June 2018

To say that I'd been waiting for June to come along is probably the understatement of the year for me, and not just because of the start of summer. There was one occasion that happened this June that I'd been looking forward to for months.

Before that however, I have to get the bad stuff out of the way, most of which was the issues that I mentioned in last month's blog, stress at work and feeling disillusioned/frustrated with social media. However me and my wife also lost a member of our family - our pet turtle Chief, who had been with my wife and her family for 22 years. It was very unexpected, and while we're sad that he's gone, he did have a good long life, and he will be missed.

Now onto the absolute highlight of June - from the 18th to the 26th, myself and my wife flew across the Atlantic to visit my family back in the UK. While we were there, we revisited many of the places I remember, including my hometown of Crook, plus Durham, Newcastle, Tynemouth, Scarborough and Whitby. Getting to see my family in person again after 2 years was what it was all about though - I can't put into words just how good it was to see them all again and hang out just like old times. Just like it was 2 and a half years ago, leaving them behind again was hard, but knowing that we'd had the chance to get together again and make new memories helped to soften the blow. I really hope I don't have to wait too long to see them again in the not too distant future.

My artwork took a bit of a backseat this month, especially during the trip, however I did come up with this camping themed pic as part of an art jam, hosted by LaptopGeek92, over on DeviantArt. I highly doubt that there'll be camping involved in July, but hopefully there'll be some warmer days to enjoy. I'l let you know if there is, of course.

August 2017

Another summer has come to an end. I always feel down whenever summer's over, as it's my favourite time of the year. Onwards we go, though.

I've mentioned many times about the news - as much as I try to avoid it, I somehow always end up hearing about everything that's going wrong in this world, from horrible tragedies to political madness. Then I just have to remind myself that 95% of what I hear, what we all hear is blown out of proportion, sensationalised to get ratings. To quote a famous saying, and also the title of a canny good Jamie Lenman song, "No News Is Good News" - I choose to put the mute button on, avert my eyes from all the dread, and to just live my life.
In my July blog I mentioned the passing of Chester Bennington, the singer of Linkin Park - I say this as a reminder that depression is a sickness, and not something to be taken lightly, regardless of what the media might want you to believe. I'm not going to name any names, but there was a time this month that someone close to me was swallowed up by that depression, and myself, friends and family found ourselves unable to reach that person. This isn't the first time that it's taken hold of that person, and I fear that it won't be the last, but this is why it's important to reach out. I can't stress it enough - if you're feeling depressed, talk to someone. Shutting people out is too easy to do, and while it may feel like it makes it all better, it really doesn't. Aye, it's hard to see the light when you're in that hole, but just remember - you're not alone. We all have times where a dark cloud hangs over us, but that cloud always eventually passes.

To better news now - things could be looking up on the job front. As I type this, I have a job interview lined up for September 1, I will let you know how that went in next month's blog. I also helped out my wife Nicole at her workplace on  a couple of days towards the end of this month, setting up meals for the staff on their morning training sessions. It was very busy but it felt good to help out.
One of those days was August 21, which as most of you know was the day of the solar eclipse. One of Nicole's co-workers was kind enough to lend me a pair of special glasses to check it out, and while the full total eclipse wasn't visible in my area, I was still able to see a partial eclipse, it was quite a sight, but you don't need me to tell you that.
We also made the most of the warm weather this month by hitting a few beaches, including a couple we'd never visited before. Probably the most notable trip of this month was to the Roger Williams Park & Zoo in Providence RI - definitely a great place to visit with a wide variety of animals to see, and the park was very relaxing too.
We were also at Foxwoods Casino on August 4th to see Dashboard Confessional and The All-American Rejects play, both bands put on a good show, and Nicole was singing along to every Dashboard song, as she is a huge fan of them.
On the artwork front, I've been busy working on the first Fyfe & Sparkplug comic, as of this blog I have 7 pages ready to go. It's certainly a challenge and as I am planning to try and get this comic published, I really want it to be as good as it possibly can be.
I'll leave you with a bit of summer themed artwork, my Surf Club characters enjoying some waterslide action. See you in Autumn.

July 2017

Another July has come and gone once again - and something happened this month which wasn't something that personally happened to me, it was to a famous rockstar. Most of you reading this will know that I'm talking about what happened to Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park - his death was tragic and shocking to hear about.
You might be wondering why I'm dwelling on the death of a celebrity, because I usually don't like to focus on the news, especially when it's about people dying, famous or not. The reason I am is because Linkin Park were one of my favourite bands as a teenager, and were one of the bands that got me into heavy rock music, along with Limp Bizkit and Slipknot. A lot of Linkin Park's music helped me get through my teenage and secondary school years, because I could relate to the lyrics and the heavy music. It's just a tragic irony that those same lyrics couldn't help the man who sang them with the passion and the fury that he had. RIP, Chester - I hope you're in a better place now.
On more personal matters, I've still had no luck on the job front, and as always I'm still looking. Helping around the house and doing the twice monthly side job has been keeping me busy though, as well as my artwork of course. I recently completed illustrating the second of the children's book series for our close friends, admittedly it took far longer than it should've because of my procrastination on it. I'll try and do better with the next book - it's just that circumstances get in the way.
A few blogs back, I mentioned how I was getting disillusioned with DeviantArt too - that's been the case again lately. I feel like there's been a lot of immature people trying to take advantage of me in order to get free art of their characters, or just posting stupid stuff on my pictures or profile just for the sake of attention. I have no time for people like that, and I'm sending out a warning now, anyone who continues to harrass me, or any of my friends that way, will receive an instant ban-hammer to the face. I'm not playing nice anymore.
On a brighter note, me and my wife have been making the most of the nice weather this month - as well as my bike rides, we took a few trips to state parks and beaches, and not surprisingly each place was canny packed. Also not surprisingly, we spent the 4th July week in Newport, the highlights of which were a play on a mini golf course with the in laws, and a sunset cruise around Narragansett Bay onboard the MV Gansett. We also went to a music gig at Mohegan Sun on the 29th, which was our first gig since the Deftones last August - the headline act this time was Kings of Leon, and they were absolutely spot on. The opening act, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, were canny tight too.

That's pretty much it for July. As always, I'll leave you with some artwork - this surfing scene, which was an entry for a summer themed art jam that I hosted this month. See you in August.

May 2017

This May was definitely a very mixed one - I feel as if I've been through both extremes of high and low this past month.
On the downside, I've been finding the side job more stressful lately. Granted, I've only been doing that job twice a month since the end of February, so I'm not as used to it as I would be if it had been a continuous regular job, but all the same I just feel at times that it's more difficult than it should be. Maybe if I'd been able to get work 16 years ago and gotten used to having a job, this wouldn't be an issue. On that same note, still no luck on the job front. I wish someone would just give me a chance so that I can get used to it, or better yet, have the opportunity to do my artwork for a living (I can dream...)
As I've said before, I try to avoid the news, because of all the tragedy and scaremongering that makes up 99% of it, but there was one story I couldn't avoid, and that was the incident at the Ariana Grande gig in Manchester - absolute horrific, and as a Brit it struck far too close to home. I can't even begin to make sense of why someone would want to willingly murder innocent people...sometimes I really don't know what this world is coming to anymore. I just hope the victims of that tragedy are in a better place now.

