Bonfire Night

The bonfire was about 15-20 ft. high, and about 10 ft. wide. We were standing pretty far back and we could still feel the heat!

Antigoni, Ximena & me

Rachael, Jeff, Nusodah, Ozen, Antigoni, me and Ximena

Approaching the crowd at Hyde Park

Bonfire Night up here in Leeds was so much better than last year's in Bath! They had bonfires in a few different parks, but we picked Hyde Park because it's so easy to get to--just across the street from campus. We got there around 7pm--there were already lots of people there & the bonfire was already going. At around 8 they started the fireworks. It was a good show--not as elaborate as our 4th of July ones, but still pretty good. After the show, I went over to Anti's for pizza & wine & gossip--very fun!

Tonight is the Leeds Lights lighting event, where they switch on all the Christmas lights around the city centre. We're going there after class to check it out. It's a much bigger deal than it was in Bath--there's a big stage set up by the Town Hall and it looks like they'll have live music. This makes the 3rd night in a row with something exciting going on, distracting me from my essay and keeping me up late. The essay's due Monday, so this weekend I have to buckle down...

Obama Wins!!!

The next President of the United States of America

Election night result viewing party at the Old Bar in Leeds Student Union. Tough to get a good shot of the crowd, but it was quite busy.

From the early days of the movement: an Obama rally during the primaries

After 21 months of craziness and a long, suspenseful night, we have our result. Obama's victory means so much to me, to so many Americans, and to the rest of the world. McCain's concession speech was excellent--very gracious and sincere, and I appreciated his call for unity. That's the only way out of our current problems, really. Likewise, I was glad Obama acknowledged those who didn't vote for him, saying "And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too." That was one of the best things I've ever heard from any politician. It's humble--he knows he has to earn your support. It's comforting--he listens to his opposition. It's encouraging and welcoming--he asks for their help. I've never heard anybody say they'll be President of the segment of the nation who didn't vote for them. Usually, a victory speech is simple--we won, thanks to my supporters & friends & family, and let's get to work. This one had so much depth, so much meaning and a great level of understanding we never see in politicians.
I'm thinking of doing my dissertation on charismatic rhetoric now...

Election prediction

Final prediction before the election:
Obama's going to win, 364 to 174 electoral votes.
Blue states: Those that Kerry won in 2004 plus VA, FL, OH, IN, IA, NV, NM, CO and NC
Red states: Those that Bush won in 2004 minus the nine listed above

Lake District

This was at the end of the dock--how adorably romantic!



St. Martin's Church








And for the lighter side...

They're made in Wigan, one of the towns my ancestors came from. Classic!


In the bird food section of the garden shop in Ambleside

The lake district is absolutely gorgeous, especially right now with the changing leaves. We had great weather--sunny & clear, and it's not windy up there like Leeds is. First we went to Bowness-on-Windermere, where they do cruises on the lake. They were pricey and didn't really cover much of the lake, so we didn't bother. Instead, we walked along the public footpath and saw the lake that way. We had fish & chips for lunch and checked out the shops around town. There's a Beatrix Potter centre, but it's not really a museum--more of a storytime show for kids. Since I didn't want to pay 6 quid to see people in hedgehog costumes, we skipped that as well. After seeing everything Bowness had to offer, we still had over an hour until our coach would move on to Ambleside. So, we went on the most ridiculous tram ride ever. For 2 quid, you go along the lake to a car park where they had apple bobbing & candy and the half-dozen or so staff were dressed up in Halloween costumes. Nicole and I were the only people on the tram, and it was clearly meant for kids--all decorated for Halloween with cobwebs and cardboard tombstones. People stared as we went by, but that just made it even funnier. The tram played Halloween music, too--"The Monster Mash" and "Thriller." It was the lamest thing, but the fact it was so lame made it great somehow. It was the highlight of my day.
When we finally got to Ambleside, we only had about an hour before all the shops closed and we were planning to go home. The museum was closed and it was already too dark to take pictures, so we just walked around and checked out the shops that were open. It's a very beautiful town, though, and I'd love to go back some time. It smelled like autumn--warm, slightly smoky and spicy. They have a really cute downtown shopping area, with old shale buildings and very narrow streets.
All in all, I'm definitely a fan of the Lake District now.

Fall scenes

Leeds Cathedral

On the walk to school/city centre, just where Burley Road starts to become more residential

Early morning shot--we've started to have frost on the rooftops


There's a pot of gold in the Morrison's parking lot!

Not much has happened since my last post. I've spent a lot of time reading & drinking coffee because I've got an essay due soon. Whenever I get tired of reading about populist movements, I watch a little TV. BBC stopped posting "2 Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps" reruns online, so I've started watching more literary adaptations. BBC has the 10-part series "Lark Rise to Candleford" and there's a new 16-part Andrew Davies version of Dickens' "Little Dorrit." Andrew Davies always makes such high quality films. I mean, it's no "2 Pints," but you know, not every show can attain that level of sophistication...

Yesterday I had my first radio experience, which was surprisingly fun. I was nervous at first, but after a little while you just feel like you're chatting with friends--they all just happen to have headphones on and big microphones in front of them. This was a bit of a test run for election night. I'm really looking forward to it--nine hours of tracking the results and hanging out with people in the studio who are as into this event as I am.

During the last election, I was watching the results come in on CNN alone in my room at Vanderbilt. I stayed up late, waiting on Ohio, and when they called it for Bush, I cried. My first election will probably always be one of the biggest letdowns of my life. So, I suppose what I want to say here is that I'm going to be nice to McCain/Palin supporters if Obama wins. I won't rub it in their faces, as fun as that would be after what happened to me in 2004 (namely, the drunk frat boy peeing on my Kerry/Edwards window sign...ewww)

Saturday I'm going to the Lake District, so I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to post then. Nicole and I are going with school through this "Give it a Go" program the University runs--the tickets are 16 pounds, which isn't bad at all. The only downside is that we leave Leeds at 8:30am, but that's alright--as long as I have coffee, I can make myself be a morning person.

