Road Trip

I'm not going on a road trip, but Jed and our good friend from college and Jed's roomie for 3 years are in Scotland and Northern England for a couple of days. I think that they are having a fun time. Jed said that the drive up the A1 that goes along the coast of England is gorgeous. I went to Edinburgh in March 06, (have I been over here that long?!) to see Nickel Creek perform and to visit a friend who was studying abroad in Edinburgh. Right now the big festival is happening so I think that Jed and Colin will get a different taste of Edinburgh that I did. I bet that Jed will blog about it when he gets back.

I had my first wedding nightmare last night! I won't bore you with the details of the dream, but I thought that it was 3:20 when it was actually 4:20 and the wedding was supposed to start at 4:00. All of the guests were patiently waiting for the ceremony to start, but my hair was unwashed, up in a pony, and I was not in my dress. I wonder how many more nightmares I'll have before 29th December?

In other news, I'm back to work on Monday. Three more weeks and then my 3 plus years at CA is over.

I thought about going into London for the day, but I have a few things to do in Cambridge. I might though go and see the Simpsons movie tonight. I want to see it, but Jed doesn't have much interest. People have said that it's pretty funny, not great, but glad that they went.

Pictures site

Yesterday I went through some of my pictures and posted them to Picasa. If you click on the link "My pictures" on the right hand side, you'll be able to see them. Cool, huh?

My parents

My mom and dad came over last week and visited me for about a week. It was so good to see them and I think that they enjoyed seeing me and getting to know Jed more. We went punting one day and we also picked a place to have our wedding reception. Its' going to be at the Cambridge Garden House which is in walking distance of the chapel where we are getting married. The hotel is nice and it's going to be decorated for Christmas. We haven't decided what kind of food we are going to have, but it might an "English Christmas" themed dinner. I know that English food is thought to be bad, don't worry, we'll make sure that it tastes good.

Here's are two pictures of my parents on the River Cam.





Jed also had to move house last weekend. We are getting to be expert movers w.o using a moving company or even a car. Here's a silly picture of Jed wearing our friend's trench coat and "walking his chair" and carrying a lamp during the moving process.

Visitors

I don't do a very good job of keeping this blog updated. :(

My parents are coming over today. Actually they leave Atlanta tonight and will arrive in Cambridge mid-day tomorrow. We're planning to do a bit of wedding preparation, go punting, and see a concert at Kings. I can' wait to have them there. I'm also joining my church on Sunday and my parents are coming to that. Jed and I have a friend from Bowdoin coming over for about a week and a half starting Aug 7 or so. We'll probably take him punting too! We really do like to punt.

I think that I'm going to end my job on 31 Aug. That's when my visa expires. Should I apply for other jobs in case my Cambridge job falls through?

The band Uncle Earl is coming to the UK in the fall. Let's hope that I have a job and can buy a ticket!

The flooding over here is terrible. I'm not directly affected by it, but it's so sad to read about the situation in the papers.

Jed's computer is on the fritz. Ah!

Must do some tidying before my parents come.

garden

I can't really post b/c I'm at work, but Jed and I have decided that we're going to fix up our garden at 53 Selwyn Road. Jed and I dug a lot out a lot of weeds on Saturday night. I'll post some before and after pics next weekend. (That's when I'm getting Internet). Saturday was such a great day.

Congratulations, Jed!!

Congratulations to Jed, winner of the 2007-2008 Sidney Sussex Studentship!

this is my new idea

this

I think that I can do it if I start training now. I only want to do the half, not the full. I might convince Jed to do it w. me, but he'll probably only have to start training in early September.

Also, I went to Wimbledon yesterday! It was so much fun and very inspiring. I'll post more about it later. I don't have Internet at home (yet) so I haven't been able to post much recently.

Merlefest Live

I didn't get to go to Merlefest this year. I've actually never been to Merlefest, but I really want to go sometime. Anyway, I just realised that I can listen to the shows online!