It doesn't seem right to go from that to talking about all the positive events that happened this month, but as the saying always goes, life must go on.
There was one clear highlight this May. Last month I mentioned that me and my wife got our honeymoon booked - on May 9, we flew down to Orlando, Florida to stay at Walt Disney World for 3 nights. This was actually our second time there, the first time was in July 2013, and we liked it so much that we decided we had to go back for our honeymoon, and just like the first time, words can't do justice to how much of a blast we had. We visited every single park this time, went on many rides, met characters, saw some spectacular fireworks, made many memories, and above all, spent quality time together - it was an experience we'll remember for a long time. Click here for a more detailed account of our time there.

As always, I'll leave with you some artwork - a dragon character that I've had in the works for some time now, named Lambton, who I intend to make a supporting character in the Fyfe & Sparkplug comic, so consider this a first look at him.

Summer is on the way - hope there will be brighter days for June, and I don't just mean the weather.

Walt Disney World - May 2017

On May 9, 2017, me and my lovely wife finally got the chance to go on our honeymoon, and it was well worth the wait. We decided to revisit a place that we enjoyed so much the first time we visited back in 2013, a place where we could spend quality time with each other and just forget about our troubles for a while - that place was Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Day 1 - 09/05/2017
An early start for us (5am!). We'd driven to Windsor Locks the night before to stay the night at a Hampton Inn, so that we could be right next to Bradley Airport, our departure point. Taking advantage of the hotel's airport shuttle, we had the usual security proceedure, which we got through fairly quickly, before having a fair amount of time to wait and grab some food before we boarded our flight. The flight itself was pretty uneventful, and as well as seeing some awesome views of the Eastern Seaboard, including a good look at the Maryland and South Carolina coastlines, we got to take full advantage of the in-flight wi-fi (I'd never been on a plane with wi-fi before, for the record). It was a 2-and-a-half hour flight, but it felt more like a short hop.
Once arriving at Orlando Airport, we made our way to the Magical Express coach, and about half an hour later we arrived at our hotel for the trip, the Caribbean Beach Resort. We were a little confused at first because we were dropped off at a small building called the Customs House ("Is this it?"), but we soon learned that there was a resort bus that took guests to the different sections of the hotel. Aside from a couple of parts of the hotel being under construction, it was a very nice place, with a Caribbean island theme (if the name didn't already give that away), a lake surrounded by the hotel buildings, plus a small island in the middle with a playground, and an open air pool. Our room wasn't ready yet, so we took some time to have lunch and take in the scenery, before we got the call to head to our room, which was in the "Aruba" section. It was very comfortable and had a homely island shack feel to it - plus sliding bathroom doors!
After unpacking, we then jumped on the bus and made our way to the first park of the trip, Epcot. Stepping back into Epcot brought back all the memories there from the first trip, as well as reminding us of the places that we didn't get teh chance to check out the first time round - one of those places was The Seas with Nemo & Friends, which housed an aquarium featuring many different marine life, including clownfish, turtles, stingrays, manatees and dolphins. Speaking of the dolphins, we got to watch a demonstration of their memory abilities, and it was very impressive to watch.
Next up was The Land pavilion, which contained the ride Soarin'. I was nervous about going on it, as I heard it involved being suspended from a height, but it turned out I had nothing to be nervous about it, in fact we both thoroughly enjoyed it. After that it was time to revisit my favourite Epcot ride from the previous visit, Test Track. It didn't quite go to plan however, as halfway through, the ride broke down, leaving us stuck in a tunnel for about 15-20 minutes. Thankfully the problem was fixed, and we got to enjoy that crazy high-speed section at the end. 
It was then time to take a walk around the world - the World Showcase, that is, which was just as fascinating as last time. We paid a visit to the Biergarten restaurant in the Germany section, where we were paired up with three other couples for a German buffet. I can't say either of us were crazy about the food, although I can now say I tried pork schnitzels. However the company more than made up for it, we were chatting away about our plans for the trip as well as some Disney World history - I was actually quite sad to say goodbye to them, knowing that none of us would probably ever meet again like this. There was also a live German oompah band, and they certainly got the kids moving.
Epcot's landmark is of course "Spaceship Earth", and it was only fitting that we should take a ride on it for the first time, it was an interesting look at the history of communication, and I found myself thinking it was quite impressive how they managed to fit all that ride inside a giant dome.
By this time night had fallen, so we decided to head to the United Kingdom (not the real one sadly) to find a place to watch the spectacular "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth" fireworks display on the lake, before my wife requested that we go to the Norway pavilion to do a character meet-and-greet with Elsa and Anna from "Frozen" - needless to say, it was very popular. We finished up Epcot by quickly paying a second visit to The Land (it was nearly closing time) to ride on the very informative "Living with the Land" boat ride.
We finished off our first day by chilling in one of the hammocks at our hotel, with a view of the lake and the stars, and I'm not joking when I say we could've fallen asleep right there and then. 

Day 2 - 10/05/2017
Started the day with some breakfast at our hotel, from a handy little market shop in our set of buildings. I caught sight of some of the hotel's resident wildlife in the trees, namely geckos - it was quite unusual to see a place where geckos and squirrels hang out in the same habitat.
Then it was for a refreshing splash at our second park of the trip, the Blizzard Beach waterpark. In 2013 we only got to check it out briefly, however this time we made sure to explore the entire park, and as well as taking a ride on the chairlift to the top of the "ski slope", my wife encouraged me to take a ride on the Teamboat Springs raft ride, and I'm glad she convinced me to! We then took things easy on the Cross Country River before taking a dip in Melt-Away Bay and jumping those waves. After a quick meal and getting dried off, we attempted to check out the mini golf course next to Blizzard Beach, however we'd forgotten to bring some coupons that would've gotten us in for a discount. Still, we got to have a look at the course anyway.
The Florida heat was very overpowering, so we took a quick breather back the hotel before heading back to Epcot to take a couple of rides on the monorail to our third park, the most famous park of them all - where else but Magic Kingdom? Just like Epcot, all the sights came back, and it was just as crowded as ever too. Our first stop was Frontierland, to take a ride on my favourite Magic Kingdom ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and it was just as awesome as the first time. Then it was off to Fantasyland, where we jumped on my wife's favourite Magic Kingdom ride - you know the song. "It's a small world after all..."
We also took a short ride on Goofy's Barnstormer at the Storybook Circus before taking the steam train back to Main Street USA and hot-footing it to Tomorrowland, where we took the tour on the PeopleMover, which decided to pull a Test Track on us and stop momentarily inside the Space Mountain ride, thankfully the wait was much quicker this time.
Then it was time to make our way to Adventureland to join the Jungle Cruise, where we took a riverboat trip through a jungle, complete with gorillas trashing a camp, bathing elephants, natives attacking us and a spooky temple, not forgetting the pun-tastic commentary from the tour guide.
Unfortunately at this point the Florida heat had become too much for my wife, so we took a lengthy breather and downed some much-needed drinks, before we made our way to Tony's Italian Restaurant for our dinner. The food was great, as was the service, and the restaurant looked really impressive too. Did I mention it was also themed around "The Lady and the Tramp"?
We then had to move quickly to find a good spot to watch the "Wishes"  fireworks display around Cinderella Castle. We previously saw "Wishes" in 2013, and it was once again amazing to watch. It was especially poignant this time round, as it was the second-to-last performance - "Wishes" has now been replaced with a new display, but at least we can say that we got to see it twice.
Things got a bit chaotic following "Wishes", as we had to try and make our way back to Adventureland while all the crowds were making their way out of the park (it was closing time, but as we were hotel guests we were allowed to stay in the park a bit longer due to the extended 'Magic Hours'), but we eventually made it, and I got to take my debut ride on the famous "Pirates of the Caribbean". This was a ride my wife really wanted us to experience, and we certainly did. It was mostly a boat ride through scenes of a pirate story, including a certain Jack Sparrow, however there was one point with a fairly big drop into the dark, and we did get a little drenched!
We finished off our Magic Kingdom experience with a second ride on Big Thunder Mountain, plus a ride on the newer Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which had some nifty theming and some cool wobbling cars, and also had an encore of "It's A Small World" before saying goodbye to "The Happiest Place on Earth". Needless to say, we were canny tuckered out that night.

