I just do not have the words to say that can cover how eventful this past month has been - but I can say one thing for sure: the wait is over.
The absolute highlight of this month was the last week, when after 11 months apart, I got to see my fiancee Nicole again, she flew over to the UK to spend a week with me, both at home in the north-east and for two trips to London. This was Nicole's first time getting to visit the capital, and we had a hectic but brilliant time seeing the city's sights, including Buckingham Palace, London Zoo, Regent's Park, Baker Street, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, as well as also having a skate on an ice rink down on the South Bank, and seeing the night lights of the London skyline from the top of the London Eye. Both the hotels we stayed at were great too, especially the Doubletree on the second visit (minibar and iMac in the room, anyone?)
We also combined the London trip with another DeviantArt meet-up, it was great getting to hang out with Dracorum-Order, Granitoons, TopperHay and LaptopGeek again, not forgetting meeting Qwertypictures (aka Chris Signore) for the first time. There was much walking, food, chat and drawing involved, and though it flew by, it was still something neither me or Nicole will forget for a long time.
However, spending timt together in London wasn't the only reason Nicole flew over, there was another very important reason for her being here - on 23 November, I had my visa interview at the US Embassy. It was a lengthy process, which involved waiting for two hours in between being called to a booth to have documents and fingerprints taken, the staff were very pleasant however. The actual interview consisted of questions about me and Nicole's relationship, and it was very quick, but also informal, it was more like a conversation than an interview, which made us feel at ease.
And now for the big announcement - how did the interview go? I can now finally say it after all these months...the embassy told me there and then that my US visa had been approved. It is finally happening after all this time, I can scarcely believe it - but needless to say both me and Nicole were overjoyed on hearing the news.
So this means December will be my last month living in my home country, because I've decided that I will be flying out to the US in the last week of December. This is because I want to spend one more Christmas with my family, before starting the New Year and a new life with Nicole. We both have a lot to do between now and then, that goes without saying.
Changing subject, the other highlight of this month was attending the Lumiere Festival in Durham for the third time - for those needing to know, it's an outdoor art festival that's been held in Durham every 2 years, and all the exhibits are themed around light - it was very crowded, but as always the exhibits were impressive. Some of the highlights included two flying fish creatures, mist across the River Wear, a projection of a whale swimming on the Wear and a dramatic projection on Durham Cathedral. Lumiere also saw another DA meetup, I hung out with DragonRichard for the event, which was nice.
I can't even imagine how December is going to be...but it's going to be a very important and very likely an emotional time - a lot of changes are happening, and I just hope I'm ready for them.
As always, I'll leave you with some artwork - a homage/parody of the B-movies from the 1950s that I drew for CowboyCrocket's 1950s art jam this month.
Till next time.
P.S. - Click the links below if you want to see pics and videos from my visit to the Lumiere Festival.
Videos:
Durham Lumiere 2015 #1
Durham Lumiere 2015 #2
Photos:
Durham Lumiere 2015 - Photos
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
30/11/2015
30/09/2015
September 2015
I have an announcement to make before I carry on with this blog - I've decided that from now on, my video blogs on YouTube will be private, and only viewable to my friends, and while I will not be making this text blog private, I will be more careful as to what I post in it. My reason for this is because I don't think displaying my personal life for the world to see is appropriate, because at the end of the day I don't know just who's watching my videos or viewing this blog. This is really how it should've been from the start, but of course I didn't know any better. Thanks for understanding.
I had a feeling that September would be an eventful month, and it certainly was - on the downbeat side of things, the lack of job situation remains the same, and I've also found myself becoming less motivated to do artwork. This is something I mentioned a few blogs back, and I think the main reason for it is everything going on in my life at this moment in time, but also because of the also previously mentioned gripes with DeviantArt - honestly, going there and just seeing pages of fanart, fanart, fetish art, fanart is enough to wonder what the point is anymore. There is no way I will ever leave DA though, I've been there too long and made too many friends through it for that to happen. At the end of the day, we all have our opinions and a choice to either acknowledge all the fanart etc, or to simply ignore it and carry on doing what you do. I know which option I'm choosing.
