A gannet (Morus bassanus), probably weakened by bird flu, is lying in the grass.

Ein Basstöpel (Morus bassanus), wahrscheinlich von Vogelgrippe geschwächt, liegt im Gras.

CDV, slightly tinted, around 1868.

Photographer: Eduard Kozics - Kozics Ede

Pressburg (Pozsony), Promenade No. 2.

Hungary (Bratislava, now Slovakia)

(Promenade 2.: a későbbi Sétatér 9., majd Kossuth Lajos tér 9., ma Hviezdoslavovo námestie 4.)

Eduard Nepomuk Kozics (Kozič) was born in 1829 in Máriatölgyes (Dubnica nad Váhom, Dubnitz an der Waag), Kingdom of Hungary (today Slovakia) to a poor family. His thin and weak body was not suited to do heavier work.

In 1847, he first encountered daguerreotype and found his lifelong passion. He received training from traveling photographer Johann Bubenik who also sold him the equipment (Bubenik was making daguerreotypes in Pozsony/Bratislava in 1847).

Soon he also learnt calotype (talbotype) technique and collodion process from Andreas Groll in Vienna between 1847–50, as well as coloring technique.

In 1850 he opened his first studio in the garden pavillion of Slubek's house in Gaisgasse (today Kozia street 33) in Bratislava.

This studio is considered to be the first out of ten studios operating in Pozsony/Bratislava in the 1850s.

In 1856 he moved to a more populated location on Promenade 34 (today Hviezdoslavovo námestie) nearby Carlton hotel.

After temporary relocation (on 1 June 1868 to the house of Baron Sina on Promenade 33), Kozics studio opened on 1 October 1868 in a newly built house on Promenade 2 (later renamed to Sétatér 9, Kossuth Lajos tér 9, today Hviezdoslavovo námestie 4) next to the Hotel zum grünen Baum.

 

The house served as home to him and his family and also functioned as a museum, gallery, free mason lodge and salon, which was known for its lively social happenings. Kozics hosted several concerts of his close friend Franz Liszt (Liszt Ferenc), the great Hungarian cpmposer, and made a number of his portraits. Photo studio was located on the ground floor together with permanent exhibition of Kozics' collection of a wide range of photo apparatuses.

Portraits were Kozics specialty, among his clients were Pozsony/Bratislava's most prominent figures. He also photographed city sights and suburbs, from the 1860s particularly in then popular CDV format (cards). Just before its demolition, in 1870 he made series of photographs of so called coronisation hill on Danube river bank and collected them in the artistic photo album Vitam et sanquinem, which was given as a gift to the court in Vienna.

Kozics also ran a private school of photography and was influential for the whole generation of photographers.

Kozics had significant technical skills. He was fast in adopting cutting-edge photo techniques of his day including calotype (c. 1850), panotype (c. 1856), and chromotype (late 1870s). He developed his own method of color photography; was among the first to make lifesize photographs; invented and patented a way to expose photographs on canvas, elephant bone, porcelain, wood, glass and email.

He died of a sudden heart attack in 1874. Since the 1990s Bratislava has a street named after him.

 

After his death, the studio continued to be operated by his wife Karolina Kozics-Helle (1838–1899, they married in 1855) who expanded the studio ouvre to postcard production and service for artists. Her specialisation was photomontage.

They had three children: Karolína Eleonóra Ema (3.10.1856–?), Pavlina Jozefina (27.6.1859–?) and Eduard František Xaver (2.1.1864–1900), all born in Pozsony/Bratislava.

Karolína and František were both photographers and painters, Karolína focused mostly on photo reportage.

She operated the family studio until 1926 when it was taken over by the firm Boceky and Valentik.

monoskop.org/Ede_Kozics#Works

-------------------

Kozics Ede (Eduard Nepomuk Kozič) (1829, Máriatölgyes/Dubnitz an der Waag/Dubnica nad Váhom - 1874, Pozsony/Bratislava).

1850-ben nyitotta meg az első műtermét Pozsonyban (az első tíz között) a Gaisgasséban, azután 1856-ban elegánsabb környékre, a Promenade 34-be költözött. 1868 júniusában egy rövid ideig Sinai báró házában bérelt műtermet a Promenade 33-ban, majd ugyanebben az évben, 1868-ban a Promenade 2-be (a későbbi Sétatér 9., majd Kossuth Lajos tér 9., ma Hviezdoslavovo námestie 4.), vadonatúj épületbe költözött a Zöldfa Szálló mellé. A ház a földszinti műterem mellett az ő és családja otthonául szolgált, múzeum, kiállítóterem (Kozics portréival, városképeivel), szabadkőműves-páholy és a pozsonyi társaság kedvelt szalonja is volt egyben. Liszt Ferenc, Kozics közeli barátja, többször adott koncertet a szalonban, Kozics jó néhány portrét készített róla. Általában a kor Pozsonyban élő vagy oda látogató jelentős szereplőit szinte mind lefényképezte.

Turku, Finland

They also had the 13 wishes Lagoona but I wanted Howleen more. Too bad they didnt have more bratz, but they had more I saw in other stores!

Sparrow Recovery Volvo FM13, sporting recently applied Sparrow colour scheme, dropping a First Leeds bus at Hunslet. Volvo Wright Gemini fleet number 37702.

www.salcidophotography.net

  

Hit "L" to view on a black background.

 

Time to give my wee Chrismas present to myself a bit more exercise with a walk down to Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

 

I sold most of my Pentax equipment a couple of years ago to fund a move to compact system cameras. I only kept the K-7 and 3 DA Limited lenses (well, and my SMC Pentax-A 50mm f1.2 lens, which I regard as part of my camera collection as much as anything else!) But I have to say I regreted selling all that lovely Pentax glass, so over the last couple of years I've been slowly building up my kit again, included some lenses I've never owned before, including three classic 'F' series lenses (28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.7 and 100mm f2.8 macro).

 

And when I saw a really good deal on the Pentax K-3ii I couldn't resist! So today I took the K-3ii and all 3 F series lenses down to the Botanic Garden for some exercise.

 

Almost all these shots were taken with the 100mm macro lens, which is big (much bigger than the current Pentax D-FA macro lenses) but really lovely!

 

Most of these shots were taken wide open at f2.8 as the weak winter light was a bit dim, but fortunately I like the shallow depth-of-field thing, and the nice high ISO performance of the K-3ii came in handy too.

A line of weak thunder storms rolled through Chatham-Kent Wednesday evening. Not much so see or chase, but I did manage to capture a single bolt of cloud to ground lightning.

The "Carl Zeis Jena DDR Sonnar Auto MC 2,8/200mm" it is an pretty heavy and large 200 mm Manuel Focus Tele-Lens

...this one build 1979 ...these lense it is huge and heavy ~1200 gramm of glass and steel ;-)

On F2.8 a little bit weak ... more sharpness on F.4 and lower ... on F8. really good!!!

on mft you´ ve got an 400mm Tele and it needs to get an good image stabilizer to use these lens for freehand shots..

Sognefjorden, Norway

The sun struggles behind the clouds on a winters morning in Highbury Park, Birmingham, England.

This guy got in trouble at my balcony this rainy morning.

After couple sips of water he got better and had flown away.

Holga GN

Ultrafine Extreme 400

Hometown, Terengganu

In rather weak late afternoon light, the 14:00 Churu to Jaipur Juncton Passenger 02094 was recorded accelerating away from Sikar en route to Ringas in the care of YDM-4 6627. The line side here was well littered with the garbage thrown out by residents and was being suitably browsed by local livestock.

 

All images on this site are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed written permission of the photographer. All rights reserved – Copyright Don Gatehouse

Some people have a studio. Some people live in a studio ;) More like a one-bedroom, but I don't have any sort of fancy equipment. What I did have was a white sheet and a table lamp, so i made this funky little setup. The sheet wasn't ironed and the light was weak for my camera (i didn't use flash, so photos aren't as sharp as they should be). This was mostly an experiment just to see what i can do. I've never tried this before so it was certainly different!

 

Perry is on many accounts the opposite of Marco. He tries so hard to be a perfect obedient puppy. Too hard sometimes. And while he's spending time overanalyzing what it is that i want him to do and being self-conscious, he turns out looking awkward in a lot of photos. Nonetheless, I got a few nice shots of him today. This one in particular, while I don't feel that its the greatest portrait-wise, has two elements that I love - his beautiful soft expression, and a fantastic shadow!

Let all that I am praise the Lord;

with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.

Let all that I am praise the Lord;

may I never forget the good things he does for me.

He forgives all my sins

and heals all my diseases.

He redeems me from death

and crowns me with love and tender mercies.

He fills my life with good things.

My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

 

The Lord gives righteousness

and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

 

He revealed his character to Moses

and his deeds to the people of Israel.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful,

slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

He will not constantly accuse us,

nor remain angry forever.

He does not punish us for all our sins;

he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

For his unfailing love toward those who fear him

is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

He has removed our sins as far from us

as the east is from the west.

The Lord is like a father to his children,

tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

For he knows how weak we are;

he remembers we are only dust.

Our days on earth are like grass;

like wildflowers, we bloom and die.

The wind blows, and we are gone—

as though we had never been here.