Here's the link. Enjoy the great Tunes--check out the Infamous Stringdusters and Uncle Earl. I would say to check out Crooked Still, but I'm tired of them right now. I have yet to listen to the New Generation SuperJam, but I will tonight. I can't turn up the volume loud enough on my work computer to hear it in its full glory.


PS-skf, the book is called the Girls! I wish that I could let you borrow it!

a home!

Jed and I decided to rent the house on Selwyn Road. I'm moving in on Monday and Jed's moving in on December 30th. I feel like the only thing that I post about on this blog is where I'm living/not living. I'll post some pictures of it once I've moved in.

Commuting is going fine. I cycle to the rail station, 30 min. Wait for train, 10 min. It's always packed and you have to assert yourself in order to get a seat. The train ride is 1 hr. Then I take the Tube three stops and walk about 10 minutes to my office. Usually every trip something goes not exactly to plan. Example: I'm on the train and then an announcement comes on and says that we'll be delayed b/c a car has run into a bridge that we have to cross and engineers have to check it before we pass. Or--Baker Street is closed due to fire so I have to get off at Great Portland Street and take a bus. Or--it's raining like mad, not English rain, America rain, and I have to push my bike rather than cycle. (I'm still getting used to cycling).

Last week I read a novel that was written as an autobiography from 2 conjoined twins. Jed though that I was a little sick for reading a book like that, but I actually really enjoyed it. They had a great bond as sisters and completely took care of the other one. I know that it is really sad for people to live conjoined. I'll have to read some of the books that people suggested to me.

Americans are so funny

I went out to the big Sainsburys to get some light bulbs and on my way home I passed The American School in London. I knew that the American School was right around the corner, but I had never actually seen it. I felt that it was my duty as an American to see if before I left London. Anyway, the first thing that I heard when I walked by in a very American accent was "oh yeah, she was like...". The next phrase I heard was "like, yeah". I just laughed.

Tonight is my last night in this cute little flat. I'm going to miss London. There's so much that I haven't done here! Ah. I feel like the England chapter of my life is closing. It's not closing at all. It's just going to be different.

success!

I had a really productive weekend in Cambridge. I now have a place to live from late June until the end of September. This is great b/c it should give Jeddie and me enough time to find a place where we can both live come December. The room is in a nice family home in Newnham, the loveliest of the lovely places in Cambridge. The owner, just one woman lives there, is a medical doctor and she's going to South Africa and Indonesia for chunks of the summer. She needs someone to keep an eye on the house and tend the garden. She also has a 16 year old cat that needs to be fed. I'm a little nervous about the cat b/c it is so old. The rent is super cheap which is great b/c daily train tickets from Cambridge to London are not super cheap.

Also... I bought a bike. Now I can cycle all around Cambridge. It came with a lock, lights, and mud guards. I just have to fit it with a basket. I want a wicker, not metal basket. I also bought a helmet that has very small Chinese characters on it. You can't really see that it's Chinese writing unless you look closely. I'm not sure what it says.

Jed was a huge help in moving all of my stuff to Cambridge. He has welts on his shoulders from carrying a HUGE duffel bag on his back. We (Jed) only have to move that bag 2 more times this summer. Jed is also being really sweet and letting all of my stuff invade his room.

I'm going to be a commuter

It looks like I'll be commuting from Cambridge to London for the next two plus months. Does anyone (all 3 people who read this blog?) have suggestions of books that I should read on the train?

moving

I feel like I move every six months. Here is where I've lived since College graduation: (almost exactly 3 years ago!)

