New Photos Posted ....

Tonight I finally had a chance to post photos from the Viking Festival and Pancake Day as well as a couple of photos to misc at Yahoo! This comes after my three week job placement at the Council of British Archaeology to help them with their media. Now it is back to be a grad student and homework.

Viking Festival involved battle sequences, fake scars (check out Katie's nasty scar in the photos!), and viking craftsmen.

Pancake Day was quite tasty - we had thin, British pancakes filled with creamy spinach and covered in cheese ... v. yummy. For dessert, we had American pancakes and syrup. According to previous comments, apparently I need to start Pancake Day when I come back to the U.S. (Tony!).

In two weeks, Katie, Leslie, and I are heading to London for Leslie's 40th birthday. Off to celebrate and see Jason Isaacs in the Dumb Waiter! Woo!

Pancake Day

Today is Pancake Day. It is the day before Ash Wednesday and apparently everyone in the UK eats pancakes and does very silly things, like have races with them. Check out Wikipedia for more on Pancake Day. In the meantime, we will be consuming pancakes of the British and American style.

Additionally, Lissa and crew came down from my second home (Cupar), this weekend for the Viking Festival. Three of the four silly girls in one country (ahem - Leslie!). Katie and I attempted to make toasted rolls from Miami, and although the result was tasty (and a two-day effort!) - it wasn't the same! Photos to be posted soon!

The Curse of Mediocrity

Have you ever been whapped in the face with something so profound you don't know what to do with it? I had a face-whapping moment this morning while walking to work. Perhaps I should preface this statement with the fact that I have a 40 minute walk to work, which for me is like my 20 minute drive into work at home (in which I drove without a radio - really lets you mind wander. Try it.).

During this walk this morning it realized that I am over halfway done with my master's program and I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do after I finish. Do I stay in Scotland? Do I go home? Do I go someplace else? What type of PR do I go back to? And then it whapped me in the face ... I'm not really "great" at anything, I'm just mediocre at lots of things. Sure PR is the jack-of-all-trades, but surely I should be great at something. Is someone who has done food-wholesale-government-not for profit-law enforcement-education-financial PR great? These are the things that worry me at night ... is mediocrity a great thing to be?

After work, I was in need of solitude and thankfully have a very large Minster to run to. And luckily at 5:15 p.m. everyday is choral evensong which fills the Minster with voices and organ music. The Minster is one place I will never tire of - and I very glad to have it in my city. And now I am worn out - off to bed ... goodnight to my readers (wherever you may be)!

Computer Photo Share

Today our house engaged in a photo swap through MSN Messenger. New photos are posted to Yahoo! in a new folder. Contents include: new Thorp Perrow pictures, new Swinton pictures, photos from last week's wig party (don't ask!), and from 2005 a picture of four of the silliest girls in England (in Bath - above). Enjoy.

In sporting news, England defeated Italy today in Six Nations Rugby. Match was very entertaining.

Finally!!! York Residents Weekend

Ok, so I am a little late, but I had school and this week just started my job placement. I'm working at the Council for British Archaeology - now I fit in with the rest of house. Photos from Residents Weekend, where most York tourist activities were free to resident, are posted to Yahoo! Activities for Katie and I were a trip to the Lord Mayor's house (in non-tourist areas!), to the top of the York Minster and the undercroft, getting coffee at McDonald's while waiting for the Mansion House tour (they only let 10 people in), touring the York Minster stone masons, and eating hot homemade fudge. Enjoy!

Sung by Leslie This Evening ...

"Chicken pot pie and I don't care," referring to "Jimmy cracked corn and I don't care." Oh the things that happen after dinner in the sitting room.

The White Death Approaches ...

We are in the midst of a weather disaster ... the south of England has 3-4 cm of snow! For you non-metrics out there, that's a little under 1/5 inches. Gatwick was closed for a short time and last night Manchester Airport was calling in extra staff to handle ploughing. And we thought Columbus was bad.

In other news, I've started a three week job placement with the Council for British Archaeology in York, working on a media strategy and press contact list. It's nice to be in archaeology for a little bit, as I tend to be around lots of archaeology people (especially since my two housemates are getting PhDs in the subject). In general though, UK office life is interesting. It's definitely more laid back than US organizations. The hours are 9 to 5 with an hour for lunch, but most people leave around 4:20 - 4:40 and there are lots of breaks for tea. All in all, very nice, even it is only for three weeks.

Two things I've found humorously difficult are 1) the European computer keyboard - for example if you push [shift] and 2 you will get ", rather than @ ... it makes writing emails hilarious! and 2) Microsoft Office documents are measured in cm. Grrrr... What does it mean when my paper is 21.59 cm by 27.94 cm? Is that 8.5 x 11 or A4? I don't know!

Is That Roast Beef?

This is probably a sure sign that I am going crazy. When I am in Edinburgh for school, I swear there is a roast beef smell near Haymarket train station. Tonight when I brought this up, Lissa claims it is the brewery nearby. Having lived near the Budweiser plant in Worthington, I know what beer smells like, and this is not it. It's not fowl and it does remind me of the meat smell on the Jorvik viking tour in York ... if you do not know what this is, come and visit me for pete's sake!

In school news, my political communication/public affairs lecturer claims I need to return to this sector. I didn't realize how much I missed it until we got into the subjects and lobbying today. Hello Washington (or London ... somebody please - hire me!).

