My mum visited me this weekend and with the weather being fantastic we have been outdoors a lot. Among a lot of other things, we did a lot of cycling!
Month: August 2009
43
Age is something that doesn’t matter, unless you are a cheese.
Billie Burke
I’m not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You’re as old as you feel.
Elizabeth Arden
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David Thoreau
Live your life and forget your age.
Norman Vincent Peale
And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.
Abraham Lincoln
Love+Rock cards: Tea for two
I felt like drawing a bit again, so this is the latest creative mind dump, and yes I did hand draw those cups myself.
I will soon be on the tube to Heathrow where I will pick up my mum who will visit me for the weekend.
The weather doesn’t really seem to know what it wants this weekend, but I hope we can bicycle in between the showers. I say becycle because I have bought a companion for Lawrence so I intend to take my mum on some bicycle trips. We are both experienced cyclists, not so much in London, but I feel confident enough that I can guard her safely to nice and quiet bicycle tracks. Regent’s Park, Hyde Park, and not to forget the ice cream shop are all planned.
In the end it was cheaper to buy another second hand bike on Gumtree as bike rental prices in London are so high, it will scare a lot of people off.
Lots more is planned for this weekend, but I am not going to give away too much, as I want to surprise her (and she reads this blog).
So a nice weekend to all of you, and I will return with more scriblings after the weekend and write about:
Is cycling in London scary?
My upcoming trip to the US
Cycling in London is cool because – part I
From the official Ding Day home page:
Wednesday, 9th September will see Londoners create music on the streets with their bicycle bells as the second annual Ding Day takes place. Designed to add a little fun to a cyclists day, the concept is simple and open to everyone. All that is needed is a bike and a bell. The idea – to make cycling London streets a joyful and happy experience.
The concept is simple:
On Wednesday 9th September whenever you see another cyclist you give a little ‘ding ding’ on your bell, and they will return your greeting with another ‘ding ding’. From sun up to sun down, no matter where you are in the saddle on Ding Day, remember to ding your bell.
The idea behind Ding Day:
To create a fun experience for cyclists and locals in and around London, with the hope of creating more of a sense of community amongst fellow cyclists, including commuters, parents, children, basically any cyclist young or old. It’s free and open to everyone.
It is a celebration of cycling as one of the most environmentally friendly, healthy and quickest way of getting around our great city.
More on the Ding Day home page / Ding day twitter / Ding Day Facebook.
I am in!
Meet Gideon the Giraffe
On my biking trip through Regent’s Park on Saturday, I suddenly found myself in front of a giraffe. Or rather two of them! I knew that London Zoo is located in Regent’s Park, but I had no idea you could see the giraffes this closely from the road.
I would also like to add that I don’t recommend you to visit the zoo, despite it’s beautiful location in the park and next to the Regent’s Canal, to see Gideon in this tiny confined space broke my heart. How bored he must be. Gideon does live quite close to me, so I intend to visit him regularly.
And while we are at Animal news, here are two more stories that will make you smile:
- Ralph the penguin gets sunburn wetsuit. And better, he seems absolutely delighted to swim around with it.
- Lucky a two month old duckling faced being put down because of a fracture on her leg, but a very good hearted woman refused to give her up. She asked a cobbler to make a sandal for Lucky so the duckling was able to swim. Lucky is now a happy duckling again. And see the video here.
If I ever get married …
Some of you might already have seen this video ( I posted it on Facebook ). But for the people not on there:
Does this make you smile or what? I find it an incredible refreshing wedding entrance, and it makes my tragic romantic heart sing. (Lovely and appropiate song too!)
(And it was Bill Bailey who twittered about this)
Painting with light in London
Yesterday the evening weather in London was so nice that I took my camera and positioned myself on Piccadilly Circus for a while. I took loads of photos but only found a couple of them worthy enough to go on display.
I tried ghost people before in New York, but you can do that in London too, look at these Ghost legs in front of the bus!
There are car stripes and the real London Painting with Light one. (I did try the same experiment in New York, on Times Square.)
And there is the brave bicycle lady (without helmet mind you!) who claims Piccadilly circus for herself for a moment right in the middle of the cars, buses and cabs madness, wonderful.
And there is bus number 19 in motion and I love, love, love this photograph. You can just about recognize the shape of a cab coming around the corner.
I probably don’t follow any of the how-to-take-a-photograph rules, but sometimes you just need to take your camera and play. You can be surprised with the results.
A day in the Oxfam book shop
After another day of working in the Oxfam shop yesterday I must say that I am really starting to like it. I most like to work behind the till which I did all day yesterday. I like the interaction with the people buying books or music. Some are very talkative, some are very grumpy but most of them are friendly people. And I also figured out that I like this work much more than my paid day job work …
The shop is located on Marylebone Highstreet (a 5 minute walk from Baker Street station and not too far from Oxford Street either) and attracts both the very posh and the very down to earth (and everything in between), and both the very young (children) and the somwhat older.
