Oh Bother.. BOO, I Suppose

 

I'm sitting here eating Fun Dip, the last of my pilfered halloween candy from the office. Actually it's called Double Dip and has a clever sugar dipping stick that has a slight concave curve for prime fiz dip collection.

Halloween in England is LAME. Apparantly most parents won't let their kids go trick or treating because it's not safe. Also, nobody gets dressed up at work. Imagine being the only cowboy in a room full of sweaters. That was a fate I almost avoided today. I did in fact wear my sherrif's hat to the office.

There was an office party of sorts. Someone laid out bowls of sweets and made jello ("jelly") shots. Which was an odd combination, but I coped. I ended up being called "Woody" by the more clever members of staff. I was also the only male even making an attempt at a costume. Some ladies put orange and black ribbons and feathers in their hair. Apparantly a bang up job by English standards.

People were amazed to hear that at home adults do actually dress up for Halloween parties. Further bafflement ensued when I explained that you can in fact dress up as anything you like, and the costume doesn't even need to have the adjective "Spooky" or "Dead" shoehorned onto the description.

Well, my fun dip is finished. Wish Jamie luck as she deals with my all night sugar high! 

Didn't You Get the Memo?

Apparently not. But if I did get it, I believe it would have read something like this:

MEMO

DATE: 29 October 2006

TO: All women living in London aged 15 and over

Please remember to wear your autumn uniform today. For those of you who may have forgotten what the uniform entails, here is a reminder:

-Skinny Jeans (whether you should be wearing skinny jeans or not)
-Boots over your jeans
*A note about the boots: they can be knee-length or ankle and if you are really desperate, big suede winter boots will suffice*

Thank you,

The Fashion Police

My First Trip to Spain by Jamie Ramsburg

Hi all!

There is so much to tell about my first trip to Spain! But I promise to keep it brief.

First of all- let me announce that I barely spoke any English while I was there and I managed just fine. I brushed up on my Spanish the week or so before the trip and on the flight there and, while it was far from perfect, people understood me and, for the most part, I understood them. I did have a little trouble with menus, but that's mostly because they put ham in EVERYTHING even if it isn't listed as an ingredient! That being said- we did have some great food.

The hotel was beautiful! We got a big room with pretty shuttered windows and a not terrible view. I managed to fit in a little sightseeing before the rain came, but once the rain came it did not go away. So I spent most of the day Thursday in the Museum of Modern Art (el Centro de Arte Reina Sofia) which was amazing!! There are entire rooms devoted to Miro and Dali AND there is one large gallery dedicated to Picasso's Guernica. Guernica is probably Picasso's most famous painting. It is HUGE and is his comment on the horrors of war. It is mesmerizing.

There are many stories I could tell, but I think our trip to Madrid can be summed up by one:

Thursday night after dinner John and I wanted to have a drink before returning to our hotel. There was a little bar across the street from our hotel and we thought we'd go there. If you'd like a frame of reference, there is a photo of the outside. It is the eighth to last photo in the batch.

We walked into this place and it was empty. There were two people: the bartender and the cook/owner (I think.) So we ordered our drinks and sat at the bar. There was no TV, so after about two minutes John got bored and asked me, "Are you comfortable translating for me?" I said, "Not really." So he asked the bartender if he spoke English. He didn't. The bartender looked to the cook/owner who didn't speak English either, but now he wanted to talk. And voila- I'm translating! We spent about 30 minutes with John talking and asking questions- me trying my best to translate- listening and attempting to comprehend the man speaking- and then translating back to John. It was like a bad comedy sketch! The man told John I was doing well, but the truth is: my tenses were a mess, my vocabulary was less than acceptable and I spent a lot of time searching for the right words! By the end of our first beers, I hurried John out of the bar reminding him that he had an 8:00 flight the next morning.

That says it all. I can't wait to go back!

Click Here to see our photos

We're Back!

So I'm sitting here in my jersey listening to the Eagles playing the Bucs. So you can guess my mood.

Jamie and I have finally returned from our Jetset week! I flew home last Friday (the 13th, dum dum dum) - I went straight to Jeff's rehearsal. I was overlooked in the order of the ceremony, so we went back through everything so I could read the selected Bible passage. It was a great reunion between Jeff, Josh, and me.

I picked up Jamie after the rehearsal and headed for the rehearsal dinner. We sat with the pastor and his wife and my friend Brad and his wife Heather. There were other people we didn't talk too. Which is fine - Jetlag hit me about the same time the main course was served. My body screamed " It's 2 AM you crazy bastard! Stop eating and go to sleep!" I ignored the screaming and regaled people with stories of London. Actually what came out was a lot of nonsense that received polite nods.

Saturday morning Jamie and I watched our nephew Tommy play flag football. Tommy actually had positive yardage and had a brilliant fake handoff that fooled the other 6-8 year olds. His coach also uses the Statue of Liberty play to great effect. I left early into the second game to go hangout with Jeff and the guys before the wedding. After some good bonding time the wedding started. I went up to read at the lectern at the appropriate time. However, the pastor forgot about me and continued on with the ceremony. I stood patiently watching the pastor and trying not to steal focus. Finally I was given leave to read my passage. Job done, I stepped down and watched one of my best friends get married. Good stuff.