Day 3 - 11/05/2017 
Our third day in Orlando was the hottest day of the four, but me and my wife didn't let that stop us one bit. Park #4 was Animal Kingdom, which seemed to be more crowded than Magic Kingdom! There, we visited Dinoland USA and took a ride on Dinosaur (that dinosaur face coming right at you at the end threw me for a loop!) and Primeval Whirl, before taking a walk through the Asian village, where we dared to take a ride on the Expedition Everest rollercoaster - I can now say that it's the most intense rollercoaster I've ever been on, I was feeling the Gs on that 80-foot drop! Following that excitement, we took a walk on the Maharajah Jungle Trek through some temple ruins, and saw various wildlife including birds and bats, before getting absolutely drenched on the Kali River Rapids ride - it was actually refreshing with all that heat, and a much tamer ride compared to Everest. We then made our way to the African village, where we had a meal at the Tusker House Restaurant - it was also a character meal, so we got the chance to take pictures with Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Daisy Duck and Donald Duck. Then we finished up our Animal Kingdom adventure with a walk along the Gorilla Falls trail, where there was more wildlife to see, including zebras, gorillas, and to my wife's delight, meerkats. (She wanted to take one home.) One attraction we didn't get to experience was Pandora, the Avatar themed land, as it wasn't open at the time we visited, however we did get to see it under construction, and it certainly looked impressive.
With the blazing hot temperatures, we decided it would be a good idea to go and chill back at the the hotel for a while, that ceiling fan certainly felt good after all that walking in the sun. We also took the opportunity to take a dip in the hotel pool, which was warm, had a couple of slides and a lively atmosphere including a live reggae band.
It was then time for park #5 - Hollywood Studios. By the time we got there it was dark, so we got to see it in all its neon-lit glory. We didn't go on any rides there, it was mostly just checking out the sights - there was absolutely no way I was going on the Tower of Terror, sorry thrill fans! However we did have another character meet-and-greet, and continuing the "Frozen" theme, it was no less than Olaf the snowman. And aye, I told him that he gave warm hugs.
The highlight of Hollywood Studios was the spectacular Star Wars themed fireworks display, featuring projections of famous moments from all the Star Wars films, complete with not only fireworks but lasers and pyrotechnics (we felt the heat from those jets of flame). It was a great way to end our time there.
After a lengthy wait for a bus, we then took a late night trip to a previously unexplored area of Disney World, a shopping district known as Disney Springs. Most of the shops were closed, however we still had a walk around, looking at some of the eye catching shop fronts (most notably the erupting Rainforest Café volcano) and having a meal by the boardwalk. There was also a tethered hot-air balloon ride there, and even though we didn't have time to take a ride on it, it was still cool to see.
We ended the night chilling in the hotel hammock under the stars one last time, and this time we did doze off for a little bit - we were starting to get the "going home" blues, but there was still one more day left.

Day 3 - 12/05/2017
As with any final day of a holiday, it felt very bittersweet, but me and my wife absolutely made the most of the time we had left.
After packing up our stuff and bidding farewell to Aruba, we checked out and decided to make a second visit to Magic Kingdom, where Big Thunder Mountain and It's A Small World both got another ride out of us, before my wife used her powers of persuasion to get me to agree on riding Splash Mountain. We first experienced that 50-foot drop in 2013, and it was just as fun again second time around. We then took our final ride on the Tomorrowland Speedway before saying our goodbyes to the Magic Kingdom.
One quick bus ride later, and we were back in Disney Springs to check it out in the daytime, but especially to have a meal at the T-Rex Café, which can best be described as "the Rainforest Café, with dinosaurs." The food wasn't bad, and neither of us could keep our eyes off all the animatronic dinosaurs inside the café.
We still had time to check out one final park, and this was a park we hadn't previously visited, the Typhoon Lagoon waterpark. We braved the Crush 'n Gusher slides, not once but three times, on all three of the different slides; rode the rapids on Miss Adventure Falls; chilled out on the Castaway Creek for a little while; rode three different rapids rides (Gangplank Falls, Keelhaul Falls and Mayday Falls) and got attacked by the giant waves in the wave pool. Typhoon Lagoon was a hit, and a great way to end our time at Disney World.
Then it was time for the moment we'd been dreading - the going home part. After a frantic two-bus ride back to the hotel, we hopped back on the Magical Express coach for the half-hour drive back to Orlando Airport. (The coach driver waited a little longer for us because our bus back to the hotel cut it very close, can't thank him enough.) After the usual security drill, we chilled at our departure gate with a meal, while I took the opportunity to plane-spot. 
The return flight was a little more eventful than the flight down to Florida, and not in a good way. Firstly the announcement for boarding was somewhat quiet and late; secondly it was quite hot on board the plane, the pilot explained to everyone that the plane had been undergoing maintenance for the last few hours, and as a result the air conditioning wasn't working properly - and they chose to announce this after the plane had started taxiing for the runway. Not really something a nervous flyer wants to hear. Lastly, the flight was quite choppy in places, especially over the Carolinas, and needless to say I didn't take that too well, as airplane turbulence is what makes me nervous about flying - I'm glad my wife was there to help keep me calm. 
Thankfully, we made it back to Bradley in one piece (after landing I heard a couple of passengers remark "I thought we weren't gonna make it", I sure hope they were joking), and after all of the excitement of the past four days, we certainly got a good night's sleep that night.

Our time at Walt Disney World was just as fun, action-packed and memorable as that first visit, and not only did we make so many memories, it was also a wonderful way to spend our honeymoon.

You can watch our videos from the trip here:
Walt Disney World - May 2017 #1
Walt Disney World - May 2017 #2
Walt Disney World - May 2017 #3
Walt Disney World - May 2017 #4

You can also check out my photos from the trip here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskX4GMjp

P.S. Me and my wife want to give a special thank you to my wife's parents and close friend for helping us out with the honeymoon, we really appreciate it and cannot thank you enough.

June 2016

Well, I can say without a doubt that June was certainly not a boring month.

