Fish Out of Water

Easter Baby

2011-04-28T01:56:00.002+01:00

Jax had just had his shower with his dad on Easter Morning up in Swan Hill. He was looking very cute and was chatty, so I grabbed a quick clip of him.

Easter Baby

Visitors from Near and Far

2010-10-03T01:11:00.012+01:00

The last four months have flown by and we have been graced by many visitors and grateful for an extra room in the house.

Thanks to Meg for taking her holiday all the way down to Melbourne just to spend a couple days with us! Loved having you.

Thanks to Cha Cha and Haley for the quick lunch and meet up in Federation Square.

Got to see Mom and Dad for the first time in 2 years, and despite Dad’s intermittent business trip to the Philippines, we got a bit of sightseeing in, as well as some much needed quality time.

Katie has popped down a few times despite a very busy school and family regime, and I’ve been lucky enough to see her almost every time :).

Bex made us part of her Australasia adventure, and spent a few days here with us in Melbourne.

Grant and Gumby made it out from England, and I got some great quality time with Grant over several days.

Yoga Adventures in August

2010-08-11T05:00:00.006+01:00

Beginner's Yoga 6-week course starting:
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Port Melbourne--715pm-845pm

www.healthangels.net.au for more information

Come yoga with me!

Wrote an article for Health Angel's Newsletter this month:

http://www.healthangels.net.au/Blog/Entries/2010/8/2_Do_you_need_a_kick_up_the_butt.html

Thompsoni's Italian Restaurant

2010-06-07T04:35:00.006+01:00

The Thompson clan decided to give us the wedding reception we never had through a surprise dinner last Saturday night at JT's brother's home in Bendigo.

My sister-in-laws Fiona and Tash kitted out Jamie and Tash's backyard in candles and rosemary to create the most incredible and thoughtful surprise. All we knew was that there was going to be a dinner saying, 'Congrats on gettin hitched in Vegas, glad you're back in Aus, welcome home!' We had no idea that there would be a set up that looked professionally done. An italian spread fit for royalty, complete with a menu and place cards.

Of course I was in tears from the moment they ushered us into the backyard with the amazing extent they had gone to with this dinner. I even loved my Snow Queen cloak Fiona made to have me in something white and warm.

My words could never justify what a beautiful evening, and what a beautiful job everyone did to make this special evening for us. And my words could never express the gratitude I have to the Thompson clan for accepting me into their family as one of their own.

Cletus

2010-06-07T04:11:00.006+01:00

Introducing Cletus the Foetus!
(Ultrasound from about 7 weeks...early April)

Looks like we'll have a little delivery for Xmas this year. We found out just after Easter that there will be a new Thompson added to the clan. I have been blessed with 7 straight weeks of nausea, a stomach bug that lasted 2 days and now a beautiful head cold. To add to my incessant exhaustion, breaking out like I'm a teenager, I'm still waiting for the f*&^ing glow that should be approaching.

WHERE'S MY GLOW GODDAMMIT! :-)

And I can't cook anything!?! It makes me totally nauseous. My poor husband hasn't had me cook dinner save 2x in the last month, and one of the those was an already roasted chicken from the super...that counts, right?

Hopefully now that we're in the 2nd trimester things will start to settle down a bit. Looks like we'll have to postpone our Thanksgiving trip to California as my due date is scheduled just afterwards, but we'll try to give advance notice on the reschedule.

Enjoying my yoga and dance teaching in the meanwhile, and JT is busy with an insolvancy firm he used to work with a few years before moving to London. We'll keep you posted when we find out gender.

Port Melbourne -- A New Home

2010-04-01T03:50:00.005+01:00

The closest I'll get to a puppy for a while.

After nomadic life since February, we are finally out of suitcases (mostly). We found a sweet, little three bedroom brick house in Port Melbourne. We're a short walk from the tram that facilitates a ten minute trip straight into the CBD. The plus side is that we're also a hop, skip and jump from Bay Street. Bay Street is the heart of Port Melbourne complete with 2 supermarkets (one of them a little organic shop), multiple hairdressers, restaurants, pubs, bakeries, and other little handy places. And the best part.......we're an 8 minute walk to the beach!

Home is sparsely decorated as we're starting over from scratch, but with the welcome addition of Azz moving in with us (JT's brother), we have a few more comforts about. Also a big thanks to Amber for lending us her couches and bean bag in the interim.

It's a work in progress, but it is slowly starting to feel like home. And we even have a special room for visitors...hint, hint!

