So, after swearing that I would stop flying to the States for the weekend, my nephew’s christening seemed like a good exception to the rule so off I went. I left a wet and dreary London and arrived eight hours later in wet and dreary Philadelphia. The difference, however, is two fold. One - it stays lighter a bit later, which is a good thing this time of year. Two - I get to see my family. I am on a bit of a budget kick these days, so for the first time in a long time I flew out in [View Full Entry]

---

---

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to take more single days off to do fun things in London. I figured that fifteen days into the new year was a good time to start, so I took the day off to go to the Boat Show. Wow - but this was my idea of heaven. Sailboats as far as the eye could see. Some small, some huge. I arrived at 10.00 and left at 6.00 and spent the time in between looking at boats and just dreaming. I went with my mate Jason and he and I had so much fun. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see. -- John Newton For those of you who haven’t yet seen it, I cannot recommend the film “Amazing Grace” to you highly enough. I watched it off the back of my brother’s recommendation and it is simply wonderful. Talented, young British actors make up the cast and, although you know how the story will end, it moved me to tears. Absolutely inspiring story that made me realise how little I knew about the slave trade. [View Full Entry]

---

---

The last two days have been great fun. They show the range of interests that I have - or at least, the things that I find to amuse myself with once the working day is over. One of my new year’s resolutions is to start going to the theatre again. I used to go all the time, but have rather slowed down over the past few years. So - I decided to start up again and went to see “King Lear” on Tuesday night. My goodness - not a slow start at all. I had never actually seen “Lear”, although I [View Full Entry]

---

---

First and foremost, Happy 2008 to everyone. I’ve been doing this blog now for nearly a year. It’s actually one of the few things I managed to start and keep going during 2007. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is not too blue that they are now behind us. At least Easter is early this year, so we have another Bank Holiday before too long. When I logged on to write this, I was given a message that the last activity I had done was post the Exploring blog 58 days ago. Wow, but does time fly. The [View Full Entry]

---

---

"Exploration is not a choice, really; it's an imperative." Michael Collins, Apollo 11 I finally managed to sleep until a decent hour Tuesday morning which is why the blog entries have gotten a bit behind. Never mind -- it felt good to sleep and not wake up while it was still dark outside. The reason I am in DC is to attend the annual conference for my work. So -- today I had to stop the playing and get down to work. It wasn't as bad saying good-bye to Mom and Lynn as it usually is because I will see them [View Full Entry]

---

---

"What I wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house." Edward Hopper Once again, up before the birds. Jetlag is so insidious. I tend to vacillate between being bone tired and then wide awake. Of course, I am wide awake while the rest of the world sleeps. It isn’t so bad. It gives me time to write my blog and write in my journal. Yes, I still keep a journal. I have done so for years and use it to record everything from the meetings I attend at work to where I go for meals. I [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well, the idea was a long sleep. Didn’t quite work out that way. Jet lag - yippee! Up at 5.30, but wasn’t too fussed about it as I had slept for a few hours. I got up to work on my blog and just generally do my thing. I went down to the lobby of the hotel to get some coffee - only to be told that the clocks had changed and that it was actually an hour earlier than I had thought. Oh well - that’s what naptime is for. So, I had a long time this morning to work [View Full Entry]

---

---

I just love it when the alarm goes off at four in the morning. Always feels a bit as though I have been kicked in the head, but if one wants to get the first flight to Washington DC from Heathrow, this is the price one pays. The silver lining? It’s too early for the tubes to run, so I must take a taxi to the airport. Too bad! Had a very funny start to my day. When I got to the airport, I had to use the self check-in kiosk. I stood there for about three minutes, not quite understanding [View Full Entry]

---

---

What a weekend! It made me feel as though I was actually back in the states. It all started Friday night with the annual Wine Show. I went along with my friend Michael, Pete from work and some of Michael’s colleagues. It was held at a big convention place in Islington called The Design Centre. Lovely space and lots of room to move about. On the walls were hangings with various sayings about wine. My favourite? “We are all mortal until the first kiss or the second glass of wine.” Eduardo Galeano We wandered around trying different types of wine. They [View Full Entry]

---

---