On the normal side of things, I've been realising that Connecticut usually gets a lot more nicer weather than the UK, and as I've mentioned before I've been taking advantage of it by bike riding, and lately I feel as if the more I ride, the more I get used to it, the more energy I have to ride up hills and whatnot - it's far better than just being stuck in the house vegetating in front of a computer screen, and it makes me feel good just to get outside and keep active.

Now for the less normal side of things - on June 9, my brother Chris, my mam and my grandma made the 3000+ miles trip across the Atlantic to visit me and my wife Nicole in the US - this was not my brother's first US visit, but it was very special for my mam and grandma as this was their very first time setting foot on American soil. Words can't describe how over the moon I was to see them all again after almost 6 months apart. As with anyone visiting the US for the first time, it took my family a little time to get used to all the cultural and physical differences, but they adjusted canny quickly. 
Myself and Nicole made sure that they made the most of their time here, taking them to as many places as we could, and where better to start off with than the Big Apple? Aye, it was an English family in New York, and my family got to see it in style with an open top bus tour around many of New York's famous sights including the Empire State Building, Battery Park and One World Trade. Following that we set foot in the famous Times Square and had dinner at the Hard Rock Café, needless to say my mam and grandma were a little taken aback by just how busy New York can be - but one quick subway ride later and they also got to see how more peaceful it could be too, in Central Park, despite my grandma's unwanted encounter with a stray rat! It was all an experience though, and they were all glad that they got to see one of the most famous cities in the world.
The following day was more chilled out, showing my family around the block of flats where me and Nicole live, and we did a lot of catching up too. One sleep later, and then it was the main event, the main reason my family flew over - me and Nicole's wedding ceremony, or part two of our wedding. (For those who don't know: we were officially married in February, but because of my move there wasn't time to plan a proper ceremony, hence the separate ceremony)
I spent the morning chilling with my family before putting on my tux and getting ready to go to the ceremony, two of my good friends Shane (who I asked to be one of my groomsmen) and Paula drove over from Long Island to attend the ceremony, they got to meet my family, and Shane was kind enough to drive us all to the wedding venue, and despite some hiccups with the directions on my part, we got there in the end.
The wedding ceremony was held at Lighthouse Park in New Haven, inside a building right next to the beach - we had originally planned to hold the ceremony outside on the beach, however because of high winds we had to move inside, but that didn't make it any less special. Everything just came together - Nicole's family, the staff, the caterers, the photobooth people, the photographers and the DJ all did an amazing job - but most of all, our families and friends were there to see me and Nicole cement our marriage. It was one of those moments that you just have no words for, and it was certainly a moment and a day that none of us will ever forget.
After a relaxing wedding night in a hotel room going over all the wedding photos, we were on the trail again, this time taking my family to our go-to holiday place, Newport in Rhode Island for a couple of days, where we took a trolley tour around the city, showing my family the old-style streets, the scenic Narragansett Bay, the famous mansions and the beautiful Ocean Avenue. There was one moment while driving around we ended up at a nature reserve, and right in front of us was one of the most beautiful sunsets any of us had ever seen - if one moment made the whole trip, then that was it.
I was dreading the inevitable goodbye - but we still made the most of that day too, showing my family around me and Nicole's favourite local places, namely East Rock, Stony Creek, and of course Branford Point. Eventually we had to make that long drive to JFK Airport in New York, where we made sure that my family got checked into their hotel (they had an early morning flight). Their journey home wasn't quite plain sailing - the hotel wasn't the greatest, and they ended up having to sleep in the terminal at Heathrow Airport overnight, because their flight out of JFK was delayed, and they missed their connecting flight to Newcastle  - but thankfully they made it back safely. Saying goodbye to them was just as hard as it was back in December, and it will never get any easier - but I was also just beyond grateful that they were able to make the journey to the US and to see me and Nicole get married, and I know that they were glad to have made the trip too.
There were a couple of other firsts this month too, as Nicole brought me to two popular events around her hometown of Branford - the Branford Festival, which is a series of events including live bands, fairground rides and various stalls held on the town green; plus the Branford Fireworks, which is basically the Connecticut equivalent of the Bonfire Night fireworks back in the UK - the fireworks were set off from Branford Point, with some of our friends me and Nicole got to see the whole display from the shore opposite, and it was very enjoyable.

So that was my June, and without a doubt it's month that will hopefully stay in memory until the end - moments like that, you just can't put a price on.
I'll be generous this time and leave you with not one, but two artworks from this month - a tennis-themed comic (it's Wimbledon month), plus a little something I made to mark the wedding ceremony.

Until next time.

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.

August 2015

I must be really starting to sound like a broken record now...but this month, like every other month, has been up and down, but in a way it feels like this month has been more so then normal.

Bad stuff out of the way first - I'm not going to disclose the details on here for the whole world to see, but my brother was hit with a very big setback this month, as in a financial setback - however he is taking steps to try and fix it. I'm mentioning this because as I've said before, I don't want my brother to be up the creek without a paddle once I eventually make my move to the US. Proof that money does not, never has, and never will bring happiness.
I've also felt like lately that my stress levels have been rocketing - stupid DeviantArt related crap, the whole immigration saga, plus the pressure of trying to find a job and my social anxiety have all been factors. And as a result of this I've severed ties with someone who was a friend, and I'm not gonna name any names, but while I could've handled the situation better, they could have too. I do not have any time for people who are quite happy to unapologetically and publicly humiliate me, even after I apologised for my part - real friends do not do that to each other, and that's all I have to say on that.

There has been a lot of good stuff this month too, and that includes some good news on the immigration front - I applied for and recieved one of the documents I need for both the medical and visa interview, my police certificate, so that's a step forward at least. Also, I've contacted the US Embassy regarding the status of my case, so I'm waiting to hear back about that.
I also got to witness a brief display of a phenomenon that only occurs once a year, though this was the first time I'd ever gotten to see it - the Perseids, a cluster of shooting stars. I only saw two of them, they were lightning fast but a great sight to see.
This summer, I've been making sure to try and get away on trips as much as possible. and with this being possibly my last summer living in the UK,it's been more important than ever, everything has felt very final really, and that's been the case for this whole year, not just this month. In addition to my regular day trips out to the coast at Tynemouth, I also decided it was about time I revisited a place I'd been meaning to get back to for a while, the Isle of Wight on the south coast of the UK. I first visited the island back in July 2009, and needless to say it was awesome to be back there again, getting to see all the sights I enjoyed the first time as well as checking out some places that I didn't get the chance to see back then also - it was a long journey there and back, but it was absolutely worth it.
I'll leave you with a high-flying comic to see out this summer - it feels like the sun is going down on a lot of things for me, and not just this summer. I hope I'll have some better news for you all come the end of September.

Click the links below to read/watch/see my Isle of Wight trip:
Isle of Wight blog
Isle of Wight photos
Isle of Wight videos

An Island Adventure: The Isle of Wight

Time for another travel blog - this trip was about revisiting a place I'd been to before, back in July 2009, and exploring parts of it that I hadn't seen the last time, and it also meant travelling from the north of England to the very south, and hopping across the water to one of the UK's most beautiful places - the Isle of Wight.
 
