Elizabeth, my State-side friend who is visiting for the weekend, and I have just come back from experiencing the musical Wicked. It's about the "wicked" Witch of the West and tells the story from her point of view - it is amazing! The production, the fabulous costumes and remarkable shoes, the singing are all brilliant! What a memorable night! And it's rather appropriate to see a musical about a green person on St Patrick's Day, isn't it? The Apollo Theatre is very grand and thre was a very impressive mechanical dragon's head that moved and it's eyes lit up at moments although I'm not quite sure of it's overall contribution to furthering the story...
My feet are ready to go to bed after miles of streets and art galleries and charity shops and trying to find this place that I once went passed that looked like it had good food. Needless to say we didn't find that restaurant. The art that is around this town is amasing (in fact, a lot of the paintings look exactly like the postcards I've sent in my previous life) and I've been re-inspired to go exploring.
Most of all it has been a delight to meet a friend I haven't seen for four and a half years and pick up the conversation as if we only said goodbye last week. Wicked indeed.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Visiting a mosque
Yesterday I went to visit a mosque in Kingston with a bunch of other people. We were given a tour of the mosque by Rashid, met Yusuf Islam's (ie Cat Stevens) father-in-law - the president of the mosque, had an impromptu lecture from the Imam (who first came to Kingston from Morocco as an acrobat for the circus!), were fed lunch, and then joined in with their Friday prayers.
It has been a few years since I have been to a mosque and last time I went I didn't have much opportunity to meet the people worshiping there. In Kingston everyone was very friendly and welcoming and I found it all interesting. There was a man in the group who posed a few cringe-worthy questions but otherwise we were also on our best behaviour! Obviously for the prayers I went upstairs with the other women. We listened to what was going on via some tinny loudspeakers (ideal for the sung parts, but not so much for the spoken sermon/teaching bit) while we sat facing Mecca.
The women's hall had Qur'ans but also prayer beads and some spare long kaftan like garments for women to borrow. There were also signs telling us we should not talk during one part of the 'service'... Some things seem to be ubiquitous regardless of place of worship: namely asking people to give money and the notices! I felt quite comfortable being in the women's hall as there is definately something very interesting in being in a women's only space, which is not something I have done very much of in the religious context so I was quite up for the experience.
My favourite part was upstairs watching a small girl (4-5 yrs) interact with her mother. Her mother was praying but while she was bowing and prostrating her daughter clambered all over her and while she stood up the little girl squirmed through her legs. It says a lot when your religious experience is large enough to include a small child using you as a climbing frame... The beautiful part was the complete acceptance of the situation by everyone there.
It has been a few years since I have been to a mosque and last time I went I didn't have much opportunity to meet the people worshiping there. In Kingston everyone was very friendly and welcoming and I found it all interesting. There was a man in the group who posed a few cringe-worthy questions but otherwise we were also on our best behaviour! Obviously for the prayers I went upstairs with the other women. We listened to what was going on via some tinny loudspeakers (ideal for the sung parts, but not so much for the spoken sermon/teaching bit) while we sat facing Mecca.
The women's hall had Qur'ans but also prayer beads and some spare long kaftan like garments for women to borrow. There were also signs telling us we should not talk during one part of the 'service'... Some things seem to be ubiquitous regardless of place of worship: namely asking people to give money and the notices! I felt quite comfortable being in the women's hall as there is definately something very interesting in being in a women's only space, which is not something I have done very much of in the religious context so I was quite up for the experience.
My favourite part was upstairs watching a small girl (4-5 yrs) interact with her mother. Her mother was praying but while she was bowing and prostrating her daughter clambered all over her and while she stood up the little girl squirmed through her legs. It says a lot when your religious experience is large enough to include a small child using you as a climbing frame... The beautiful part was the complete acceptance of the situation by everyone there.
Friday, March 02, 2007
The latest FUN thing...
