Gentle readers, if there is one thing that you know about your friendly neighbourhood Nomad, it may well be that he likes doing new things.

Sometimes this takes the form of going to new places -- hence the "Nomad" name -- but, more generally, I enjoy and actively seek out new experiences. Right now, for instance, I am posting this entry from approximately 39,000 feet over Russia, as I fly to Japan. Posting from a plane? That's a new experience. Also, I have with me my brand new UK passport, but have left my US passport at home. Travelling solely as a Brit? That's also new for me.

Fun though these tidbits might be, they are little things. So, my dear friends, let me tell you of another new experience that I had yesterday. Much more interesting than in-flight WiFi, or the first stamp in my UK passport.

This picture, taken by my beloved [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat, is where we spent last night:


(click on picture for full version)


That would be the Natural History Museum in London.

For about five years now, the Natural History Museum has had a monthly sleepover event for children, which they call "Dino Snores". This involves an animal show and t-shirt making, before putting the kids to bed at midnight and then feeding them breakfast in the morning.

Museum nights for kids are not particularly uncommon. There are several other museums in London that do sleepover events for children, including the British Museum and the Science Museum. For that matter, I know that theAmericam Museum of Natural History in NYC also does its own sleepovers, and Chicago's Field Museum has Dozin' with the Dinos.

What makes the Natural History Museum different is that they also do a sleepover event for adults: "Dino Snores for Grown-Ups".

Apparently, after they started doing the monthly Dino Snores, they started getting questions about doing an event without the children. So, back in 2012, that is precisely what they did. Dino Snores for Grown-Ups different from the original event in several ways. It is a much smaller event, capped at about 200 people. It is also much pricier -- the kids' "Dino Snores" costs £52 per person; the adult version is £175 a head. However, it also comes with a heck of a lot more -- like a three course dinner, a selection of activities to choose from (rather than a fixed plan). And, of course, no "bedtime" at midnight.

Here is what our Dino Snores evening was like last night:
  • At 19:30, we arrived at the Natural History Museum, just as things were getting started. We set up camp in the Central Hall with our sleeping pads right next to Dippy, the Diplodocus skeleton seen in the picture above. We also met up with our friends C&J, who were joining us for the evening. After taking some pictures, we popped over to the bar (something else not present at the kids' event) to grab a couple of drinks.

  • At 20:30, we were brought into the restaurant for the aforementioned three course meal. As we ate, there was a raffle with some silly prizes from the souvenir shop given out. The only one that I really wanted was the dinosaur head puppet... but, alas, we did not win. Even so, the food was good, as was the company and the conversation.

  • At 22:30, directly following dinner, we had a choice of stand-up comedy or a talk on the sex lives of insects. The four of us opted for the latter. It was a good choice. The scientist giving the talk was quite the stereotype -- the nerdy, slightly frumpy "fly girl" with big glasses who talked with great gusto about all these different insect penises. It was a great talk and quite entertaining. Gauging from the audience reaction, everyone there had a fantastic time. I know we did!

  • At 23:30, we had another choice to make: We could eat some of the bug genetalia that we had just learned about, as there was an edible insect tasting. Or we could attend an interactive video presentation about evolution. C&J went to eat bugs. Meanwhile, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat had no interest in joining them and, as a vegetarian, I cannot do so. Thus, our choice for this slot was easy. Whilst J was taking pictures of C chowing down on bugs, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I learned about the ways in which we are related to other hominids, lungfish, parasitic worms... and bananas. Personally, I'm more pleased to have bananas in my family tree than I am about those parasitic worms.

  • At 00:30, the museum galleries were opened. We went to see the Hall of Mammals and the Whale Hall. Then we took a break to pop back over to the Central Hall bar for more drinks and snacks before it closed at 01:00 (though the free tea & coffee would stay available until 02:00). There was live music in the Central Hall -- the harpist provided a lovely atmosphere for the setting. Soft and pretty, but subtle and unintrusive. Next, we took our sweet time going through the special exhibit on this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Checking out the WPotY exhibit is an annual tradition for [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I. However, we normally have to fight our way through a crush of people when we go during regular museum hours. Going at night was a lovely change of pace -- with only a handful of other people in the gallery, we practically had a private viewing!

  • At 02:30, the museum galleries closed. Some folks started going to bed; we gathered to hear ghost stories about the museum. Apparently, there are tales going back to the museum's Victorian origins, and other stories dating back only to recent weeks. Much of the haunting seems to take place at three o'clock in the morning... so it was rather amusing when the lights had an unscheduled switch-off for a minute or two at 03:00!

  • At just after 03:00, once the ghost stories were over, most people went back to the Central Hall to get some sleep. For those of us who preferred to keep going, there was a movie marathon. We had several choices but, not surprisingly, the vote went quite easily to Jurassic Park. Which, I may add, I had never seen before. J started to doze partway through, and went off to bed. Meanwhile C and [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I stayed to watch the film.

  • At 05:15, the next film voted in was Jaws. Which I have also never seen. C opted to stay, but [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I decided to get a couple of hours rest. I'm glad we did -- walking through the darkened museum to get back to our sleeping pads in the Central Hall was one of the best parts of the night. I hadn't expected this, but it was really cool being there, by ourselves -- most others were already asleep -- strolling through the dark halls as we peered into cases to see stuffed pandas and ostriches and whatnot inside. After brushing up, we got into bed around 05:30 and claimed a couple of hours of sleep. I had expected to stay up all night but, in retrospect, I think that this was the better choice. Falling asleep next to Dippy was also pretty awesome!

  • At 07:30, we arose -- waking up next to Dippy was pretty awesome, too! C&J were already awake -- indeed, C had never gone to bed. We got caffeinated with the tea and coffee being served in the restaurant and chatted whilst waiting for breakfast to be served.

  • At 08:00, breakfast was served. Nothing special, just a traditional full English breakfast, with a vegetarian version available. The freshly squeezed orange juice was rather yummy, though! During breakfast, we filled out feedback forms -- we each gave them a 10 out of 10 for the event. Also, prizes were awarded for the pictures taken and tweets tweeted during the event. Not being a twit, I hadn't even tried to win this one!

  • Finally, at 09:00, we packed up and headed home.

Definitely a new experience, and very different from anything that I've ever done before. I had a great time. I know [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat did, too, as we were only a few hours in when she said that we should do this again sometime. I'm game for that! C&J also had fun, and I'm glad that I could convince them to come out and play with us!

With no rest for the weary, I drove [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I back to Oxford and proceeded to pack for Japan. And, in about seven hours, Japan is where I will be.

I am rather delighted (or, as the Brits might say, "chuffed") to have done this. It was a spectacular experience. I don't know of any other museums that have overnights for adults, but I hope that more will pick up on the idea and it will become a trend.

Meanwhile, my friends, tis time for this Nomad to post his museum adventure and then try to get a little shuteye before landing. Be well, everyone, and talk to you soon!
anarchist_nomad: (Sunset over Key West)
( Jan. 11th, 2014 12:23 pm)
Dear friends, today is a very special day. Literally a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

For lack of a better term, today is my "halflife-versary" -- or merely "halflife" for short -- with my beloved [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat.

Not familiar with the term? I'm not surprised, as I coined it myself. Allow me to explain:

My relationship with [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat began on August 12th 1994. I was 7092 days old. Today is January 11th 2014, and my relationship with [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat is 7092 days old. (Not coincidentally, I am now 14,184 days old) As you can see, today marks the day where I have been with my dearest life partner for half my life.

If you think about it, this is somewhat of a "lopsided" celebration. I mean, birthdays are clearly about one person -- the birthday "boy" or "girl" -- and relationship anniversaries are generally about a couple. This "halflife" anniversary involves elements of both. The relationship lasting 7092 days is an achievement of both [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and myself... but the "half my life" status is particular to just me.[*]

By the way: If you are aware of an existing term to describe such a day, gentle readers, do feel free to let me know. Otherwise, I am going to continue to use my own makeshift terminology, calling this my "halflife" celebration.

Today is a day that I have been looking forward to for several years, and it marks a significant milestone. After all, from here on, I have spent more of my life in a relationship with [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat than not. Not quite sure how to express that transition in words, but it feels like a Big DealTM to me.

This is also an achievement that I am rather proud of. It is not unheard of by any means, and I know others who have achieved the same. But not many others. And especially not many who passed this point whilst still in their thirties. So yay for us! Huzzah!

To celebrate, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I will be heading into London for dinner in the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall, followed by a performance of Cirque du Soleil's "Quidam".

Thus, I will sign off now to spend the rest of the day with the aforementioned [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat. I wish all of my dear friends a very lovely Saturday!


[*] We will have a different halflife celebration in a couple of years when we reach the point where we have been together for half of [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat's life.
Last night, my beloved [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I made our first visit to London's Donmar Warehouse theatre to see a production of Coriolanus.

This production was special for us in a couple of ways and, actually, we were quite lucky to get tickets. All the seats for the two month run of this production sold out within half an hour. Tis only because I was at the ready, keyboard in hand, at the moment that they went on sale to the general public.

