A Baby Part IV!

I'm thrilled to bits to announce that Loren and Tiara Letourneau have just increased their incredible family to three! Little Liv Elizabeth Grace Letourneau was born on 11:05am Tuesday November 14th. Congratulations to your beautiful family!

More photos

Doors

I've developed a slight fascination with doors and doorways since I started travelling. Wonder what that might represent? Hmm....

Here are a few of my favourite photos...









Surprisingly, my ten favourite photos come from just three countries. Guess which ones... (10 pts rewarded to the person to guess my all-time favourite door.)

Foggy coast of England

I went away to the coast for the weekend, thanks to an invite from Brad and Mandy to join their little soiree of twenty of their closest friends who headed out of town to celebrate Brad's 27th birthday in style. They gathered at the Poplars Farmhouse (seriously check out this link!) Stunning house, so picturesque - or picturess, as the Mayor of Sangudo would say (ouch!)
Anyways, I digress...

The weekend was perfect.

More to follow but it's well past my bedtime and I've got to be chipper for work tomorrow. Coz with those rascally kids you really gotta be on your toes or they will wear you right down... it's gradual, with their finely-honed sense of sarcasm and innate ability to feel out the small fissures in the shield that we supply teacher all tend to build-up over our depressingly short careers.

Just three more months... and Nicholas is coming soon so I'm taking the week off. Woohoo!

Cycling

I love cycling in London!

Seriously, can't explain it really well, but there's something mind-boggling thrilling about getting lost in a bog somewhere in Wimbledon park and then finding yourself five minutes later, cruising between miles of backed-up traffic and thinking "Mugs!" as you go whizzing past them all.

It's a real rush for me. (Not the name-calling part, though... *wink*)

Some of my best moments here are when I'm cycling home from school or from visiting friends in the evening and the traffic has thinned out and the night is lit brilliantly with stars (yes! you can see the stars in London) and the familiar landmarks stand solid and magical and the air is crisp and clean. I could stay here forever on those nights.

Addendum: I could just jump up and down in glee. Well, actually I did. I got these sweeeeeeeet racing shoes off of eBay at a ridiculously low cost. They're the second-from-the-top Carnac model (Quartz) and are made of kangaroo leather uppers with carbon enforced sole. Their biggest selling point is how comfortable they are (I've been known to wear my Specialized Sonoma all day at school as they're about the comfiest shoe I've got and saves me from packing another pair.) Can't wait to see how these puppies perform. They so flipping pretty that I'm actually a bit nervous to use them. But that's how I felt about my bike last year and now look how I throw it about.

Will give them a go at my first group ride on Saturday out in Surry. Will be good fun, I'm sure.

Random Art Attack IV

Well, this is definitely considered to be "Art" as it is currently displayed in the Tate Modern Art Gallery in London, but I was skeptical at first. It seems more akin to a Disneyland ride than to be appreciated as a work of art alongside, say, a Picasso, or even a Duchamp sculpture (slash urinal?) But that was because I wasn't looking at it from the right perspective.

All I saw were the ridiculously long queues that formed at each of the five slides - queues of a-typical art aficionados (i.e. lots of children who seems not to give a toss of what else was at the Tate); and that the slides were responsible for this general ambiance of loudness and activity that filled the vast Turbine Hall gallery. It ruffled my classical gallery-going feathers.

But stepping back, which I did when I purchased this postcard at the gallery shop, there was an immediate recognition that the instillation piece by Carsten Höller possesses a great deal of artistic merit. Stunning in size, remarkable in the fluidity of its movement, and so naturally, organically inspired... It's truly remarkable how it uses the space, the columns, supports and walls to propell its movement. So graceful! So massively prominentt, yet delicate, yet voluptuouss, filling the space with an almost electric current of expectancy and excitementt. It's like the space of the gallery was waiting to be filled with these slides! The silver steel and glass materials work well with the rest of the Tate and the overall effect is of looming anticipation. Stunning...

Nicholas the Cat

Oh, rar! I just discovered that I saved this precious picture as a draft and didn't post it. Well, it's never too late. Priceless, honey.

I'm soooooo lucky!

Guess who decided to come visit me in less than two weeks' time? He's cute, he's curly, he's funny and light-hearted. And he's gonna take this city by storm!

Go on, just guess!

I can't wait! I've got so many ideas for us to do during his eight-day stay, so much I want to show him, so much, so much, that he's already said "Woah! Don't plan every second; let's leave some up to spontaneity." And he's right, of course, so I'll try to contain myself.

But boy, am I thrilled!

London Life

I've been sucked into the busy busy that is London living. Which is healthy for me, of course, as it's better than pining over the summer past, but it also means I become neglectant of my blog.

What a shame...

I realise that I no longer look at London through tourist eyes and therefore haven't shared any happenings or news or idiosyncrasies outside of my own small sphere. I'll dedicate the next few posts to the kaleidoscope of people and events that make London so addictive.