For all My Friends with Girlfriends/Wives

One of my favorite pastimes is helping my friends dream-up gifts for their loved ones. So I'm tickled to death to find this interesting service that helps dudes create one-of-a-kind games they can play with their girlfriend or wife. It's called games for her by you. I have no reason to buy one, myself … but I'm betting — based on the well conceived website — that these are top-notch.

Around the Flat | Part IV of Driving to London

The original plan had been for me to land at Heathrow at 6am, speed through customs, then hope the Tube to attend church at the Hyde Park chapel... but landing an hour late and then spending two hours in a line at customs kinna shot that plan in the foot. So I headed straight to the flat in Covent Garden, instead.

I love London — I'd say I love England, but I've only ever seen London, so I don't want to jump ahead of myself — but I must say that their building habits are a little, um, odd... things like having the light switches to rooms outside of the room, or having the door knob in the center of the door (which makes leveraging the door closed or open really really awkward). Anyway, I was reminded, upon my arrival at the flat, just how odd things were to my American sensibilities.

But it's okay... I eventually figured out how to enter the building, unlock the flat door, and turn on the light to the bathroom. Eventually.

Once inside, I debated with myself whether I should power through the day until bed time (a really good plan to defeat jet lag quickly), or take a short nap... I opted for the nap. My feet hurt, I was a little smelly from the trip... so a nap was in order. About an hour later, I got up and rang Mihaela, and we made plans to meet-up a little later. So I had a bite to eat, got familiar with the computer, internet, and television set-up, then headed around the block to the Covent Garden market to get my bearings.

I had been here a number of times in the past, so I was eager to reacquaint myself with its nooks and crannies. I had a blast... and when Mihaela joined me, I showed her all around. She joked that she should be showing me around, since this was her home... but I can't help myself. I'm a born tour guide.

We spent the next few hours wandering the streets, and I did my best to not buy stuff (it was, after all, Sunday) — but I did take note of where the Tin Tin shop was for later perusal. At the end of the day, she and I headed back around the corner to the little pasta shop across the street from my flat for dinner.

It was the perfect first day in London (thanks Mihaela!).

Next Stop: Charing Cross Road!
__________________

Photos from this leg of the trip can be found at my flickr account... starting with this photo I took from the flat's livingroom window.

Back from London

So, I've just returned from a short vacation across the pond in London. It was a wonderful (WONDERFUL!) trip... and I can't thank my bud Gareth enough for hosting me nor Mihaela enough for taking time off here-and-there to play.

The trip, strangely enough, began by driving to Los Angeles — with a stop-over in Las Vegas to see my sister and her family — to wish an old roommate well on the eve of his wedding. I then took-off from LAX for a flight to London with a stop-over in Chicago. I had hoped to attend church with Mihaela Sunday morning, but snow delays in Chicago and two hours spent in London customs (good GRIEF) nipped that in the bud. Instead, I went straight for Gareth's and a short nap. After that, I walked the city a bit and then met-up with Mihaela to show her around a bit (this wasn't my first time to London, and she hooted that she should be showing her around... but she enjoyed getting the night off from playing tour guide). The plane ride wasn't all bad, of course... I met a delightful woman named Felicia, on her way to London with a pal before heading to South Africa on Fullbright.


MONDAY

I woke well-rested and set-out to see some more of the city. I focused on the book sellers of Charing Cross Road, and picked-up tickets to see the London production of History Boys, that night. Lunched at a wonderful little tandoori restaurant called Saint Martin's Spice, then headed over to the London Business School to see Mihaela before returning to Covent Garden for the play.


TUESDAY

Slept like a baby again, and woke to Gareth fumbling with his keys as he returned from his week-end out-of-town. I had accidentally locked him out. I was installed comfortably in his bed, so he crashed on the couch for an spell before he headed in to the office (OUCH!). After my morning routine, I set-out to do a little food shopping for a dinner party Gareth and I were hosting that night...

The whole day was a lot of fun — shopping, cooking, and chatting the night away.


WEDNESDAY

Wednesday morning, I took it slowly — I hate to rush while on holiday — and didn't get out of the flat until after one. From there, I hoofed it up to the New London Architecture... and shot plenty of photos on my stroll. After drooling over all the amazing maps and maquettes, I hopped the tube back over to Baker Street to catch-up with Mihaela. We chatted, then took the tube out to Notting Hill, where Manu (her amazing boyfriend) joined us for a walk up to this amazing little book store that specializes in food literature and cookbooks. I'd found it on my last trip to London, and was determined to return.

