J and Grannie in NYC

Jonathan and Grannie just had a New York City adventure! They arrived - sans Grandpa unfortunately - on Friday and jetted off to Salt Lake City this morning. The weekend went something like this:

Friday
J and Grannie fly from London to New York. They are met at JFK by the limo service and are whisked into Manhattan, arriving at the hotel just as Genevieve comes barrelling out of the subway. Grannie and J are introduced to all Genevieve's roommates. They make a great impression. J succombs to jetlag and falls asleep on the giant lovesac at 7pm.

Saturday
J wakes up at 2.30 am announcing that in England it's time to get up. Auntie Genevieve has been sleeping for three hours and has no intention of getting up. They get a drink of water, and Genevieve lies down on Jonathan's little camp bed on the floor, so he is forced to get into her far more comfortable bed. This does the trick, Jonathan falls asleep and Auntie Genevieve doesn't die. J wakes again at 6.45 and Genevieve accepts her fate. They play Top Trumps - Wonders of the World and watch Top Gear Italian Supercar Challenge.

J, Grannie and Jonathan go to brunch in Tribeca with Genevieve's roommates, Rich Call and Dr. Steve (the dishy doc from Peru). Genevieve is served a frightening mound of pancakes and Jonathan half-heartedly picks at his eggs Benedict. Only Grannie knows what became of her breakfast, as it disappeared in a flash!

On the way to breakfast, Jonathan takes his first ride on the subway, and after breakfast he makes his first trip in a NYC yellow taxi cab. They head to the World Trade Center to meet engineer and part time tour guide Jason Robertson for a tour of his offices in Tower 7.

Jonathan knows all about skyscrapers, so Jason shows him all the models and drawings and plans for the new towers. Then from the 10th floor vantage point, he points out the construction on the Freedom Tower, going on below.

After the tour, they meet up with Joanne and Drew who have popped over from Jersey to meet the folks. Downtown is woefully short of decent eateries, so the brief, but enjoyable visit involves eating deli sandwiches on laps in the living room. They did manage to squeeze in a quick trip to the roof. This is then followed by a trip up to Old Navy on 34th Street to get J some trousers for church in the morning. It's a fruitful trip. Suitable trousers are purchased and J gets a glimpse of the Empire State Building.

Sunday
The Bovees attend church. J and Grannie are introduced to dozens (perhaps even hundreds) of Genevieve's friends during the meetings and after church. How kind of them to conveniently schedule a linger longer to coincide with their visit. J eats several heart shaped cookies drowning in pink and red hundreds and thousands. In the afternoon, the roommates cook up taco salad for 12 and after dinner several more friends drop by to meet the folks, the Mulcocks, the Sparhawks (fresh from their honeymoon), Mindy Booth and many others.

Monday
It's Dead President's Day and Genevieve is off work. Jet lag, for the most part, has been overcome, and it's time to see the sights. They rush off early to catch the 9.30 ferry to Liberty Island.

J and Genevieve walk around the island and J poses with Lady Liberty.

Then it's on to Ellis Island, but not before J gets to help the ferryboatman with the ropes. J and Genevieve don't have any ancestors who came through EI, but it's a fun place to explore nonetheless. J enjoys all the exhibits on the ground floor with the giant 3-D graphs and computers. They all dine on tasty sandwiches and chicken tenders and then it's back on the ferry to the big island. Huge dark clouds are rolling in over Manhattan and they jump into a taxi just as the raindrops begin to fall.

It's on to the American Museum of Natural History - no.1 on J's must do list. He has been looking forward to this for weeks, "I want to go to the museum where they filmed Night at the Museum". They look at African and Asian mammals, the sea life exhibits and J takes dozens of pictures of dinosaur bones, including the T-Rex from the film. He's not in the entrance, but upstairs on the fourth floor. Either way, they're glad they won't be around after closing time when he comes to life and starts chasing the guards!

At home that night there is a birthday party for Genevieve's roommate Libby. J revels in all the excitement and attention, but by 9 o'clock, it's all been too much.

Tuesday
Genevieve is back at work, but she escapes at lunch time to meet J and Grannie for a trip up to the Top of the Rock.

It's a beautiful late Art Deco building and the views are far better than from the Empire State Building. If for no other reason, than you get a wonderful view of the Empire State Building!

J and Grannie spend the afternoon on the NYC tour bus, seeing all the downtown sights they've missed. After work, it's back home to Genevieve's house to eat dinner and watch what else but Top Gear.

There are lots more pictures to see.

