I passed my driving test! 18 hours of driving lessons over three days, and a test on the fourth morning — and bingo! Apparently the instructor was ‘very impressed’, and the only mistakes I made were a) not looking into a mirror once while coming off a roundabout (rotary, for you Americans), and b) I didn’t look in my left blind spot after driving away from the emergency stop.
The pig you see above — that disgusting swine — is some hideous hybrid of Vietnamese Pot-bellied and… something with an ugly snout. The guest house that I stayed at in Wales (where I took my driving test) had a ‘zoo’ behind it. These two pigs would grunt late into the night… Anyway…
Yesterday my full (pink, yay…) license arrived — and tomorrow I will insure my car!
I actually had this crazy idea of doing some kind of… photo shoot… with me sprawled across my car… — would that actually be sexy/cool, or quite the most horrific thing you can imagine?
Anyway, the upshot of all this is that I can now go and see friends (admittedly I don’t have any, but maybe I could get some?) — and I can drive around and get the perfect photos, at the perfect time. I can also rent cars when I travel, which may be a pretty big deal if I go through with the Around America grand tour.
* * *
In other news, I may have secured another writing job. If I have, that would make me one very rich writer indeed. Like, enough money that fast cars and well-appointed shag pads quickly become a reality. I could finally invest in one of those cute cottages, one that would be perfectly suited to distraction-free writing, gaming and music listening. I’m into classical music now, by the way. I listen to Mahler for about 10 hours a day, occasionally a bit of Beethoven, a little Mozart… and that’s about it! I’m sure it’s just a phase, but it’s so damn exciting to hear the basis of all modern music themes. Mahler especially, because he’s so modern — in his nine symphonies you can hear strains of just about every musical theatre song ever written. Parts of the third and ninth symphonies sound identical to a couple of songs from Beauty and the Beast. Anyway, enough music nerdery! (If you’re interested, though, you can listen to a ton of Mahler recordings for free on his 150th Anniversary website.)
* * *
I’m slowly making my way through photos and obligations and correspondence that accrued while I was in America, Wales and everywhere else. I’ve decided to forgo my travel plans and stay at home this winter. I need to save a little money to buy a house next year — and to be honest, I’m still exhausted from my travels. I’m only just clearing my backlog now.. if I went away to Asia for a few months now, I’d never, ever catch up.
So, some pretty photos. I’ll even write a little story beneath each, because I haven’t really told any stories here recently (I’ve told a few on Flickr, though!)
These jellyfish are in the California Academy of Sciences. Whoever chose the blue background was a genius.
Bolinas Lagoon, while descending Mount Tamalpais. I wonder what’s rising out of the fog in the distance. That’s actually the Pacific Ocean out there!
My cousin cycles this route regularly. To say that I’m jealous is a vast understatement.
Bolinas Lagoon again, with a heron — Great White Egret — in the foreground. Bolinas in the background — some mountain on the left. You almost can’t see the fog from this angle, but it’s still there, on the horizon. The Pacific is just over that line of trees.
This is from the same position as another photo I uploaded to Flickr. The landscape is pretty otherworldly, but look at the person on the left! He just stood there. He was standing there when we arrived, and he was still standing stock-still when we left. I actually thought it was some kind of statue — for about five minutes — until he turned to smile at me…
This last one is of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in Chinatown, San Francisco. I stumbled into it by sheer luck!
One of the main parts of the Moon Festival is eating moon cakes. Sadly they are not made of moon — they’re pies, with a filling of lotus seed and walnut paste. ‘Rich’ doesn’t describe it. Traditionally you share one little moon cake with your friends/family, but as I had no one to share it with, I stopped off at the Verizon stand and forced them all to partake in the moon cake eating. I think they were too enthralled by the fact that some random British tourist was forcing cake down their throats to stop and actually think about what was going on…
de.lizzy.cious
Oct 10, 2010
so a) you’ve been driving illegally before?? or b) you didn’t know how to drive until… well, now?
well, i guess when you fly all the time, you no longer need cars.
btw, it’s cork.
de.lizzy.cious
Oct 10, 2010
also…. i don’t like my alien photo – i want that brainy alien back
Renee
Oct 10, 2010
Bolinas Lagoon is very pretty. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it before! Oh San Francisco. If you became a truly wealthy writer you could live there (comfortably) you know. I would be very jealous. Also, I want a moon cake. Except that I shouldn’t.
You might want to put northern Wisconsin on your all around America trip. Just saying. This time, the pretty stuff isn’t an easy hour or two away, it’s my actual back yard.
sebastian
Oct 10, 2010
I’ve held a provisional license and owned a few cars, de.lizzy! I know how to drive — this three-day course was just to remove any of my bad habits
If you want the old avatar, you need to use your other email address! (Cork… this is like a public love letter… I like it!)