Leaving London, Moving to Melbourne

2010-02-16T09:49:00.015Z

What an adventure! When I spent the summer in London in 2006 I knew I was meant to be here. Aided by multiple friends of friends and their couches that summer, little did I know I'd get life-long friends out of the deal. I officially moved to London in January 2007 and thought it could be for as short as 6 months, but here I sit on our last day in London (flight to Bangkok leaves tonight), and I am over 3 years into a London life, married to the best person in the world for me, and 10 hours shy from embarking toward our new life together in Australia.

Reminiscing with nostalgia would include memories of jobs gone right, wrong and weird (Tequila girl, sandwich delivery by bike, crazy Spa company, teaching for ASL and for English State schools, yoga for surfers in France/Spain);

memories of meeting JT (the Loop Bar...thanks Phil for giving him the thumbs up that night and pushing me in that direction, Cambridge, Menzies Ball, Barcelona and Tomatina, first trip to Aus, bringing you to CA to hear my mom say, "I didn't know you'd be so tall!", visa complications on both ends, a summer away in France with your constant visits and texts, teaching agh!, Moyne Palace, Garrick Close, and our new direction as we move to Aus);

the crazy places we've visited in the last 3+ years, mostly as a couple, teaching us how to truly communicate (nothing like a huge snowy weekend in Berlin too far from the U bahn and starving to teach patience);

and the friends I must thank as I am so very grateful, although I know I'll forget a few so please don't be hurt if that is the case: Simon and Nat, Deb and Rich, Liesl and Tom, Don my dear dance partner in crime, Katy (who lent me so many of her friends and family to continue my adventures and came to visit), Kendall (who visited 2x, helped us through the move and gave us Liesl), Gerardo (for your couch and wisdom), Lee-anne and Simon (Greenford hood represent!), Loz (the queen of Moyne Palace), Katie and Sewells for your continued push to get us out there, Nghi and Tim (thanks for all the Westfield trips during a stressful 6 weeks and for EuroDisney too! Bring on the Gaga in March!), Paulie and Dugdale (missed you guys over the last year, disappointed we didn't get more time together), Julika/Gigs (a dear friend and fellow student of the world, love you loads and say hi to the green Santa please, come visit us!!), Lesley, Amy, Hayley, Bex, Luda and Daniel, Liz, Kaska, the Unlisted crew: Andrei, Priam, Sam and David (so glad such a crazy job could bring such good friends), and my lovely Reillys I'll miss you guys. I'm also grateful for the support of loved ones back in the States, my friends and family who helped me to get there (Ann and Andy for taking me into their family too many times to count), Dad for dropping me at the airport everytime, and all family and friends who have sent their love, emailed, skyped, texted, facebooked and still try to stay in touch despite distance. Thanks to all who were able to make the leaving parties or caught up in the last week. And a huge thanks to Pickle and Nat who've put up with us in their home for the last 2 weeks so we could close things down more easily.

Okay, this isn't a eulogy, I'm just trying to close things properly in order to start off on the new adventure that will be Australia. I guess I'm sad to leave, but really looking forward to summer in Aus, getting to know my non-blood family down under, getting back near the beach (could only be a city girl for so long), watching the toilet water go down the bowl the opposite direction, and starting a new chapter. We'll be couch surfing with Giulia and then Troy and Fiona until mid-April, so unless you're Ann, hold all visits till then please :-). I'll continue to update the blog, although the pictures may be from non-European locations, my horrible sense of humor and fondness for toilet talk will not change.

Thanks all!

Divine Weather and Great Friends in Palamos

2010-02-09T12:12:00.007Z

What a beautiful weekend in Palamos (geographically located on the east coast of Spain). The weather decided to give us sun, blue skies and what felt like 20*C during the day. We spent a short weekend going on several beachwalks, down to the market, an evening of tapas and me vowing never to play Parcheesi again (only my brother would probably remember why). Beautiful weekend, great food and even greater friends!!!
This lovely, spry little 11-year-old, aptly named Fly was always with us on all of our beach walks and adventures throughout the weekend.

New Year's Day--Freezing in Paris

2010-01-09T11:17:00.001Z

Walk the Sights in Paris while Freezing your Extremities Off!

A Eurostar departure of 830am allowed us to reach Paris by 1130 Parisian time. After a quick metro trip, we hopped out in front of Notre Dame. My last time in Paris was over ten years ago and was spring time. Winter didn't seem to do the beautiful architecture the same justice, but was all still lovely just the same. Most things were still decorated for Xmas, including all the random fountains with ice. Each had these wire boubble sculptures hovering over them filled with round ornaments in Disneyland colours: hot pinks, grass greens, silvers, etc.