I just spent a terrific weekend in Washington, D.C. with Kelly, my roommate who recently took a job down there. Kelly is one of my oldest friends from New York, and, having lived together for 3 years, probably knows me best. It's really nice to visit friends when you know each other so well. There's so much to talk about, nothing has to be explained, they just understand. It was good to see Kelly's new digs. She moved just over a month ago and seems to be settling in well.

We spent a lovely afternoon at Mount Vernon, George Washington's beautiful plantation home overlooking the Potomac River in Northern Virginia. The weather was chilly but clear and sunny and we toured the house and grounds and stopped to sit in the chairs on the veranda. We had fun in the shop. I bought my first Christmas presents for 2008 - I bet I even got a jump on Lucy! Then we went to Ikea so Kelly could look at beds. Although I was the one who walked out of there with a bag full of purchases, including two bedspreads and a bright red colander. And it was actually I who knew the way there, having been to the Ikea at Potomac Mills several years ago when I was at university. We topped off the day with dinner at a Mexican restaurant just steps away from Kelly's house (she is VERY happy about that) and the first two episodes of Spooks series 5. That really is the best show being made and Kelly and I love watching it together.

I haven't been back to Virginia/Washington since graduation so it was kind of exciting to be in the neighborhood again. It doesn't seem like all that long ago.

I was just talking to a friend at work and I realised, well, remembered, that my parents are two of the least selfish people alive. I'm so lucky to have them.

J - NYC

Jonathan rang me this afternoon to make plans for his visit to New York in two weeks. We were discussing the Statue of Liberty and he told me he had read about her in his "children's almaniac" (read that last word out loud, emphasis on the second 'a').

I imagine not everyone understands my obsession with family history and genealogy. It's more than just a hobby, it's almost become a way of life. I love the hunt, searching for clues and solving mysteries, but more than anything I love the personal and emotional side to it, the connection you feel to people and the joy of exploring the little details of peoples lives and of reuniting them with their families.

I read something in one of my English genealogy magazines yesterday that I really liked, and it sums it up beautifully. It's from an article about how genealogists in previous generations were only concerned with the "great and the good." But...

"Nowadays, we love the ordinary people, the everyday folk - and quite right too. Their lives and their experiences might have lacked the glitter and the glory, and they may have lived in humble dwellings rather than grand houses, but every human story has its interest and every life was important.

That great, great grandmother [the writer's family legend that she was an aristocrat had proved false] with the illegitimate twins worked in a cotton mill in Ancoats in Manchester and eventually took up with a man who knocked her about and ill-treated her sons. One of those sons, my great grandfather, slept on straw in a stable, started work at the age of eight, looked after his little half-sister, who eventually died of consumption, and earned enough money to buy himself a donkey and cart.

He carried and carted for the local community in the east end of Manchester, married a woman he loved devotedly and died, worn out, in his early 50s. That's a real human story, and one I am fascinated by. To the genealogists of the 1950s it would have seemed beneath notice - a sordid and sorry little tale with no dignity and no merit. To me, it is part of my genetic make-up and is to be treasured."

I just bought a giant telly!!


It's 37 inches of sheer beauty and it's coming to live in my house on Thursday!

Today was the first day I left the ofice and it was still light outside. That's one of my favourite days of the year.

And I bought a sofa today. I know own a table and chairs, and a sofa. Maybe one day I'll buy a proper bed!

2008 is here

My month of freedom is about to end. I'm off back to New York tomorrow morning and I shall miss being a lady of leisure. I've travelled on three continents, spent several weeks with my lovely family and watched countless hours of Top Gear. What a terrific time it's been!

My new job starts on Monday. I have my parents and Jonathan's visit to New York in February to look forward to. I shall be writing a short book this year and working on ideas and designs for a second. I shall be maid of honour at Joanne's splendid wedding in May. I shall be travelling at the end of May and any other time I can get away (Bermuda and Madrid remain on the shortlist). And on the whole just plan to have a bloody good time this year. How's that sound?!

My little brother's idea of a bit of Christmas Day fun

He thinks it's a huge laugh to scoop me up when I'm least expecting it. Sunday he picked me and flung me over his shoulder like a rag doll.

Marrakech

You can't really sum up an experience like Marrakech. So let's just look at pictures!

My first day I toured the Ben Youssef Medersa, the Marrakech Museum and the Almohavid Tombs.

In the afternoon I explored the souks and got completely lost. Your first trips through the souks can be rather stressful. One of the first things you notice is the smells (some delicious, some revolting). As a woman on my own, I was constantly pestered by shop owners and random men/teens offering their services as a guide. The noise and the chaos keep your head spinning. It's a battle to get through, but exciting at the same time.