But the love of the Lord remains forever

with those who fear him.

His salvation extends to the children’s children

of those who are faithful to his covenant,

of those who obey his commandments!

 

[Psalm 103:1-18 NLT]

 

5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

 

1. Like it or not, we are ALL sinners: As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT)

 

2. The punishment for sin is death: When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)

 

3. Jesus is our only hope: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)

 

4. SALVATION is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT)

 

5. Accept Jesus and receive eternal life: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT) And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12 NLT)

 

Read the Bible for yourself. Allow the Lord to speak to you through his Word. YOUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE!

Oiled birds that are becoming too weak to fly sit on rocks in Scofield Bay off the coast of Louisiana June 15, 2010 Birds that are oiled but still able to fly are ingesting toxins from the oil through preening themselves and become susceptible to kidney failure. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead has been reaching the Louisiana shores for weeks. The BP leased Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded April 20 and sank after burning, leaking record amounts of crude oil from the broken pipeline into the sea. Photo © Kate Davison/Greenpeace

 

Tell Congress: No drilling, no coal, clean energy now!

 

For the latest blogs, videos, & info on the BP oil blowout and spill check this page regularly: www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/gulf-oil-spill

With weak winter sun brightening up the all-over Network Rail yellow livery on RTOV (ex-DBSO) 9714, the vehicle tails ex-DRS 37607 as they cross Stenson Jn just south of Derby on 16/12/18. The working was the 3Z15/0915 Reading Triangle Sdgs to Derby RTC Network Rail test train.

Self Portrait

 

I'm much more talkative on Facebook, on my Blog and on Twitter : )

 

Obi Wan's lightsaber blade doesn't extend as much anymore than it used to.

 

Simply having fun with the new 3L bar from the collectable Spaceman minifig.

About These Niggaz Think They Are Hard And Shit But They Not A Nigga Be A Womens Lap Dog A Nigga Stalks The Woman A Nigga Follow The Woman Everywhere You Go That Mean Smh Hes Weak For Some Pussy And No Convo Believe That!!!

 

Inspired By:

Three 6 Mafia - Weak Azz Bitch

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG6BMd756p4

The world isn't always the way we'd like it to be, but if we lose our sense of humor and our zest for life, she definitely goes down.

Before adding me as a contact, friend or family please read my profile You should have a look on my Faves too. Feel free to send me a Flickr-Mail. I’ll try to answer your questions or suggestions…and I’m always interested in a nice chat.

There is some stuff on my page only for Flickr-friends and some only for my Flickr-family. Give me a hint if you want to be a part of it.

 

From the Sith Knight's datapad :

'Only around a click from where the Dark Side energy was , and enormous , glowing stone beast charges out from the jungle and flattens the quadruped droid like nothing. I quickly draw my red blade. It seems oddly like something I've seen before... It can't be a storm beast , but it DOES look like malachor's surface , with the rocks and cracks of glowing lime green. Perhaps whoever made this merely breathed the Force into a part of that planet? Before I have time to do anything against it , even throw my lightsaber , it charges the trooper as well. The trooper rolls out of the way , in time for me to throw my lightsaber at it. It doesn't even pierce the rocky surface. I throw it again at the glowing feet of it. It still doesn't work. I come to the conclusion there's only certain weak spots aside from using Force Powers. The lightsaber strikes merely anger the beast past the point of extreme aggression it already possessed. This time the trooper isn't fast enough to roll out , and the beast picks him up and flings him into the snow after crushing parts of him , which appears to *almost* kill the trooper. I want to use the kolto I was supplied on the trooper but the best is a more pressing matter. I use the most powerful force push I've ever done to barely make the creature fall over , and attack one of its weak points , killing it. I walk over to the trooper and take out one of the Kolto syringes from the Medpac. I lift up a portion of his armor and inject it. It's enough for him to be able to be carried back to the base and kneel for Malak. There he can be more extensively healed , hopefully. He thanks me and I help him walk the long way back to Malak. It's good I can draw on the Dark Side for strength , or I would as well have to be carried and would have to leave him behind.. Which I do not want.'

 

Hey , don't blame me the trooper doesn't look crushed... Not my fault the PM bigfig doesn't have fingers. Also , that's a giant hardened ice block in his hands. So feasibly it *could* kill a LEGO guy. (Also , the Sith guy didn't note that the monster chucked an ice block at him. Just pretend he was too upset over the trooper being hurt. You'll find he's not a hardcore Sith.). Also... I got a good focus on this one! Yay!

Ever wonder what one should take with them on an extended international backpacking adventure? Well, here's what I took on a 4-month long backbacking trip to Japan. This is going to be a long read, with(almost) every piece of gear I carry with me on a trip like this, and brief descriptions where necessary.

  

Let me start by telling you how I organize gear. 1-Shelter(including clothing and sleep system). 2-Food/Water(including cook systems and water procurement systems). 3-Tools(including weapons, blades, electronics, etc). 4-Miscellaneous(Camera gear, repair kits, IFAKs, etc.) 5-Carry systems(backpacks, mostly)

   

Starting with Shelter(see top left of image):

 

-Koppen Viggo 20 sleeping bag. I've been meaning to get a quality bag, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. If it keeps you warm, then you can make do with it.

 

-Coghlan's Bug net. In the red stuff-sack. Absolutely essential on warm/temperate adventures. Trust me. No, really, trust me.

 

-Eno Singlenest hammock. Do NOT buy a lower quality hammock. Again, trust me on this one. I've seen FOUR cheap hammocks break without any misuse. Buy a quality hammock. Also note: Mine came with very heavy, solid steel carabiners and no hanging line. I've replaced the biners with Metolius FS Mini biners. They are incredibly light weight while retaining a 22KN strength rating. Highly recommended! For hanging line, I use 750 cord; light and strong enough to hang on.

UPDATE: I still use this hammock, but my suspension system has changed. I now use Amsteel Blue as my hanging line, and I use a knotless setup with aluminum descender rings.

 

-Blue blanket borrowed from ANA airline after I landed in Tokyo. I don't carry anything like this usually, but this one's sort of like a souvenir to me.

 

-Carabiners. Aformentioned Metolius FS Minis.

 

-Small green bundle of fabric is a home-made sil-nylon pack cover. Sil-nylon is incredibly light(I mean INCREDIBLY light), much less bulky than many other waterproof fabrics, but is not as durable. Mine has held up well, though.

 

-Green folded fabric is a home-made bivy sack. I do not use a tent for a few very good reasons. I'm often stealth-camping, and a tent is WAAAY to overt for that, and a tent is heavy and bulky to carry. I haven't used a tent in years and I've had absolutely no regrets. There are some sacrifices made when using a minimal system such as a bivy, though. Ask me about it if you want some pros and cons.

 

-Sleeping pad. I use a cheap, Wal-Mart sleeping pad, cut to shape in order to fit in the floor of my Alpacka Packraft. There are lots of good reasons to use a cheap, closed-cell foam pad instead of an expensive pad, but the primary reason is that your sleeping pad will probably be destroyed by use over time, and a ruined $8 pad is easier to swallow than a ruined $80 pad.

 

-Being used as a tablecloth in the image, a cheap 6'x10' tarp. For the same reasons I use a cheap sleeping pad, I use a cheap tarp. I do have to make a note here, though: Not all cheap tarps are the same. I wish I could give you advice on which brands to avoid and which ones to buy, but I really don't remember the brands of the tarps I've bought. Anyway, many cheap tarps have extremely weak eyelets, a weak weave, and(if this is important to you like it is to me), a gloss coat. Some, however, do not have those problems. It's hit-and-miss. Good luck when shopping around, and let me know if you find a decent brand.

 

Clothing:

 

-Under Armour compression boxers, 2 pairs. Not recommended. On long treks, they do not wick away sweat as advertised, so you'll end up clammy. They also ride up a bit, and I used to hate that, but I've realized that letting them ride up -though slightly uncomfortable- helps to minimize chafing in and round your sensitive bits.

 

-5.11 Level 1 9” socks, 3 pairs. The ONLY socks I adventure with. Fantastic elasticity, great durability, and don't start to stink for a loooong time. Great socks!

UPDATE: While I still love how comfortable they are, they aren't as durable as I used to think. I've now owned about a dozen pairs of these, and I've stopped buying them. I've switched to Vermont Darn-Tough socks. More durable, about as comfortable, and they have a lifetime warranty.

 

-Starter longsleeve base shirt and Starter shortsleeve base shirt, one each. I'm not a snob. I love quality gear, but when a cheap option works this well, I'll advocate its use. These Wal-Mart shirts work just as well as my Under Armour shirts, at a much lower price point. Recommended.

 

-5.11 Taclite Pro pants, 1 pair. Never ask me about these pants, because I will never stop talking about them. I have a confession(something some of you know already): I love good pants. I REALLY love good pants, and I've spent thousands of dollars on quality pants over the past few years, and out of ALL of them, the 5.11 Taclite Pros are the pick of the litter. They are the best pants I've ever owned, without a doubt. I have them in several colors, but my favorite color is Tundra.

 

-Lightweight synthetic shorts, 1 pair. Useful in hot weather and as swimming trunks. Here's just a general note: Avoid cotton in all of your clothing. Seriously, just avoid it.