Notre Dame was crowded with tourists who queued across the square, past the decorated 20 foot Xmas tree to get into the church for a look. As we only had a day and aspirations that the Louvre would be open, we pressed on.

We walked along the Seine to get to the Louvre, again populated sparsely by tourists as the snow began to fall. No queue, just a sign listing all of the closures, which included today...bummer.

We continued our walk through the park toward Champs Elysee, walked down Champs toward the Arc d'Triomphe. Then walked to the Eiffel Tower.

By then we were freezing and tried to ignite our poor suffering bodies in a local cafe for a couple hours before heading back early to the train station where we would hop the Eurostar back to London. Glad we did it, but next time would prefer the other three seasons to do it in....note to self.

December -- Aston Martins, London Snow, Christmas Cabaret and a very Merry German Xmas

2009-12-31T12:29:00.015Z

A rainy and frosty December had more whirlwind adventures---we're taking advantage of our last bits of time in London before we leave for Australia mid-February.

Aston Martin

JT got to drive an Aston Martin around a race track a few times (a birthday present he cashed in on from last June) at Silverstone Race Track. I desperately tried to catch a few good photos, but they stuck the partners in a glassed room with limited view due to the rain.

London Snow

The first snow of the season blanketed London and for the first time in a few years it felt like Xmas for us. I was lucky enough to be working at Artyard those couple of snowy days, doing papier mache gingerbread houses with 18 - 5-10 year olds as the flurries floated in huge lumps from the sky. Xmas seems to be ever more magical and exciting with snow!

Christmas Cabaret

I choreographed a short piss-take on Christmas with a trio of dancers clad in Santa outfits. Unfortunately it turned out to be a burlesque piece instead of a satire due to the ever increasing rifts in communication from mac to pc. Needless to say it didn't go off as originally planned, but the process was a thrill. I had missed having regular rehearsals for a project I believed in, and I think it is only the start of something.

A Very Merry German Xmas

Xmas was a week in Kiel, Northern Germany with gusts of wind blowing down from Scandinavia and an hour or so drive from Denmark. Julz and I met while I was teaching yoga for Stoke Travel (formerly Smashed Travel) in Biarritz, France summer of 2008. Kindred spirits we keep in touch regularly, and JT and I family-crashed her mom's place for Xmas and spent the week eating, sleeping, playing games, learning German, exploring Kiel and some nearby Xmas markets, as well as getting to know her sister, mom and mom's partner better. We also became acquainted with a 12 year old ginger cat that swaggers by the name of Herr Schmidt (or if you are friendly terms with him, Schmitty). Julz is a radiant light of a friend that you can't help but smile when you're around her. So lucky to have her as a friend and this Xmas will always be among our favourites! (Not to mention our first white Xmas!!)

November -- cold weather, Roald Dahl and a new tattoo

2009-12-04T10:06:00.006Z

November brought the winter weather (apparently the rainiest London November on record), and scarves, gloves and hats are now regular attire. With our recent announcement that my Australian Visa is in, we are busy planning the transition adventures before the Australian adventures come into full swing at the end of February 2010.

Here are some highlights from November 2009:

Roald Dahl Museum

We spent one rainy Saturday in Great Missenden, a town most known as the home and resting place of beloved author Roald Dahl. There is a museum dedicated to Roald and all of the fabulous characters he created. The building is filled with quotes, interactive writing projects and media, and Quentin Blake illustrations. JT even sat in Roald Dahl's writing chair, where he used to sit with his legs in a sleeping bag, a roll of corrugated cardboard underneath his writing board, and a space heater way too close to many flammable objects.

Tattoo#2

I hopped down to Portobella Road in Notting Hill Gate and got my second tattoo. It should directly translate as "No Fear Warrior", but for all I know it could mean horse's puckered ass, but either way it looks good and is healing nicely. The picture is of the tattoo a week old, smeared in lotion to keep it from drying out.

Hanger Hill Park

The park behind our home has had some incredible mushrooms, must be all the rain. I missed getting a picture of the smurf-home that I saw, but I did get picks of these ones when I revisited.

Birthday Weekend

2009-10-19T17:21:00.006+01:00

Thursday-- 15 October
After a great 'do-over' lesson (the first observation lesson was my worst ever) attended by my headteacher, he brought me into his office to say, "This isn't working. I'm sorry. I think today needs to be your last day." He had already called in a sub and I was told he'd pay me for the rest of the day and for the Friday. After 7 weeks of spending restless, nightmare filled nights, stressing over lessons, attempting to adjust to English National Curriculum, etc., this was my thanks. So just when I thought things were on the upswing, I was wrong. They say when one door shuts, another one opens...hopefully soon I can see those open doors and walk away from the one that's just been slammed.