The center of the city is the Jemaa Al Fna, an enormous square filled with food stalls and hawkers, along with fortune readers, henna women, snake charmers and Senegalese sufis playing gnouaa music.
Then at night it was turned into a giant outdoor eatery. The second night I dined on grilled aubergines and red peppers with chili sauce and poisson normal, fried fish to the rest of you. I posed for a picture with my chefs. The second morning I spent in the southern half of the medina, at the Bahia Palace of the Grand Vizier looking at beautiful painted ceilings

and tiled floors and at the ruined Badi Palace
I also visited the 17th century Saadian Tombs, for centuries lost from view behind a great mosque and only discovered during WWI by a low flying French pilot.

It's amazing how quiet these courtyards are, cut off from the frantic sounds of the streets and passages just steps away.

I also stopped in a small museum with artifacts from the trading routes between Marrakech and Timbouctou. I thought this item was something very Saharan like a water carrying bag, but then I noticed the label saying it was a 'Sac a affaires personnelles pour jeune mariee'. Essentially, a young ladies handbag!The rest of the day was spent shopping for Christmas presents in the souk, plates and tajines for Mum, hand made lantern for Dad, a djelaba cloak for Stephen and some Fasi bowls for Paddy. And I bought myself a a traditional cooking tajine. I look forward to cooking some Moroccon food when I get back to New York as the local food was too delicious for words. Even with my cooking abilities meager as they are I'll be able to create something wonderful.

The complete set of photographs are here. There are lots of pictures of tiles and patterns as one of the reasons I went to Morocco was to look at geometric patterns and designs in Arabian and Islamic decoration. I wasn't disappointed.

Roma

Lucy, Jonathan and I went to Rome for three days. I had planned a trip to Rome before Christmas, but travelling isn't half as fun without Jonathan and Lucy along. Thank goodness they were available as it was absolutely freezing and it would have been miserable without Lucy's company and Jonathan's comic relief.

Rome has a reputation for pick-pocketing and bag-snatching, so on arrival Lucy and I told Jonathan we needed him to be our bodyguard and keep a look out for anyone looking shifty or making a move on our belongings. We established a code word, "cheeseburger", for him to say when he spotted something out of the ordinary. We'd only got a hundred yards from the hotel when Jonathan whispers to me, "They all look like cheeseburgers!"

Our first outing was to the Vatican. We stopped on the way for our first scoop of gelato. It isn't the ideal treat on a day when the max temperature is four degrees celsius, but we were desperate to try it and it was delicious. I don't much care for the rock solid frozen ice cream we get at home. And the choice of flavours was so much better. I started with hazelnut and the next day had pistacchio flavour that was chock full of ground up pistacchio nuts and Noce Sorrento, walnut flavour. I'm nutty about gelato. (apologies for that) Jonathan was not so keen on eating ice cream on a cold winters day and became frantic every time we passed a gelateria. Of course we pointed every one out to him, so mature of us.

I was ever so excited as we approached St. Peter's. I told Jonathan that we were about to see one of the world's great treasures but he was thoroughly unimpressed, he was still trying to thaw out his tongue. We walked into the square, somewhat spoiled by a temporary performance area for Christmas concerts, a large ugly tree and a pile of miscellaneous junk. Yes, junk. Holy junk, presumably. We took some pictures:

Mother and child

and Auntie Genevieve squinting in the low-lying winter sun

We toured the inside of the Basilica, sent our Vatican City stamped postcards and saw the Spanish Steps lit up at night before dinner. In the morning, we made the much anticipated trip to the Colosseum. Jonathan had been talking for weeks about visiting the Colosseum, and he was not disappointed. He helped our Italian archeologist tourguide show us round. During the rest of the day, we walked through the Forum, up to the Pantheon and to the Fontana di Trevi. The weather was nearly at zero degrees, but Jonathan was terrific, never complaining even though his fingers were frozen together.

We enjoyed all of these sights, but the highlight of the trip was Jonathan's postcards. He chose his own postcards to send to Uncle Stephen and Grannie and Grandpa. I wrote one or two as well, but once I saw what Jonathan was writing we handed over all the postcard writing duties to Jonathan. They are little gems.

The rest of the pictures are here. We're thinking we might go back... sometime when sun is out and our gelato actually melts rather than cooling down when we take it outside the shop.

I covered 2 continents and 3 countries in less than 24 hours on Sunday/Monday. That's a first. And I'm still exhausted.

Gorgeous hair

My Michael-designed hair has been drawing complements ever since I touched down in the UK on Monday. Two particularly enthusiastic thumbs up from Jonathan and Eleanor (and I know Mike will appreciate the Eleanor seal of approval!) Views of this fantastic do are available below...do enjoy.

