#10 Canterbury Road

Still Here

posted by Nicole @ 6/28/2005 06:43:00 PM 1 comments

I think I've never been further from Istanbul . . .

Really great to hear from everyone. I have nothing of note to share, but I just like adding to the momentum. I have no problem with Maryland - for those of you who were discussing its qualitative value - but I heard today that Frommers named Baltimore one of the best 10 cities in the world for tourists. Have things changed that drastically from the last time I drove through? I don't even think crabcakes are that good . . .

Anyhow, I'm happily finished with law school year one and I'm working for the state for the summer. I'm sort of a self-appointed social coordinator for the clerks in my office - which mostly means weekly happy hours (considering I never actually drink alcohol, it's pretty ironic) and doing "rounds" in the office to check on how people are doing (it's not my most productive summer, but I'm making friends).

I think I'd have to change some life goals to make it to Istanbul or Korea anytime soon. Heck, I'm still hoping to make it west of Hutchinson, Kansas at some point soon. I like North Carolina - we've got mountains, ocean, piedmont (whatever that really is), and lots of tobacco. It's a bigger deal here than I ever realized. Anyhow, I'm staying put in the Tar Heel State for a while, so anyone can feel free to stop by if you're interested.

Lindsay and I are headed to the Cape in MA for the 4th of July - it's my favorite place, and probably the biggest trip I'll take anytime soon. Sorry Missy, but Boise is not in my near future. Lindsay and I will be at a wedding tomorrow, and then Sunday I'll try waterskiing for the first time in years on Lake Norman (technically, it will only be my second time total).

Alright, there's only so much of everyday living I can stand actually typing. I'll be back in to check on things here soon. Keep the dialogue going.

- Ryan

posted by Ryan @ 6/25/2005 10:30:00 PM 1 comments

The Jizzler

As promised to Laura, here is the (brief) skinny on my super-fantastic trip to visit Jesse Meyer, blog member, in Istanbul. I have included a link to pictures of the trip, which true to my unavoidable form come with extensive explanations, stories, and random factoids. This would not be a Zack post without all of those things, of course, and I have long accepted my nerdiness.

That being out of the way, here is the straight dope that I might not have included in the random assortment of sly comments and historical asides. Jesse is teaching English at what is purportedly a very good school, although the spoiled children of wealthy Turks are in many cases less than appreciative of the fine educational opportunity they have been afforded. Jesse said these kids are even worse than the inner-city Baltimore kids he worked with while doing Teach for America. That said, it is a sweet hook-up, with spacious, furnished accomodation provided a stone's throw from the school, and he's actually able to save money, which doesn't always happen with these jobs. He lives on the Asian side of the Bosphorus straight, which divides the two continents and the city itself (okay, we all know that Europe-as-continent was a European idea, but nevermind...). This meant Zack's first time in Asia, just scratching the surface of that most vast of continents.

Jesse has a pretty serious, and lovely, girlfriend named Abigail, who has a similar job in South Korea, where Jesse plans to join her after teaching another year in Istanbul. I didn't get to meet her, for obvious reasons, although she is coming to visit him this weekend. I will allow him to fill in the gaps should he wish to post on this blog before she arrives.

I had a wonderful trip, and reconnecting with Jesse, whom I'd only seen once before since Oxford, was the highlight. We had a great time, and some good talks, and I'm already looking ahead to a Korea trip in two years. I really needed this trip as well because, sadly, my girfriend Jen and I broke up after three years the night before she left London, and two nights before my trip. Getting out of London for ten days was a good distraction from that. I hate to mention this only in passing, but I might as well say it.

Back to the trip, I tell much more about everything in the labels attached to the pictures. I can e-mail the link to the pictures to anyone who did not get the original e-mail. Assuming, however, that I set this up right, you should be able to click on the title of this post to access the pictures. Enter my screen name, zshaef@yahoo.com, and the top-secret password, 'zachary'. Don't try to be a wiseguy/girl and change all of the titles on my pictures now that I've let you into my confidence (Ryan...). Oh wait, did I just put ideas into his head? Crikey, I'm thinking out loud again... Anyway, hope the commentary doesn't annoy you. It's just the way I am... Please post comments, ask questions, whatever. I am still glowing from my trip and talked Nicole's ear off when we hung out earlier today. Cheers, and enjoy the pictures friends!

posted by Zack @ 6/15/2005 01:10:00 AM 5 comments

As you wish

Chelsey asked for updates, so I must comply...exciting life events or not. And warning: random ramblings ahead. I thought about blogging on the day that we had that nice little "airplane in Capitol airspace" scare, just because it was the first slightly interesting thing to happen in a while. (Reason # 53 that it is great to work on Capitol Hill: Evacuations. There is nothing like the Capitol Police yelling that there is an unidentified plane trespassing into Capitol airspace. And no, folks, this is not a drill. Being on the top floor of the Longworth building is very good for my spiritual health, as I will certainly die if anyone ever actually hits our building, and I need to be prepared to meet my Maker.)

But you all got the non-ending reports on the news, and of course everything ended up fine, and it was just a stupid, stupid, STUPID pilot of the little prop plane who was eventually escorted by F-16s into Maryland. Good riddance, I say. Take them to Maryland.

Other than that...I've been planning a wedding...and promoted to the back desk in my office (a window! a window, I say!)...and looking forward to October when everything has settled down and I'm used to being Missy Small and I know the best way to get from "our house" to work and we can go calmly into sweet fall as if normalcy is a real thing instead of just something imagined. I've been playing a bit with Virginia Woolf's "Common Reader" (not to be all booky, Ryan), trying to remember who Agammemnon is and what exactly Euripides wrote. It's been good to remember that in this rational, schedule-run world in which I thrive there are also beautiful impractical things.

Of course, June's "book of the month" is the complete Harry Potter series, gearing up for the release of book six next month. I can't always be in a heady, intellectual and philosophy driven world! :)

Thanks for the little escape into this old world. Right now I have a hearing on pension reform to go to, and when I get home I have to continue gluing lace and flowers to various things. Look forward to hearing your random ramblings as well!

posted by Missy Small @ 6/09/2005 01:58:00 PM 2 comments