 

-Light fleece pajama pants, 1 pair. Used as (surprise!) pajamas, but also as an insulating layer in cold weather.

 

-Light fleece pullover, 1. Insulator in cold weather.

 

-Columbia HeatMode 2 jacket. Thin jacket for wind/light rain protection. I use this often but it's now out of production. I always travel with a light jacket made of a tightly-woven, synthetic material for wind and rain protection.

 

-Tru-Spec Web belt. A great belt for it's $6 price point! Recommended if a higher quality belt isn't in the budget. Also, it's flexible enough to be comfortable underneath a backpack hip-belt.

 

-Baseball cap, for sun protection.

 

-Shemagh, for 8 trillion different reasons. I recommend everyone have a shemagh on them at all times. Great for lots of things, but I use mine primarily as a scarf, for sun protection, and as a face mask.

 

-Lightly insulated gloves, for cold weather and for keeping your hands clean while adventuring. I use mine often, always have a pair of gloves! Standard Mechanix gloves are basically a Gold-Standard for adventure gloves.

 

-Marmot Precip hardshell jacket and pants. Although pricey, I recommend these. I'd actually pay the high price to buy them again if anything happens to mine. Durable, light, packed with features. Great rain suit!

UPDATE: I did end up buying a second set of these after my first ones disintegrated, and my second set is now also disintegrating. I no longer recommend this set. I'll update when I find a good alternative.

 

-Finally, I separate my clean clothes and my dirty clothes in their own mesh bags.

   

Food(Top right of the image):

 

-I won't get into my usual backpacking food, but there are lots of good resources on the web for that kind of info. Message me if you want to know my usual choices.

 

-I will mention the protein powder, though. If you're hiking and doing a lot of physically demanding tasks, FEED YO' MUSCLES, SON!

 

-Hard-sided, watertight container. I carry most of my food in a container of this description. It keeps delicate food items or potentially messy food items from getting crushed, it has an air-tight seal to keep animals from sniffing out your food, and it's waterproof. Alternatively, you could use a roll-top dry-bag, but that wont keep your food from getting crushed.

 

-Jetboil Flash. I avoided Jetboil systems for a long time, primarily because of their price, but when I encountered a fellow traveler using one in the Redwood forests of Northern California, I was blown away. I bought one a few days later, and now I'm spoiled and I never want to use any other cooking system again. Highly recommended!

 

-Lexan spoon, but no fork. I don't carry a fork because chopstix are easily crafted from twigs or acquired from restaurants. Here in Japan, they give them to you at the cash register when you buy food at grocery stores.

 

-Spare fuel canister. I actually don't usually carry a spare, since one canister lasts so long, but when I took this photo, my current canister was running low, so I bought a replacement.

 

-P-38 can opener. Always.

 

Water(In front of the sleeping pad):

 

-Nalgene SILO 1.5l water bottle. Nalgenes are an industry standard, and for good reason. However, I'm not picky, as witnessed by the next bullet point...

 

-Generic 1.5l softdrink bottle, repurposed as a water bottle. Same capacity as the SILO, lighter, but not as durable. I'm not a loyalist to any brand here, not even Nalgene, just be sure to use a reasonably durable bottle.

 

-Katadyn Hiker Pro water filter. I've been using this filter for years. Highly recommended. I did install a pre-filter the day I got it, though. I use cheap, very small, very light fuel filters. Don't get hung up on certain brands or models, though. I've used MSRs and other Katadyns, and I've done lots of personal research, and they all seem to do the same thing with similar results. Just don't get a Lifestraw. Seriously.

   

Tools:

 

-Morakniv HighQ Robust(Not pictured). This tool, as well as the next three tools listed, were in my system until I was arrested in Tokyo and they were confiscated. As a knife guy, I could talk at length about options and philosophies of use, but I'll just leave it at this: Moraknives are the best fixed-blade knife you can buy at their price-point.

 

-5.11 folding knife. Cheap garbage(Not pictured). I got it as a promo item when I ordered some other 5.11 gear, but I brought it in place of a better, more expensive knife in case anything happened to it. I'm lucky I did...

 

-Lockpicks. I have Sparrows, SouthOrd, and Peterson lockpicks. I've picked my fair share of locks, and I want to tell you all something. Home-made lock picks are better than each of the above-named brands. My standard set contains the following picks, all hand-made by myself: A shallow hook, a deep hook, a DeForest diamond, a Bogota 2-peak rake, a top-of-the-keyway serrated tension wrench, and 2 bottom-of-the-keyway smooth tension wrenches in different sizes. I carry my picks in a Sparrows Sentry case. Sometimes I carry shims as well, but I wasn't carrying any when I came to Japan.

UPDATE: My every-day lock pick selection has changed. If I'm going minimalist, a set of SEREpicks are what I carry, but if I can spare the extra room, I also bring a traveler's hook, some shims, an EZ-Decoder, and a few bypass tools.

 

-Leatherman Wave(Not pictured). Always have your multi-tool. There are lots of variations, only you can decide witch one is best for you.

 

-The pliers on the bottom of the image are a stand-in for a multi-tool. I found them in an abandoned building, so I took them with me. Pliers are incredibly useful, which is one of the primary reasons for carrying a multi-tool.

 

-No-name, fixed blade knife(bottom-center, next to my Rhodia note pad). I bought this a few days after I got out of jail in Tokyo, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's roughly three-quarter tang, hand-profiled, very hard carbon steel blade. It's been great so far!

 

-Four-Sevens QT2A-X flashlight, with a poorly-done, home paintjob. I've been using this light for a few years now, and I cannot recommend it. I'm a “Flashaholic,” a term coined by Nutnfancy, so I am VERY particular when it comes to flashlights. This light does not stand up to my requirements. Ask me about it if you want to know more.

UPDATE: ARMYTEK, Surefire, or Streamlight are all great options. I've been carrying Armytek now for a while, and I can't recommend them enough.

 

-The light is in a home-made .93 Kydex holster. Very cheap, very trim, very effective, great retention.

 

-Also attached to the light is a Tac-Ord lanyard. I will always recommend attaching your light to a lanyard.

 

-Fenix diffuser head, modified for use on the above flashlight.

 

-Fenix Headband, for turning any light with a body diameter of 18-22mm into a headlight. Recommended! However, the process is slow. The retention screw must be completely removed in order to set the light into the clamp. A faster system would be nice, but I haven't found one that's better than this.

 

-Streamlight Nano/Terralux TLF-KEY1 frankenlight. I recommend both of these micro flashlights, but I recommend the frankenlight even more! With the body of the Streamlight and the head of the Terralux. :p

 

-Suunto A30 compass with a 550 lanyard. Great compass, very accurate, glow-in-the-dark, rotating bezel. Recommended.

 

-Garmin eTrex Legend handheld GPS. This thing is definitely dated, has an old, unreliable antenna, and has frustrating controls. Not recommended at all.

 

-Goal Zero Guide 10+ charger(pictured) paired with the Nomad 7 solar panel(not pictured). This system has served me well over the past 4 years. It charges 4x AA or AAA(with adapter) batteries at a time, and you can usually get enough sunlight in a day to make 2 full charges. It'll also charge my camera batteries, one at a time, and has a USB 2.0 port, so will charge cell phones, MP3 players, whatever. It's a decent, inexpensive system. You can't expect super high performance in a light, backpack-able package, but this is probably as good as you're going to get in this philosophy of use. I will say that it is the most versatile system I've ever found in my research. Recommended. Ask me about it if you want more info.

 

-8 Goal Zero NiMh, 2300mAH AA batteries, stored in a Bluecell battery case.

 

-8 Goal Zero NiMh, 800mAH AAA batteries, stored in a Bluecell battery case.

   

Miscellaneous Stuff:

 

-50-100' of 550 paracord. Innumerable uses.

 

-100' of bank-line. Choose your own diameter, I use #15. Great for anything that requires less bulk and strength than paracord.

 

-Sewing kit. Plenty of thread, multiple needles, stored in a plastic, flip-top tube container. I use mine constantly.

 

-Primary phone: Nokia Lumia 520 (Windows-based). Not recommended. Windows hasn't been working on their phone OS as long as Android and Apple has, so there are more bugs than the competitors.

 

-Secondary phone: Motorolla Moto G(Gen1) 8gb, Global GSM(Android-based). Fantastic phone at it's price! I did a lot of research before buying this phone, and I've been very happy with it.

UPDATE: Still using the Moto G series of phones. I'm currently using the Moto G 5 Play, and I'll be buying the 6 when this one dies.

 

-Note! The Maps.Me Android app is amazing for international travel. Requires no data, no service, nothing. You download whatever maps you want, and you can zoom in, search, navigate- all possible without any connection at all! Great app, very detailed maps for almost every country in the world.

UPDATE: STILL MY RECOMMENDED TRAVEL MAP APP!

 

-Notepad. Pictured is a French-made Rhodia dotPad #12. Not recommended. Assembled with a single staple, covers are falling off after 2 months of carry and use.