Day 1
To get from Durham to the Isle of Wight took about 6 hours tops in total - I had to change trains at York for another train to London, and it was a faster train too. Then it was down to the London Underground to catch a couple of Tube trains to Waterloo, where I quickly caught another train down to Portsmouth, and as soon as I got further south, the heavens opened, but that didn't deter me one bit. Once in Portsmouth I took a quick bus ride to Southsea, where just like 6 years ago I got to ride across the Solent to the Isle of Wight onboard the famous hovercraft - it was a very bumpy but short 10 minute ride, and an absolute blast.
My hotel, Kasbah, was in the seaside town of Ryde, where the hovercraft alighted - it was a traditional looking building on the outside, but very modern looking on the inside. My room was perfect, with a shower, telly and the usual amenities; however the downside was that this hotel was also a pub, which meant on the night there was noise, from both music and people - which is why the amenities included ear plugs (more on that later).
The weather didn't play ball, but it didn't stop me from going out and about - a quick meal of chips, then I jumped on the Island Line train from Ryde to another seaside town on the eastern side of the island, called Shanklin, with its beaches and dramatic cliffs. The highlight of Shanklin was an area called Shanklin Chine, a nature preserve situated inside a gorge, with lots of foliage and a stream. There were some animals on display, including parrots, and even a chipmunk, which you usually can't see outside of North America or Asia. Further along the gorge there was a stone bridge straight out of a fairytale book, and a winding path leading to the centrepiece of the Chine - a tall waterfall with quite a sheer drop.
With the rain pouring down, I decided to head back to Ryde, where I popped into a café for a cheeseburger and chips, and unintentionally confusing the French waitress who worked there (je suis desolée!), before chilling in my hotel room with some old skool quiz shows on the telly. Sleep was hard to come by however - that night was live music night in the pub, and that combined with the loud talking of people outside were the reason the hotel gave me ear plugs. They worked to an extent, and I eventually managed to drift off to sleep.
 
Day 2
Despite not getting enough sleep, I didn't let it stop me from getting on with my only full day on the island - after cereal and coffee for breakfast, it was time to revisit one of the highlights of the trip 6 years ago, the Downs Breezer open top bus tour, an hour's drive around the island's vast countryside. The weather was perfect, a far cry from the rain of the previous day, which meant I was able to make the most of the breathtaking views of the countryside, especially on one of the downs looking out towards the island's east coast, and the quaint villages that the tour passed through. There were a lot of narrow roads on the tour route, which meant everyone on the bus was frequently dodging oncoming tree branches, that just added to the adventure of the tour though. The tour was also newly extended to the beachside town of Sandown, just up the coast from Shanklin - more on Sandown later on. Needless to say, I enjoyed the tour just as much as I did the first time.
It was straight from one bus to another once I arrived back in Ryde, heading to the island's capital, Newport, to change to another bus in order to get to the harbour town of Yarmouth, where I decided to jump onto another tour bus, this time the Needles Breezer bus, for another scenic ride up to Alum Bay, on the westernmost point of the island. Located there was the Needles Park, a small set of food outlets and souvenir shops, plus a small fun park. However, just like 6 years ago, the highlight, and the most popular attraction at the park (there qas quit e along queue), was its chairlift down to Alum Bay itself - it's quite a sensation being suspended in mid-air while being transported down the face of a cliff. The chairlift also stopped at one point so someone could be helped out of their lift, leaving myself and everyone on it stuck in mid-air for a couple of minutes, which was a little unnerving but thankfully brief.
Alum Bay was just as I remembered it last time, with its gravel beach, dramatic coastline and its unique coloured sands, and with the warm weather it was also packed with people enjoying the sun and sea. I didn't try to take a ride on the pleasure cruise this time, I wasn't up for a repeat of my aborted attempt 6 years ago, where I stepped in and out of the boat due to the choppy waves making me feel queasy.
After taking the chairlift back to the top and buying a commemorative medal, I realised I'd forgotten to bring some drinks with me, so I quickly bought a bottle of Fanta to keep myself hydrated, before taking a very scenic walk from the Needles Park and up to the headland, where I was greeted with absolutely stunning views of Alum Bay, the English Channel and the Solent, with the towns of Milford and Lymington far off in the distance. At the very end of the headland, I revisited the view of one of the Isle of Wight's most famous landmarks, the three stacks of chalk cliffs jutting out from the English Channel and what gave the fun park its name - the Needles, which looked amazing in the sunlight. Also on the headland was the Needles Old Battery, a former military outpost, which I explored 6 years ago but didn't have time to do so on this occasion. However, I did get to see an unexpected surprise off in the distance - none other than the RAF air display team, the Red Arrows, performing their display at the Bournemouth Air Show miles away across the Solent. I'd already seen them up close at this year's Sunderland Airshow, so it was great to watch them do their stuff again, and there was quite a crowd gathered up on the headland watching the display also.
It was a blast revisiting places on the island, but it was time for me to see more of the island that I hadn't seen - I took the Needles Breezer back to Yarmouth, where I then jumped on the Island Coaster open top bus. This was the longest tour on the island, a two hour drive along the south coast, and I can't put into words how brilliant it was, travelling along the coastal roads with the breeze in my face and the sun in the sky. There were some simply breathtaking views of the coast and countryside, and along the way was the the beachside town of Freshwater Bay, a low flying hang-glider, the cliffs and beaches of Chale, the fun park at Blackgang Chine and the picturesque coastal town of Ventnor. I only wish I could've had time to stop at all these places and explore them further.
I jumped off the bus to revisit Shanklin, just so I could see how it looked in the sunshine, before quickly jumping back on the same bus to take a closer look at Sandown, which I'd passed through earlier on the Downs Breezer. I took advantage of its long, sprawling beach and had a dip in the English Channel, which felt a lot less cold than the North Sea (France is just over the water from the Isle of Wight, after all!). It was also still warm, despite the sun going down, and with it being later in the day the beach wasn't so busy, either. The Isle of Wight Zoo was across the road from the beach, however it was closed - another reason to come back to the island one day.
I wandered along both ends of the beach, seeing the distinctive white cliff on the northern end of the beach at Yaverland, before making my way along to the southern end, which was more busy, because that was where the Sandown Pier was located. Inside there was an arcade, and further along was a passage leading outside onto the pier proper, with views of Sandown and the coast, plus a small fun park at the end of the pier. With the sun setting, I made my way back to Ryde after what seemed like a lengthy wait for the bus, passing through the small beachside town of Bembridge along the way. Much like the first night, it was chips for supper and some R&R with more old skool gameshows and comedy back at the hotel, although the rest part was a bit difficult to come by, as the noise downstairs and outside was even worse than the first night, with it being a Friday night. Aye, I really want to listen to a hacked off fella effing and blinding because the doorman wouldn't let him in the pub...
 