Freecycle is amazing - and addictive! It's a brilliant group that pass things around for free. Anything really from beds and garden sheds to toys and a frying pan. The Richmond group is very active with items posted in the morning gone by the afternoon and this does add an extra edge to the proceedings. So far I was too slow on asking for some mosaics and grouting and Lotte vetoed my suggestion of giving the gardenshed a home here...but I live in hope that something exciting is waiting for me in the next message I open. Lotte and I are also planning on giving anybody who donates us stuff flapjacks, so I'm fully expecting once word of this gets around we will be the first people everyone thinks of when they wish to get rid of an item.
Jen, from Swampea, came to visit me last weekend which was brilliant. We saw an amazing photographic exhibition in the Natural Science Museum. We also found a couple of artists who deal with a mistaken case of SARS (turns out to be PMS), observe some veggie monsters and penguins loose in London, and generally have a lot of rabbits bounding everywhere. It's quirky and there are plenty of delightful details in the panoramic views. [Go to www.kozyndan.com for your viewing pleasure.]
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sky High
My flatmate Lotte is going to do a skydive for charity - The Big Issue - on the 3rd of March (http://www.justgiving.com/lottewebb). Somehow jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet is not something I've ever contemplated doing, but I'm happy to cheer her on!
Having a job interview the day before the college breaks for half-term has meant that I need to wait until next week before hearing anything from them which is slightly frustrating. On the other hand I've started volunteering for the Richmond Environment Network. I volunteered expecting to help out in the office and do little things like that, but actually I've been given the opportunity to start (almost from scratch) working on the children and youth side, i.e. develop and support work going on in the ENTIRE borough. So, I'm going to have to pretend I know what I'm doing. Should be fun!
Our washing machine is refusing to open the door so there's a whole load stuck inside at least until tomorrow. Oh well, it's been a good excuse to borrow a towel off our neighbour (a new experience for sure).
UPDATE - Nobody can come to fix it until Monday 11am so the wet laundry will be in the machine all weekend!
Having a job interview the day before the college breaks for half-term has meant that I need to wait until next week before hearing anything from them which is slightly frustrating. On the other hand I've started volunteering for the Richmond Environment Network. I volunteered expecting to help out in the office and do little things like that, but actually I've been given the opportunity to start (almost from scratch) working on the children and youth side, i.e. develop and support work going on in the ENTIRE borough. So, I'm going to have to pretend I know what I'm doing. Should be fun!
Our washing machine is refusing to open the door so there's a whole load stuck inside at least until tomorrow. Oh well, it's been a good excuse to borrow a towel off our neighbour (a new experience for sure).
UPDATE - Nobody can come to fix it until Monday 11am so the wet laundry will be in the machine all weekend!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
The Science of Sleep
Last night Lotte and I got our exercise London-style by rushing from the tube station and trying to find the Barbican Centre in the ten minutes we had before our film was due to start. As both of us had forgotten to bring along the London A-Z we had to do a fair amount of detective work too to find out which way to go. The Barbican Centre - once we had found it - was a maze of empty corridors and enclaves. It was a rather eerie place, especially when we emerged from the film (which is about Stephane mixing dream and reality).
'The Science of Sleep' is a beautiful film. I'm a big fan of Gael Garcia Bernal and enjoyed Michel Gondry's last film: The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so I did have high expectations and thankfully I was not let down. It is a beguiling fantasy in a merry fluid mixture of French, English, and Spanish and shot beautifully. Besides, how can you not like a film with a one second time-machine?!
We wandered around Soho for awhile later on. What a fascinating hive of bustle and activity with rickshaws attempting to pick up passengers, lots of people walking around (a relief after the quiet and sterile finance quarters), loads of restaurants (we had a lovely Thai curry), and the China Town all decorated up for Chinese New Year.
On our way back, just outside the station we wanted, the train stopped due "to a slight fire outside the signalman's cabin" which damaged the cables a bit. A surreal end to the journey, but thankfully somebody managed to override the system and we did not end up spending the night on the uncomfortable seats. On "alighting" the train we saw no sigh of fire anywhere although I did spot a rat rustling around the tracks.
Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
'The Science of Sleep' is a beautiful film. I'm a big fan of Gael Garcia Bernal and enjoyed Michel Gondry's last film: The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so I did have high expectations and thankfully I was not let down. It is a beguiling fantasy in a merry fluid mixture of French, English, and Spanish and shot beautifully. Besides, how can you not like a film with a one second time-machine?!
We wandered around Soho for awhile later on. What a fascinating hive of bustle and activity with rickshaws attempting to pick up passengers, lots of people walking around (a relief after the quiet and sterile finance quarters), loads of restaurants (we had a lovely Thai curry), and the China Town all decorated up for Chinese New Year.
On our way back, just outside the station we wanted, the train stopped due "to a slight fire outside the signalman's cabin" which damaged the cables a bit. A surreal end to the journey, but thankfully somebody managed to override the system and we did not end up spending the night on the uncomfortable seats. On "alighting" the train we saw no sigh of fire anywhere although I did spot a rat rustling around the tracks.
Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Appletree
Recently I've taken it upon myself to drastically reduce the amount of my physical possessions. In part this has corresponded with a HUGE increase in technology. I have now joined the classes with white wires hanging out of their ears and am an iPod owner, and my gorgeous friends moving back to Australia (= free place to stay when I get over there!) gave me a dinky little iBook. Somehow I don't think the value of my possessions in under £20 anymore. It is a strange transition, but it is oddly enough helping me cut back in my habit of stockpiling stuff so it surely can't be all bad.
The major problem I can forsee is not understanding what the computer is saying to me or a paralysing fear of breaking it... However our new neighbour works for Dell, and the vicar's husband describes himself as a "techno-hippy" so there's bound to be help around - for a suitable bribe.
The major problem I can forsee is not understanding what the computer is saying to me or a paralysing fear of breaking it... However our new neighbour works for Dell, and the vicar's husband describes himself as a "techno-hippy" so there's bound to be help around - for a suitable bribe.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Cold and wintry February - finally!
It's pretty darn cold outside, at least by our English standards, but so completely gorgeous I'll forgive it! Just the right weather for slipping into little shops to warm up for a couple of minutes before braving the outdoors again. I love this weather! The Pearl Month of the year... [That's a transliteration of the Finnish for February.]
I registered with the doctors surgery this morning and ought to get back to fill a whole stack of forms littered around my bedroom floor - there are just so many of them! Benefit forms, College forms, CRB checks the lot. I haven't been very diligent though and so my form filling sessions are spread inbetween Dorris Lessing's 'The Golden Notebook' and 'The Time Traveller's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger. Writing down details of myself over and over again are a certain way of filling this form of my existence here, defining it and drawing lines around me... (Not sure I like that particular outline of the form I'm filling out hence all these books.)
I've started a Spanish course too; and again it's one of my get out of jail free cards...
I registered with the doctors surgery this morning and ought to get back to fill a whole stack of forms littered around my bedroom floor - there are just so many of them! Benefit forms, College forms, CRB checks the lot. I haven't been very diligent though and so my form filling sessions are spread inbetween Dorris Lessing's 'The Golden Notebook' and 'The Time Traveller's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger. Writing down details of myself over and over again are a certain way of filling this form of my existence here, defining it and drawing lines around me... (Not sure I like that particular outline of the form I'm filling out hence all these books.)
I've started a Spanish course too; and again it's one of my get out of jail free cards...
Monday, January 29, 2007
Richmond, London
Where to start? I packed all my belongings into three bags and a suitcase and on Friday headed for London after a week or more of going round pubs, people's places, Red Cafe, and generally saying goodbye to all the wonderful and fabulous people I've met in Swansea. Bleary eyed (after a farewell party at the house) I stepped onto the 8:15am bus and headed towards Victoria bus station. Upon arrival I started to curse my inability to pack lighter and dragged my stuff across to Victoria station. But I took one look at the stairs leading down to the tube and bailed. I had to sens an SOS text to Lotte to come and rescue me - which she dutifully did. So not exactly the independent start to a life in London that I had imagined, but at least I'm here.