On the plus side of things, the change of season from Summer to Autumn isn't the only thing that's been happening this month. On the 8th, I took a 2 day trip down to London, my second visit there, met up with my good friend Mike (aka Dracorum-Order) and saw the city's sights and sounds, revisiting places we'd seen before and exploring new ones too. The trip was both for fun and business however, as I was also down there to have my medical checkup as part of the application for my US visa. It went very well indeed, and I very much enjoyed visiting London once again.
But wait, there's more - the London doctors wanted some extra information from me, which I had to get from my local doctors, and it ended up taking a week and a half longer than I'd have liked, but the US Embassy now has my documentation, and they will be contacting me within the next month and a half to schedule a visa interview, so it's all happening - exciting times.
My videos from the London trip are right here - and I'll leave you with this bit of cosmic artwork - my alien characters feeling right at home in Tomorrowland.
I had a feeling that September would be an eventful month, and it certainly was - on the downbeat side of things, the lack of job situation remains the same, and I've also found myself becoming less motivated to do artwork. This is something I mentioned a few blogs back, and I think the main reason for it is everything going on in my life at this moment in time, but also because of the also previously mentioned gripes with DeviantArt - honestly, going there and just seeing pages of fanart, fanart, fetish art, fanart is enough to wonder what the point is anymore. There is no way I will ever leave DA though, I've been there too long and made too many friends through it for that to happen. At the end of the day, we all have our opinions and a choice to either acknowledge all the fanart etc, or to simply ignore it and carry on doing what you do. I know which option I'm choosing.
On the plus side of things, the change of season from Summer to Autumn isn't the only thing that's been happening this month. On the 8th, I took a 2 day trip down to London, my second visit there, met up with my good friend Mike (aka Dracorum-Order) and saw the city's sights and sounds, revisiting places we'd seen before and exploring new ones too. The trip was both for fun and business however, as I was also down there to have my medical checkup as part of the application for my US visa. It went very well indeed, and I very much enjoyed visiting London once again.
But wait, there's more - the London doctors wanted some extra information from me, which I had to get from my local doctors, and it ended up taking a week and a half longer than I'd have liked, but the US Embassy now has my documentation, and they will be contacting me within the next month and a half to schedule a visa interview, so it's all happening - exciting times.
My videos from the London trip are right here - and I'll leave you with this bit of cosmic artwork - my alien characters feeling right at home in Tomorrowland.
13/09/2015
London: September 2015
Travel time again - and it was at very short notice, I have to say. On 8 September I paid only my second visit to my home country's capital city - London, of course. There was a twist with this trip however, it wasn't all for pleasure, there was a spot of business involved - I'll get to that later on.
Day 1
With only a slight delay, I took the 3 hour train ride from Durham down to London King's Cross. I'd only been in London about a couple of weeks previously, travelling through to get to the Isle of Wight, however this was the first time I'd visited London for the purpose of visiting London since December 2013, and as mentioned before, only the second time I'd done so. Just like last time, I met up with my good friend Mike, aka Dracorum-Order from DeviantArt, who was letting fly with his puns pretty much as soon as we said hello, and speaking of flying, before we headed into the city, we met with King's Cross' resident rat-catcher, a hawk named Harris.
One quick Tube train ride later and we were revisiting the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the Abbey in Westminster, before making our way along to the picturesque St. James's Park, a favourite spot from last time around - no squirrels jumping on me this time though, but there were plenty of wildfowl including various types of ducks, swans, and a heron. We then made our way to the Household Cavalry Museum, the home of the Royal Horse Guards, where we walked on the large courtyard and saw the classic architecture of the place, as well as getting some photos of the two Horse Guards on duty.
