S. Worthen | WeblogS. Worthen | Weblog - LiveJournal.comClear plastic bags- June 30, 2008 Where in the UK does one go to buy large trash-bag-sized clear plastic bags B&Q, Homebase, and Sainsbury's do not sell them. They only sell black or green opaque ones.I really don't have to have them, but it's become a personal challenge. In Canada and the US, I bought them at Home Depot or Canadian Tire, cheaply, in large rolls. Here, I can't find them at all so far. (They're useful for storage of non-trash goods on a temporary basis. Good, therefore, for the casual moving of soft...http://owlfish.livejournal.com/847888.html Assorted recent notes- June 30, 2008 Warning, William Curley Dessert Bar fans: It's down to one chef for the time being. Call in advance (ideally, no more than a week before you intend to go) to make sure there'll be a chef there on the day to accomodate your multi-course dessert cravings. Alternately, their pre-made stuff is pretty good. My expedition there with austengirl marked the second time in a row when I showed up to find them chef-less. Last time there was a little less they could have done about it: the chef was sick.I...http://owlfish.livejournal.com/847785.html Tower Gateway closes- June 28, 2008 Farewell, Tower Gateway, at least until next year! The walk between you and Tower Hill was my very favorite London Underground interchange, with excellent views of the Tower of London. Now, to change between the DLR and the CircleDistrict lines, I shall have to make do with the mess which is currently Bank and Monument. I'll miss you.http://owlfish.livejournal.com/847318.html Birthdays- June 27, 2008 Happy birthday to ladymoonray, coalescent, and zoo_music_girl, but most of all, happy birthday to Colin!http://owlfish.livejournal.com/847037.html Marguerite- June 24, 2008 She's a singer-turned-kept-woman in Vichy France. He's besotted with her, tends to her every whim, and keeps her in the lap of luxury. He's older and wiser, hopes to keep her when the war is over, and most of the time forgets that she's his because he pays for her in luxuries otherwise unobtainable because it's the midst of the second World War. He's not perfect - he has anger management problems, and, as circumstances happen, he's a general in the Nazi army; but at heart, he's a good man....http://owlfish.livejournal.com/845685.html The One Week Collection Challenge- June 20, 2008 The house distracted me; I was certain that the one week of the second-ever easterbunny one week LJ collection challenge ended Friday. So that's a little over a week then. Mine was this: "Choose any saint whose feast day coincides with your birthday. Find all references to that saint's name: churches, streets, pubs, and so on. Bonus points for finding pub names, streets, etc. relating to that of which the saint is patron."After I surveyed all the options, I settled on the most obvious option,..http://owlfish.livejournal.com/844811.html The Language of Painting- June 16, 2008 matt vs. matteUsually, the UK English users use French spellings (i.e. theatre) (and sometimes words, i.e. courgette), compared to American English users (i.e. theater). This accounts for many of the spelling differences between the languages. In painting, however, I have, for the first time, found an instance where what looks the reverse of this is true. In the UK, it's "matt" paint, while in the U.S. "matte" is the usual spelling. What does Canadian English do for thisto cut inOff the top of.http://owlfish.livejournal.com/844327.html Painting- June 15, 2008 Throughout high school, my job was working as a monitor at the education branch of the Art Center, Des Moines' art museum (and quite a good one too, at least for its modern art collection). Each semester, I was assigned to two particular classes, to help the instructor with setting up, cleaning up, operating dangerous equipment for the young'uns (i.e. hot glue guns), modeling for the drawing classes, and generally being useful. As a result, I've done quite a bit of work with paint. All kinds..http://owlfish.livejournal.com/843914.html Flood- June 14, 2008 Poor Iowa. Wracked by flood. Unless it's early in election season, it's rarely good news which brings Iowa to the front page of the BBC, alas.I was in Des Moines for part of the 1993 flooding, the flood which overwhelmed the levees and flooded the city's waterworks. For two weeks, the city had no running water. In the lowest parts of town, people rowed through the streets. We were grateful when friends in West Des Moines (which has its own water treatment plant) invited us over to take showers..http://owlfish.livejournal.com/843532.html House- June 13, 2008 Day 1: It's smaller than we remembered. The damp in the back is worse. The DIY which felt so solid on viewings, is less so. The garden is wonderful, perfectly sized, and smells deliciously of roses. I still really like the office.Day 2: It's larger than we remember it being yesterday. C. broke the towel rail, which is good to know early, for the sooner we know what needs doing, the better. Most of the DIY really isn't so bad. The garden is wonderful. We measure out prospective furniture in...http://owlfish.livejournal.com/843341.html |