There are a number of topics which I need to cover in the next few posts which will hopefully make up for the complete lack of any kind of update in the past month and a half. They include: my professional future, wedding planning, artistic endeavor, life in a submarine and the upcoming holiday season.

Here goes.

As for my professional outlook it seems that not taking the GRE in college was a graver mistake than I could ever has imagined. My advice to anyone still enrolled, do it now. I wanted to avoid taking it because I do not agree with the policies of standardized testing and, as someone likely going into the educational field, I have some very decided opinions there. I also did not want to take the time to study for it and to make a trip out of town to take it. On top of that, I had every intention of attending grad school in England within a year of graduation. Well, life has a way of changing the plans you think are so very flawless. The postal system scuttled my grad school plans and then I fell in love. Now I am looking for programs here in the states where they care about the GRE. The biggest kick in the balls is that I could have taken the test for free in college but now in the real world I have to pay $150 for it.

As a result I am revising my plans for career advancement. As a means of hedging my bets and ensuring that I can be in a school program come spring which will provide me with education, career advancement and work opportunities I am now looking into the field of secondary education more seriously. I am looking into programs which will allow me to begin getting a teaching certificate and allow me to take on the five year loan forgiveness program. After five years of making a salary higher than my current one I will have the ability to erase all of my federal student debt. I consider this an opportunity not to be missed. What I need is a program to get me certified which does not wait until the summer to do so. I need to be enrolled in classes, at least half time, for the spring and I also need to be able to work. I do not want to repeat what I did last time which has become, ultimately, more expensive. And so, I search. If anyone knows of any programs or has gone through them I would greatly appreciate the input.

As for planning the wedding, that seems much more straightforward. Perhaps it is because I have a theatre background but the concept of finding a space, preparing it for a particular effect and rehearsing the people for what is, in the end, a production albeit one with incredible emotional attachment and significance is not as daunting as it might be. What worries me is our budget. We are financing the wedding ourselves which means that we need to be more creative with our planning. I definite;y see a lot of potential in our initial planning but am worried that the popular conception of a wedding is miring us in the process of creating a ceremony which is significant for us and expressive of our unique love (i.e. the end goal).

Int he field of artistic endeavor I am trying to get myself back into writing novels and possibly commercially. I might write a few proposals and send them out to publishers if I can find a good source for the proper format of such things. I also have a modern poetry project which is in its early planning stages. The most active of my current projects is a scriptwriting collective. There should be a podcast of the screenplay forthcoming.

Critical Elephants

It has come to my attention that as a blogger the news media considers me duty-bound to comment on everything in my perceivable universe especially those things of which I am poorly informed. Therefore, I have decided that my latest attempt to be a real blogger should be a feature about topics on which I have poorly informed opinions.

Today's Episode- The trouble with the CTA.

Here's the thing. The CTA is supposed to be serving me as a convenient means of transit between part of the city and another. Most specifically the "L" system is meant to be a rapid and environmentally friendly option for navigating the city. the critical element, and it's a big one, is that it should connect places people actually need to be. Why, in the name of whichever deity is in charge of things like this, would anyone in their right mind create a system like this with parallel lines! If I want to go across the city to somewhere that is on the red line It takes me an hour on the bus or I can take the train all the way down to the loop and catch the red line itself. One train between Belmont(Blue) and Belmont(Red) would clear it right up. and it would still be sufficiently inconvenient for most of the city for the CTA to keep up appearances. You don't want to be too much on the ball or people will expect something of you and I get that. The relative distance is less than between four stops on an "L". i.e. the trip could take 20 mins tops on a system which made sense.

What is more if we hope to host the Olympic games surely we need to step up our game transit wise and the way forward is in high efficiency trains. Look at any London. Yeah, the tube is about as logical as an anthill but if you know what you're doing you can get anywhere in the city and you can do it with reasonable speed.

My recommendation, since apparently I am mandated by the internet to provide it, is to create an outer loop "L" line which would follow Lake Shore Drive between Belmont and Hyde Park and then across to Pulaski where it would complete its loop.

The big benefit here is that it would also serve the purpose of the proposed Gold Line which is to serve Hyde park and it would do them one better by laterally serving the entirety of that neighborhood.

Bristol Weekend 1

Well, that happened.

I started off my time in Kenosha this week rehearsing for three days with the Suitcase Shakespeare Company as we prepare our new child, "Much Ado about Nothing" to take its first steps. We have been pleased to find that we will be performing at the Faire on the weekends of August 8-9 and 15-16, Mark the dates on your calendar. We will be staging our 60 minute or less "Twelfth Night" on the Trader's Cove stage. After a brief return to Chicago to commune with my poor neglected girlfriend it was time to go back for opening day.

