Monday, 21 April 2008

"Spring" Post

With "Spring" in quotations, because it really hasn't convinced me yet. I have my doubts. I've heard that last April the temperatures were in the 30s C/80s F, and this year they're varying between -1 and 15C/30-55F. Bah. At least it's not snowing...[large snowflakes begin wafting past the window]...crap.

Wow. Too long without a post - I've had a fairly serious case of being a student recently. Well, let me see if I can remember what's been going on:

Valentine's Day was the second anniversary of my meeting Jo, and the first anniversary of my first Valentine's Day stuck in the Cleveland International Airport. I don't remember what we did in celebration; probably just cooked dinner in and popped a bottle of wine. We're old like that.
Valentine's Day, 2007.

Jo and I went to London for a long weekend towards the end of February. Had a good, busy time checking out all the stuff we didn't see last time we were down: the Natural History Museum, a dinosaur, the Rosetta Stone (!), the Tower of London, Shakespeare's Globe(!!!), 'Monty Python's Spamalot', and a London karaoke box. Good times. :) We got to stay with Jo's former classmate Heather and her fiancé Eliot in south London, whose wedding we'll be attending less than a week after I get back from my brother's wedding in New York. Thom's carbon footprint is going to be rather large this year...

One boned and one deboned whale in the Natural History Museum.

Rar.

The Rosetta Stone. Actually one of the original Danielle Steele novels.

Temple Church, a la Davinci Code.

A 3500-year-old Egyptian obelisk, on the north bank of the Thames. Which is not in Egypt.


We had an earthquake! February decided that this year, it was going to give March a good running start, and shake things up a bit. It was only a "wiggle-wiggle shakey-shake" though, as opposed to an "ashes, ashes, we all fall down". Not bad; just thought I'd left the Land of Geologic Instability. (Speaking of Japan, Iain is back there - check out his fantastic new blog here.) Very strange to be lying in bed reading, and suddenly the ceiling starts moving. March, being a sissy this year, could not make up it's mind as to what season to be, but instead gave us a nice variety. Good for variety, bad for planning to do anything outdoorsy. Though we did get a couple of good Dale-walks in, Jo's folks were up for a visit just before Easter, and a nice walk around Horsforth Park on a sunny day was cut short due to high winds and low temps. In like a wobbly Lamb, out like a confused Lamb.

Jo, near the locks on the barge canal. Locks make me miss Syracuse. Kinda.

Me, on a hill overlooking the River Aire.

Went to see The Grouch, a modern adaptation of Molière's 'Le Misanthrope', in early March; the second play of the spring. It was very good, all rhyming couplets and not French. Which is fine, because I like rhymes (a la Fezzik) and I don't speak French. For play number three, we've got tickets to see Equus, the play about Harry Potter getting naked. And horses. Except our version has Lily Allen's little brother. Go fig.

Started working mid-March at a gastropub just south of Leeds station. That's the other thing that's been keeping me busy. The Cross Keys the pub's called, and it's a classy little place which once housed James Watt, the steam engine improver, during a period of industrial espionage on his part (apparently he'd invite his competitors' workers in a for a few pints after work, hoping to loosen some work secrets). It also houses a nice wine cellar, a great selection of beers (from all over the world), and serves fantastic toad in the hole and rhubarb crumble.

Been reading a great deal of Graham Greene, which goes nicely with the module/class on Greene I'm taking. Writing an essay on the similarities in Greene's The Power and the Glory and Shūsaku Endō's Silence, both of which are very good. Also working on an essay on the symbolism of public transportation in Virginia Woolf's The Years. Yep. We'll see how it goes.

Past week: work; restart uni (been out for a month on Easter holiday); reading Greene, Endō, Woolf, Ann-Marie MacDonald, and Carold Shields (whoops); sudokuing; listening to The Weakerthans.
This week: go to lectures; go to meetings; go to library; work on essays; go to leaving do's; go to work; watch Godzilla; go to bed.

The End.

In London, in front of the Nelson Column in Trafagar Square.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Getting into some Canadian authors, eh? Good work!

-Diane