 

-Writing utensils: Pictured are a 1) Pilot Opt. 0.5 mechanical pencil. Terrible eraser, mediocre spring-tensioned clip. 2) Pilot 3-color, 0.5 Frixion pen. At first I was stoked on this pen. The ink used will disappear with heat, so you get a rubberized-plastic eraser that is designed to create heat through friction, making the ink almost completely disappear. But, after asking around, I've heard stories of ink disappearing when left on hot dashboards and such. That's a dealbreaker. 3) Stabilo Worker 0.3 pen. Not recommended. Running about $8, its ball-point system will NOT keep your lines anywhere near 0.3mm. More like .7 or so. Personally, I'd replace each of these with Zebra pens and pencils. Simple, attractive, reliable.

 

-Extra pencil lead. I like harder lead rather than softer, but I haven't done enough research or testing to recommend any certain brand.

 

-Full-sized notebook. The one I'm currently carrying another French-made book- a Jour & Etoffe Color-Fil, 6mm-ruled notebook. Recommended, but good luck finding one. I'm actually kind of particular with my notebooks, but carry whatever you want.

 

-Generic protractor/ruler combi-tool. I happen to enjoy technical drawing, so I carry something like this often, just to aid in my doodling. However, a ruler is very useful in travel. Most multi-tools will have one engraved in the handles.

 

-Tissues

 

-Primary wallet: Keep one wallet with your day-money and photocopies of your Ids in an accessible pocket.

 

-Secondary wallet: Keep another wallet with the rest of your money and your actual Ids in a separate pocket, preferably a more secure one.

 

-A few lighters. I don't smoke, but lighters come in handy every so often.

 

-MP3 Player. I hate iPods, so I've been trying different players over the years. The latest iteration of Sandisk's Sansa series, the Sport+ is actually pretty good. No removable battery, but it has expandable memory, so you can use your micro SD card.

UPDATE: The Sansa series was awful, so I found a generic MP3 player buy a company called Niusute, and it's been GREAT. I've had it for about a year now, and it's held up well. It doesn't have a user-replaceable battery, but it does have expandable memory, and its best feature is that it has a battery life of 80 hours! I use it constantly, and I generally recharge it once a week.

 

-Micro SD to regular SD adapter, in protective case.

 

-I am very partial to JVC Marshmallow headphones. I recommend them to everyone, but I bought a different kind of headphone after reading lots of favorable reviews. They have something of a cult following, but frankly, I have not found any reason to like the MonoPrice Hi-Fis. Mediocre. Better than dollar-store headphones, but not by a whole lot.

 

-Extra ear pieces for my headphones. I always manage to lose mine.

 

-On this trip, I brought a small Japanese dictionary. The one pictured is excellent. I did some research before settling on this one, and I'm glad I chose it. Recommended for anyone traveling to Japan.

 

-Pack towel. Never go anywhere without your towel! Arthur Dent will tell you why.

 

-Business cards. I don't have any reason to have my own, but I collect them everywhere I go from people I meet. It's easier than asking people for their Facebook or E-mail. Just get their business card and stick it in your wallet.

 

-Lenovo Thinkpad E440, with a Core i5. I usually don't travel with a full-sized computer, but I wanted to edit photos as I went, so I brought my photo-editing computer with me. Included is the appropriate charging cable, a wireless mouse, and a mouse pad. A note on the mouse: Bring a wired mouse when traveling if you bring a mouse at all. It wont take any of your valuable rechargeables, so they can be used elsewhere.

 

-Silicon Power 1TB external HDD. Highly recommended! I've had this for about a year and a half now, and I've thrown it in snow, dropped it on concrete, dropped it into a sink full of water... And it comes with its own cable, stored neatly in a built-in compartment. Great hard drive!

UPDATE: Still recommend these! Great hard drives!

 

Hygiene:

 

-Antibacterial wipes

 

-Nail clippers

 

-Razor

 

-Toothbrush

 

-Castile soap stored in a repurposed glycerin bottle. This stuff is amazing. I use Dr. Bronner's. It's made of plant material, non-toxic, biodegradable, and extremely versatile! It can be used as shampoo, body wash, face wash, shaving cream, and even toothpaste. As an added bonus for the Tea Tree variety of Castile soap- it acts as a bug deterrent. For about half a day after using it, it works very effectively to repel mosquitoes, gnats, ticks, whatevs. Highly recommended in every flavor!

 

-My hygiene supplies are all stored in a Kifaru zipper pouch.

   

Camera Gear: I'm not going to get much into camera gear here. It's not all pictured, but ask me about it if you want to know anything. I'm going to list a few things here, though. Just the “notable” things, I guess.

 

-Nikon D750.

 

-Canon 70D.

 

-5 batteries for each. A mix of OEM and non-OEM. There are lots of good off-brand batteries, do your research before buying.

 

-Joby Gorillapod Focus with the Ballhead-X. Highly recommended! Love this tripod.

 

-A zoom lens. At least 250mm, but keep weight in mind if you're backpacking.

 

-A 50mm lens. Because it's beautiful.

 

-A wide-angle lens.

 

-I personally love fish-eye lenses, so I carry one with me. I love being able to see ~so much~ and the distortion doesn't bother me at all.

 

-Chargers with car adapters.

 

-LowePro Toploader Pro 70AW. This is another thing that you shouldn't ever ask me about. I will talk your ear off about the quality and features for hours. Of ALL LowePro gear, for that matter. I also have their ProTactic 350. LowePro gear is not particular cheap, but it's worth every penny you'll pay for it. Would you put $5,000 worth of camera and lenses in a $20 case? I wouldn't. Amazing gear. Also, the AW versions have a built-in rain cover.

 

-Attached to the above bag is a LowePro lens case, compatible with LowePro's SlipLock attachment system.

 

-Extra memory cards. Seriously, bring extras.

   

Carry System:

 

-REI XT-85. I've been using it for two years. Highly recommended.

 

-Adidas Cinch-bag. Bought it in college, and it's still in great shape. Highly recommended. I bring this with me for times when I can store or hide my XT-85, so I can explore a city without being weighed down. There are lots of small packs that will fill this role, but this is what I had on hand, and I like it.

   

Not pictured: Here are things I usually bring, but didn't bring on this trip; or gear that I DO have now, but didn't put it in the picture for some reason.

 

-Handcuff key and Master bump key. Located in a hidden pocket somewhere on my clothing. When I was arrested in Tokyo, and they VERY thoroughly searched ALL of my belongings, they never found these. :)

 

-IFAK. Stands for Individual First Aid Kit. There isn't one pictured because my custom-built level 1 IFAK went missing before my trip. Whoops.

 

-A mesh bug shirt. These aren't super effective, but I often carry one because they are extremely lightweight, and offer a ~little~ bit of protection. Just enough to keep you from losing your mind as you set up your net over your sleep system.

 

-When I'll be filtering water from sources that are likely to contain critters, such as agricultural run-off, I will carry a water purifier in addition to my water filter. My purifier of choice is the Steri-Pen Adventurer Opti with the purpose-built solar charging case.

 

-Many of you know how much I love packrafting. When you carry one, you have to include the other components of the system. For me, these components are as follows: Packraft, paddle, repair kit, inflation bag, dry bag for the rest of your gear, paracord for lashing your gear to the raft while traveling by water, seat, seat back, riser seat, and stuff-sack. The entire system usually weighs about 7 pounds with the gear that I own and use. It's possible to get your entire packrafting system down to about 5 pounds.

 

-Guns. When I travel in places where I can legally carry a pistol, I carry a Glock 19(Gen 4) in one of two ways. When I carry openly, it's in a G-Code XST RTI holster on a Low-Ride RTI platform, attached to my clothing belt(not my pack belt). When I'm concealing, I add a Kifaru Koala to my pack system, and I carry the pistol in the Koala's dedicated CCW compartment. In either case, I always use Glock 17 magazines outfitted with Arredondo +6 extensions. Arredondo products are very highly recommended by me! Awesome stuff. I carry spare magazines in either a G-code dual mag holder(RTI variety), or in the mag caddies inside the Kifaru Koala.

 

-The Kifaru Koala is another piece of gear that I'll talk forever about. It's amazing. Perfect. Lovely. Perfect. Comfy. Perfect. I love it! Added bonus: Last year, Kifaru dropped the price on the Koala. Yay!

 

-Last but not least... Kelsey. Poor Kelsey got left at home on this trip. It was a difficult decision, and I've regretted it many times over since arriving in Japan. I only hope she'll forgive me when I get back. I'm sorry, Kelsey. :(

   

I think that pretty much covers it! That was even longer than I thought it would be... If you've made it this far, I'm sure you can tell by now that I'm very particular about the gear I use, and most of what I own has been thoroughly researched before it was purchased. I love quality gear, and it's very important to me to use gear that performs its intended task very well. I never buy anything just because it's the first thing I found on Amazon that does vaguely what I need it to do. No, I spend months, and sometimes even YEARS(no kidding) researching a particular piece of equipment before buying it. If I own it, it's because I have deemed it to be better than any other piece of gear that fits the exact niche I set out to fill.

I am so weak.. I couldnt resist putting up another of these beautiful women. Dodo died in 1990 at age 80. Isn't she great?

The kit and its assembly:

Another IAI Kfir, and – weird as it seems – the story of Taiwan procuring the Israeli fighter instead of the early F-16 is actually real! And it was a great basis to produce a what-if model of such an aircraft, had it ever entered ROCAF service.