Finally, on the 1810 (or the 6:10 p.m. train for the US) train home, I was cornered in my seat by two American girls. They were so loud and well, American. During one of the coversations I heard (it wasn't so much hearing as not being able to avoid), it was made apparent they went to the University of St. Andrews. When I told Lissa about their behavior she said this was just their behavior at St. Andrews. Sometimes when I sit on the train I wonder if I ever sounded like that. Frightening. I will just keep to books and/or newspaper or nap like the general population. Ta.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. I have general malaise."

Just a quick post before I start classes today. The tiredness due to steroids has fully set in this week. In addition to going to bed supremely early last night, I slept on the train this morning (the late train t 10:19 a.m.)! I have no idea how I am going to handle the next three days of the 7:30 a.m. train. Blah.

Otherwise, Lissa proclaims that I should stick with the term "general malaise" to describe my side effects because it sounds so old-fashioned and high class (and, as we are all aware, I am destined to be a Lady at some point in my life). So thank you FDA for your general description of the side effects of Endocort ... and the general malaise.

The Many Different Ways To Get To Scotland

Greetings from Scotland! I have just arrived into Edinburgh for a four-day class stint at QMU (not QMUC anymore, apparently they received the gift of university status over the holidays). Normally it would take around 2 1/2 hours to get here from York ... but not today. My first train (a Virgin train named Doctor Who - hee hee) could take me as far as Newcastle because of an earlier train fire. Then from Newcastle, I had to catch a train (the Bonnie Prince Charlie GNER train) that would take me only to Berwick-Upon-Tweed, due to a dry goods spill. From Berwick-Upon-Tweed it was a coach bus ride to Edinburgh Waverley. Even with all those stops, I was only an hour late. I am semi-impressed. What I am more intrigued by is the names of trains ... who knew.

In sporting news, Six Nations Rugby begins this week. One of the first matches - England v. Scotland on Satuday (which, of course, I will in class!). Check your satellite server for additional details ...

Side Effects Include General Malaise ...

During the holidays, I was finally able to get my appointment at the Cleveland Clinic to find out what I had been suffering from for the last nine months (well, it might as well be, the last 21 years). Turns out every test and every doctor's appointment I had to suffer - finally success! It wasn't all in my head - it turns out I have Crohn's Disease and that I could have had it all my life, but never diagnosed. Sounds like a story for Mystery Diagnosis on Discovery Health.

So for Crohn's Disease, the doctor at the Cleveland Clinic subscribed a steroid. Yes, a steroid, with some of it's main side effects being tiredness and general malaise. And I have both - and it is fantastic (insert sarcasm here). Luckily it is only for two months and then maybe I can get some of my energy back - but for now, general malaise all day and all night.

Pictures from the York Residents Weekend soon. I have to go to class in Edinburgh this week.

To The Stables ...

This afternoon was my first English horseback riding lesson. It was completely different than previous Western riding and involved a lot of leg work. According the teacher, I'm a complete natural sitting on the horse. Ha. My horse was brown and white and named Coco - and the largest horse in the group. Good time and not sore (yet).

Double Movie Night

Tonight was Orange mobile 2-for-1 ticket night at City Screen. Katie and I decided to go one further and not only watch one movie, but two movies ... back to back. First up, Miss Potter - v. cute. Next movie, The Last King of Scotland. Wow. Incredible movie and a complete change of pace from the first. Guess this is just an example of our extreme tastes.

The House of Mixed-Up Times

Bedtimes of our house the last three days: 6:00 a.m., 5:30 a.m., and 4:45 a.m.

Oh well ... at least we are making progress and moving towards the p.m. instead of towards noon. No real reason that we are staying up so late, we just aren't tired. Can I still blame jet lag after a week?

Not Trademarked by the Fox Corporation

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this or not, but our row house in York is named Kiefer. The phone in the house and all of our mobiles have its name programmed in - I always find it a bit amusing getting phone calls from Kiefer, it's so Hollywood. Why Kiefer you ask? You can thank out street for that - Sutherland Street. Ha. I guess we could have gone for Donald as well. Jack Bauer would be proud.

While I was home for the holdiays, a lot of people asked me what our house looked like. I am in the process of taking photos and will post shortly.

Holiday Revelation #3: Every day is a Chipotle day! (oh geez, that sounds really good now!)

High Wind Warning

It was so windy today! Leslie and I went to the University library today and when we walked out, we walked into a wall of 80+ mph winds. It is a great feeling to walk diagonal.

Holiday Revelation #2: If you state that it was really good no one fell during ice skating, someone eventually will (especially if a small child cuts them off as they are exiting the rink!).

Today it was ...

53 degrees! 53! I wore my spring jacket this afternoon. It would have been even warmer if it hadn't been so windy. Too good to last though, I'm sure we'll be hit with a huge article blast.

In other news, holiday revelation #1: when your friend is walking through a door frame with a glass of champagne and he walks into the closed screen door - it is still funny. Hee hee.

Holiday Recap ... Take 1

Ok, here's the start of the holiday recap: Mom and I were able to visit the Franklin Park Conservatory to see the new Chihuly exhibit. Exhibit was almost the same as the previous one, with the exception of two new pieces, but an excellent side surprise was an amazing orchid exhibit. Photos are posted to Yahoo! photos.

Back to the UK

Well I made it back to York after a particularly smooth flight (which only took 6 hours) and ended up at Manchester Airport 35 minutes ahead of schedule. Got on a train and arrived in York and arrived at the house and had a cup of tea. Mmmm.... Britain.

Will post up a recap of the holidays soon - for now, I will claim jet lag. :)

Trans-Atlantic

Flying stateside today. Don't expect to post much from the US unless something amazing happens. Be back in the UK starting January 14 - expect photos and recap then.

Cheerio and Happy Holidays!