It is difficult to find the words which will accurately describe the sensation of opening weekend as an entire populated town remembers itself after months of dormancy. The shops which had been only beginning to stir until last week, the people who had been away and the sounds and smells and colourful sights which had been too long gone all rush back into their proper places and the result is our magic. Once again we met the opening of the gates with a wave of excitement and joy. As per usual characters morphed and changed as practicality met with concept. Percival, who had recently been an excitable man with heavy OCD became the bawdy, oft inebriated barman that he was always destined to be. The street gifted me with families of amusing people, parties of adventurers who knew that there is no man better than an innkeeper to befriend and even a few furries (don't ask). Also, I realized that being an innkeeper has the added benefit of making sure that I am well and truly hydrated. I have possibly never been as well hydrated as I was this weekend. and my frequent visits to the blue boxes stood as a testament.

Having Tab with whom I can touch base periodically for mealtimes to keep me grounded and alive has also been a blessing. She makes my life glow hotter and brighter than I ever could have imagined. It is a comfort to know that we together make for a chemical reaction which is exothermic (science!). We are so lucky.

Damp and Hot, gladly not simultaneously.

My apartment seems to have become sadly waterlogged. I am looking for advice on how to remedy this problem. Hopefully we will have the problem solved by our landlord who is sending "carpet people" in tomorrow but I'm not sure that they will do anything but clean up the carpet. I'd rather not invest in a dehumidifier but it's all I can think of unless I can just leave sponges out on the counters and hope for the best.

In other news the faire season is starting we've had three weeks of rehearsals so far and it is looking pretty phenomenal. My character this year, Messir Percival Cornelius Thykket Esq Prop. of the Towne Square Pub is coming around nicely. I 'm also excited about Tab's contribution, Philomela Wyllewykket, towne midwife. She's great fun and has a lot of comedy power centering on euphemistic discussion of... whodilidoos. The rest of the cast has come up with an amazing collection of townsfolk. We have two witches, two criminals, two vagrants, a knight, an inventor, a don Juan, a librarian and a gravedigger. All told I think this is going to be a gang buster year and am looking forward to watching the rockstarification of another group of phenoms.

Hello Internet!

So, my internet presence has been sorely lacking as of late. It's a lucky break that I have twitter which gives me the ability to update you all when I don't have a computer. This is, of course, my own vanity at work assuming that you are all waiting with bated breath to hear what is is I wish to say. Yes, I do realize how ironic it is for me to comment on that phenomena in a blog which is based on the same premise. If you wish to begin having the Alanis Morsette song "Ironic" play in your head I recommend staving it off with something which correctly uses English terminology. You could try my recent chart topper "Hyperbole is the best thing ever".

Having now established my award winning tangential abilities I guess I should tell you about the ways of my life. Things have been going well. I really enjoy my job at MSI. It's not exactly what I thought we would be doing but that doesn't make it any less fun. We meet all kinds of cool people, some of whom manage to be even bigger nerds than I am. The only downside is that there is probably a solid quarter of my brain space devoted to Harry Potter Trivia which will likely never be useful in any other context. If anyone finds themselves in need of a Harry Potter Quizmaster I'm your man. Otherwise I may be in need of a penseive come September.

I am considering investing in a small laptop for the upcoming semester at Loyola though I will likely wait until I actually get a confirmation from them that they want me. That said I am highly anticipating finding out what I 'm going to be doing with my Autumn months.

My apartment has seen some changes recently. Josh has departed for his brand new condo and we inherited the fine Mr. Andy Huttel. At nearly the same time along came the lovely Katie Chin who has taken up residence as well. We are working on accommodating her a little more than simply a couch but it has been a great time. Also nice is that my apartment now contains more chefs than just myself.

I'm sure the more interesting news though is that things have been moving forward with Tabitha as we have now gone shopping for rings and are looking forward to making more solid plans for a few life changing events which we are looking very much forward to.

So here is where I ask you all. What do you think of when you think about us? If you happen to only know one of us well that's fine. In looking toward themes and elements we want our events to echo with the things we love as well as the things you all love about us. So whether you think of nerdy movies, over-affectionate couples or pirates or something else I'd like to know. It'll help us a lot.

Today's Gem-
This comic explains my life.