Before long, we were back in another familiar place, London's famous Trafalgar Square, where we stopped for some dinner while checking out the Square's fountains and bustling atmosphere, complete with a skeleton of what looked like a dinosaur or a bird, we weren't sure. Following that, we made our way along London's famous Strand street, where we came across the historic Somerset House, with its paved courtyard, plus one of London's many abandoned Tube stations, but this one was the most well-known of them all, the former Aldwych/Strand station, well-known because it has been used many times as a filming location. We weren't able to go inside, but it was cool to see the entrance all the same. Just across the road was the Australian Embassy, which reminded me of my pending visit to the US Embassy (more on that whole process a little later).
We then jumped on the Tube once again to Wood Lane, to get a quick look at an iconic London building, the closed BBC Television Centre, however it was in the process of getting demolished - still, at least I can say I got to see it anyway. Then it was another ride on the Tube to probably one of the most famous streets in the world, not just London - Baker Street, where we found a museum dedicated to who else but Sherlock Holmes, along with the door to his house, complete with a plaque saying that he'd lived there, or rather "lived" there. Me and Mike also ended up on something of a wild goose chase, thanks to a comment we overheard from a passer-by, we thought it would be a good idea to try and find Dangermouse's postbox (anyone who's seen Dangermouse will know what I'm talking about), and while we did find a couple of postboxes on Baker Street, none of them made any mention of a certain secret agent mouse - ah well, we tried.
We then jumped on a bus up to the very picturesque and sprawling Regent's Park, and once we got there it was easy to see why it's such a well-loved beauty spot, it was definitely a welcome breath of fresh air from the bustling city centre, with its playing fields, gardens and boating lake. Also located in the park was the famous London Zoo, which was closed for the day - more on that later, too. Just across the road from the park was Primrose Hill, and it was a hefty climb up to the top, however it was well worth it, because from the top of the hill was an awesome view of the London skyline, and it was certainly a very popular spot.
From Primrose Hill we took a lengthy walk back through Regent's Park to the busy London borough of Camden, which was of course very busy, complete with street dancers doing their thing outside the Tube station, where we once again took the Tube through to London Bridge, to revisit the London riverside, which included dancing fountains, the HMS Belfast frigate, London's tallest skyscraper The Shard, and another of London's most iconic landmarks, Tower Bridge. Last time round we saw the bridge from a distance, however this time we decided to take a walk on the bridge and check out the views across the River Thames, as well as briefly checking out the Tower of London also.
At this point it was dark, so we jumped on a train from London Bridge through to Mike's home town of Croydon, in south London, where I got to experience a London pub for the first time with a meal of burger, chips and pineapple juice at the Green Dragon pub. Then it was a quick bus ride to the block of flats that Mike called home - he very kindly put me up for the night at his place, which I appreciated greatly (thanks again, I owe you one). This wasn't the first time I'd stayed overnight in London, so it wasn't really a huge departure for me, and I managed to sleep just fine. Of course, me and Mike had to get some late night doodles in there, too.
Day 2
It was time for the business side of the trip - after some breakfast including a very delicious apple-flavoured green tea that I'd never tried before, we headed back to the train station via a quick tram ride, taking the train back into the centre of London and jumping on a Tube train to Bond Street, where I made my way to a very fancy looking place called Bentinck Mansions, the home of Knightsbridge Doctors. The reason I was there was to undergo a medical check-up, which was a requirement for applying for my US visa, and it was also the reason that this London trip was short notice. Mike headed off elsewhere while I went inside, and after a little bit of a wait, I saw three different doctors who assessed me and performed a check-up on me - I won't go into detail, but the long and short of it was that everything was fine. I'd been nervous about the medical, however it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be - the only bad thing was the fee I had to pay for it, it wasn't cheap!
Me and Mike reconvened after a brief wander around trying to find the meeting place we'd arranged, before jumping on a bus at Oxford Street down to the historic district of Soho, where we wandered around its narrow streets (which reminded me a lot of similar streets in Durham and York) until we found a place to grab some dinner, a busy but quaint café called Honest Burgers - no surprises for guessing what we had, very good burgers and chips too.
