and a separate just-as-large freezer... our current one is smaller than the fridge i had in my dorm in college! this is the typical size, by the way, especially in rented properties:

iron chef: supreme cuisine

2008-03-10T13:49:00.001Z

i can't wait to play this on the wii! hurray for all that extra dough we made on selling in the flatmat's unwanted video games!

rainy monday

2008-03-10T11:53:00.002Z

today is the nastiest weather day we've had in probably a month. it's cold, rainy and windy. kind of odd, because you expect it to be miserable all the time here, but we've had 50 degree days with lots of sun now for weeks. and of course, i didn't take as much advantage of it as i should have.

we've found a flat! we're still working our way through the application process, so fingers crossed, we'll know this week if the place is ours. it's a small, 2-bedroom flat in guildford. it's close to where we are now, but closer to the river wey, the train station and NOT on the high st! yay! i don't have pics yet, but i'll take them and post them once we have the keys.

not a whole lot else to report. we're anxiously waiting for one of our two flatmates to finish moving out, which he's been slowly doing now for what seems like an eternity. he's moving into a flatshare in london, and he never asked if he could have his room unfurnished. so he's been getting rid of basically everything he owns. only, instead of actually getting rid of anything, he's just 'leaving' it for us to deal with. this works absolutely fine for things that are easy to re-sell--video games, new-ish dvds and cds, etc., but it's kind of annoying for things like rotting tea pots and glass jars he's been collecting like some homeless pack-rat now for apparently most of his 20s. but, since we literally live 5 mins from everywhere, it's not really as obnoxious as it could be. we made more than £75 in video game credit yesterday because he is too lazy to walk 45 seconds to the game store and do it himself! doofus. but again, i'm not complaining... and he did finally recycle, i'm not kidding, at least 3 years worth of random glass jars and heinz baked bean tins he's kept in some tattered old boxes. i think we would have had to punch him if he left those behind.

america will blow up the moon

2008-02-21T19:02:00.004Z

i'm sure you've heard, but apparently the missile launched to blow up the malfunctioning spy satellite scored a direct hit. i don't know why, but this mr. show clip came immediately to mind, even though it's not the same thing at all...

fantastic voyage

2008-02-20T19:15:00.013Z

i returned home this a.m. from JFK in New York, after attending my Aunt Nancy's funeral over the weekend. was sad, bitter-sweet. i was happy to see family again, and i haven't seen my dad's side in quite a while. despite the circumstances, it's always nice to see them; and of course, i got to see my sibs, nephew and mom, which is always good.

i have a couple friends in NYC, and i spent a little time with them sunday and monday. we tried to do s'mores on Sunday, but found out we were too early. go figure, to have an open flame in a manhatten coffee shop you have to wait until after 5 p.m. we did manage to find some on monday with coffee...

so the weekend was good, emotional and very busy. i left tuesday around 4.30 a.m. to catch my 7.40 flight from JFK. we were all boarded by 7.15, and as we headed toward the runway, the captain announced there was something wrong with a sensor in a fuel tank, giving him 'unreliable' reads on the fuel gauge.

so, we sat for 4+ hours on the plane, while the engineers tried to diagnose and fix the problem. at that point, the thoughts, 'can we just switch planes?' occurred to people, but what do we know. and since the thoughts of a malfunctioning fuel tank was too much to ponder before a 7-hour flight across the atlantic, no one could really be too upset at the pilot's insistence on safety first. we took off--and we were all slightly uneasy--around noon.

30 mins in the air, i started wondering why the fasten seat belts lights hadn't switched off. an announcement came on, saying all the toilets were broken! so we've been on the plane now for over 5 hours, and we're informed that we're turning around and heading back to JFK; but, the plane had spent all that time on the fuel tank issue, and re-fueled before taking off. and, as we were informed before take-off, 'in case something happens,' we loaded up on extra fuel as a pre-caution. that didn't ease anyone's mind. so, we had massive amounts of fuel we needed to jettison before we could land, which took about 45 mins. that was odd--as i was sitting in the seat with the best view of watching, what thousands? hundreds? of gallons of kerosene (!) being dumped overboard. (i've added a couple of images for dramatic effect...) after the 4-hour worry over the fuel tanks-issues, watching all this fuel being pumped out feet from my seat was kind of nauseating, let alone those secondary thoughts of, 'what the hell happens to all this fuel being dumped?'

