Monday, September 26, 2005
'Tis the Season. Already.
I was walking through Marks & Spencers yesterday and noticed they are stocking the shelves with Christmas puddings and chocolates and biscuits. You know, there are only three full months until The Day.
I've decided to do something radical this year, though, and will save many of you a good deal of time and frustration. I had toyed with the idea a few years ago of getting one of the Christmas Angels they have in the shopping malls: you pick one or two off the tree and on it is listed the age and sex of a child and some ideas of gifts (toys) they are after.
Well, this year I've decided I'm going to ask everyone who was thinking of getting me a gift to instead make a donation to his or her chosen charity. I will also not be purchasing gifts this year, but will instead be donating my Christmas budget to assorted charities in the name of friends & family.
Crazy? Perhaps. But really, I've got enough stuff right now, and there are some people who will appreciate even these small gestures this Christmas. And I reserve the right to go back to the "regular" giving cycle next year.
9/26/2005 06:51:00 PM
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Hippo, birdy, two ewes
It's my birthday today. I spent the day at CM's where we had a delicious roast lamb dinner & I got to open the super gifts I'd been sent.
I decided, for my own sake, to look back at previous year's celebrations:
2004 - Joint b-day party at CG's apartment in Oxford. CM, P and mom were present.
2003 - To London with mom in search of the Burberry outlet, then to see the Lion King
2002 - To London with mom
2001 - Coincidentally, another roast lamb dinner, this one at my apartment in Ballston with AM
2000 - Brunch at Luna Cafe, Shirlington, with Ainsley, Annie & Steve
1999 - Dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery, Shirlington, with Ainsley, the gay old crowd, and a balloon man
1998 - Dinner at Red River Grill on Capitol Hill with Ainsley & her crew, Sweetie Darling & beau, and RK
1997 - Lunch at TGIF with Sweetie Darling
1996 - Lunch at TGIF with Sweetie Darling
1995 - Lunch at TGIF with Sweetie Darling
1992 - Picnic lunch before JMU Football game with Dad, Dan, and Boivin clan
1991 - Lunch with Margrete at Primi Piati, Fantasia at Circle Uptown with Jenn
1990 - Dinner with the Pughs in Montgomery, AL
1989 - Joint b-day party with Todd on Grace St., in Georgetown
1988 - Four day trip to Indiana
1987 - Dinner and Dancing at Tracks with Ainsley
1985 - Pizza Hut, High Wycombe, with Archer, Hodges & Pugh
9/24/2005 09:03:00 PM
Monday, September 19, 2005
Ah ... huzz
Mom took the train down to Oxford Saturday so we could spend the day together, celebrating my b-day a week early.
We had lunch at the Head of the River, as she was gasping for a pint and hadn't had one since she'd arrived in England. She had a ploughman's and I had a chicken sandwich and chips, both accompanied by Scrumpy Jack. It was just nice enough to sit outside on the terrace.
After we did a bit of walking and shopping and then went to see Pride and Prejudice at the Phoenix in Jericho. (It has opened here more than two months before it is due to open in the States.) I enjoyed the film, which had many fine supporting roles played by Judy Dench, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn & Tom Hollander, but inevitably comparisons are made with the 1995 BBC mini-series which starred Colin Firth. I've lent my mom that version on DVD (which Mr. & Mrs. B bought for me a few Christmases ago).
After, we had a delicious curry at Chutneys on St Michaels Street, and then called it a night.
Yesterday, we had a lazy morning and then the Full English Breakfast at BHS before I put mom on the train back to Banbury.
9/19/2005 10:53:00 AM
Friday, September 16, 2005
Ho Alone
Well it looks like I'll be spending X-mas with the nonagenerian on Crouch Street ... I just can't swing the $500+ for the airfare and really can't see spending that much when there's so many people who lack basic food, water and clothing in the Gulf Coast. It won't be so bad; I hear British holiday telvision is Top Notch.
9/16/2005 06:24:00 PM
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Missed Her, Yes; Mysterious.
Someone took it upon themselves to order an item (or several) from Amazon.com (or Amazon.co.uk) and have it/them shipped to my home address.
I had it re-delivered to work and it arrived this afternoon but I have not opened it. CM confimred it is an early birthday gift and so has taken it home with her to Islip so I do not open it before the day.
So thanks, whomever you are.
9/15/2005 10:06:00 PM
Monday, September 05, 2005
Very important directions
Not many people will understand this post, but that's OK: it's my blog.
Mumsie�s Itinerary for Her First Full Day in Banbury4:32a.m. - Wake up. It is still dark out. Try to go back to sleep.
4:33-5:22a.m. - Toss and turn
5:23a.m. - Get up, go downstairs, turn on lamp
5:30a.m. - 1st coffee, Begin reading yesterday�s paper
5:55a.m. - Start the crossword puzzle
6:30a.m. - 2nd coffee
8:02a.m. - Gran wakes up, dresses, and comes downstairs
8:02a.m. - Gran turns off lamp and turns on ceiling light
8:03a.m. - Gran asks if you slept alright; you must tell her it was fine
8:03a.m. - Continue with last night�s conversation from exactly where you left off at bedtime
8:04a.m. - First cigarette
8:33-8:50a.m. - Gran eats breakfast. While her mouth is full you can look at the crossword puzzle. Otherwise you must put the pen down and pay attention to her
9:20-9:40a.m. - Gran�s kitchen time. You may now go up and shower and dress
9:45a.m. - Back downstairs to mess with hair, complain about hair, complain about curlers & curling iron, curse hair
10:50?a.m. - Hair project complete
11:00a.m. - You must now hoover. As You Know, you normally don�t lift a finger while you�re visiting her
11:01a.m. - Gran begins very important conversation. Yes, while you�re hovering
11:02a.m. - Try to master smoking and hovering at the same time
11:30a.m. - Gran begins A Series of Talks Regarding Who Has Died and Who has been Ill Since You Were Here Last, Part 1 of 22
11:35a.m. - Go into hallway and bang head against wall
11:36a.m. - Gran tells you to put the kettle on for tea
11:30a.m. - Sixteenth cigarette
11:45a.m. - Tea. Gran moans about your living so far away. As You Know, other English Ladies� daughters live close by, or at least fly home fourteen times a month
12:00p.m. - Gran asks why you live in such a palatial mansion with a garden so big that you need a tractor to mow it
12:01p.m. - Go into hallway and bang head against wall.
12:02p.m. - Consider changing your tickets for an earlier flight.
12:03p.m. - Try to figure out what time it is in Central Daylight Time
12:15p.m. - �Lunch�, which for you consists of tea and a slice of bread & butter folded in half
12:16p.m. - Rub your hands together and complain about how cold & draughty it is
12:20p.m. - Gran moans about how dark it is in the front room with that Redwood planted next door blocking the light
12:25p.m. - Resume conversation from 10:35 this morning. I hope you were paying attention
12:30p.m. - Wonder if Frank will come by during his lunch break and save you
9/05/2005 11:36:00 PM
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Maybe I should go back to bed.
I just woke up, and as I usually do I checked the news online.
I have tears in my eyes after reading more reports of the devastation and lack of coordinated respons in New Orleans.
And, in reading comments to a story about how FEMA has been undercut by the new Department of Homeland Security, I saw that Renquist has died. Tell me Bush isn't packing the Court.
And, elsewhere on the page: a third apartment fire in Paris in the past month, this time killing 14 including three children.
9/04/2005 05:33:00 PM