A short walk later, and we found ourselves in "Theatreland", aka London's West End, where we witnessed a coach trying to almost unsuccessfully reverse into a parking spot, as well as the streets lined with what were most probbaly very packed theatres, and of course teeming with people. We made our way to London's Chinatown district from there, complete with many Chinese restaurants (including one that Mike's family once owned), someone in a panda costume, and the beautifully ornate Oriental gates at the entrance and exit of the street. Before long, we found ourselves in London's equivalent of Times Square in New York City - Leicester Square, and much like Times Square it was absolutely packed. Just a short walk further along was another famous sight, the advertisment boards and striking white architecture of Piccadilly Circus.
From there, it was another Tube train ride back to Regent's Park, to pay a visit to London Zoo, one of the biggest zoos that I've been to, next to Southwick Zoo in Massachusetts in the US. There wasn't time to see absolutely everything there, but what we did see was well worth it - we got to witness a live talk on the zoo's resident Sumatran tigers, with one of the tigers getting up close and personal to the windows; a Komodo dragon named Raja who'd had a starring role in the James Bond film "Skyfall" (my first time seeing a Komodo dragon too); a quartet of Galapagos tortoises (one of which was born in 1940!); the Amphibian Ark, which was home to many different types of reptiles and amphibians, including snakes, frogs, chameleons and a crocodile; Gorilla Kingdom, with various very playful monkeys and a lone gorilla who was content playing with a sack; a colony of penguins being fed and swimming to their heart's content at Penguin Beach; a group of pelicans and flamingoes plus some colourful macaws; and last but not least, an exhibit dedicated to bugs, including a plague of locusts (!), cockroaches, spiders, a praying mantis, and to equal disgust and delight, bluebottle fly maggots!
Time was getting short at this point, however there was just enough time to revisit another landmark - and quite appropriate considering that the Queen was celebrating becoming the UK's longest reigning monarch that day - Buckingham Palace, complete with Mike's sneaky Queen and Prince Philip impression. ;)
Before we knew it, we were heading back through Green Park and back on the Tube to King's Cross, where me and Mike said our goodbyes, before I headed back up north and back home, one train to ride to Darlington, one late train to Durham and a mad dash for the bus later.
All in all, it was a great trip, I was glad to get the medical out of the way and I enjoyed getting to revisit some of London's sights as well as seeing new sights too, and I want to thank Mike again for putting me up for the night and keeping me company - London is best enjoyed when you've got a friend with you, and while I wouldn't ever wish to live in London, or any city for that matter, I definitely recommend visiting it.
To see my photos from the trip, click here.
Day 1
With only a slight delay, I took the 3 hour train ride from Durham down to London King's Cross. I'd only been in London about a couple of weeks previously, travelling through to get to the Isle of Wight, however this was the first time I'd visited London for the purpose of visiting London since December 2013, and as mentioned before, only the second time I'd done so. Just like last time, I met up with my good friend Mike, aka Dracorum-Order from DeviantArt, who was letting fly with his puns pretty much as soon as we said hello, and speaking of flying, before we headed into the city, we met with King's Cross' resident rat-catcher, a hawk named Harris.
One quick Tube train ride later and we were revisiting the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the Abbey in Westminster, before making our way along to the picturesque St. James's Park, a favourite spot from last time around - no squirrels jumping on me this time though, but there were plenty of wildfowl including various types of ducks, swans, and a heron. We then made our way to the Household Cavalry Museum, the home of the Royal Horse Guards, where we walked on the large courtyard and saw the classic architecture of the place, as well as getting some photos of the two Horse Guards on duty.
Before long, we were back in another familiar place, London's famous Trafalgar Square, where we stopped for some dinner while checking out the Square's fountains and bustling atmosphere, complete with a skeleton of what looked like a dinosaur or a bird, we weren't sure. Following that, we made our way along London's famous Strand street, where we came across the historic Somerset House, with its paved courtyard, plus one of London's many abandoned Tube stations, but this one was the most well-known of them all, the former Aldwych/Strand station, well-known because it has been used many times as a filming location. We weren't able to go inside, but it was cool to see the entrance all the same. Just across the road was the Australian Embassy, which reminded me of my pending visit to the US Embassy (more on that whole process a little later).