The weekend has been packed with meeting people, our mutual friends from Iona as well as some of Lotte's friends, trying to unpack and decorate my room, walk around Richmond and try to make some sense of this place and the fact that I'm here... We live a minute away from the river, ten seconds away from the bus station, a minute away from the food shop/High Street. Everything is right here!! The first thing I did on Saturday was to get a library card and I've already got an Oyster Card, so once I've bought myself a London A-Z I will feel a lot more at home.
Our flat is huge, white and magnolia (very much the non-offensive option isn't it) with a Lotte-influenced red-orange colour scheme, gorgeous, has a back garden that we share with the other two apartments in the house but it's huge, and we have a strong feeling of disbelief that now we are the adults in the house which seems unreal. The garden has seven bird feeders which are strung very high up in the trees. Prosaicly I did find a stepladder in the garden, which dashed my initial theory that there must be giants living in the upstairs flat, but we have regular visitors of green parakeets that amase and amuse me and liven up the garden.
I'm still trying to take everything in which means that everything is quite a mess in my head, experiences and sights floating around in no logical sense, but I'm hopeful it will settle down soon. I am so excited about this all!
This is a very euphoric, bouncy post. I'm sure in due course I'll come down to a sober judgement of the frivolty of the rich, how having been into five charity shops and seen their prices that I really am going to need a job soon or whatever, but for now I'm enjoying it.
The weekend has been packed with meeting people, our mutual friends from Iona as well as some of Lotte's friends, trying to unpack and decorate my room, walk around Richmond and try to make some sense of this place and the fact that I'm here... We live a minute away from the river, ten seconds away from the bus station, a minute away from the food shop/High Street. Everything is right here!! The first thing I did on Saturday was to get a library card and I've already got an Oyster Card, so once I've bought myself a London A-Z I will feel a lot more at home.
Our flat is huge, white and magnolia (very much the non-offensive option isn't it) with a Lotte-influenced red-orange colour scheme, gorgeous, has a back garden that we share with the other two apartments in the house but it's huge, and we have a strong feeling of disbelief that now we are the adults in the house which seems unreal. The garden has seven bird feeders which are strung very high up in the trees. Prosaicly I did find a stepladder in the garden, which dashed my initial theory that there must be giants living in the upstairs flat, but we have regular visitors of green parakeets that amase and amuse me and liven up the garden.
I'm still trying to take everything in which means that everything is quite a mess in my head, experiences and sights floating around in no logical sense, but I'm hopeful it will settle down soon. I am so excited about this all!
This is a very euphoric, bouncy post. I'm sure in due course I'll come down to a sober judgement of the frivolty of the rich, how having been into five charity shops and seen their prices that I really am going to need a job soon or whatever, but for now I'm enjoying it.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Twirling, whirling...
On Sunday we had a house-outing to see the whirling derishes of Damascus. They performed with the Al-Kindi Ensamble and the Sheikh Hamza Shakkur and performed Sufi liturgy of the Ummayad Mosque of Damascus. What an experience! I've never seen anything like that live before and they had the whole of the Taliesin art centre transfixed with the music and the whirling. The men in their dresses looked rather interesting until they started to twirl and then it all look increadibly natural - if you can say that about four men twirling around on a stage. (Actually, I kept expecting the one guy in particular to curtsey as he walked back to his chair.) The ensamble were playing classical Arab music from the 9th Century upwards and it was very intricate and fascinating to listen to and to watch.
I have no idea how the men managed to do so much whirling and not a) fall over or b) be sick. My head felt a bit giddy just watching them. And when we got home I felt inspired to do a few twirls but was dizzy within a few turns. It's great to see stuff like this in Swansea!