There was a 2 hour gap between the ceremony and the the reception at the Willows. I went over with Josh to keep him company during the 2 hour long picture sessions. Those of you who have done this understand that this means drinking beer while making fun of your friends getting their pictures taken.

The reception was great - we had a lot of fun. My IT skills came out as I assisted Jeff's older brother in setting up a laptop to play a slideshow on a projector. I alternated between feeling cool & useful/big fat nerd.

We had a drink at the after party in their hotel (after I purchased a movie for Josh's room) and after some heartfelt goodbye's Jamie and I headed home. Jamie was a great designated driver. Props yo.

Sunday night we flew back to the UK - I worked on Monday. Monday I decided I'm not a jet setter, and those people who are jet setters either lie a great deal, or smoke crack.

Tuesday I was mostly back to normal, and then I had to fly to Madrid for work on Wednesday night. I know, rough life!
I took Jamie with me, so I'll let her tell you all about her first trip to Spain!

No Sense in Waiting

Hello, John Here.

We're waiting to go see Glen Phillips play at a pub here in Clapham. I know! Most of you a) don't care b) think I'm a freak.
It's very exciting. Glen Phillips was/is the lead singer from Toad the Wet Sprocket and has been playing solo for some time. We've seen him in New York several times, and I'm excited that we get to see him play here for only 4 pounds!

So the Eagles won. Which is great. Jamie and I put on our jerseys and went to Bodean's BBQ and watched the first half. We were the only Eagles fans in the place. The other 5 people watching the game were Dallas fans. There was also the "I'm impressing my date" Dallas fan who was obviously just trying to push our buttons. Except he didn't know what the hell was going on. Lucky for him, we didn't show him what Philly fans can do (Mainly getting thrown in the jail built into the stadium for stupid drunken stuff, but I digress).

The game actually got a 1 inch blurb in our local free paper. I quote, "Terrell Owens was protected by armed guards as he returned to the Philadelphia Eagles following his acrimonious departure last season. And it was an outing Owens will want to forget..." Lito sheppherd's interception made it in as well. I would like to point out that the sports writer used "acrimonious" in a sentence correctly. See how different this place is?

Speaking of T.O. and Different - I think it's time to discuss toilets. Toilets in the UK are designed by idiots. Everybody Poops, so keep up with me. The preferred design is more circular than elliptical, a flimsy material (plastic or balsa wood) with the basin rapidly tapering off into a 2 inch hole. Therefore, you need a) tremendous water pressure b) a scrub brush 3) HAZMAT suits(optional, but recommended). Without them you've got a disaster of biblical proportions on your hands. Seriously, a 3 year old could devastate these things, let alone a 29 year old American after late night curry (what we call Indian food here). Lucky for us, we actually have water pressure, a scrub brush, and a decent toilet. However, I do wear the HAZMAT suit on occasion - it gets a certain someone romantically inclined...

Lazy Sunday

Hi everybody! Jamie here. We are having a divine lazy Sunday and I thought I'd take a minute to catch you up on life in London. John is busy fighting the Japanese in Medal of Honor and I for one am glad the war is not resting on his shoulders.

Before I tell you about our weekend- I want you to know that we saw an amazing show last weekend. Piano/Forte is a new play by Terry Johnson currently at The Royal Court. We saw it last Friday with Steve, Myke and Drew and were so impressed, we sent Flo and Keith to see it Tuesday night. It is beautifully and intelligently written and the production was fascinating. I strongly recommend reading it and, if given the chance, seeing it.

In other news- Flo and Keith left Thursday. We had a wonderful time with them. I feel like I know Keith now and that is a good thing. They were adorable and happy and I didn't want them to leave! Since then, we have been decompressing. We spent most of the weekend in our lovely flat. Friday I woke up to hammering on the wall at my head for the last time! I moved all the furniture around while John was at work and we are both much happier with the set-up. Will it stop the construction from waking me up every morning? We will find out tomorrow....

The big event for us this weekend was a trip to Apsley House and Wellington Arch. We decided a couple of weeks ago that we haven't used our English Heritage Cards enough, so we packed them in our pocket protectors and headed to Hyde Park today. The Apsley House belongs to the Duke of Wellington. He stays there when he's in town, but it is also a museum for the first Duke of Wellington's collection of china, weaponry, art, etc. For those of you who don't know, the first Duke of Wellington won the battle of Waterloo. Apparently the thing to do back then in order to express your gratitude or respect was to give china and I'm not just talking a place setting. These rulers gave the Duke centrepieces for a table that sat 36 PLUS china to serve those 36! In John's words, "Can you imagine being the guy who kicked someone's ass so bad that everyone gave you all this shit just to eat off of?" It was a beautiful home and a wonderful collection.

After the house, we decided to brave the autumn English weather, ie. it was sunny but could rain at any moment, to go to the top of the Wellington Arch. We thought there would be a view of Green Park and the palace, but alas, the view was blocked by trees. Luckily, it didn't rain on us.

Not to be undestimated, a light English shower fell as we made our way to the tube. I remarked to John that it was a good thing there weren't downpours in London because we only had one umbrella. Of course- when we got out of the tube at Clapham North, the sky opened up and there was a huge thunder and lightning storm and torrential downpour! It was the kind of weather I expect in New York, not London. But I guess I'm in for a treat this autumn!

I am off to make chicken korma for dinner- from scratch. I know, I'm so domestic!