Brontë Country

Graveyard at the Parsonage

Brontë Village--touristy, but cute

I was so tempted to yell "Heathcliffe!!!"

Seriously??? The weather was ridiculous...

Pathway between the Parsonage and Penistone Hill

Farmland around the Parsonage--note the classic stone fencing


Parsonage on the right with Church in the background and school on the left

Plaque at the school saying Charlotte taught there

The Parsonage and graveyard

Penistone Hill and the moors--all that low brown vegetation is heather

Other than that telephone pole, this is so what the moors looked like in Emily Brontë's time

Views from the village looking towards Keighley



Another shot of the graveyard, Parsonage and school

Just behind the Parsonage, at the gate leading towards the farmland

Now that my money’s all sorted out, I finally was able to go to Haworth.

The bus stop to Keighley (where you connect for Haworth) is literally around the corner—even closer than walking to the grocery store. I set off around 11, thinking it would be a quick ride over, because Haworth’s only 18 miles away according to Google maps. The ride to Keighley took about an hour. It was all back roads and small villages—no freeways like the bus between Bath and Reading I took last year. Even though it was long, it was pretty cool to see all the little towns with their own little pubs and takeaways. The ride between Keighley and Haworth was about half an hour, and even more rural if that’s possible. I caught my first glimpse of the moors on the ride there—bleak and rough but breathtaking. There’s a steam engine you can take between Keighley and Haworth for 12 pounds round trip, which isn’t too bad considering you get to ride on authentic old Pullman cars.

In Haworth I got off the bus at the train station and walked up the path to the “Brontë village”—an adorable touristy climb on a narrow cobblestone street (which cars actually use, despite all the pedestrians). At the top is the church, graveyard, parsonage and a school. Beyond the parsonage is just farmland and a trail leading even further uphill to Penistone Hill. The parsonage was very cool—just a self-guided tour, but that’s alright with me. I prefer that to some of the lame tour guides I’ve had in the past (although a tour guide with a Yorkshire accent would’ve been fun). No photography allowed, but I bought lots of postcards (which is probably why they don’t allow photos…). They have lots of actual belongings—manuscripts, clothing, locks of hair, etc. My favorites were Charlotte’s writing desk and a dress of Emily’s. For the most part, they had the actual furniture throughout the house—the actual kitchen table where they said Emily made bread every week, the actual desk in Rev. Brontë’s study, etc. They had an exhibit at the end talking about the myths regarding the Brontës—that they were crazy or anti-social or had a cruel father. It turns out that Charlotte actually started a lot of that talk when she criticized her father to her biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, and emphasized Emily’s shyness and love of her pets to the extent that it made people think Emily preferred animals to people and was crazy/anti-social. Of course, her poetry’s a little crazy, too.

I had to check out Penistone Hill because of the literary reference and it completely lived up to my expectations. The weather was just as bad as it sounds in Wuthering Heights—really windy with rain that was just being pelted at your face in little pinpricks. I turned back when I saw the trail would go on another mile to Brontë Falls, ‘cause I didn’t want to die of TB like they all did.

I had a late lunch at The Fleece, a pub just down the street. It’s old and classic and they serve a really good local ale, Timothy Taylor’s. After all that walking in the cold wind and rain, I was craving some heavy pub grub. I finally understand English cuisine. It’s not about lack of ingredients or creativity—it’s all down to the climate. When it’s cold, nothing hits the spot like some gravy-laden meat and veg. I had steak and ale pie (made with that Timothy Taylor ale), which was much better than I’d ever had before. The steak and ale were in a shallow dish and the puff pastry was just set on top, and my chips and veg weren’t soaked with gravy (unlike at O’Neill’s, which I love, but really?)

All in all, I had a great time. I wouldn’t have wanted perfect weather—this was much more authentic.

Long-awaited flat pics & new clothes

Ok, Kelly--I finally took pics of the bathroom & kitchen for you, even though it made me feel kinda creepy...Going into the bathroom with a camera just doesn't look right...

"Electric shower," which sounds like an accident waiting to happen...It's actually just a way of retro-fitting the plumbing to add a shower. The top dial is for water pressure and the lower one is for temperature, and the on-off button is just below that.

Just a shot that shows how small the bathroom is...and the toilet is set pretty far from the wall, like those "grinder" ones we saw in Provence (except it doesn't have a grinder, sadly). I like the glass shelves above, though, and I love pedestal sinks.

I thought this was some kind of heater, but the appliance manual in the kitchen calls it a "warming towel rack." Basically, it's a metal tube that gets hot. When you take your towel off of it, it's slightly warmer but only on the 1/2 inch-wide strip that was touching the rack.

Kitchen--lots of cabinets, ok-sized fridge, tiny table nobody ever uses, and washer/dryer combo. It's got a nice view of Kirkstall Abbey out the window. And as you can see from this picture, my roommates have a thing for rubber gloves.

Another shot of the kitchen, showing the "electric hob" with grill and oven, as well as the rice cooker & toaster that appeared last week.

So, I finally got my pin # and student loan money this morning--yay! I was so tired of wearing the same things all the time, so I treated myself to a few new shirts at H&M. Trinny & Susannah (the hosts of What Not to Wear) had a special on the other day about people wearing too much black. Since about 3/4 of my wardrobe is black, I forced myself to avoid buying any more black today.


(It's navy blue, even though it looks black...)