Allsorts

It's been almost a full month since I last added my screaming voice to the blogosphere. In a desperate attempt to get actual work done I will attempt to be brief. Things for me have gone exceptionally well in recent days. I secured for myself a job which will pay me decently for work which will not suck my soul or make me want to light the place on fire and run away laughing. I will be spending the summer in a tent on the lawn of the Museum of Science and Industry as a part of the cast of Harry Potter: the Exhibition. My job will be to pretend I am British and a wizard. We have a number of duties within the exhibit chief among them being a sorting hat ceremony.

As for the rest of life the semester is closing up at Loyola and I only have one final left to complete, for Latin. My level of worry is quite low for it thus I consider things to be well and truly knotted up in a pretty little bow.

Tab and I will be attending Naperville (as previously mentined) but are otherwise looking forward mostly to Bristol. Having weekends to ourselves is making us very happy indeed.

As for today, I am celebrating having a couple days off by trying to take care of a few things I've been putting off "until I have more time". Well the future is now. Perhaps if I make my progress public there will be some.

[x]Finish Loyola App
[]Write Bio /
[x]do research for Naperville
[]Get more information for The Innkeeper of the Towne Square Pub character I'm doing for Bristol.
[]Make vest and pants for Naperville.
[x]Review Harry potter books, films and trivia
[]Do some writing. I've got some poems, songs and stories kicking around in my head which would be much happier in the free air.

Things I did as well. I didn't want to think I was just twiddling my thumbs.
x bake yeast bread
x bake scones
x write and run Wednesday's game
x hang out with Julia
x sweep and mop apartment
x make "baked chicken Italiana" in pastry.
x Work
x Go out with Tab, Kimba and Robbie
x Take a latin Final

An Update?

Though I do not have a great supply of time tonight I will endeavor to cover with some justice the Weekend's excitement.

The Regency Exhibition Ball in Lansing, Michigan was an absolutely amazing time from beginning to end. We departed Chicago Friday afternoon for the three hour tour which took us from one capitol city to the next. Upon arrival we checked into the hotel and aside from some Mad Libs were done for the night. The following day, full of anticipation, we tried to distract ourselves with Antique shopping. I managed to get out with only a couple props for Naperville totaling at less than $10. MY dear love was not so fortunate. She found excellent things though and can hardly be blamed. Shawls are sneaky. Afterward we returned to the hotel and made ready before heading out, in full costume, to the ball.

The Ball was an amazing experience. The refreshments were tasty and the dancing was great fun. There was a gentleman calling the steps so everyone was learning together producing a very supportive, friendly atmosphere. Everyone looked incredible in their finery and the resulting look throughout the room felt very special and historical.

Also important to mention is another good reason to check out my blog page. I have added another Twitter stream entitled "Decisions I've Made". I think this will serve as another amusing way to present information to you. I hope you will all enjoy it.

What is this "planning" of which you speak?

I don't really have any earth shattering news to impart on you all today so here are a few things to look forward to maybe hearing about or at least getting a cryptic tweet to interpret.

Tea Time?-Tab and I are considering doing having a monthly (or fortnightly) tea-stravaganza/ high tea since we have decided we don't spend enough time with our friends due to lack of events we can attend. My answer to not being able to make it to events has always been to make myself in charge of events. Ergo, tea. Here's a hint, if you respond with a desire to attend it greatly improves your chances of being remembered when we try to figure out whom to invite.

Phi Psi Drinkies?- I'm trying to get a gathering of my fraternity brothers together here in Chicago since I have, so far, failed at the task of getting to Beloit for any of the events I wanted to attend. Hopefully I will make it to Graduation or the next initiation event. Any Phi Psis in the area think this is a good idea?

Regency Exhibition Ball- We're going to haul our happy little behinds to Lansing, Michigan for what promises to be a spectacular gathering. I've been working on my clothes for this event for a while (read: too long due to procrastination) so if I speak of working on sewing this is likely what I'm referring to.

Dinner Parties- Got a few of these coming up and looking forward to them immensely. Good job hosts, you know who you are.

For all of you today a truism. Let's be honest, we all know maths and statistics are a bag of filthy lies.

With love, and some links

Success!

I have now introduced Tabitha to my folks who graciously hosted us for a few days in Ohio during my spring break. Thankfully everyone got along swimmingly (as I knew they would) and the stay wasn't so long as to give city dwellers too much cabin fever. Here is a brief overview of the happenings:

Day 1: Arrived in Ohio in time for dinner and everyone was introduced. Embarrassing stories began with expected immediacy signaling acceptance of Tabitha into the fold.

Day 2: Walked the grounds. Introduced Tabitha to the horses and general farm atmosphere. Tabitha was also treated to a lesson on the history of the site and family.