I have no idea how the men managed to do so much whirling and not a) fall over or b) be sick. My head felt a bit giddy just watching them. And when we got home I felt inspired to do a few twirls but was dizzy within a few turns. It's great to see stuff like this in Swansea!
Friday, January 19, 2007
Lily's Friday Challenge
Lily, my intrepid friend, has just eaten eight pickled eggs for a bet. I watched her munch through these eggs, that a collegue of hers had pickled (probably for her), for over an hour. It was entertaining, although a bit painful too. She has a habit of laying on bets for all imaginable crazy things. And has so far come through most of them honourably. Google later provided a slight dampner on her glory by telling us that the record for eating pickled eggs (and yes, there is such a thing) is 19 pickled eggs in five minutes; but we are still proud of her even while we shake our heads in disbelief.
A previous food related bet saw her eating half a kilo of pickled onions, and she has agreed to attempt to eat two kilos of bean sprouts next Friday as long as they are not pickled.
That woman has a stomach of steel.
A previous food related bet saw her eating half a kilo of pickled onions, and she has agreed to attempt to eat two kilos of bean sprouts next Friday as long as they are not pickled.
That woman has a stomach of steel.
We have a new housemate, Jen, another waif rescued from a homeless fate, and a very welcomed addition to the house. And the dog is still with us as Ian's mother is stranded in Ireland - the ferries are not running in the force 10 gales it would seem... Dog and I have been exploring around the Tawe river and Kilvey Hill both which are new territory for me. I still find the view from top of the hill quite disconcerting as the Swansea that I can see from there is just so different and it is disorienting to not recognise the town I've lived in over the past four years.
I've found a big box and packed it and it's sitting ready to be sent to Finland. Unfortunately there still seems to be an awful lot of possession left in my room even after three trips to charity shops...
13th of July is when the next Harry Potter film comes out (HP and the Order of the Phoenix), and I've surprised myself by getting quite excited about that:) The room of Dolores Umbridge looks suitably revolting with the rows of kittens on plates hung on the wall! JK Rowling has announced the title of the next and last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so does that mean that we might get our hands on the book sometime this year? Is Severus Snape friend or foe...
Being on campus at Uni I've bought the paper for 25p. Bargain!
I've found a big box and packed it and it's sitting ready to be sent to Finland. Unfortunately there still seems to be an awful lot of possession left in my room even after three trips to charity shops...
13th of July is when the next Harry Potter film comes out (HP and the Order of the Phoenix), and I've surprised myself by getting quite excited about that:) The room of Dolores Umbridge looks suitably revolting with the rows of kittens on plates hung on the wall! JK Rowling has announced the title of the next and last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so does that mean that we might get our hands on the book sometime this year? Is Severus Snape friend or foe...
Being on campus at Uni I've bought the paper for 25p. Bargain!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Chronicles of Swansea
The last update from my friend Abi is that she is (or was on New Year's Day) in Antigua lying on a beach watching hummingbirds. She left Swansea last October as a crew member on a small boat. Last I heard she was headed to Cape Verde with six Italians who might go over to Brazil if they felt like it - but now she's in the Caribbean... Well, she was aiming for Mexico so I guess it's in the right direction for her. She is such an inspiration, and I loved living with her for the six months that I did.
Harking back to that time I've also been nostalgic over our tea-habits. We had no teapot but there was always a saucepan full of tea on the table. It was usually green tea that Fred would drink by the pint glass, but also chai, nettles from the back garden, Greek mountain tea, and various other concoctions. At one point we did a inventory and between us we had 26 different types of tea, and we kept adding to it... Currently I am growing rather fond of the yellow teapot I have access to, but I will always keep a spot in my heart for brewing tea in a saucepan and drinking it out of jam jars - as all the mugs were being held hostage in Helen's room...
Ian's mother is going away for a while so we are going to be looking after her dog for the weekend. The rain has let up for a second too so I'm sure we'll get a few nice walks in. Our friend has been staying for the past two days but I think he's not too keen on the idea of a dog and is moving to another friend's place:) His loss, dogs are great!
