When I was young, we had slide shows ...
Dec. 29th, 2009 11:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blamebramptonA VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aldehyde ! May you and your fabulous new hair have a spectacular 2010, filled with fandom glee and decent weather!
And a slightly late but very happy birthday tojadzialove ! May this year be smooth and highly entertaining for you! And may all the people you beta for be as organised as joanwilder ... I had a brilliant idea for a pressie, but failed miserably. So instead, here is a shot of where Draco could have ended it all if things had turned out differently in your present from the other year.
Poor bugger, he must have been very cold! I choose to believe the weather was better that year than this!
Which leads me to a brief picspam! There were many signs of the credit crunch around London, but also some of the boom period that had come before. I like to call this short photo essay from Belgravia: 'Old Money: New Money'
One of the silliest thrills of the trip for me, for the first ten minutes at least, was waking up one chill morning in Paris to look out the window and find that it had snowed. It gave a veneer of beauty to everything, here one of the Jardins (I think des Tulleries, but have the memory of a fish today) beside the Louvre was made marvellous with a few inches of snow dusting the sculptures.
It also brought out the humour of the city. While walking down the left bank, we encountered this little fellow:
and were thoroughly charmed.pingrid , raitala and I decided he needed a companion. 'He is Harry!' declared Pin, 'we must build him a Draco!' Alas, our intentions were not quite matched by the quality of the snow (this is our story, to which we are sticking) and after cries of 'Oh no! His head fell off!' and 'Pin, did you mean to make a snow cock?' this is what we ended up with:
So he was downgraded from Draco to Goyle.
One of my most hilarious adventures was visiting Versailles with Rai and Pin. Sadly, they are both reasonably tall and long legged, so I was trailling along stumpily, but here they are (excuse the coat bulkiness, it was a very cold day):
Being us, we found the gayest painting in all of the palace, Pin howled down our suggestions that it could be depicting a father and son's re-union after battle, pointing to the onlookers and stating that they were obviously keen, no matter what the two main characters were thinking.
Back at the hotel, we were greeted enthusiastically by Isis the Hotel Cat, who thought we were demented to go out in that weather. Generously, she allowed us to warm our hands by patting her. SO GIVING!
Though much as I enjoyed Paris, and I did!, I regretted taking the time out from London. I fell back in love with London, before I was trapped in Paris. Walking about London so much, even if mostly on the way to one museum or another, brought me many reminders of its joys, not all of which were fabulous shops or artefacts. About five people will laugh as much as I did at this final photo, but for me, this Kensington family's Christmas decorations were absolutely, utterly perfect. Bugger lights and reindeer, tie a ribbon on the fo lions!
aldehyde ! May you and your fabulous new hair have a spectacular 2010, filled with fandom glee and decent weather!And a slightly late but very happy birthday to
jadzialove ! May this year be smooth and highly entertaining for you! And may all the people you beta for be as organised as joanwilder ... I had a brilliant idea for a pressie, but failed miserably. So instead, here is a shot of where Draco could have ended it all if things had turned out differently in your present from the other year. Poor bugger, he must have been very cold! I choose to believe the weather was better that year than this!Which leads me to a brief picspam! There were many signs of the credit crunch around London, but also some of the boom period that had come before. I like to call this short photo essay from Belgravia: 'Old Money: New Money'
One of the silliest thrills of the trip for me, for the first ten minutes at least, was waking up one chill morning in Paris to look out the window and find that it had snowed. It gave a veneer of beauty to everything, here one of the Jardins (I think des Tulleries, but have the memory of a fish today) beside the Louvre was made marvellous with a few inches of snow dusting the sculptures.
It also brought out the humour of the city. While walking down the left bank, we encountered this little fellow:
and were thoroughly charmed.
pingrid , raitala and I decided he needed a companion. 'He is Harry!' declared Pin, 'we must build him a Draco!' Alas, our intentions were not quite matched by the quality of the snow (this is our story, to which we are sticking) and after cries of 'Oh no! His head fell off!' and 'Pin, did you mean to make a snow cock?' this is what we ended up with: So he was downgraded from Draco to Goyle.One of my most hilarious adventures was visiting Versailles with Rai and Pin. Sadly, they are both reasonably tall and long legged, so I was trailling along stumpily, but here they are (excuse the coat bulkiness, it was a very cold day):
Being us, we found the gayest painting in all of the palace, Pin howled down our suggestions that it could be depicting a father and son's re-union after battle, pointing to the onlookers and stating that they were obviously keen, no matter what the two main characters were thinking.
Back at the hotel, we were greeted enthusiastically by Isis the Hotel Cat, who thought we were demented to go out in that weather. Generously, she allowed us to warm our hands by patting her. SO GIVING!