Day 3: Tour of the area's attractions... both of them. Checked out the "famous" Y Bridge and the Zanesville Art Center as well as some artists' studios. Attended the Eagle ceremony of Matthew VanHorn.
>Congratulations to him for his high achievement and a warm welcome into the brotherhood of Eagles.

Day 4: Day of departure. Packed and finished up projects begun before departing by way of Tom's Ice Cream Bowl, a local 50's style diner.


And now it's shameless plug time.

For those of you who've a mind to support the arts The Suitcase Shakespeare Company, product of the brilliant minds of the Bristol Renaissance Faire, is selling swag for your purchasing enjoyment. Check it out here: http://www.cafepress.com/suitcaseshakes.

At long last and with some prodding my good friend Dan Webster has posted a video of himself performing live for your viewing pleasure. Aside from being an awesome fellow all around Dan is one of the more gifted musicians I've had the pleasure of meeting and I hope you will take the time to visit his CD baby page as well for some samples of his music. The new album is dynamite (as well as being affordable) and I recommend it highly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VB6l-0RvDs
http://cdbaby.com/cd/danwebster
Come on, would I lead you wrong?

Amazon Kindle 2

Sweet dancing jeebus! This is the coolest thing I have ever seen ever! This is the Kindle 2. It is a product from Amazon which I may need to procure for myself at some point in the future simply because it is possibly the most exciting piece of technology I've ever seen.

Here is why it excites me.

-Free wireless
-built in dictionary
-annotations (Backed up automatically at Amazon.com )
-free wikipedia access
-searchable text.

Lets be honest, there is no way this is not awesome. Thank you, xkcd, for bringing yet another awesome aspect of reality to my attention.

"Love is like a roll of tape...

It's real good for making two things one."- Flight of the Conchords The weekend was awesome. Tab and I went on a date to the "Moroccan Grill" Next to the Irving Park blue line stop. Absolutely amazing food I recommend it highly. They have a selection of traditional Moroccan traditional fare and the menu is due to expand after the month. Everyone should go and if you don't, be warned we may drag you.

And on that note, I am off to class. Keep it classy!

David la nain

Due to the lack of new information to impart on you I have included here a primer on the lifestyles of the small and magical. I have the book (in dutch) this series was based on and it is awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5oI2mkgDRw

So on and so forth

I finally took my computer in to have it repaired and while I am happy to report that I now have a working computer with an operating system and programs and whatnot what I no longer have represents a huge volume of data. I am especially sad to report that I have lost all of my photos. It's lucky I posted so many to Facebook because those photos are all I have left. I also lost all of the PDFs of gaming books I used to have. That doesn't grieve me half as much though, now that I've lost my photos.

That said, it's not the end of the world. Somehow I will soldier on without my prized images.

Valentines day went excellently and things are, in general, of high quality. I'm looking forward to going home in a few weeks to see the family and taking my lovely Tabitha along for the ride. It should be very interesting we will be celebrating Tab's birthday, attending an Eagle ceremony, seeing the sight (there's really only the one) and possibly having a horse riding lesson. Other upcoming events which are likely to see coverage here include the Regency Exhibition Ball at the end of March and the Naperville civil war event in mid may. That should take us right up to the Faire season and the heady preparations which will, no doubt, ensue for that most anticipated season.

I am already looking forward to the season which is not unusual. In some ways I am glad to finally get to do a season as a full time street character. Last year doing the Devil and the Baker's Wife was a lot of fun but I didn't spend as much time on the street as I would have liked so I am excited to build a bigger, more dynamic character for this season. I'm hoping I can come up with something as fun and memorable as Frobie was without simply carbon copying him.

Today's Gem- I know I haven't really been giving you a lot of gems recently. Mostly this is due to the fact that I haven't had a lot of time to look for them. however, some of my musician friends need a good plug now and then and now I wish to plug my good friend Thomas Moore the oudist. Tom played at faire this last season as Chickpeasio, the Chicken Troubadour with the belly dancing group which I never could remember the name of. Anyway, here is his MySpace page which has a couple of his songs. If the snocap application comes back online I recommend buying his music. I did and have not yet regretted it for a moment.

For the sake of it.

If only I had something to say...

Life is good, so are cookies. Haven't broken anything recently.

That is all.

Enjoy this. Probably the most honest and heartfelt love song ever written.