My time is filled by trying to get rid of four years worth of stuff as a prelude to packing, filling out job applications and hunting for more, trying to figure out a cheap way of sending stuff back to Finland as there are several books I cannot bare the thought of parting with permanently, reading other books from the library, going to see people, and all the other wonderful things that go along with being gloriously unemployed.
I stopped off during lunch break in the AqWa office at Swansea uni as Lily and Shaun are both doing PhDs there. I found out from the disappointed Lily that the tickets to the Eurovision song contest in Finland are sold out already! I also heard a review on apples, heard several bad jokes, and we watched a (dead) whale on a beach being blown up as well as the first two instalments of R. Kelly's soap opera rap thing on YouTube. Entertaining, and R. Kelly may well be a minor genius, but they're never going to convince me that they do any work. And here I was thinking a PhD is a serious business!
Harking back to that time I've also been nostalgic over our tea-habits. We had no teapot but there was always a saucepan full of tea on the table. It was usually green tea that Fred would drink by the pint glass, but also chai, nettles from the back garden, Greek mountain tea, and various other concoctions. At one point we did a inventory and between us we had 26 different types of tea, and we kept adding to it... Currently I am growing rather fond of the yellow teapot I have access to, but I will always keep a spot in my heart for brewing tea in a saucepan and drinking it out of jam jars - as all the mugs were being held hostage in Helen's room...
Ian's mother is going away for a while so we are going to be looking after her dog for the weekend. The rain has let up for a second too so I'm sure we'll get a few nice walks in. Our friend has been staying for the past two days but I think he's not too keen on the idea of a dog and is moving to another friend's place:) His loss, dogs are great!
My time is filled by trying to get rid of four years worth of stuff as a prelude to packing, filling out job applications and hunting for more, trying to figure out a cheap way of sending stuff back to Finland as there are several books I cannot bare the thought of parting with permanently, reading other books from the library, going to see people, and all the other wonderful things that go along with being gloriously unemployed.
I stopped off during lunch break in the AqWa office at Swansea uni as Lily and Shaun are both doing PhDs there. I found out from the disappointed Lily that the tickets to the Eurovision song contest in Finland are sold out already! I also heard a review on apples, heard several bad jokes, and we watched a (dead) whale on a beach being blown up as well as the first two instalments of R. Kelly's soap opera rap thing on YouTube. Entertaining, and R. Kelly may well be a minor genius, but they're never going to convince me that they do any work. And here I was thinking a PhD is a serious business!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Very short stories
Hemingway once wrote a very brief story in just six words: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." and is said to have called it his best work.
The magazine Wired invited a whole bunch of sci-fi writers to write their concise masterpieces of six words and I've happily happened to stumble across them. Here are a few:
Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket.
-William Shatner
Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood
From torched skyscrapers, men grew wings.
- Gregory Maguire
Epitaph: Foolish humans, never escaped Earth.
- Vernor Vinge
We kissed. She melted. Mop please!
- James Patrick Kelly
The baby's blood type? Human, mostly.
- Orson Scott Card
Dinosaurs return. Want their oil back.
- David Brin
And I've got one of my own although I am not a writer of masterpieces or of anything else either:
Why expect anything to be simple?
- me
The magazine Wired invited a whole bunch of sci-fi writers to write their concise masterpieces of six words and I've happily happened to stumble across them. Here are a few:
Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket.
-William Shatner
Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood
From torched skyscrapers, men grew wings.
- Gregory Maguire
Epitaph: Foolish humans, never escaped Earth.
- Vernor Vinge
We kissed. She melted. Mop please!
- James Patrick Kelly
The baby's blood type? Human, mostly.
- Orson Scott Card
Dinosaurs return. Want their oil back.
- David Brin
And I've got one of my own although I am not a writer of masterpieces or of anything else either:
Why expect anything to be simple?
