Robert G. Lee (back) in the UK

I got this from a friend on Facebook

2009-02-11T17:51:00.002Z

This guy has an amazing voice and writes great lyrics.

Photographic proof I spent time in Boston...

2009-01-26T18:58:00.003Z

can be found here.

A lovely Christmas...

2008-12-26T11:49:00.006Z

So this was my second Christmas in the UK. The first one (4 years ago) I spent cat-sitting in a friend's flat in London. It was very nice. I spent most of the day walking around London (had to, since the Tube is closed Christmas Day). I was alone pretty much the whole time and that was totally fine. I made a lovely roast chicken with all the trimmings watched the Queen's Christmas message on TV, got calls from friends and family and had a really enjoyable, relaxing time.

This year was a little different. This is my first as a UK resident (and the first of who-knows how many Christmases here). J was working until about 9:30PM on Christmas Eve and then came over to my place afterward. We went out to my local pub to see friends and then brought a bunch of food back to his place. We woke up somewhat early as he wanted to have the big meal around 2:30 or 3 PM (I usually wait until later). Our friend Eddie was coming over so we spent pretty much the entire morning and early afternoon cooking. I got a turkey from a friend's farm - absolutely amazing! It was only about 13 pounds but had plenty of meat on it. We also had smoked salmon with rocket (arugula) and herbed creme fraiche, roasted potatoes, chestnut dressing (J's), cornbread dressing (mine), parsnips, carrots, sautéed brussels spouts, cheese and grapes and sticky toffee pudding. Seeing as J was worried we might starve he also made (I am not joking...) ... a ham.

J and I exchanged presents when we took a break from cooking; I had not done that with someone in a while; it felt great. I loved all my pressies and he loved his. Among other things, I got him a really nice v-neck jumper (sweater) in a beautiful blue that almost perfectly matches his eyes. He is particular about clothes but he loved it; perfect size, he looks great in it and he wore it all day - that made me very happy. He got me (among other things) a lovely big comfy jumper and a digital picture frame, something I had thought about getting but he beat me to it :).

So we ate, watched this year's Queen's message, ate some more, watched the Doctor Who Christmas special as well as the new Wallace and Gromit short, A Matter of Loaf and Death.

J had to work this morning (at 7:30!). I slept in a little, started a fire (in the fireplace, not by accident!!) and just finished cleaning the kitchen. He has to work a few days next week then we are off on January 2nd for a long weekend in London. He has never been so will be fun exploring it with him.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and wish you all peace and love in the new year!

China progressive about Gay Adoption...

2008-12-16T16:48:00.003Z

Well, at least one zoo is when it comes to penguins! Read all about it here. This made me smile.

I don't usually send Christmas cards...

2008-12-02T19:15:00.001Z

but I found a company that speaks to me; I would love to send this one.

Why have I been so angry/upset at the US Government for the last 8 years?

2008-11-28T11:43:00.003Z

This NY Times Op-Ed piece states it very well. Here is the best expression of my feelings I have seen:

That is why I am thankful above all that the next U.S. commander in chief is a constitutional lawyer. Nothing has been more damaging to the United States than the violation of the legal principles at the heart of the American idea.

Thanks Roger Cohen!

Belated Thanksgiving post

2008-11-28T08:39:00.004Z

Yes I know yesterday was Thanksgiving, but obviously it is not a holiday over here so I was working. Still, I did take some time to be thankful. I got some emails/Facebook messages/other electronic communiqués from friends and family; I am thankful for the great people in my life even if we are physically many miles apart.

I spoke with all (yes all) members of my immediate family yesterday; in spite of differences, I am thankful I am still able to be in contact with them.

I went out with a bunch of people last night and I reconnected with the guy who was my office mate at the Uni when I was here last. We had a few drinks and a whole lot of laughs; I am thankful for friends like him; it feels like we just picked up where we left off a few years back. I am really thankful for the amount of laughter in my life.

In spite of frustrations, I am thankful for my job; I work with some amazingly great people, am doing something I love (and am pretty good at) and am able to live in a another country and explore different aspects of my life.

From the Most Surprising Thing to Happen This Year Department, I am thankful for J who makes my heart flutter.

Finally, as a person who is very visual, I am thankful that I get to see views like this in a regular basis:

No, this is not a sign gone awry...It's in Welsh (Cardiff Rail Station)

2008-11-23T20:10:00.004Z

Larger view:

Once again Keith Olbermann speaks Truth to Power

2008-11-11T06:38:00.005Z

Here he comments of the passage of Prop 8 in California. This part really got to me:

You are asked now, by your country, and perhaps by your creator, to stand on one side or another. You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of love. All you need do is stand, and let the tiny ember of love meet its own fate.

The fact that Olbermann says in the beginning that he has no real personal investment in this issue makes it all the more powerful.

Thanks, Keith!

Comment on the Prop 8 Result in California

2008-11-07T08:05:00.004Z

A picture is worth a thousand words:

Communications back on...

2008-11-05T07:51:00.004Z

Seems the interwebs must have been crowded last night. I slept rather uneasily last night, still afraid of what might happen. When I was here 4 years ago, I stayed up to the wee hours watching the results, getting more and more depressed as state by state turned red.

I woke up about 7:15 am here and turned on Radio 4. The first sentence I heard contained the phrase, 'President-elect Obama'. I have to admit, I got quite teary eyed.

He has a lot of work ahead of him, but I think, for the first time in a long time, there is truly hope for my country of birth!

On a sour note, Prop 8 in California (to ban same-sex marriage) is at the moment looking like it might pass (52.5% in favour vs. 47.5% against). However, there are only 49% of precincts reporting, so there is HOPE!!

Blackout from outside the US??

2008-11-04T22:39:00.003Z

So this is odd. I can not access a whole bunch of sites from my computer (I can get them on my iPhone though...)

I can not go to:

boston.com

nytimes.com

cnn.com

sfgate.com

latimes.com

facebook.com (intermittently)

My 'Net diagnostics say everything is OK. I also checked my broadband speed...very fast. But getting 'unknown' host (or 'can't find server') when trying cnn.com, et al, is rather disconcerting.

BTW Google is fine.

Curious....

Busy Busy Busy

2008-10-26T19:39:00.005Z

The last few weeks have flown by. I have been down to the Midlands, also to Manchester and Liverpool as well as my usual day-to-day business at the University. Last night was the end of British Summer Time (= American Daylight Savings Time) so the clocks got set back. Even with the extra hour, taking Thursday off, and working from home on Friday, I am still utterly knackered. OK, I have been out late the last two nights, but still!

This coming week is a catch-up week in many ways. I have a lot of paperwork to deal with as well as some programmatic issues to sort out. I also have a freelance interpreting assignment this week so will be running around a lot. Seeing as November looks busy as well (another trip to the Midlands as well as one to Wales are booked as of yet), I feel the need to regroup in many ways...

Also, I have yet to figure out what I am doing for Christmas. I have some friends who are going to Prague over Christmas for a few days; it is very tempting to go there. I love Prague and it would be nice to be in a place that feels properly wintry and have a nice get away. Might do it as it is fairly inexpensive and would be an adventure.

