Week Forty-Nine: Doctors and Dingbats

Quick plug for an opener. I'm turning 31 next month, and will be closing out the 365 project. To celebrate, I've pledged my birthday to charity: water in lieu of asking for pressies. If you'd be interested, check it out. This week is fun stuff heavy at the front end, but a bit weak for the rest of the time. These things happen.

Day 1 (337): 10th of November
I think I need to dye my beard blue or something. As part of the Haj to Cardiff, made it down to Cardiff Bay and the Doctor Who Experience. What a time. Had fangasm after fangasm and even made the occasional undignified noise of delight. Was supposed to take a tour of the current TARDIS set, but due to filming or some other lame excuse, they had to cancel. Tried to point out that I do a world renowned impersonation of a church mouse, but alas they did not buy it. What follows is a mad assortment of just a few of the photos from the Experience and Cardiff. Enjoy.

Wonderful way to be greeted at the entrance.

The exhibits that follow the tour are pretty fangasmarific. Proper old sets.

Proper old companions. Tried to treat the photo to a oldification.

AAAAK! Sorry. I'll just...

Mehhehehe. Gaahh! You can still see the bits that got a bit singed in the explosion...

Gvahgahablah! The DOOR!!! THE DOOR!!!

Sorry. That was bad. THE FACE OF BOE!!! AWWWW

Really. Not sure what came over me. Just going to calm down... But!

Outside. Outside is better. Wait! I know that restaurant! Must have Turkish for lunch.

Silly but sweet and a little sad. Poor Ianto. Every lovely fictional character deserves a shrine.

Day 2 (338): 11th of November
Lovely day in London to close out this trip. Remembrance Day, Veterans' Day, and the anniversary of the day my grandmother died in 1988. Here's the story for the day. Was wandering in Hyde Park near Albert Hall, and a little guy asked me for the time. I obliged, and as I did, he took my hand and told me I had a colourful, artistic aura. This then led to fifteen minutes of this bloke telling me all sorts of things about myself. And I think he's been in my head or something, because he was freakishly on the mark. Said I need to do the things I want to do. Said I want so much but don't know where to start. Said the pain in my lower back is tied to the thing or person (maybe an ex-boyfriend?) that is emotionally draining me. Hmmm. The things that happen in London. Hello Magpie.

Hello Squirrel.

Hello Ponies.

Ahhh fountain at the Italian Gardens. Something Italian that doesn't drive me to drink.

Day 3 (339): 12th of November
Back to the grind, though it is always odd to have a Wednesday act like a Monday. Thought about calling it Mendsday, but that sounded too much like Mensday, which either sounds like a day for the dudes, or an awkward celebration of Female Issues. Tried Wonday, but as the day was hardly the top of the standings, it seemed a bit to obviously ironic. And the last thing one needs is obvious irony, right? Only one shot today. Cool sky.

Day 4 (340): 13th of November
Spent most of the day listening to "academics" to prepare for an upcoming embarkation, but really the lectures piped over the computer speakers did more to confuse me about the whole ordeal. Learning about logistics, "best practices," Command and Control, and Cyber things was truly a thrill to end all thrills, but what really took the prize was the bit about targeting. By the end of it, I realised I have no idea what I do for a living. Pretty impressive work, that. A lecture that is so convoluted and poorly presented that it leaves experts baffled and perplexed about the very nature of their field, is a lecture for the ages. Driving home took too long so I had to grab the sunset via iPhone on the way.

And came to find the tree outside my kitchen all gone. My landlords are rather chop-happy of late.

Day 5 (341): 14th of November
Really hate having to get work done on the car. Not even because it is rather pricy ($250 to replace two tires...are they made from panda skin?), but just because of the Neapolitan flare for making things harder. Mission accomplished, though, so now dear old Gertie can be street legal again. Also meant I got to veg at a cinematic showing of a cute kids film Big Hero 6, which I'd never even heard of, but which was rather charming. Got some Moment shots on base before the show.

Not great, but not too bad.

Day 6 (342): 15th of November
All the traveling makes for disaster areas. The house is always a bit messy, but at this point it was truly horrendous. All better now. And got to torture Merry with the Terror Sucker Monster, so that was fun. Only one shot today. Flower hiding from the cloudy day.

Day 7 (343): 16th of November
Last night as I enjoyed my champions dinner of Easy Mac and Coors Light in front of a roaring Gilmore Girls binge, I realised I'd managed to travel in time to my university days. All that was missing was a bean bag, a papasan, a Target lamp, and my old roommates. Funny old world.
Yesterday's flower is a bit happier this morning.

Finally got a yellow thing to not be washed out. Maybe I'm learning. Probably not. Am a bit thick.

Obviously rained last night.

Quite the ramble this week. But this funny old world will have that effect on a person. 

