Edinburgh

I've seen the castle. It looks like this...except without all the green cause it's winter.

Someday I hope to see it in the daylight (and not before 7.45 am or after 11.30 pm).

I love my job.

Skiing in Austria...

Something's missing...
We did eventually find snow and had a good trip but I am now way busier than that paper hanger (think no arms, lots of paper). It's 12.30 am in London and I am still in the office. Sadcakes.

Flying to Scotland on Saturday for work. British Air strikes next week should make the return trip fun!

For those that are curious, last night's dinner that was made for me was chicken, brocolli and rice. The chicken had a nice chilli-garlic-soy sauce thing happening. Yummy.

No, you boys can't have her. She's mine.

Busier Than a One Armed Paper Hanger...

My apologies, dear readers, but the next 2 weeks are sheer madness in terms of how busy I am at work and with travel so I won't have much time to update. For those who care:

• Yesterday was Jess's last day in the office. I gave a speech...well, technically, I started to give a speech and then I started crying so Jeff had to read my speech for me. I would like to thank Jeff for being my rock.
• I have a new flatmate for the next month. Last night she cooked me salmon and couscous for dinner. I think I am going to let her stay as long as she wants.
• Tomorrow I am jetting off to Salzburg for some skiing in the Alps...where apparently there is no snow. We booked the "Sound of Music" room for our first night in town before we jet to the mountains. Yes, we paid extra for that.
• When I get back from Austria mid-week I have just a few days before I leave to Edinburgh to work at an event for 4 days. I booked the holiday when I thought I wasn't going to be working at the event this year (silly me). Now my holiday is stressing me out. Oh, irony.

Be good to yourselves.

What I Learned This Weekend - 15 Jan

• Suzanne will lead even when she doesn't know where she's going.
• Canadian hosts are not amusing in a London cabaret show and there is such a thing as bad burlesque strip tease.
• I don't like my friends to be seated too far away when eating in a restaurant without music.
• I can make a speech with absolutely NO preparation and despite several moments of wet-eyed weakness, not even cry.
• I like to make Jeff go first.
• In London, you can hire people to move a couch at 6.30 pm on a Sunday evening when you didn't even call them until 11.30 on Sunday morning.
• If I ever need to win a bet, I know I can fit 8 stacked Pringles into my mouth and eat them without losing any crumbs (however, I suspect I might be able to do 10).
• I don't like Lapsang Souchon tea. It smells like campfire.

Friday Top 5: So Long Beckham!

Top 5 Pros and Cons of the Beckhams Moving to The USA:

1. Con: No longer able to participate in any conversations with blokes about Football. The one player I knew and could commet on...gone.
2. Pro: European reserves of fake tanner can return to normal.
3. Con: My dreams for a Spice Girl reunion tour in 2007 pretty much impossible now
4. Pro: Less competition for the 'good' paparazzi's attention.
5. Con: (the biggest con of them all) They're taking the Dobbersteins with them. Sadcakes.

He's All Yours Now

Posh and Becks head Stateside. 'Merica won't know what to do with them!
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SPORT/football/01/11/usa.beckham/

That Makes Two

Last night Suzanne and I walked out of our second play in London. In 2.5 years and probably more than 50 plays, we've previously only left "Whistle Down the Wind" (Andrew Llloyd Webber = nightmare). The thing is, it wasn't that it was THAT BAD of a play (never mind the extreme overacting. I mean seriously, you don't need to yell every line. There is something to be said for subtle delivery people) but we really weren't into it. And the saddest part is that it had such a promising title:

Rockn'Roll by Tom Stoppard.

The whole thing was these very short, intense scenes that were heavy on dialogue about communism, socialism, facism, all set against a backdrop of Czechoslovakia and England from 1969 -1990s. (We only made it to the 70s though since we left at intermission). As I was still figuring out whether the scene was taking place in Cambridge or Prague the scene was running away from me and then over. Were the short intense scenes a metaphor for Rock n' Roll I wondered? Just like those 2 minutes of song that say so much? Maybe.

But it was a bit much for a Wednesday night.

