I lied. I just can't stay away from the nerd blog. And so, still in England, I present post #3.
This trip up to UDs place has felt more like a holiday, and less like Canada, than London did. With the thick "brummy" accent (that I quite enjoy!), no tourists (that I've met anyways..), narrow roads, accessible countryside, and doing more everyday things, I've relaxed here and now wish I could stay longer!
Things I wanted to mention but forgot:
1. The traffic lights turn orange BEFORE turning green.
2. Every grocery store sells Canadian maple syrup.
3. I have the best tan in the land.
4. I saw a Tim Horton's in London. (This deserves an exclamation point, but it doesn't go with the style of this list.)
Oh, and before I forget, 4 points to the first person who tells me where the suffix "ham" comes from.. BuckingHAM, BirmingHAM, FeckenHAM...
This morning I went to UDs church. Ecumenical. Not too far from the house. Later in the afternoon we drove to FECKENHAM, which sounds like a combination of Buckingham and rudeness. Feckenham is a village near Redditch, which is a town south of Birmingham. UDs wife (who is in Canada visiting Claire and Raffi right now) has a sister. Her and her family live outside Feckenham. Sounds confusing, but re-reading the paragraph while making a small diagram will help.
While there we went for a walk in the rain into the village. The church there was built in 1216. No big deal to Feckenhammers, but I thought it was pretty cool. The whole village was just like out of a movie.. I have never seen a movie with a village like Feckenham, but there's probably one at your local Blockbuster.
Behind the really old church is the grave of the family's daughter (Claire and Mike's cousin) who passed away last fall.. She was only ten. It was very sad. Her dad (UDs wife's sister's husband) took us on the little tour. He's a nice man who grew up on a farm outside F-Ham and built their house with his uncle. Pretty cool. I saw bunnies and horses and cows at Feckenham Palace.
We ate a delicious feast and drank tea and wine.
UD and Mike have been terrific hosts. Today I enforced a good ol' Google Fight (if you don't know what a Google Fight is, you should probably google it) to determine if I could climb up the ranks. We would Google Fight 'Emily' against the other cousins to see who would win. I was pleased at my fifth place rank, a huge jump from the former position of second last. And if it weren't for that weirdo protrusion on the male neck, I'd have my brother beat fo sho.
Tomorrow I have to get up at 530am to start my journey to Rennes. I decided to write tonight because I might not get online for a few days and I have had such a good time in the Queen's England that I wanted to close it off with a blog, instead of having split-blogs. You know?
I can picture you all, gathering around the computer, laughing and enjoying the blog together. Bronwyn and Raffi sharing a chair, Ian and Deeks with their arms around each other, Schadinger and Loanne trying to memorize the funniest jokes, and on and on...
And just so there's no confusion: Yes, I did go to church twice today. Twice.
Love to all.
Feckensam I am,
Hincks.
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10 comments:
First to comment on this Fecking post!!
I also love the Google Fight, but affectionately call it a Google Off.
Reading you everyday and sharing your antics with everyone around who will listen ("Spunk.. get back here!!!")
Love, David
You're getting the hang of this nerd blog - I've spent days agonizing over what I'm going to name mine! I'm curious why you NEVER introduced me to Google Fights. It's such an interesting time waster, I'm sure we could have come up with a few choice comparisons.
In other news, 135 is officially not our home anymore. After repainting pretty much every room in the apartment and installing a new vanity, the icing on the cake was having Valentina help me move things from the living room into the elevator. We bonded after you left - knocked back some beers on the balcony.
I'll be thinking about you carting all your stuff through scary metro stations tomorrow - safe travels!
You make me laugh. Fave blog ever.
Definitely going to figure out what a Google Fight is now.
Can't wait to keep reading. xo
Your so-called nerd blog doesn't have any mathematical equations, and so far, only one reference to Star Trek, and not very obscure at that.
You should know that the lights change orange first: "The light is red: can we go? No! The light is orange: can we go? No! What must we do? Get ready! The light is green: can we go? Yes! I ride my little bicycle . . ."
Okay, so I hate being that guy who criticizes when everyone else is being friendly and supportive*, but can we consider a new template? Blogger has many. The white on red, it's . . . it's patriotic, I suppose. But it's not conducive to reading. To reading words on a computer screen. Though I'm sure that nothing could concern you less than than whether people are taking an interest in this blog. At least the punctuation has improved, of late.
DP
*Not true.
DP,
1. It IS patriotic! I didn't think of that.. The red is a deep red, unlike our flag. But red, nonetheless.
2. I'll change it if you keep reading. But 3 points deducted for negativity.
3. Poor grammar?? Really?? Feckinham that.
4. Are you at least enjoying? Are you LOLing?
Respect,
Hinckster
Do I still get points if I comment 2 blog entries later? "Ham" is Old English for home or homestead." And I quote: "The name Birmingham is derived from the Old English or Anglo-Saxon "Beormund ingas ham." 'Beormund' is a proper name, 'ingas' means 'people,' and 'ham' means 'farm/homestead.' So, "the farm of Beormund's people" is a reasonable gloss." So Buck and Feck are likely someone's long lost relatives as well...
Thank you Joanne for clearing that up about my hometown, I'm sure I knew once but I'd forgotten.
Emily, I talked to dad today and was SO jealous you got to go to Feckenham. Some of my fondest memories are the Sunday days I spent there. I'm glad you got to see Frances, too. Aren't my mom's family just amazing? Ally must have LOVED you, too!
Also, I never thought of using Feckenham quite how you have managed to in this and your latest blog. I shall take that one up. How about this one... actually, I'll write it on your wall where its safer from my rents ;)
1. Indeed.
2. Fair. I fear that the replacement template is a bit drab though. Look, I've already been deducted enough for negativity, but look at what these people have done with existing blogger templates:
http://sfjukebox.blogspot.com/
http://shakesquill.blogspot.com/
http://runningahospital.blogspot.com/
Your prose is worthy of a nice comfy couch, not a wooden chair, dig? Also, photos. People dig photos.
3. Punctuation, not grammar. Not many problems in that area of late. It's an etiquette thing.
4. Immensely. Yes.
i'll look into it, DP. thanks for the examples. it is a bit drab.. i thought so, too. as for photos, stay tuuuuned!
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