We figured out how to play VCDs on the laptop, so we were able to watch Rear Window last night. At the end of the movie, Grace Kelly was reading Beyone the High Himalayas, by William Douglas, former Supreme Court justice, who wrote various books about his travels.
I have narrowed down the search for wedding venues to about 12 locations in the area. Hopefully we'll be able to visit some of them soon and make a decision. Places are already full for the prime dates next year, so we'll probably have it on a Sunday.
Speaking of weddings, my cousin Christi, got married a couple of weeks ago, another friend is getting married next week in Greece, and my oldest friend just proposed to his girlfriend. Apparently it's the thing to do.
The Boy just finished his airborne school, so now he can jump out of airplanes. He's back in Alabama now, to finish up school and then he's joining the Alabama National Army Coast Guard, where he's going to go to Officer Infantry Training Camp School. Then he's going to be stationed in Iraq and the archaeological part of Afghanistan. Where he's going to lead his troop of men on archaeological expeditions and date hot chicks with veils. Some of whom, taking Julian's advice, will leave the veils on.
I'm off to Consett now. Which, by the way, sucks, except for their charity shops.. Grocery shopping calls. Someone has to lead an exciting life of danger and mystery.
We stayed in yesterday and I finished the latest Harry Potter, while Graham worked on the orchestrated version of "Blue". The day before we had decided to take the bus to Consett (Jenny: "Consett sucks") and then walk a little way along the coast-to-coast path to a pub that overlooks the valley, then walk back, do some grocery shopping, and return home. By the time we were half-way to Consett (which sucks, by the way) it had started drizzling and the blue skies that had been over Lanchester had disappeared. By the time the bus pulled into the Consett bus station (which really sucks), it was pouring. We ran into the shopping arcade nearby and had a look in the YMCA charity shop to kill some time. They had some random paintings of half-naked women for sale for �5 or so, but I wasn't sure it was the kind of investment that would pay off in the long run. Then I was looking at used books and saw one of those really old children's books that strikes today's viewers as appallingly racist. One could argue that back then, everyone was just appallingly racist, so it struck them as normal. If one were feeling more charitable, "ignorant" might be substituted. Anyway, I was looking at this book, thinking that despite, or perhaps because of its appalling nature, it was probably worth a lot of money to someone and would be a pretty good investment of 30p. Except that if it didn't sell, I would have to get rid of it, b/c it's not the kind of book one wants to see in a friend's house. And then I wondered what exactly the market would be -- Racist Literature professors? Racist grandparents looking for something to read to the grandkids when they visit? I suppose there are people who do legitimately study this stuff, but unless you are one of those people, you don't want to get caught with it, so I left it on the shelf. Perhaps I should have bought it, in order to avoid it inadvertently falling into the wrong hands [said with foreboding]. At any rate, if anyone knows any Racist Literature professors who are willing to pay top dollar for racist children's books, let me know. Graham found a beer book by Michael Jackson, England's top beer authority. Seriously.
After the YMCA shop, we went to Iceland, the frozen supermarket and then Lydl, the cheap, random European brands supermarket. By the time we stepped out of the store, it was blue skies and sunshine and perfect for a walk. So we got on the bus and went back home.
Lanchester
As I mentioned on the front page, there's a new niece in the family. Katie Hannah will be joining her siblings Amy, 9, Liam, 7, Andrew, 6, and Ben, 1.5. We're not quite sure how Paul and Sarah are going to keep the kids. We're thinking a stacking system might be the way to go, or perhaps suspending their beds from the ceiling.
Graham started work today at Northumbrian Water, which is presumably the local water supply company, though he was reading their annual report and said that they're diversifying. Possibly into the frozen and gaseous forms of water?
Two new board games to report on. We found Othello and Go For Broke! in Consett (a town nearby). Apparently Go For Broke! was a game that Graham had when he was little. Othello's great b/c it's like chess, but doesn't require as much thinking. We also now have two decks of cards, so we can play Canasta.
Lanchester
Having had a couple of days at home with the computer, I've figured out some really obvioius things about the Geocities Pagebuilder program, hence the slightly redesigned webpage. Who knew you could customize colors? Oh, everyone? Really?
Graham is off at work and it's looking as though he might be able to find something a bit more permanent soon. I'm in contact with an archaeologist at the Oriental Museum at the University of Durham, who will hopefully need help with something archaeological. We'll see.
Lanchester, County Durham, UK
Well, I'm starting Journal XXXI, which is ironically enough, more exciting than Journal XXX. Go figure.
We've settled in up here. We're in a nice village and are getting to know the people at the shops in town. I'm easy to remember as I have a funny accent. There's a really cute library in a nice old building. It's small, but has a well-selected collection. I just finished reading Bill Bryson's "Notes on a Small Island", which is helping me understand the Brits. There's a Red Cross charity shop, where we found the classic version of Trivial Pursuit for �3! Since losing most of the jobs in the region when the coal mines closed, there have been lots of charity (second-hand) shops, which is great for us. We took a walk to a nearby village yesterday and found Backgammon for �1! We now have all the classic board games: chess/checkers, backgammon, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, and Scrabble, which makes our lack of a television easier to handle. It's not so much the television that I miss. It's that the only device on which we are able to play disks is Graham's laptop, but that only plays CDs/VCDs and all that we have in that format is South Park. We've been here for over two weeks now and all we hvae to watch is South Park. We have most of the episodes on disk, so we haven't had to see too many reruns, but after a while it gets to be a bit much.
Birthday!
My birthday was two days ago and Mavis and John (Graham's parents) took us to Fountains Abbey. First we stopped for lunch at the Black Sheep brewery, which was very nice and got to see a bit of Yorkshire. Fountains Abbey was built from the 13th to 15th century and then closed by Henry VIII. It's in a rather ruined state, because Henry sold the roofs for lead scrap, but that makes parts of it even more interesting. Instead of flooring, most of the ground is grassy, so the nave is a row of columns open to the sky with a grass floor. Unfortunately, as with most castles we've visited so far, the dungeons, or doors that look the most promising in terms of secret cool passageways, have been locked.
Lanchester, Co. Durham, UK
Graham and I are settling in well. London has been pretty hectic lately, so being in the north is a welcome break. We've visited several places in the area, including a couple of castles in Northumberland, Hadrian's Wall, and Hull! The library gave me a card without any ID check b/c I'm engaged to Dot Jackson's grandson, so I'm able to use the internet. We should be getting a landline soon and then I should be able to use Graham's laptop from home, so you should hear more from me in the future.
July 12, 2005
Bishop Auckland, County Durham, UK
Hello all! Safe and sound in northern England. I arrived the morning of the London bombings and Graham and I had to walk half-way across the city to get to the Snodgrasses' that evening (after spending all day in the pub watching TV), but we're okay.
I'll keep you posted as events unfold. I should be writing much more regularly than I did in DC.
Cheers!
