Nothing in Particular - and a Piano Piece!

Ugh, I need to write a decent post... I've had a really great (if expensive) summer, along with a few unhappy surprises, but where do I begin? I'll have to just write a few posts about the different things that happened.

So anyway, the here and now...
Summer's basically over since school has started. I'm not even in school anymore and I still feel that way.
The past week we've had plentiful rain and temperatures in the 60s even (!), so it felt like autumn had come early. I LOVE autumn so much, I was really enjoying the weather. I wore a long sleeved knit shirt, and it was so comfy.

I wrote a little ditty a few months ago, and yesterday I finally put it to pictures and posted it on YouTube. It's super short, but here you go! What do you think?

I don't know who reads my little blog, or how many, but feel free to leave comments regarding stuff I can blog about -it will help me to keep up with writing! 'Til next time.....

Moving Out!

It's been a few weeks since I've written anything here, but not that much has happened until more recently...
About two weeks ago I went to Idaho with friends to another friend's wedding. Many hours were spent in the car to get there and back, but it was fun being with the old gang just like in times of yore. The wedding was nice and I even got to be a stand-in for someone's husband who was unable to make it to the reception for photos. I mean, my face will be photoshopped out and replaced with the real guy, but NEVER will that family forget it was I who really stood with them in that picture.
After the seemingly-long weekend, I was back at work on Monday when I got a phone call from Momsie saying that Dad was in the hospital. That's never news you want to hear. I left work and met them at the ER after they'd been there for a while. The doctors were doing all sorts of ultrasounds and blood work on my dad to see what the problem was. After an entire week at the hospital and lots more tests, my dad had a pretty bad case of pancreatitis. It was also discovered that his gallbladder was to blame, so they're gonna tear that thing out one of these upcoming days.
I went to my cabin last weekend, and even though my parents were at the hospital, it was nice to be able to relax away from home. There was a bit of rain and the weather was cool. My Mom's sisters and their families were there, and it was nice to catch up. We colored psychedelic animals with fancy prismacolors and watched Watcher in the Woods, a "scary" movie disney released in 1980. It's especially fun because one of my aunts is named Nerak, so... yeah, it's a special movie.
Amid all that, I finalized plans to move into an apartment in town, and today I took the first small batch of stuff over. Being a grown-up, it's high time that I leave this nest (again). The room is a little smaller than the small room I have now, but the layout will work better for my stuff, I think. I took over my books and winter wardrobe, stuff that I won't need in the next few days. I even got a house key. I feel so independent!

Well, this short post has taken me like 3 hours to write because I get distracted too easily. I've watched part of Brother Bear, played that Candy Crush game (which makes me feel like a drug addict while waiting for more lives), ate some chips'n'dip, and even bought myself a half-birthday present - a Kindle!! Sometimes you just have to treat yo self!

As my life goes on and more adventures happen, I'll keep writing. Come back for more!

Babysitting!

My brother and his wife had their first baby about 2.5 months ago, and tonight I get to babysit!

She's such a cute little girl and not very fussy, though she started crying about 8 seconds after I took the picture. 

I hope that as she gets older she'll like some of the same stuff I do, like kid-appropriate scary movies and stuff so that she doesn't grow up to be a wuss. I'm sorry, but if a grown person says they can't watch 'Return to Oz' or 'Little Nemo' because it scared them as a kid, I just want to make fun of them. My niece will not be one of those kinds of people if I can help it!

I'll also teach her how fun it is to play tag in the dark when she's older and how to swing a feather pillow to floor her opponents. 

Anyway, she'll grow up to be awesome!

Something Wicked

I was in bed trying to sleep when I felt something on my arm. 

I flicked it away and turned on the light and saw an earwig scuttling down the side of my bed.

I'm sleeping in the guest room now. 

London - Day 9

Today was basically my last day here. I leave for the airport right after breakfast in the morning, so I doubt that there will be anything interesting to write about tomorrow.
Anyway, today was good day for the most part. This morning I took it easy and stayed in to get my stuff together for leaving, and I also took another walk around the park. The birds in their nests were bigger and playing in the water.
After lunch I went back to the V&A Museum because I only saw a small bit while I was there last week. I spent a good 3 hours there this time and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I looked at sculpture, architecture, wrought iron, glass, the plaster cast preservation.... That museum is the most amazing place.

Will I miss climbing this beast several times a day? Probably not.

The flowers in Queen Mary's garden are starting to bloom.

An ivy-covered corner of Regent's College.

An Amazing carved ivory fan at the V&A.

A nice sculpture, don't you think?

Proof I was there.

After the museum, I went back to platform 9 3/4 for a sec, but it was really crowded this time, so I didn't stay long. I went to the college for dinner (after a fiasco with my Oyster card), and visited with friends who went to the Harry Potter tour today. I'm glad they went and liked it.

Finally, after dinner, and to cap off all of my London adventures, I went to Her Majesty's Theater to see The Phantom of the Opera! I've wanted to see that show for almost 20 years now, and my wish was finally fulfilled! The show was really fun, and technically amazing. It was great to finally see - on stage - how the show is presented. There's also a fair bit of stuff I've never heard before(like that player piano scene!) and the choreography....It was all so fun!

After getting back home, I packed up, showered, and once again fell asleep while writing this, but here it is! My final day of fun in London was wonderful. My whole trip was wonderful. I love it here, and I hope to someday come back again!