Though much as I enjoyed Paris, and I did!, I regretted taking the time out from London. I fell back in love with London, before I was trapped in Paris. Walking about London so much, even if mostly on the way to one museum or another, brought me many reminders of its joys, not all of which were fabulous shops or artefacts. About five people will laugh as much as I did at this final photo, but for me, this Kensington family's Christmas decorations were absolutely, utterly perfect. Bugger lights and reindeer, tie a ribbon on the fo lions!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 12:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:04 pm (UTC)Cookie and Mon have been impersonating her since I came home ;-)
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:08 pm (UTC)I can't imagine why. Kees is much the same when I go visit him each day for his noms. Then he scratches/bites. Silly kitty.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:11 pm (UTC)N'awww.
You have to come over one evening and have a proper meeting with scaredy cat. She's much braver post 8 pm when she thinks there's a chance of being fed her mince.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:17 pm (UTC)That sounds very good. I had an idea we would go to Canberra this week, but Newtown seems a much better idea ;-) I can bring mince!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:22 pm (UTC)Oooh. We can watch westcwing and sew!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 11:19 pm (UTC)Embroidery works!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-31 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 12:58 pm (UTC)That pic of Rai and Pin in Versailles makes me envious all over again. *grumbles*
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:08 pm (UTC)Though you are right, the company was excellent. You were missed!
Goyle was very cute, if a little penis-y ;-)
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:09 pm (UTC)*gapes at Versailles*
*giggles at Goyle*
*hugs you*
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:15 pm (UTC)Though don't gape at Versailles! That's what it wants you to do. The correct response is: 'It's all a little bit OTT, don't you think?' ;-)
(On a serious note, you do end up with a sore head from the level of gilding and mammoth artworks, I can't help feeling it was probably less bonkers in the pre-Imperial era.)
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:32 pm (UTC)It's completely ridiculous. And yeah, less bonkers for the royalty, maybe. Probably even more bonkers for the peasants of the time. =P
Although, I definitely wouldn't pass up a chance to see it in person. Lucky you!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:42 pm (UTC)I find places like Versailles, for me, inspire an awe that is very tempered: on the one hand I am impressed by the scale and by the craftsmanship displayed, but on the other hand, the complete lack of sanity on the scale has me wishing for the comparative tastefulness of Palazzo Pitti.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:29 pm (UTC)This shows me how much I'm missing out having never traveled, or seen snow... One day, and I'll make a snowman
with a penis too.no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 01:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 02:41 pm (UTC)Penis!Snowmanahem, Goyle is the CUTEST snowman I've ever seen. Serious. He's so so... penisy. XDVersailles looks amazing and Isis seems almost majestic, doesn't she? I love the lions and the ribbons! They are adorable.
Anyway, if you want to feel tall, hun, feel free to walk beside me for a day. I'm definitely more vertically challenged than you are.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 03:55 am (UTC)And Isis was quite the queen of the hotel, bless her scruffy little heart ;-)
I'm 5'1" and a half, you? My 4'11" friend moved to New Zealand, curses!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 06:11 am (UTC)Oh. In that case, I can lend you my mom for the day. She's 4'11'' and a half. (I'm 5'4'' and a quarter - sorry :P)
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 08:00 am (UTC)The motto to this story: feed your children meat! I swear I was on track for normal height before my childhood vego and vegan periods!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 03:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 11:55 pm (UTC)*rolls eyes at self*
I dunno, there's just something about the shape of the body, especially across the back and side of bust, and the legs, and the cheek ... hell, all of it screams woman to me. I don't want it to, but it does.
I love your pics. We drove up to Mt Macedon on Monday, just to get me and my lungs out of the house for a bit, and it was beautiful, true Bowral-esque old estates and big trees and even patches of real green grass. All I could say to C was 'I miss Wiltshire'. Apparently there is no hope for me.
♥
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 03:52 am (UTC)Poor lungs! I do love it up that mountain, though. There's an excellent tea room up there that has the most astonishing desserts, a week's worth of lactose in one sitting, but completely worth it! And I am sure that Wiltshire misses you at least as much!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 03:55 am (UTC)Given that I have achieved zero exercise in the last week and a half, I'm kind of glad we didn't find the dessert shop. I will definitely keep it in mind, though. :D
btw - I got your postcard from London today. It's lying here beside me, making me smile while I read angsty H/D fic.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 04:04 am (UTC)Hope I made some kind of sense: I wrote it after the Great Eurostar Saga of 09, at which point I was mildly deranged.
Will find you something slashier in the stash soon!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 02:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 03:50 am (UTC)That was definitely our fave painting of all the mammoth canvasses. I kept singing Waterloo quietly to myself, which may not have been politic ...
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 03:27 am (UTC)And the photo! Thanks for that. I'll admit my mental image is a bit more picturesque, but seeing the real thing is a kick. I just re-read that story before Christmas, btw, when I was wallowing in holiday woe. Draco helped. *nods*
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 03:48 am (UTC)Draco always helps, I find, if only in a 'at least there are no Death Eaters at my house' kind of way ;-)
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 08:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-31 08:35 am (UTC)I will be inquiring as to cats for all my future hotel bookings ...
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 09:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 12:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 04:51 pm (UTC)Hahaha, Goyle looks a little skinny, but very amusing!