We then jumped on the Tube once again to Wood Lane, to get a quick look at an iconic London building, the closed BBC Television Centre, however it was in the process of getting demolished - still, at least I can say I got to see it anyway. Then it was another ride on the Tube to probably one of the most famous streets in the world, not just London - Baker Street, where we found a museum dedicated to who else but Sherlock Holmes, along with the door to his house, complete with a plaque saying that he'd lived there, or rather "lived" there. Me and Mike also ended up on something of a wild goose chase, thanks to a comment we overheard from a passer-by, we thought it would be a good idea to try and find Dangermouse's postbox (anyone who's seen Dangermouse will know what I'm talking about), and while we did find a couple of postboxes on Baker Street, none of them made any mention of a certain secret agent mouse - ah well, we tried.
We then jumped on a bus up to the very picturesque and sprawling Regent's Park, and once we got there it was easy to see why it's such a well-loved beauty spot, it was definitely a welcome breath of fresh air from the bustling city centre, with its playing fields, gardens and boating lake. Also located in the park was the famous London Zoo, which was closed for the day - more on that later, too. Just across the road from the park was Primrose Hill, and it was a hefty climb up to the top, however it was well worth it, because from the top of the hill was an awesome view of the London skyline, and it was certainly a very popular spot.
From Primrose Hill we took a lengthy walk back through Regent's Park to the busy London borough of Camden, which was of course very busy, complete with street dancers doing their thing outside the Tube station, where we once again took the Tube through to London Bridge, to revisit the London riverside, which included dancing fountains, the HMS Belfast frigate, London's tallest skyscraper The Shard, and another of London's most iconic landmarks, Tower Bridge. Last time round we saw the bridge from a distance, however this time we decided to take a walk on the bridge and check out the views across the River Thames, as well as briefly checking out the Tower of London also.
At this point it was dark, so we jumped on a train from London Bridge through to Mike's home town of Croydon, in south London, where I got to experience a London pub for the first time with a meal of burger, chips and pineapple juice at the Green Dragon pub. Then it was a quick bus ride to the block of flats that Mike called home - he very kindly put me up for the night at his place, which I appreciated greatly (thanks again, I owe you one). This wasn't the first time I'd stayed overnight in London, so it wasn't really a huge departure for me, and I managed to sleep just fine. Of course, me and Mike had to get some late night doodles in there, too.
Day 2
It was time for the business side of the trip - after some breakfast including a very delicious apple-flavoured green tea that I'd never tried before, we headed back to the train station via a quick tram ride, taking the train back into the centre of London and jumping on a Tube train to Bond Street, where I made my way to a very fancy looking place called Bentinck Mansions, the home of Knightsbridge Doctors. The reason I was there was to undergo a medical check-up, which was a requirement for applying for my US visa, and it was also the reason that this London trip was short notice. Mike headed off elsewhere while I went inside, and after a little bit of a wait, I saw three different doctors who assessed me and performed a check-up on me - I won't go into detail, but the long and short of it was that everything was fine. I'd been nervous about the medical, however it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be - the only bad thing was the fee I had to pay for it, it wasn't cheap!
Me and Mike reconvened after a brief wander around trying to find the meeting place we'd arranged, before jumping on a bus at Oxford Street down to the historic district of Soho, where we wandered around its narrow streets (which reminded me a lot of similar streets in Durham and York) until we found a place to grab some dinner, a busy but quaint café called Honest Burgers - no surprises for guessing what we had, very good burgers and chips too.
A short walk later, and we found ourselves in "Theatreland", aka London's West End, where we witnessed a coach trying to almost unsuccessfully reverse into a parking spot, as well as the streets lined with what were most probbaly very packed theatres, and of course teeming with people. We made our way to London's Chinatown district from there, complete with many Chinese restaurants (including one that Mike's family once owned), someone in a panda costume, and the beautifully ornate Oriental gates at the entrance and exit of the street. Before long, we found ourselves in London's equivalent of Times Square in New York City - Leicester Square, and much like Times Square it was absolutely packed. Just a short walk further along was another famous sight, the advertisment boards and striking white architecture of Piccadilly Circus.