Part of the reason for the quick sellout is that the Donmar Warehouse is a rather small venue, with only 250 seats. The other part, which I did not realise when buying tickets months ago, is that the title role is played by Tom Hiddleston -- best known for portraying the recurring villain Loki in Marvel's cinematic universe. Indeed, it wasn't until after reading this NY Times review of Thor: The Dark World, that I became aware that we would be seeing "Loki" on stage.

Hiddleston was very good and, in a true testament to his ability as an actor, he played a character very different than Loki. The production was good, although I must confess that this is not one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. Indeed, I would say that it is my least favourite of the four Roman plays; Coriolanus is too flat of a character, lacking the depth of a Brutus, an Anthony, or a Caesar. To say nothing of a comparison with the brilliance of Titus Andronicus

At the end of the performance, I turned to [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and said: "That's it. We've done it." The woman next to me -- who had flown over from Ireland[*] to see Tom Hiddleston -- overheard and, being curious, asked what we had done. I explained to her that we have now seen every one of Shakespeare's extant plays performed live on stage. This one, Coriolanus, was the last of the lot. After nearly eight years of living in Merry Olde England, we have seen a live production of every single one of the Bard's thirty-eight plays.

Accomplishing this goal took a fair bit of hunting! As noted in this comment, I had seen 23 of the 38 after living here for two years and a bit. It then took over five more years to track down the remaining 15! After all, tis easy to find a Hamlet or a Midsummer Night's Dream or a Richard III or a Twelfth Night or a Henry V. Much more challenging to find a Timon of Athens or a Two Noble Kinsmen or a Cymbeline. Or a Coriolanus.

So, yes, it took time. And effort. Living in Oxford -- an hour's drive from Stratford-upon-Avon and two hours from London -- helped a lot. So did this page, which was a tremendous resource. It took work, but we did it. Every single one of the Bard's plays, live on stage. Mission accomplished. To be honest, that was even more of a treat than seeing Tom Hiddleston up close, from our third row seats.

Speaking of which, Hiddleston's performance continues a recent trend of seeing some Big Name ActorsTM tread the boards.

In October, we saw David Tennant perform the title role in Richard II at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. It was the first time that we have seen him on stage since 2008 and, quite frankly, he did much better at Richard than he did then in either Hamlet or Love's Labours Lost. In both of those shows, he was basically playing David Tennant, which didn't work so well -- particularly as Hamlet.[**] This time around, he only lapsed into himself once or twice; his Richard II was a suitably tragic king.

We then continue the trend next week in New York City, when we will be seeing Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen in Pinter's No Man's Land. I've seen each of these amazing actors on stage multiple times, but only once before have I seen them together. That was nearly five years ago, March 2009, when we saw them perform in Waiting for Godot. I'm not a Beckett fan, but they made that show well worth seeing. I suspect that they will do the same for Pinter next week.

Meanwhile, I sit here in the post-Solstice light, enjoying the gradual return of the newborn Sun, and contemplate what my next theatrical goal should be. I suggested seeing all of Alan Ayckbourn's plays -- currently 78 of them -- but this idea was swiftly vetoed by [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat.[***]


[*] Which is nothing compared to her friend, who had flown in from Canada to see Hiddleston!

[**] It's rather similar to how I enjoy seeing Jim Carrey act when he's not playing Jim Carrey.

[***] Mainly because, having seen roughly ten of his plays so far -- including six of the most recent eight -- we find the quality to be rather inconsistent. Some are quite good, and I particularly enjoy Communicating Doors. Others are rather disappointing. Definitely hit-or-miss with Ayckbourn. We will be seeing his latest, Arrivals & Departures in February, and I hope it is one of the good ones!

As mentioned previously, my beloved [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I celebrated our anniversary a couple of weeks ago by playing tourist in London. We finally blocked off time to see so many of the things that, because they were so close we could go at any time, we had never made time for.

One of the places that we visited on our anniversary weekend was Westminster Abbey. Of course, you don't need me to tell you that Westminster Abbey is a Christian place of worship that is also the most famous religious building in London, which is one of the most important cities in the world.

Fast forward now to a few days ago. On Friday evening, around sunset, I got my first close look at St. Basil's Cathedral. Of course, St. Basil's Cathedral is a Christian place of worship that is also the most famous religious building in Moscow, which is one of the most important cities in the world.

The parallels may end there, though. I find it striking how two buildings that are so similar in many ways can be so different in others. Take a look for yourself and you will easily see what I mean:



Both pictures were taken by yours truly; both pictures were shot this month. You will pardon me, gentle readers, for not labelling the photographs. Somehow, I have faith that you can tell which is which.

One thing is not clear to me, though: What does "cathedral" mean in the Russian Orthodox tradition?

In many Western branches of Christianity -- including the largest of them all, Roman Catholicism -- a cathedral is named for the cathedra, the throne of a bishop. Unlike a church, which has a priest, a cathedral is presided over by a bishop. As the bishop has authority over a full diocese, a cathedral is the seat of power for that diocese. The Church of England has 42 dioceses, therefore it has 42 bishops and 42 cathedrals. Simple, yes?[*]

To be fair, the Church of Scotland -- which is Presbyterian -- does not have bishops, and yet still has cathedrals. I myself have visited Glasgow Cathedral and St. Magnus Cathedral, in Kirkwall. However, this still makes sense to me. Before the Protestant Reformation, these were Roman Catholic cathedrals, with bishops and all. Although the Church of Scotland broke away from Roman Catholicism -- taking those buildings with them -- the structures retained their original names. Tis historic, with a certain logic to it.

In contrast, I cannot see any such pattern to the Russian Orthodox cathedrals. Between the Kremlin and neighbouring Red Square, I count at least six cathedrals -- all within a ten minute walk! In Red Sqaure, there is St. Basil's Cathedral (above), of course, as well as Kazan Cathedral and the Cathedral of the Epiphany. Next door, in the Kremlin, there are another three: the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the Cathedral of the Assumption, the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael. Surely there are not six dioceses -- six administrative regions of the Russian Orthodox Church -- in such close proximity; thus, I find myself at a loss for what a Russian Orthodox Cathedral really is. Is it just a case of a particularly ornate church being termed a "cathedral"??

Off to bed now, dear friends. Tomorrow is the final day of the Lomonosov Conference... after which my week of sightseeing begins in earnest. I shall try to post again soon, with pictures selected from my first three days in Moscow.


[*] Well, maybe not quite so simple as that. This one-to-one-to-one correlation of dioceses, cathedrals, and bishops within the Church of England was true for a very long time... but it is currently in the process of being slightly violated. The C of E is dissolving three dioceses; the diocese of Bradford (centered on Bradford Cathedral), the diocese of Wakefield (centered on Wakefield Cathedral), and the diocese of Ripon & Leeds (centered on Ripon Cathedral) are all being made redundant. Replacing them is the newly created diocese of Leeds. Presiding over this will be the newly created Bishop of Leeds, who will have all three of the aforementioned cathedrae to himself!

Two recent numbers of significance worth noting here:

First, on my most recent run -- earlier this week -- I passed the 11 km mark for the first time.

These days, my standard running workout is a five minute warm-up walk, followed by a sixty minute run, then ending with a five minute cool-down walk. When the workout is over, the running app that I use reports an average pace for each of those three parts; I ignore the walking segments but use the data for the run to work out how far I went. Previously, my best record was 5:32 per kilometer (or, if you prefer, 8:54 per mile) -- set on the 5th of August. That works out to a 10.84 kilometer run (or 6.74 miles).

When I was new to running last year, I used the NHS Couch-to-5K podcast series. The narrator, Laura, frequently reminds us that some runs will be better than others, often without clearly identifiable reason. (She also points out that a bad run is still better than no run at all -- helpful advice!) Well, I'm not sure why... but my most recent run -- the day before yesterday -- turned out to be a very good run! That was evident early on, as I just felt "in the groove" and the distance reports every five minutes were impressive, compared to my normal pace. I knew if I pushed on, I could likely set a new record... and thought I even had a chance of squeaking past the 11 km mark for the first time.

Turns out, I was doing better than I thought -- my average pace for the hour worked out to 5:19 per kilometer (or 8:33 per mile)! That's 11.28 km -- well past the 11K mark! Tis also well beyond the record set eight days earlier! Measuring in Imperial units, I ran 7.01 miles -- just barely passing the seven mile marker for the first time! As the title to this post mentions, this was indeed a literal milestone for my progress as a runner. Go me!

Next, we get more figurative. On Monday -- August 12th -- my beloved [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I celebrated our 19th anniversary! Go us!

We celebrated by spending a three day weekend in London[*]. Not long ago, right here on LJ, [livejournal.com profile] acelightning had a discussion about travel, in which we noted that there are often opportunities to see interesting things without going far from home. For our anniversary this year, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I decided to do just that. Next year, for the big TWO-OH, we are planning a two week cruise -- either to Scandinavia or the Mediterranean -- so this year we decided to stay nearby and finally see some of the many things in London that we've been putting off for years because, after all, we can go anytime!

The idea was good, and our weekend was delightful -- we finally visited Westminster Abbey (seeing the graves of Newton and Dirac!), we caught a West End show, we indulged my passion for tall buildings by going up to the viewing platform at the Shard, and more. Hopefully, I can find time for a detailed entry -- with pics, of course! -- before heading out for Moscow next week! Fingers crossed!