Recently, my personal life has also been rather, interesting, to say the least. In the midst of trying to come into my own in my job (which has taken a lot of energy in a variety of ways I did not anticipate), I am also trying to have a personal life and know what that, specifically, feels like to be me here. I have passed 7 months being here, and to be honest it feels like only a month. I have done so much in this short time. Now that I feel really am here for the duration, it makes me think even more about the future. How long will I live here? What does my life look like here going forward? Oh my god I am 43!! (Ok the last one I always knew, but still...)

Sorry for the rambling, I feel a little scattered at the moment. However, I am an incredibly lucky man.

Any advice on dealing with any and all of the above is very welcome!

I am a klutz...

2008-10-21T08:53:00.001+01:00

Walking down the street, minding mine own business, my right ankle gives out and twists under me. OUCH! (I know what you're thinking, but no, I was sober; on my way to the pub, yes, but sober at the time).

Just call me gimpy for the next few days...

Interesting, part deux

2008-10-15T19:03:00.001+01:00

Changing your 'Home' placemark in Google Earth. Yup...I am a Uk resident. If you are interested ask me about what else has triggered this reaction...:)

Interesting...

2008-10-14T13:04:00.001+01:00

The last few days I have felt more and more like I actually DO really live in England. I am not sure if it is solely a function of the amount of time I have been here or what I have been doing lately.

Obit: Edward Klima

2008-10-05T22:50:00.003+01:00

I just found out that Edward Klima died. He was a linguist who, with his wife, Ursula Bellugi, did some of the seminal neuro-linguistic research on American Sign Language. His NY Times obit is here.

I read their book, The Signs of Language back in the early 1980's; reading that book made me want to learn ASL and well, the rest is history. I credit the night I read that book (yeah, I read it in one sitting, I am a geek) to be the start of my life and career in being (even a minor part of) the Deaf-World.

He left a major legacy. I wish his family and friends peace and comfort.

Shhh! It's a Secret!

2008-10-05T21:52:00.002+01:00

Watching the Secret Policeman's Ball.

Loving the country I live in...

Oh, did I mention I had a lovely 3-day weekend? Well I did, but back to work tomorrow (and 2 weeks straight worth of work until next day off...)

Amsterdam pics

2008-09-30T17:43:00.004+01:00

Quick post. Some pics from Amsterdam:

Jack Cafferty - Voice of Reason

2008-09-27T19:56:00.004+01:00

I remember him on local news in NYC years ago. He is now on CNN. Check out his take on the Katie Couric Interview of Sarah Palin here.

Jack speaks Truth to Power (in spite of how Wolf Blitzer tries to cover for Palin).

Behind in blogging...

2008-09-19T19:56:00.002+01:00

I know, I know. I have meant to post, but have been quite busy the last few weeks. An update soon.

Thanks for hanging in there. If regular readers (or irregular ones) want me to blog about something specific, let me know - topics help!

The Daily Show rocks, once again

2008-09-05T07:59:00.002+01:00

If only actual news shows would do this type of analysis.

The Palindrones

2008-09-04T08:36:00.003+01:00

So many Republicans are blindly accepting Sarah Palin as being perfectly qualified to be VP as well as being 'a heartbeat away' from the presidency to use the familiar cliche´. She was picked by McCain, she is qualified, QED. She seems particularly immune from any scrutiny about her ability to do said job(s).

A favourite Republican response in defending her foreign policy experience is that 'Alaska is right next to Russia!!' Here's video of McCain saying it, along with references to other mindless Palindrones spouting the same sort of nonsense. Fox's Steve Doocy put it in a more folksy way: "...she does know about international relations because she is right up there in Alaska right next door to Russia." Watch, open-mouthed, here.

I find the current rhetoric about Sarah Palin fascinating. When asked any questions about her qualifications and fitness for a national office, the response is almost always that first, the question is sexist and second it involves invoking Hillary Clinton to talk about how difficult it is to be a woman in politics.

Joan Vennochi in The Boston Globe has a good piece on the first point called Skepticism isn't Sexism. The second part is even more amazing to me. The Republicans are using Hillary Clinton's (!) example as to why Palin should be in office. Actually it seems MORE sexist. First, it sounds more like why we should 'give her a chance to prove herself' since it is difficult for women to break into the corridors of power. That feels much more patronising and sexist IMNSHO. Second, the assumption that Clinton supporters (particularly female Clinton supports) will accept any old woman as a substitute is incredibly sexist and even more condescending.

"HEY! Clinton supporters!!! Look over here, no, over here, to the Right!! You wanted a woman, boy, howdy, we got one!!! Sure she is anti-choice, pro-gun and shares almost nothing with Hillary but anatomy, but look! A Woman! Vote for Us... WE know how to do change!!"

Ugh....they make me sick.

McCain courts Monty Python fans by picking Palin as VP

2008-08-30T17:53:00.002+01:00

At first I thought he DID choose Michael Palin, but alas, no. (Actually, I could not imagine Michael Palin being associated in any way with McCain!)

Mr Sandman hates me...

2008-08-23T18:36:00.005+01:00

Well I guess the payback for my almost-jet-lag-free trip in March is my current state of odd-sleepiness. The trip was long (with flights and with stopovers and layovers it was about 15 hours from boarding the first plane to leaving the last; no wonder the ticket was cheap!).

I got into my flat at about 4pm Wednesday afternoon, unpacked a little and forced myself to stay awake as long as possible. I went to sleep about 10:30 pm and was wide awake at 4 am.

Thursday I went into work, caught up on a lot but was exhausted by 2 pm. Went back home took a short nap, at and was in bed by 10. Wide awake at 3:3 am. Argh!

It’s been like that the last few days. Wake up at stupid o’clock, be dead tired in the afternoon. I have tried not napping, but it seems impossible to stay awake. I am hoping that my body adjusts soon.

My experience of jet lag is rarely that I feel like it is a different time (like the one of the time zone I came from), for me more it is more like I feel like there is no time; I can look at the sun high in the sky and I have no perception of what time it could be.

Well fingers crossed that this all sorts itself out soon!

Back in the U-U-U-K

2008-08-20T21:13:00.003+01:00

So I am home, in Preston, as this is actually my home now. A really long trip back (been awake for over 30 hours with a only a quick nap here and there) so it is good to be back on familiar turf and with comfy surroundings.

I'll write more later; as it is as surreal to be back here as it was on my first night back in Boston was 2 weeks ago.

I will wake up tomorrow and begin this new chapter of my life; living and working in a different country – across the pond but on (somewhat) familiar turf.

More soon...

Currently in Dublin...

2008-08-20T08:25:00.002+01:00

My flight from Boston was mainly uneventful. There was a somewhat lengthy stop-over in Shannon, but I am now in the Dublin airport.

I just need to stay awake to catch my flight to Manchester.

The adventure begins...

Great Stuff about visiting Boston...

2008-08-14T04:53:00.004+01:00

1) Making plans and seeing friends...it has been awesome :)

2) Accidently running into people who I had not had a chance to contact or whom I didn't expect to see

3) Feeling that people have been genuinely happy to see me

Makes me feel good in many ways and slightly maudlin in other ways...

Back in the USA...

2008-08-05T11:23:00.004+01:00

...is weird.

