Jan
09
By: Angel | Discussion (0)


I’ve been using the wide-angle lens.
Back in my university days, I used a wide-angle lens almost
exclusively, so I thought I would have no trouble with this lens.
I was wrong. It is more difficult to get visually interesting
photos with a wide-angle than a telephoto. A wide-angle will
photograph much more area, and more of it will be in focus,
so you often end up with cluttered pictures with no focal point.
But I’m learning. And it’s a fun lens.
08 January 2008

We got back into Austin Sunday night, but I have been go go go since we arrived home.  Even now I don’t have much time for an update, so I thought I would tell a couple of anecdotes that highlight the quirks of different places.  Or, in shorthand, “Only in…”

“Only in England…”

Matt’s great-aunt who is also one of Lily’s namesakes, Auntie Vera, is in the hospital at the moment and we went to visit her several times while in England.  She shares a room with three other female patients, and above each patient’s bed is a small whiteboard with medical information.  Also on each whiteboard, alongside all the medical information, is how the patient takes her tea. :)  Auntie Vera’s had written, “Vera takes a very small amount of milk in her tea.”

“Only in Austin…”

We had two legs to our journey: London Gatwick to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Austin.  By the time we boarded the plane to Austin, we were all dead tired, including the children.  Damian was very fussy, so I started nursing him on the plane and he fell straight asleep.  As I was nursing him, I thought to myself, “That’s how you know that you’re on a plane to Austin: you see a 40-year-old woman breast-feeding her baby.” 🙂

It’s good to be home.  Like my mom always says, “I love going to see my family and friends, and then I love coming home.”



Jan
04
By: Angel | Discussion (0)

I take a lot of pictures of the children sleeping with their father.
It’s not that I plan to take so many pictures of my family sleeping together;
it’s just that they are so cute when they are all snuggled together.

The family waking up.
Lily is still asleep, and that is a pacifier in Matt’s mouth.
30 December 2007


When the baby is restless and not sleeping well,
Matt puts him on his chest, and he falls fast asleep.
04 January 2008

There is a very common, yet very incorrect, assumption made between the American and English cultures: we share the English language, so therefore we must have similar cultures.  These two cultures are very different.  There are the immediate obvious differences such as the road system, the housing, and the food… very very different between the two countries.  Then there is the less obvious social differences.  For example, these days, most Americans send Christmas cards that include pictures of their family on the card, whereas sending a photo Christmas card in England is considered as “putting yourself forward;” it’s just not done.

This is my sixth visit to England, and I have become reasonably accustomed to both the obvious and subtle differences between mine and my husband’s cultures.  I enjoy the differences actually; they make the trip really enjoyable and sometimes I even long to live here because there are several things I like better about English culture.

Every now and then though, I am still taken by surprise.  That happened at the Panto today.  Off we go for what is children’s Christmas entertainment.  Parents, grandparents, and loads of children stream into this lovely Victorian theatre in Lincoln.  We settle into our seats with the sound of children’s voices filling the theatre.  The lights go down, and the Panto version of Peter Pan begins.  It starts with a great song and dance number set in London in which we are introduced to the Darling family.

And then the high-kicking starts.  Beautiful ladies in their full skirts kick way into the sky… wearing nothing underneath but little white panties and sheer stockings over those.  The high-kicking and panty shots continue through the entire production of Peter Pan.  I haven’t seen so much fan service since I read the Video Girl Ai manga.

When we got home, Lily and I sat down for dinner with Matt’s mum and dad (Matt went to play badminton with his brother), and we began discussing the Panto.  I mentioned how surprised I was by the panty shots, and they didn’t even really notice!  Apparently the high kicking and twirling is a traditional part of that style of dancing and it is considered athletic.  Yet another interesting and entertaining difference between the cultures.

One more fun and trippy thing about the Panto:  I was starting to get the hang of the rhythm of the Panto.  It was a straight-forward musical version of Peter Pan except they would do silly, interactive things with the children in the audience during set changes.  The first scene after the intermission begins like all the others with Tigerlily telling Capt Hook that she has many friends to help her.  She has the children in the audience count down from ten to introduce her friends, and who should be her friends, entering from stage right and stage left, but Mr Man, Little Miss, a monkey, and a bear.  Then they all start singing and dancing.  That was the only truly surreal part of it.  Well, other than the constant panty shots.

I did really enjoy it, as did Lily and Damian.  And I have to say, the beautiful high-kicking ladies and their knickers actually added to overall enjoyment.  As a travelling connoisseur of cultures, I can tell you the differences are almost always trippy at first and then fun.



Jan
03
By: Angel | Discussion (1)


It snowed in Lincoln this morning;
Grannie and Grandpa took turns
holding Damian while Lily played
in the snow.
03 January 2008

We have two days left in England, and then we spend all day Sunday travelling back to Austin.  Tomorrow we go to see the Panto.  I’m really looking forward to it after hearing so many stories from Matt of going to see the Panto as a child.  It’s also nice that he is sharing this tradition with his own children.  I am a little worried because I have worked it up so much in my mind.  Hopefully the event can live up to the anticipation.

In four days we’ll be back home, and that’s when it will feel like the New Year will begin.  I’m still in holiday limbo at the moment where neither time nor calories actually occur.  The New Year is a big deal for me — it always feels joyful because I am so excited and hopeful.  I’ve got plans.  I always have plans, but, at the New Year, my plans seem gold-plated and full of promise.

Plans.  I love plans.  I love visions of an exciting and passionate possible future.  That’s what the New Year is:  it’s hope and redemption.  The redemption does not come into play so much for me anymore; I find redemption by other means.  One day I may blog on that.  In fact, I had a dream about it recently.  Maybe I’ll post the dream; it was very interesting.

Anyways,  hope and excitement are definitely part of the New Year for me.  And it all starts in four days upon our return to Austin. 🙂



Jan
01
By: Angel | Discussion (0)

Grannie with her grandson, Christmas Holiday 2007


25 December 2007


30 December 2007

We’re knackered.  We’ve had a very busy, very enjoyable, very full holiday.  But now we’re knackered.  The thing is, we’re not done yet.  It’s only January 1st — Lily’s 3rd birthday, by the way.  We still have a visit to Auntie Lily and Auntie Vera, Damian’s 1st birthday party, going to the Pantomime, and we have to exchange a clock at Toys R Us because it has a broken second hand.  (Matt’s mum said that our clock from Toys R Us was a bit “naff.”  Turns out that means “without taste.”  It has a fluffy pink feather boa glued around the edge — perhaps a bit “naff,” but certainly with a bit of fun. 😉 )

Happy New Year.  It’s been great so far. 🙂