Love and Sushi

As, no doubt, many of you will know Valentine's day is coming up this weekend. It promises to be the best Valentine's Day of the whole year so I hope you are all as stoked as I am about it. Having someone with whom I can celebrate the holiday is turning out to be better than I had imagined. I try to be thoughtful and romantic even on regular days because I think it is important. That said, it gets the creative juices flowing when you have a specific event to prepare romance for. I hope that some of you out there will have equally shmoopy weekends.

For those who are anti-valentine I do sympathize and will attempt not to subject you to any more talk about how freakishly happy we are and all the fun we will be having while you set fire to Disney princess supermarket valentines cards. I promise, no more today.

Having dealt with the excitement of the next few days the last few have been pretty good too. I got a new mattress delivered which has been really nice. with the passing of my air mattress the time finally had come to get a grown-up bed. I will not, therefore, need to inflate my bed again for a long time which makes me inordinately happy.

There, I went like a whole paragraph. Sadly, my vow may end there depending on your sappy threshold. Tab and I wen ton a date on Friday to celebrate being less poor for a little while and the destination was Hachi's Kitchen which is a lovely little sushi restaurant down the street from my house. I can honestly tell you all that their dragon roll is the best I have ever eaten by far. It was constructed differently than other dragon rolls I have had as well. Perhaps someone who knows sushi better than I would know the difference all I can say is that it was amazing. The flavours blended excellently into a slightly sweet yet deeply savoury experience. The fish elements melted away on the tongue leaving the equally tender avocado and rice to bat clean up. I am uncertain as to what kind of sauce was involved but it's slight spice rounded out the piece. All told I recommend it highly. The Soft Shell Crab Maki was also very well done with a good combination of flavours and textures. The Nama Sake (salmon) Avocado Maki was well executed though not overly exciting. Dessert of a chocolate mousse cake for Tab and green tea ice cream for me ended the meal well.

All told, it was a wonderful dining experience with good service, excellent food and a lovely atmosphere.

"American tourist found dead"- could have happened

Since I have nothing new to add to the dross of the internet and need to achieve some other tasks I have decided that the time has come to open myself to ridicule once again and re-post the story of my trip to Scarborough, England. I am, myself, looking forward to how much I may have aggrandized the events in the retelling. First is the post I made previous to my departure following is the re-telling of the actual event.

(2/24/2007)
"Well I slept all day again. When I say slept I should clarify that I was in bed in varying sates of consciousness without the desire to change that. My back hurt a lot and I don't know why just as I don't know why I was so lethargic. Needless to say this altered my plans to go to Scarborough. I decided though that instead of simply waiting for the next bus as most sane persons would I am going to make the most of the situation and take a night walk all the way to Scarborough. Hopefully I will arrive on the coast as the sun is rising or shortly therafter. I am taking a bottle of water the video camera and an umbrella. I will also be carrying a walking stick in case anyone gets funny ideas about ownership of my stuff or rather to dissuade them from getting such ideas.
Edit I have checked and it looks like I might be doing lunch in Scarborough instead of breakfast. It should take me about 13 hours of walking to get there at 3 miles per hour. Sounds like a good way to get out of a rut of feeling lazy. I'm going to put on my hiking boots for it though. I'm going to try to find ways to get off the interstate though. So it might take a bit longer. Anyway, wish me luck and I'll catch you all on the flip side. (end edit)"

