Happenings at 153

Running in Reykjavik

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:39:10 +0100

Seems odd to fly three hours and a 1000 miles, just for the opportunity to run for 4+ hours and 26.2 miles, but that is what we did this weekend.

Several months ago we determined that we needed a bit of motivation to aid us in our exercise regime. A ‘stake in the ground’, if you will. So we plowed through the internet a bit looking for a summer race that we could both take part in, and perhaps see a something new of Europe, as well. The result: the Glitnir Marathon and Half-Marathon, held on Saturday, August 18 in lovely Reykjavik, Iceland.

Deciding that it wasn’t enough for the two of us to endure the rigours of training and a long run, we also managed to rope in our friends Kim and Rian. After registering for the race and booking our flights, there was no turning back. And with the four of us bonded together by our mutual goal, as well as the magic powers of Nike+, we could only look forward. And in case that wasn’t sufficient motivation for Mitch, he also agreed to run on behalf of the Venture Partnership Foundation, a UK organisation supporting innovative charities.

Thankfully, as our accompanying pictures and captions will attest, it ended up a truly magnificent holiday weekend, crowned with wonderful runs by us all. (Of course, by ‘wonderful’, I mean that we all finished without injury or issue - Shannon even did a cartwheel over the finish line). It was a beautiful day, and the miles seemed to whisk by. OK, perhaps not ‘whisk’ by, but it was surprisingly enjoyable. We even had energy afterwards to walk around the town, which was also celebrating the end of its annual Culture Week.

The day after, we parted ways for a bit, Kim and Rian taking off to explore a volcanic island, and Mitch and Shannon heading to the Blue Lagoon for a much-deserved soak in a hot spring (an Icelandic tradition - how could we say no?) All in all, very much a perfect way to have a marathon weekend.

Softball with the Panthers

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:09:26 +0100

Finally, a beautiful sunny Saturday in London. Couldn’t have picked a better day to play a bit of softball. Or in this case, a lot of softball.

All summer long, every Tuesday night, Shannon has been heading to various parks across the city to play softball with her team, the Panthers. Most of the games it rained a bit, and the Panthers saw their share of victory and defeat. But this Saturday it all came to a climax with a daylong playoff tournament. Six games over nine hours in the hot sun. (Shannon, in particular, loved that “sun” part).

The Panthers played with great honor and determination, as well as with a few amateurs - Mitch included. Amazingly, he ended up playing two games as the team’s pitcher (one win, one loss, ERA unknown) and another at first base. Good thing he brought his dad’s softball glove with him from America.

Shannon put her muscles to good use, too, getting on base several times and zipping around the bases. Mitch always said she looked like a softball player!

After a day of playing, the Panthers may have not finished on top, but who really cares when you’ve got the sun on your back and beer in your hand!

Our (soon-to-be) new address

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:09:32 +0100

The process may be a bit different here in the UK, but a home purchase remains accompanied by reams of paperwork. To date we’ve received documents from the developer, our solicitor, the mortgage broker, the lender, etc. Lots of signing going on over here.

The good news, however, is that we know what our future address is going to be:

33 Carillon Court
41 Greatorex Street
London E1
United Kingdom

Constructing Concertina

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:22:44 +0100

Yesterday I finished my week holiday at City Lit where I took an art class on how to create an artistic book. I know most people either want to go away for a holiday or relax at home, but I wanted a week to focus to really just focus on a different aspect of myself without any kind of pressure to pack, look nice, or produce anything for anyone else - it really was a joy. We had a small class with just 8 students so it meant we had a lot of individual instruction from our two “teachers”, Tracy and Liz.
Tracy is a bookbinder and has done special commissions for artists to create books about their work. She has all the skills of a traditional bookbinder, focusing on precision and form while being creative like an artist by finding the beauty in a found object or something special in a mistake. Liz led us on a walk our first day to Lincoln Square and showed us how to focus on different aspects of the journey by picking of remnants of possessions thrown away or lost and giving us different ideas, like how to capture a sound on paper. And both of them have great hair.
Anyway, the week was great for me. I decided to focus on the theme from Mondays walk and created a “flag concertina” book, with each page representing a specific personal journey I’m currently taking, from the path of applying for the HMPS (Highly Skilled Migrant Programme) visa to our eventual move to our first home purchase here in London. I was quite literal while others in the class were more artistic and abstract, but each person painted a vision particular to their own place in time.
So after reading this if you want to see any of the books, feel free to checkout the Constructing Concertina page I’ve created which has highlights from the week including scenes from the walk on Monday to the construction during the week to the final presentation of our final products on Friday. Overall I learned a little bit more about myself and I’ve created a book which is a snapshot of where I am right now in my life - it’s interesting to think how different it might be if done at another time.

Whitechapel Depot

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 14:31:13 +0100

After several weeks of househunting, Shannon and I finally took that great leap into adulthood, and placed an offer on a new home. Of course, I would have liked to explore and research a bit longer, but when we found a place that ticked all the boxes, it was difficult to make a case for putting off Shannon’s dream of homeowership any longer.

The property we finally discovered, after registering with some six different agents and countless property websites, was the last two bedroom/two bath remaining in a conversion of the Old Royal Mail depot near Spitalfields. It’s small - some 624 sq.ft. of small - but Shannon gets an extra bathroom and I got a small balcony to grow some herbs. The main living area, while compact, is open plan and suitable for our home dining adventures. Alas, no room for a dining table, but its nothing a little creative engineering and furniture choice can’t solve.

The conversion, called Whitechapel Depot, is just off Brick Lane in East London. It’s still officially in Zone 1, a 10 minute walk to a few different tube stops, as well as to Spitalfields Market, and only a few minutes longer would carry Shannon to her office in the City. The area is thriving with ethnic and bohemian character, and seems destined to be the Next Notting Hill. We hope.

Now we just need to figure out these crazy mortgages and sign the paperwork - that’s all really...

To follow along with the development, we’ve created a new page Flat 33.