Friday-- 16 October
Birthday Dinner

Thai Food in Ealing with friends, followed by chocolate cake at our place afterwards.

Saturday 17th October
Disneyland Paris (A Eurostar Journey away)

My ticket didn't work after Nghi and JT had already made it in. I was very upset at the prospect of missing out while they went in and had fun without me!

Once I'd made it in though, there was no time to waste! It was 6pm and the park closed at 10pm, I didn't want to spend time stalling for photo opps on Main Street!

We made it through Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Carribean, Teacups, Small World and Space Mountain 2. All were different than the Anaheim Park and Indiana Jones and Space Mountain 2 were true rollercoasters looping and corkscrewing us to nausea heaven.
I was even able to find my own personal Stitch!
A great end to a rough start this birthday. Thanks to all who helped make it special.

Brighton Day Trip -- September 2009

2009-10-19T16:50:00.004+01:00

JT's Magic Rock Castle

Pickle and Nat

Apparently my brother has his own American Diner in Brighton.

Plitvice National Park -- The Most Beautiful Park Ever

2009-10-19T16:41:00.003+01:00

The title says it all. Croatia holds one of the world's most beautiful spots and we got to spend half of a day here in August.

Creepy Foot Fetish Men Do Exist

2009-10-03T13:22:00.005+01:00

I always thought the 'Foot Fetish Guy' was a big joke, something only out of a Sex and the City episode, but I was so wrong! Minding my own business heading home on a District Line train bound for Edgeware Road, I found myself with a vacant seat on my right. The doors opened at the next stop and enter creepy, shuffling 60-something guy with the cliche creepy beard that has been trimmed just a bit too close to look normal. He pauses and gazes at the seat across from me, and then looks at me and the woman on the other side of the vacant seat next to me and then shuffles over sitting between us. So far just another weirdo on the tube, but maybe I was judging a book by its cover, until he looked down at my feet then turned his head to me.

"Wow, those are really nice shoes you're wearing! Are they comfortable?"

My first instinct of repulsion was now credited based on the fact that I had 3-year-old rainbow flip-flops that have been through hell and back across Europe on my feet. They're chipped in at the front, and look rather exhausted, not to mention the stress-induced eczema peeling around my right foot forcing me to stifle surprise and reply, "Yep, they are." My face still forward, trying to be polite, yet short enough in response to hopefully hint that I wasn't interested in starting a conversation.

He doesn't take the hint. "So to get into them, you just slip your foot in?" he exhales.

WTF? Who is this guy? Yes, it is a bleeping flip-flop! What are you supposed to do?
"Yep," my eyes still forward avoiding eye contact.

"Could you show me?" he slithers.

"I'd rather not, [you big creepy weirdo]" I stammer.

By this point he supposes to me that I must work very hard to keep them on when I walk and I must practice a lot. Who is this guy?!?! Now all I'm thinking is how to get away as I still had multiple stops left before mine.

The next stop pulls in and I jam out of the doors, race up to the next carriage and hop on to continue my journey. Safe at last!

I don't know how many people this guy has harrassed subtly on the tube, but he looked the cliche, which made it worse. Which only brings me to the question: Am I the only victim of the District Line Foot-Fetish Guy, or are there others?

My First (...and Possibly Last) Triathlon

2009-08-02T08:42:00.006+01:00

I raised almost £200 for WaterAid, which brings fresh, clean drinking water to third-world countries in need while completing my first triathlon in the Mazda London Triathlon 2009. JT was there to support me the whole way. I signed up in January, but didn't really start training until April. As I have a mountain bike that is not made for speed, I'm sure with a better bike my time would've been better, but unfortunately I don't have my bike details. As I finished the swim I was transitioning out of my wetsuit to get to the bike and lost my tracking chip...it just slipped off! (Possibly due to the cooking oil on my ankles in order to aid wet-wetsuit stripping.) I finished, and I guess that was the biggest accomplishment of all.

JT's Dad and Carol's Visit

2009-08-02T07:58:00.007+01:00

JT's Dad and his dad's wife Carol came to stay with us for two weeks before leaving for Carol's son's home in Ireland for a few more weeks. This was Gordon's second time out of Australia...his first was when he fought in Vietnam after being drafted in the 60s. It was my second chance to meet and spend time with with both of them, and I was whole-heartedly amused at the older, taller, larger, red-bearded version of my husband in our home. JT took them on part of his London tour, and we all did a day in Bath with pit-stops at Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. They'll pop by for a few more days at the end of August before they head home to Australia.