I left my flat in Preston at 10am BST (5am EDT)...I arrived in Boston at 1:30am BST (8:30pm EDT). The city is of course familiar. I had a really horrible taxi driver (welcome back!) and the city did look nice as the sun was almost down by the time I got through customs and luggage rigamarole.

Called my folk to let them know I am here (my Dad and Sis (and maybe my brother) will be up this weekend). Had a glass of wine then collapsed about 11:30 or so. I woke up about 5 and have not been able to get back t sleep so, awake I be. I plan on walking down to the Apple Store that has opened since I moved. Later, I'll meet (at leas part of) the crowd at The Alley.

More later...

Views from my window

2008-07-30T22:47:00.010+01:00

So here are some views out my living room window. (I know Deirdre and Vicente were fans of the last set of posted here...so here's more for you guys :) )

First nice clouds:

Then some moonshine (for those who are curious, these were taken on July 11, 2008 at about 10:35PM BST and yes the sky does get that amazing shade of blue!):

Finally, the rainbow from yesterday's sunshower:

Here it is in a panoramic shot (click for full size):

Our Father, who art at the pump...

2008-07-28T22:31:00.003+01:00

So a bunch of nutcases are praying for lower gas prices...see here.

If they would turn their energies toward praying for sensible energy policies, I would not call them nutcases, but alas, nutcases they remain:

"Oh dear sweet Baby Jesus, since I need to drive my SUV to take Eldon, Bodeen, Jezmarie and Typhanny to PhatCamp(tm) back and forth every day this summer as well as make sure Naydeen gets to her shifts at the titty bar on time, can you please, pul-LEEZE, make prices lower at the pump??? Oh and make my goiter shrink when ya get a chance. Thanks Lord, peace out."

Magical thinking at its most idiotic.

B52s

2008-07-23T21:14:00.007+01:00

So the concert was amazing! General audience, small venue, surprisingly cheap drinks; what's not to like!?!

Here is the view from where I was with my crappy mobile phone (I didn't know you could bring a real camera...wahhh! :( ) Although the pictures are wobbly, they certainly capture the whole energy of the moment, to quote. "...Everybody's movin', everybody's groovin' baby!..."

In hono(u)r of these pics...here's a stylised one of me and my ticket:

Luckily there are some really nice people (Rick and Mindy) who have a great set of pics on Flickr; their pics are here. Their review of the concert is here. Big thanks to Rick and Mindy!!!

My ears have stopped ringing, but I am still smiling!!!

Manchester is on Planet Claire for one night only...

2008-07-23T15:27:00.003+01:00

My ears are (literally) still ringing from last night's B52s concert in Manchester.

Best.Concert.Ever.

more later...

Newark (the old-Newark, not the new-Newark)

2008-07-20T12:54:00.006+01:00

So as I said in my previous past, I was in Newark (properly, Newark-on-Trent) in Nottinghamshire (yes, that Nottingham). It is a lovely place in the East Midlands, known for its historic castle, erected in 1123. The town was a centre of the Royalist side during the English Civil War; much of the castle was wrecked during that time. There is also a lovely market square and a big old church, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene.

I was there for 3 days for work and the weather was lovely (although was inside most of the day, I did manage to get out and about a bit).

Herewith, the pictures (click for a larger view):

This is the river Trent:

The sign says:
To cover the distance
of just one mile,
walk eleven times
along this
ancient pile

Here is the back of the church, and views from around the Market Square:

Knackered!!!

2008-07-17T16:45:00.002+01:00

Have been working without a break the last 2 weeks. Finally taking a rest. I have some pretty pictures that I'll post soon! (They are from a place called Newark; to those of you from the US you'll see it bears precious little resemblance to the Newark in New Jersey!!)

Later...

Whence the sadness??

2008-07-10T12:00:00.003+01:00

Well I don’t know how many of you have seen the Doctor Who finale that I referred to in my previous post, but I thought I’d elaborate on my rather terse posting. (Yeah spoilers ahead, also not a great amount of detail for people unfamiliar with the show, sorry!). Like most interesting parts of the Doctor Who series, the nature of different incarnations of characters and issues of time make it a real challenge to talk about this episode in a clear way, but I will try. (BTW, there are a few areas that would make great linguistics lessons about the nature of reference and referents.)

First off Rose gets the Doctor (actually, a Doctor, BTW a great example to use to show the difference between definite and indefinite determiners in English). Yup, that made me sad. Rose doesn’t get him (the Doctor) but she gets as close an approximation as she can. But she knows it is not the Doctor. The (second) Doctor also knows he isn’t (the Dr) W/who Rose wants, so he probably realizes that something is ‘lacking’. However, they kiss pretty passionately, so not the major source of sadness. The look on the (real) Doctor’s face as he gives Rose away is what started to do me in. Since he is a Time Lord, he can not give himself to Rose, but he could give Rose to himself, that is, the second Doctor. (whew! a great exercise on odd use of reflexive pronouns!)

Then there is Donna. The creation of the (second) Doctor was her act in the Tardis; she creates a half-human Doctor and in the process, she becomes half-Time Lord. Well, a human mind can not contain even half a Time Lord consciousness; she would die. So the Doctor does the only thing he can to save her; he wipes her memory of the time with him and returns her to her mother and grandfather . He tells them that she can never be reminded of her time with him, as she would die.

When Donna awakes, she is back to her pre-Doctor self; annoying, shallow, self-centered. She does not recognize the Doctor as he leaves her mother’s house. (This alone was an amazing piece of acting on Catherine Tate’s part IMNSHO; when she sees him she reacts as if he is a stranger, and in her selfish pre-Doctor way, he is pretty much beneath notice; boy that was tough to watch.) The Doctor then walks, alone, back to the Tardis.

All over the interweb folks have posted their love or hate of this episode. I don’t care about the details of adherence to the Doctor Who canon (yeah there are people who are really serious from that perspective) I am more concerned with the emotions that the episode elicited.

I am pulled between being more affected by how the Doctor ends up and how Donna ends up. Yes the Doctor is a Time Lord, destined to not be attached, etc etc, but losing two of his companions at the same time (including one to himself!) was particularly painful to watch. The ‘loss’ of Donna as a companion was very powerful. This two-part episode had the Doctor reunited with a few former companions; the joy on his face as he was with them all was beautiful. Given Donna’s condition, he can never be reunited with her (yeah I know, anything can happen, but…). Part of the joy of the Doctor’s reunion with former companions is recalling the past adventures; not an option with Donna. He is left, alone, with those memories; he can share them with no one as no one will ever understand, save the inaccessible Donna.

As for Donna…oy! The most amazing part of her life is wiped away from her memory (and therefore she goes back to her pre-Doctor persona). Her family and the Doctor know what she became, but that is not a part of her world now. Whilst Donna has no memory of who she was, and there for is not really suffering a loss, it is incredibly sad to me that her life-changing memories are wiped away. As one does, I put myself in both their shoes, the Doctor’s and Donna’s. I can relate to the loneliness (albeit self-imposed at times) of the Doctor; but I also understand some of the freedom it brings. It is harder to do the thought experiment with what happened to Donna. Imagining what I would be like if certain life-changing experiences were wiped from my mind is pretty impossible (maybe they already have been, but I won’t go there…). There are some key times in my life that turned left instead of right (like Donna did in an earlier episode, that led to her meeting the Doctor). If those times were gone, I would be a different person, perhaps better, perhaps worse, but not who I am now.