Week Forty-Five: Curry Favours

Do you know what is delicious? Thai Green Curry. Do you know when it is even better? When I don't have to make it. Do you know what makes it better still? When it is not out of a cardboard box. These are the things that keep a person sane. Good food made with love by someone else. Which in my case is always a good thing. I've heard they are thinking of outlawing the phenomenon of me cooking. Because while I beg to differ, I've been informed that nuking things is not cooking.

Day 1 (309): 13th of October
Somehow this being a short week (again) makes things more stressful. For example, finding oneself at work on a day off, attempting to do something useful to get ahead of things, is enough to make one wonder how Life went so wrong. Probably just me - after all, I was that girl as a kid. You know, the one who did all her homework, read lots of non-assigned books for fun, and lived for extra credit. Being the grown-up (sic) who feels compelled to go in on a free Monday for several hours to help people sort out something she knew would confuse them, is just the way these Things end up. Damn them. The Things. Can't I just spend the day on the sofa re-watching Gilmore Girls or The Blacklist? Or get someone else to do Things? Oh, wait. I'm much too stubborn to not do Things myself.

Looking down from the roof where I took the above photo.

Day 2 (310): 14th of October
Another Tuesday pretending to be a Monday. Oh, and Naples didn't get the message that it is OCTOBER. We had nice and cool(ish) all summer. Last year I broke down and turned on the A/C one night when it was just too painfully hot to sleep. This year hasn't come close. But now that we are in what ought to be the cool down (and too soggy) start to fall and winter, the heat has to turn on. Way to be late to the party. First, this happened.

Then, this happened. Whatever might happen next?

Looks like we won't find out. Here is a flower.

Day 3 (311): 15th of October
You know what is nice? Hot tea with milk in the morning. Even better if it comes with Hobnobs (or the generic equivalent, they are really almost as good, flavour-wise). Better still if I don't forget it by the kettle so it steeps for half an hour and then gets cold. Smoky hazy day today. Every word in that ended in "y." Hmmm. Webby yellow flower weed. Those words all had "w" in them.

My focus on this one was all over the place. But the light was neat.

Day 4 (312): 16th of October
Have I mentioned I hate Thursdays? If not, I hate Thursdays. This one had dental evil, earthquake drills, increased force protection measures, multiple meetings, homework, and late night airplane travel. Actually, that last bit was rather nice. Mostly because it took me First Class British Airways the hell out of Naples. Buh Bye.

And hello to my cheap and cheerful (but not dodgy) little hotel "room." Vague resemblances to Depression-era lodger spaces are totally accurate. But it's nice enough and close to where I need to be.

Day 5 (313): 17th of October
Traipsing about London is grand. Busy, as it is rather a large city (in case that comes as a surprise). Talking to artists is usually grand, except when they are snobby, or the not-listeny kind of people. Then it is rather less grand. But Chinatown is fun. Bad place to go when one is hungry and has eaten nothing but a sausage roll all day.

OK. That one was silly. This is better. So is finishing the day with lovely family who are splendidly kind and fun to be around (and feed me beer and curry). Really don't know how my cousin does it. She really is Super Mum. Anyone who can raise three young humans and keep all their myriad lives in order truly is a hero. Why do you think I don't do it?

Day 6 (314): 18th of October
So many walks of shame. But not really, I guess, as there seemed no shame in any of it. I felt bad at making my poor cousin-in-law (is that a thing?) get up at ungodly hours to take me back to the train station after I drank all the family beer, ate all their food, crashed in the guest room, and probably filled the children's' heads with horribly corrupt American cheeky inappropriate something. They are so nice. Wish I could see them more often. But my walk / train / tube of shame yielded a great morning shot over the Thames. Wait, did I just say tube of shame? That sounds rather scandalous...

This one came out a bit nicer (the light worked a bit too hard in the first shot).

And a day spent amongst other shame(less) walkers, many of whom were dressed as any number of things, characters, and allsorts (not the gross licorice sweets), yielded a lovely time. Got to meet and chat with the chap who played Boba Fett, and had another nice chat with the guy who was inside Darth Vader. Oh, and to complete the Star Wars w/end, got my photo with Carrie Fisher, and met her brilliant dog. And then I---Look! Pretty! I want one!

This place was so civilised they even had a full bar with relatively not insanely expensive drinks prices (all relative to the level of need, you see). So the day started with tea and sausage rolls, middled with pints of Carlsberg (only one of which I bought myself), and ended with some insane curry lentil bacon soup thing I wanted to marry and live in forever. Here is a spider. It is the size of my horse thumb and on the biggest web I've ever seen, just outside my hotel room door. So cool.

Day 7 (315): 19th of October
Another day, another round at the NerdFest. Met another fellow who played the Doctor (Colin Baker this time). Such a kind gent. We chatted about all sorts of things. He's another person fascinated with Idaho (only as he's not ever been, but who has, really). So nice to just have a nice chat with a genuinely nice person. Also a treat is the gal who played the sister in Jurassic Park. She's an artist now (check her out here) and does really, really great portraits.

