P&PS

This last week, particularly the last forty-eight hours, has seen a lot of changes in what this trip is going to end up being. Last week I had my last day of work officially commencing the countdown to May 23rd. In the last two days I've found out I won't be able to see two of the friends I had planned on seeing and another threw a wrench in my plan to sob happily like the closet romantic that I am. As sad as that makes me (I'm still pouting), the last week has also seen the development of some really awesome things: Jonathan Young in Hamlet for starters (this beats out Christopher Plummer in Ceasar and Cleopatra by lightyears), a Jim Byrnes show (his vooooice), and the discovery of the new UBurger at Faneuil Hall aka Quincy Market. Yes, I know I just put a burger place in the same bit of EXCITING as Jonathan Young and Jim Byrnes, but I have a serious thing for real, simple food. The UBurger discovery happened as part of my trip planning, which is going well. I

Walk 21 April 2013 12:31 pm local | 12:31 pm est I'm having a bit of a hard time thinking seriously about packing clothes for my upcoming trip given that it's still snowing here at the end of April and I'm optimistically planning on summer temperatures by the end of May.  The rest of the planning, however, is going rather well even if I am beginning to think I may need to pack another pair of my favorite sandals instead of the less practical but oh so shiny boots I was planning on taking. I'm blaming  Vancovuer Walkabouts , although in all fairness  Walk London ,  Edinburgh Walks , and  Pentland Hills  came first.  Guided tours, recommended walks, routes past the best attractions in the city, it's hard to pass up.  I love walking, or more accurately I love a leisurely stroll with my camera, or an unintentional rambling wander filled with people watching and good food.  Normally, my vacations are filled more with people, long chats, and shared (mainly s

The Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian My rating: 3 of 5 stars I feel like I've written more negatively about the books that I've read this year than I have in the past. While I know this isn't entirely true, I also know that I tend to be more critical of books outside of my usual reading sphere, a sphere I've worked hard this year to expand. This coupled with the fact that I enjoy discussing books more critically than other mediums; I read not just for enjoyment but to learn about the world and the craft of writing itself. As such I tend to gloss over the things I like- the cool dystopian setting, the interesting moral implications, the unusual typography or formatting- and focus more on the elements that detract from these. I focus on the mistakes I as a writer don't want to make, trying to understand and figure out how and why these elements don't work. My original review for The Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian followed along with this nor

Decisionitis Utica, NY 16 April 2013 8:56pm pm local | 9:27 pm est I had a bit of decision paralysis over the weekend in regard to my impending stay in London. I’m sure there’s a more scientific word to describe it other than ‘AHHHHHHHHHH’ but regardless, it was a bit of a problem. I know myself well enough to know that I shouldn’t plan a dozen things to do in four days. There’s a good chance jetlag will kick my butt or the weather won’t cooperate. Plus if there’s one time I don’t mind a bit of spontaneity (and by that I mostly mean epic tv watching) in my life, it’s when I’m travelling. The problem is, I watched a couple of London travel vids on Youtube, and suddenly wanted to do everything. And by everything, I mean everything, things I wouldn’t normally consider like ferries (hello motion sickness) or bus tours (I prefer the walking alternative) mixed in with all the usual suspects. In the end, I gave up and went back to reading the book I started last week (Cl

I thought it was about time I resurrect this blog since I'm planning on doing a fair bit of travelling this summer. The first step is to give this space a new look, but while I'm working on that, I thought I would give you all a rundown of what I'm planning. The trip starts by spending Memorial Day weekend in Boston, Massachusetts and ends right before Labor Day in Belfast, Ireland. It will include stays in seven states and two provinces as well as at least three countries in the UK, and a smattering of places in between (yay buses!). The trip will include visits to: Boston, MA Belfast, Northern Ireland Burlington, VT Chicago, IL Cleveland, OH Columbus, OH Duluth, MN Edinburgh, Scotland Edmonton, AB London, England Minneapolis, MN Oxford, England Portland, ME Salem, MA Seattle, WA Vancouver, BC Because I'm still in the planning stages of the trip, the specifics of what I'm doing in each location are still largely undetermined. If you wo