Meanwhile, dear friends, I will share one shot from the weekend. Just because. The picture below was taken at Kensington Palace. Construction on this palace began in 1689, on the orders of William & Mary; the motivation was to construct a royal residence closer to London than either Hampton Court Palace or Windsor Castle... but further from the polluted air of the city than Whitehall Palace, which used to sit on the banks of the Thames -- William III was asthmatic and couldn't breathe well whilst at Whitehall.

Over the centuries, Kensington Palace has been home to a great many royals. Princess Di lived there, as did the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret. It is also where Queen Victoria was born and where she grew up. The picture below was taken in the so-called "Red Saloon" room at Kensington Palace, which is the room where Victoria held her first privy council on the morning where she became queen. We heard an excellent lecture in the room, and there were also costumes available for folks to play "dress-up". A common tourist attraction, I don't usually succumb... but I thought this jacket was just too good to pass up! Take a look at the pic itself (try to ignore the fact that I'm wearing shorts and sandals underneath!) and tell me if you agree:


(click for full-sized version)


Oddly enough, whilst [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat was taking this picture, one person thought I was a statue in the exhibit! He was visibly startled when the photo had been shot and I started moving and talking -- go figure!

Anyway, a very happy anniversary was had by us! Yay for nineteen years... and yay for the next nineteen years, too!


[*] Many thanks to my sweet [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth for looking in on our darling kitties whilst we were away. And even more thanks for the lovely card and flowers, set up to make for a wonderful surprise when we got home!

Bought a new bicycle today. Somebody has already tried to steal it.

Seriously!

My first bicycle in the UK was a Falcon Adventurer, purchased six years ago. It served me well for a long time, both for getting around Oxford and also, travelling into the back of the Oxford Tube, in London.

Eventually, however, I began to ride it less and less frequently. It was not a particularly expensive bike to begin with (£180 new in 2007), and I will admit that I did not maintain it as well as I might have done. Even so, I continued to ride it until last Summer, when I offered it to my darling [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth, who had just moved to Oxford. She had no bicycle, and so it seemed to make sense to pass it on to her -- she could fix it up (if she chose) for less than it would cost to buy a new bike... and I could get a new cycle for my own use.

Well, for a long time, the old bike just sat, and neither of us rode. I'm not sure I cycled at all in Summer 2012, and [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth did not collect the cycle from my storage shed until about two months ago. Since then, I am pleased to see that she has been getting good use out of it.

I have been using the so-called "Boris bikes" occasionally to get around London -- these are short-term hired cycles available from automatic stations around the city centre. They are extremely useful... when they work properly. Unfortunately, the system that manages them still has a lot of bugs to be sorted. In my experience, less than half the time that I need a Boris bike, I am able to actually get a Boris bike. Not good.

The solution, of course, was simple. Buy another bicycle for my own use. Besides making the commuting and the travel about town easier, having a new bike will also help me train for the cycling portion of the triathlon (40km). So "buy another bicycle" is precisely what I did today. I went for something mid-range, spending £249 on a new 2011 model Ridgeback Comet. Thus far, it seems like a very nice ride!

After purchasing it this morning, I cycled directly to the bus stop and took the bike into London. On my way home this evening, an accident on the motorway caused a very long (~2 hour) delay in getting a coach home.[*] Whilst waiting, I lay my new bike against a nearby post. Unlocked, of course, as I was standing two or three feet away and looking in its direction.

Imagine my surprise, then, when somebody walked over to my bike and picked it up!

Being right there and having it in my line of sight, I acted quickly to intercept the guy, of course! He made some lame excuse about how it had been there a long time and he thought it was an abandoned cycle, so he was going to bring it to the police station. Um, yeah, right. And there's a bridge I would like to sell you, too. "A long time"? I had been standing at that particular bus stop for twenty minutes.

Never actually seen a bike thief in action before. Go figure.

All is well, and I still have my lovely new cycle. I just wish that I had some better response than merely stopping him with my intervention. I feel like there was something else that I should have done... though, truth be told, even now I am not quite sure what that "something else" would be. Any thoughts or suggestions, gentle readers?


[*] Actually, the new bicycle came in rather handy in this situation, as the few coaches that made it around the accident were filled to capacity. Using the bicycle, I moved to an earlier bus stop on the route... and then an even earlier one! Thus, I was able to finally catch a coach that had not yet filled up. Helpful!

Many thanks to all who replied to my previous entry about choosing a Bible. I've not replied to any comments yet, as I wanted to watch the opinions pour in without influencing them in any way. A follow-up entry is forthcoming, which will be a collective response to all the excellent recommendations that you have made, my dear friends.

Meanwhile, I am off to bed fairly soon. I just returned to Chiron Beta Prime a short while ago after a spiffy weekend in London with my beloved [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat. Whilst there, we got to spend time with [livejournal.com profile] nw1, and also with the ever-awesome due of D&J.[*] In addition to seeing these three friends, we also saw three plays -- all by the Bard, and all ones that we had not seen before.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to the Brockley Jack Studio Theatre to see a theatre company called Perfect Shadow Mingled Yarn perform what they call "Shakespeare's Bookends". The "bookends" are Shakespeare's first and last play[**] -- "Two Gentlemen of Verona" and "Two Noble Kinsmen" -- performed by the same cast. These two plays have very similar plots, and the actors were cast accordingly, with corresponding roles. We saw the Kinsmen as a matinée and the Gentlemen in the evening.

Whilst enjoyable, these two productions were clearly the work of an amateur company working in a black box theatre. Happily, a professional company in Bristol -- Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory -- will be producing the "Two Gentlemen" next Spring. I have already noted the day that tickets go on sale; it will be good to see this again, performed by a more professional cast.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to the National Theatre to see Simon Russell Beale star as the eponymous character in "Timon of Athens". In contrast to Saturday, this was most definitely a Big BudgetTM production, and they did an excellent job with the text. I particularly enjoyed the first act, though the second left me unable to shake the feeling that Timon was a second rate Lear. This is no fault of the actors or director; I think tis inherent in the text itself. Considering that this is one of the least well known Shakespeare plays, it was gratifying to see that the National was completely packed! I was, however, slightly baffled at the overwhelmingly thunderous applause at the end of the performance. The show was good, but not that good! I have seen far better performances of plays that did not receive nearly as much noise at the curtain call.

With these three shows ticked off the list, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I have but three more remaining before we have see all of the Bard's extant plays performed live on stage. We have also seen a recreation of his "lost play", "Cardenio", as well as a theatrical adaptation of one of his narrative poems: "The Rape of Lucrece". Whilst both were excellent -- and I would happily see an adaptation of his other narrative play, "Venus and Adonis" -- I am only counting the thirty-eight surviving plays in my goal to see performances of all the Bard's theatrical work.

Thirty-five down; three to go! Exciting! What's left? In alphabetical order, we still need to see "Coriolanus", "Pericles", and "Titus Andronicus".

We already know that the Royal Shakespeare Company will be producing "Titus" in 2013, and I shall be buying tickets as soon as they go on sale in a fortnight. That leaves two more shows to track down. It was always my goal to have "Titus" be the final Shakespeare play that I see; the upcoming RSC performance ups the urgency of finding the other two. I might need a little luck with that, as neither is commonly produced!

Right. On that note, tis off to bed with me! Much busy-ness ahead in the coming week, my friends! Stay tuned, gentle readers, to hear more!


[*] Hurm. Come to think of it, both social encounters were with fellow US American expatriates that we have known from when we all lived Stateside. That wasn't planned; just an amusing coincidence.

[**] Understanding that it is difficult to determine a precise chronology of Shakespeare's plays, it is generally considered that the Gentlemen came first and the Kinsmen came last. See here, for instance.

On my way to work this morning, I encountered an entourage of royals in the park. At least I assume they were royals; all the pieces seem to fit:
  • The park in question was Kensington Gardens, adjacent to Kensington Palace.
  • The entourage was dressed in very posh clothing, riding in two extremely lavish horse-drawn carriages.
  • Said party had an escort of four cops, two on horseback and two on motorcycle.

As they say, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

I had to pause in my journey until they had passed and the path was clear to cross once again. I had to be careful in my crossing, however. When the royals had moved on, there was a pile of shit in the road, left behind as witness to their regal presence.

Need I say more?

Went into London last night with my beloved [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat to see the Richmond Shakespeare Society put on a production of King John. This raises our Shakespeare number to thirty-one. Seven more plays left to go.[*]

This was the last of the English history plays that we had yet to see performed on the stage.[**] In some ways, it reminded me very much of certain other history plays. War with France, for instance, was also a central part of the plot in King Henry V and in King Henry VI, part one. A sitting monarch ordering the murder of the child who could make a rival claim to the throne smacks heavily of King Richard III; the turning of public opinion and ill fate that follows the child's death is another commonality. Conflict with the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church was also integral to King Henry VIII, though the outcome broke differently there.