1. 316 (or something) C Street, Cambridge June 04-Aug 04
2. 248 S Street, Somerville, Sept 04-Aug 05
3. 32 I Street, Cambridge Sept 05- Dec 05
4. 11c C, London, Jan 06-Aug 06
5. 33 B Ct. London, Sept 06-May 07

I don't know where I'm living next. A family from church has said that I can stay with them for a couple weeks and I'm going to do that. I also have a couple of rooms in Cambridge, (england this time) that I might let. I'm meeting two people on Saturday. We decided that the nice apt. was too nice for us. I still don't know if secondment will work. The lawyers initially said no, but I think that's b/c HR didn't explain the situation well. I'm getting a bit fed up that it's taking so long for HR to answer a simple question. I'll commute from Cambridge to London for a bit. That's okay--not at all the end of the world.

Every time I move I just pack up my stuff and get someone to help me. Every time I've move either my parents or Jed have helped me move. Well, from flat 2 to flat 3 I moved w. my roommate and a friend. I try not to have a lot of stuff and do a good clean out each time I move.

Ah, I'm accompany a client alone to a manager meeting. It's a mid-market/growth equity London based manager. It should be interesting. I need to think of good questions to ask.

Here's a link to a good youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s48B4dgHHp4

Saturday Morning

This morning I woke up to a brass band playing. It's the start of the cricket season at Lord's and they are having a game/match(?) today. It's the first time that the stadium has been full since I moved here. Cricket is one game that I still don't understand and I don't have much interest in understanding. People don't really cheer at Cricket games. I've been sitting with my window open for about 40 min. and I've only heard one polite 4 sec clap from the crowd. Not like the footy.

The stands are full here. Sorry that the trees take up so much of the picture.




I'm headed up to Cambridge in a couple of hours. I need to return a video before catching the train. We actually watched Borat the other weekend. I know, I know. I spent the morning tidying my flat. I had worked some long hours this week and it got dirty in the process. I'm going to go running in Regents Park in a little bit.

Not much else is happening here. Still no definitive word on the secondment idea. I do have a good lead on a place to live in Cambridge. It's actually in Newnham which is a really green area of Cambridge. It backs up to sporting grounds which back up to the meadows and the river. It would be a 20 min. walk for me to go to work and it's also close for Jeddie to walk to the UL or the Classics Faculty. I've yet to see the inside, but the desciption sounds charming. We'll see. I also likely have a place to live post 6 June in London. I'm not worried about being homeless. I'm also just trying to be really patient about not knowing the outcome of the secondment.

I'm sure that JEd will give you a full rundown of the conference on his blog, but the first day went really well. People kept telling him that his paper was excellent! Yeah!! :)

Wedding

I'm realising that I need to start planning our wedding. So far we have the chapel and the reception place booked, but that's it! Oh, we also have someone to play the organ and conduct the ceremony. Oh, and I have our marriage license application from the Archbishop of Canterbury. I never thought that they would legalize and bless my wedding! I keep telling myself that I'm going to wait until I move up to Cambridge to start planning, but now I don't really know when I'm going to move up there. I think that I'm going to start my master list tonight. I've been making one in my head, but that's not enough.

Here's a picture of the exterior and interior of chapel where we're getting married. The chapel will have a Christmas tree up b/c we are getting married at Christmas time and we'll also put up white candles along the side. I think that it will be really pretty.

visa issues

As my faithful readers know, I'm in the middle of trying to get a new job in country that is not my home country. It's likely to be a 2.5 month project before I get my Visa approved by the Queen. It's a bit of a hiccup, but I am reminding myself that in the scheme of things it is not a big deal. I have so much to be thankful for. I don't need to dwell on this.

Jed is giving a 40 min. paper at Oxford this Friday. I'm really excited for him b/c it's good practice to give papers and he will get to meet the leading ancient philosophers in England. We went shopping this weekend to get Jed a new shirt and tie to wear. I was successful at convincing him to buy a pink tie. Doesn't he look handsome? It was a great deal--shirt and tie for only 35 sterling.




I only worked 2 days last week so this week will be pretty busy. I need to be really productive at work.

Lugano

I'm back from 2 days in Switzerland. The meeting was WAY better than I had anticipated. I made friends and even met some people who are notorious in the private equity world.