Dom's Visit at the Beg of July 09

2009-08-02T07:39:00.006+01:00

Dom came to visit us with his cousin Sarah and we went to the Hayward Gallery's latest exhibit "Walking in my Mind" where we saw Yayoi Kusama's spots and other artists' tunnels of cardboard, a huge human spider web, and other crazy rooms! We also spent a few hours one rainy afternoon in the Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street after meeting up with his brother Dan and friend Matt for lunch at GBK. I've really missed him, so we were lucky to steal him to london and away from family for a few days.

Ascot--Horses and Hats...but mostly hats

2009-07-07T09:59:00.008+01:00

Thanks to Luda's great planning, we attended Ascot for the first time. After having gone to the Espon races a year ago with JT's brother Azz, where we drank, gambled, and waved to the Queen, we had a good idea of what to expect for this year's busy event.

Several of our guys couldn't wait out the traffic and had to use nearby bushes for quick relief on our way. Once finished they had a quick run in order to make it back into the bus.

For the girls a head-to-toe outfit is necessary and headwear of some kind is essential. As most of the terrain is grass, I knew to be in platforms and brought flipflops as backups. (As stripper heels are the in-fashion, most moronic girls wore 3-5 inch bondage strappy things and tripped or shuffled unsexily around the enclosure.) I also knew to bring jeans...just in case.

We had a beautiful spread as everyone brought food, (thank Teri as your 7 layer recipe is still making hits...I've subbed jalapenos for green onions). And we even survived the rainfall twice. No queen or betting this year, just the good times!

June 2009--Andrei's Bday

2009-07-07T09:38:00.006+01:00

For Andrei's 33rd, he had a 'usual suspects' theme. The standard being cops, robbers, spies, etc. Easy out for us would've been Bond and Bond girl, I would've liked Holmes and his nemesis Irene Adler (but no one would've known who I was). Austin Powers and female counterpart would've been fun, but expensive. JT suggested Spy vs. Spy (which you can youtube and see the cartoons...which I had to do to know who they were).

After an afternoon fighting oxford street's pedestrian traffic and walking from tottenham court road to bond street and then back into soho...our costumes were complete, and with JT's great nose constructions, we were set! Thanks Andrei for giving us an excuse to dress up (as if I need one)!

Italy - 7 Days of Madness Via a Small Cherry-Red Fiat

2009-04-13T22:20:00.037+01:00

The Week Leading up to Easter Sunday in the land of Catholics, the Mafia, Great Food and Perfect Weather, (yes we missed the earthquake as we were in Venice at the time). (I've also spared you the 3 gigs of photos we have from this trip and just picked those that would represent a few destinations. JT is a brilliant photographer and I've done him very little justice by choosing the following.)

Day One -- Milan

Armed with a map of Italy and JT's blackberry mobile for GPS (no SatNav...nails no longer have whites), I experienced my first toilet trip with a hole (avoided them all last summer in France), walked around Milan, took in the 21* weather...gorgeous, the narrow, posh streets with Prada, Tiffany's and D&G, a meal on the street with a view of Milan's Duomo and all of its gothic magnificence and splendor, inside the cold catholic ceilings wreaking of church incense while sage was distributed by the bundles, and a jaunt around toward the local castle as the weather began to blow raspberries at us suggesting rain. Leave by 430pm to drive to Venice.

Day Two -- Venice

Island of beautiful canals, sunshine, gondola rides, lego-stacked bridges, stalls of masquerade faces and beaky-nosed, crystalled & feathered creatures awaiting a face to perch upon, narrow streets, charming buildings, romantic scenary pumping me with Disneyland-like-stomach-churning happiness, floating seagull amongst passing boats, delicious gelato, sun, sun and more glorious sunshine, JT's replacement necklace chain for his egypt charm, my favorite city of the trip...I could've never left Venice ever and spent the rest of my days content amongst the beauty and charm of this strange floating city. (I had waterproof baby sunscreen on my face...which is why I look green in the pictures btw.)

Scored a hook-up of 50 euros a night for a room in a villa overlooking the Tuscan valley, gorgeous.

Day Three -- Florence and Pisa

Crowded, narrow streets (theme here?) while motorbikes pass you on all sides zipping along, Michaelangelo's David, Da Vinci's Museum with wooden recreations, more gelato (I'm likin this place), some huge duomos amidst buildings, too many whiny American chicks, and the best pear I've eaten in ages.