Christmas concert

I went to my nephew Jonathan's school Christmas concert yesterday (I hope to add a picture when I get access to Lucy's camera tomorrow). Despite much talk in recent years of banning references to religion at Christmas time here in the UK (including the banning of the word 'Christmas' itself), the concert included traditional Christmas carols like Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful. The focus of the programme was Christmas in countries around the world, and while much of the dialogue was centered on Father Christmas and gift giving traditions, there was also references to the Christ child and the three kings. It was quite refreshing to see they had not "cleaned up" the presentation and expunged the very center of Christmas. Take away Christ and all you're left with is overcooked turkey and credit card debt, and that's not a Christmas I want any part of. Jonathan had a couple lines in the Christmas in Mexico skit. It was a really good little programme, very enjoyable. Lucy and I sat in the first row of adults, and my little niece Eleanor sat on the floor in front with the other Infant School classes. She kept turning around and waving to us and smiling. Absolutely adorable.

Wisconsin days two through five

I'm at the airport on my way home. My fingers are raw, my toes still thawing and I honestly don't remember when I last washed my hair (I was afraid it would freeze and give me the mother of all headaches, not to mention the flu). I had a good time but am not sorry to be heading home. Here's a quick recap of what I did over the last four days.

Wednesday was mostly driving, least said about that the better, and I did a little exploring in Clark County . Thursday was Eau Claire County day. Started in the Village of Fairchild. I think it's a fairly depressed area, because all the buildings were for sale, same thing down in Jackson County as well.

I visited the cemetery. It was buried in snow so I took the snow scraper/brush from the car to excavate. I found great-great grandfather Cornelius Bovee whose whereabouts and place/date of death had previously been a mystery

and his wife, great-great grandmother Hannah Pettis Bovee

I only found the graves thanks to the huge marker for Truman Bovee which I spotted at the entrance. Without a map of the cemeteries its impossible to find anything. Half the graves are buried in snow and my toes froze before I could find any other family members in Fairchild. I drove through Augusta and then on to Eau Claire to visit the University library, where I found a number of court documents related to the Bovees. I then rushed off and left all the photocopies at the library.

Wednesday and Thursday night I stayed in a lovely hotel, the Oak Park Inn. I was so happy to be there every night.

Friday I went to Jackson County, real Bovee country. I found the Bovee Creek, the north branch of the Trempeleau River. I was amazed that it wasn't completely frozen.

Then I found the land (Township 23 Range 5 Section 28) where the Bovees (Cornelius, Uncles Zebulon and Silas, father Jonas and grandfather Nicholas) held sway. They owned and farmed the entire section.

I drove through Bovee stamping grounds Hixton and Alma Center where I excavated more gravestones.

I then drove south to Jackson County seat Black River Falls to visit the Historical Society and history room at the library. I found a few things at the library and chatted with the volunteer librarian who knew a family member, Elgie Bovee Kutcher, niece of my great grandfather George.

This morning I popped into the Wisconsin Historical Society here in Madison to look up a few things before flying home to New York. Madison is a nice town, but I don't know if I could go to school here... I nearly froze to death this morning just walking from the car to the Society.

And here's one last look at Wisconsin... a Bovee in their natural setting...

And now you can look through all my pictures from Wisconsin

Wisconsin day one

Day one in Wisconsin was all about snow. It started snowing at 2pm and it was still snowing when I went to bed. I've never driven in snow but now I know how. I only skidded once (it's those wretched trucks!) and even managed to drive in Madison rush hour traffic during the snow storm. I only managed to visit Hancock Cemetery before the snow started, so went back to Madison early and had the whole evening to twiddle my thumbs. I did wander up by the Capitol in the evening.

It's my last day at EMI today. I'm scabbling around to try and get things wrapped up and there's still four piles of papers to go through. The time is flying. Oh, well if I get to it, I get to it... I had lunch at the Shake Shack one last time. Caitlin, Mike, and Martin came along. I'll miss the Shake Shack! Listening to Interpol nice and loud... I'll really miss having my own office.

At the Shake Shack...

Justin and Matt and I in my office...

My whereabouts for December

Monday 3 December - last day at EMI
Tuesday 4-Saturday 8 December - in Wisconsin
Saturday 8 -Sunday 9 December - back in NYC
Sunday 9 December - flying to London
Monday 10 December - Thursday 13 December - in England
Friday 14-Sunday 16 December - in Rome
Monday 17 December - Wednesday 19 December - in Marrakech
Thursday 20 December - Saturday 5 January - in Englang
Saturday 5 January - flying to NYC

Utah

I needed to go away somewhere for Thanksgiving. I called up Stephen and convinced him that he wanted me to come visit him in Salt Lake City. I don't see enough of Stephen, my favourite brother. We're seven years apart but we get along so well. So I flew to Utah last Wednesday to spend the holiday weekend with him. I haven't been to Utah in 14 years. All I remember is mountains, a little bit of Temple Square and that brand new rental car whose breaks made an awful stink. The accomodation was top class: I was well set up with my own bed in the lounge downstairs, with the cat Eli for company. Every night I had to get into bed around him, and when he wasn't napping on my bed he was sat on the stairs swatting at us as we walked past.