around 2 p.m. we landed, back at JFK. ah, nothing like spending 7 hours on a plane, including taking off and landing, to wind up back where you started. all kinds of other stupid little problems ensued, but eventually, we all were accommodated on a flight leaving around 6 p.m. we had to re-check our bags; i was SO glad that 5 feet from the bag check, i remembered i'd bought liquid (not booze!) in duty free, so i had to squeeze that into the bag before heading to security.

the airline provided us with a $20 food voucher; after that, i headed straight for the brooklyn brewery bar near my gate, where i enjoyed the lager and brown ale. they helped immensely, and for the first time in many flights--i actually managed to doze for most of the flight. i arrived this a.m. around 5.30, and of course, that's when i realized i was over my jet-lag in the states--my body clock is now all synced up with the eastern time zone! just in time for re-entry into... london. oh joy.

happy year of the rat!

2008-02-09T12:17:00.000Z

we celebrated chinese new year in chinatown, starting with lunch with richard at my favorite chinese restaurant and drinks with my friend sigga in my favorite non-chinese pub in the area. was drunk and happy! hope you had a similar thursday.

today is gorgeous, so we're about to head out and shop.

super shrove tuesday

2008-02-05T13:18:00.000Z

english towns have annual pancake races on shrove tueday--er, mardi gras. i was surprised to look out my window today at people racing down the high st., holding fry pans, flipping flapjacks! i remember reading about this in my 'childcraft' kids' encyclopedia when i was younger, but had no idea the event still actually takes place:

she was my favorite--had by far the most skill--

he started off well, but i think he would up dropping his cake near the end--

and look, the town was so enraptured with the pancake excitement that the elderly, on market day, abandoned the cake and jam stand! i've never been able to see the table in it's full glory before today--

after all this pancake excitement, i'm heading into london in a bit to vote in the primary! apparently, democrats abroad is recognized as a legitimate branch of the democratic party, with a few million people voting. i don't believe we're a swing vote, but it still feels nice to be a part of the political process, if small. oh, and i guess i accidentally told you which party i'm supporting. ah, well. hurray super shrove tuesday!

i need to learn to follow directions

2008-01-29T16:16:00.000Z

ever have one of those days where every thing you touch literally explodes?

below--the aftermath of my attempted birthday cake for our flatmate. and i know, i handled everything very poorly, from assembly to my panicked attempt at rectifying the situation. and yeah, that is my treasured libbey glass bowl that sadly, is now cracked. i think that one exploded when i looked at it.i call the above cake volcano--that's what both little round pans looked like when i opened the oven, after smelling burning cake not 90 seconds after i put both in

the cake, from oven to sink... don't ask why that seemed logical:

my sad, broken bowl:

i'm afraid to touch anything now, for the rest of the day.

oh yeah, and as i was explaining the situation to richard on the phone, the phone dropped and shattered. no pics of that, as all richard heard was a scream and silence, so figured getting that back together to let him know i hadn't spontaneously combusted was important. especially on a day like today.

instead of whinging

2008-01-27T17:18:00.000Z

your british word of the day:
whinge [winj]
-verb (used without object)
to complain; whine.

the weather this past weekend was absolutely stunning--sun with hardly a cloud in the sky. it's such a rarity here we sort of didn't know what to do with ourselves. we spent yesterday walking around oxford, and today we took the camera out for a stroll around guildford. so, instead of whinging about all-things british, i present you with a mini-tour of our town. most of these pictures were taken within a 5-minute walk of our front door.

guildford high st--looking up the hill; our flat is across from the clock, on the 3rd floor

me on the high street, outside of our flat

the millmead lock on the guildford canal

a man and his dog, beside the river wey (pronounced 'way')

the river wey, meeting the guildford canal; and swans. and ducks.

view from bridge street, walking toward town center

same language, or so i'm told

2008-01-21T14:37:00.000Z

it's easy to find references for the grammatical differences between american english and british english. but none of these are helpful at all on a day-to-day existence. idioms are one thing; but, even though i've lived here before, and learned a lot of the seemingly small variations in the seemingly inoffensive phrase, 'are you alright?', i CANNOT get used to the husband asking me this question!

if you're asked this question by an american, or in the states, it usually means, 'holy god, you're bleeding profusely from the head, are you alright? do you need medical care?' or 'you seem like you're having a mental breakdown, are you alright? do you need a bottle of whiskey?' you know, something like that. just used when someone seems in need of actual care or attention--blood, sweat, tears kind of querie...