(2/25/2007)
"I'm alive and home. There are several ways to describe a day like the one I've just had. I think stupid might be the most apt. Let me begin at my departure. I had armed myself with and umbrella and nalgene water bottle clipped to my trousers under my trenchcoat., in the pockets of which were a lion bar a pack of my favourite gum in all the world and a MapQuest road map telling me to stay on the A64.I also had the phone number for a youth hostel in the Scarborough area should I become stranded and a potential theatrical opportunity. I set off at around 3:00am. The darkened moist streets were kind to me. The clouds kept the world warm (by my standards) and since it was late at night traffic was light on the A64 which is not a terribly pedestrian freindly route in most places. Perhaps the number of people dumb enough to walk the side of it is low enough to ignore this element of construction. I can't say I blame the planners. Anyone dumb enough to walk the A64 to reach a destination deserves to be inconvenienced a little. The trip was pretty uneventful all told. As I apporoached Malton my resolve began to flag and my body began to protest. by the time I got within 6 miles I was having trouble keeping myself going. I stopped for a sit in a bus shelter and the first bus of the day passed me by without even slowing. There is nothing more insulting to a pedestrian walking a long distance than busses and inaccurate road signs. I was taunted by inaccurate road signage all through my trek. Either British miles are longer than ours or the signs simply cant' decide when to change numbers. Anyway, after I left the bus shelter I had to ascend a hill. I had already passed a sign for Castle Howard and decided that if I couldn't see the landmark I would not deviate from my path to see it closer. At the top of the hill was a sign. This sign read "Kirkham Priory 1/2 mile". One half mile to validate this trip. I could do that. I turned off the track and headed through some picturesque English countryside, "The Howardian Hills" Toward the landmark which promised to be quite nearby. 1/2 mile is nothing. I walked that far to the bus in the old days. About a mile later I found another sign. This sign also said "Kirkham Priory 1/2 mile". I was, I think understandably, annoyed by this. It was especially bothersome because of my previously mentioned feud with the road signs on the main thoroughfare. I bucked it up though and went ahead and walked into a beautiful vale. I could see the priory from quite a distance as I was on one hill and it halfway up the next. I would like to remind everyone that I just said "hill". I was knackered at this point hills were the last thing I wanted to be dealing with. Anyway so I got there, another 3/4 mile by my reckoning, and what did I find? Not an accessible ruin with audio tours and gift shops I found a closed ruin. Closed. I could not pass the front gate. It was like a sick prank. I dragged my sorry self back to the second sign where a sign informed me I could rejoin the A64 farther along than if I just retraced my steps. As I had wasted my time to that point I thought this sounded like a good idea. It turned out that it did bring me closer to Malton and I think I may have skipped a spare hill. This did not stop my limbs from deciding they had been through enough and weren't going to take it anymore. I needed to sit or kneel or something. I ended up kneeling on the footpath with one hand to the pavement while I tried to push myself to make the extra few miles. I summoned heroic anthems and saying to mind and somehow managed to convince myself that I had come to far to let it end here. I stood back up and managed to top another hill. I found a bus shelter at a crossroads. It was existential. I tried waiting for the bus bus once again it just passed me by on it's route as if it knew what I should be doing and refused to ruin it. This was insulting. Almost as insulting as the "seats" in the bus shelter which are the single most uncomfortable of their kind when one is in full health. I was forced to prop myself oddly against the glass with one leg stretched over the seat in order to rest my limbs. After the bus passed I went outside and shook my stick at it and then could not bring myself to try the seats again. I knelt a second time. and thought about my options. One road would take me to Malton if I could summon the strength to walk another 4 miles (I had already come 14 with very little stopping). The left hand option offered me a tea house open for breakfast. The distance to said tea house was undisclosed though so when I could not see it after a brief stroll in that direction I gave up on it. The right hand option offered a Bed and Breakfast. I tried that thinking they might oblige me in just a breakfast. I rang the bell and no one came. A note over the bell said that sometimes they are away so I took advantage of the lawn furniture they had near the entrance. That cast iron chair was the most blissful thing to happen to me since the good bus shelter (The first one).I don't know how long I sat there but after a while one of the proprietors returned from what appeared to be field work. I asked if there might be a breakfast for the weary traveler but no. He did refill my water bottle though and advise me that I might go to Castle Howard (on the right-hand road). He said it would take about 30-45minutes of walk time to get there and I could even see the dome of it from the B&B. It fit all of the qualifications. The nail in the coffin was when he made a demoralizing mathematical error. We were talking about the distance to Malton 1/3 of the distance I had come. When he said "It's about half as far as you've already come" something inside of me decided. It was time to take the bus. I went back to the stop, having allowed an hour to pass in my deciding process, and caught the bus to Malton. In Malton I had to find a cash machine to buy passage to Scarborough and I had an English breakfast at the "Whistlestop Cafe" on the rail platform. It was tasty but I think I was served instant (powdered) tea. I was unimpressed. I ended up on the 11:35 bus (which actually arrived at the station at 11:57) to Scarborough.

Scarborough is a lovely place. I stopped in at an incredible bookshop which smelled of tobacco and books and was peopled by the eccentric owner who had an innate knowledge of where his books were. The highlight was, of course, Scarborough Castle. I'm about to describe this edifice. Pay attention, it comes up later. Scarborough Castle, like many of the major historical buildings I've visited in my time here has been inhabited for thousands of years. Romans, Anglo Normans, Vikings, and Medieval people used this natural prominatory to protect themselves. It is situated on a very high cliff overlooking the ocean. There is only one way in and the steep drops all around it make it fairly obvious why this would be the natural place for a fortress. The walls are also quite high and sheer all around. It is an impressive piece of work. It is also quite large. I don't know how much space is contained within these imposing walls but it's a fair amount. Much of the site is a grassy field which would be ideal for picnics in the warm months with sites of interest scattered near to the edge of the cliff. I finished with my audio tour and made my way to the gate to leave.