Renee — I looked into moving to San Francisco when I was there. I would have to earn a lot of money, or get my rich Googler cousin to pay most of the rent (and I wouldn’t ask him to do that, so…)
Wisconsin is a possible. I’d want to see Dakota and Montana — the landscapes are meant to be pretty crazy-wild — and Wisconsin is fairly close by…
Sara Strand
Oct 10, 2010
I say boo to Wisconsin (even though I live there) but yay to Minnesota. Specifically the North Shore. I live in Superior WI, right next to Duluth MN (at the tip of Lake Superior) and the North Shore is my favorite. If I were wealthy I would definitely want to live there. Just to watch the lake do it’s thing. I like to hike up around Split Rock Lighthouse (fantastic photo ops) or out to the “beach” of Gooseberry Falls. It’s an all day event really because I like to sit out and watch the water drive into the cliffs. Very pretty.
Anyways. Yay for getting your license! And I think you SHOULD do a photoshoot. Maybe another photo shoot in boots only again??
Eleni
Oct 10, 2010
Congrats on the license! I was recently reminiscing about my driving lessons on my blog…
I missed the moon cakes this year. I guess I was too lazy or busy to go into Chinatown. But I love the idea of you walking up to random people and forcing moon cake on them.
The fog is so gorgeous. The egret picture reminds me a little of Maryland where we’d get great blue herons in the coves and marshes.
Those look like sea nettles. They’re one thing that it may be better to take photos of in the aquarium than in their natural habitat. Meeting those tentacles would be unpleasant. Choosing a blue background was probably a bit of a no-brainer due to the fact that the ocean looks blue…but I guess they did choose a particularly nice shade. We had a blue-background sea nettle exhibit the summer I worked at the New England Aquarium. I should pull out those old photos and videos–it was the summer I got my first camera, so I was kind of crazy taking LOTS of photos.
Shame you won’t be traveling this winter, but it makes sense. You’re planning on buying a house? Very nice! What kind of well-paying writing job is this, anyway? I’m guessing your Around America trip wouldn’t include a drive out to Hawaii. Maybe some other time?
Renee
Oct 11, 2010
@Sara Strand: Clearly you don’t live where I live. Because Lake Superior is my back yard. And we have boats. And I can think of five extremely photogenic places within five minutes of my house, and at least two of them being attached to my yard. Just sayin’. Of course, Minnesota does have the advantage of being between Wisconsin and Montana and the Dakotas.
And and Seb, should I mention that I work for Italians? And that the food is divine. And that you would get to visit a place for about free where most people spend lots of money to visit.
Sara Strand
Oct 11, 2010
@Renee- unless you live in Superior or the Douglas/Bayfield County area then no- I don’t live where you live. BUT since I’ve traveled a lot in both MN & WI I have to say that hands down, MN is a lot better. Any place can be photogenic if you have an eye for it. If I had to choose where to spend an entire day taking pictures- I would hands down chose MN. But I have never been to the Dakotas..which hopefully is on my radar this winter. Are you on the South Shore? I have all of my inlaws and their friends spread out on the South Shore. Oh- except I DO love Bayfield. I really, REALLY want to get on the lighthouse tours next summer. I’ve only been to Madeline Island for two hours so I would like to bike around that too….
Renee
Oct 11, 2010
@Sara Strand. Let’s just say I live very close to a place you DO love, which still more or less gives away to where I live. Ah well, it’s out now. Let’s just say that my mom went on the ferry for the first time this past summer because her family always took their own boats. I’m related to one of the old families by her, and there’s a falls in my township that are much like the Wisconsin dells. There are so many gorgeous places I haven’t even gone to yet it’s kind of ridiculous.
The only thing that is not enviable is the land taxes. *cries*
Renee
Oct 11, 2010
Augh, I can’t fix my linguistic redundancies! Yeesh. So hanging my head in shame.
Sara Strand
Oct 11, 2010
@Renee- I thought the ferry was really bizarre. I don’t get seasick but being on the ferry was enough to make me lose my lunch. BUT maybe it was because it was June during a storm.
We went kayaking out there and while Matt (my hubs) and I will never do it again because our communication is absolutely horrible.. I would like to hike the sea caves in the winter. Have you ever done that? I’ve yet to find someone who’s done it or wants to do it. I think it’d be fascinating. And cold. 
Renee
Oct 11, 2010
@Sara: The sea caves are on the to-do list. If it is summer and you’re visiting Madeline, be sure to stop by Tom’s Burned Down Cafe (it’s been burned down twice). As for the ferry, I think it was the storm. There’s actually quite a few things I could recommend but I’m leery of posting about them on such a public space.