It makes me wonder what decisions about turning left or right await me…

Dr Who finale...

2008-07-06T17:57:00.001+01:00

All I can say is ...

Wow. I feel sad in many complicated ways ...

Heinz banned advert

2008-06-24T17:58:00.009+01:00

I caught the end of this advert last week on TV here. I thought I mis-remembered it, I LOVED the ending and wanted to see the whole thing. I looked on the web and couldn't find it. Well, the comment to my previous post (thanks Jim!) had a link to the ad and it made my day...until I found out that Heinz pulled the ad after a whopping 200 people complained. They said, 'We listen to our customers.' Feel free to send them another message they can listen to.

The ad is here. The story about the pulling of the ad is here; the video of the ad is there as well.

Bah :(

People, places and things

2008-06-22T22:38:00.006+01:00

Note: This post contains an excessive use of parentheses (like this); don't know why, it was only way to express what I was attempting to communicate. Apologies to the punctuation-sensitive.

I am the type of person who can generally remember my dreams. Not with a lot of detail necessarily, but I have a good recall of most dreams upon waking, most days. Because of this, I am sensitive to patterns in my dreams; most patterns (if they exist) I assume are subtle, so I probably fail to see them. That is, until recently.

I have had a bunch of dreams (I mean more than 10) recently (in about the last week or so) that are very much about where I am (in the dream) and where I am trying to get to, again, in the dream. Sometimes, I am in the US (but not in a familiar place, like a place I have lived) trying to get 'back' to 'Europe' (both in quotes because very undefined in the dream). Other times I have been transported to, or end up in, 'another place' and am trying to get back to 'home' (again, both undefined'). Sometimes, the destination I am aiming for is an amalgam of Boston and England and a bunch of other places I have been; other times, not. (Yeah, yeah, I am attempting to create my own sense of place: A 'room' of one's own indeed; now I am afraid of Virginia Woolf.) However, the dreams seem to be very much about the process of the finding, not the actually getting to the destination. While I have been trying to think about this in my waking hours, it seems I lot of my brain is using dream-time to play out these issues.

While these dreams are not scary in and of themselves, they leave me with a very unsettled feeling, most notably when I first wake up and try to figure out where I am (especially given the number of places I have stayed in during the last 3 months...). Perhaps the idea that I will be back in Boston in about 6 weeks and I will be sorting out my place there and probably leaving my last official residence in the US has got me (or my subconscious) thinking about place. Also, since my move here was very quick, my sense of who I am and where I am (personally, professionally, in relation to myself, in relation to new and older people in my life, etc etc etc) is still incredibly in flux, it is not surprising that stuff gets played out in dream-land. I only hope I find a balance between doing this in waking hours and having it take away from my much needed sleep.

I will be trying pay attention to these dreams going forward, however, they are very draining. I wake up and spend a good 15 minutes trying to sort out what the most recent dreams were. That in and of itself is a lot of mental work.

More as things progress...

Holland stuff

2008-06-15T16:31:00.022+01:00

Hello!

As I said in my previous post I was in Holland. It was a great experience both personally and professionally. I reconnected with a few colleagues I had not seen in a long time, did (if I may say so myself) some of my best interpreting work in a long time and was treated to fabulous food and hospitality.

Some general notes. You know that myth about The Netherlands being full of people on bicycles? No myth, my friend; bikes are EVERYWHERE! Streets are designed with dedicated lanes and it really makes for a cool sight, many more people walking and biking in most areas than driving. (You can see a bunch of bikes in one of the pictures below...that is a small collection of bikes compared to some of the bike parking lots we saw!)

I landed on Wednesday afternoon in Amsterdam, went to the town of Den Bosch (home of the aforementioned yummy dessert!) by train and met with some people from the conference I would be working. We were treated to a fabulous meal by our host. The weather was perfect so we ate outside. The wonderful company and food and location made it a great first experience in The Netherlands. It was the time of year for fresh asparagus so I had an amazing piece of salmon with white asparagus in a dill sauce. Afterward we had our yummy dessert!

On Thursday we went (again by train) to Eindhoven where the conference took place. The conference was great, and the language issues fun to work out. I was interpreting ASL<->English. There were spoken Dutch<-> English interpreters as well as Dutch Sign Language Interpreters. Boy that was fun! :) After it was all over back on the train to Den Bosch where we ate at the fabulous Brasserie Méprise.

Friday, in the morning, walked around Den Bosch and then was treated to a whirlwind tour of a a few places including an assisted living facility/nursing home/elderly residence for Deaf people. A beautiful place designed with visual communication as the driving force behind the architecture. Also got to meet some very lovely elderly Deaf Dutch people (including our host's mother who is in her 90's and barely looks 70!). We then went to the Rotterdam Deaf club and afterward I caught the train back to the hotel airport and flew home on Saturday morning, tired but feeling really lucky about the life I have!

Here are a bunch of pictures (click for full size):

Here is the train station with the full name of the town (see why everyone calls it Den Bosch!?!)

Here is one of the smaller bike congregation areas:

A lot of the architecture (and design as well) juxtaposed the old and the new in interesting ways that I really liked.

I love the headless statue with headless mannequins (note the bicycle!)

Some canal pictures:

The Dutch are egalitarian when it comes to porn; no segregation here!

I love the name of this store:

Oh, look, it's a statue just stuck here in the middle of a back street!

Oh, it's a fountain, how cute!!!

Oh, look, um, oh my, what a big boy you are...

Great Balls of Yumminess

2008-06-09T19:16:00.007+01:00

Oh get your mind out of the gutter!

I was in The Netherlands last week for work. I’ll post more later, but I wanted to post some VERY important information. If you find yourself anywhere near the Netherlands this is vital information.

I was staying in a city called 's-Hertogenbosch (yes you read that correctly – it means ‘The Duke’s Forest’). It is called Den Bosch by most everyone. It has a few claims to fame (besides its name). First, it is the birthplace of the painter, Hieronymus Bosch. More importantly (to me at least!) is that it is famous for a particular dessert, Bossche Bollen, The are giant (think softball sized!) spheres of choux pastry (think the stuff used for éclairs and profiteroles) filled with amazing whipped cream and covered in chocolate. Yummy? Oh.MY.God. The pictures do not do them justice! (I assume that the reason people in The Netherlands stay so trim in spite of these delicious treats is all that bicycling!)

As usual, click the picture for a larger version.

These two taken with my mobile phone so not great quality. But just imagine...

The Bollen in the window of the bakery in Den Bosch (Jan de Groot - FYI, linked page is in Dutch):

One of the people who I met got us Bollen from his local bakery (in a nearby town):

Good Day, Sunshine...

2008-06-02T21:09:00.005+01:00

(Click on pic for readable version.)

This chart compares Preston and Boston in terms of sunrise/sunset times as well as total hours of sunlight. Note both the times as well as the total hours of sunlight!! (Ok, sure it is often grey here, but light grey!!)

Come to my window...

2008-05-26T11:37:00.012+01:00

When I think Caribbean, I think Preston, England, don't you? Here are pics from my balcony of the annual (yes, annual!) Preston Caribbean Carnival.

