What?!!

It was almost worth ₤1 to try this...

...almost

anti-tourisim

I grew up in a tourist town in the mountians. Downtown the tourists meander the streets as though cars do not exist. They video the totem pole (as though it were about to do something interesting). They browse the shops for kitch decorated with squirrels and moose (despite the fact that there probably has never been a moose in the San Jacinto Mountians ever), they wear flannel and those who get vacation cabins furnish the entire cabin with rough hewn wood furniture and plaid upholstry…
Now I live near San Francisco. Tourists arrive in inappropreatly cool clothing (thinking that all of California is like Bay Watch). You can spot them wearing the I (heart) San Francisco polar fleece bought at the pier, the home made t-shirts worn with shorts and visors. They ride the cable cars for $5 each way to get to Fisherman’s warf and buy canned clam chowder served in a hunk of sourdough bread…
There are also “Visitors” who actually look around and pay attention and appreciate things that they are not proscribed to look at. These are the ones who do not waste their money buying themed refridgerator magnets and cheaply made T-shirts. Visitors are encouraged to visit the beautiful places I live. Because of my strong anti-tourist leaning I think I go out of my way to not do what tourists are expected to do.
In London there are double decker bus tours, which are just about as appealing to me as riding the cable car to work. In addition to their appeal, they cost £22 (aproximatley $45). However lame it is to be a tourist, there are indeed many sights worth seeing in London. As a happy alternative, my travel companion, two of the girls from the hostel and I took public transit (also a double decker bus) to see the sights…

Prince Albert was 11' tall and made completely out of gold... do not look directly at the royalty or your retenas will be burnt.


two of my fellow anti-tour companions...

Parliament and Big Ben were much more impressive than I thought they would be. We turned the corner and actually gasped. It took a moment for me to even realize where we were... once you see the clock tower it's a bit of a give away though.

The whole day of touring town cost me a little less than £4 and I didn’t feel like I was riding a cable car of shame.

Day one;

Within the first hour of leaving the airport I discovered that "the tube" is just like BART and the subway (only far far better) I soon arrived at St.Paul's Youth Hostel. As soon as we checked in and dropped off our bags I was out for a walk. What I never realized about London is that it is jam packed with everything you hear is "in England". Within a short two hour walk I crossed the Mellinnium bridge and immediatley saw the Old Globe Theater, a skip away from that is the Rose (or so the signs said, I never actually saw the Rose)...

...we walked past one of the oldest Gothic churches in England and the footprint of the original Globe theater.


.. Sir Francis Drake's ship is docked there (a trashy tourist museum but it's there) just shortly before the London Bridge and then a short jaunt away from the London Tower Bridge...

we crossed the tower bridge...

to the left is the Tower of London (not just a tower, it's a whole castle with a tower).

This is a remnant of the original wall surrounding London (I forget which part at the moment)

Then we walked a few blocks of office buildings, but right next to the Thames river looking out onto the sparkle of "old London" across the way.

Q; So where have you been?

A; Out of Town...


In an attempt to avoid drama and jealousy and stumbling blocks that has been my answer for my week out of town. I did tie up all of my obligations, and finish some projects early, I did everything necissary to permit not being in Berkeley for the time allotted, all of corse with a very vague response of what I was up to... so now I will potentially spoil my discression by posting lots and lots of pictures of where I've been... I've been far out of town, doing research, finding family, enjoying life.
The first hour I arrived here were a few of the pics I took... for those who don't know where I was, see if you can guess.




This is of corse a quick teaser, there will be massive amounts of pictures with stories included but I am at the moment working on getting another show on its feet so blogging will probably be in small bits.

Reunion!

Almost a year ago I misplaced a stash of my favorite jewelry. Today in a fit of cleaning rage I found it! My rings! My earrings! My bracelets! All pieces brimming with good vibes. I recovered a ring my father bought me when I moved back to California, I found my mother's old turquoise rings, I found my heart charm bracelet that fascinated me as a child, I found my "atom" earrings given to me by my best friend in ninth grade...

... it's a good sign I think.

The Creepy Eyes Gallery

Hey Kelly,
Check out the new art I found down by tourist's pier... I know your birthday is coming up. These will go great hanging over your precious moments diorama and Hallmark display...

Sunset over the Bay

Sunset came and the flight of gulls stopped me in my tracks.

A congregation paused to see...

... the pink and yellow haze that held us for a moment before the night.

Random post

It's raining... so I played with photoshop today... look I'm under the ocean... and my skin is perfect!



Ah, sorry nothing exciting to post today, but I'm tired of the old photos being at the top.

a winter sigh

What happens when I have much more time than money on my hands;

My room explodes

My closet becomes organized

My socks get darned (again)

My friends' clothes get fixed
(no picture available)
I cook more... and spend time wondering if I've ever seen carrots with holes through them before...


I'm planning on painting my walls (on the landlady's dime), sending out resumes to new people, and actually making my own clothes (which is something I claim that I never do). Shaggy is coming to visit me next week but fortunately he is just as poor as I am, so I think there will be redwoods hiked in, beaches combed, windows shopped and DVD's watched...

It's really not so bad. Everything is slow, like I'm in a hibernation. I have time to reflect on where I'm going, what I'm doing and how to improve. I get the chance to reorganize and rest. During these slow patches my taxes get filled out, my paperwork is purged and I get the chance to read all of the scripts for plays I'll be working on in the coming months.
Time seems to slow down especially on the dreary rainy days that fill the early months of the year. I actually pine for the next tech crunch and the next deadline that makes me want to scream. I get anxious that things will always stay like this but I must remind myself that the spring will come, the frosts will melt and the meadows will be filled with flowers again as they are every year. By the time this year's holiday season rolls around this slow season will seam like a distant dream until it turns the corner back into another wintery lull and I sigh deeply as I do now.

Stinky swans

I have been fortunate this week to find a little work. I've been helping with the final push towards tech and opening of Swan Lake as a stitcher. If you want to get an idea of what my job was like today you can do this simple experiment;






1. find a really old shirt that has been worn so many times that the body odor is never coming out.
2. turn on your iron with lots of steam
3. iron the arm pits, steam and take a deep breath

Now imagine doing that all day with the whole room full of stinky shirts.

I'm beat! But I'm grateful to be breathing fresh air now.

Super Tuesday!!!

I don't like to discuss politics but today I will keep it brief...



Don't forget to vote.

I h8 txting!

Y do I h8 txting? I despise wasting time searching for the correct letter on the keypad of my phone. I hate how long it takes to type a single word because each key represents three or four letters. I hate that it reduces language into the most easily abbreviated words and boils down personalities into :) :p :( smilies... I loathe that it allows people to be fully false about how funny things are, and dismissive of when things are upsetting or sad. Instead of the joy of listening to your friend's unique laughter, all you get is "lol" (Laugh out Loud) or one that makes my skin crawl; "roflmao" (rolling on floor, laughing my ass off) which is most frequently false. " Rolling on the floor" sort of laughter is so rare that it is beyond cheap to even have a full abbreviation for it. I dislike that it allows people to be distracted at any given moment; in the car, at dinner, at the theater, at the movies... Texting becomes a substitute for making any time for people because you can slide in "attention" while you're commuting or doing something else. It is impersonal, inefficient, and irritating. That my friends is my official stand on why I hate texting.


... and now for your amusement...