On to the Leaning Tower sitting in a square of roped-off lush grass and reclining tourists bathing in sunshine, too many pushy African watch-sellers, and a half-assed attempt at a seafood risotto and carbonara finished off with Nutella crepes (I thought Italian food was meant to be tasty...should've searched for some place less touristy for dinner).

Days Four and Five -- Rome and Vatican City

Massive, huge, grandeous, big, big, and BIG! A bit overcast but 20* and shorts weather. (As a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, I was really looking forward to this city.) Saw the Coloseum (and had a tour with the same tour guide JT had 2 years ago), Pantheon, Bocca di Veruti, Trevi Fountain (of course we made 2 wishes to return and the 2nd...I'll tell when it comes true), huge wide-open streets big enough for parades, pockets of parks along the way, pistachio gelato with a view of the Coloseo, multiple languages, the only equal-access city I saw in Italy, dirty and dark metros, rickety buses plowing through traffic, JT remembered all the cats from 2 years ago (we only saw a few), and a supermarket dinner for less than 15 euros killed last night's restaurant dinner by comparison.

Gaudy, ornate Vatican museum, Hand of God, Egyptian mummies and Roman representations of Egyptians, musty air, Benedicto on a flat screen in St. Peter's Piazza giving mass (is it just us, or does he seem creepy in comparison to John Paul II?), a quick trot down to the nearby castle before taking off.

Day Six--Naples

Napoli-ans are insane! We got into Naples via a bit of meandering through coastal towns and indirect routes to find the sun setting, having no accommodation and no dinner to a land with no rules of the road, no free space, no lanes, and motorbikes and small car madness...no one paying attention to traffic lights, blocked intersections, passing on the right, left, passing diagonally in front of us, double parking, one way roads, and back alley madness, honk, honk, HONK....JT drove like a champ, and I just kept my head down and eyes on the GPS saying, "I think it is the next right if that's not a one-way street." In the end we sorted ourselves out and if you ever need accommodation in Napoli...I have a great recommendation for the place we stayed with the lovely little Italian man who spoke no English and yet never hung up on me while I tried speaking some Italian to get us a room.

Urine and smeared-dog poop scented streets, filled with people, motorbikes, and dirt (the train station side of the tracks). Shade on side of the street with sun on the other, laundry drying on racks on the sidewalks, women having a chat by shouting to one another across the street and three flights up, intersections with no rhyme or reason, manic motorbikes absorbing themselves into spaces on all sides of traffic, no pedestrian right-of-way, warm and very kind locals (finally a place in Italy where most people didn't speak English too), a pimp in a carnation pink suit where we parked our car, the BEST meal to date - A-mazing, and the seaside city with the most energy of any city I have been to ever (more than New York even, which I didn't think was possible before this), with a tiny little ritzy area of restaurants set into a cliff overlooking the sea. Manic, mad, and stressfully exhausting.

Day Seven--Palermo via the Ferry (and sleeper-cabin) from Naples

Beautiful sunrise over Sicily to greet us as our boat docked into port, half-assed cappuccinos and over-buttery croissants from a super nice Italian man playing Jamiroquai at 7am in his little bakery who gave us directions in Italian to our hotel (I'm getting the idea that maybe 7 years of Spanish should be helping me out a bit with this), an ocean-side hotel with metal garage doors that have to be pulled up to get our view, 2 hours spent finding the last of the souvenirs after spending 20 minutes idling in the cherry-red fiat behind a procession for the mob boss's son that was being buried in the cemetary that day, a little restaurant with fresh seafood (awesome) for lunch while we blackberried "mafia info in Sicily", crappy gelato with strange money/cigarette exchanges going on in the parking lot (did we wikipedia too many mafia stories at lunch?), a long nap between Law and Order episodes dubbed in Italian, before dinner at the hotel with "The Family" (swear to gawd not just imagining things this time), a random visit from a dog with one brown eye and one blue, a quick checkout on Easter Sunday morning followed by an indirect route to Palermo airport, cappuccinos with the last of our euro cents (we were scraping), and made it past security with our kilo of Italian coffee hidden safely in my backpack carry on...nothing to declare thank you except an exceptional trip!

Moon Tarot -- Part 3

2009-03-30T18:13:00.003+01:00

I never would've thought I could sit in a make-up chair for 3 hours getting my hair banded for the wig, make-up from the chest and arms up, wig, and costume. With all of that, I was rarely given a decent amount of time to warm up properly, which at my age takes a bit more time than it used to. I found this project to be more frustrating in the end, and if ever given the opportunity to work with the same company, would respectfully decline without thinking twice. I think it's what happens when you work with people who are used to actors and not dancers. There will be a youtube clip posted at some point, but that will remain to be seen. Until then, here are a few pics of the final product.