Other bits draw heavily on different legends that were never translated for the stage by the Bard. For instance, in exasperation, King John refers to Cardinal Pandolf as a "meddling priest", thus echoing the description that his father, King Henry II, used in reference to Archbishop Thomas à Becket. Similarly, when John he hints of his desire to be rid of his youthful rival, Arthur, it is expressed in words that mimic his father's infamous utterance: "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"

However, in certain ways, this play was rather unlike those that we had seen before. The characters keep changing their minds, over and over again. Phillip will wage war on England... then he will make peace... then he will go to war. John shall absolutely not heed the Cardinal's demands, even though he be excommunicated... except then he shall. The Bastard of Richard Couer de Lion wants to keep his dubiously inherited lands... until he gives them away to become a landless knight. The Lords Salisbury and Essex and Pembroke are loyal to England. I mean France. I mean England. And John will not let his nephew and rival to the throne, the young Price Arthur, be killed. Oh yes, he will! Oh no, he won't! It goes on to the point where these characters make Hamlet look positively decisive!

Certain parts of the play were rather funny, such as the scenes where the citizens of Angers cannily avoid choosing between the two sides in the war that rages just outside their city walls. They repeatedly pledge allegiance as loyal subjects to England's rightful king... whilst ever dodging the dangerous question of just who should be that king. Many of the scenes with the Bastard were also quite amusing. Indeed, I found that the entire performance of this character, known first as Philip Falconbridge then later as Sir Richard Plantagenet, to be particularly compelling. Tis fitting, since it is probably the best role in the play and would have been a great disappointment if done poorly. This particular production was put on by an amateur theatre company blessed with few noteworthy actors. The Bastard was certainly one of these, as was John himself and also his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Well done!

Overall, we enjoyed the play quite a bit and it possesses some rather beautiful language in parts. One of my favourite examples comes in Act 4, when Lord Salisbury berates King John for performing a second coronation ceremony. Tis the same verse that gives us the commonly misquoted phrase, "To gild the lily":

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To throw a perfume on the violet,
To smooth the ice, or add another hue
Unto the rainbow, or with taper light
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

I was rather thankful that John's henchman Huber did not follow through with his plan to put out Prince Arthur's eyes with hot pokers. I've rather had my fill of eyes put out lately and have have tried to declare a moratorium. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be sticking, as Mestor, King of Mestor, had his eyes poked out last week in the godawful production of After Troy that we saw at the Oxford Playhouse, and Gloucester will lose his eyes next week when we see Derek Jacobi star in King Lear. After that, though, no more eyes gouged out! I'm serious! This means Oedipus Rex (and, for that matter, Into The Woods) is off the list for the foreseeable future!

Although not the greatest of the Bard's works, King John is also far from the worst; it really is a shame that this piece is not performed more frequently. Perhaps it will make a comeback in various repertoires come 2015, when the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta is upon us. Despite the play spanning past the end of John's life, this monumental event is never touched upon.[***] Still, it would not surprise me to see a resurgence linked to the Great Charter's "birthday".

Even though we have completed the round of Shakespeare's English history plays, I very much enjoy this genre and would like to see more. Last year, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I attended a production of Marlowe's King Edward II at Oriel College, which Edward himself had founded. I would very much like to find a production of King Edward III, which is thought by some to have been penned by the Bard, to continue on from here... and then into a showing of Thomas of Woodstock. Together, those two plays would nicely bridge the gap between Marlowe's King Edward II and the start of Shakespeare's eight-play history cycle with King Richard II. Besides, as we begin to finish up our Shakespeare list, we will need to look elsewhere for sources of new Renaissance drama. I have seen Middleton's The Revenger's Tragedy and the aforementioned King Edward II. Next week, we will be seeing Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Need to keep an eye out for more. A production of Tamburlaine the Great, for instance, would be most welcome!


[*] Specifically, our "Shakespeare number" refers to the plays of the Bard that we have seen performed live on stage. I do not count recreations of lost plays or adaptations of his poetry. Thus, even though we have tickets to see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform a recreation of Cardenio and an adaptation of The Rape of Lucrece, these shall not boost our S-number.

[**] Overall, the remaining plays that we need to see are Pericles, Timon of Athens, Two Noble Kinsmen, Coriolanus, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Titus Andronicus, and All's Well That Ends Well. Happily, we have already have tickets to the see the last of these performed at Shakespeare's Globe in July.

[***] Nor, for that matter, is his role in the Robin Hood mythos.

Off to London now to see a production of Henry VIII at Shakespeare's Globe. During original run of this show at the original Globe theatre, it brought down the house -- quite literally -- when a theatrical cannon misfired, setting the wooden beams and thatched roof ablaze.[*]

As exciting as that performance may have been, tis my hope that history will not repeat itself today. According to George Santayana, the fact that I remember the original event should protect me...


[*] This took place on 29-June-1613. Not quite the same date as today... but close!

So! What has everyone's favourite Nomad been up to in recent days? Good question! Here's the Reader's Digest version:

Recent days have contained some very lovely firsts! It began on Friday evening, when I launched the weekend by ringing bells with the Oxford University Society of Change Ringers. This was not ordinary ringing practice -- the OUS was hosting the annual Southern Universities Association. As such, we rang at Carfax tower, in the heart of Oxford. This tower -- the only remaining part of the 13the century St. Martin's Church -- is widely regarded as marking the very centre of Oxford. Before last week, though, I had never rung there before. I was a bit nervous to be ringing in a new place with visiting ringers all about... but it was also very exciting to be ringing to the crowds that fill Oxford's streets on a Friday night!

After ringing, I came home and spent the rest of the evening with my beloved [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat. We got in some quality alone time, as well as starting in on the season eight DVDs of Smallville. A quiet evening... but a nice one!

On Saturday, the firsts continued! The lovely [livejournal.com profile] sweetcyanide came down from Manchester for her first visit to my fair city. I took out my [metaphorical] tour guide hat and showed her some of the sights around town! Over the course of the weekend, we hit several museums, colleges, and more! We also learned that the local Holiday Inn has a very nice swimming pool, jacuzzi, and sauna! One of the [many] highlights was visiting the Museum of the History of Science, where there is currently a fascinating exhibition on Steampunk art! Twas most nifty -- and I shall have to visit again before it leaves in late February! At the very end of the exhibition, there is a room full of so-called "Steampunk originals" -- these are actual pieces of Victorian scientific equipment that inspired the whole "steampunk" style!

The Weather Gods were a bit petulant on Saturday, so we spend most of the day indoors... at the Museum of Natural History[*], the Pitt Rivers Museum[**], lunch at my favourite vegetarian pub[***], and the aforementioned Steampunk exhibition. I believe that our dip in the pool and jacuzzi on Saturday evening convinced said Gods that we were wet enough... so the rest of the weekend weather was absolutely splendid! We took advantage of that on Sunday, with a walking tour of the city, a climb up to the top of Carfax tower[****], and exploring Christ Church -- my favourite of the Oxford colleges.

In addition to all this running about, this was also a first in that I had never before spent this much time alone with [livejournal.com profile] sweetcyanide. Getting to know her better was quite, quite wonderful! At the end of the weekend, she accidentally left her umbrella in my car... which ensures that she will have to return to Oxford again to collect it!

On Monday evening, after work, the firsts continued. After months of dancing around travel schedules, I was finally able to meet [livejournal.com profile] cmcmck and her husband for the first time! We dined together at Daquise -- a delicious Polish restaurant in South Kensington... in the place where the Polish government-in-exile has been located during the Second World War! The food was delicious, the conversation fascinating, and the company excellent!

Moving on to Tuesday evening, I rang bells at Mary Mag -- also with the OUSCR -- and then met my darling [livejournal.com profile] bunnypip at the Flat With No Name for a date. There may have been some firsts involved... but listing what they are might not be suitable for this space! Suffice to say that the evening ended with many smiles!

Now I am riding Ye Olde Oxford Tubee back home, where I shall collect my dear [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and we shall make our way up to Stratford-upon-Avon. There we will see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform Twelfth Night. Perhaps the run of "firsts" is now ended, as I have seen productions of Twelfth Night before. Thus, this shall not advance me on my quest to see all thirty-eight of the Bard's plays performed on stage; my Shakespeare NumberTM will -- for now -- remain at twenty-seven. However, after tonight I will have seen the RSC perform twenty-three out of the thirty-eight... thus furthering me on my secondary goal to see an RSC production of every play![*****]

Nearly home now, so best to post this and get ready for the evening's entertainment!


[*] Including the current Darwin exhibition and pointing out the room where the famous Huxley-Wilberforce evolution debate took place in 1860.

[**] Including everybody's favourite -- the shrunken heads!

[***] The Gardener's Arms, on Plantation Road.

[****] Where I acted like an excited little kid, pointing out to [livejournal.com profile] sweetcyanide the ropes that I had been ringing on less than two days later as we ascended through the ringing chamber.

[*****] Obsessive-compulsive? Me?? Why would you ever think that?

As mentioned in my previous entry, Wednesday evening was spent at the "Super K Sonic Booooum"[*] art installation in London. I had a fabulous time!

For starters, the venue -- SHUNT -- was incredible! Located in the tunnels beneath the London Bridge Rail Station, it goes on forever! In the caverns of SHUNT, there are impromptu bars that spring up or move around from night to night, there are elevated stages with musicians wandering on and off, a game room, dark corners, photography rooms, a mattress, random spontaneous avante garde performances. And, in the middle of all this, the "Super-K Sonic Booooum"!