Sara Strand
Oct 11, 2010
@Renee- We SAW that but Matt said no way he didn’t think you could go in. LOL. We ate at the place down the street and I totally fell in love with their bar area- beautiful and old looking. Well you should email me at slinkies_r_us AT homtail DOT com because I’d like to make an itinerary for this winter. And then we’ll probaby go back in June sometime. It’s only like a 2 hour drive (if that) from me so I’d like to get out there more. BUT I was so surprised at how many shops aren’t there any more.. what happened to all the cute shops that used to be there?
Abi
Oct 11, 2010
Man, that is one ooglay Pig.
And you know my thoughts on sprawling-type photos. Just make sure you wear Driving gloves and DO NOT attempt anything rash after an overnight frost. I say this because I care, you know this.
Abi
Oct 11, 2010
That totally sounded like a nag.
Faith
Oct 11, 2010
There are lots of little islands all over the place off the coast of California. I’m from Southern Cali, and am more familiar with islands like Catalina and San Clemente, and stuff. But I just wanted to say that’s probably what’s rising out of the fog out there in that one photo…some rando island off the coast of Northern Cali. (That photo is ridiculously pretty, btw, and likely will be saved so I can use it as a background on my work computer once I get tired of the current photo, which is from your LAST post…the trees with the fogginess? SO PRETTY.)
Congrats on the license!
sebastian
Oct 11, 2010
I will reply fully later, but just quickly: I was actually working on a ‘wallpaper pack’, with a bunch of (higher resolution) photos. A lot of people seem to use my photos for that… so I figured I should probably do something
Foggy Dew
Oct 13, 2010
Great (as usual) photos. My brother is out that aways right now. He’s doing a cancer fund-raiser bike ride from San Fran to San Diego and was in Big Sur yesterday. An “All Around America” tour? That sounds like a fantastic idea. While the argument above is discussing the various merits and such of our frigid northern tier, might I suggest something a little further south? Say, Big Bend National Park in Texas. That and Ashville, N.C. They don’t call them the Smoky Mountains for nothing.
Elle
Oct 14, 2010
Beautiful photos! When I was in Honduras last month I got stung by jellyfish for the first time. I’ve grown up in a beach city all of my life and never had an issue. It took about 7 stings before I even realized what was happening. D’oh!
PS we totally call them roundabouts here in America too =)
sebastian
Oct 21, 2010
I’m not quite sure who won the argument/conversation, Sara and Renee… but how about I just visit both Minnesota and Wisconsin? I mean, I’m young… virile… full o’ beans… there’s no reason that I should simply DRAW THE LINE at just ONE cold and gloomy state, right?
Eleni — those sea nettles wouldn’t wrap their tentacles around you though, right? They don’t have any muscles as such… do they? All of the propulsion seemed to come from the body, pushing water out… in fact, I don’t know what the tentacles are for. Balance?
The Great Smoky Mountains sound like a good idea, Foggy. The main plan would be to visit all of North America’s natural wonders — and then delve into the anthropology of it all, too. It’s been done before, but I think I’d do a good job of chronicling the lifestyles and cultures of America. There’s such a variety… and with such fantastic backdrops on offer too… — I just need to work on my portraiture skills before I do that
Elle, I only have one experience with Americans and roundabouts: a Dan Brown audio book. In that, the narrator called them ‘rotaries’ — I’ve never heard an actual American call them roundabouts!
a!kO
Oct 22, 2010
Oh finally reading this!! Congrats!! And…were you even driving before???!!
I remember when I took my drivers license and had it for a freakin year before actually drove casually…now I think I am a pretty good driver 
And the pig, it had a scowl on its face 
kinda funny…
And the pictures are amazing…yes we will never stop learning right?
I need some photography lessons 
And are you swinging by Asia?? 
Do tell where you’re heading!!! 
Cant wait for more posts Mr Seb!
Renee
Oct 23, 2010
Do visit both. But since Sara is planning on visiting me, I like to think I more or less one. Granted, she probably still disagrees. And it is quite possible that my competitive side and desire to be “right” might be coming out. Shame on me.
Though if you would like to, I’d love some help with setting up a computer system or something like that.
Emily Jane
Oct 25, 2010
Congrats on the licence! And I thought I was the only other Brit this old without one
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the writing job. Oh, and Mahler? = <3. Went to opening night at the symphony a few weeks ago with a composer/music teacher friend of mine and it was a total geekfest 
Amy
Nov 7, 2010
Looks like you’ve been up to all sorts of amazing things Seb! And my fingers are crossed re: the prospective job. Do try and visit Asia sometime – the melange of cultures and food is amazing (though I might be slightly biased).