Stephen made us cornish game hens for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. Good idea, turkey is so much bother. We watched the Jolly Boys Outing and stayed at home all day. I haven't had a lazy day like that in AGES. Stephen was back to work on Friday so I spent the day at the Family History Library. I was all prepared with long lists of books and microfilm to examine. I found some birth/death/marriage/burial information for some distant relatives, but the most important finds was a cemetery transcript for Fairchild Village Cemetery where I knew my great great grandmother Hannah Pettis Bovee was buried. We had no death date for her husband Cornelius, but it turns he is buried with her in Fairchild, along with their son Truman and grandson Hiram. I now have some new leads to follow up when I'm in Wisconsin next week and some places to visit. I also found maps pinpointing the location of the land plots belonging to Charles Henry Patterson and his father-in-law Daniel Baldwin. I also found the marriage for Evelyn Ducie and Elmer Pehrson and the funeral bills for her parents John and Ellen.

Saturday Stephen drove me to Provo (under protest, he's a Univ of Utah man and Saturday was a big game day between the rival schools). I wanted to have a quick look around BYU to see if I could bare to live there. Turns out the law school building is just about the ugliest thing I've ever clapped eyes on. Provo wasn't exactly the Garden of Eden either. The temple was quite pretty up close though, a nice surprise as it looks pretty weird in photographs. Stephen took us up over the mountains on the way home, via Alpine which my roommate Juleen calls home. He had to rush off to meet his mates to watch The Game, so he dropped me at Temple Square. I watchd the Joseph Smith film in the Memorial Bldg and then went to the temple to do initiatories for some direct ancestors (Ellen Mulherin, Margaret Kelly and Annie O'Brien). It was my first trip to the Salt Lake temple so I took the big guns along with me! The temple of course is lovely, although you do get a bit lost in the underground labyrinth, but i'm not complaining. They had a cafeteria and a dozen intiatory booths. Our temple in Manhattan is so dinky, so it was fun to explore one of the big ones. Stephen picked me up after the game. His lot lost and it was surprising how much quieter the car was.

On Sunday, Stephen dropped me at church where I sat with one of his friends, Alison, who is a BYU law graduate. After church, Stephen was back in the kitchen, this time cooking us a Sunday, leg of lamb and yorkshire pudding, with Bisto gravy from England and boiled carrots and broccoli. I think someone misses home... I was ever so proud of him! After dinner, he showed me round the University of Utah, his old dormitories and classroom buildings. I think he really enjoyed his time there and it was nice to see where my little brother spent four years of his life. We made one last trip to Temple Square to take pictures with the Christmas lights, and then it was on the airport. I was just starting to get acclimatised to the city. And I was really enjoying being with Stephen. Shame I had to leave... but I might be back.

New job for Genevieve

This morning I accepted to the offer of a job with Mercer, an HR consulting firm here in New York. I'll be working with their Workforce Sciences Team. I heard about the job through my Dad who has been working with two members of the team on a project at Aramco. His sharp ears overheard a conversation between them about this job opening and he jumped in and told them about me. They interviewed me immediately upon their return to the New York and made me an offer last Friday. I think they really wanted me. It's nice to be wanted. They seem like a good group of people, all braniacs (labour economists, organisational psychologists), they were very friendly when I met with them, but pleasantly quirky as well. I think I will fit in. My new office is at Sixth Avenue and 45th street. I'm scared of midtown but will just have to toughen up a bit. Best part is I don't start till January 7 so I have plenty of time to spend in England, with a couple side trips thrown in. Morocco and Rome have already been booked. There may be more.

Going on my holidays

I'm going to Salt Lake City! I haven't been out of the city since April - I'm climbing the walls. I can't wait till Christmas. So I'm going to visit my little bruvvah. We'll have Thanksgiving dinner at home on Thursday with Stephen's flatmates. On Friday, Stephen has to work so he's going to drop me off at the Family History Library (this will be the real day of indulgence!). I'll take a lunch break around noon and wander around Temple Square. And on Saturday he's going to take me down to Provo to have a look around BYU. I went thirteen years ago but don't remember a thing so it'll be nice to get a good look at the place and see how I might feel about living there. I have all Sunday there as well so we'll take a trip up to the University of Utah so Stephen can show we his old stamping ground and then he says we'll go on up into the mountains and to see the "This Is The Place" monument.

