British Library

Today's photography focus was on small things. I thought that notion was quite appropriate after we toured the British Library; as some small things indeed revealed themselves to me there. The tour basically explained the day-to-day workings of the library to our group from a Librarian-in-Training perspective; but my own, personal perspective did not start to take shape until we concluded our tour and entered the library's Sir John Ritblat Gallery (no photography allowed) where I felt a little like Alice falling down the rabbit hole... Life, it seems, keeps on bringing me more and more joy as I spend each day rediscovering the things I have loved for the majority of my life.

Tower of London & Globe Theater

Today's photography focus was to tell a story in five frames without narration. While the idea of conveying an overall idea with only photographic images is intriguing, it soon became the springboard that I would use to provide the genesis for my thoughts and set the tone for today’s reflective essay. In that odd way that all conversations segue into another topic, I initially stated the day at the Tower of London examining weapons and military items which spanned a 500 year period. My mate Eric and I talked about WWII for most of the time as we marveled at the human made armor and weapons made centuries before. Although it was easy to acknowledge the evolution of the making of weaponry and note that the increase in the durability and standards, one thing became clear -- it does not really matter what the time period, country of origin or type of armor making technique is; what remains a constant and critical factor in the success of any war is keeping the human body protected. The fragility of our bodies as an acknowledgment of our constant weakness and this is where the tangent started, as I asked myself: what about the wars we wage against nature? 

A Story in 5 Frames -- "Diego & Forlan Save the Queen!"

St. Paul's Cathedral & Barbican Library

Barbican's futuristic book scanner!

Today's photography focus was, think differently, or what I call choose you own adventure! I must say that the Barbican Library was amazing. I had such a great time looking at all of their collections and they had so much to offer the public!!! We got a wonderful and in-depth tour from two of the main librarians of so many of their different wings. Their music library has 2 pianos which  patrons can reserve and practice with headphones! (I took a picture of the West Side Story musical score from the 1960s for my mom, on her birthday today.) The childrens library was so neat, it was decorated with all space and astronomy-related things (making me think of my mother-in-law.) I was floored when I found out that England pays for every child to get three sets of books at different ages in order to propel their development! I guess with this running theme you could say that the Barbican is the "mother" of London libraries! Next, we visited St. Paul's Cathedral and there was no photography allowed inside, so I had to just make due with my pictures of the outside of the cathedral.

Hampton Court

Today's photography focus was on flowers while at our only destination for the day, Hampton Court! We took the tube and then the above ground train the Palace. There were self-guiding tours and after you pick one up, you are enticed by the racks of medieval-style sleeveless cloaks in green or ruby colors. First, I roamed around the palace, and admired the large tapestries which adorned the main mead hall. The stained glass windows were appointed throughout the many rooms in the main building; as were and the antlers of man, many elk and deer were mounted all around. 

Six Degrees of Salisbury Cathedral Podcast

Here is my first podcast! It's about 3 and a half minutes long and it is embedded in the DivShare player:

 

Fair Use Music Used

Gabriel, P. (1977). Solsbury Hill. On Peter gabriel [CD]. Toronto, Canada: Atco.
Gabriel, P. (1980). Biko. On Peter gabriel [CD]. Bath, England: Charisma Records.
Gilmour, D., Mason, N., Waters, R., & Wright, R. (1973). Time. On Dark side of the  
           moon [CD]. London, England: Harvest, EMI.
Pequel, M. (2009). November. On Twelve months [Online]. Retrieved from
            http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Marcel_Pequel/12_Months
            /Marcel_Pequel__The_12_Months__11].

How to Create a Podcast (without tearing your hair out)

There was no photography focus, as these weekends are sort of choose your own adventure. So I spent the bulk of my weekend writing and creating my first podcast. It's called "Six Degrees of Salisbury Cathedral" and is posted as a separate blog entry. Since this is a new endeavor for me, luckily I've the writing part and genesis of ideas came to me in only three hours, the rest of it, well...that is another story! I think writing this "how to" about the podcasting process itself will be of use to me in the future, so it seemed like a natural blog entry to round out this weekend. Here are my steps in a straight-forward guideline:

Regents Park, Primrose Hill & Abbey Road

Today’s photography focus was to take a panoramic scene. I’ll comment briefly on the Regents Park flower gardens – they are amazing! You can turn your head in any direction and see some beautiful wild flowers and strategically planted roses, as far as the eye can see. Lovely little stone creatures tucked under the planters make this park a wonderful place to bide some time. After taking a million flower photos, we began our second journey of the day; this one was a steep climb up to Primrose Hill which overlooks the city with its spectacular vantage point. We attempted to fly some kites up there, but sadly the wind was not on our side. The sweeping view of downtown London was definitely fit for panoramic photo taking, but all that beauty was not what inspired this blog. Saving the best for last, we made our trek down the hill and on toward St. John’s Wood, where the feeling of anticipation grew to a crescendo when I reached Abbey Road studios and saw with my own eyes, the iconic zebra crosswalk. (BTW, Diego noted that, in fact, no zebras seemed to be crossing except for him!)