What every Caribbean Parade needs... a Gay pirate!!!

Of course ending the Parade is the guys from the pub down the street. I think the most 'Caribbean' thing in the Last Orders pub is Malibu Rum.

Latest attempt to define identity

2008-05-23T17:07:00.001+01:00

So I am an American-born American and Irish Citizen who just got a bunch of Euros for reimbursement of expenses that were originally paid for in Pounds Sterling as well as Hungarian Forints for travel to interpret in American Sign Language for an Italian. Oh yeah, and last night I watched the Eurovision song contest semi-finals dubbed into Hungarian with people from Latvia, Moldova, Montenegro, Azerbaijan and Finland among others.

My brain hurts, but I have nice new glasses!!

Holy Matrimony, Batman!!!

2008-05-15T23:40:00.003+01:00

Wow, the mostly Republican appointed California Supreme Court has paved the way for same-sex marriage in California. (See here.) The Governator will not fight it, although the dissenting opinion thinks that, "...the issue should be left to the voters." (I think we have seen that putting rights to a popular vote is not a way to redress injustice, but hell, I am only using the 20/20 hindsight of history.)

Perhaps there is hope for the USA.

And we are back...

2008-05-14T09:05:00.005+01:00

Sorry I have been out of (electronic) touch, I have been quite busy.

Last weekend I taught in our Postgraduate programme. It is the programme that I will be taking over the helm of come the autumn. It is a really great group (2 groups actually, first and second years). It’s a nice combination of lecture as well as practical interpreting activities. It does however, leave one knackered, to use a local term. Working all week, then teaching at the weekend then a following week is tough. We can take days off in lieu of the time worked, but this time around I had stuff to do on both sides so I’ll be taking it off next week (more on that later).

As a reward for my hard work, I went to Blackpool which is well-known as the ‘Gay Capitol of the North' . It is quite a gritty little seaside resort. While the Manchester Gay scene is more middle of the road in many ways, Blackpool is...not so much. A bit miore down and dirty. We didn’t go out to the clubs, but we did have a nice dinner and then went to see a fab drag cabaret show called Funny Girls. It was really a hoot. The show lasts from 8:30-11:30 PM; interspersing music by a drag DJ with some pretty amazing performances. The lead performer ‘Betty Legs Diamond’ is a riot (read all about ’her’ here). While it is primarily a mixed venue (it is a popular place for 'hen nights' - the female equivalent of a stag or bachelor party - although that term seemingly can refer to any outing of a group of women drinking!), Sunday nights tend to draw a slightly gayer audience, with Betty Legs ad libbing a lot more to the crowd. They did numbers from ‘The King and I’, ‘Cabaret’ and a huge finale from ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’. They also did a hysterical take-off on the movie ‘Happy Feet’ in penguin costumes. All in all the costumes and dancing were tops. I was tired but in the end, but it was a great way to top off a long working weekend.

I am taking my time off next week because I’ll be going to interpret a conference for two days in Budapest. I have never been before and probably won’t get to see much of the city as I fly in late Wednesday and leave Friday evening. Anyway, it should be an adventure. If I were staying longer, I’d get out my Zsa Zsa Gabor outfit!

It has been sunny for a few days here....WOO HOO!

Manchester, England, England...

2008-05-05T17:52:00.002+01:00

Had a great day in Manchester yesterday even though it was pretty rainy the whole day.

First, I went to Wagamama for lunch. I have loved this place for years and you lucky folks in Boston have two new locations (Faneuil Hall and Harvard Square). The one in Manchester is the closest to me here, so I had to go! I have introduced it to a bunch of friends in Boston. If you like Japanese-type food (soup with yummy noodles and veggies etc.) get yourself there! I highly recommend the grilled asparagus and the duck gyoza.

After that I went to a new museum in Manchester called Urbis. (Fortuitously located right across the street from Wagamama…yay!) Here is a description from their website (check it out for pictures; the building is very cool looking):

Urbis is an exhibition centre about city life. On your visit you can explore exhibitions about contemporary art & design, urban gardening, the city environment and the people who make our cities what they are.

The exhibit on manga was really interesting. While I have seen a bunch of it in a variety of forms, I did not know much of the history of it or how widespread it has become (according to one exhibit, it is the fastest growing segment in publishing.). They also neatly divided the exhibit by various genres (Adult, Action, Cute, etc.) as well has having manga Shakespeare and a manga version of the Bible!
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After that, I went over to Canal Street (the main gay area in Manchester, where the original Queer as Folk was set) for a nice dinner and some wine while people watching.

All in all a lovely day.

Silver Anniversary May Day

2008-05-01T15:41:00.003+01:00

Well it is 25 years to the day that I first came out to another human being (I told the family dog eariler, knowing that Bogie could keep a secret). At this point, I have been out for over half my life (58.1% for those of you scoring at home.)

Every year on this day I reflect upon the power of coming out. The fact that is both an intensely personal as well as very public experience, even if you are only 'out' to one person. I look back on these 25 years an think of the happy times (some of the wonderful times in intimate relationships) as well as the not so happy times (attempted bashings and the like).

I have been truly fortunate to come out not only when I did, but where, amongst wonderful and caring people who were sometimes taken aback, but always loving. I then think about the people, who for a myriad of reasons, can not come out, whether to themselves or to others. My heart breaks for them and I pray that they find comfort.

If you are out, celebrate that fact with me.
If you are straight, think warm and happy thoughts about your out friends.
If you are not out, or know someone who isn't, send them warmth that they
may find peace.

May there be a day when coming out is as natural and comforatble as getting older ;)

Message from Planet Claire

2008-04-27T14:29:00.004+01:00

I see they just played the Paradise in Boston last week, but I am going to see the B52s in Manchester in July! WOO HOO!

Happy St. George's Day

2008-04-23T23:46:00.004+01:00

April 23rd is celebrated as St. George's Day, in honour of the patron saint of England (yup, he of the killing the dragon fame).

When I logged onto Google (UK) this am, here's what I saw:

The Earth Day one yesterday was cute, but this is friggin' adorable!

She's got a ticket to ride...(but I don't)

2008-04-22T10:45:00.009+01:00

So I went down to London last week (Thursday, 17 April) to do an interpreting assignment. One would think, in this time of interwebs and fancy phones and iPods that getting a return (read, round-trip) ticket between 2 major rail stations in a major civilized country would be easy. Ah, not so, mon ami, regardez:

31 March: The colleague I will be working with books my ticket for me so I do not have to out lay the expense. Virgin Trains (motto: Give us money now and maybe you can ride a train later!) sends an email confirmation stating the tickets will be sent to my home address via First Class post.

Flash forward to the Sunday before the assignment 13 April. Seeing as I had not gotten the tickets in the mail, I contacted my colleague who had booked the tickets; he contacts Virgin (motto: Call us anytime! Plenty of music on hold!) and they assure him that I can pick up my tickets any time at the Preston station.

Wanting to make sure I get them, I hie myself off the rail station on Monday. A lovely lady named Yvonne is at first puzzled by my request:

‘Tickets you say? Bought by someone else? For you?? To be picked up here?’