The great thing about going to a show with Suz is that at intermission, as I am preparing to start dropping hints that I am not that thrilled but willing to stay if she is having a great time, she looks at me and plainly says, "It's not that great." When we asked how long the second half was (after an hour and 15 minutes for the first half) we were told it was ANOTHER 1.5 hours. The look of horror in Suz's eyes meant I was free to say, "Let's get out of here."I was also reassured by some other theater-goers putting on their coats to not come back.

So that makes two and means I have one more bad theatre experience left to go.

Top Eight Comments of the New Year

Last I will say about the New Year trip to Italy but I feel I need to immortalize these in the digital world. All of these were actually said on the New Year's Eve trip by either myself or my companions.

• "That car looks like it got spanked hard"
• "Boys don't have breasts or any other part. Joel, I am going to buy you an anatomy book!"
• "I'm looking for a penguin eye but I don't see it."
• "I almost shot the moon by being plain old screwed."
• "I'm gonna do it...but I'm gonna wait fo the intercourse."
• "Fabreeze doesn't solve all your problems."
• "I want a job, a dessert and a boyfriend, if you have time."
• "Machiatto per tutti. No, I'm serious."

Friday's Top 5: New Year Resolutions

1. Be more consistent on doing the Top 5 on Fridays
2. Bring back a consistent "What I learned this Weekend" on Mondays.
3. Check off my travel checklist before I move back to 'Merica (the countdown has begun but I don't want to tell any of you the return date cause CherryRide will yell at me).
4. Go to the gym 3x a week. (I am not going to say, "Lose xx amount of weight" cause that always ends in disappointment but I figure I can commit to the gym 3x a week.)
5. Talk to my family more often. (I have a new policy of calling my brother "just to check in" when I am walking somewhere in London and have nothing better to do than talk on the phone. We can go for weeks without talking and that makes me sad. This way it makes for shorter, more frequent, and more random convos and usually end in, "Well, I am where I needed to be now so have to go. Love you. Later!" He seems to like it so far. We'll see how long that lasts.)

Now everyone wish my mom a happy birthday, wouldya?

Happy Birthday Mom!

On this day, several years ago (we won't say exactly how many to protect her innocence) my Mama was brought forth upon this planet in Anchorage, Alaska at Providence Hospital.

Let's all take a minute to wish Mama Recken (and Elvis if he were still around) a very happy birthday, shall we?

Happy Birthday Mom!

New Year Photos

Are posted in My Original Album. Check em out.

I Noticed Something Funny in Italy...

See if you can spot the trend...

Well, when in Italy...

Buen Ano!

That's how the Italians say, "Happy New Year." Pronounced correctly it sounds like Buenano pronounced after a few to many glasses of Presseco it sounds like BONANO!!!

Here's how we spent our New Year in Vicenza, Italy... With a few left over Christmas crackers and lots of wine.

Dinner was FIVE courses...it took 4 hours. We started at 8.30 and finished just before midnight. One price, EVERYTHING included...including the wine.

We then ran out to the main square just as midnight hit. All the Italians were going pretty crazy. The people on stage were saying a bunch of stuff in Italian. For the first few minutes we couldn't tell if we'd missed midnight or were still waiting...

What made it so hard was that there was no noticeable difference in the noise level. The Italians had been setting off fireworks since the night before and at midnight the noise level jumped up but mostly because EVEN MORE fireworks were going off. Apparently, there is no need to clear space for setting off a firework in Italy. You just light it, set it down, and hope the people around you are smart enough to get out of the way.

In the end, we decided that maybe we had missed it but either way we were going to celebrate.

Cue even more Presseco drinking and hugs and yelling and merriment. Noisy yelling phone calls were made to friends in London and the USA (where it was only 3 pm) and more than a few of you are probably still trying to decipher the New Year message I left at full volume.

Fireworks aside and jumping up and down complete, we headed back to the restaurant to dance the boogie oogie. When we left an hour later it was still complete mayhem outside. Fireworks still exploding in crowds and people still partying in the street.

Seeing as how we all left Italy with all our limbs and just some persistent ringing in the ears I'd say we passed the test.