I was stuck. I was on the bus, a friend had invited me to what sounded like a glittering intellectual evening at a literary salon in Shoreditch, and I was not moving forward. I’d been on this bus for nearly an hour and probably could have walked as far as we’d gotten. As the time … Continue reading
Tag Archives: London
The Calm After the Storm
Riots raged around London the past few days, and while things seem to have calmed for this city, violence and disorder appears to be escalating in other English cities. I hope that today will be the tipping point around the country and that things will begin to return to normal. No rioting affected my part … Continue reading
Much Ado
It’ll be a week or so before I blog again. My PhD graduation is coming up next week, family and friends are flying in, and there is a lot of celebrating to do! So I will leave you (for a time) with these reflections on my very favorite play. The first time I saw the … Continue reading
A Return to Wodehousian Sensibilities
I entered a writing contest, but alas didn’t win this time. Here’s what I said: In my travels about London I’ve noticed a return to Wodehousian sensibilities in gentlemen’s attire of which I am very much in favour. Do we not pine for that imagined past when all that stood between us and happiness was … Continue reading
Independence Day in London
I don’t know how many of you have ever celebrated your nation’s independence day in the capital city of the nation from which your own nation emancipated itself (stick with it, it makes sense!) but it definitely feels a bit funny. This isn’t the first 4th of July I’ve spent in England, but for some … Continue reading
Entmoot
Okay, it wasn’t really Entmoot. But that’s what I kept thinking in my head every time I heard the term Ward Mote, which is what I actually went to on Monday afternoon. Entmoot, as I am sure you know, is the fictional meeting of tree-like creatures called Ents in Tolkein’s famous fantasy series Lord of … Continue reading
I Carried a Watermelon. (How Often Have You Wanted to Say That?)
It’s been unseasonably hot in London the past couple of days. The kind of hot where you stick to things. The kind of hot where the sun looks like a burning laser Sauron eye that you just can’t escape no matter where you hide. The kind of hot that I usually only feel in Florida, … Continue reading
Umbrella-Based London Activities
I left without my boots. I thought, “the zoo is paved! Surely mud will not be a factor.” Oh how wrong I was. It was Friday night. I’d gone for a Zoo Late Nights event with some friends. We expected that, with the pouring down rain, we would be the only ones there. But no! … Continue reading
The River Walk
I don’t know if you’ve ever found yourself walking along a sleepy river through the outskirts of London on a Saturday afternoon, but I can highly recommend it. I was in Victoria Park. I needed to be up in the wilds of Clapton. I consulted the map. A blue ribbon of water stretched from where … Continue reading
Kelly Green
This post is one of my guest blogs on To Be Shouted. Click the link to visit the archives: Kelly, my cousin who has never been overseas before, came to visit me last week. Everything was new to her and it made me see not only London but so many experiences again as if for … Continue reading
In a Merry Hour: Caitlin E McDonald 