Ah, here are a couple of pictures. THe first is a view from my hotel room, the second is the view from a vineyard where we had dinner. The fourth picture is a close of view of Lake Lugano. The last is a tram that takes people to their homes that are on the mountain. Ah. blogger won't let me post right now. I'll try tomorrow. Plus it is late and I'm super tired.


Oh, I do not recommend visiting salami factories. It is so gross to see mass produced raw meat. The butchers at this company train for 2-3 years and they really take pride in their work. Annual turnover is approx. 3% and jobs are often passed from father to son. The factory smelled like a mix of salami and ant-bacterial kitchen cleaner. Also, if there is anything more disgusting than watching the production of salami, it's the production of bologne.

No Monday Morning Blues

Today was the first of our May Bank Holidays so I didn't have to go to work. WE have another Bank Holiday on May 28th, I think. I spent the weekend in Cambridge. Ah, I had such a lovely time. On Saturday morning I looked at two flats while Jed did some work. The first one that I saw was a room in a house. It was really small--too small. I liked the second studio that I saw, but the landlady just sent me an email saying that they had decided to let it to another person who was likely to stay for 18 months. If I let a studio it needs to be a 6 month let b/c I'm going to have a housemate in December. :) However, it I can find a reasonably priced and reasonably sized 1 bedroom, then Jeddie can move in in December. We'll see. I probably look at flats next Saturday. I've been trying to do this w.o an estate agent, but I may need one.

I just discovered that Ricky Skaggs is playing at the Cambridge Folk Festival in July. Oh, I think that it's actually the weekend that my parents are in town--hmm.

Ah, I also had this Monday morning without JEd b/c he was giving a presentation on Aristotle. I went into the Oxfam book store and I saw a book called "Learning New Testament Greek". It was only 4 pounds so I bought it! It was published in the 1950's by Cambridge University Press--it's so old-fashioned. It would be great to be able to read the NT in Greek. I know that it's a major feat to learn an ancient language. I do have the world's best personal tutor. I think how busy my new job is will contribute to how much time I'm able to devote to learning Greek.

Adios amigos.

I love England in the summer

England in the spring is so lovely. Right now it stays light until 8:30-9:00 at night. In June/July it will start staying late until almost 10:00. This extended day is so welcome after the winter when it's dark, grey, cold, and rainy all day long. I'm sitting with my living room window open and I'm drinking a glass of white wine. I'd take a picture of the green outside, but I just checked my camera and it is out of batteries.

In about a week I'm going to Lugano, Switzerland for an annual meeting for a Swiss/German private equity firm. I have mixed feelings about this. One, I'm really excited b/c I've never been to Southern Switzerland/Northern Italy and it's supposed to be a beautiful area of the world. However, when I go to these meetings I always feel like I'm playing the Seasame Street game "one of these things is not like the other". It's usually about 10% women and I'm using the youngest person there by about 15 years. I try not to let it bother me, but I usually have quite a time making small talk. This one will be particulary difficult b/c it's a longer event. We even get to tour one of their portfolio companies which is a salami factory. The only reason that I'm going to this event is b/c 5 people "ahead" of me couldn't attend.


OH! Jed and I have a date for the wedding. On December 29 2007 I'll be Claire Atkins. :) CBA. I'm kinda sad to see my middle name Larson leave.

Wayside (Back in Time)

Here is possibly my favourite musician in the world covering a Gillian Welch tune, Wayside Back in Time. A few days ago I listended to this song on my ipod at work and I realised that there's a line in this song that comes from Shady Grove. The line in Shady Grove is "Peaches in the summer time, apples in the fall if I can't have the one I love, I won't have none at all". The line in Wayside is "Peaches in the summer time, apples in the fall, if I can't have you all the time I won't have none at all". Cute.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to become hard of hearing b/c I listen to my ipod so much. I can't help but listen to it at work b/c I am very bored there. My job is fine and I'm trying to have a good attitude there, but I am tired of it. I went up to Oxford today for an Investment Committe meeting at one of the colleges. They took our recommendations.

so long

I haven't posted to this blog in a long time! Ah, Jed and I are engaged!! I'm so thrilled and can't wait to be married to him. We're planning on getting married in his college's chapel in late December. We'll know in a bit if that's an option. If not we'll have to look for other places around Cambridge. My other big news is that I might have a job at the University. It's still too early to know for sure, but I should know by this Friday.