- me
Monday, January 01, 2007
To quote a friend:
Wishing You 12 months of happiness, 52 weeks of fun, 365 days of laughter, 8760 hours of blessings, 525600 minutes of joy, 315536000 seconds of peace and justice! Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Back in Korpo(o)
Alas, there is no snow here. Each night the frost has provided a white coat on the roads and a glinting sheen on the rest of the ground, but it is mostly gone by morning. In town there was some ice on the pavements I felt very much like a foreigner as I gingerly made my way across the paths. But I did go for an ice-clear ramble in the woods today feeling far more like a Finn again.
Who travels by car on an island at 2am? And where are they going? The curtain-twitcher in me was curious as I noticed some cars going past... I guess my idea of an island is still very much dominated by Iona. If I didn't know that we had taken two ferries to get here I'd forget that we're not just in the middle-of-nowhere. We drove out here on Christmas Day and the ferries were running on the Sunday schedule - so merely every half an hour rather than every fifteen to twenty minutes. This is truly incredible! Only last week I tried to get to Mumbles/Newton and found that there was only one (1!) bus an hour after 5pm. Utterly disgusted I abandoned that trip. I'll never be convinced, at this rate, that Swansea's public transport system is any good...
A few of my friends are obssessed with list making and ranking things in order. I tend to think this passtime is...well...silly, but perhaps it's a seasonal hazard for while I was musing over this habit I found myself with an urge to create a list too. (I've generally observed that you have to be careful when making fun of something as otherwise you'll end up doing it yourself!) I decided to write a list of 10 things I didn't know about Touaregs (not too sure why either), but when I found out that they've got a great festival each January near Timbuktu - Festival au Desert - it was a short step to be distracted further by the Forbidden Purple City (what a great name!) in Vietnam and WWOOFing in Mexico. So I never ended up with a list afterall. Although I now have another festival I'd really like to go to...
There may not be any snow but we have had stunning winter skies as the sun sets by 4pm. It is very, very dark here. It is Finland afterall.
Who travels by car on an island at 2am? And where are they going? The curtain-twitcher in me was curious as I noticed some cars going past... I guess my idea of an island is still very much dominated by Iona. If I didn't know that we had taken two ferries to get here I'd forget that we're not just in the middle-of-nowhere. We drove out here on Christmas Day and the ferries were running on the Sunday schedule - so merely every half an hour rather than every fifteen to twenty minutes. This is truly incredible! Only last week I tried to get to Mumbles/Newton and found that there was only one (1!) bus an hour after 5pm. Utterly disgusted I abandoned that trip. I'll never be convinced, at this rate, that Swansea's public transport system is any good...
A few of my friends are obssessed with list making and ranking things in order. I tend to think this passtime is...well...silly, but perhaps it's a seasonal hazard for while I was musing over this habit I found myself with an urge to create a list too. (I've generally observed that you have to be careful when making fun of something as otherwise you'll end up doing it yourself!) I decided to write a list of 10 things I didn't know about Touaregs (not too sure why either), but when I found out that they've got a great festival each January near Timbuktu - Festival au Desert - it was a short step to be distracted further by the Forbidden Purple City (what a great name!) in Vietnam and WWOOFing in Mexico. So I never ended up with a list afterall. Although I now have another festival I'd really like to go to...
There may not be any snow but we have had stunning winter skies as the sun sets by 4pm. It is very, very dark here. It is Finland afterall.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Virtual fridge magnets!
While my fridge magnets languish in one box or another I've stumbled across a substitute... What fun!!
Here's a hasty poem of pure nonsense I wrote.
http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/?id=1107
Here's a hasty poem of pure nonsense I wrote.
http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/?id=1107
Thursday, December 21, 2006
The Dude abides
What an ace film... And a reminder of the cyclical nature of things. I watched for the first time 4 years ago in St Thomas, and then again yesterday - in St Thomas. This time it was my turn to introduce it to a friend!