the british usage--from what i can gather, closely resembles the tried and true phrase, 'hi, how are you?' or sometimes, 'hey, you look low on tea, would you like another cup?' but being american, when someone asks me 'are you alright?' it instigates a small tinge of panic.

i usually try and find a mirror to make sure my appearance isn't that out of the norm--hair relatively calm, no blood dripping from my nose i didn't know about, etc. when that seems fine, i reply with, 'yeah, everything is fine, why?' to which the british person just kind of makes a confused face, shrugs, walks away. i've learned to just reply, 'yeah.' but god forbid anyone saying, 'no, i'm not alright.' that response is met with equal confusion/disdain/ambivalence. in that case, the brit isn't asking how you are, or if you want tea--they're really just trying to make a pleasantry, much like an american would say, 'hello!'

this might not seem like that big a deal, but this phrase is asked of you wherever you go, by strangers, shop assistants, flatmates, husbands, friends, over and over and over and over! i can get used to it in public, get used to friends, but the husband--every time, it makes me uneasy and defensive. i guess it's just one of those things.

all the world loves a lover

2008-01-18T11:08:00.001Z

i'm afraid i'm reduced to nothing but links for the time being--but check out this charles bronson japanese mandom commercial though. seriously. do it.

i really thought i was smarter

2008-01-17T12:28:00.000Z

my aunt passed this lufthansa game on european geography to me, and i can't stop playing. of course every time i play, my score goes down. sigh.

viva los tacos!

2008-01-14T20:21:00.000Z

i guess my mom read my mind 3 weeks ago when she sent us our xmas presents which arrived today--we got all kinds of chili spices today! chipotle, ancho, guajillo--it magically goes on! we rushed out to the store and bought everything to make a fancy chili to celebrate. hurray for mum! er, bueno mama!

fatworld

2008-01-13T22:33:00.001Z

i can't wait to play this game that comes out tomorrow!

**update: i can wait to play this, as it turns out. i don't think whoever made this did much testing, becuase it's super slow and hard to play. too bad, becuase i love the idea of it.

mi mexico

2008-01-13T19:54:00.000Z

the meeting with the recruiter went fine. i'm still learning job titles here--what they translate to in american speak. i've emailed a couple more people, so i'm hoping some jobs/interviews present themselves soon.

we went flat hunting in london yesterday. yikes. funny how amazing a place can look in photos online, and then turn out to be a total dump when you walk in the door. we saw one place that was 1/2 fantastic--big lounge, bright, lots of windows in the front, but then the back half was dark, smelled of cat pee, and was really cramped. so we're still looking. places here often come furnished, which is great for student living but horrible for us. landlords can be rather inflexible on options of removing everything. one guy we called suggested that, if we liked the flat and didn't want the furniture, we should rent out a storage space for his furniture. hmm, no.

i really miss mexican food, and had a big craving for tacos last week. i have a great recipe from cooks illustrated, but the chili powder concoctions here aren't quite the same. i'm used to finding chili powders that are solely made of chilis, and i didn't check the contents before dumping a couple tablespoons in the sauce. we soon smelled that british chili powders are mostly cumin, corriander, garlic salt, etc. i already added those ingredients. our taco (fake) meat tasted fine, but smelled like an indian curry. was odd. i need to find some plain chili powder.

tuesday

2008-01-08T22:13:00.000Z

tomorrow i'm heading into london to meet with a recruiter. i'm hoping this leads to a job--or at least job interviews--within the next couple of weeks.

we're also looking for flats london, which isn't all that enjoyable. we sort of need to know what salaries we'll be earning to pick out a flat we can afford. i'm sure it'll all come together. just stressful thinking about it all.

the building-work in the current flat is still in full swing. we've been getting out--walking, jogging, etc. just to get away from the dust. so far it's been great--haven't had a snot-spell in days!

dust bowl

2008-01-04T12:34:00.000Z

apparently, my body has developed a dust allergy. i'm hoping that's what has caused my current, never-ending snot spell.

the lounge here suffered some water damage through the spring and fall, and the landlord here has, 8 months later, finally sent people to fix the problem. i guess they realized no one currently living here would want to stay on for more rain soaking, so they're fixing the problem for the next tenants. how sweet.

anyway, the dust byproduct from the stripping of wallpaper and plaster has left my face itchy and my nose full of snot. the builders also started this work a day late, so instead of having the project finished before the weekend, it will surely carry into next week. joy.