Costume and Makeup fittings post 2

2009-03-01T09:50:00.006Z

My latest Moon adventures involve a costume with calf pads, thigh pads, and a huge prosthetic bum that I am supposed to dance in. The upper half I am corseted and airbrushed with make up. My wig is still being assembled but with have a huge half-moon cage covering the top like a headband, and my "hair" will be made of fabriced-wire studded with pearls. I had a few fittings this week in addition to rehearsals beginning. It is all proving to be very time consuming, but makes for some great pictures.

Southern Ireland

2009-03-01T09:38:00.009Z

Ireland was beautiful. On a route of Dublin to Blarney Castle (we both kissed the blarney stone), Killarney, Cliffs of Mohler, and Doolin with many little stops along the way to view places where paganism was beaten away by Christianity.

(All of these lovely little places we keep finding ourselves in seem to have been completely transformed due to belief structure...usually religion. The unfortunate part is that it appears the religions refuse to exist without destroying that of the past. So while many things are beautifully done in the name of religion (and most of it by force and not choice), the places lose their history prior to the birth of that religion in that place. It is actually really sad in a lot of ways how people did and continue to force their religion on others as the only way. At least that's my take on it.)

The adventure of this trip was not so much in Ireland itself, as it was a tour and we just had to be in the right spot at the right time. The adventure was learning never again to take the coach from London Victoria overnight into Dublin. The overnight pass involves getting off the bus to pass through security (where nothing happens except that you're trying to sleep), and then off the bus onto the 3.5 hour ferry ride to sleep in a cramped restaurant that seems to have the air conditioning on at all times. By the time we arrived in Dublin we were not rested as I thought we would have been.

The way home should've been smoother with the ferry ride up at the beginning, but when we fought Monday morning rush hour and pulled into London Victoria, the counter-terrorism unit was running a drill. Luckily Australian and American married couple don't fit the "we need to search through your luggage" group as all of the single passengers on our bus were searched. It was an extra hour and a half added to the end of our trip. Needless to say...we're glad to be back home in London.

Berlin--The Great Opportunity to Practice Patience

2009-03-01T09:17:00.010Z

Berlin was incredible. I would have to say my favourite part was a 5 hour walking tour we took of Berlin. Our guide, Edo, had moved to Berlin originally for 2 years to study. It has been 6 years now and he has no intention of going home. He portrayed the history of Berlin, passionately telling stories of pre-20th Century, through WW2 and through the Soviet control of East Germany, and the US/France/British control of West Germany up until the fall of the wall. It is so amazing to think so much has happened in just one spot on the globe, and in such a short time.

The memorable stuff from this trip was more a matter of learning to travel with one another when positive attitudes go south due to hunger and exhaustion. JT worked until the morning we left, having had to go to Wales the day before our flight. So while amazing, things didn't go as smoothly as they have until now. I have taken it upon myself to learn the following 5 things before we travel:

5. Be realistic about your diet in opposition to your traveling partner - bring snacks for both just in case. (For me an energy bar...some kind of fruit and nut concoction, and for him....a snicker's bar as he won't eat anything disguised as healthy unless it is wrapped in chocolate.)

4. Know the following words in the language of where you are traveling to: please, thank you, may I have..., and cafe latte (the last being most important).

3. Stop and eat when hungry. Do not wait just until you "get to over there" as over there will inevitably turn out to be 3 miles from anything.

2. Be prepared to freeze your tushy off. It snowed most of our trip, which makes for beautiful pictures, but as we both originate from warm places...does not make for patience building weather.

1. Know if your hotel is where you want it to be. Just because it says it is in Berlin doesn't mean it isn't 3 trains and 1 20minute bus ride from town. (with a bus that comes only once an hour, which was oh-so-fun at night when it was freezing) We walked the 3-4 miles several times.

A Few More Belgium Pics

2009-02-08T10:44:00.002Z

Brussels and Bruges--The Belgium Experience

2009-02-07T12:56:00.006Z

The last weekend in January we took the Eurostar from King's Cross/St. Pancras one freezing Friday morning at 5:45am into Brussels Midi Station in city centre Brussels. I was amazed by the constant city contradictions we encountered that first day traipsing around to see all the gothic sites. Best known for its chocolate (the home of Godiva), its beer, and home of the creator Peyo of "The Smurfs," (which is, of course, the most important reason for wanting to go to Belgium), we got by on my intrepretation of speaking French...which is basically a lot of "Je Voudrais .....me pointing at what I want...and sil vous plait." (I have become very well-versed in my French-pointing skills.) Although JT's Dutch was a bit helpful as well, as Belgium's main languages are almost equally split between French and Dutch.