If you want to read our "engagement story" click on Jed's blog on the right. He's a really good writer.

We have had wonderful weather in England! The marathon was yesterday and the whole race was slower b/c of the heat. Jed and I have spent a lot of time outside. We went hunting for cycles on Saturday. We just went to a few places and priced them. We'll probably end up getting them at the neat store near the rail station.

I have no idea when I'll next be back in the States. Jed might go in Jan. 08 to a conference, but I probably would not go with him. It's bizarre not to know when I'll be back home, but I'm trying to think of England as home for now.

Divided America

My dad and uncle's new book came out earlier this week. I'm really proud of them. It's the first time that they have published with an non-academic publisher. You can grab a copy of the book on Amazon--it's pretty cheap, only $17 for a hard cover book. Here's the cover and a review:



"For a generation, Earl Black and Merle Black have been enlightening Americans about the politics of the South. It is both a sign of the times and a blessing for all who love politics that they have turned their analytical genius and clarity of thought to regional politics in the whole country. This book would have been important even without the electoral earthquake of 2006. Now it is more important than ever in providing a road map for 2008 and beyond. You can't understand the future of American politics without understanding the importance of the new regionalism. To understand how it works and why it matters, you need to read Divided America."
-- E. J. Dionne, Jr., syndicated columnist and author of Why Americans Hate Politics

all the Queen's horses

Hi there.

I've haven't blogged in a long time. I don't have a computer at home, but hopefully I'll have one after Jed and I go to Atlanta on 22 March. It's 9:00 and I'm doing my taxes at work on a saturday night. :) I'm really looking forward to our trip back to my parent's home. The 22nd is Julia's 21st birthday and my whole family plus Jed is going to see Crooked Still play at Eddie's Attic. Ah, Crooked Still--they are the bluegrass band that I've blogged about previously. I wonder if Rushad will lead us in another meditation---fairies, angels.


These are the Queen's horses marching on my street. They are coming back from practise in Hyde Park.

hiya

I'm hanging out at work waiting for my collegue to finish his section of the materials so that we can send them off to the client. I'll be glad to get this off of my plate. The only negative thing is that this is just the draft, so edits will follow. This client brings in the most reveue for our London office--no mistakes for them.

Jed came down for Valentine's Day, and we went to possibly the most unromantic resturant in London--Wagamamas. Wagamamas is a noodle bar and you sit next to people who you don't know. It was really yummy.

murder

There was a murder about a 5 min. walk from my flat. I live right between Council Flats (gov't sponsored housing) and beautiful multi million pound homes. The murder happened at 7:50 PM last Wednesday. The big metal sign that the City of Westminster posted said that an 18 year old died from injuries that he got after people got out of a car and beat him. It's pretty scary and very sad. Sometimes I'm walking there right around 7:50. I'll have to take the other route by the cricket pitch in the future.

sunbured--what!?!?!?

Jed and I got sunburned yesterday! Can you believe that there was enough sun in England ever, let alone February, to cause damage to our skin? It's not a bad burn at all, and I don't even think that you can tell today. It was such a beautiful day yesterday that we took a walk along the river to Grantchester. There were loads of other people out, and we even saw a family from Jed's church.

Then we went to Borders b/c we had some time to kill before meeting friends for dinner. We usually go to Borders when we have a spare hour b/c I love to look at the American magazines--Real Simple, People, Oprah, etc. Jed will sometimes read either an American sports magazine, "I like them b/c i know that they won't talk about cricket or football on every page." or pick up a book.