It was at this moment I realized the gates were closed. There was a person outside but not someone who looked capable of letting me out. I inspected the grounds. Keep in mind I am still thoroughly tired and am using the staff I took with me to hobble my way around making a daring castle escape somewhat less likely. The only likely place I found was a bit of the wall marked clearly with a sign saying danger, do not climb on the wall. In hopes of finding a way out I ascended with some difficulty. I found that it would be a risky maneuver of which I likely would not have been capable when in good condition let alone in my current state. So I descended again, defeated, and returned to the gate. I met there a nice couple who called the police for me and got them up to the castle. They left before the police arrived but I thank them, wherever they are, for their help. The police arrived after a while and were equally clueless as to dealing with the issue. They tried to find a key holder to no avail and so they called the fire brigade. The fire brigade were actually fighting a fire at the time so we had to wait. The officers were really nice. When the fire brigade arrived we showed them the weakness in the defenses which we had found and one of the said something like "yeah, that's how we usually do it". I was amused. In the end a ladder brought an end to the saga. I can now say in all honesty that I have scaled a castle wall on a ladder and gone between the buttresses. I don;t know why it didn't occur to me to take pictures or video of this event but it didn't. Wah-wah.

After my daring escape I made my way down to the seaside. There were arcades and pubs a plenty but I was looking for something particular. Scarborough Fish and Chips made from fish caught in the bay at which I was looking. I found them. This little chippy called Wild Willey's or something like that sold me the perfect fish and chips. I ate them on a bench overlooking the marina and the ships that brought in fish just like what I had in my hand. It was beautiful. I then made my way back to the train station to pick up my bus to York and end my day. It was not to be so though. After being harassed by children on the way up the hill (it's a good job murder is illegal, grr) I caught the 8:22 bus to York. I subsequently fell asleep on that bus. I woke up near Birmingham headed terminally for Leeds. This was less than good. My mind reeled. what could I do there certainly wouldn't be another bus to York tonight. Do I find a Youth Hostel in Leeds? I got off the bus in the middle of the city and after making some inquiries with a police officer decided that the rail was my best option. I ended my long day's journey into night on the 11:45 train from Leeds to York. I arrived in York about 20 minutes later. Just too long to catch a bus. I was far to weary and worn to walk home so I caught a cab. All in all it was a very expensive nap I took on that bus but it added to the adventure and I've seen a bit of Leeds now. I came home and lounged in House D watching "The Simpsons". It actually begins to be amusing at points when you a tired out of your mind.

I'm going to sleep now. Good night."

That is the story as I told it when it happened. Thank you.

A Real Review?

You bet.

I had the pleasure of seeing Rotogravure at the Athenaeum Theatre on Friday evening with Leslie who managed to grab some awesome tickets. I, sadly, do not have time to pontificate at the moment but suffice to say that it was a theatrical experience unlike anything I've seen previously. The staging was clever, inventive and impressive and the acting was engaging, natural and very real. The emotions of the characters on stage reached out to the audience. Their awkwardness make us uncomfortable. Their need made us wish for their success. I highly recommend it.

If you're curious about the title, as I was, check out the word of our good friend Wikipedia

So...

It's Friday, the day of fries and frying. Or something. I'm not 100% on that one.

That being said, it must be time for another edition of Ansel has nothing new to talk about. Ergo here are some banal details from the annals of my existence.

+ Talked to Karen, a medieval grad student here at Loyola, this morning. Apparently she is going to hook me up with all the cool medievalists hereabouts. Awesome!

+ I was gifted with a lovely calendar (from a company that makes computer facsimiles of Manuscripts) by my Latin prof. Woo! 12 months of explaining facsimiles and my field of study. Good practice? I think so.

+ No boss for a couple days. He needs to spend time at home reviewing the work I've done before he gives me more. This means I may actually sell some hats this week!

+ One of our cats ate some of the feathers from my hat. They are now less epic.

+ Headline from this morning's Red Eye: "Epic Fail" (regarding Blago's impeachment). Clearly the intrusion of nerd culture into the mainstream is approaching completion.

+ Got to be a PC for the first time in about a year and a half.

- Tabitha's neck is sore so she can only turn her head one direction.

- My air mattress (read: bed) seems to have sprung a leak and I cannot find it. This is problematic.

Off to class. Hey you, call me! You know who you are.

What can you do with one hand?

Five minute blog post. Go!

It's actually somewhat fortunate that I can't go on at length because, no doubt, that would be tiresome considering the incredible mundanity of my everyday. I go to class or work and from there go home to Tabitha and either study or vegetate.