In a room near the entrance, two of my colleagues -- postdocs from Queen Mary University of London -- gave fifteen minute talks on particle physics and neutrinos. The room, which could hold a dozen people or so, seemed to be packed. Further on, at the "Sonic Booooum", I spent nearly three hours giving boat "tours" to two or three people at a time. The event was extremely popular -- there was a long queue the entire time and, at the end, people needed to be turned away for lack of time.

Here is a picture of your friendly neighborhood Nomad, in the "Super K Sonic Booooum". They went so far as to make us wear helmets and Tyvek suits whilst in the installation, attempting to copy conditions in which we really work in the Super-Kamiokande tank. This is me, sitting in the "Super K Sonic Booooum" after about three hours of shouting over the background soundtrack of "sonic booms":



The "tours" took five minutes to ten minutes each -- depending on how fast the boat was pulled -- talking about neutrino physics and Super-Kamiokande. It took me a little while to develop a standard spiel, but I soon found what worked well and discarded what didn't. I don't think that I have ever given a more sensationalistic presentation of physics or astrophysics! On the other hand, I have never presented to a group of tipsy people... on a boat... surrounded by metallic balloons... illuminated by blacklight and strobe... with a funky electronic soundtrack in the background... in a lounge... underneath a rail station... So fair enough, right?

The "Sonic Booooum" part of the exhibition must surely come from the common description -- used by myself and others -- when explaining Cherenkov radiation. A particle moving faster than the speed of light in water emits a "light boom" (i.e., the aforementioned Chereknov radiation) that is analogous to the sonic boom produced when an object moves faster than the speed of sound in air. This description is purely an analogy -- there are never sonic booms in Super-Kamiokande! Still, the installation took the idea literally, with small booms ever present in the soundtrack... and an occasional enormous "BOOM!" where we were all supposed to put our heads between our knees for "protection". I tried to incorporate the largest explosion into my talk -- pretending it was the neutrinos from a supernova reaching the experiment...

It was cheesy, to be sure, but also a lot of fun! Not only for me, but for the people who had come to see it. Folks generally seemed to have a great time, and Nelly[**] said afterward that I had been a big hit. Although there was a boat or two filled with women too drunk to pay any attention, most people listened and asked questions. A couple of people wondered if any of this was real, which amused me. I referred them to the talks being given by "Doctor Ben" and "Doctor Ryan" in the other room for a less theatrical explanation of what I was talking about. There were also a couple of guests worth noting: For instance, the parents of one of my students (SD) showed up. So did our new MA student in the T2K group at Imperial, with his mother in tow. I hammed it up even more than usual for him -- he can get the real physics in the office later; at SHUNT, I wanted to show him a fun time. The artist recently got her MA as well -- not in physics -- and her former tutors showed up for a ride!

At several points during the evening, I was asked if I wanted somebody to relieve me so that I could take a break. I would not hear of it -- I was having a blast! As anyone who knows me can tell, I have lungs... so screaming for three hours was not terribly difficult! I even had my voice intact the next day!

Here is another picture of me at the end of the boat tours:



At the end of the evening, I packed up and made my way back to Oxford, arriving at around one o'clock in the morning. I had the company of a very lovely person to chat with on the coach ride back, which was a perfectly marvelous ending to an excellent day!

The "Super K Sonic Booooum" was indeed quite aesthetic and impressive. [livejournal.com profile] acelightning is correct in saying that this is a great way to share some sense of Super-Kamiokande's grandeur with the world. I agree wholeheartedly! Still, as my darling [livejournal.com profile] tawneypup noted, it does not hold a candle to the real thing. She is absolutely right. Here is a shot of me in the actual Super-Kamiokande:



The "Super K Sonic Booooum" may not measure up to my first [physics] love... but it was still an experience unlike any other that I have had in my professional life! I count myself as lucky to be in England and working on neutrino physics at the same time that this independent project -- the first of its kind that I have ever heard of -- sprang up!


[*] In my previous entry, I mistakenly spelled the name of the exhibit with a "boom" rather than a "booooum". Mea culpa. On the other hand, on the artist's web site, she mistakenly adds an "S" to the front of my boss's last name, deletes the hyphen from Super-K, and never spells out the full name of the experiment. Also, she erroneously states that Super-Kamiokande contains 50,000 tonnes of heavy water, which it does not. SK uses ultra-pure water made from ordinary water. The cost of fifty kilotonnes of heavy water (D2O) would be about $15 billion... and I'm not even sure that there is that much heavy water stockpiled on the planet! All in all, then, if we can forgive her these mistakes, I'm sure Nelly can forgive my misspelling of her installation!

[**] Nelly is the artist.

Hey London people! Doing anything tonight?[*]

This evening, I am heading over to the SHUNT Lounge, underneath the London Bridge. The SHUNT Lounge and Theatre company closes its doors after this Saturday... and I am going for the final art installation. It looks something like this:



Mind you, I am not going as a spectator! On the contrary, I will be there as part of the art exhibition! The installation is called "The Super-K Sonic Boom" and was inspired by my thesis experiment, the Super-Kamiokande detector, in Japan. The photograph above is a mock-up, using an 11 meter tunnel, water, and a rubber dinghy to create a semblance of the actual experiment (shown here and featuring yours truly).

My current experiment, T2K, uses Super-Kamiokande as its far end detector. Thus, a group of us here in London were asked to help out, riding in the boats and talking about what it is that we do. And that is what I shall be doing tonight!

The project -- which was started independently by an artist who later contacted us to join her -- seems to be a lot of fun. It ran for four nights last week and will run for another four this week. My collaborators who have already done an evening at SHUNT have enjoyed it muchly... with most coming back to do it again! Meanwhile, it seems to be getting some very positive reviews in the local media (e.g., see this article in the Londonist). Additionally, the SHUNT installation is currently featured prominently on the Imperial College homepage, which links to an article featuring my name.

So..... anyone in London have a free evening? Come on out and see what all the hype is about! Honestly? I am not really sure what to expect tonight from this bizarre melding of science and art. Indeed, I have never done anything quite like it! Looking forward to it, though, and I think that I will have fun learning what this is all about!


[*} Or tomorrow night? Or Friday?

anarchist_nomad: (Center of the Universe)
( Mar. 21st, 2009 10:45 am)
Yesterday morning, I went to Queen Mary to work with RT. RT is a post-doc there who is also working on the T2K experiment. Although we barely knew each other before last year, we both did our graduate work at Stony Brook, in the same research group, with the same advisor[*]. These days, however, we work fairly closely together, taking turns on having one of us visit the others' institution every fortnight and keeping virtual contact in-between.

We worked until only about two o'clock, then headed out. Why the reason for this early end to our workday? PC and LW, another two former colleagues from our student days, were in town. Both are now post-docs on the MINOS experiment, and had just landed in London on their way to a collaboration meeting in Cambridge. I had never met LW -- she was another Stony Brooker but joined the group after I had left; PC was never at Stony Brook, but I mentored him in Japan during his first year (and my last) on Super-Kamiokande. Although we had kept in touch sporadically, I had not seen him in over five years... and was thus very much looking forward to getting together again.

We met near the Tate Modern, at the Founders Arms. The weather has been uncharacteristically beautiful lately, so we sat outside and watched the Thames and St. Paul's Cathedral as we drank, and caught up. Lots of stories were told, remembering some very good times... as well as shared bitching about a certain collaborator that is hated, to various extents, by all of us[**]. At one point, popping inside to use the loo at about four o'clock, I was surprised to see one of my colleagues from Imperial College there, too! I expect to see random people I know when I go out in Oxford. Not so much in London, especially somebody that I work with on a workday afternoon!

When it started getting close to sunset -- and, therefore, cold -- we moved on. As we left the Founders Arms, I realised that I recognised their porch as one that I had gotten dead-ended on last May, during my twenty-two mile urban hike around London. Our next destination was The Blackfriar. On the way, we passed Doggetts, which was the second blast from the past for the day. As the venue for both Polyday and BiFest London, I have been there several times, of course. However, the last time I was there, back in October, was to finalise the ending of a relationship. It was my choice to do so, and I believe that it was the best choice... but it was still sad that things had progressed to such a state that such was the right thing to do. Walking by Doggetts, then, I felt a twinge of loss for something that had once been good but, ultimately, not able to be sustained in a healthy fashion.

At The Blackfriar, we came indoors to admire the unusual interior decor of this pub... as well as get food, get warm, and get more to drink. I, of course, am a life-long teetotaler. However, my three compatriots were starting to get a bit buzzed from all the drinking. Given that the three of them were a generation behind me at Super-K, I really had not been out drinking with them before. Thus, they were all quite surprised to see that I am most capable of getting just as drunk as any of them... without imbibing a single drop. This has been true for as long as I can recall, dating back to parties in high school where I was ostensibly the only sober person. I think that it is because I am somewhat empathic, riding the energy of those who are around me. In any case, I managed a couple of jokes and puns that cracked up the whole party, prompting RT to raise a toast -- the only one of the evening -- to me. If I were prone to blushing, I probably would have blushed at that point... but it was very sweet!

Also sweet was something that PC said after the toast. He told me that the advice I had given him, during our brief months of overlap on Super-K, on what to expect during his graduate career there had proven to be quite accurate. He said that, in the past five years, there were many times that he had thought of me... often as something or other had happened that made him think: "Yes, Nomad said that this would happen like that." It made me smile to be remembered and appreciated... as well as to know that I had helped my friend.