The kit is the Italeri Kfir C.2/7 kit, which is rather simple and not as crisp as the Hasegawa alternative. It also has its assembly issues. The outlines are OK and the kit comes with fine recessed surface details, but fit is so-so and there are some weak spots: the fuselage/wing seams, the complex intersections under the air intakes that run right through the gun ports, sinkholes on the wings’ upper surface and an integral cockpit tub/front landing gear well piece that won’t fit properly. The Hasegawa kit’s fit is better, but the Italeri Kfir is detail-wise not worse – and it’s cheaper.

 

The only changes are four additional underwing pylons (from two different F-16 kits) and their ordnance. The Paveway bombs come from the Italeri NATO weapons set, the Pave Spike laser pod from a Hasegawa set, and the ALQ-119 pod was left over from a Revell F-16 kit. The OOB Shafrir AAMs were replaced by more modern AIM-9J Sidewinders. The ventral pylon was left away.

Inside of the cockpit the original Martin Baker Mk. 5 ejection seat was replaced with a more modern Mk. 10, and a monitor and a HUD screen were added to the dashboard.

  

Painting and markings:

I did not want a grey low-viz livery, and since the ROCAF had operated many US-built aircraft (including the F-5Es) in USAF SEA scheme colors, I adapted it for the Kfir, too. However, finding a suitable pattern was not easy. I looked into many options, including the official USAF F-102 and F-106 SEA patterns or the Belgian Mirage Vs’ tricolor scheme, but did not like any of them so that I developed my own and created a four-side profile as benchmark.

 

The paints became Humbrol 117 (FS 34102), 118 (FS 30118) and 116 (FS 34079). The underside became Humbrol 28 (FS 36622), with a wavy, low waterline. The landing gear and the air intakes became classic white, while the cockpit tub was kept in medium grey. Very straightforward and “realistic”.

After basic painting was done the model received an over washing with thinned black ink and some post-shading with lighter shades of the camouflage tones. FS 34079’s shading was moved into a more bluish tone for a better contrast to the lighter FS 34102.

 

The markings are a mix from various sources. The roundels and the serial numbers came from a BestFong sheet for Taiwanese F-5s, the unit markings from an Xtradecal F-5E sheet. Most stencils were taken from the Kfir’s OOB sheet.

 

The Paveway bombs were painted in two different shades of olive drab, the Sidewinders became standard white with black heads. The ALG-119 pos was, for some color contrast, painted in light grey (FS 36375), and the Pave Spike pod, simulating a 2nd hand AN/AVQ-23E pod from RAF stock, became Dark Green. I even considered a livery in Desert Pink (check Gulf War Buccaneers that carried them), but found that to look too exotic.

My weak faith in an almighty God can become the great faith that moves mountains.

 

Andrew Murray and Barbour Publishing, 199 Treasures of Wisdom on Talking with God (Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour, 2007).

You never know from one day to the next what the weather gods will bring to the Almost Heaven mountain. We had a temperature drop last night of nearly 30 degrees in a couple of hours, followed by sleet and freezing rain and gusty winds of 75mph and up .

 

I woke up last night at about 3 a.m., and by the sound of it, I thought a critter had somehow gotten into the house. It sounded like something was behind the dog crates trying frantically to get out. It turned out that the wind was hurling these "ice cubes" so hard at the window they created quite a rattle on the inside. It sure had little Angie on the alert and protective, too... standing right behind me.

 

It was fun to wake up to ice cubes everywhere. It was not fun for the dogs however since there is a solid sheet of ice under the cubes. Poor Swoozie was sliding backwards downhill when she squatted. They all had trouble slip-sliding around in the yard until they got back to the area near the house where I shoveled out some sand to give them some traction.

 

We even had two hours without power from 10 to 12 this morning. We hunkered in front of the fireplace, and the power came back on just as I was cooking hot dogs using a fork duct taped to the poker. The sun is coming out and warming things up. What next?! It sure is a change from the constant heat and humidity of Savannah.

 

I'm still feeling pretty weak and worn out, but getting better, slowly gaining strength again. I appreciate all the good vibes and healing laughter.

Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.

 

Today she is at home in her drawing room, entertaining her old childhood chum Gerald, also a member of the aristocracy whose family, unlike Lettice’s, are in straitened circumstances owing to Gerald’s father, Lord Bruton, refusing to modernise and move with the times. Gerald has gained some independence from his family by designing gowns from a shop in Grosvenor Street. His atelier has received some favourable reviews over the last few years and his couturier is finally starting to turn a profit thanks to an expanding clientele.

 

“Well,” Gerald exclaims as he languidly sinks back into the rounded back of one of Lettice’s white upholstered Art Deco tub armchairs. “Who’d ever have imagined you working for Dolly Hatchett again?”

 

Lettice has recently agreed to redecorate the first floor principle rooms of the newly acquired Queen Anne’s Gate* townhouse of Dolly Hatchett, wife of the Labour MP for Tower Hamlets**, Charles Hatchett. Lettice decorated their Sussex home, ‘The Gables’ in picturesque country style in 1921, much to her parent’s horror, firstly because Mrs. Hatchett was a chorus girl before becoming Charles Hatchett’s wife, and secondly because Mr. Hatchett was aspiring to be a Labor politician at the time.

 

“Whatever do you mean, Gerald darling?” Lettice asks.

 

“I always thought I was going to be the only one out of the two of us courting Mrs. Middling-Mediocre-Middle-Class for business!” Gerald replies with arched eyebrows.

 

“Mrs. Hatchett came to me, thank you Gerald,” Lettice corrects. “Not the other way around. And I see you are still being as much of a snob towards poor Mrs. Hatchett as you were when I first introduced you. You have a great deal to thank Mrs. Hatchett for.”

 

“I’m only teasing, Lettuce Leaf!” Gerald counters with a smirk as he uses Lettice’s hated childhood nickname.

 

“Don’t call me that Gerald! You know how much I hate it! “ scowls Lettice. “We aren’t five anymore.”

 

“I know! You are far too easy to tease, Lettuce Leaf!” Gerald persists, eliciting a shudder from Lettice. “Anyway, I know I owe a great deal of my success to Dolly Hatchett. She may only have been middling middle-class when you introduced us, but her circle of influence now has brought in more than a few high profile and wealthy clients for me to dress.”

 

“Aha!” Lettice crows.

 

“However, what surprises me is that you are taking her on again after all that bloodiness*** with your family, what with Chalie Hatchett being a Labor MP and all that, darling.”

 

“Well, Mater and Pater don’t actually know about it yet.” Lettice admits guiltily, casting her eyes downwards demurely for a moment as her face flushes with embarrassment.

 

“Oh!” Gerald opines, cupping his face in his hands and pulling a dramatic face like Munch’s ‘The Scream’****

 

“But I will!” Lettice hurriedly adds.

 

“I thought you were in the bad books with your parents enough as it is, what with your engagement to scandalously lecherous Sir John Nettleford-Hughes.”

 

For nearly a year Lettice had been patiently awaiting the return of her then beau, Selwyn Spencely, son of the Duke of Walmsford, after being sent to Durban by his mother, Lady Zinnia in an effort to destroy their relationship which she wanted to end so that she could marry Selwyn off to his cousin, Pamela Fox-Chavers. Having been made aware by Lady Zinnia in October 1924 that during the course of the year, whilst Lettice had been biding her time, waiting for Selwyn’s eventual return, he had become engaged to the daughter of a Kenyan diamond mine owner whilst in Durban. Fleeing Lady Zinnia’s Park Lane mansion, Lettice paid a call upon Sir John Nettleford-Hughes. Old enough to be her father, wealthy Sir John, according to London society gossip enjoys a string of dalliances with pretty chorus girls of Lettice’s age and younger. As an eligible man in a aftermath of the Great War when such men are a rare commodity, with a vast family estate in Bedfordshire, houses in Mayfair, Belgravia and Pimlico and Fontengil Park in Wiltshire, quite close to the Glynes estate belonging to her parents, Lettice’s mother, Lady Sadie, invited him as a potential suitor to her 1922 Hunt Ball, which she used as a marriage market for Lettice. Selwyn rescued Lettice from the horror of having to entertain him, and Sir John left the ball early in a disgruntled mood with a much younger partygoer. Lettice reacquainted herself with Sir John at an amusing Friday to Monday long weekend party held by Sir John and Lady Gladys Caxton at their Scottish country estate, Gossington. To her surprise, Lettice found Sir John’s company rather enjoyable. She then ran into him again at the Portland Gallery’s 1924 autumn show in Soho, where she found him yet again to be a pleasant and attentive companion for much of the evening. Sir John also made a proposition to her that night: he offered her his hand in marriage should she ever need it. More like a business arrangement than a marriage proposal, Sir John offered Lettice the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of his large fortune, be chatelain of all his estates and continue to have her interior design business, under the conditions that she agree to provide him with an heir, and that he be allowed to discreetly carry on his affairs in spite of their marriage vows. He even suggested that Lettice might be afforded the opportunity to have her own extra marital liaisons if she were discreet about them. Turning up unannounced on his doorstep, she agreed to his proposal after explaining that the understanding between she and Selwyn was concluded. In an effort to be discreet, at Lettice’s insistence, they did not make their engagement public until the New Year. When Sir John and Lettice announced their engagement in the palatial Glynes drawing room before Lettice’s parents, the Viscount and Lady Sadie the Countess, Lettice’s elder brother Leslie and his wife Arabella, and the Viscount’s sister Eglantyne (known by all the Chetwynd children affectionally as Aunt Egg), it was received somewhat awkwardly by the Viscount initially, until Lettice assured him that her choice to marry Sir John has nothing to do with undue influence or mistaken motivations. The rest of the family were equally ambivalent, or even hostilely against the marriage.