London - Day 8 (The One with Harry Potter)

What a great day! I went to the Harry Potter Studios Tour at the Warner Brothers Studios in Leavesden with my friend Dani, and we took a million pictures! The whole thing really lived up to my expectations, which were pretty high.
We decided to meet at the train station at 9:15 this morning so that we would FOR SURE be on time for our trains and connections. I was in a rush, but got there with a few minutes to spare, Dani, however, was nowhere in sight. After a while, I tried texting, calling, yelling very loudly, sobbing uncontrollably, but she did not answer. Tension was building, but finally she called me back - she'd been stuck on a subway with no phone service. We rushed to figure out our train, but we missed it by a just a few minutes. We didn't worry though because there was another one 10 minutes later.
We rode the new train to Watford Junction where we stepped out to see a large bus with "Harry Potter Studio Tour" covering its sides, so we hopped on that and were on our way!

If this doesn't excite you, leave this blog at once!

We got there about 30 minutes earlier than our admission time, so we perused the gift shop, where everything was amazing and also very expensive. SO, word to those who plan a trip there: prepare for the shock and sadness of wanting everything, but not having enough money for any of it. (Okay, there were a few things that are decent in price, like key-chains...I bought a Time-Turner one.)
After browsing the shop, we took our place in line to let the real fun begin! The following pictures are but a few of the hundreds we took, but these are the pictures that I liked best. In no particular order, here you go!

The group gathers at the huge doors of the Great Hall...

The Great Hall! It was beautiful!

Racks of costumes. I didn't even need the tags to tell me who they were for.

Amazing gates to Hogwarts.

Those are the wands of all the main characters! The REAL wands!

Hey, that's me in the Mirror of Erised! It was much bigger than I thought.

This is the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

The Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone was like ruby obsidian.

This "miniature" was awe-inspiring. It was the "jewel in the crown," said one sign - it really was though!

These Olivander's boxes had the names of the 4000 people
 who helped make the Harry Potter films a reality 

Number 4 Privet Drive!

My hair does the same thing if I sleep on it funny.

Dani's driving a flying car! I'm holding on for dear life!

The Knight Bus was very tall and purple.

The set for Diagon Alley was really fun. Here's Gringotts

This cabinet held the Horcruxes. The Diadem was so pretty!

This is the door to the Chamber or Secrets. The mechanics of it actually worked!

I took so many pictures that my battery died, so a bunch of these were taken by my friend Dani. The whole thing was just a top-notch experience. Who knows of I'll ever see this stuff again? I hope to someday, but I'll always remember this super fun trip to the studio!

After Harry Potter, I was back in time for dinner, but I didn't want to let the night waste away, so I went down to Piccadilly Circus and stopped in at the Criterion Theatre to see if I could get a cheap seat for "The 39 Steps." Luck was in my favor and I got a cheap one, but with a 'restricted' view that wasn't all that restricted at all. In fact, it was just like sitting in those fancy booth seats. I also had the row to myself, so I wasn't cramped or anything. The show also got out before the other plays in the area, so the tube wasn't yet packed full for the trip home.
Anyway, the play was fun; it only had four actors to play about 15 different parts. The scenery was fun and inventive too. The endless references to Hitchcock's films was funny too. This whole day was fun.

Tomorrow is my last full day in London, and I have some good things planned. Come back tomorrow to find out!

London - Day 7

My legs and feet no longer ache from all the walking. I think the pain receptors wore out, or maybe I'm just building muscles (ha, like that would ever happen) in my legs.
Regardless, I walked a lot and climbed many stairs today, and it was all worth it.
I first went to St Paul's Cathedral. I had originally planned on going with the London Walks tour group because they are usually pretty awesome, but after checking out St Paul's website, and seeing that a tour was included at no extra cost, I decided to forego the Walks group and head there on my own. There are no pictures allowed in the cathedral, so I sadly can post any here. The tour guide was named Celia and she was very knowledgeable and very nice to listen too. She took us in some otherwise non-accessible place for the public, like the floor level of the Geometric Stair. That spiral stone staircase up the large tower was impressive, both visually and architecturally - but then, so is all of St Paul's! I learned quite a bit, and since I was on my own, I could go at my own pace after the tour ended. I walked'climbed up to the "whisper gallery," which is the indoor circle at the base of the dome, and from there climbed higher and higher to get to the very top of St Paul's dome. The architecture is amazing, and the history of it is too!

This is the view from the lower outside circle. T!hat's the Globe Theater on the left.

The very top!

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Under this tower is the Geometric Stair (If I remember right...).

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After St Paul's, I went back to the college for lunch (which is way more crowded than breakfast and dinner), and then left for the only matinee of my trip, "The Mousetrap." I'd never seen it before, nor really knew anything about it. It was a murder mystery, and it was fun to compare what I was watching to "Ronald Knots' rules of detective fiction," which I read at the British Library the other day. The show was fun and old-fashioned, which was perfect for a rainy day like the whole day was. I won't reveal who the killer was though, because that would break the tradition that the play has held! The cast asked the audience to please keep the answer to the mystery locked in our hearts, so that's what I'll do.

I went back to the college for dinner with no plan for the evening, but in a moment of get-out-and-do-something-or-stay-home-and-do-nothing, I chose to accompany a friend and do the Jack The Ripper walk. It was rainy, so I was a total tourist and bought a cheap umbrella with a Union Jack design, but at least I stayed dry throughout the night of rain!

This time, the Ripper Tour was a bit better than the first time I went a few years ago. The group was still big, but not as huge as I remember, and the lady/guide had pictures to show us of how the streets used to look, as well as horribly gruesome morgue pictures too. I don't ever want to be murdered.

After all that, I got back to my room and started writing this but fell asleep before I finished, so I finished the next day. Better late than never!