New Prada Glasses Baby!

The day before yesterday, Matt and I took a little trip to a craft store and stopped at his favorite chocolate shop while we were there. In the same mall as Hotel Chocolat, there is an eye clinic and I decided to go in just for the heck of it since I had been looking at getting new glasses for months but could not seem to find anything that I liked. Well, I tried on a pair of Prada glasses and I ended up buying them. Not cheap but they were the best of what I had tried on before (although now I am having second thoughts).

So, they needed to be picked up so I drove there all by myself yesterday. I went on the highway for the first time here all on my own. It was a bit scary at first but then I really got into it. I had a VERY close call at a round about but the guy managed to stop before he hit me, just inches from my side of the car. Scary to say the least.

So, I got the new glasses and now I think I look dorky cause they are too big. I keep comparing them to the ones I lost because I really, really liked them and I just want to kick my self for losing them. That was back in February and it has taken me this long to decide on a new pair. I am still not sold on these but it's too late now so I'll just have to suck it up.

Blast From The Past

A few days ago, I was looking as someone's blog the other day and she was talking about a game I used to play when I was in my early teens and loved...."Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?". Apparently she had downloaded it free and also downloaded a DOS program to run it in. Well, I got her to tell me where to get it from and I've been playing it every day since then. I am now an Investigator and I gotta say, the promotion questions are not easy! Thank goodness for Google though. This makes me think, what did kids ever do back in the 80's when there was NO Google??? You mean to tell me they actually looked at books??? THE HORROR!!!!

Grammar Check Anyone?

I have been reading my old blog entries and I have noticed a lot of grammar errors. It's not a case of me not knowing how to use the terms, it's just me not being careful. The errors happened mostly in entries that were emotionally charged, entries like "The End Of The Affair" , "It's Not Goodbye", etc. I poured my heart and soul into those entries and didn't really pay attention to the grammar. I was too worried about expressing the right feelings, the right emotions. If this is any indication of my behavior when I am emotionally engaged in an argument then I must come across as a very uneducated person. This raises one question in my head, do we get sloppy when get emotionally involved? Could that be the cause of so many failed relationships out there? OK, two questions.

London GTG 8

Yesterday was the 8th DPC London GTG. Man was it a long day! We had lunch at a Thai restaurant on The Strand. It was a decent place. Then we walked around the Temple area. All but one gate into the Middle Temple was closed so we had to take a big detour to get it. After that walk was done, we headed to the London Eye from Holborn. It was a long walk but there were lots of photo ops. I was dead by the time I got home at 9:30pm or so and then had to get up at 8:30am today because I had a client meeting at 11am two hours away. When we got back home, we just laid in bed for a couple hours. I think we are recovering now! The rest of the GTG pics can be seen here: London GTG 8

Good Pie, Wrong City

A couple of days ago I saw an apple pie recipe on a magazine and I really wanted to make it. I hard a hard time finding the premade pastry and I'd be damned if I made it from scratch! I finally baked the pie today. It looks SO good! It took a while to make though, I knew there was a reason I didn't bake pies! It's still warm but now I have to wait till Matt gets home to eat dinner and have pie. He better enjoy this one because I don't bake often!

On a different note, according to a quiz I took, I live in the wrong city. Apparently I belong in Rome, not London. Maybe I'll move there and my life will be less boring!

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city girl with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

Betty Crocker, My Friend

A couple hours ago, while grocery shopping, I came across a box of Betty Crocker pancake mix. I thought, "I must have pancakes!" So, I came home and got right down to business. I made 4 huge pancakes, two for me and two for matt. I ended up only eating about one because I wasn't really hungry, it was more of a craving. I needed a little comfort food. Isn't my live exciting??

