Laura's Lovely Log

quick update

The NYC visit dates are 99% sure to be Monday 25 April - Sunday 1 May. More to follow!

posted by Laura @ 10:02 AM 4 comments

and how come no one told me

there's a new Batman cartoon? while I'm sitting around watching crappy UK tv...

WAIT. Gina Gershon??? Are you friggin kidding me???? Are they turning her back into a lesbian AGAIN? What the heck was wrong with Adrienne Barbeau? No Kevin Conroy? No Mark Hamill? well, Englund's kinda cool, but still...and a new Batman comic? Man, I'm so behind.

Well, fine then, did YOU know Joss Whedon's directing Wonder Woman?

posted by Laura @ 11:25 AM 0 comments

home sweet home

A) if you haven't heard, I'll be in NYC around April 29. More when I know.

B) (the real reason for this post) Thanks to Wil Wheaton, I have a new blog on my blogroll: Overheard in New York. Seriously, don't miss the Easter post. It had me laughing out loud in the office. The whole damn thing's hilarious and, yes, making me homesick.

posted by Laura @ 9:27 AM 0 comments

milan (with lots o' pics!)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. I feel much much better. I just love Italy. Honestly, sometimes I wonder what it would take to live there. Here's the story:

Wednesday:
Went to the office, picked up stuff and my colleague, taxi to train to plane to taxi to hotel. Off to conference for set up. After all that's all out of the way, off to dinner at yummy yummy restaurant. Did the traditional 3 courses plus sides and desert thing. Man, there is just no better country to eat in. Period. Took a picture of a silly shop on the way home:


Thursday:
oh boy - Italian library conference. Couldn't talk, couldn't eavesdrop. If I'd been there on my own it would have been torture. Still some fun was had and it was successful. Went out for drinks with happy hour, which in Milan means a free food buffet. Even the crappy cafeteria and bar food was MILES better than anything I've eaten in ages. Poor friend/colleague missed her flight and we met up with her for drinks but stopped for dinner on the way:



And what do you do when you need cigarettes but the shop's closed? No worries: you buy them through the security gate:


Friday:
More conference fun but did have a lovely lunch with the aforementioned stranded colleague. Breakdown then hotel to change then out for drinks and dinner and more drinks. Seriously pigging out by this point. Have to consider how to lose the extra weight. BTW, here's a pic of the central train station, which was right by our hotel:


Saturday:
The fun begins. Got up (a little later than planned), went to city center to have brunch and go shopping. Went to Zara, bought a gorgeous skirt and two tops. Said goodbye to remaining colleague. Walked around square, went to famous mall:



(look, Momma! Athena shopping! oh poo. you can't see her owl.)

Time to go to the Duomo (cathedral). Oh, yeah, as usual, I get to see Europe under scaffolding:


But that doesn't detract from the absolute highlight of the trip. It's beautiful inside and I lit my candle, but it doesn't compare to how wonderful the roof was.


I sat up there for a long time and made a new friend (Alan). We went to a museum together. Pinacoteca Brera - eh, ok. Went there to see Caravaggio, but ironically I'd already seen the painting in London with Jerrod a few weeks ago and it's still on display here. Did see Francesco's Il Bacio, which was lovely, and the fascinating Cristo morto nel sepolcro e tre dolenti (The Lamentation over the Dead Christ) by Mantegna Andrea, which I'd never seen before. Then we went to dinner (happy hour at a different pub) and he dropped me off at my hotel before going out with friends. This was a very good plan because I needed to pack and sleep, but even more importantly, I needed to watch Body Bags in Italian (apparently). No, it doesn't get any better in Italian, but it does get a hell of a lot funnier.