And due to distraction, that's my update. Nothing new but everything good.

Status

Hal, my computer, is really quite dead now. As it turns out all the tinkering did not fix it's inherent old-ness. looks like I'll need to pay a professional to resurrect it. Unfortunately the word "pay" comes with the qualifier of having money, which I don't. Therefore, if you wish to reach me with any speed or reliability my phone is the way to do that for the next little while. I can only reliably check my e-mail three days a week at school and sometimes at work.

I'm sure the blogosphere is humming with glowing excitement and other sentiments regarding the events of yesterday. As such I will not further burden the internet except to say two things. "We got our bike" and that it's been a long time since I watched our president speak and felt good about it afterward. It's a nice change.

Today marks the end of the current story arc for the D&D game I DM and I am excited for the climax (insert joke here). After this we will be taking a break from my story and spending some time on Derrick's. The prospect of playing again is thrilling me the way I was thrilled to have the ingredients for home made masala chai. For those who don't know me very well; that's pretty damn excited.

As far as the rest of my life goes all is as it should be. Still in love. Still going to classes. Still working and looking for new gigs. Status quo.

In the vicinity of the ball

I know it's a little bit late to catch the retrospective bandwagon but since this is my corner of the internet I will be making the rules. That's why I'm not wearing pants.

The last year will be one to remember for many reasons. Many of which were lamentably covered by myself in blog form. So this retrospective may actually serve as an actual update with new information for some. Therefore, be prepared to be whelmed.

The beginning of the year- Started my final semester at Beloit full of excitement and trepidation about going out into the "real world".
-Designed costumes for "Iphigenia and Other Daughters".
-Wrote the longest research paper of my career, badly.
-Thought I would be going to England in the immediate future and told everyone who would listen about it. Apologies to all concerned.
-Learned, and subsequently forgot, a bunch of Chinese characters.


The Spring-
-Gave away everything bigger than a breadbox (actual categorical terminology) in anticipation of going to York.
-Continued to talk incessantly about leaving the country.
-Was hired to perform in a stage show at the Ren Faire.
-Got a good part in a recognizable play, "The Good Woman of Setzuan".
-Managed to graduate with all three degree concentrations.

The Summer-
-Moved to Chicago with fraternity brothers and lived in a nice apartment.
-Worked at the Faire in two guilds and the IMPROVables. Marking the final move to Street and the beginning of many wonderful associations.
-Started a long term weekly D&D campaign.
-Worked at a Hat Shop and foolishly traded it for an opportunity at annoying people professionally.
-Became a telemarketer and managed to get out before it ate my soul.
-Moved down the street with Ren Faire friends to a nicer apartment.
-Worked as a caterer.

The Autumn-
-Went to Stronghold with a posse partially clad from my own closets.
-October 18- Went to a wedding and left with the love of my life.
-Became unemployed.
-Discovered what all of those economists are talking about.
-Continued to fall in love.

The Winter-
-Have I mentioned being in love?
-Got a job in a hat shop, not going to quit.
-Turned 23

So, Love, Career and Education all good. 2008 treated me well.

I'm sorry, Ansel. I can't let you do that.

So, I'm even less present than usual on the internet due to the death of my computer's ability to get me there. We'll see how that pans out in the coming days. Therefore, if it takes me a couple days to respond to something don't be offended or, for crying out loud, give me a call.

Loyola has been wonderful so far though buying textbooks was maybe not my favourite part of the collegiate experience. Luckily the list was light.

By Request

Hello Internet, apologies for my long absence. It has been a long time since I last had the chance to sit down and keep everyone updated. Hopefully that has come to an end today as I return to academia with a burgundy bowler and a smile.

For those of you who aren't my girlfriend, room mate or direct relative you may not have been kept in the loop so here is the skinny in the five minutes I have before I have to go back to class.

+ I will be studying for the next few months at Loyola University in lovely Chicago, IL. I have gained admission as a non-degree seeking student for the time being but am looking into Grad School here.

+ I have been Working at Hats Plus since early December and what was a temporary gig has turned into something a little more long term as I am now in charge of special projects like web site optimization and writing web copy. Mostly it means that I spend my work day locked in a box (office) with a monitor in front of me.

+ Tab and I have been making more and more outings so if you would like us to bring the cute to a home near you send me a message as I know many of you have been horrifically neglected and deserve better. Or, book Frobisher for your party or gathering. You know, if you want.

The New Year has been splendid and promises to be full of happiness and progress for us. I hope it bears the same gifts for all of you, my friends.