And Stephen says we'll watch a bit of Del Boy on the wide screen tellie. Lovely jubbly!

It hate it when daylight saving time ends. We were in the dark of night at 5pm today. It's quite depressing... and there are other problems. I'm going to make a Lexia-like confession:

I'm scared of the dark.

When Lucy and Jonathan used to go to Saudi Arabia to stay with my parents I would have to sleep with the lights on in all the rooms except my own bedroom. Nuts, huh?!

I have figured it out. I know what to do. I have a life plan and I'm poised to implement it. This is exciting for me, I've never know what I wanted to be when I grew up or where I wanted to live or anything. I'm just a big bundble of indecision. Until today. But, errr, it's a bit personal to go splashing all over the interweb. So if you're close enough to want to know, then you know where to reach me and I'll happily fill you in.

Feels good.

For Byron... a few words on Luton

My mother was born in an English town called Luton. I was born in a Canadian city called Vancouver. But I was soon whisked away to grow up in Saudi Arabia, a country I could never call my own. Long happy childhood summers were spent in Luton and after university it became my semi-permanent home. So I claim it. Luton is my hometown. People outside England imagine quaint communities of cottages and cobble-stoned streets, jolly little freckled street urchins, witty tea-drinking adults, all watched over by the lord of the local manor from his mock Tudor stone castle. Some places in England are a lot like that.

Luton is nothing like that. It's stubbornly modern. We have a river (stream really) choked up with take away chicken boxes, no old buildings and bad race relations. The rest of England looks down on us. We look down on ourselves. It's sad. They've been working to give the place a bit of a face lift with some recent projects in the town center, but more than anything the place needs a good pep talk and a dose of self-confidence. Up the road in Harpenden and St. Albans, they like their town and they like themselves. Luton has a lot to learn.

But I have deep roots there and in the surrounding villages. I have family and good friends there. It's the closest thing I have to a home and that alone makes it the best place on earth.
Well, sort of.

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby!

Mike and I played the new Guitar Hero 3 game on his xbox 360 last night. I love new toys and we played with this one for four hours. My hands were cramped, my eyes were red, my heart was full of joy. Mike's even got a super spiffy new wireless guitar with KISS plastered all over it. What more could any man want! I knew more of the songs so this one is my favourite game so far. I'm not into all that classic rock and motorhead metal mallarky. I'm a postmodern indie girl with no real musical roots. I want to play some frivolous guitar pop from yesterday not just yesteryear. A bit of Strokes and Kaiser Chiefs was just the ticket. Step a few years back and there was Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Metallica and Stone Roses. I remember when these tracks were singles, it was a happy trip back to a (early!) teenage me. They've added some frivolous new extras like new venues, characters and costumes. I rocked out in some skin tight silver leather pants. It occured to me that I can now wear something like that in real life. Should I get some? answers on a postcard.

Where do crazy dreams come from? I'm still fighting off the after effects of one I had in the early hours of today. We were on holiday, Mum, Dad and Jonathan had gone to some town in Bosnia, but Lucy had to go to a conference (for work? who knows) in some unidentified town in Greece. And on a whim, I joined her there. Suddenly the conference was over and we had 24 hours to meet up with the others. We couldn't fly so renting a car was our only option. But there is no way to get to Bosnia from Greece without travelling through Albania, Macedonia or Kosovo. Dodgy places all of them. We were chewing down our nails worrying about bad roads, bad drivers and, scariest of all, BANDITS! Convinced we would be stipped of our possessions and all the gold in our teeth, we were having a tough time coming to terms with the trip ahead. And then, bless her heart, my roommate Juleen started shifting around in her bed, and for once I was glad to have been woken up early. I don't understand what causes these weird fantasies... a warm room and a lot of Bonbon Chicken might have had something to do with it...but really! Sometimes I wish my subconcious would be nicer to me. (And by the way, I've been looking at google maps and in case anyone ever finds themself in this very situation, you can always take a long route through Bulgaria and Romania... the roads and the drivers are still terrible, but you won't get waylaid)

Just a quick word to say that the LSAT did not kill me... it was bloody hard, though! Over the last two weeks I have been giving my brain a little bit of a rest, although I'm obsessed with crossword puzzles at the moment so I hope that's keeping me sharp. My score is due in about a week so fingers crossed. In the meantime I've had a marvelous birthday where I was spoiled yet again by wonderful family and friends. Thank you to everyone who took part! I'll add some pictures from my home computer when I have a chance.