From there, it was another Tube train ride back to Regent's Park, to pay a visit to London Zoo, one of the biggest zoos that I've been to, next to Southwick Zoo in Massachusetts in the US. There wasn't time to see absolutely everything there, but what we did see was well worth it - we got to witness a live talk on the zoo's resident Sumatran tigers, with one of the tigers getting up close and personal to the windows; a Komodo dragon named Raja who'd had a starring role in the James Bond film "Skyfall" (my first time seeing a Komodo dragon too); a quartet of Galapagos tortoises (one of which was born in 1940!); the Amphibian Ark, which was home to many different types of reptiles and amphibians, including snakes, frogs, chameleons and a crocodile; Gorilla Kingdom, with various very playful monkeys and a lone gorilla who was content playing with a sack; a colony of penguins being fed and swimming to their heart's content at Penguin Beach; a group of pelicans and flamingoes plus some colourful macaws; and last but not least, an exhibit dedicated to bugs, including a plague of locusts (!), cockroaches, spiders, a praying mantis, and to equal disgust and delight, bluebottle fly maggots!
Time was getting short at this point, however there was just enough time to revisit another landmark - and quite appropriate considering that the Queen was celebrating becoming the UK's longest reigning monarch that day - Buckingham Palace, complete with Mike's sneaky Queen and Prince Philip impression. ;)
Before we knew it, we were heading back through Green Park and back on the Tube to King's Cross, where me and Mike said our goodbyes, before I headed back up north and back home, one train to ride to Darlington, one late train to Durham and a mad dash for the bus later.
All in all, it was a great trip, I was glad to get the medical out of the way and I enjoyed getting to revisit some of London's sights as well as seeing new sights too, and I want to thank Mike again for putting me up for the night and keeping me company - London is best enjoyed when you've got a friend with you, and while I wouldn't ever wish to live in London, or any city for that matter, I definitely recommend visiting it.
To see my photos from the trip, click here.
31/12/2013
Christmas, London, 2013 and a special someone
Well, where do I start? It's the last month of 2013 already, and it's been quite an eventful one to say the least. For a start, it's been getting colder weather-wise, but not as cold as it was last year, and there hasn't been any significant snowfall...yet. I'm sure January and February will bring that.
As with most of this year, there's been ups and downs this month - I'm still getting pressure from those "certain quarters" I mentioned last month, and I worry that it's only gonna get worse in 2014 on that front. Unfortunately, all I can keep doing is jumping through all the hoops they throw at me, and just hope that I can get a job so that I won't have to deal with all of that anymore.
There have been plenty of great moments this month though - read on to hear all about them...
First off, we headed to the South Bank and checked out the arts centre and Christmas market there, before checking out the sunlit views of the River Thames and the London skyline on the London Eye (aka the big ferris wheel where they set off the New Year's fireworks display on telly every year). After that, we took a walk along Westminster Bridge (complete with Pac-Man) and saw the Houses of Parliament, as well as hearing Big Ben's famous chimes. In Westminster we saw statues of famous figureheads, including Winston Churchill and the recently departed Nelson Mandela, whose statue was surrounded by many floral tributes from passers-by, and we also had a look at the famous Westminster Abbey.
Stopped for a bite to eat in the very picturesque St. James' Park, complete with geese and squirrels (one of which jumped on me), where I also got distracted watching the incoming air traffic on approach to Heathrow, before we made our way to the home of Her Majesty - Buckingham Palace of course. It looked grand indeed, with the equally as grand looking palace gates - and Her Majesty must've been at home, because the Union Jack was flying. The guards were doing their patrol march too, however there was no changing of the guard routine that day. Mike also let rip with a quite hilarious impression of Her Majesty and Prince Charles, too.
By this point the weather had taken a turn for the worse, so we made our way to Trafalgar Square, which seemed a lot smaller to me than what I'd seen in pictures and on telly - still, it was cool to see it, complete with fountains, the National Gallery, Nelson's Column, and a giant blue chicken. Aye, you read that right. A giant blue chicken.
