daines'n around

This is the first time I've had the chance to breathe this week. Has it been hectic? Yes.
Monday I flew from Glasgow Prestwick to London Stanstead after waking up at 4:00 a.m. to catch the bus that was full because of a bank holiday. That night I saw wicked with Hayley. Tuesday I stayed in the posh Hoxton Hotel near the Old Street tube station. Tuesday night I was ever-so-fortunate enough to see BFI's screening of "The Shining" in a cinema right off the Thames River. A midnight walk through Trafalgar Square with warm hands, lesbians, no lion-sitting and a desire to pause time. Wednesday I spent 26 hours traveling, hooray for flying backwards in time. London to LAX. A quick pause in L.A. with my 10:00 p.m. arrival allowed me to spend some time with my dear friends. Back at LAX at 8 a.m. on Thursday morning flying back to SLC to start work at 2. And I've worked every day since.

Never mind all of the walking around cities, riding tube trains and museums I did in between these notable events -- I couldn't stop. I managed to fit about three months worth of memories in to my 17 day vacation. It's so grandiose in my mind, it's almost disappointing to relive it through my pictures. I've promised to put up some galleries, and I will.

London drips with culture. It oozes metropolitan. It pollutes your lungs and captures your soul. I could live in London ... if only I could do it legally. At first I thought it was just jet lag that made my heart yearn for the U.K.

I'm not so sure of that anymore.

Oh, and while on vacation I accepted a job offer as a reporter working for the Orange County Register. I'll be out of Utah by the end of the month.

If i have time to blog in Europe it will likely be short updates, expect a large update with many photographs when I return. I've loaded the iPod up with Belle & Sebastian, Elliott Smith, Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Aloha. Oh, and a few episodes of South Park as well.

I'll have e-mail every few days if you want to get in to contact.

E-mail me your address if you want a postcard. chris[[[a.t]]]chrisdaines.net

Bigger version here

Sometimes, anxious feelings are remedied by Cat Stevens -- other times, ice cream. But most often it is helped by friends and conversation. Even if that conversation is banal

Less than 4 days until I leave for London.

Our planned car trip in Scotland:

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SLC from a mountain. Bigger version here.

There's still something sublimely satisfying about a well-written letter. Whether delivered via post office, e-mail or social networking site. They are sometimes a snapshot into my soul. I rarely receive one that I read with interested intent. But there is the occasional shocker that brightens my day. It rivals a new album that touches your very core on first listen and becomes a classic after one or two listens.

Jason and I will be traveling this spring. It's going to be amazing. It'll surely be epic. It might even be legendary. Here's what'll be happening:

• Depart LAX April 21, arrive London April 22
  
• 7 nights in hostels in London
  
• Depart London, arrive Glasgow April 29
  
• Staying with wonderful people in Glasgow
  
• Renting car: May 1 - 3
  
• Depart Glasgow, arrive London May 4
  
• 2 nights in London, 1 in a hotel.
  
• Depart London May 7, arrive LAX May 7
  
• 1 night in Los Angeles
  
• May 8 return to Salt Lake City
  

That list will be filled in with immense details and glorious photographs.
I'm only taking a backpack with 5 days of clothes, my camera and my ipod.

Some days I wake up with enough time to do laundry before I go to work and I feel like I have accomplished something. Then I remember that work doesn't usually begin until 2:30 p.m. and that sense of accomplishment fades away.

I have time to play video games again. More than play, I have the time and patience to enjoy them again. Throughout college I worked two jobs and went to school full time. Any relaxing time I had was spent sleeping, studying or being social.

Working in a full time salaried position provides a surprisingly unique opportunity for me to develop hobbies -- or lose old ones. I've taken up riding my bicycle, tinkering online, watching as many movies as I can and more. One purchase I made right at the end of 2007 was a reward for myself.

A PLAYSTATION 3. One coworker wondered why I would do such a thing, I wrote a 500 word essay on why I would dare make such a purpose -- the gist of which being that I could so I did.

It started out with Guitar Hero III. It took me back to old days of playing in bands and having fun. I missed out on much of the social interactions with the first two iterations of the game, and didn't pass up this chance. I beat the game quickly. I don't remember beating games very often when I used to play. Who really has the patience to finish a game all the way any how?

But I had it now -- the patience. Age has given me more patience, and determination to do the asinine timed puzzle with murderous consequences and pinpoint accuracy. Dodge bullets? Yes! Storm terrorists that have taken over Las Vegas, I love doing that in my spare time.

And the escaping. Video games provide an even bigger escape than movies and music. While movies and music allow your brain to be massaged and relax in an actively observant state, video games engage the senses. They challenge your brain, eyes and fingers in unison.

That is of course until you play multiplayer versions of some first-person shooter game online and some 12-year-old elite sniper curses about your mom while dancing on your grenade-riddled corpse. When that happens you laugh and quit because, really, who needs more things to feel down about?

I'm eating my Wheaties. Hear that Mr. potty mouth? I'll be ready to kick your trash one day. The silly artificial intelligence just doesn't quite have your pwning abilities for me to practice dying with more style in single player competition.

If only I could move my fingers faster.

"I told them you were a fantastic writer. But then I realized I never read anything you wrote. I stood by what I said, just because you are my friend."

I chortled. Of course you haven't read anything I've written lately. I haven't written anything lately. I appreciate the confidence our friendship brings — but really, is it worth standing by something you don't know?

I will be the first to admit that the writing I have had published doesn't hold a candle to what I'm capable of after years as an editor at the paper. (Odd, that I can refer to it as years now.)

If you know I'm a good writer, say it. It might still be a lie but at least you know it for yourself and could back it up by citing some prose you enjoyed.

But could this person read the prose I would like them to read — even if there isn't any to read?

A point? Yes. A Poynter column addressed this issue today. Inspiration to write comes when you sit to write.

Thinking about writing is much like thinking about running a marathon. You envision yourself chugging along for all 26 miles breaking through ticker tape and feeling the sweat drip off of your forehead. But all the thinking in the world won't get you physically prepared to do such a feat.

So when I'm at work, on the phone or out to dinner and lamenting the fact that I don't write anymore I really have no one to blame but myself. I could make time to write. I should make time to write. One of my favorite pieces I wrote two years ago now really reminds me that I can write when I'm doing it regularly with goals and efforts to make that writing worth reading.

I really should run a little more often.

This winter had the most snow I've ever experienced. It seemed to snow the entire month of January. The snow provided a perfect excuse for my two dear friends to give me a fantastic birthday present. They came to Utah and shared in snowboarding, sight-seeing and tomfoolery. It was wonderful to reunite again after so many years.

We're adults now, which is difficult to swallow sometimes. I have a 401k. Mariah is a little over a year away from being a lawyer. Coral also lives on her own in Orange County.

I hope we can keep up visits during the years to come and we can participate in each other's growing old.

Tired of trying to get MT4 to behave the way I wanted to, but not wanting to part ways with my beloved Movable Type, I've gone back to the 3.35 that is so stable and beautifully familiar. Since I'm not doing anything serious -- not even blogging lately -- there's no reason that I need to go beyond MT3.35. The RSS feeds should be the same, but the archives were deleted completely and rebuilt.

The super upgrade? I hadoukened a nice CSS slice into my table Web site layout, so it now works seamlessly with the site design. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it, but a nice round of insomnia and the new Jamie Lidell album seemed to gel very well.

I also fixed the problem with staticantics.com so I'll be able to resume my photoblogging.