Finally, around nine o'clock, we had to call it an evening. PC and LW needed to get to King's Cross to catch the train to Cambridge for their meeting, which began this morning. I made my way to Notting Hill Gate and caught the Oxford Tube back to Oxford. On the coach, I checked my e-mail and found a note from Mom, containing the third blast from the past. From 1979 to 1985, from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, I attended the Building Blocks Montessori School in New York. A woman named DH had been my first grade teacher, then bought the school many years later when the founder retired. Every so often, I would go back to visit Building Blocks. When I last went, in October 2006, DH -- who still remembered me well -- was impressed to see that her former student had become a research scientist at Oxford. She explained to the secretary, who had never met me, that I was "the smartest student to ever go to Building Blocks."[***] In any case, that was the last time that I saw her... and the last time that I will ever see her, as Mom had written to inform me that she had died of cancer, at the age of only sixty.

Despite this bit of sad news, I can say that yesterday was an excellent day. It was great to catch up with old friends, and to make a new one in LW. I don't often mesh well, socially speaking, with other physicists, for a variety of reasons. There are exceptions, of course, the most notable is [livejournal.com profile] gyades, who is my best friend! However, I very much like both RT and PC, and LW seems good to spend time with, too. So, yes, an excellent day!

Now I must be off to run some errands and then, this afternoon, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I are heading to Milton Keynes to see Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart perform in a production of Waiting For Godot...


[*] I graduated and left the group shortly after he joined, which is why we barely knew each other. That and the fact that, in my last two years of school, I was rarely ever at Stony Brook. Those were the days that I lived in Arizona, worked in Japan, and went to school in New York (i.e., at Stony Brook) -- when I first adopted the name Nomad.

[**] The prson in question being a somewhat charismatic, but vicious and cruel, individual. The degree to which we can't stand him is quite proportional to how much we have had to work with him. Still, in a collaboration of 120 people, having only one such person is probably doing quite well.

[***] Yet another opportunity for blushing!


anarchist_nomad: (Center of the Universe)
( Mar. 21st, 2009 10:45 am)
Yesterday morning, I went to Queen Mary to work with RT. RT is a post-doc there who is also working on the T2K experiment. Although we barely knew each other before last year, we both did our graduate work at Stony Brook, in the same research group, with the same advisor[*]. These days, however, we work fairly closely together, taking turns on having one of us visit the others' institution every fortnight and keeping virtual contact in-between.

We worked until only about two o'clock, then headed out. Why the reason for this early end to our workday? PC and LW, another two former colleagues from our student days, were in town. Both are now post-docs on the MINOS experiment, and had just landed in London on their way to a collaboration meeting in Cambridge. I had never met LW -- she was another Stony Brooker but joined the group after I had left; PC was never at Stony Brook, but I mentored him in Japan during his first year (and my last) on Super-Kamiokande. Although we had kept in touch sporadically, I had not seen him in over five years... and was thus very much looking forward to getting together again.

We met near the Tate Modern, at the Founders Arms. The weather has been uncharacteristically beautiful lately, so we sat outside and watched the Thames and St. Paul's Cathedral as we drank, and caught up. Lots of stories were told, remembering some very good times... as well as shared bitching about a certain collaborator that is hated, to various extents, by all of us[**]. At one point, popping inside to use the loo at about four o'clock, I was surprised to see one of my colleagues from Imperial College there, too! I expect to see random people I know when I go out in Oxford. Not so much in London, especially somebody that I work with on a workday afternoon!

When it started getting close to sunset -- and, therefore, cold -- we moved on. As we left the Founders Arms, I realised that I recognised their porch as one that I had gotten dead-ended on last May, during my twenty-two mile urban hike around London. Our next destination was The Blackfriar. On the way, we passed Doggetts, which was the second blast from the past for the day. As the venue for both Polyday and BiFest London, I have been there several times, of course. However, the last time I was there, back in October, was to finalise the ending of a relationship. It was my choice to do so, and I believe that it was the best choice... but it was still sad that things had progressed to such a state that such was the right thing to do. Walking by Doggetts, then, I felt a twinge of loss for something that had once been good but, ultimately, not able to be sustained in a healthy fashion.

At The Blackfriar, we came indoors to admire the unusual interior decor of this pub... as well as get food, get warm, and get more to drink. I, of course, am a life-long teetotaler. However, my three compatriots were starting to get a bit buzzed from all the drinking. Given that the three of them were a generation behind me at Super-K, I really had not been out drinking with them before. Thus, they were all quite surprised to see that I am most capable of getting just as drunk as any of them... without imbibing a single drop. This has been true for as long as I can recall, dating back to parties in high school where I was ostensibly the only sober person. I think that it is because I am somewhat empathic, riding the energy of those who are around me. In any case, I managed a couple of jokes and puns that cracked up the whole party, prompting RT to raise a toast -- the only one of the evening -- to me. If I were prone to blushing, I probably would have blushed at that point... but it was very sweet!

Also sweet was something that PC said after the toast. He told me that the advice I had given him, during our brief months of overlap on Super-K, on what to expect during his graduate career there had proven to be quite accurate. He said that, in the past five years, there were many times that he had thought of me... often as something or other had happened that made him think: "Yes, Nomad said that this would happen like that." It made me smile to be remembered and appreciated... as well as to know that I had helped my friend.

Finally, around nine o'clock, we had to call it an evening. PC and LW needed to get to King's Cross to catch the train to Cambridge for their meeting, which began this morning. I made my way to Notting Hill Gate and caught the Oxford Tube back to Oxford. On the coach, I checked my e-mail and found a note from Mom, containing the third blast from the past. From 1979 to 1985, from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, I attended the Building Blocks Montessori School in New York. A woman named DH had been my first grade teacher, then bought the school many years later when the founder retired. Every so often, I would go back to visit Building Blocks. When I last went, in October 2006, DH -- who still remembered me well -- was impressed to see that her former student had become a research scientist at Oxford. She explained to the secretary, who had never met me, that I was "the smartest student to ever go to Building Blocks."[***] In any case, that was the last time that I saw her... and the last time that I will ever see her, as Mom had written to inform me that she had died of cancer, at the age of only sixty.

Despite this bit of sad news, I can say that yesterday was an excellent day. It was great to catch up with old friends, and to make a new one in LW. I don't often mesh well, socially speaking, with other physicists, for a variety of reasons. There are exceptions, of course, the most notable is [livejournal.com profile] gyades, who is my best friend! However, I very much like both RT and PC, and LW seems good to spend time with, too. So, yes, an excellent day!

Now I must be off to run some errands and then, this afternoon, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I are heading to Milton Keynes to see Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart perform in a production of Waiting For Godot...


[*] I graduated and left the group shortly after he joined, which is why we barely knew each other. That and the fact that, in my last two years of school, I was rarely ever at Stony Brook. Those were the days that I lived in Arizona, worked in Japan, and went to school in New York (i.e., at Stony Brook) -- when I first adopted the name Nomad.

[**] The prson in question being a somewhat charismatic, but vicious and cruel, individual. The degree to which we can't stand him is quite proportional to how much we have had to work with him. Still, in a collaboration of 120 people, having only one such person is probably doing quite well.

[***] Yet another opportunity for blushing!


Friday / Saturday: Thanksgiving Party
Friday evening, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I hopped into Peter, our trusty steed, and drove to SouthEast London to visit with our friends D&J. D&J are fellow Yanks -- brother and sister-in-law to the breathtakingly beautiful [livejournal.com profile] pomoloco -- who moved to London just three months before we moved to Oxford. Although we didn't know each other well when we all lived in Lawn Guyland, [livejournal.com profile] pomoloco wisely put the four of us in touch soon after we moved.

Since then, it has become tradition for D&J to host a Thanksgiving party each November, on one of the two Saturdays closest to the actual holiday[**], and to invite all of their expatriate friends. This year was the third in the tradition[***]. We went out on Friday to remove the stress of travelling out from Oxford on the day of the party... and also to get a little extra time with D&J, who we had not seen since their housewarming party back in September.

The party was good fun: We got to see people that we don't often spend time with, I have an invitation to go boating down the Thames next Spring with the St. Pancras harbormaster, and the food was excellent! In total, there were twelve of us there -- nine expatriated US-ians and three Brits who came along as partners of the expats. Given the demographics, D&J's flat became a temporarily extension of US soil. In particular, somebody decided to forbid the use of British English -- anyone using "top up" or "queue" or "zed" or "bloody" would be penalized by having to take a drink. It was an amusing suggestion... though I am not certain that it is directly responsible for most people ending the evening quite tipsy!


Sunday:
Sunday was a busy day, filled with a variety of activity -- some social, some productive, some fun! Just the sort of day that I like!

We stayed over at D&J's placeon Saturday night as well and had a nice lay in on Sunday. As if making an enormous Thanksgiving dinner wasn't enough, J prepared a lovely breakfast spread on Sunday at around noon -- fruit, pancakes (with real maple syrup), bacon (for the meat eaters), cheese, scrambled eggs, tea, juice! Yum!

After breakfast, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I headed out. Before leaving London, we swung by Imperial College and I showed her the building and office where I now work. Then it was back into London traffic as we made our return to Oxford.