No visit to London would be complete without having to take a ride on the Tube, which we did a few times - used it to get down to the riverside to get a night-time view of the City district, the ship HMS Belfast, the infamous Tower of London, and the one and only Tower Bridge. We also saw a more modern landmark, the oddly-shaped skyscraper known as the Shard.
Finally, we made our way to Greenwich, to the place formerly known as the Millennium Dome, now better known as the O2 Arena, where I met up with another deviantART friend - Scott, aka toonfreak8, who had flown in to the UK from the US for Christmas, along with his dad's wife. The four of us then took a walk around the O2, which admittedly wasn't really much to look at, there were mostly shops and bars, although I imagine that the actual concert venue is pretty spectacular when there's an event going on. Myself, Scott and Mike then had a doodle session in which we drew each others' characters, which was a blast. Sadly it seemed that the moment to say our goodbyes came far too soon, but it was great to meet both Mike and Scott and to see the sights of the capital. Hopefully I'll be able to take another London trip in the future, as there's still a lot there that I didn't get to see.
To see the video of my London trip, click right here: London - 19/12/2013
Normally, I don't look forward to Christmas as much as did when I was a kid, for obvious reasons, although somehow I end up getting into the spirit anyway - however, this year I had much more reason to look forward to it, as my girlfriend Nicole flew in from the US on the 21st, to spend Christmas and New Year here with me.
As I type this, she still has a week of her trip to go - so far we've been around my hometown and met family and friends, been shopping in the pouring rain at Bishop Auckland and revisited a childhood beauty spot at Hill End up in Weardale. Best of all though was that we attended Christmas Eve mass together along with my grandma and brother, and of course we got to open presents together on Christmas Day. There was only one present I asked for (new pair of jeans from my mam), but as with every year I ended up getting quite a lot anyway, including clothes, a couple of CDs and a couple of sketchpads - and from Nicole, I got a Christmas card (complete with slushy writing, lol) and a festive Pocket Dragon ornament. I think the best present was that Nicole herself was here to spend Christmas with me, though. (You can go get your sickbuckets now.)
Here's what we got up to on Christmas Day: Christmas Day 2013
I don't know what 2014 is gonna bring, but I'm not making any resolutions, because it's easy to say "I'll do this, I'll do that this year", but it's difficult to follow through on them. That's why I'll do what I've done every year, and I'll wing it. To quote a famous saying, "what will be, will be".
Last but not least, I'll leave you with a festive piece of artwork (and there's been lots of artwork this year, too):
Merry Christmas 2013
Wishing you all the very best for 2014 and beyond. :)
As with most of this year, there's been ups and downs this month - I'm still getting pressure from those "certain quarters" I mentioned last month, and I worry that it's only gonna get worse in 2014 on that front. Unfortunately, all I can keep doing is jumping through all the hoops they throw at me, and just hope that I can get a job so that I won't have to deal with all of that anymore.
There have been plenty of great moments this month though - read on to hear all about them...
London
I took the train down to London on the 19th to see the sights there for the very first time, I'd only visited there once before in 2009, but only to pass through on my way to the South Coast. This time I was there to actually see the city itself, and it was just as huge and bustling as I imagined it would be. I wasn't alone for this sightseeing, either - I met up with one of my friends from deviantART, Mike (aka Dracorum-Order), who is from London, and he had quite the way with words and puns - he needs to work on his punctuality a little though, I had a right carry-on hunting him down at King's Cross!First off, we headed to the South Bank and checked out the arts centre and Christmas market there, before checking out the sunlit views of the River Thames and the London skyline on the London Eye (aka the big ferris wheel where they set off the New Year's fireworks display on telly every year). After that, we took a walk along Westminster Bridge (complete with Pac-Man) and saw the Houses of Parliament, as well as hearing Big Ben's famous chimes. In Westminster we saw statues of famous figureheads, including Winston Churchill and the recently departed Nelson Mandela, whose statue was surrounded by many floral tributes from passers-by, and we also had a look at the famous Westminster Abbey.