 

“Now don’t tell me that you’ve turned against me now too, Gerald darling!” Lettice mewls as she sits forward in her seat. “Oh you can’t! You just can’t! What with Mater and Pater being lukewarm about my engagement at best, Lally being so beastly about the wedding, and Aunt Egg being totally against the idea, I need someone in my corner! Even Margot and Dickie aren’t keen on my marriage to John. Please Gerald!”

 

“Calm yourself Lettuce Leaf!” Gerald replies, sitting forward in his seat, raising his hands in both a defensive and an assuring gesture. “Of course I’m not turning against you! Don’t overreact and jump to conclusions. We have enough drama queens***** at Hattie’s.” He remarks coolly, mentioning the boarding house full of theatrical homosexuals, including his own West End oboist lover Cyril, run by his friend Harriet Milford. “You’re my best friend, and keeper of all my deepest and darkest confidences.” He coughs awkwardly. “Well, most of them anyway. You know I can’t even marry my lover, so how can I possibly stand piously in judgement over your choices?”

 

“You do judge me though, don’t you Gerald.” Lettice counters. “Be honest.”

 

“I can’t say that the path you’ve chosen to take with Sir John is one I’d have intended for you, Lettice darling.” he admits. “I would much rather have seen you happily in a love match and married to Selwyn Spencely, rather than in a marriage of convenience that is more like a business proposal with Sir John. You know I’ve never been keen on Sir John because of his reputation as a philanderer with a string of Gaiety Girls****** in his wake. However, since Selwyn surprised us all by breaking his well fashioned mould of being a decent and respectable chap by deserting you for a diamond mine owner’s daughter, I can hardly blame you for seeking affection elsewhere.” He looks earnestly at his friend across the low black japanned coffee table. “I just want you to be happy, Lettice darling. That’s all. If you say you can be happy with Sir John, then I’ll support you.”

 

“Oh, thank you darling!” Lettice sighs, releasing the pent-up breath she has been unaware of holding on to. “That means the world to me. I will be happy with Sir John.” she assures her friend. “At least he has made sure that I’m going in with my eyes open.”

 

“That’s good.” Gerald opines.

 

“And he has said that he will allow me to break our engagement if I so choose to do.”

 

“That’s even better and very magnanimous of him, although in saying that, it is usually the lady’s prerogative to break her engagement if she so chooses.”

 

“Well, I’m not going to, am I?” Lettice asks rhetorically. “But going to back to my parents and Mrs. Hatchett,” she remarks, carefully steering the conversation back to safer territory. “I don’t think they’ll particularly like it, but since my interior design business has become such a success, I hardly think they can object to her.”

 

“Don’t you believe it, Lettice darling.” Gerald remarks doubtfully. “Sadie will make her opinions clear.”

 

“I’m not so sure she will now.” Lettice counters confidently. “And even if she does, Dolly Hatchett is hardly the awkward, mousy and unsure wife of a banker we met in 1921. I think you’ve done wonders transforming her into the suitable wife successful MP for Towers Hamlets, Charles Hatchett, needs.”

 

“They say that ‘clothes maketh the man’, so why not the woman?” Gerald replies, settling back into his chair. “The power of clothes can be transformative.”

 

“I agree, Gerald darling. She’s so self-assured and self-possessed now. I was really remarkably surprised when we met again! She is transformed.”

 

“Oh she is still little Dolly Hatchett the chorus girl from Chu Chin Chow******* under the layers of crêpe de chiné, satin and velvet, Lettice darling.”

 

Lettice laughs. “She said the very same thing to me when I saw her.”

 

“All the same, transformation or not, I don’t think Sadie will like you taking Dolly Hatchett on as a client again. In Sadie’s eyes she is still, and always will be, a little social climbing parvenu. The fact she is on the wrong side of politics only makes her existence in your life, however transient, all the worse. I think the only sin you could commit that could possibly be worse would be to take on Wanetta Ward the American moving picture actress again.”

 

“Well, luckily for me then, Miss Ward is currently on a break from the Gainsborough Studios******** filming schedule and is in America.”

 

“I thought she was estranged from her parents.”

 

“She hasn’t gone to see her parents. The bright lights of Los Angeles and the American motion picture industry have wooed her. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if one of those new Hollywood moving picture studios doesn’t offer her a contract.”

 

“Big enough to break the one she has with Gainsborough?”

 

“I can imagine it. You’ve seen her, darling. She is a moving picture star, and if Edith is anything to go by, the kinema********* public will follow her, no matter where she goes, and that means they can make more money with her potential.”

 

“Hhhmmm…” Gerald purrs.

 

“What?” Lettice asks.

 

“Maybe I was wrong about you, Lettice darling?”

 

“Me?” Lettice raises a hand to her throat. “How?”

 

“Well, listening to the way you are talking so openly about money, maybe you are better suited to a marriage of convenience and business arrangement with Sir John, rather than a love match with Selwyn. I can’t imagine the despicable Duchess, Lady Zinna, approving of you speaking so candidly about money!”

 

“Oh pooh Lady Zinnia!” Lettice replies defiantly, flapping her hand at Gerald as if trying to sweep the phantom of the Duchess of Walmsford away. “I won’t have her name spoken here!”

 

However, as Lettice settles back in her seat, smiling, there is a sadness in the corners of her painted lips. Selwyn’s rejection of her by breaking her engagement, and the way she was told with glee and unbridled delight by his mother still hurts her deeply, and for all her bravado with her marriage of convenience with Sir John, like Gerald, she too would have preferred a love match with Selwyn Spencely to a business arrangement with Sir John in her heart of hearts. She sniffs and sighs quietly to herself as she ponders the thought of her upcoming marriage. Whilst she and Sir John haven’t set a date yet, the engagement has been announced in The Times and it won’t be too long before they will have to choose a day, or at the very least a month for their wedding. Long engagements are less popular in the class of Sir John and Lettice’s parents than they are in the middle and lower classes where money must be saved and households arranged.

 

“Thinking of Edith,” Gerald interrupts Lettice’s thoughts. “Where has she gotten to? I thought she was supposed to be making us some tea.”

 

Lettice glances up at the brightly painted clock on the mantle and looks at the sunflower yellow face as it reads ten past eleven. “Goodness, I was so lost in our conversation, I’d completely forgotten our elevenses!”

 

“Well, my stomach certainly hasn’t.” Gerald replies, stroking the pale blue pin stripped cream flannel of his double breasted summer suit stretched over his stomach. “I’m hoping Edith has some of her home made sponge cake for us as a treat. I say Lettice darling, do you think she might?”

 

“I couldn’t say.” Lettice remarks, standing up and sauntering over to the servant’s call bell next to the fireplace and depressing it purposefully, eliciting the hollow tinkling of a bell in the service area of the flat.

 

“Let’s hope so, then.” Gerald replies.

 

“I have to say that’s a rather bold pattern you’re wearing, Gerald.” Lettice remarks, returning to her seat and smoothing the peach, red, blue-grey and black floral pattered silk georgette of her skirt fastidiously across her knee.

 

“Why thank you darling!” Sitting up more straightly in his seat, Gerald smooths his own suit proudly. “American.” he admits with a knowing smile. “I acquired it from a contact of mine in the rag trade********** who traverses the Trans-Atlantic*********** and picked it up in New York. It’s rather fetching, isn’t it?”

 

“Very.” Lettice concurs before adding with an air of desperation. “You will still make my wedding frock won’t you, Gerald darling, even if you don’t altogether approve of my marriage to John?”

 

“Well of course I will, Lettice. Business is business.”

 

“Is that all I am Gerald?” Lettice scoffs jokingly.

 

“And you’re my best friend!” Gerald adds with a cheeky grin and a mischievous glint in his eye. “But I’m not the one you should be asking or talking to about this. Sadie will be the one who will organise your trousseau************ for you.”

 

“Yes, John’s sister Clemance asked me if I’ve spoken to Mater about the idea of her taking over the job of helping me organise and shop for my trousseau.”

 

“Which is why I worry that you are already in enough trouble with this marriage of yours, and your wish for your future sister-in-law to help organise it rather than Sadie, without adding me making your wedding frock and Dolly Hatchett to the mix.”

 

“I’m sure Mater won’t mind if Clemance takes on the job of arranging my trousseau.” Lettice replies with a dismissive wave. “You know how much she hates London at the best of times.”

 

“Yes, but she does rather love clothes, Lettice darling, except mine of course. I’m too close to you and therefore by proxy her, for Sadie to countenance me dressing you for your wedding day.”