Upon returning to Oxford, I headed to St. Giles Church and rang bells for Sunday evening services. Nothing terribly noteworthy here.

When services ended, I met up with [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat at Skullcrusher Mountain. On Tuesday, we had moved the last of our belongings into the [as yet unnamed] new flat. However, before leaving SCM for good, we wanted to do a thorough cleaning and perform ritual to release any of our energy -- or that of our kitties -- that still lingered. It took a couple of hours, but we managed to accomplish this. When we left SCM, it was for the final time. Interestingly enough, I think that this is the first time [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I have moved house without any help from anyone else or a moving van! We did it all ourselves, using Peter as the only transport vehicle. Admittedly, we moved from a furnished flat to another furnished flat, but still...

Next, I dropped [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat (and our cleaning supplies) off at home, picked up my new ice skates, and made my way out to the evening session at the Oxford Ice Rink. There, I debuted my new skates. I learned two things: (1) The blades are so obviously superior to anything that I have previously skated on, and (2) The new skates hurt. A lot. My feet were killing me, and it was all I could do to do some basic forward skating all the way around the rink without stopping! I am not entirely surprised -- the lovely [livejournal.com profile] danaeris once warned me that new skates feel like that until you break them in. Still... ouch! It was a bit disappointing to not be able to do much on the ice; still the only way to break them in is to wear the things!

When I got home from the rink, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I got takeaway Chinese food for dinner. I walked five minutes to pick it up -- I do enjoy living in a much more active area than we previously did!

Finally, it was getting late so I tucked [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat into bed, then wound down my own evening with a phone date with the adorable [livejournal.com profile] livetbd. It is always nice to hear her voice and it was good to catch up on each others' lives. We made plans to see each other when I am in the States next month; I am definitely looking forward to spending time with her again in the not too distant future! We also need to find a way to see a Broadway musical together, as we are both huge theatre geeks![****]

As I said -- the sort of active and varied Sunday that I like! When my head finally hit the pillow, I was thoroughly ready for it... and asleep almost immediately!


[*] One hundred points to the first person that identifies the source of my subject line!

[**] As none of us actually get Thanksgiving Day off here!

[***] Interestingly enough, each year they are living in a different flat from the previous November!

[****] Unless you compare to the spectacular [livejournal.com profile] squeektoy42, who is the Queen of Musical Theatre. Even if she cannot identify Into The Woods quotes.


Friday / Saturday: Thanksgiving Party
Friday evening, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I hopped into Peter, our trusty steed, and drove to SouthEast London to visit with our friends D&J. D&J are fellow Yanks -- brother and sister-in-law to the breathtakingly beautiful [livejournal.com profile] pomoloco -- who moved to London just three months before we moved to Oxford. Although we didn't know each other well when we all lived in Lawn Guyland, [livejournal.com profile] pomoloco wisely put the four of us in touch soon after we moved.

Since then, it has become tradition for D&J to host a Thanksgiving party each November, on one of the two Saturdays closest to the actual holiday[**], and to invite all of their expatriate friends. This year was the third in the tradition[***]. We went out on Friday to remove the stress of travelling out from Oxford on the day of the party... and also to get a little extra time with D&J, who we had not seen since their housewarming party back in September.

The party was good fun: We got to see people that we don't often spend time with, I have an invitation to go boating down the Thames next Spring with the St. Pancras harbormaster, and the food was excellent! In total, there were twelve of us there -- nine expatriated US-ians and three Brits who came along as partners of the expats. Given the demographics, D&J's flat became a temporarily extension of US soil. In particular, somebody decided to forbid the use of British English -- anyone using "top up" or "queue" or "zed" or "bloody" would be penalized by having to take a drink. It was an amusing suggestion... though I am not certain that it is directly responsible for most people ending the evening quite tipsy!


Sunday:
Sunday was a busy day, filled with a variety of activity -- some social, some productive, some fun! Just the sort of day that I like!

We stayed over at D&J's placeon Saturday night as well and had a nice lay in on Sunday. As if making an enormous Thanksgiving dinner wasn't enough, J prepared a lovely breakfast spread on Sunday at around noon -- fruit, pancakes (with real maple syrup), bacon (for the meat eaters), cheese, scrambled eggs, tea, juice! Yum!

After breakfast, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I headed out. Before leaving London, we swung by Imperial College and I showed her the building and office where I now work. Then it was back into London traffic as we made our return to Oxford.

Upon returning to Oxford, I headed to St. Giles Church and rang bells for Sunday evening services. Nothing terribly noteworthy here.

When services ended, I met up with [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat at Skullcrusher Mountain. On Tuesday, we had moved the last of our belongings into the [as yet unnamed] new flat. However, before leaving SCM for good, we wanted to do a thorough cleaning and perform ritual to release any of our energy -- or that of our kitties -- that still lingered. It took a couple of hours, but we managed to accomplish this. When we left SCM, it was for the final time. Interestingly enough, I think that this is the first time [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I have moved house without any help from anyone else or a moving van! We did it all ourselves, using Peter as the only transport vehicle. Admittedly, we moved from a furnished flat to another furnished flat, but still...

Next, I dropped [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat (and our cleaning supplies) off at home, picked up my new ice skates, and made my way out to the evening session at the Oxford Ice Rink. There, I debuted my new skates. I learned two things: (1) The blades are so obviously superior to anything that I have previously skated on, and (2) The new skates hurt. A lot. My feet were killing me, and it was all I could do to do some basic forward skating all the way around the rink without stopping! I am not entirely surprised -- the lovely [livejournal.com profile] danaeris once warned me that new skates feel like that until you break them in. Still... ouch! It was a bit disappointing to not be able to do much on the ice; still the only way to break them in is to wear the things!

When I got home from the rink, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I got takeaway Chinese food for dinner. I walked five minutes to pick it up -- I do enjoy living in a much more active area than we previously did!

Finally, it was getting late so I tucked [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat into bed, then wound down my own evening with a phone date with the adorable [livejournal.com profile] livetbd. It is always nice to hear her voice and it was good to catch up on each others' lives. We made plans to see each other when I am in the States next month; I am definitely looking forward to spending time with her again in the not too distant future! We also need to find a way to see a Broadway musical together, as we are both huge theatre geeks![****]

As I said -- the sort of active and varied Sunday that I like! When my head finally hit the pillow, I was thoroughly ready for it... and asleep almost immediately!


[*] One hundred points to the first person that identifies the source of my subject line!

[**] As none of us actually get Thanksgiving Day off here!

[***] Interestingly enough, each year they are living in a different flat from the previous November!

[****] Unless you compare to the spectacular [livejournal.com profile] squeektoy42, who is the Queen of Musical Theatre. Even if she cannot identify Into The Woods quotes.


Tonight's meeting was shorter than expected -- only about fifteen minutes long. When it ended, I was a touch shaken, but fundamentally okay. Decided that, rather than head straight home, I would take a walk along the Thames to ground myself.

Some say that things come in threes[1]. I am not sure that I believe this[2], but tonight the Universe gave me three things in a row -- all of which helped me to gather my inner strength, focus, and balance. The first happened as I crossed the Blackfriar's Bridge, just before commencing my walk. I am not sure where it emanated from -- possibly St. Pauls, or maybe the Southwark Cathedral -- but the music of change bell ringing filled the air. It was an unexpected surprise, and the beloved music helped me to find my center once again. Next was the stroll along the waterfront. This was not a surprise; being a water elemental, I knew that a walk alongside water would do me good. I walked until I felt calm and balanced once again. Before that happened, my walk led me to the lion statues near Cleopatra's Needle. Two years ago, [livejournal.com profile] resourceress and I walked by these lions -- indeed, I took a photograph of her that has become one of her LJ icons. Upon reaching the lions, I curled up between the paws of one of them and sat for awhile, looking out over the water. I remembered the strength and the longevity of the bond between [livejournal.com profile] resourceress and myself. I drew strength from this bond. I also remembered an important metaphor about lions that my dear [livejournal.com profile] tawneypup recently shared with me. This, too, warmed the heart. While sitting with the lions, I called on that strength to make an important phone call. Eventually, I left the lions and walked further, until I was ready to come home. I am doing so now, writing this entry from the Oxford Tube[3] on my way back to Skullcrusher Mountain.

Tonight's meeting concerned an ending, and was part of this year's Samhain. My Samhain began last Saturday night at sunset. For one thing, that was the final sunset before we changed the clocks back here in Merry Olde England[4]. Since then, the clocks have been changed and the sun sets before five o'clock. This large increment of lost daylight is an essential part of my Samhain experience, and it signals the coming of Winter. Saturday evening was also when my first Samhain ritual of the year took place; [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I did a small private ritual to honour some who are newly amongst the ranks of the Beloved Dead.

Samhain is the start of Winter, and the turning of the year. This year has certainly been all about Change[5]. Compared to this time last year, I have a new job in a new city, working on a new experiment in a new country. [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat has a new job, too. Her health is also in a new, and potentially better, place. Together, we have a new car, a new cat, and are about to have a new flat. With one exception, all of the significant romantic relationships in my life have changed, too. I won't pretend that it has been an easy year; most of these changes were quite painful when they were happening -- the period from December 17th to April th hurt like hell![6] However, I find that I am in a strong and positive headspace this Samhain season.