Stopped for a bite to eat in the very picturesque St. James' Park, complete with geese and squirrels (one of which jumped on me), where I also got distracted watching the incoming air traffic on approach to Heathrow, before we made our way to the home of Her Majesty - Buckingham Palace of course. It looked grand indeed, with the equally as grand looking palace gates - and Her Majesty must've been at home, because the Union Jack was flying. The guards were doing their patrol march too, however there was no changing of the guard routine that day. Mike also let rip with a quite hilarious impression of Her Majesty and Prince Charles, too.
By this point the weather had taken a turn for the worse, so we made our way to Trafalgar Square, which seemed a lot smaller to me than what I'd seen in pictures and on telly - still, it was cool to see it, complete with fountains, the National Gallery, Nelson's Column, and a giant blue chicken. Aye, you read that right. A giant blue chicken.
No visit to London would be complete without having to take a ride on the Tube, which we did a few times - used it to get down to the riverside to get a night-time view of the City district, the ship HMS Belfast, the infamous Tower of London, and the one and only Tower Bridge. We also saw a more modern landmark, the oddly-shaped skyscraper known as the Shard.
Finally, we made our way to Greenwich, to the place formerly known as the Millennium Dome, now better known as the O2 Arena, where I met up with another deviantART friend - Scott, aka toonfreak8, who had flown in to the UK from the US for Christmas, along with his dad's wife. The four of us then took a walk around the O2, which admittedly wasn't really much to look at, there were mostly shops and bars, although I imagine that the actual concert venue is pretty spectacular when there's an event going on. Myself, Scott and Mike then had a doodle session in which we drew each others' characters, which was a blast. Sadly it seemed that the moment to say our goodbyes came far too soon, but it was great to meet both Mike and Scott and to see the sights of the capital. Hopefully I'll be able to take another London trip in the future, as there's still a lot there that I didn't get to see.
To see the video of my London trip, click right here: London - 19/12/2013
Christmas and Nicole's visit
Aye, it was that time of year again, were everything gets festive, merry and downright chaotic - I probably left most of my Christmas shopping till last minute as usual.Normally, I don't look forward to Christmas as much as did when I was a kid, for obvious reasons, although somehow I end up getting into the spirit anyway - however, this year I had much more reason to look forward to it, as my girlfriend Nicole flew in from the US on the 21st, to spend Christmas and New Year here with me.
As I type this, she still has a week of her trip to go - so far we've been around my hometown and met family and friends, been shopping in the pouring rain at Bishop Auckland and revisited a childhood beauty spot at Hill End up in Weardale. Best of all though was that we attended Christmas Eve mass together along with my grandma and brother, and of course we got to open presents together on Christmas Day. There was only one present I asked for (new pair of jeans from my mam), but as with every year I ended up getting quite a lot anyway, including clothes, a couple of CDs and a couple of sketchpads - and from Nicole, I got a Christmas card (complete with slushy writing, lol) and a festive Pocket Dragon ornament. I think the best present was that Nicole herself was here to spend Christmas with me, though. (You can go get your sickbuckets now.)
Here's what we got up to on Christmas Day: Christmas Day 2013
Looking back
So that's it - another year over, and as I said at the start, I don't know where to begin with what's happened this year...like most years, it's been eventful with ups and downs. The highlights are many though, and if I had to pick one absolute highlight of this past year, it would have to be my summer trip to the US, more specifically the moment when me and Nicole celebrated our 1st anniversary in front of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World in Florida. (Again, you can go and get those sickbuckets.)I don't know what 2014 is gonna bring, but I'm not making any resolutions, because it's easy to say "I'll do this, I'll do that this year", but it's difficult to follow through on them. That's why I'll do what I've done every year, and I'll wing it. To quote a famous saying, "what will be, will be".
Last but not least, I'll leave you with a festive piece of artwork (and there's been lots of artwork this year, too):
Merry Christmas 2013
Wishing you all the very best for 2014 and beyond. :)
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