One of my favourite scriptures is from Ether 12:27 (Book of Mormon) "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness, I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, [here comes the really good bit] then will I make weak things become strong unto them." I feel like I had all my weak things shown to me this morning!!!!!!!! It wasn't fun. Oh and three days to the LSAT and I'm developping a cold, on top of everything else. I don't dare ask if it can get any worse, because I know what will happen. I am so afraid that I have taken on more than I can manage. I just need to forego all thoughts of giving up and keep it together long enough to get to the strengthening bit.

And if I don't ace the LSAT, I suppose I can always try the MCAT next year...

Interpol

Ooops, I meant to save this as a draft, not post it yet. But since it's up I'd better give it a caption. This is Interpol at Madison Square Garden last Friday, 14 September. The show was amazing. The new songs sounded great live, but the best thing... the tickets were free. A friend at work had put them aside especially for me.

A Quick update...

before I have to tell you about Labour Day weekend, the end of the summer and adventures to come...

Two weekends ago, I got a call from Kelly who was working a Saturday afternoon shift at CNN. The Deutsche Bank Building at the World Trade Center site was on fire and she need pictures. I legged out of our apartment with my fancy new digital camera, found the best vantage points, and took several photos and some film of the distaster. We uploaded them to CNN and my stuff ran on CNN domestic several times that evening and once even on CNN International. That was my shortlived career as a photojournalist.

Earlier in the afternoon I had ventured out to the Red Hook Ballfields in Brooklyn with friends (Brigham Barnes, Michelle Hales, Dave Almond and Kim Jones) to try the Latin American food on offer every Saturday afternoon. I tried something called a huarrache

and an elote, which was ridiculously delicious. I also tried papusas from El Salvador.

The weekend before I made a trifle. It was enjoyed by many.

And the weekend before that (4 Aug) I went to Jeff Mulcock's wedding reception. Mike and I took some picture reminiscent of a recent event.

Dad says I can go to Wisconsin!!!

You may have heard that it rained here a little yesterday. We had about 3 inches in just a couple hours in the morning. The sound of rain on the window had stirred me a little, but I didn't know what a mess things were till my roommate texted us to say that the subway was all shut down. I didn't have a horrendous trip to work, I only had to walk to Canal St (about a mile) and got on the one subway line that was still running up and down the island.

I couldn't understand why the rain had caused so much havoc until this afternoon when I was listening to an Wisconsin NPR programme. Apparently, even on a sunny day, the transit authority has to deal with 13 million gallons of ground water in the subway. There are over 800 pumps working to keep the water out of the tunnels. No wonder a deluge like we saw yesterday very quickly puts them over the edge.

I was listening to a programme where they were discussing a book called The World Without Us about what would happen if humans hastily exited the planet and how nature would reclaim everything. There's a whole chapter devoted to New York City. Without the pumps, the subway would be completely flooded within a couple days, and the city would soon begin to rust, rot and eventually crumble from beneath. It was fascinating.

Gap year

I'm coping with a boring patch at work by listening to back to back episodes of Excess Baggage, a BBC radio programme about travel. In the last 24 hours I've heard dozens of tales of people's adventures across the globe, bringing into painful focus the fact that the last time I ventured to a new country was 2003! Ideas are swirling around my brain, slowly taking shape as escape plans. I think perhaps it's time I took a gap year! I could renew the lease on my apartment, thereby securing a home for myself, then sublease my spot for a couple months, quit my job (it's about time anyway), and disappear on a hair raising adventure. Ok, so you would never find me paddling up the Amazon or hitchhiking across the Sahara, but there are some once in a lifetime adventure destinations I'd love to hit up...
Peru Georgian Republic









Vietnam Samarkand












China

I also want to go to Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town and Zanzibar, and travel the length of the Trans Siberian Railway. I wonder if I could actually get away with it!

Something I can do is put a ball in the back of the net. We played five-a-side football on Saturday morning over in Battery Park City. Three goals were scored on each side, and I scored two for my team. Not bad for my first ever match. It was a glorious morning and we had ridiculous amounts of fun. My skills don't extend to passing, dribbling, or tackling opposing players but there's the rest of the summer for that.

I can't cook!

I can do a few things that no one could mess up and occassionally I get lucky if I follow a recipe exactly. But on the whole, I'm a dead loss in the kitchen. Every time I try a baking recipe I come up with something different. Same recipe, same ingredients, never the same result! I tried making curry a couple months ago. Even spent $50 dollars on a small food processor I was so excited. It cooked for over two hours and I still didn't have a proper curry in front of me, finally ended up taking suggestions from the floor, adding flour, cream, and whatever else my roommates shouted out. They all said it was delicious. They're good people, aren't they!