I give her the reference number that Virgin (motto: Numbers? We don’t need no stinkin’ numbers!) has plastered over the confirmation email, saying ‘quote this number’, so quoth I.

‘Oh, I can’t put that number into THIS terminal,’ says Yvonne.

(I can not understand why not…they are all whole numbers...I see a keypad, but hey what do I know?!) Yvonne then goes into the room behind her and comes up with a piece of paper (A TV Request Form, as I will learn later. I assume the TV stands for Ticket Voucher but it could be Transvestite or Terminal velocity for all that I know.) She tells me that this authorizes her to print the ticket. Easy-peasey, right? Ahhh, not so fast.

First she prints me the ticket for that day, Monday.

No, no, no, I say, it is for THURSDAY.

Right, she says and proceeds to pint me a single (read, one-way) ticket to Watford Junction.

No, no, no I say, it is a RETURN. Oh dear, says she.

She hies off to the back to the room and returns with ANOTHER TV Request Form (see a pattern here??).

She then says that she can not print this ticket at this station given the specific type of fare that it is, and that,

‘They should have known this!’

‘They,’ I asked puzzled, ‘Aren’t YOU part of they?? You have a nice shiny Virgin Trains nametag (motto on nametag: Ceci n'est pas une nametag.) ... all I have is a worthless reference number.’

‘No, no, no,’ says Yvonne. ‘You’ll have to contact them.’ (again with the third person plural!)

Ok let me speed this up. My colleague and I speak oh, four or five times on the phone, text a half a dozen times and exchange a few emails. All the while every contact he has when he calls Virgin (Motto: We suck, but we suck consistently!) is: He can pick them up in Preston.

I return Tuesday…no dice.

I return Wednesday morning…still no dice.

I am told that they are ready Wednesday night, so I leave a dinner party and go to the station…still no dice.

Finally I figure I’ll get it on Thursday am. Guess who is working, dear Yvonne…she still has the (bloody useless) TV Request Form from Monday; she is a sentimental old thing. She shakes her head, smiles a sad smile and says, ‘Maybe you can sort it out when you get to Watford’.

My colleague texts me that he has indeed sorted it out with a woman at the Watford station. We work the assignment and head to Rail Station in the late afternoon. I have a bad feeling. We go the ticket counter and Vic, who does not work for Virgin (motto: Even WE would not hire a clod like Vic.). He works for one of the other rail companies. He knows NOTHING about any ticket. The woman my colleague spoke with earlier? Gone, like Brigadoon. My colleague gets on his mobile to call Virgin (motto: We are not happy until you are not happy.), is on hold for 10 minutes and they finally ask to speak to Vic. Vic is having none of it, but we FINALLY get him to take the mobile. He goes into HIS back room and produces…

A TV Request Form!!!

He stamps it and hands it through and says you are all set.

No, no, no, say I, you have to print a ticket USING the TV Request Form (I learned this from my dear, sweet Yvonne).

No, no ,no says Vic…go now!

I wait, then board the train with a baaaad feeling in the pit of my stomach. About 30 minutes later the conductor comes by to check tickets. I produce my TV Request Form and his eyes narrow. I say nothing. He starts to speak and I say,

‘Look, I have tried, oh how I have tried to get a proper ticket for this journey.’ I give him the condensed version of my tale of woe, concluding with the fact that Vic refused to print a ticket and all he gave me was this sodding TV Request Form!! He says he’ll check into it. He comes back in 10 minutes and says it is fine (although Vic should have printed a ticket) and apologises (bless!) for what I have gone through. I sincerely thank him for being so helpful and understanding. He then suggests I write a letter of complaint. I thank him and start composting the letter in my head.

I estimate that this 4 hour return trip has cost myself and my colleague about 8 hours of our lives…and I never ended up with a ticket. I sent the complain letter but I suspect they will probably lose it as well.

The only way this would have been worse if I had come home Thursday night and the tickets would be in the mail box. If that had happened I think I would have gone over the edge.

Feeling quite American...

2008-04-16T07:43:00.004+01:00

...only because I filed my *&£%ing taxes (yes the pound sign in my expletive was intentional). The good news is, well, none, really; maybe the fact that I could file both state and federal electronically (thanks TurboTax!).

Taxes here in Britain are rather simple; if you have a single employer, your taxes are all taken care of, no need to file forms, etc, etc. If you have additional income, you do indeed file, but that can be done through a government website. While there is no equivalent to 'state' taxes here, there is a council tax. While property taxes are paid by the owners, council tax is paid for by inhabitants (covers local services, garbage removal and the like). In some cases, council tax is included in the rent.

There is also no sales tax (or meal tax, for that matter) here, but there is the VAT (value added tax), this is included in the price of every item so what you see is what you pay.

While in the US the tax year is a calendar year (even though most companies run a fiscal year from July-June and the Federal Government's own fiscal year is October-September), the tax year here is...April 6-April 5. Yeah, pretty odd. Explanation from this entry in Wikipedia:

The odd dates are due to events in the mid-18th century. The English quarter days are traditionally used as the dates for collecting rents (on, for example, agricultural properties). The tax system was also based on a tax year ending on Lady Day (March 25). When the Gregorian calendar was adopted in the UK in September 1752 in place of the Julian calendar, the two were out of step by 11 days. However, it was felt unacceptable for the tax authorities to lose out on 11 days' tax revenues, so the start of the tax year was moved, firstly to 5 April and then, in 1800, to 6 April.

I like the reference to 'Lady Day'. It reminds me of both Billie Holiday ('Lady Sings the Blues' after paying her taxes.), and the Little Britain character, Emily ("It is Lady Day, therefore I, as a LADY, must pay LADY'S taxes!!!")

Well, it makes as much sense as any tax scheme, I guess.

BUBBLE! (well in a photo...)

2008-04-09T17:16:00.004+01:00

Yesterday I went to one of the many Induction Events (i.e. University Orientation for Staff) that I have to go to. It was about Health and Safety; important topics to be sure. We were in a conference room lined with pictures of people who had been named Honorary Fellows over the years. As I stood up to go to get some coffee, I glanced at the pictures right behind me. Who was directly over my right shoulder?? Jane Horrocks!!!! She was born in Lancashire and was made and Honorary Fellow back in 1999.

I had a silly grin all though the the rest of the training as they talked about how to avoid accidents in the workplace. I wanted to raise my hand and say, "Easy way to avoid accidents? Don't hire Bubble!"

London and back

2008-04-08T17:31:00.003+01:00

Well I was in London over the weekend, attending a conference. Was very good, but rather tiring. I saw a bunch of friends from the US as well as Canada and saw some colleagues from this side of the pond I have not seen in over 10 years!

I find my BSL skills improving pretty rapidly, apparently there was a good base to build on from the last time I was here. Much of the conference was in BSL, and I found I did not have to reply on the captioning or the voice interpretation. Also, I had dinner on Saturday with a group of Irish folks, some of whom were using BSL, others Irish Sign (yes, it is different...fingerspelling is one-handed like ASL, but there are differences as well.)

I still have the problem of 'linguistic bleeding'...when I try to sign ASL now I find BSL signs leaking in. I will be doing some ASL interpreting over here; it will be interesting to see if I can keep the languages separate in very separate contexts as opposed to situations where both languages are used. I will try to post some videos here where I sign so at least I can TRY to keep them separate!

