An American in Leeds

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America – they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. -Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States I watched the inauguration live on the internet (Thank you, Al Gore, for inventing the internet. ;-) ) on Tuesday. The above quote is when I started to tear up. I thought for the first time that maybe, just maybe, there was some hope for my country. Yes, pretty much everything is a mess. Eight years of idiocy, from many people, have taken their toll. But, I hope that with determination and hard work, it can be improved. I love my country. It was my home for nearly 30 years, and I'm sure will be again. I'm not a "my country is right no matter what!" American. I think that it is the duty of citizenship to question and challeng...

Oh.My.Goodness. Kirkstall Abbey was AMAZING. I was in awe. I wanted to take 4 zillions pictures, at all sort of artsy angles, but due to time constraints (and due to the weather- it started raining), I couldn't. Look at that blue sky. Kirkstall Abbey was completed in the late 12th century. It was the home of an order of Cistercian Monks until 1539. It is one of the most complete medieval abbeys in Britain. I think the reason I was so awestruck is because we don't have anything this old in the States. I could feel the history of the place. Over 800 years of stories, and past lives. 800 years of change, and yet this abbey is still standing, still recognizable as an abbey. There's a cemetery hiding somewhere on the grounds as well. I will find it. I bought some paints and some paper on a whim on Saturday. I am definitely hauling myself, my camera, and my paints out to Kirkstall Abbey again. I think I've found my new favorite place. At least until I find a new favorite plac...

One of my January goals was to update this blog at least twice a week. I had the best of intentions to do so this week; however, work has been kicking my asstronaut. In a really good way, though. I'm getting experiments done, getting early data to show that later experiments will work, etc. I'm also presenting in group meeting next Monday, so I've been (trying to) putting a presentation together so I don't look like an idiot. But! Despite my busyness, I have several projects in the works. I'm headed to Kirkstall Abbey on Sunday. I'm hoping to get some good pictures, and some history to go with the pictures. Next weekend is a trip to a churchyard (cemetery) to take some more pictures, and then looking up some more history. My friend Sam asked me to submit a piece for her variety show in March. I have an idea- pick 4-5 historical pubs in Leeds, and visit them with a video camera. While there, I would drink a beer, (therefore, this would have to be spread out over ...

I listen to the radio a lot. As I'm getting ready in the morning, at work during the day, as I'm cooking dinner in the evening. I especially like to listen to a particular radio station (Radio Aire) on Saturday nights. They play an entire evening of dance music, including an hour of RnB, new stuff and old stuff. I am potentially the whitest white girl on the planet, but I have to admit to a love of RnB. I find myself spastically shaking my groove thing more often to RnB than almost anything else. This same radio station plays these fantastic condom awareness ads after 8pm (every night- not just Saturdays, STDs are omnipresent). They're like mini soap operas. There are two formats. In the first, two people go back and forth, telling the same story from both perspectives. It was a party! They were drunk! Too drunk to use a condom! Now she's pregnant! The second format is just one person talking. I went out, “pulled this bird” (aka, hooked up with a girl), didn't use ...

I hope everyone had a good holiday. I decided that, instead of moping around on Christmas Eve by myself, that I would do something I have never done before. I cooked a complete dinner: Okay, as complete a dinner one can make when one is cooking only for oneself. Stuffing, roast chicken, gravy, green beans, roast onions and garlic, red wine. I followed recipes in Nigella Lawson's How to Eat for the chicken, gravy, and the stuffing. They turned out pretty good, if I may say so myself. I also got to decorate my apartment, with a little help from my friends. Thanks Melissa, Jon, Kelly, Chad, Trista, and Dan! That's my Christmas fern, by the way. I didn't get a tree. I bought a fern instead. Easier to haul home. The New Year is always my favorite holiday of the year. It's a clean slate- a year I haven't mucked up yet. I can turn over a new leaf, and swear that I am going to clean up my act, and I mean it this time! Which always leads to resolutions. This year, like I me...