(aka: blessed)

Okay, so since I cheated yesterday and posted nothing but pictures, I figured I'd make it right by writing something of substance today... I am coming to the realization of how lucky (aka: blessed) I am right now... I am married to an amazing woman, whom I love deeply and dearly... I have a job that has me living/working in a place that many people pay to visit (London)... it's so difficult to explain really, I just feel incredibly lucky (aka: blessed) to be where I am and who I am... I am also truly grateful for the opportunities I have to take my creative mind and use it in taking snapshots of the world around me... these are a few of the ones I took yesterday... my "favourites", if you will... essentially in our backyard...

This is a simple snapshot of the downtown London area from atop Harrow-on-the-hill, where my love and I have lived for the past year... amazing view, no?

This is a snapshot of the Parish and Borough Church of St Mary atop Harrow-on-the-hill, we hav a nice clear view of this church from the backwindow of our home... even though I have known this fact for some time now, I still find it difficult to believe that this church has stood here for over 900 years now...

A snapshot of (apparently) one of the structures used in one of the Harry Potter films... I can't verify, as I have seen none of them (any help Melissa?)... this building is a part of the Harrow School for boys... a school that many prominent English folk have attended, such as Winston Churchill as well as six other British Prime Ministers, and various royalty from other countries, and one lame singer named James Blunt...

Last snapshot here covers most everything English, minus the red telephone booth... an old church, a narrow route (pronounced "root" here), a red double-decker bus, and a big, open sky with a few clouds just waiting to swoop in and block the sunshine... tis' truly a beautiful place, no?

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Life is Good.

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~Ed.

Portobello Market!

...not much time to write anything of note tonight (or perhaps I am just lazy, or tired, or both?), so instead, I bring to you photos... which is essentially what this blog was initially intended for anyways... these particular shots were taken at the famous Portobello Market, located on Portobello Road, in Notting Hill, London, England (geez, that's a mouthful)...









Life is Good.


~Ed.

"The" Underground...

The "Underground" in London has a different connotation than the term "underground" in the United States... this was something I was completely ignorant to prior to my moving to the London area last year... you see, the "Underground" in London is actually synonymous with the "Tube", which is the London areas "underground" rail system (something, I suppose we Americans would refer to as the "subway"... I have been thinking recently about the Underground, and how new everything concerning it was to me just about a year ago now... it's strange, but I feel so comfortable now with riding an escalator deep into the ground to get on a train and travel throughout a city with a population of over 10 million people... it's an amazing experience, one that I get the opportunity to have every day I go to work... here are a few random shots typically seen within or around the Underground...

This photo was a moving shot taken at the cross roads of Regent's Street and Oxford Street... The sign is directing people to take the nearby stairs to Oxford Circus Station...

This photo is a shot of one of the typical escalators that provides transport for all travellers to the trains deeop beneath the city of London... some stations have two, or even three of these that all go down... that deep, yes.

This photo was a moving shot of one of the numerous performers that take to singing and playing music for change from the many passers-by... I have heard a few that were not very good since I have been here, but overall, many of them are fantastic at what they do...

This last photo was a shot of the "platform", where we travellers await the next train... typically, the wait is no longer than 10 minutes, which is amazing considering how many people use the system daily(!)... and yes, it is always best to stay behind the yellow line, as the trains can often come in pretty fast...

Life is Good.

~Ed.

The Beach in Winter... not quite the same experience.

This past week was a busy one for Kacie & I... we rented a car and drove all over the Southwestern region of England... trying to take advantage of my vacation days! On one day in particular, at the request of my darling Kacie, we went to the beach... specifically, we went to Brighton... It was an absolutely beautiful day with clear blue skies, and freezing temperatures... although that did not deter people from enjoying the rare clear English winter day. All in all, Kacie & I really, really enjoyed ourselves... not in the traditional beach-sense where swimming and sunbathing abound, but nothing can quite compare to the smell of an ocean breeze (albeit cold), and the sound of the waves crashing onto the shoreline... it was a lovely day, and one where I was able to "test" out my new wide-angle lens, so enough of my dribble... a few shots from the trip:

Life is Good.

~Ed.

Mila, Mila, Mila!

I love cats.

I just do.

Ask my Mother, and she will tell you a story of how early on in my life I dreamed about owning a cat farm and living around cats... strange, I know. Well, I don't exactly live on a "farm", but she will do... for now. Her name is Mila, and she will be living with Kacie and I at the end of this month. We are pretty excited... so much so, that we've purchased a load of "items" for her, and we took another long drive this weekend to see the little one... the shots in this post are from that visit... this is Mila, she is a bengal cat, she is family, and she is about as crazy as Kacie and I, so we are confident in her being comfortable here in her new home soon...

Again, I love cats.

Methinks this is obvious, no?

Life is Good.

~Ed.

Big Pile O' Rocks.

One of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world is simply a pile of large rocks... also known as Stonehenge... my darling wife and I decided to take a road trip on the last day of 2008 to see this historic site... there were loads of people visiting there that day, it was freezing cold outside, and the skies were completely overcast... but for some reason, visiting this site was an amazing experience nonetheless... there's something about walking on grounds that had been walked upon over 5000 years ago...

Looks cold, no? It was. Very.

Life is Good.

~Ed.

Corruption within Beauty.

It was a few days prior to Christmas Day, and my darling Kacie and I were in search of a little "something" to give us a traditional sort-of meaning to the Holiday this year. This is due to our being in the greater London area, and spending the time together with no other family. We spied this little cake in a local Waitrose supermarket and decided that this would do for our "treat" on Christmas Day... big mistake.

Worst. Cake. Ever.

It tasted so awful that Kacie barely choked down a little bite... and me... I could barely touch a piece to my tongue before I said, "no thanks, I'll pass"... which was pretty bad considering how beautifully delicious it looked (as can be seen in the above picture). This had me thinking about how oft times the most corrupt things in this world are often found in the most enticing of packages. This beautiful cake could not live up to beauty with which it displayed... much like the many, many other enticing things of this world... somehow emptiness is all that is left... except in the case of this cake, it was left fairly intact and in the rubbish bin...

This was the only joy that this cake brought to my love.

Absolute shame, yes? I concur.

Life is Good.

~Ed.