Same thing in Black & White. Leave off. I have homework to do.

What else has this to do with curry? Or with favours? Not sure. Two days involved curry. All days should involve curry. On the fence about favours. Sometimes they are good, and sometimes not. Favourite things are good, though. As are party favours. And being in someone's favour. What do I know. I'm just here. 

Week Forty-Two: Idea Flight

Hard to come up with an intro for this week. So hard I didn't even do it when I first posted this thing. But as I am being overrun at the moment by a cat who talks in his sleep (who knew cats were dreamers?) and who thinks I am his personal bean bag, I figured I'd go back and do it right. Or at least as right as one can with subject matter that so defies categorisation. So consider this week introduced.

Day 1 (288): 22nd of September
Have you ever waited for a thing for a long time, and wanted that thing, and then one day realised that thing had long gone out of reach? You build it up in your mind for what seems like ages, then find that Life did whatever it had always intended to do. What is that about Life happening whilst we make plans? I think it prefers to just ram through those plans, squealing with laughter. Or so I think. My plans usually consist of "if I had my druthers..." and little else. Big scary fence. At night. Kind of slanty.

Scary wavy weed trees. At night. Not too bad an execution on this one. Didn't even use the tripod. Just my thick skull propped against the wall. It's almost October, so I guess the Dark and Stormy thing works.

Day 2 (289): 23rd of September
Today was angry music Tuesday. Just needed to hear a little shouting on the music box, so out came Halestorm radio. While it occasionally hits the odd christian metal song, there's only a rare need to hit the down thumb. Have you ever noticed that the only time things get really clear is when we are dreaming? Makes sense, then, that we can never really clearly remember our dreams; the only thing that is easy to grasp is that maybe things made sense for a minute. Jabba the Hutt makes no sense. Neither does this photo that was poorly captured and more poorly edited. Not terribly clear at all. Too dark.

Day 3 (290): 24th of September
An old friend of mine recently suffered one of the worst tragedies that a person can experience. His 23-year-old son was killed in an accident. As someone who has no kids and likely never will, I was left speechless (rare for this gobby, opinionated, somethingorother). Now it is taking up rather a lot of real estate in my brain. Wish I could do more for them. Really, knowing what to say to people who've been clobbered like that has never been my strength. All I know to do is to be there and hope I keep my foot out of my mouth long enough to be of a tiny bit of help. I only kind of knew the boy, but he was such a good kid, and had just gotten into the groove of following in his old man's naval footsteps. Golly. Any rate, following the theme from yesterday, got a better pic of a conversation no one ever thought happened.

And then got this sunset. Didn't even tweak more than the exposure a little bit. All but the sun itself came out alright.

Day 4 (291): 25th of September
What's the cure for a brain out of whack? I really wish I knew. Knowing the things need done, but finding it nearly impossible to dig in and bloody well do them. Stayed far too late at the office today because I stuck around to get homework done and forgot to put the "CLOSED" sign out on the door (and was dumb enough to answer my phone when it rang). Real highlight though was getting home to find the internet finally functioning. Thank the Wee Man. Realising as I post this that the following picture is a bit serial killer-esque. But no matter. Playing around with an old lens for this one.

Another killer sunset that needed no editing at all. Makes my work easier.

Another rose. What can I say. They are not my favourite flower (not my least, either), but they are everywhere, so I photograph them. If there were lilies out here, they'd be featured far more. Who doesn't love lilies?

Day 5 (292): 26th of September
End to a dragging on week. Brain still feels like someone is jangling keys somewhere just out of sight, which is incessantly distracting. Temporary ADD, I think. brought on by madness in the surrounds and an uncertain future. By the time one is thirty, these things ought not be issues any longer. The ubiquitous "they" say directionlessness is a thing for twentysomethings. Liars.

Day 6 (293): 27th of September
One can be in a strange mood all day (week?) and never know the cause. There are a great many Things Needing Done, but only a rather small number will see the light of completion. Not because there's no time, but rather because there is no inclination. I watched a cat get in an epic battle with a blue Beanie penguin wearing a santa hat (the penguin wore the hat). Then later, to get out of my funk, I threw Under the Table and Dreaming into the car CD player and got so lost in the perfect that I drove nearly three miles past my exit before I realised I was going in completely the wrong direction. Came home to find that it is the 20th anniversary of that very album. In honour of spending far too much time with a fool feline, here he is in classic repose. Gosh I need a dog.

Pretty scenery, though. If you squint, you can just see the islands.

Day 7 (294): 28th of September
Got to do the school. The midterm, any rate. Gave myself a few hours for fannying about this morning, but now it's time for Important Things. To do with this. There is currently a ginger feline form lolling about on it, decidedly not helping. Gosh I need a dog.

Crazy. But that's how it goes...