Off to make dinner.

Later!

Video(es) test post ...

2008-04-01T22:49:00.008+01:00

Hey all. So I am attempting to do some Video posting. This first one is in Spoken English. The second is in ASL; it is me 'interpreting' the first one.

Let me know if the videos are clear, visually and auditorially. I like the idea of playing around with posting in one language (like English and the translating it to ASL and vice versa).

FYI, the videos are steaming, but it might take a bit for them to load completely!

Feedback appreciated!

EDIT: 2 April. That should be the videos are streaming, not steaming. (Sorry to disappoint you Deirdre!!)

Where are you from?

2008-03-27T10:28:00.002Z

For obvious reasons, I get asked this question a lot as of late. My answer depends on who is asking it and where we are when I am being asked. The most obvious answer at the moment is ‘America’. If people push for specifics I say, ‘Most recently, Boston’. (Interestingly, I have lived in Boston more years (almost 20) than any other place in my life, but I have never referred to myself as a Bostonian.) I have been thinking about this a lot…how will I be answering that question a year from now?

At the moment, I feel like I am floating; not exactly a man without a country in the Philip Nolan sense, but unsure where I am from at this particular point in time. I don’t feel fully a part of any place. Right now I am living and working in England; I still have belongings and a place in Boston; in addition there are some MORE of my things at my parents’ in New Jersey. While my address remains in Boston, my mail is being forwarded to NJ. As George Carlin would say, 'I've got s*!t all over the place!' Well, what happens when I no longer have a place in Boston? I have a Massachusetts driver’s license; is that proof of where I am from? What about when I am no longer connected there? In addition I have both Irish and American passports. I certainly am not ‘from’ Ireland in the way I am ‘from’ America, but I am recognized as a citizen of both nations. (Odd, I am current a citizen of two countries but reside in neither….damn this is getting complicated.)

I only shipped over minimal possessions as I am renting a furnished flat. Many of my friends know that I am not one who likes to own ‘big’ things (that is, stuff bigger than I am). I have only had a car for 2 weeks of my life (when I was 20). I have never owned real estate of any kind (and have no desire to). Currently, the biggest things I own are a few pieces of furniture; bed, dresser, desk, chairs, a TV. They are in Boston, and I am trying to figure out what to do with them (and the thousand smaller things) when I visit in August. When I do dispose of them (in some way; selling, shipping, storing or throwing out) and I leave my place in Boston, does that mean I am REALLY from here (from that point on)? If so, where am I FROM now? Seems Einstein was right, we can not separate time and space as easily as we pretend we can.

The possessions I did bring or ship with me (besides clothes) are objects that are familiar and help to make a space feel like mine; a few small paintings I bought in Prague, some knick knacks (a few given by friends, students and others over the years) selected photos and that is about it. I guess for me it is an attempt to make a space ‘mine’ in some ways (and it beats how dogs mark their territory!) Still, I don’t feel ‘here’ yet, but I certainly am not ‘there’.

I guess this all this rambling is trying to sort out exactly what concepts like ‘place’ and ‘home’ and ‘I am from X’ really mean for me. Any thoughts/comments/observations are welcome.

Birthday Part Deux, Part Deux

2008-03-21T20:34:00.007Z

The aformentioned Tuesday birthday celebration was for myself and my colleague Clark. After a few rounds of "where should we go??" our colleague Mark found this great tapas restaurant called Duk. They were amazing!! There we were a party of 14, Deaf and hearing, signing away and they were incredible. They basically said, how much do you want to pay per head (we said £10), is there stuff we should avoid (a few people we not fond of fish so they chose from the veg and meat sections). The waiter then took our drinks order and then the food kept coming! Instead of bringing small plates, they brought 2-3 dishes of everything (let's see, mushrooms in a garlic cream, 'sticky, spicy chicken', pork with tomatoes and on and on).

The team got a cake (seen in previous pic, and Mr. A, it was not marzipan, but a Madeira cake with an apricot filling and butter cream frosting YUM!)) and the owner of the restaurant gave Clark and I each a glass of Champagne with a strawberry (see below). It was a really nice night out; got to meet some people on the team I had not yet met as well as re-establish ties with people a know. A truly great way to spend a birthday!

People asked Clark and I how old were were, we said "21", see:

Obviously signing about my phone here:

Not sure what Clark and I were chatting about here, American Football goal posts? Doors Opening? My world-famous Evita impersonation? No idea...

Celebration (Part Deux)

2008-03-19T16:11:00.008Z

More later, but here's the cake I was surprised with last night. I shared it with a colleague whose birthday is today. (FYI ignore the date, it was set wrong on a friend's camera.)

Oh and it was yummy!

Celebrate good times...OY I am tired!

2008-03-18T12:05:00.000Z

Well it has been a fun few days.

Saturday night met up with part of the old crowd as part of my re-entry/birthday celebration. We started at the Grey Friar. Good News? Cheap Guinness…Bad News? PACKED to the rafters with obnoxious people. For those of you in the states, picture any bar that has cheap prices and is filled with college frat boys…got the picture? After that, we had a nice meal with incredibly slow service at an Italian restaurant around the corner from my office. British restaurant service is not known to be quick but even my Brit friends were amazed at how slow it was.

We then proceeded to do a pub crawl. We ran into a bunch of folks who I knew when I was here before…all were very pleased to see me. I lost count, but I think we hit about 5 pubs and one dance club (including a biker pub and the only Gay Club in town). Last time I was here, pubs had to close at 11, and clubs could stay open until 4:00 AM. Now places can have even more extended hours. We went to one place for a last pint but were told it as technically last orders (this was around 4 or so); apparently, we looked mature enough (read: not falling down drunk) so the door man let us in for one last one. We then went to fast food joint and had greasy fried foods and a chat with a couple of locals. I then went the few short blocks to my place and fell into bed about 5:00 am. All in all, a fun night.

Sunday I just slept in and then walked around the parks by the river for a few hours. I did a little shopping and settled in for a quiet night.

Yesterday was, of course St. Patrick’s Day. Preston was known to be a very Catholic as well as a very Irish town, so it was a rather busy scene. I started by leaving work early at the behest of a colleague who invited me for a birthday drink. (See, if your birthday does not last at least a week, you are doing it wrong!). We had a very British few hours of drinking and talking work, life, the universe and everything with a few colleagues from the larger department that I am a part of.

Tonight is a birthday dinner (again!) with department staff (including one whose birthday is tomorrow). This Friday and Monday are both national holidays; a 4 day weekend and no plans!! I may go into Manchester for the day…not sure yet.

Well back to work!

It's My Birthday!!

2008-03-15T18:20:00.003Z

So my first birthday abroad (no, not as a broad, that was an odd year in my med-20's...). Given that 1 US Dollar = about 1/2 a British Pound, I figure that I am only 6 months older. Also, with the time difference, I don't turn older until 3:30 AM tomorrow morning...I love time zones!I woke up this morning and opened the card which Frank; he kindly included a UK itunes gift card! Woo Hoo!