Day 3
I managed to get some sleep, but not as much as I'd have liked to, however I was still up bright and early to get my stuff all packed and get refreshed for the hectic day ahead. I'm not sure if I would ever stay at Kasbah again, simply because of the noise, though everything else about the hotel was spot on - if I ever do stay again, it won't be on a weekend though.
After a quick breakfast and checkout, I decided to have one last hurrah on the island - once again the weather was beautiful, so complete with suitcase, I jumped on the bus to take a closer look at Bembridge, which I passed through the previous night. The bus ride was interesting to say the least, because of a fella who was seemingly talking to himself, ranting and cursing about a lot of things, and he wasn't making a lot of sense - the bottle of Bourbon whisky in his hand explained it, though. He even had the nerve to openly flout the no smoking rule!
Thankfully there were no drunk people in Bembridge, which looked terrific in the sunlight with its picturesque harbour full of boats, and its curved beachline looking out onto the Solent and Portsmouth on the horizon. I wish I could've stayed longer, however I had to get back to Ryde, though I quickly stopped at the little café located near the beach to buy some souvenirs.
One bus ride later, and I was back where I needed to be, and not quite done with the beach yet - I briefly had a walk onto Ryde's sprawling beach, which had the furthest tide out that I've seen on any beach, and at this point the weather was very hot, and to no surprise the beach was packed with people. Just as quickly as I'd gotten onto the beach, I was off it again, and crossing the Solent once again on another hovercraft ride, they are such cool machines, and the Solent is the only place in the UK that you can travel on a hovercraft, so the hovercraft are just as much a tourist attraction as the island itself.
I had been hoping to revisit another landmark back on the mainland in Portsmouth, the distinctive Spinnaker Tower - unfortunately, the walk from the hovercraft terminal to Gunwharf Quays, where the Tower was located, took a lot longer than I anticipated, and by the time I got to the tower there was a lengthy queue to get in, so I was forced to forego going up to the top of the tower to see the views of the Solent from above. However, I wasn't too disappointed, because I got the chance to climb the tower and see those views 6 years ago, and I did get to see the Solent while walking along Portsmouth's Millennium Boulevard. Again, it's another reason to come back in the future.
I made my way to The Hard Interchange, spending a short time watching various boats sailing along the harbour, as well as taking a good glance at the imposing old-time Navy battleship, the HMS Warrior, berthed at Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard, before jumping onto the first of three trains, heading back the way I came.
The return journey didn't exactly go to plan - all of my trains were delayed. The first train to London had to divert onto another line to bypass Woking because of a track problem, and ended up stopping a few times, which slowed down the journey considerably, and I started to get concerned that I wouldn't make my connecting train. I eventually made it back to Waterloo station, only for another problem - one of the Tube lines, the Bakerloo line, that I used for the journey down was closed, so I quickly had to find an alternative route. Needless to say, I rushed liked mad, and was able to get back to King's Cross via the Northern line, though not without experiencing a hot and crowded Tube train at rush hour!
In the end, the rush wasn't needed, my train back to Durham arrived late, which also meant that it departed late. As the train got further north, not only did the delay time gradually increase, but the weather also deteriorated from beautiful warm sunshine to torrential rain - I couldn't help but see it as ironic. With a half hour delay, I eventually arrived back at a rain-soaked Durham and managed to make my bus ride back home, though not without getting soaked through by a passing car! What way to end the trip, indeed.
Overall, I had an absolute blast revisiting the Isle of Wight and seeing all the places that I didn't get to see 6 years ago, as well as the ones I did. It is one of the most beautiful places in the UK, and I cannot recommend a visit there enough.

To check out my photos from the trip, click here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152939438231441.1073741842.695421440&type=1&l=1795fce92c

July 2015

I know I probably sound like a broken record when saying this, but July was definitely a month of two halves, but at the same time very eventful - I just wish I could say that it was all good things.

So that means there's a lot of bad things to get out of the way first - and this is something that's really been going on for a long time now, and I might've mentioned this already, so I apologise if I'm repeating myself.
I feel that there's a time when everyone gets older and "wakes up and smells the coffee", as the saying goes; a time when you begin to realise how absolutely screwed up this world really is. I'm talking about the bad news, politicians doing all they can to keep the rich richer and the poor poorer, terrorists blowing everything to kingdom come, another person getting stabbed in the street...you know what I mean. I hate it, I hate thinking about it, and I try to avoid is as much as I can, by not watching the telly, not reading the papers, and not checking the sites online, but one way or another I end up hearing about it. As a result, every now and again I'm made all to aware of all that's wrong in the world, and it gets too much for me to handle - but I also have to remember, that not everything that is reported in the news is fact, because it's all manipulated by the media into generating views/readers/numbers, etc. You know what I mean, you know the score.
Lately I've also been becoming very disillusioned with DeviantArt - on both an artistic and a social level. I'm fed up of seeing nothing put MLP, FNAF, anime and Sonic recolours as the popular stuff there, and original artworks and artists getting pushed to one side. Doesn't anyone give a crap about originality anymore? The same question could go to musicians and film studios, but I digress.
I've also just felt disconnected from my friends on DA - like we have nothing to say or talk about. In other words, my social anxiety's just worse than ever. It's why I've decided to stop doing livestreams every week, and just do them every now and again, because the truth is, the last few times I've done a livestream I feel like I'm spectating my own livestream, like I'm not even part of it. It's partly my fault and other people's fault, too - I wish I was better at engaging people and keeping up a conversation instead of being shy and anxious, but I will be more likely to do that if those people meet me halfway. Maybe they don't mean to give me the impression that they're avoiding me, maybe they're just as shy and anxious - but behind a screen, how do you know that for sure? I might be coming across as an attention-seeker with this, maybe I am, I don't know, but I don't intend that. I don't want to be the centre of attention, but I also don't want to feel left out. It's a conflict of interest and emotions, and it just makes me want to explode, to be honest.
On the same note, I'm also sick and tired of getting people on DA who only watch me or interact with me because they want something - only wanting to see certain types of art from me, wanting to do an art trade where they put nowhere near as much effort into their half of the trade as I do mine, etc. 

In short: DA is supposed to be creative and enjoyable - and lately I'm not getting that.

To cap all of this bad stuff off, there's been a setback with my immigration to the US - me and Nicole were told that I could be moving there in August. Not anymore. Basically, it's going to take longer for the US Embassy to give me an interview date than previously thought, it's only the instructions on what I need to do that will be coming in August, not the interview date. It's now looking more likely that I will be having the visa interview in either October or November, which is later than we previously thought. Not gonna lie, both me and Nicole are frustrated about it, because it means more time apart - but on the flipside, it gives us more time to prepare for the interview, and it gives me more time with my family, which is good, and it softens the blow quite a bit. And there's that old saying, "everything happens for a reason" - maybe this is how it's meant to happen.

There has been light in this month too, though - on July 10th, me and my brother revisited a place from our childhood, the seaside town of Scarborough in North Yorkshire - and it was almost like 15 years hadn't passed. We had an absolute blast seeing the sights and reminiscing about our childhood memories, and you can read all about it right here.
Scarborough wasn't the only highlight of this month, either - the end of the month saw me and my brother also making another visit to the Sunderland Airshow. It was my fifth time there and ten years since my first visit, it was just as popular and packed as it was back then, and the aircraft displays as ever were nothing short of impressive - it never ceases to amaze me just how the pilots of those aircraft are able to pull off such technical and daredevil moves. The displays included the all-prop Blades aerobatic team; the Black Cats helicopter duo; two parachute drops from the Tigers Freefall Team and the RAF Falcons; the very loud Eurofighter Typhoon; the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight featuring the Spitfire and Hurricane; an air and ground attack demo by a pair of Hawk T2s, and of course the always awesome Red Arrows. Who knows if I'll ever get to go to that airshow again, given the circumstances, but never say never.