Off to Wales, Both, Me and My Passport

Today we went to the local DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) to apply for my provisional license based on my US license. They took my passport and it has to be sent to Swansea, Wales along with my application. Now I am a bit uneasy because I am traveling to the US for a wedding I have hired to shoot in October and I'm worried something might happen to my passport. If all goes well, I should have it back within 6 weeks, but if it gets lost? It would take a long time to get a new passport and a new UK visa. I'd hate to think what I'd have to tell the bride! Well, we'll see what happens with that.

I am off to Wales too, but I will be back on Sunday, much sooner than my passport ;) I am going on a photo course that will hopefully help me run my business better. I'm looking forward to it but I am going in with an open mind, I don't want to be disappointed.

Serendipity

A few days ago I decided to look at my high school's website to see if there was anything there about my 10 year reunion in 3 years, I was just curious. There was nothing about the reunion so I decided to look a the alumni from my graduating year to see if I recognized anybody; I didn't. Then I decided to look at the rest of the years I was there in I found my best friend from high school whom I haven't seen in over 5 years. My heart skipped a beat. I got her email address and sent her an email. For days I kept checking my inbox to see if she had replied but nothing. I was starting to think she's never reply. Then today, bam!, there's an email from her.

She gave me her phone number and I called her. We talked just for a little while because she was at work but that was enough to make all the memories to come rushing back into my head. It's amazing how long 11 years really is, but I still remember when we met. Amazingly enough, I was a freshman and she was a senior, not your usual best friend combo. For a long time we were like sisters and she knew everything I did and I knew everything she did (sometimes more that I had bargained for). Even after she graduated we remained close friends for years. As with most friendships, we grew apart, not because we wanted it that way but because there was such an age difference between us. Four years seem like nothing now but in your teens, 4 years is a lot. When I was 17 or so she got married and moved away. We saw each other occasionally but not like before. Then, when I was 19, I joined the Navy and moved away and I hadn't seen her or heard from her since then. My mom lost contact with her too and I have been trying to find her for a while with no luck, till now. It was pure serendipity this time, I guess this is when it was meant to happen. I haven't had a close friend like that since her and I am really glad that I found her again. Maybe we can pick up where we left off, maybe we'll have to work on it to get back to the way it used to be, either way I'm prepared to give it a go, even if we do live oceans apart.

New PC, New Client

Today's been a good day. I am slowly but surely setting up the computer Matt built for me last night. 1.5 TB RAID5 hard drive set up, 2 Ghz dual core CPU, 2 GB of RAM, I'm loving it. It's SO fast, specially compared to the laptop I had been using for months. Everything runs so smoothly. I think I am in love.

I had a client meeting, my first official one, that I think went quite well. They will be mailing the contract with the retainer tomorrow morning. This is a wedding at a beautiful venue and they will have fireworks at night so that should produce some nice images. Did I mention I love my new computer?

Oh Brother Where Art Thou? (or, Is Castro Dead?)

This afternoon I was on the tube on my way to get some camera gear when a man sat in front of me holding a newspaper with the headline "Ailing Castro Gives Power To Brother" My heart skipped a beat and I asked the man if I could borrow the newspaper while as I grabbed it from his hands. He looked at me in shock and I said "I'm Cuban" He let out a sight of relief, as in "thank god she's not some psycho!" As I read the first few lines, my heart sank, ".....at least temporarily", said the article. I didn't read any further, I was disappointed, I guess I was expecting some more radical.

I called my mom in Florida as soon as I got above ground. Apparently there is a big commotion and Castro's health is "a matter of national security" according to the Cuban government. There are all sorts of speculations and conspiracy theories based on the facts that don't add up. One of the those "facts" is that according to the Cuban press, Castro signed the document giving power to his brother right after coming out of surgery for a gastric ulcer. That is very unlikely, people coming out of surgery are not normally coherent enough to talk much less to sign such document. According to my family in Cuba, there's cops all over the place in case riots break out. Some people think the Cuban government is giving the Cuban people time to come to terms with life without Castro before they drop the bomb. Some think said bomb is that he is in fact dead or at least very sick and close dying. Like millions of other people, I cannot wait to see what comes out of this.