Sunday:
Well, the day got off to a crappy start. I checked out and got money but didn't make it to the church on time, so I didn't get to see the Last Supper even though I had a reservation. I nearly cried. Actually, I did cry. But then I wandered the streets of Milan and ran into a fascinating antiques sale, which I would have missed if I'd been there later, and had the breakfast I'd skipped. Then I went to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, which was absolutely divine. I was, like, the second person to get there and had the whole museum to myself for most of the time. The Caravaggio and da Vincis were nice but Raphael's sketch for the School of Athens took my breath away. There was also the most wonderful statue that I'm desperately trying to find online to figure out who it's from. I made another new friend as a curator took a shine to me. He pointed out a painting done by a 19-year old girl I would have otherwise missed and encouraged me to touch a statue of a tigress and her cubs. Of course, I had to put up with him being a slimey git but whatever. Left and wandered back to the square. More shopping (7 more tops from Zara and some things from H&M including another great skirt) and lunch and daydreaming about not leaving.

But I did and now I'm in London and can't concentrate on work. Oh well. I've got more pictures if you want them. Just ask. And I've got other random stuff I could post about, but instead I'll leave you with a picture of the lion I liked and pretend like I really care about anything other than daydreaming.

posted by Laura @ 9:34 AM 1 comments

milan, snow, and movies

so, things are looking up around here and the best part is the trip to Milan. Yup, in case you didn't know or forgot, I'm out Wednesday-Sunday in Milan. As such, I ain't got much to say right now but should next week. If anything interesting comes up before then (that I'm willing to write about) I'll let you know.

In the meantime, apparently it's been an unusually snowy winter in London. Thank god 'cause I thought I was going to lose it for a while there. I took this picture on the best snow day in the middle of a week of snow. This is the garden behind the church that I walk through in the mornings.

Momma, thought of you when I stopped to take it. See it's still snowing? And the flowers are pretty against the snow.

In far less sentimental news, I saw a few movies over the weekend. Caligula, which apparently you can't get a full copy of here. Had to watch a pirate copy (I know, I know. I'm a hypocrite.) Yeah, it was as violent and sexual as they say it is. At least now I know. Don't think I'll need to watch it again. Although, mad props to the make-up guys. The first death in particular was pretty damn well executed (pun intended). Ginger Snaps 2, which was better than the first one, IMO. Especially since the ending of the first one sucked. And Black Hawk Down, which was WAY better than I expected. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend.

posted by Laura @ 7:12 AM 0 comments

via my buddy Brian

You are 'Latin'. Even among obsolete skills, the tongue of the ancient Romans is a real anachronism. With its profusion of different cases and conjugations, Latin is more than a language; it is a whole different way of thinking about things.

You are very classy, meaning that you value the classics. You value old things, good things which have stood the test of time. You value things which have been proven worthy and valuable, even if no one else these days sees them that way. Your life is touched by a certain 'pietas', or piety; perhaps you are even a Stoic. Nonetheless, you have a certain fascination with the grotesque and the profane. Also, the modern world rejects you like a bad transplant. Your problem is that Latin has been obsolete for a long time.

What obsolete skill are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

posted by Laura @ 5:21 AM 0 comments

ba-ba-lue

same crap, different continent.

anyways, here's some random stuff for you:

Up until now I've refused to read Whil Weaton's blog for fear of completely geeking out. I just can't resist any more - it's too damn funny.

From there, I got this great program that sends books to soldiers.

On a serious note, this article of ours reporting on findings (published by a competitor) that millions of infants lives could be saved by spending 90 cents more per day per person blew me away. "It is estimated that breast-feeding could prevent 1.3 million deaths worldwide each year." Unbelievable.

And on a seriously boring note, if you ever want to look at what it is I have to read every day, check out my work blogroll. Seriously, like 2-3 hours a day on reading this stuff.

Back to the funny: coming in October, a new Wallace and Gromit movie: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit!

Continuing the geekdom: I nearly cried when I found out about the Battlestar Gallactica podcasts. You damn Americans don't know how good you have it.

I guess that's it. Oh, no, wait! I have random pics:

escalator down into a tube station


da tube


and on a bus


Guess I should work or something. Before I go, out of curiousity, are any of you tracking this with a blog reader or are you just randomly checking in? Just wondering how often all are here. Oh, and could somebody resend me Dermody's blog? I can't find it. Thanks.

posted by Laura @ 9:34 AM 0 comments