 

“She didn’t mind you making Bella’s wedding frock.” Lettice quips.

 

“No, Lady Isobel didn’t mind me making Bella’s wedding frock, Lettice.” He gives his friend a knowing look. “You really need to stop dragging your dainty little heels and put your plan into action if you want to have some say over your wedding clothes. You can’t keep procrastinating. You have to talk to Sadie about it, and soon.” He nods sagely.

 

“I know.” Lettice sighs. “I just dread…”

 

However Lettice is cut off mid-sentence by the appearance of her maid, Edith as she staggers through the green baize door leading from the service part of the flat into the dining room. She and Gerald watch, mesmerised, from the comfort of their seats as Edith slowly traverses the dining room and into the adjoining drawing room, carefully carrying not a tea tray as they expected, but a large and heavy looking wooden crate.

 

“Beg pardon, Miss.” Edith says with a groan, placing the box a little unceremoniously upon the black japanned coffee table. “I know I was meant to be serving tea for you and Mr. Bruton, but this package just arrived for you.”

 

“Oh pooh the tea, Edith!” Gerald says excitedly, his hunger momentarily forgotten as he leans forward and inspects the box with great interest.

 

“Who is it from?” Lettice asks, unable to contain her own excitement as she leans forward in her own seat.

 

“I couldn’t say Miss.” Edith replies curtly, giving her mistress a doubtful look. “The deliveryman simply said that I was to give the box to you in person, and to give you this.” She withdraws a pale blue envelope from her morning uniform cotton apron pocket and hands it to Lettice, before withdrawing Lettice’s silver letter opener and handing it to her as well.

 

“I say! How thrilling!” Gerald enthuses. “A present, and a big one! Perhaps from your fiancée, since he is not adverse to giving you rather lovely and expensive gifts?” he adds hopefully as he refers to the rather large Picasso painting of ‘The Lovers’ that Sir John recently gave Lettice as an engagement gift to his bride-to-be.

 

“Well, I hardly think this is a Picasso.” Lettice remarks, nodding in the direction of the crate, as she slips the blade of the letter opener under the lip of the envelope and slides it along the top of the letter deftly, the paper making a sharp tearing sound as she does.

 

“No, but it could be something equally wonderful, like a piece of Eighteenth Century porcelain.” Gerald adds. “Let’s be a little imaginative, Lettice darling!”

 

Lettice withdraws the letter from the sliced open envelope.

 

“Will that be all, Miss?” Edith asks.

 

“Oh yes,” Lettice says distractedly, waving her hand dismissively at Edith as she focuses on the contents of the letter. “Just the tea, if you could manage it, thank you, Edith.”

 

“Yes Miss.” Edith bobs a curtsey and turns to go.

 

“I don’t suppose you happen to have one of your rather delicious and decadent sponge cakes on then offing, do you Edith?” Gerald asks hopefully.

 

“I might, sir.” Edith answers with a wry smile.

 

“Oh hoorah!” Gerald says, clapping his hands with delight. “How ripping!”

 

As Edith retreats to the kitchen through the green baize door, Lettice read the letter.

 

“Who is this intriguing package from, Lettice darling?” Gerald asks. “I’m simply dying to know!”

 

“It’s from my new client.” Lettice replies as she scans the letter’s contents.

 

“Well I must say!” Gerald responds with outrage. “I never get any gifts from Dolly Hatchett for making her frocks!”

 

“No, not Mrs. Hatchett,” Lettice replies, her brow crumpling as she speaks. “Another client I have agreed to take the commission of.”

 

“Another client. Who?”

 

Lettice uses the edge of the letter opener to prise open the lid of the wooden crate. Placing it aside, a froth of white tissue paper suddenly cascades forth freed from the confines of its prison. Lettice’s gaze immediately falls upon the neck of a bottle.

 

“A bottle of good quality German Mozelle!” Gerald exclaims as Lettice withdraws the bottle and a single dainty wine glass from amidst the paper.

 

“How very thoughtful of her.” Lettice muses with a smile as she puts the bottle and glass onto the surface of the coffee table.

 

Gerald delves into the paper which scrunches crisply beneath his touch as he withdraws a rather lovely vase of hand painted blue and white china.

 

“Is this a gift from your Mrs. Clifford of Arkwright Bury?” Gerald asks.

 

“No, this is from Sylvia Fordyce.” Lettice answers.

 

Gerald falls silent for a moment and looks down at the vase in his hands. “Sylvia Fordyce? As in Sylvia Fordyce the concert pianist?”

 

“The very one, Gerald darling.” Lettice replies. “I’ve taken on a commission to paint a feature wall for her.”

 

“Well, you are full of surprises today, Lettice darling!” Gerald says, placing the vase on the table next to the sleek green bottle of Mozelle. “Rather like a magician pulling a rabbit from his hat. How on earth did that come about?”

 

“Well Sylvia is a friend of John’s, well more of Clemance’s than John’s really, but she wanted to meet me, and she asked me to paint a feature wall for her at her country home. She took me there a few weeks ago.”

 

“My goodness!” Gerald repeats. “You are the lucky one, Lettice! She’s famous for being quite a private person.”

 

“I know, darling.” Lettice purrs in reply with a confident smile. “I’m very honoured. She has a lovely house, and she had Syrie Maugham************* decorate it for her, but Sylvia isn’t happy with the amount of white she used in her colour scheme, and she wants me to inject a bit of colour with a hand painted feature wall.”

 

“Well that’s even more of a compliment to you, Lettice darling, if Sylvia Fordyce wants you to undo something Syrie Maugham has done.”

 

“I agree, Gerald darling.” Lettice continues to purr as she withdraws the lid of one of Sylvia’s ginger jars from the mantlepiece of ‘The Nest’s’ drawing room from amidst the froth of white paper. Placing it carefully on the top of the paper she goes on, “I decided to take some inspiration from her blue and white porcelain, and asked if she would lend me a few pieces whilst she was on tour.” She delves back into the box and withdraws the hand painted blue and white coffee pot and milk jug from the set she drank from at ‘The Nest’, its gilded edges gleaming under the light of the chandelier above. “And this is them.”

 

“And the wine?” Gerald queries.

 

“A gift to,” Lettice withdraws the letter again and scans it. “‘Help with my artistic and creative flow’.” she reads aloud.

 

“Well this is a delicious turn of events for you, Lettice darling!” Gerald remarks. “A commission from Sylvia Fordyce! Fancy that!”

 

“Yes, and hopefully this commission, plus the promise of a favouable review in The Lady************** as assured by Sylvia, might soften the blows of me wanting to control the acquisition of my own trousseau.”

 

“And decorating for Dolly Hatchett.” Gerald adds.

 

“Well,” Lettice sighs, sinking back into her seat, swinging the letter about in her hand. “I might wait until after I get back from Paris and the ‘Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes’*************** before I drop that tiny social briquette, Gerald darling.”

 

“Very wise!” Gerald replies, tapping his nose knowingly. “I can’t wait to get back to Hattie’s and tell Charles Dunnage your news!”

 

“And why is that, Gerald darling? Why would one of Harriet Milford’s theatrical lodgers possibly be interested in my titbit of news?”

 

“Because, Lettice darling, he is a great fan of Sylvia Fordyce. He’ll be fit to be tied and will burst his corset stays when he hears that I’ve touched items that belong to Sylvia Fordyce.”

 

“Oh Gerald darling!” Lettice titters. “The very idea of Charles Dunnage wearing a corset!”

 

“But he does, Lettice darling! He’s so pompous about being a ‘thespian of the Shakespearean age’ and so vain about his looks that he really does wear one to smother his paunch, as he also has a distinct weak spot for anything sweet from Hattie’s kitchen, as you’ve seen.”

 

Lettice and Gerald both burst out laughing, enjoying the moment of their close friendship where they share anything with one another.

 

*Queen Anne’s Gate is a street in Westminster, London. Many of the buildings are Grade I listed, known for their Queen Anne architecture. Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner described the Gate’s early Eighteenth Century houses as “the best of their kind in London.” The street’s proximity to the Palace of Westminster made it a popular residential area for politicians.

 

**The London constituency of Tower Hamlets includes such areas and historic towns as (roughly from west to east) Spitalfields, Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, Wapping, Shadwell, Mile End, Stepney, Limehouse, Old Ford, Bow, Bromley, Poplar, and the Isle of Dogs (with Millwall, the West India Docks, and Cubitt Town), making it a majority working class constituency in 1925 when this story is set. Tower Hamlets included some of the worst slums and societal issues of inequality and poverty in England at that time.

 

***The old fashioned British term “looking bloody” was a way of indicating how dour or serious a person or occasion looks.

 

****‘The Scream’ is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The Norwegian name of the piece is ‘Skrik’ (Scream), and the German title under which it was first exhibited is ‘Der Schrei der Natur‘ (The Scream of Nature). The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images in art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including The Scream, had a formative influence on the Expressionist movement.

 

*****You may be surprised to learn that the term “drama queen”, so commonly used today to refer to someone who reacts to situations in an exaggerated or overly emotional way, dates back to 1923 where it was first referenced in the Washington Post.

 

******Gaiety Girls were the chorus girls in Edwardian musical comedies, beginning in the 1890s at the Gaiety Theatre, London, in the shows produced by George Edwardes.