From there we headed down to Victoria Station and the Apollo Victoria to see Wicked. I flirted with Adam, one of the theater workers while they ran-off to find some pizza for Manu (no complaints), and then we settled-in for a delightful evening of song, dance, and deciphering.


THURSDAY

My last day in London wasn't as sunny as the rest of my trip... but no bother. I packed in the morning, then walked over to St Jermyn to do some clothes shopping, and then up to the Marlybone high street to window-shop a spell. Gareth met me there for dinner at Fish Works — and he treated, which was especially nice.


FRIDAY

Breakfast at Paul with Gareth, then a tube ride to Heathrow and my 11am direct flight to LAX. The plane ride was nice... no new friends made, but I did catch edited versions of Running with Scissors and Little Miss Sunshine. So no complaints... landed in LAX and spent 15 minutes in customs (way to GO!)... and then six HOURS snarled in LA traffic. Ugh. I had hoped to sleep at my sister's in Las Vegas, but I was full-on hallucinating in Victorville, so I got a hotel.


SATURDAY

Got into Las Vegas at 9am and spent the morning with my sister, my niece, a nephew, and one of his best friends. Sissy treated us all to lunch at PF Chang (I had never been before) before I hit the road one last time... and I finally collapsed in my very own bed last night at 10 pm.

That's not all I have to say, of course, but that's enough for now... pictures and more stories to follow!

:)


PS... Now that I'm back, I can let it out of the box that the poem The Frail Light of Light is a short homage (no pun intended) to the men of London... which means I've changed the word "subway" to "tube".

Eine Kleine LightMusik

So. Um. I want one.

Dr Binky

Came across this interesting medicine-administering baby pacifier from Kidz-Med during my surfing this morning, and I thought it would be useful to all my readers with kids.

: )

Hat tip: CoolTools

Another Football/Soccer Post

Watch the adorable soccer kid commercial above... then, when you're in the mood to buy some sporting equipment, buy it from Fairtrade Sports. Leave the irony of buying children's toys made by slave children in the past.



( Hat tip: Seth Godin's post on Fairtrade Sports )

Insect Lab

Christmas is over, but a boy can still dream, right?

Mike Libby's artwork is amazing, and I wouldn't mind owning one or two of his current works.

Um... Pee, Poo, and Germs

This post is a gift to all my readers with small children, or young nephews and neices ( man, we need a categorical term for that, don't we — like "siblings" or "cousins"... hm... ).

Enjoy: Pee, Poo, and Germs.

I'll take one, please.

It would seem, dear Santa, that December 6th is fast approaching... and I haven't told you what I want yet. Well, this is what I want: a Nixie Tube Clock, in either wood or chrome, with 10 or so spare nixie tubes for good luck. And yes, I have been a ( pretty ) good boy this year.

Okay, maybe not _this_ good... but I'm a firm believer in yuletide generosity.

Mmm... My Hands Smell of Mint

I've been accused of living through my nose.

It's no secret: I can smell you a mile down the road. I notice when you change your deodorant or perfume or cologne ( do you really have to wear that stuff... really? ) — and I can generally tell the difference between natural scents and petrochemical ones — and I like that I have such a sensitive sense of smell. Because of this, though, I really don't care much for scented any thing... not candles, not fabric softener... nothing. And that's mostly because these scents are all artificial: brazenly so.

So it's nice to come across personal care products that use natural scents.

That's why I was so happy to find Herban Essentials... and I was especially happy to see that they offered wet wipes. Wet wipes are a necessary evil ( I keep a stash in my car's glove compartment ). They're necessary because I hate sticky fingers. They're evil because they smell like a cosmetics counter. Ew.

But no more: I ordered a sample pack and they arrived today... mmm very nice.

: )

And you know what's nicer? This is a little company with thoughtful employees, who sent me some extra goodies when FedEx lost my first order. How cool is that?

So anyway... my hands now smell of mint... mmm.

I Dig Felt

Mm... I wanna pair of these ( I'm a size 40, if you're feeling generous )...




* sigh *

Can't wait until winter.

A little Amazon Goodness...

So. Paul Bausch of all sorts of fame rolled-out an update to his amazing Amazon feed-builder.