I hope I can give you a more positive blog next month - I'll leave you with some Shark Week-inspired artwork to brighten things up.

PS: Click the links below to check out the action from the Sunderland Airshow:
Sunderland Airshow 2015: Part 1
Sunderland Airshow 2015: Part 2

A Yorkshire Adventure: Scarborough, Whitby & York

Forgot to mention this last week, but at the weekend (10-12 July) myself and my brother Chris went on holiday, to a place that we both remember very well from our childhood - the seaside town of Scarborough, in North Yorkshire. Here's what we got up to:

Day 1
It was an early start for us both as we made our way to Durham to take the hour long train journey down to York, where I'd visited for the first time in April for a DA meet-up (you know who you are!), and also where we had to change trains, though not without having another wander around the city of course. It was Chris's first time visiting York too, and he very much approved.
We'd picked a busy day to visit, as it was race weekend at York Racecourse, so the station in particular was chock-a-block - that didn't put us off one bit though. We checked out The Shambles and quickly popped into HMV so I could buy a memory card for my phone, as I'd ever so slightly forgotten to being my camcorder with me, followed by paying a visit to the grand York Minster, looking glorious in the sunshine. After that, we wandered through York's medieval style streets some more and had some dinner down by the River Ouse, watching the boats come and go.
Before long we were on our second train of the day, and even though we had to stand for the whole journey, we were still able to appreciate the views of the Yorkshire countryside flying past us, the unfamiliar ground that it was, but once we stepped out of the train at Scarborough station, we knew we were in familiar territory, and once we got our bearings, we made our way towards the hotel to be greeted by an awesome view of the North Bay, and all those childhood memories came flooding right back. The last time either of us had visited Scarborough was in 2000, and we both agreed that it had been 15 years too long.
We checked into our hotel, the Miricia Guest House - the hotel owner Joanne was very down to earth and welcoming, and we'd been given a room at the very top of the house, which was more or less in the attic, so there was no spectacular sea view, but that didn't matter as the room was spot on, clean and complete with telly, tea and coffee, and enough room for both of us. The only minus point was that the hotel's wifi was sketchy at best, so I had to rely on my phone's 3G to get online - but we weren't there to go online at the end of the day, we were there for adventure.
No sooner had we arrived in Scarborough though, we were already leaving! Even though it was late in the day, we took a very scenic bus ride through the North Yorkshire Moors and the picturesque coastal village of Robin Hood's Bay, down to the harbour town of Whitby. This was another place we both wanted to revisit - my last time there was in 2007, for Chris it was 1996, and much like Scarborough, it was good to be back there. We made our way up the cliff to Whitby's iconic landmark, the ruins of Whitby Abbey, along with some simply amazing views of the town below, which we headed back down into via the famous 199 steps, complete with a certain Captain Jack Sparrow hanging around at the bottom, and he was certainly right at home with the oldy-worldy architecture of Whitby and its harbour, which was of course very busy, with both people and seagulls (I swear, they own the place!) We walked along the harbour, all the way along its lengthy pier, checking out the town's lighthouse (I'd been to the top of it previously, however it was closed) and taking in the windswept views out towards the North Sea and the North Yorkshire coastline. Finally, we walked up the cliff across the other side of the harbour to visit the statue of Whitby's most famous son, Captain James Cook, as well as the famous whalebone arch overlooking the harbour, before once again enjoying the scenic bus ride along the coast back to Scarborough, where we ended the night with a meal at McDonald's and an evening walk along Marine Drive, from the South to the North Bay.

Day 2
You don't want to start a day sleep deprived - however, noise from a couple across the hall from us and the resident seagulls outside through the night, as well as sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings meant that me and Chris did, but it didn't stop us one bit. After a lovely breakfast of cereal, tea and toast, we headed out to our first stop of the day, and a place in Scarborough that we hadn't previously visited - its most famous landmark, Scarborough Castle. We explored the sprawling headland on which the castle was located, checking out the ruins of a signal station, the castle walls, the King's Hall and the guard towers along the walls, and enjoying the views of both the North and South Bays from the headland. Of course, we couldn't visit the castle without exploring its iconic keep, which despite being blown in half centuries ago, is still standing strong after 3000 years.
It was then time to visit some more familiar places, in Scarborough's North Bay - the first was Peasholm Park, famous for its boating lake and Oriental themed island, including a waterfall, garden and a pagoda overlooking the park. We opted to return to the park later on in the day to see something else that it's famous for (more on that in a bit.).
Across the road, it was memories of attractions gone that we were after - the Northstead Manor Gardens, that used to have three of Scarborough's big attractions, a waterpark named Water Splash World, a playpark named Kinderland, and on top of a hill behind them, an amusement park called Mr. Marvels. All three of them are now long gone, however it was nice to relive going to those places, and it was also interesting to see that there were reminders of there existence, such as an abandoned station for the chairlifts that used to take people to and from Marvel's. However, there were also some attractions to see there that were still around - the Open Air Theatre, which was derelict back in the day but has been restored and is now a concert venue (we couldn't check it out as there was a concert going on); the North Bay Railway, a miniature train that runs from Northstead Manor Gardens to Scalby Mills; and Scarborough's famous Water Chute that was once part of Kinderland. There was also a new attraction there, called a SkyTrail, which was bascially a giant climbing frame/obstacle course.
We then took a walk along the North Bay Beach, which was absolutely packed, to no surprise, because the weather was glorious. After stopping for a burger and chips, we planned to take a look inside the white pyramids of the Sea Life Sanctuary, however we changed our minds once we saw how much the admission was, and instead headed back to Peasholm Park, thugh not before revisiting the hotel that we stayed in on every trip with our family back in the 90s - there were good times there.
Now, that something else Peasholm Park is famous for? Every year they hold a "Naval Warfare" show, which involves a fleet of model battleships taking to the boating lake and re-enacting a famous battle. This was our first time seeing the display, and it was an absolute treat, complete with a pun-dropping and movie medley-playing commentator, model aircraft "flying" over on wires, and a lot of gunfire. What made this show even more impressive is that the ships weren't remote controlled, there were actually people inside the boats, steering them and firing the ammunition (it wasn't live ammo, but some of the ships did actually take damage). It was an absolute blast to watch, to say the least.
Following the show, me and Chris took to the lake ourselves on board a dragon-themed pedal boat, taking a cruise around the island, watching the park's population of Canadian geese waddle around like they owned the place, and getting a close view of the ships from the Naval Warfare display. There were also people boating around the lake on canoes and rowing boats - we remembered our late grandad taking the two of us around the lake on a rowing boat back in the day, and on one occasion almost capsizing the boat!
From boats to buses after that - we took one of Scarborough's many open-topped buses along Marine Drive to the South Bay, which really hadn't changed very much from back in the day, with its seafront full of shops, cafés and arcades, as well as its ever busy harbour full of fishing boats and cruise boats. We popped into Olympia Leisure for a couple of arcade games (The House of the Dead 4 and Jurassic Park) before visiting a shop that :devWhiteBlazingPhoenix: had been recommended to visit - Ancient Warrior, a gift shop with a difference, its specialty was selling weapons, real weapons, most notably swords and pistols, along with ornaments, figurines and lots of other stuff - definitely not your average shop. After that, it was beach time, I took a cold yet refreshing dip in the North Sea, because you just can't have a beach trip without a dip. Me and Chris remembered taking a ride on the beach's resident donkeys back in the day, those donkeys were still on the beach.
After making a pitstop at the hotel, we made our third visit to Peasholm Park, this time to visit the island, it had been closed earlier because of the Naval Warfare display, however it was open, so we were able to check it out. By now it was raining a little, which dampened the atmosphere a little, and seeing some shifty looking people hanging around the park didn't really help much, but we pressed on with exploring the island regardless, seeing all the geese hanging around and getting an even closer look at the model dock where the Naval Warfare ships were based. What we really wanted to see though was the Japanese gardens and pagoda at the top of the island, so we made our way up there, only to get an unexpected surprise - there was a security guard in the garden, and as soon as he saw us, he told us to leave the island. It turned out that the island was still closed, and we weren't supposed to be there, so we quickly left, a little embarrassed about it, but no harm was done.
By now we were all adventured out, so we headed back to the hotel for some rest, not before grabbing another meal from McDonald's though - however the atmosphere around the North Bay seemed lass sunny, and not just because of the weather - both nights we stayed in Scarborough, the entire North Bay half of Marine Drive was overrun with an organised street racer show, with dozens of modified cars and their drivers lining the promenade. There were some cool cars to see, but I wasn't really digging the atmosphere of it, plus there were inevitably some idiots who were speeding around the drive showing off, and the whole show was causing traffic to slow down all along the seafront. For me, that was the only major minus point of the trip, I much prefer the seafront when it's quieter - it was still a good day on the whole though.