Greenwich & Trafalgar Square

Today’s photography focus was transportation. The day started off with a trip on the tube (i.e. subway) and since the escalators were out of service, we took the long way down via a very winding staircase à la Alfred Hitchcock. Next, we boarded a ferry and had a leisurely stroll down the Thames River. The buildings look quite different from the vantage point of the water and I liked the way the soft sway of the boat made me feel that weightlessness that only saltwater can provide. As I wrote in my journal, I thought about how nice it was to be back on a boat, smelling the sea air and how peaceful the whole experience was. It also forced me to ponder something I have spent the last week trying not to think of – the continuing destruction of the water of my home state in the Gulf Coast. (If anything can be learned from the reckless way in which we misuse the finite resources of the earth, this must be the wake-up call and there is no longer the luxury of hitting the snooze button…)

Stonehenge & Salisbury Cathedral

Today's photography focus was to take a color photo and transform it into black and white with only one small focal point to remain in color. (I took so many lovely pictures today; it was difficult to choose the best one.) We began the day by boarding the coach (i.e. bus) early as we pressed-on; it was strange to watch from my window the almost magical transformation as we slowly left the dense and heavily populated business district of London to the quaint and very remote parts of the English countryside. About 45 minutes into the ride, we passed a field of cattle, set against a lush green pasture that seemed to be a million miles long. As we neared our first stop of the day, my heart sped up in anticipation, of the Neolithic 8th wonder of the world, Stonehenge.

British Museum

Today's photography focus was quite interesting, the task was to replicate a photo we found appealing from a publicly shared photo site called flickr. Starting this adventure I typed-in the main keyword tag of “britishmuseum” which offered a slew of neat photos. Of course, I was instantly drawn to the Egyptian antiquities holdings, where I knew I could find the likeness of Bastet, the Egyptian goddess linked to so many things, like dancing and joy and was worshiped as the protectress of home and fertility. She is always portrayed with the head of a black cat, although sometimes she has the body of a human or a cat. That, of course, reminded me of own male, black cat at home “the Buddha” whom I miss dearly on this trip! To delve further into this theme, not only has Egyptology always been a fascinating area of study for me, but I also have a passion for protecting and caring for my own felines.

Wesminster Abbey

Today's photography focus was on buildings, which is a great topic for any area of London, but it was especially true at the Westminster Abbey. First, I was curious to find that “Westminster Abbey” is actually a nickname; officially the location is called the “Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster”. Our blue badge guide, Hugh, pointed out so many things on our tour that it would be impossible to describe here…Among the many things which left me in awe, seeing the huge marble slab commemorating Paul Dirac came as quite a surprise. Mostly, it made me long for my home in Tallahassee, reminding me of using the Dirac Science Library as an undergraduate at FSU. Further along the tour, we discovered the final resting place of Sir Isaac Newton, writer of the laws of gravity (no small feat)… making me think about the gravity of my life currently, separated from my home, even though I am surrounded by all of this beauty and history, some things still can’t fill the void in your heart.

In the Beginning....MUST SEE!

I spent most of Sunday editing and revising my photos into a neat kind of narrative, I certainly hope you enjoy! BTW, my classes start TOMORROW (Monday)! HA HA HA 
How To: simply click here for my new Picasa Web Gallery and the on "In the Beginning" and then click on "slideshow" on the top left!

A different kind of "Leon"

While walking around today, I found this nice treat, the Leon store...something foreign to remind me of my home and family back in Leon County!

Diego on the Thames

Friday was an all day walking tour discovery with my new mates. Diego and I had a fun time looking at the double-decker buses while overlooking the Thames...

 

London Day 1 (Sort-Of)

Well, it's 1:45 PM London/UK time here. I have finally moved into my flat (#19), bathed, blew-up my "surge protecting power cord," slept, eaten, slept again and eaten again, went to class and established my wireless connection here so that I can resume a bit of normalcy. (Side note: I had the most strange dream last night about a bald woman giving birth in my flat.) After walking around London for an hour this morning (on a briefly guided tour) I am a bit tuckered-out, but there is still so much to do today. My next class is at 6 PM here (henceforth all times given will be in UK time) and we are meeting at a local pub. All I can say is *fantastic* or *brilliant* as the Brits exclaim! Photos will be forthcoming.

Amsterdam

Still in Amsterdam, waiting to catch my next flight to London Heathrow...What a very long journey so far, but Diego has been a good travel buddy! Also, thanks to Shaun for taking me to dinner during my 10 hour "delay" in Atlanta! I am very thankful to have friends all over the place! Until I get to London...

Travel Woes

Well, I missed my connection to JFK and will now have to wait at the ATL airport until midnight tonight..then I fly to Amsterdam and then onto Heathrow. Holy cow, what a long wait for the next flight...Ugh 29 total hours of travel!

Travel Mascot Ennui Resolved!

Well, I have a plane ticket, I have some luggage, but I am running out of ideas for my travel mascot (even though I have spent much time tweaking this blogs appearance...) I thought about taking my Dr. Julius Hibbert figure from the Simpson's movie promo, but that may only be due to the fact he sits on my desk and stares at me daily...Ahh anxiety, thy name is travel mascot...UPDATE!!! Meet my little finger puppet "Diego" standing next to Dr. Hibbert. He's got a little chapstick under there to hold him up.

Diego at home, practicing for the camera

London Study Centre

This is the FSU Study Centre located on Great Russell Street where my things (in theory, once they are packed and then subsequently unpacked) and I will be housed! Click here for more pictures and information.