What's the big deal? Well, I'm a big fan of Wendell Berry and Craig Thompson, of Naguib Mahfouz and books about New Urbanism... and now, with the help of PB's delicious feed-builder, I'll be notified whenever something new comes from any of these authors or meets the "New Urbanism" search criteria, so I can add them to my Amazon wish list... and I think that's pretty darn cool. Add that to Amazon's pre-existing wish list feeds, which let you monitor other people's wish lists for additions ( you can find a wish list's feed on its "home" page ), and I'm in heaven.

Thanks, PB!

Author's note: So, as a direct result of the feeds I subscribed to this weekend, my Amazon wish list has grown from 1600 to more than 1800 items. Good heavens!

My Own Private Idaho Island

So I swung by Doc's place to visit for a spell last night before dropping by the Tavernacle to see what the hype was all about ( fun show... smoke-free environment... would have been better with a friend, but it's just not my scene ), and he was reading a newsletter from a company that specializes in selling/brokering the sale of private islands, worldwide.

Man! This is a dream I've had since I realized at age 8 that I wouldn't be able to buy Montana and secede from the Union.

* drools *

I'll take this one, and this one, and these two... and this one... and ...

Curiouser and curiouser...

I'd like to introduce you to the absolutely intoxicating art of Jessica Joslin.

Thanks Drawn!

Complexification

A few days ago on Drawn, they featured the computational artistry of J Tarbell.

It's absolutely amazing! I just wish they'd get their catalog of available works up: I wanna buy a giant Substrate print for my new office.

: )

Mm Tasty: Bacon Strip Bandages!

Behold... the power of BACON! ... from Sprout Home.

Hat tip: Mighty Goods.

Wishlist: Cuboro Building Blocks

I would have just put them in my Amazon Wishlist... but Amazon doesn't list them.

* sigh *

I'm a sucker for cool toys.

: )

Goodies from the Ether

I'll get around to my year-end post soon enough... so please indulge me while I mention a wonderful surprise that I got last week: a gift from my wishlist (the best way to view it is to sort by priority... if I could figure out how to craft a URL that does that, I'd be so happy!)!

Yeah, I know that gifts should come from one's wishlist... but that's not why I have mine. I have my wishlist to keep track of some 1300 books I'd like to buy for myself, and 300 or 400 other items — mostly music — that tickle my fancy as well. And I make it public because I think it's probably the best way to get to know me, short of chatting me up over dinner — which is a nice plus.

But here's the funny thing: because I link to it from my blog, my wishlist is registered under my pseudonym... and using my real address would kind of defeat my purposes in using a pseudonym. So my wishlist's shipping address is, um, not mine.

: )

So, I'm talking to a friend last week and they mention that they have something for me... and could I please come and get it. I swing by their place and there, in all its glory, is one of Amazon's trademark smiling boxes. It's a perfect image, as the box (and the smile) put a big smile on my face. But I couldn't recall having made an order... so I open it up, and there's a wonderful care package from an old friend. What a wonderful suprise... It still makes me all misty-eyed.

The package must have been waiting around for about a week... and it's been a week since I got it — what with the craziness of my move, and then my office's move, and my family's visit, and Christmas — so maybe now's a good time to take a second and give my old buddy a call.

Do you have a wishlist?

Gift Idea: Custom-made Jewelry

So a friend from way-back e-mailed me this morning with a link to an online shop that he and his wife have started... and I thought I'd share it:

Jewel's Jewels

It's a modest site, but the jewelry featured (specifically the necklaces) is lovely and sure to be lovingly crafted.

Font Goodness: Gentium (A Typeface for the Nations)

SIL releases Gentium — an amazing font with astounding aspirations — for FREE.

Gentium is a typeface family designed to enable the diverse ethnic groups around the world who use the Latin script to produce readable, high-quality publications. It supports a wide range of Latin-based alphabets and includes glyphs that correspond to all the Latin ranges of Unicode.

The design is intended to be highly readable, reasonably compact, and visually attractive. The additional ‘extended’ Latin letters are designed to naturally harmonize with the traditional 26 ones. Diacritics are treated with careful thought and attention to their use. Gentium also supports both ancient and modern Greek, including a number of alternate forms. These fonts were originally the product of two years of research and study by the designer at the University of Reading, England, as part of an MA program in Typeface Design.

* drools *

It's not only ground-breaking in terms of scope... it's also a lovely, lovely typeface.

I've got mine... do you have yours?