The things that struck us most were:

the motion-sensored escalators that wouldn't begin until you went to step on them to go downwards (the upwards ones always seemed to be working, but maybe that was my imagination)
the amazing gothic buildings directly next to the modern ones (as if when the older ones started to fall, they just built a new different one back up in its place) (see castle-esque wall remains sandwiched by other buildings pic)

the ability to escape people and noise by going down a side street one block away from traffic cars and people crowds shuffling along
the appearance of artistic little parks, sometimes only marked by some punctuation-shape-inspired benches and a focal tree or statue, or sometimes a geometric web of rope which we couldn't avoid a bit of climb (see pic :-))

the frozen or empty fountains all over the city. With the weather this cold, most fountains had been emptied.

the sting of the easterly breeze in 0*c weather to make a crazy windchill factor paired with the spots of sunlight streaming diagonally against buildings to create spots for the sun to warm you back to the core after the wind had battled through you escaping with your internal heat
NO starbuck's anywhere in sight, we stopped for coffees everyday at least 2-3 times in addition to meals just to get inside and get warm and were always able to find a cool, little spot for coffee, a window seat, and a phenomenal view

On the Saturday we took the train 1 hour to Bruges, which is know for its touristy existence of gothic buildings, canals, and windmills. This was beautiful and romantic (and very cold), but we were blessed by blue skies for the second day in a row. The highlight of the day was battling the icy canals in a scenic canal tour for 30 minutes...a must do activity if you ever go there! We even happened upon the church (we knew it was in Bruges, but didn't actively seek it out) which houses Michaelangelo's "Madonna and Child." Oddly enough there was also a picture of Obama with what I presume was his speech translated posted on an accordian wall as you walk about the gothic exquisite high ceiling-ed room.

Our final day was spent seeing the last bits of Brussels we had missed as Brussels is home to the European Union and NATO. So we fought the wind to view these buildings that look like security was probably the last thing on their mind, that were sandwiched with construction sites that I would imagine will look vastly different in 5 years. Our last official site was that of the infamous Peeing Cherub Boy Fountain, (it wasn't terribly impressive, in fact I grew up close to a neighbor who had the same statue in his front yard, and my siblings and I found it way more interesting back then).

Needless to say, we had an amazing trip. My personal favourite being our day in Bruges and JT's being the evening Italian meal where we sat window-side in Bruges in the town square: a view of The Belfry as the sun set, and the town centre of Markt's street lights coming up.

Prosthetic Bum

2009-01-25T14:27:00.003Z

As a recently selected performer/dancer to play the "Moon Tarot Card" for an upcoming production. I had to have my head and bum casted for prosthetic pieces. While I have seen sketches of a large bum and half-face piece to come, both with crater-like pock-marks of blue, only the final thing will enable me to truly understand into what I have gotten myself.

Stonehenge/Bath/Dinner with Grant

2009-01-25T12:15:00.003Z

A freeze-your-tushie-off first Sunday of 2009 my hubbie and I ventured out of London to view one of the World Wonders: Stonehenge. As Stonehenge doesn't have an exact postcode, we were able to get a nearby postcode to use on the navigation device that seems to save ourselves having any sense of direction once inside a car in any part of Europe, which led us to a warehouse, and then forced a backroads, windy one-way path to finally get to this historic site.

Although impressive, the stones are not nearly as large as photographs make them out to be. I expected rocks more than quadruple my height, and found them to be approximately double. The navigational audio tour was informative, but it was so bloody freezing that my numbed and gloved fingers had to seek refuge in my pockets and I missed about 3 of the dialogues. In fact, my eyes were about the only thing to escape shelter (hence the spectacular pictures).

We moved onto Bath and its stunning architecture. After tea and buns at Sally Lunn's Buns, we toured the Roman Bathhouse. Most of the experience could have been posted on Wikipedia save the smell permiating the stone and water. There was one point where I could have stood and watched the water fall out of its cavern and smelled the water on stone for the remainder of the afternoon and felt justified in our 2 hour drive.

After catching hold of Grant, we made our way to Grant and Gumby's beautiful home just outside city center and were finally about to meet Louie the wonderdog. Grant cooked a beautiful vegetarian meal, and my first London winter holiday came to a close.