Indeed, I find that my current energy makes for an interesting contrast with Samhains of the past two years. In 2006, somebody turned up the Samhain volume too much; that year, the Samhain energy was particularly intense as the Universe chose to beat the crap out of not just me, but also many other people that I know. Samhain 2007 was quite different; possibly due to a cold, or maybe due to the intensity of Samhain 2006, I felt very little connection with the Samhain energy last year. We did a small ritual and went to WitchFest in London, but it all felt very distant. To use the Three Bears as a metaphor, Samhain 2006 was too much, Samhain 2007 was too little, and Samhain 2008 feels just right. I am wrapping up the last loose ends of the year and moving forward into next year from a place of strength and grounding.

In addition to doing our private ritual on Saturday, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I celebrated the season on Sunday with a visit to Blenheim Palace to attend their "Very Victorian Halloween" festivities. These included haunted ghost stories, a show from a nineteenth century magic lantern, and a pumpkin train... as well as a more generic stroll in the formal gardens and past the waterfall.

Plans for upcoming Samhain and Halloween events include running our traditional Ancestor Ritual for a group of good friends on Friday (Samhain proper), followed by a visit to a haunted farm, and a walk in Salcey Forest to watch the leaves changing colour over the weekend. Backup plans, in the event of rain, could include the Halloween festivities at the Oxford Castle, a ghost tour of Oxford, or a performance of Sweeney Todd at the Old Fire Station Theatre in Oxford[7].

To all those on my f-list who celebrate this holiday, I wish you a very Blessed Samhain! To everyone else, I wish a Happy Halloween[8]!


[1] Which may come as a surprise to the lovely [livejournal.com profile] tawneypup, given her Halloween costume this year.

[2] Indeed, I probably don't.

[3] Where I seem to write most of my LJ entries of late.

[4] A side effect is that, for this week only, I am a mere four hours ahead of the East Coast and a scant five hours ahead of Chicago. If anyone wants a phone call from their favourite Nomad, this is probably a good week to arrange one!

[5] And not the sort a certain politician likes to talk about, either!

[6] The first date is when [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat's knee got injured, starting the period where the Universe decided to use us as a punchingbag. The second date is when we laid our beloved Foxy to rest, which was the last of the large traumas. Much rebuilding work remained -- indeed, it is not yet all over -- but the continuous volley of tragedies finally stopped raining down on us at that point. Which gave me the breathing room to stop doing triage and start on the rebuilding.

[7] I am somewhat torn about this. On the one hand, it is Sweeney Todd. On the other hand, it is OFS -- a venue for [very] amateurish productions. Just out of curiosity, would anyone be interested in joining us for this if we were to procure tickets for Saturday night (Nov 1)? It probably won't happen, as we already have plans if the weather is good... but I am just putting out some exceedingly tentative feelers to evaluate the potential of this as a backup plan.

[8] And, to my dad, I wish a happy 65th birthday! That's right -- my father was born on Halloween and my mother was born on 9/11.


Tonight's meeting was shorter than expected -- only about fifteen minutes long. When it ended, I was a touch shaken, but fundamentally okay. Decided that, rather than head straight home, I would take a walk along the Thames to ground myself.

Some say that things come in threes[1]. I am not sure that I believe this[2], but tonight the Universe gave me three things in a row -- all of which helped me to gather my inner strength, focus, and balance. The first happened as I crossed the Blackfriar's Bridge, just before commencing my walk. I am not sure where it emanated from -- possibly St. Pauls, or maybe the Southwark Cathedral -- but the music of change bell ringing filled the air. It was an unexpected surprise, and the beloved music helped me to find my center once again. Next was the stroll along the waterfront. This was not a surprise; being a water elemental, I knew that a walk alongside water would do me good. I walked until I felt calm and balanced once again. Before that happened, my walk led me to the lion statues near Cleopatra's Needle. Two years ago, [livejournal.com profile] resourceress and I walked by these lions -- indeed, I took a photograph of her that has become one of her LJ icons. Upon reaching the lions, I curled up between the paws of one of them and sat for awhile, looking out over the water. I remembered the strength and the longevity of the bond between [livejournal.com profile] resourceress and myself. I drew strength from this bond. I also remembered an important metaphor about lions that my dear [livejournal.com profile] tawneypup recently shared with me. This, too, warmed the heart. While sitting with the lions, I called on that strength to make an important phone call. Eventually, I left the lions and walked further, until I was ready to come home. I am doing so now, writing this entry from the Oxford Tube[3] on my way back to Skullcrusher Mountain.

Tonight's meeting concerned an ending, and was part of this year's Samhain. My Samhain began last Saturday night at sunset. For one thing, that was the final sunset before we changed the clocks back here in Merry Olde England[4]. Since then, the clocks have been changed and the sun sets before five o'clock. This large increment of lost daylight is an essential part of my Samhain experience, and it signals the coming of Winter. Saturday evening was also when my first Samhain ritual of the year took place; [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I did a small private ritual to honour some who are newly amongst the ranks of the Beloved Dead.

Samhain is the start of Winter, and the turning of the year. This year has certainly been all about Change[5]. Compared to this time last year, I have a new job in a new city, working on a new experiment in a new country. [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat has a new job, too. Her health is also in a new, and potentially better, place. Together, we have a new car, a new cat, and are about to have a new flat. With one exception, all of the significant romantic relationships in my life have changed, too. I won't pretend that it has been an easy year; most of these changes were quite painful when they were happening -- the period from December 17th to April th hurt like hell![6] However, I find that I am in a strong and positive headspace this Samhain season.

Indeed, I find that my current energy makes for an interesting contrast with Samhains of the past two years. In 2006, somebody turned up the Samhain volume too much; that year, the Samhain energy was particularly intense as the Universe chose to beat the crap out of not just me, but also many other people that I know. Samhain 2007 was quite different; possibly due to a cold, or maybe due to the intensity of Samhain 2006, I felt very little connection with the Samhain energy last year. We did a small ritual and went to WitchFest in London, but it all felt very distant. To use the Three Bears as a metaphor, Samhain 2006 was too much, Samhain 2007 was too little, and Samhain 2008 feels just right. I am wrapping up the last loose ends of the year and moving forward into next year from a place of strength and grounding.

In addition to doing our private ritual on Saturday, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and I celebrated the season on Sunday with a visit to Blenheim Palace to attend their "Very Victorian Halloween" festivities. These included haunted ghost stories, a show from a nineteenth century magic lantern, and a pumpkin train... as well as a more generic stroll in the formal gardens and past the waterfall.

Plans for upcoming Samhain and Halloween events include running our traditional Ancestor Ritual for a group of good friends on Friday (Samhain proper), followed by a visit to a haunted farm, and a walk in Salcey Forest to watch the leaves changing colour over the weekend. Backup plans, in the event of rain, could include the Halloween festivities at the Oxford Castle, a ghost tour of Oxford, or a performance of Sweeney Todd at the Old Fire Station Theatre in Oxford[7].

To all those on my f-list who celebrate this holiday, I wish you a very Blessed Samhain! To everyone else, I wish a Happy Halloween[8]!


[1] Which may come as a surprise to the lovely [livejournal.com profile] tawneypup, given her Halloween costume this year.

[2] Indeed, I probably don't.

[3] Where I seem to write most of my LJ entries of late.

[4] A side effect is that, for this week only, I am a mere four hours ahead of the East Coast and a scant five hours ahead of Chicago. If anyone wants a phone call from their favourite Nomad, this is probably a good week to arrange one!

[5] And not the sort a certain politician likes to talk about, either!

[6] The first date is when [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat's knee got injured, starting the period where the Universe decided to use us as a punchingbag. The second date is when we laid our beloved Foxy to rest, which was the last of the large traumas. Much rebuilding work remained -- indeed, it is not yet all over -- but the continuous volley of tragedies finally stopped raining down on us at that point. Which gave me the breathing room to stop doing triage and start on the rebuilding.

[7] I am somewhat torn about this. On the one hand, it is Sweeney Todd. On the other hand, it is OFS -- a venue for [very] amateurish productions. Just out of curiosity, would anyone be interested in joining us for this if we were to procure tickets for Saturday night (Nov 1)? It probably won't happen, as we already have plans if the weather is good... but I am just putting out some exceedingly tentative feelers to evaluate the potential of this as a backup plan.

[8] And, to my dad, I wish a happy 65th birthday! That's right -- my father was born on Halloween and my mother was born on 9/11.


One advantage of working in London now is that it makes the possibility of attending evening social events in London much more feasible. Go figure! Who'da thunk it?

With that in mind, I thought that I would put out a couple of feelers:

Is anyone was planning to attend either (a) the Poly Meetup next Tuesday, or (b) be at Coffee, Cake, and Kink[*] at any point between now and October 9th[**].

If so, let me know! I am quite amenable to dropping in on one or both of these if anyone that I know is attending...

[*] Which I am told still exists for a little while longer. I don't think that the delicious [livejournal.com profile] tawneypup would forgive me if I let it cease existing without ever having made it there!

[**] Which is when I head off to the States for the Super-Sekrit October Gathering on the Wiggly Bridge. This is why I am not asking about the Bi Underground this month -- I will be in New York City when it happens!


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