I moved into my new flat yesterday...it is really nice. Still getting thing sorted out and need to unpack (and IRON) and all but the place is fully furnished so really only need to get incidentals at the moment (oh yeah, and food!). I did some of that today, along with getting an overdue haircut. I had Fish & Chips for lunch (mmmmm .. fried stuff with salt and malt vinegar:) ) then came back and had a nap. I slept well last night, but I was still pretty tired.

I also spoke with my folks today...they aren't internet connected and didn't figger out how to call me so thought I'd call them. Jim also called (on my US phone...damn International blocking!). Was really nice to hear his voice.

Time now to get ready for my dinner with mates over here. Will be good to see familiar faces after a few years. Given the way nights out can be with this crowd, I might actually still be out at 3:30 AM when I turn!

Ta for now!

Last day of 'Commute'

2008-03-13T09:46:00.004Z

As I have said, I am staying with a friend/colleague in St. Anne's (full name: St. Anne's-on-Sea) until I move into town. My friend took today off, so I came in by train. It only took about 35 minutes, but it was a nice 35 minutes past rolling green pastures. Never in any of my commutes around Boston did I ever see chickens (well, live ones, I mean) or herds of sheep (unless you count crowds of commuters as such). Oh, yeah and lots of daffodils and crocuses :)

The last few days really caught up with me yesterday afternoon. By 3PM I was fading. I then realized I had been working since Saturday so this was my 'Friday'. Small wonder I crashed last night. Today I am catching up on all the bureaucratic details; will have lunch with one of my new colleagues and hopefully meet with my Head of Department. I will come in for the AM tomorrow then hopefully move my stuff to my new flat in the afternoon. The place is fully furnished, but will need to buy a bunch of things...will do that Saturday (yeah! Birthday Shopping!!!) Saturday night will be the aforementioned birthday meal and subsequent pub crawl; it'll be nice to see old haunts (and old ghosts) after a few years.

Life is pretty good (except that none of the 4 boxes shipped have arrived....grrr!).

Thanks for all your comments and emails...it really makes me feel less disconnected. I will post later about my thoughts now that I am here and what that may mean for the future in terms of residency, etc. I have been thinking (and having dreams bout) the implications of 'place' and 'identity'.

More, anon :)

They say 1 is the loneliest number,

2008-03-11T16:34:00.000Z

...but lately I have seen many of its friends. Since my arrival last Friday I have been inundated with numbers for various and sundry purposes. A partial list:

- My National Insurance number (like a Social Security number in the US)
- My new mobile phone number
- My new mobile phone voice mail password
- My Employee Number
- My inital computer password (14 digits!!)
- Door access codes for:
- The main department office
- The mail room
- The photocopy room
- The video recording lab
- My office phone number
- My office phone voicemail password

Of course then there are the phone numbers of friends and colleagues. While these usually go directly into my phone, the way phone numbers are grouped here sounds very different than in the US.

In the US, a number like XXX - YYY - ZZZZ, tends to have the cadence of the numbers in the first 2 groups tending to be rise from 2nd number in the first two groups and fall and stop briefly on the last. (I know sound patterns like this are hard to explain in writing!) It tends to sound like:

da Da Dah, da Da Dah, DA da DA dah

Well phone numbers here are in 2 groups of five: XXXXX YYYYY. My ear wants to hear 2 groups of three, then a group of four, so it takes a while to get used to and to process. (Also if there are two of the same number, like 411, people tend to say 4-double-1 (with three, 444, it can be treble 4. Again having my ear and brain used to oen pattern with opnly numbers it gets thrown when a word like double is in the mix!)

Ahh well, off to the pub to catch up with yet another friend. That's the 411 from here...

Peace out!

'Official' First day of work..

2008-03-10T18:20:00.005Z

...after teaching for 2 days :) It is about 6:25 PM here, just got in from work

So went into the University and did a bunch of paperwork (waaaay more to come!). Ran into folks that I used to work with who seemed genuinely delighted to see me. A very nice feeling. One friend was not told I was coming and walked into the main department office and screamed (in a good way!). Interestingly, I am sharing an office with a guy who was my student when I was here last time (I even supervised his dissertation, which he plans on continuing as an MA, so we may work together even more). He is a really nice, really smart Deaf guy; so I hope my British Sign Language will improve quickly (although he wants to practice his ASL!!).

Seems like I will be getting the flat I looked at Saturday. I hope to move my stuff from Frank's to there on Friday. Since the place is furnished there really isn't a lot I need to get, but I plan on getting some household stuff, bed linens, etc.

Saturday is my birthday; the first time I am celebrating it in another country. Some of my outside-the-university friends asked if they could take me out; not sure what they have in mind, but knowing them, bail money may be required. I am actually meeting one of them in a bit for a drink; he will be the first person that I know from outside the University that I will be seeing; I hope it feels as comfortable as it has so far!

I still have this odd sense of deja vu mixed with a sense of uncertainty (regarding my new job and role, etc etc.). In some ways it feels like an incredibly vivid dream. I am using this first week or so to get my bearings around the department. My timing is pretty good, students will be on break next week so no need for lectures; I can focus on getting up to speed on the other details. Who would have thought that the teaching part would be the easy part!

I plan on taking some pictures an posting them when I am more settled in my new place.

Gonna grab some dinner now!

Ta!

Nothing like diving in with both feet

2008-03-08T19:42:00.004Z

So I woke up surprisingly refreshed. Frank and I got to the University about 9ish. It is one of the weekends of the program I'll be administering (the students meet for a weekend every 6 weeks or so). The goal was to just hang about and meet the students, but since one part of the class was a section I developed a few years ago, I dove right in and lectured for about 2 hours. All in all, well received. I saw a bunch of program staff who seemed genuinely interested in seeing me back. I also saw my friend Sue (from another part of the department..was a nice surprise for both of us!).

I am really surprised I do not feel overly tired or jet-lagged. I have travelled this type of trip quite a few times and this was really the most smooth in every way (knock wood!). It also doesn't feel like I was here 3 years ago...seems like it was only 6 months or so. I see that as a good sign!

I also looked at a place to live. It would be renting a room in a flat, right near the city center. It would be sharing with a Deaf man (great way to get up to speed on my British Sign Language!) whose wife has relocated. He would most likely be moving out in May and I could possibly take over the whole place. It is a very modern 2 bed for a good price. I think i may take it!! Very modern and a 10 minute walk to work. I'll keep ya posted if I take it; f I do I'd like to move at the end of this week. That way i can celebrate my birthday (the 15th) in my new place!!

Tomorrow it is back to the University for day 2 of the weekend program then I officially start on Monday. Off for some dinner. Thanks to those who commented...I love reading them..keep 'em coming!!!

The eagle has landed!

2008-03-07T20:05:00.001Z

Well I have arrived!! I caught an early flight to Chicago and my flight to Manchester arrived an hour (yes an HOUR) early! Frank picked me up an we spent the day catching up and figuring out the weekend. I was hoping to get a new iPhone but complications with iTunes and my not having a UK-based credit card made that not possible at the moment. SO I got a simple pay-as-you-go that makes me long for a new iPhone. C'est la vie!

I will probably be at the University tomorrow, meeting the students in the weekend program I will be administering. Nothing like hitting the ground running! I also hope to start looking for a place to live.

Stay in touch all...either here or by email. Thanks again for all your support!

Best

Robert