 

*******‘Chu Chin Chow’ is a musical comedy written, produced and directed by Oscar Asche, with music by Frederic Norton, based on the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. It was the most popular show in London’s West End during the Great War. It premiered at His Majesty’s Theatre in London on the 3rd of August 1916 and ran for 2,238 performances, a record number that stood for nearly forty years!

 

********Islington Studios, often known as Gainsborough Studios, were a British film studio located on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in Shoreditch, London which began operation in 1919. By 1920 they had a two stage studio. It is here that Alfred Hitchcock made his entrée into films.

 

*********Kinema is an early spelling of the word cinema, and was commonly used throughout the 1920s and into the early 1930s when it changed to cinema.

 

**********The slang term “rag trade”, referring to the garment, clothing, or fashion industry, first appeared in common usage between 1835 and 1845, but really began in the Eighteenth Century to describe the sale of rags or second-hand clothes.

 

***********A transatlantic cruise involves sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, typically between Europe and North America, offering a unique travel experience with several days at sea to relax and enjoy the ship's amenities. In the 1920s there were many big shipping lines like Britain’s Cunard and the White Star Line, as well as smaller companies such as the French Line, who traversed the Atlantic with luxury ocean liners, appealing to the wealthy and up-and-coming middle-classes for comfortable business and travel options, and to the lower classes who were still immigrating, albeit in much smaller numbers as a result of immigrant caps, from Europe and Britain to America.

 

************A trousseau is a word used to describe the clothes, linen, and other belongings collected by a bride for her marriage. For an upper-class bride, it would refer only to her clothing, including her wedding frock.

 

*************Syrie Maugham was a leading British interior decorator of the 1920s and 1930s and best known for popularizing rooms decorated entirely in shades of white. She was the wife of English playwright and novelist William Somerset Maugham.

 

**************The Lady is one of Britain's longest-running women's magazines. It has been in continuous publication since 1885 and is based in London. It is particularly notable for its classified advertisements for domestic service and child care; it also has extensive listings of holiday properties.

 

***************The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts was a specialized exhibition held in Paris, from April the 29th (the day after it was inaugurated in a private ceremony by the President of France) to October the 25th, 1925. It was designed by the French government to highlight the new modern style of architecture, interior decoration, furniture, glass, jewelry and other decorative arts in Europe and throughout the world. Many ideas of the international avant-garde in the fields of architecture and applied arts were presented for the first time at the exposition. The event took place between the esplanade of Les Invalides and the entrances of the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, and on both banks of the Seine. There were fifteen thousand exhibitors from twenty different countries, and it was visited by sixteen million people during its seven-month run. The modern style presented at the exposition later became known as “Art Deco”, after the exposition's name.

 

This 1920s upper-class drawing room is different to what you may think at first glance, for it is made up entirely of 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures.

 

Fun things to look for in this tableau include:

 

The green bottle of Mozelle on the coffee table is an artisan miniature made by Little Things Dollhouse Miniatures in Lancashire with careful attention paid to the lable, which is a genuine Mozelle wine lable from Germany. The wine glass is spun from real glass too and is also an artisan miniature. It is part of a set of six which I acquired from a high street stockist of dolls and dolls house miniatures when I was a young teenager. The letter opener is made of silver and is an artisan miniature made by the Little Green Workshop who specialise in high-end artisan miniature pieces. The blue and white vase on the coffee table and the blue and white gilt ginger jar in the crate come from Kathleen Knight’s Doll’s House Shop in the United Kingdom. The tiny blue and white coffee pot and creamer are part of a complete set, all of which are hand painted and come from Kathleen Knight’s Doll’s House shop as well. The crate, which I purchased from an E-Bay seller in the United Kingdom.

 

The letter that you see on Lettice’s coffee table is a 1:12 size miniature made by the British miniature artisan Ken Blythe. Famed for his books, Ken Blythe also made other miniature artisan pieces from paper, including this letter, which is contained inside an envelope which even has a postmark. The letter itself, whilst deliberately not in focus in this photo is written in a tiny legible hand! To make a piece as small and authentic as this makes it a true artisan piece. Most of the Ken Blythe books I own that he has made may be opened to reveal authentic printed interiors. In some cases, you can even read the words of the titles, depending upon the size of the print! I have quite a large representation of Ken Blythe’s work in my collection. What might amaze you even more is that all Ken Blythe’s opening books are authentically replicated 1:12 scale miniatures of real volumes. Ken Blythe’s work is highly sought after by miniaturists around the world today and command high prices at auction for such tiny pieces, particularly now that he is no longer alive. I was fortunate enough to acquire pieces from Ken Blythe prior to his death about four years ago. His legacy will live on with me and in my photography which I hope will please his daughter.

 

The green glass comport on the coffee table is an artisan miniature made from hand spun glass and acquired from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering.

 

The very realistic red rose floral arrangement to the right of the photo has been made by hand by the Doll House Emporium in America who specialise in high end miniatures. The faceted glass vase on the mantlepiece is an artisan miniature made from real glass. It comes from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering. The tulips in the vase are very realistic looking. Made of polymer clay they are moulded on wires to allow them to be shaped at will and put into individually formed floral arrangements. They are made by a 1:12 miniature specialist in Germany.

 

The black Bakelite and silver telephone is a 1:12 miniature from Melody Jane’s Dolls House Suppliers in England. The telephone is a model introduced around 1919. It is two centimetres wide and two centimetres high. The receiver can be removed from the cradle, and the curling chord does stretch out.

 

Lettice’s black leather diary with the silver clasp was also made by the Little Green Workshop in the United Kingdom. The pencils on top of it are 1:12 miniature as well, acquired from Melody Jane Dolls’ House Suppliers, and each is only one millimetre wide and two centimetres long.

 

Lettice’s drawing room is furnished with beautiful J.B.M. miniatures. The Art Deco tub chairs are of black japanned wood and have removable cushions, just like their life sized examples. To the left of the fireplace is a Hepplewhite drop-drawer bureau and chair of black japanned wood which has been hand painted with chinoiserie designs, even down the legs and inside the bureau. The Hepplewhite chair has a rattan seat, which has also been hand woven. To the right of the fireplace is a Chippendale cabinet which has also been decorated with chinoiserie designs. It also features very ornate metalwork hinges and locks.

 

On the top of the Hepplewhite bureau stand three real miniature photos in frames including an Edwardian silver frame, a Victorian brass frame and an Art Deco blue Bakelite and glass frame.

 

On the left hand side of the mantle is an Art Deco metal clock hand painted with wonderful detail by British miniature artisan Victoria Fasken.

 

In the middle of the mantle is a miniature artisan hand painted Art Deco statue on a “marble” plinth. Made by Warwick Miniatures in England, it is a 1:12 copy of the “Theban Dancer” sculpture created by Claire-Jeanne-Roberte Colinet in 1925.

 

The fireplace is a 1:12 miniature resin Art Deco fireplace which is flanked by brass accessories including an ash brush with real bristles.

 

The carpet beneath the furniture is a copy of a popular 1920s style Chinese silk rug, and the geometric Art Deco wallpaper is beautiful hand impressed paper given to me by a friend, which inspired the whole “Cavendish Mews – Lettice Chetwynd” series.

This is a photo of a series that originated during the last night of our visit to Tromsø, Norway.

 

The aurora forcast for that last night was very promising, but unfortunately the sky was overcast and the hourly forecast didn't predict clear sight until midnight. Thrilled about the amazing northern lights we already saw the nights before, we wanted to try our luck again and see it one more time. So we went out around midnight to hunt the aurora at one of our favorite places and yes the sky really cleared up. We wished the aurora forecast would come true, but far and wide no aurora borealis in sight. After more than three hours of waiting and changing locations now and then to warm a bit up in our car, we just saw once a small green shimmer at the horizon. A bit disappointed we decided to head back to Tromsø. We stopped again at our last favourite place on the route back to wait one more time for the aurora.

 

And then - finally - around four o'clock in the morning the aurora started to appear, weaker and stronger phases alternated. And then as if someone pushed the button: the aurora was so vibrant and fast changing, much stronger than what we experienced the nights before. I was so excited and overwhelmed by the beauty and intense of that spectacle, I nearly forgot to point the lens up into the sky and try to capture this phenomenon of nature. Then after about 45 minutes it started to slow down again and after a while we decided to head back to Tromsø, extremely satisfied with what we experienced, and well knowing how very lucky we were that night. Back in Tromsø there was time left for a two hour nap before we had to catch our flight back home.

 

Man, that was worth every minute of wait and chill!

  

See more northern light impressions in my Aurora Borealis Album, hope you enjoy!

Andrézieux (42)

Unlike Ferox, Khaleesi likes to test the limits of her new domain. She'll climb the ivy vertically to check the inward slanted netting on top for weak points.

 

So far the fence is winning ;)

drawing and drawing and drawing over and over and over again the same exhausted lady whose soul i stole on a train ride from berlin to rome ... an exercise is boredom .... i am going to go nuts carving this linoleum out

Are you talking about me, Fandango, hmm? You talking about me? (I'll "weak link" you, buster, raazzlle frazzselle mutter muttter)

Weak stems