Here are a couple of notes I made in some quiet moments (of which there were very few):
- I have sold everything from children’s books to old school Wagner LP’s.
- There are the regulars who are waiting for the shop to open to be the first to check if anything interesting has arrived. And there are people who just wander in without really wanting to buy anything but then come to the till with a huge stack of books. “I really didn’t want to buy anything today” they then say, “but there are so many good books in this shop”. It’s nice hearing that.
- Two lovely DJ’s sitting down on the floor going through the boxes with vinyl record for ages and buying a stack of them. Vinyl is stil hip I tell you. Not only for dj’s, also classical music LP’s are still sold. And I have even sold some prerecorded casette tapes!
- VHS videos are still sold. Yep. I admit that the DVDs (and they have Bill DVDs too – I saw Hot Fuzz coming in yesterday …) are more popular but there is a good offer on VHS tapes: 3 for £1. There, how cheap is that?
- And I sold The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan LP to a very friendly American. I had a talk with him about the fact that LP covers are so much cooler than cd covers. We talked how a carefully selected stack of albums carried under your arm could define just how cool you were.
This American could not resist the temptation of owning The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan on vinyl again. And he didn’t even have a record player at home he said!
- It is quite amazing to think about the fact that every single book in this whole shop (and there are many many books!) has been donated by someone. It is heart warming when people come into the shop with bags of books they want to donate. And they can use everything, so please come in and bring the books (or music) you no longer need.
- Kids love to sit down on their knees on the floor in front of kids section reading a fairy tale or looking for Harry Potter.
- It is lovely to see all those people wander around in the shop, browsing for books. The shop does have quite a selection, and there is something for everybody. From easy to read chicklits to novels, literature, and books about science, gardening, films, London history, trains, planes or automobiles. There is a pretty good Travel section too, and when I saw this San Francisco guide come in (in mint condition and for only £2,50) I of course had to buy it.
- Have I spotted any celebs in the shop? Yes I sold a book to the singer of former UK band The Fine young Cannibals. Never a dull day in the book shop!
I will be back working in the shop next Sunday so come in and say hi if you happen to be in the neighbourhood.
Travel plans – version 1 – I need your help!
It has been a while since I have been on a far (ok further) away trip, so this year I have decided to cross some items of my “would love to see” list.
(Here is a bigger version of the map on Google)
But I need your help dear readers.
But first, the plan. Here are the places I want to visit:
1. Boston
I want to go to Boston to do a Whale watching boat trip. I have long been wanting to see whales from up close and Boston seems to be a perfect place for it.
I also want to do this Lighthouse tour, this area is about an hour north of Boston.
But apart from that, is Boston worth a visit?
2. Niagara Falls
I want to do the Maid of the Mist tour and just see these impressive falls. (Am planning to stay here for one day and then move on)
3. Chicago
I don’t know anything about Chicago, but it is just one of these places that sound so familiar.
Question to you reader: is it worth visiting? And what to see there?
4. San Francisco
I know what I want to see here: the Golden Gate bridge. And it is on the coast, so I am sure there is a beach too. And light houses.
And there is some more whale watching to do here as well. Wait a minute, do I actually need to go to Boston at all?
Has any of you ever been in San Francisco? What area is good to stay? And what to see and do there? How much time would you spend here?
5. Los Angeles
This is a bit the same thing as Chicago. I have heard the name so many times before. I know they have the “HOLLYWOOD” letters on the hill there. But is Los Angeles worth a visit? What to see and do there? How much time would you spend here?
Any tips and hints and comments are highly appreciated!
(I am planning on spending about 2 weeks in the US)
I can hear you think – where is New York on the map! I know, I know, but Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman did not have time to see me before November, so New York is scheduled then. Honestly, I am not even sure I will survive watching both Craig and Jackman on one stage.
A room with a view
Taken while sitting on my bed yesterday. The moon looks huge, doesn’t it?
Other short notes:
- We loved G-Force. I mean what is not to like, it’s talking guinea pigs! And mice! And a mole! And it is Bill in 3D. Apart from the slightly over the top Transformers like scene it was very enjoyable. The guinea pigs look great and I am sure children will love it.
- And we really liked The Proposal too. Ryan Reynolds is perfect for rom-coms, and there is a really cute dog in it too! One of the best rom-coms this year, together with Last Chance Harvey.
- And we found the best ice cream shop in London. Look no more, here it is : Gelato Mio. They have 3 shops, one in Notting Hill, one near Trafalgar Square and one in Holland Park. They are worth a visit, really.
- Are any of my regular readers on Facebook? Please connect!