Day 3
Another early start, and that inevitable feeling of having to go home had very much kicked in, but me and Chris didn't let it get us down. After another nice breakfast, we quickly packed up our luggage and said our goodbyes and thanks to Joanne, and I couldn't resist making a thank you sketch for her, involving a certain blue bug.
We still had a fair bit of time left before we had to catch our train, so we headed back down to the South Bay for some more beach time, as well as picking up some souvenirs and a tasty meal of chips. I also decided to take a boat ride around the bay on a miniature pirate ship called the "Hispaniola", which gave some great views of the seafront. There was also the option to take to the waves on a high-speed jet boat, but we both decided to pass on that one, maybe next time though.
We chose to take the scenic walk back along Marine Drive to the North Bay, and again it was great weather for it, and it was a lot more pleasant with the aforementioned car show over and done with. It was time to head to Peasholm Park one last time, and this time the island was legitimately open, so we were able to take a full walk around it, and go right up to the Japanese gardens at the top, which looked beautiful, along with the colourful pagoda, which had a great view of the boating lake and park below.
After a little bit of persuasion, we headed across to Northstead Manor Gardens so I could have another first - after all those past trips of never doing so, I finally got to take a ride on the water chute, and it was short but very sweet, and I didn't get nearly as soaked as I thought I would! Following that, time was starting to get on, so we jumped on the bus for one last scenic drive to the South Bay, where we decided to go for the quicker option and took a short ride on one of the two remaining cliff lifts that ferry people from the bay to the town above - and before long, we were at the station, waiting for our train, complete with a curious seagull hanging around the platform. About two and half hours, another changeover in York and two train rides and a bus ride later, and that was our holiday done and dusted.

All in all, both me and Chris had a great time, spending some quality bro time together, and of course revisiting all the places in Scarborough that we knew and loved as kids, as well as the bonus visits to York and Whitby - and I can't recommend taking a visit to all three places enough.

You can see what we got up to, also - click on the links below and have a gander:
A Yorkshire Adventure - July 2015: Part 1
A Yorkshire Adventure - July 2015: Part 2
A Yorkshire Adventure - July 2015: Part 3

December 2014

Where do I start...what a month this has been, and without a doubt it's been a month of two halves.

You know that feeling when the festive season slowly starts to creep in, even though you try so hard to try and resist the cheesiness of it all? I had that, but also a lot of nerves, which was pretty much how it was for the first half of this month, working at my charity shop placement and keeping busy with that, my artwork and buying Christmas presents for family and friends (as usual, I cut it fine).

Those nerves were all for the anticipation of the second half of the month, as I knew I would be spending my first Christmas and New Year away from home (27 years though, quite a record) - on the 11th, I jetted off on my second trip across the Atlantic to the US this year, and my sixth US trip overall. It was very bittersweet leaving my family behind, but at the end of the day I know that they want me to be living my life and enjoying it - and when I travel, that's what I'm doing.

And now the trip itself - with only an annoying delay to my long haul flight and a customs office giving me the third degree, my travel to the US was pretty much fine, so once again all the nerves about the flying was for nothing. Since I arrived Stateside, so much has happened - I got to be with my lovely Nicole again, as well as her family and friends, we revisited places that we'd been to before, including Branford Point, Stony Creek, Mystic Village, and of course the Big Apple aka New York City, as well as also spending a couple of days over in Long Island revisiting a couple of close friends from DeviantArt, however I was seeing it all slightly differently, with it being my first trip to the US in Winter - my previous visits were all in either Spring or Summer, and while there were some unseasonally warm temaperatures and no blizzards, there were also some freezing days too - and as I type this, there's still every chance of one of those infamous wintry nor'easters to hit. I also discovered some new places previously unseen, including the beautiful Chatfield Hollow State Park with its forests and lake, and the impressive collection of planes on display at the New England Air Museum.
It was a little bit strange celebrating Christmas over 3,000 miles away from home, but I still enjoyed it, and I got to experience the occasion American style, and not that this is much of a big secret, but the Americans don't half make a bigger deal of Christmas than what we Brits do, that's for sure - every other house had elaborate lighting displays, Christmas music was all over the radio, and Nicole's family certainly weren't shy with the presents, not that I asked for anything - the only present I wanted was to be able to spend the festive season with Nicole, and I think that's the one present both of us truly asked for. (I apologise for the slushiness.)
I also got reacquainted with some old American food favourites, as well as giving some new ones a try - and there was also another first this trip, as myself and Nicole attended two of her friends' wedding, and we weren't just spectating, we were both in the wedding party, Nicole was the maid of honour, I was one of the groomsmen, and we were both dressed the part for it too. The ceremony went beautifully, the reception was blast, many congratulations to the happy couple, and I was glad that both me and Nicole got to be a part of it too.

As I type this, 2014 is into its last 24 hours, and I will be getting to see in the New Year over in the States, with Nicole, her family and friends. My final thoughts on this year? Like most years it's been up and down - there have been times where I've wanted to crawl into a hole, but also times where I feel like I've had the time of my life. No-one knows what 2015 will bring, or what'll be happening a year from now, but I will be celebrating on New Year's regardless. If there is definitely one thing I want to celebrate from this past year, it's all the memories that have been made.

To sign off, I'll leave you with this festive group shot I made for my DeviantArt friends. Wherever you are, and whoever you're with, all the best for 2015.

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...

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. :)