Knitting--my hat is almost done! I bought some double pointed needles which i'll need in just a few more row.

Okay, have to get ready for church.

The English and Happy Birthday DADDY!

I've been over in England for just over a year now. I now know which way to look when I cross the street, I don't confuse 5 pence pieces for 10 pence pieces, I don't have to carry my A to Z every time I leave my flat, I'm used to the word loo, etc. However, there is one thing that I'm not used to at all. When English people are being really posh they refer to people by their titles not by their names. I watched The Queen last night and Queen Eliz. would say "I'll have to ask the Duke of Edinburgh..." when referring to her hubby! But, it's not only in the movies that people do it! I was on the phone with a client and he said, "Oh, right, yes, I'm not sure how to handle that. I'll have to ask the Provost." It's slightly Harry Potter ish to me. You know how they won't mention Lord Voldermot by name...

In other news...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

Banjos

I'm back in London! I've been back for about 3 weeks now but I don't have a computer at my flat anymore. I spilled Diet Coke on my laptop. It made some sizzling sounds and then died. I haven't taken it to get fixed. I'm not sure that I'm going to get it fixed. I tend to waste time on the computer and there is no time to waste.

Last weekend I got to hear one amazing banjo player and another good banjo player. The first guy was Bela Fleck, arguably the greatest banjo player the world has ever known. In my mind Chris Thile is the greatest mandolin player the world has ever know and Jerry Douglas is the greatest Dobro player the world has ever known. Anyway... Fleck was playing with his band the Flecktones. I don't really appreciate the Flecktones. They have a guy who plays the electric bass, Victor, a horn player (mostly saxophone), and the FutureMan who plays the syntax drumatar. The SD is an instrument that he created. Think of it as a guitar that makes electronic drumming noises when Futureman presses little buttons. In my opinion the Flecktones take away from the Fleck. Thankfully they gave Bela about 10 min. at the end of the show to do his own thing. He played a medley of things including bluegrass, some Bach, and some innovative stuff. Bela doesn't read music. I just smiled the whole time and was really happy. I'm not sure why I liked the banjo so much. I think that I like the plucking/metallic sound that it makes and I like the way that it does sounds when it's contributing to the rhythm of a song. Fleck also seems to be quite a humble performer. He was fun to watch. You could easily see that he loved playing music.

If you are interested in hearing some Fleck, I would recommend the CD Music For Two. It's a classical duet with Bassist Edgar Meyer. I really like the song "The One I Left Behind".


Here's a picture of Fleck and Futureman. Yes, Futureman is dressed as a pirate. This is when Fleck, Victor, and Futureman were doing an old NewGrass Revival Song.










Then Jed came to London on Monday and we saw Boston based Crooked Still play at a little venue in Soho. Their banjo player Greg Liszt was just on the Seeger Session tour with The Boss. He's pretty fun to watch on stage, but their cello player really dominated their music. Their song Mountain Railroad has a good banjo part. I don't' think that Crooked Still will stay around that long. Most if not all of their members are members of other bands and seem to have other interests. Also, while I enjoy their music, it admittedly gets a little old after a while.

Jeremy Bentham

Today Jed and I went on the hunt for Jeremy Bentham. It was a really pretty day for January England so we walked through Regents Park and then over to UCL. Here's a picture. During the summer this pond is filled w. paddle boats.

Bentham is a utilitarian who was instrumental in the founding of UCL in 1826. Back then Oxford and Cambridge were the only real choices for university, but they were only open to the rich and church going. UCL was the first university in England to admit anyone without regard to creed, political, or religious beliefs.

Bentham asked that his body be preserved for all to see. Now he is in a big cabinet in the main building at UCL. He was closed today. Here's a picture of Jed in front of Bentham's "grave". Apparently his head used to be there, but it has since been removed.

I was thinking that it's kinda irreverent to be blogging about him--but I think that it's what he would have wanted.