RandyDandy, an American Expat in London

I adore this commercial. To me it sums up the English love affair with summer, it being so absolutely sporadic and short. Warm(ish) days still pop up here and there, but I fear this commercial will disappear from the screens as the calendar slips into October and the temperature dips into single digits (trying to [...]

Recently finished reading Bill Bryson’s travel memoir of Britain, “Notes From a Small Island.” A fantastic read, capturing glimpses of the country as it existed in the mid-90s and sketches of a range of British people, eccentric and otherwise.
While traveling through Malhamdale in North Yorkshire, he tells of the “Malhamdale Wave,” a highway tradition which [...]

Cue the creepy music.

Pubs and stuff.
God bless the British:
I am helpless to resist
one more pint of ale.
One more pint of ale:
Can’t think of a better way
to loosen the tongue.
I composed the second haiku whilst on my third pint of a lovely summer ale called “Burning Gold” from Wells, the Bombardier folks. The last line of the first poem [...]

Had a bit of a rest last week from blogging, lest I bore you with more groaning and moaning about allergies and useless medicine and what-not. The fog in my head is clearing, as are my chest and ears, and beautiful days are ahead.
Speaking of beautiful days, Jay and I braved a grim weather forecast [...]

Mega allergies once again. No brain power for a thoughtful post, a Phriday feature, etc. But Tara reminded me of the super cool Wordle application, which I used on my Flickr tags a few days ago. Here’s how Wordle sees my website content as run through the search engine spider simulator at webconfs.com.

I finished reading a marvelous novel, a fable incorporating adaptations of several fairy tales - “The Book of Lost Things” by John Connolly. Set in World War II London, the book follows the adventures of its main character, a twelve-year old boy named David, as he seeks to make sense of loss, jealousy, and hatred. [...]

Maybe you saw this one on the Daily Show last week:

Lots of love from the *ist world this week. Houstonist featured this Art Car Parade After Party photo on Friday the 13th (Perhaps they found it frightful?).

Londonist featured a couple of my Naked Bike Ride photos on Monday, 16 June . . .

and Londonist again with this Bush protest photo on June 17.

Thanks, *ist-iverse.
And [...]

In an earlier post, I claimed all North Americans have a European doppelganger. Today on my way back home, I stood across the aisle from a working-class Brit version of Malcolm, of “in the Middle” fame.
Malcolm in the Middle of Croydon.
I think this might also become a regular feature. Maybe if I’m brave I’ll also [...]