After 15 hours of travel I have arrived in Finland to watch the sun go down at 3:30pm! Not much snow to report, though I faithfully carried th Christmas pudding here in one piece as requested. Now I wasn't allowed to bring a 500ml bottle of water (100ml would've been fine), but noone batted an eyelid at the pud. Where's the logic in that?!
Happy solstice folks! It only gets lighter from here - hurray:)
After 15 hours of travel I have arrived in Finland to watch the sun go down at 3:30pm! Not much snow to report, though I faithfully carried th Christmas pudding here in one piece as requested. Now I wasn't allowed to bring a 500ml bottle of water (100ml would've been fine), but noone batted an eyelid at the pud. Where's the logic in that?!
Happy solstice folks! It only gets lighter from here - hurray:)
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Hats, bags, and badges
In the spirit of this consumer season I've rediscoved the joy of the above mentioned items. I recently saw a bag that got me drooling, but I did manage to tear myself away and walk out of the shop without shelling out £5. Now that may not sound like much, but when the sum total of your earnings is not even considered worth taxing by our lovely government £5 represents quite a huge chunk... Actually, I've been quite happy rediscovering my said hats, bags, and badges that I had packed away before going to Iona and it's been like an early Christmas pulling them out of boxes:)
Today I've gone a bit over board and am wearing not one but TWO badges... But one is tiny, so it can't really count, right?
Today I've gone a bit over board and am wearing not one but TWO badges... But one is tiny, so it can't really count, right?
Monday, December 11, 2006
Landed! (Said in a Welsh accent for full effect...)
I am now no longer homeless, but have taken up residency in St Thomas of Swansea. Plus I'm living with a friend (hooray) who knows I'm poor as a churchmouse and isn't charging me as much rent as he really ought to be (hooray). It's a "proper house" and everything too...
It's on the east side of Swansea which I'm finding stranger than I thought. I've spent all of my Swansea life on the west side so things really do seem different. It's great being this close to the town centre though as I can finally do my shopping on St Helen's Road and the market. I walked into town today along the river - again a totally new experience for me. And once I get my bike back I'll be able to cycle to Pontardawe and Neath all along the cyclepaths that are by a canal/river.
I've been frequenting the local corner shop to establish myself in the neighbourhood and I hear there is a good bellydancing class in the community hall... Our neighbour on the right keeps pidgeons that he races. One day when I'll get up early enough (like 8 or 9 am) I'll be able to see him "excercise" them. Apart from living up a huge hill 'tis all most exciting!
I'm doing my utmost to take advantage of the best bit of being unemployed: time. I did a lovely walk to Pwll Du via Caswell Bay and then through Bisphopston Valley and a foot of mud, and I've been reading lots again - what luxury! For those of you out there who have been fortunate enough to spend any time in Wales I HIGHLY recommend "Aberystwyth Mon Amour" by Malcom Pryce.
It's on the east side of Swansea which I'm finding stranger than I thought. I've spent all of my Swansea life on the west side so things really do seem different. It's great being this close to the town centre though as I can finally do my shopping on St Helen's Road and the market. I walked into town today along the river - again a totally new experience for me. And once I get my bike back I'll be able to cycle to Pontardawe and Neath all along the cyclepaths that are by a canal/river.
I've been frequenting the local corner shop to establish myself in the neighbourhood and I hear there is a good bellydancing class in the community hall... Our neighbour on the right keeps pidgeons that he races. One day when I'll get up early enough (like 8 or 9 am) I'll be able to see him "excercise" them. Apart from living up a huge hill 'tis all most exciting!
I'm doing my utmost to take advantage of the best bit of being unemployed: time. I did a lovely walk to Pwll Du via Caswell Bay and then through Bisphopston Valley and a foot of mud, and I've been reading lots again - what luxury! For those of you out there who have been fortunate enough to spend any time in Wales I HIGHLY recommend "Aberystwyth Mon Amour" by Malcom Pryce.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