But I'm not one to give up easily (ask me about the last bloke in my life...) and having seen the film Ratatouille twice in the last two weeks, I figured if the rat could cook so could I. I hurried to our posh supermarket, the infamous Jubilee, and collected up all the ingredients for, you guessed it, ratatouille, a dish I love so much I used to eat it cold out of a tin. I laboured for ages over thinly sliced tomatoes, squash and eggplant, I even made my own special sauce to go with it. The anticipation could have been measured on the Richter scale, and the result was utterly deflating. It didn't taste unpleasant, but it was nowhere near anything special.

Dad can go to a restaurant in Thailand, come home and collect up all the revolting looking ingredients and reproduce the dish he had in Thailand for our own dinner table. Clearly this is not something that is passed genetically. I got all his quirky stuff, but not his talent in the kitchen. The only consolation is that I live in places like London and New York where there's never a shortage of delicious food to be found. Oh and if I ever invite you to dinner... think about it carefully before you say yes.

If you don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree!

Alumni reunion weekend

No, I didn't schlepp out to Colorado Springs to hobnob with former classmates from boarding school. I did, however, drop by a party this Saturday given by fellow Fountain Valley School graduate Heather Rees. I really liked Heather. We haven't kept in touch (I haven't kept in touch with anyone from school except my roommate Meredith), but she emailed me out of the blue along with a couple other FVS people in NYC and invited us over. It was such a great evening, catching up with her and two other classmates, Alison Perry and Cameron Stanford. I took Jason along in case it was a bit stilted, but I had a jolly time chatting to all three and was really pleased to see that they're all doing well. And we have plans to get together again soon. I

For those who don't know, I spent two years at Fountain Valley School of Colorado. There's no high school in Saudi Arabia, so I had to come stateside to finish up. It's all mountains and adobe buidings, very outdoorsy, which isn't me at all, but I liked the school and the people and I did well. Found my own little niche. But I've never had any inclination to go back and take part in the whole alumni love-in thing, so this little get together was the perfect way to reconnect with a bit of my past.

Stake Family History Center Director

Errr... that's me. Just received my first stake calling this weekend. I'm afraid it might be a fairly big deal. We used to have a family history center in NY that was open to the public but it closed when they added the temple into the Lincoln Square building. They've been talking about reopening a smaller scale center since last year and I was very excited as this would mean I could ordered much needed microfilm from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. I even remember approaching Linda Cameron, the previous stake family history chairperson, and telling her I would be willing to help out with getting the center up and running. Well, looks like I got my wish. So I shall be not only the center's director, but it's first and most eager patron. I'll be helping people outside the Church with their family history research which is very exciting. I wouldn't mind being a professional genealogy researcher. It's not something I could support myself on at this point, but it would be a great job to have if I were married and not the sole income in the family.

Arcade Fire

Monday night Mike and I went to see Arcade Fire at the United Palace Theatre. I dont' want to sound all soppy, but, honestly, it was a dream come true. I have been desparate to see them for two years since I discovered "Funeral" back in March 2005. I remember playing tracks for Ian on my iPod between sets at an Aqualung concert at Bowery Ballroom. I so wanted him to love it as much as I did.

By the way, if anyone who reads this is not listening to Arcade Fire then I seriously recommend, nay insist, that you remedy the situation.

We got there just as the show was starting, the opening strains of "Black Mirror" echoing/booming in the corridors and we scrabbled up the stairs to our seats in the balcony. The show was chaos, you never knew who would be playing what instrument from one song to the next (Regine went from singing to accordion to drums to organ and back again).

I don't have any pictures and I could only find one video on YouTube from the show, "No Cars Go" and it was there literally five minutes ago and now I can't find. So instead here's David Bowie playing live on "Wake Up" - David Bowie loves them, what does that tell you!

I don't normally keep note of these, but the set list was: Black Mirror, No Cars Go, Neighborhood #2, Haiti, Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, Neon Bible, Windowstill, the WEll & The Lighthouse, Ocean of Noise, Keep the Car Running, (Antichrist Television Blues), N #3, Rebellion (Lies), with an encore of N #1 and Intervention (now and forever enshrined as a playlist in my iTunes).

We usually leave the show with one song strain in our heads, sung wholeheartedly and without shame on the streets as we make our way to the subway. For Kaiser Chiefs the other week it was "we are the angry mob...". This time it was "you have your reasons, and me, I have mine, but all the reasons I gave, were just lies to buy myself some time..."

New do

Well they said Michael was doing well at hair school, and they weren't exagerating! It was time for me to get my hair sorted out and I wanted to give him a chance to experiment on a friendly head... So on Thursday he came over and gave me a much needed haircut. I wanted shorter... I got very short. But it turned out marvelously. I love it! And everyone at work and the temple yesterday was gushing about how terrific it looked.