England 2025: One Great Night in Whitby
I Found the Buck Inn After another beautiful North Yorkshire day of photography, walking,and making humorous videos to send to friends via WhatsApp, I opted to skip dinner at my pub and grab something light. After my fruit and nuts tea, at about 5 or 6pm, I sauntered down the road to find that many pubs were closed of a Monday...but not the Buck Inn. Inside was a nice mix of folks, women, men, younger and older—all drinking age. I grabbed a pint of Guinness and an open seat toward the back of the pub, to write up the details of my day. Withi…
England 2025: Manchester
Technically it's Day 3 I caught the train from Euston Station in London, to meet Emma at Manchester Picadilly, for an epic day out. We planned to eat in at the world-mentioned Kingfisher chippy in the Northern Quarter, then take a self-guided street art tour. If you don’t know about the Manchester art scene, it is filthy with tags, graffiti art, slaps, mosaics, and full-on building height murals. While it’s not the City of Angels, it is not to be missed! We grabbed me a fish n chips platter…still a meal too big for me to finish (and I ke…
England 2025: Getting to Whitby
On the North Yorkshire Coast Okay, why do they call it the Transpenine Express , since it hits every single stop between Manchester, and where I want to be. I’ve had to swap trains at Middlesboro, just to ensure that I go to every dale, ware, and kil before reaching my final destination. Perhaps rebrand it as the Transpenine Omnibus? Just a thought. Besides having lost phone service for the last 8 stops of the journey, it is magnificently beautiful to travel by train, in a warm sunny winter, through the dales and up to the coast. The Boro had …
England 2025: My Favorite Italian
Good Fare Italian Restaurant I awoke to another day pregnant with possibilities, in a newly renovated room on the 4th floor of the President Hotel (I need to find somewhere else to stay one day...ha. this is my 5th time!). Anyway, I'll admit to taking an early morning nap after breakfast. That was probably all of my jet lag, which was pretty mild this year. When I finally made it out--feeling like I've thwarted jet lag--I strolled through Camdentown and hit three of my favorite places: (1) the Mind charity shop, (2) the art supplies …
England 2025: The North Sea (restaurant)
Tuesday, Day 1 Okay this is weird, because I can totally see Professor Bill Davis here, sat belly-up to a table on his own—like me—with a huge plate of haddock and chips. There is a take-away attached to the eat-in restaurant. I know from past experience that is preferable to make a reservation to this establishment, so a month ago I booked my 5:30pm dinner for one. Professor Davis at the right-front, detail of the North Sea menu, and my plate of haddock. At 17:30, the main dining room is 'filled' with American patrons. Four tables…
Bob Mortimer Cured my Scuirophobia
A lifelong crippling phobia, gone. I'm free. I read a book that retold--practically verbatim--the story of my first meeting a new friend in a London bar, it also engaged squirrels in new and interesting ways, and eventually solved a murder mystery...all while making me laugh out loud every few chapters. People on the bus no longer sit near me. The Satsuma Complex is written by Bob Mortimer, a comedian from Middlesborough, who has lived a colorful life and pissed in more than one teapot in hotels across England. The germaphobe and tea-lov…
2019 Year in Review
We, at the theater January we were full of optimism... but then the Live version of RENT aired on teevee. Rather than let that early disappointment color our perception of the year to come...we decided that 2019 had nowhere to go but up! February was a month of contrasts. We Hewesies were again full of joy and anticipation as we partied down for 3 near-consecutive snow days, and saw our new favorite band Katie Bowers perform at the Cat's Eye. But all this light and fun was followed by the grim news that we should take better care o…
Obsessed with vintage leather...
My latest purchase—or as my husband would say “what you get for the girl who has everything”—is yet another beautiful leather bag. I just learned today that this is completely impractical for bike commuting. However, my inventor’s mind has come up with the biking-tote-harness…more on that later. This is an extra-large, unfinished cow hide bag...note the raw edged. It’s got a single interior side pocket and a snap to hold the bag together when it’s overstuffed. Beautiful, utilitarian, natural. Just like me But seriously, this bag is: …
If you have more bikes than people...
What to do when your house has more bikes than people? Get a vertical standing bike rack. It saves on floor space, and makes you look like less of a slob--at least, that's been our experience. We have a stable of 6 bikes, five of which reside in the house with us. While one stays in the basement. This light-weight bike rack has moved around between the front room and living room in our current house (3 years) and our last apartment (2 years). It's fairly easy to install (since we've long since mislaid the instructions) and d…
(literally, the worst job I’ve had)
Three weeks before I started, my new boss called and we discussed: hardware specs for video production, office working conditions, and my upcoming new hire orientation. During our talk I mentioned my use of a standing desk, something I adopted five years prior and wanted to continue in my new office. He balked at the expense, but I reassured him that a little ingenuity could turn any desk into a standing desk for next to nothing. My then current work space, a cubicle was reconfigured to raise two worktops—at no cost using a screwdriver—and in …
Review: Fly London Piat
Two years ago, hubby and I strolled home from one of our Saturday strolls into town. Nearing the half-way point, we ended up walking behind another interracial couple, both around my husband’s age. He was a nondescript guy wearing guy clothes, and she—she was something else altogether—a brown skinned woman with short salt-n-pepper locs, ¾ sleeve tee, blue cross body leather bag, cropped cotton pants, and on her feet were a spectacular pair of lime green leather shoes stacked upon about two inches of sculpted rubber sole, with cut-outs and co…
Review: Gusti Leder Luca
I’m absolutely in love with this brand. So far I have bought two for myself, one as a gift to my beloved, and another as a gift to a close friend. Gusti Leder bags offer rustic, classic, quality leather at a great price. Plus they look ruggedly cosmopolitan draped across any shoulder or arm. A year ago I picked up the Luca bag to replace my existing weekender travel bag; a nylon duffle bag that I won in undergrad, by completing a new student scavenger hunt (or something). This historic bag has my alma mater logo, and is not the best travel…
Another Perk of Adulthood
It was a liberating day five years ago—when I finally made the announcement. Not only would I cease going out to hear music I don't like, but I'd also skip all of the venues that make me cringe. It was a huge step, because of my number of friends, peers and exes in bands and releasing new CDs at the time. It meant that I would theretofore be seeing none of them perform live again! To put it plainly, I love reggae and ska, classical, a little hair metal, and a smattering of punk, but little else. Most of my cronies perform in othe…
Cotton is the new Silk. Poly-blend is the new Cotton
First things first: cheap, petroleum-based yarns are probably bad for your skin (not breathable and have contributed to rash and reactions in a few extremely sensitive people—my sister included). They are bad for the environment. Many are made by converting crude oil to plastic then spinning the plastic down to ultra thin threads, then weaving this into that wicking fabric that sports retailers love, or descriptively titled things like liquid fiber. These things will never biodegrade like cotton will. Land's End Blog " Only …
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