So What Now?

March 18th, 2012 by matt

Ok, I know that a) no one reads this and b) I’m not supposed to write anything like “sorry it’s been so long since I wrote something” posts, but here goes one. Obviously, this site was originally set up to show people back home what I was doing. With timezones and whatnot, it was much harder to keep in touch with people in the US. At this point, I’m smack in the middle of this country, I have a phone with which to call people for cheep(sic) and it’s much easier to keep in touch, even with those people who aren’t smart enough to live in Chicago. Also, life doesn’t seem quite as unique when you can’t say you took a train to Paris or whatever obnoxious posts we would put up showing our fabulous life. Life is still fabulous, it’s just in a different way.

I’ve had a website of sorts in various formats since 1995. Mercifully, most of them have disappeared down the memory hole of the interweb unless you search the internet archive carefully. I keep all data I can, so it’s around, you just can’t find it in the public. Before I moved to the UK, it was almost an evolution of my teaching myself about computers. At first it was “what’s this html thing”. Then it turned into “what’s this perl thing”. The content has never been that important, although it was more so when I was a college student ranting on his web space provided by the school. Later it was about building my own server and writing some crappy code. Since I moved abroad, the computers have been packed up and have become obsolete and need to be retired. Instead, I have a hosting company to host it and the content is served by wordpress instead of my own homebuilt system from the days before there was a word for CMS or blog.

Point is, the blog needs to have some new purposes and I like having a web presence, regardless if anyone reads it. So, since travel and a life abroad is not where I’m at now, let’s take some of the side things I’ve been playing with and put them up here. For starters, I’ve been playing history sleuth. My first focus was our home. I’m still compiling things, but I have found a few interesting things about what is just another building that came into being as Roger’s Park was starting to boom and before it went to shit and then had what I like to see as a bit of a revival nowadays. I’d like to document that and I’ll put it here. I’ll lay it out from the beginning, some of the basic history behind it’s origins and see if I can’t flesh out some of the stories of the people who lived here. Let’s see how that goes.

Under the hood changes

January 12th, 2011 by matt

So this isn’t going to be the most exciting post, but I always like keeping my 2 readers informed. I started this blog four years ago and, while it’s not always been completely thrilling, it’s been fun writing. Moving back to the US means a lot of changes and they are oddly overwhelming in many ways, so the blog has been a bit neglected. I just did the first update to wordpress I’d made since I started it. It went smoothly, but if anyone sees something that isn’t quite right, please tell me so I can work to fix it.

In the meantime, our glamorous life in London is behind us and we’re curious what kind of things the people who read this might like to know about. If anyone have suggestions (mom, I know you want pictures of us and the cat! 🙂 ), please comment below.

Time for Some Big Changes

July 10th, 2010 by matt

Well, we’ve not made mention of it on the blog, so I thought it was time. I started writing here in January 2007, a few months before I moved to London. Now, in the next 2-3 months, our time in London will come to an end. I’m going to transfer back to Chicago, same company, back to the same apartment. And yet, in the last 3+ years, nothing is really the same. It’s been a time of so many change for Carolyn and I, that this is just another one of those. Weddings, deaths, new friends, a million new experiences. But now it’s time to move back. We’ll keep updating here. Originally, it was mostly just for a few people (particularly Carolyn while and I were apart). It’s remained that way, but it’s also become a chance for us to make a semi-permanent (we’ll download all the entries and print them) record of what we’ve done here.

Anyway, that’s some big news! More fun to come. 🙂

A quick synopsis of life

April 14th, 2009 by matt

Yikes! I think that’s a record for longest gap between posts. It’s been a busy busy month and change. Allow me to give you a recap with details later. I’m not guaranteeing too much for the next 10 days as we’re going to Greece in 3 days, but here’s a little to whet your appetite. Since I last posted, we’ve gone skiing in the Alps, enjoyed a nice visit with Carolyn’s parents, taken a cycling trip in Richmond Park, played games, hung out with friends, sung in choirs (for the first time in 4 years), travelled southeast England, celebrated my birthday. For now, let’s start with some evidence of a trip to the Alps:

zermattmatterhorn.jpg
Behold the Matterhorn as viewed from our hotel in Zermatt. Tres cool. And, since we were in the area:

mattskiingswitzerland.jpg

Proof that not only did I ski, but I did some of it in a blizzard. And we ate lunch in an old farm house on the side of the mountain. Alas, the camera fogged up, so the only picture in there looks like a silly 1970s yuppie picture, but that’ll all come soon enough. So sorry for being so neglectful. I promise tons of fun to follow!

A Merry New Year to you All!

December 31st, 2008 by matt

In 8 hours (at least here in London), we’ll be ushering in 2009. That means I’m wrapping up my 2nd year in London. Lots of changes have happened and I’m sure there’ll be plenty more in 2009. I hope any one who reads this has a positive, yet eventful new year! I’ll wrap the year up with a photo from our Christmas in Paris. More to come, I promise! 🙂

parisferriswheelandeiffeltower.jpg

A Very Merry Holidays

December 22nd, 2008 by matt

We hope everyone has had a wonderous 2008. Ours has been event filled, mostly full of happiness but with the occasional sad moment. We’ve been making the most of our life abroad. We hope all the dedicated readers here (all 5 of you!) have an excellent and fun 2009!

mattcarolyncastlescotland.jpg

From our honeymoon in Scotland. 🙂

Sorry for the hiatus!

December 22nd, 2008 by matt

I know this is supposedly bad form, but I’ve been very silent lately. I guess I’ve taken a little holiday from writing here. Needless to say, there’s plenty to add to it. We’ve reach year end and holiday, which will be spent in Paris. I’ll try to add a little here and there during my first real holiday since September. Then I’ll get back in full swing after the New Year as I hit my second year of writing on this blog. Woah!

Gone Travellin’

September 12th, 2008 by matt

highlands.jpg

Uncle Traveling Matt and his traveling wife are off for our first true vacation together in 2 years. Technically, it’s honeymoon III. We’ll be spending a fun filled week touring some of the wonders Scotland has to offer. Full blogging (and pictures, of course!) will resume when we return. Have a lovely week! 🙂

Friday Cat Blogging

September 5th, 2008 by matt

Out in the blog world that I roam in, there’s a time-honored tradition of Friday Cat Blogging. This is exactly what it sounds like: pictures of cats. Since I’m a silly cat owner, I thought I would add this to my currently infrequent blogging. Let’s give it a try:

chewytreesleeping.jpg

We bought Chewy a cat tree a couple of weeks ago. He’d started gaining weight when Anna wasn’t eating (I guess he decided all the food was for him since she wasn’t interested). We figured this might give him some new perspectives on the flat and make him excercise a little more. So far, with a special diet of food as well, it seems to be working. He likes to hop up and lounge on it.

chewycattree.jpg

OMG!!! He’s got frickin’ laser beams in his eyes! That’s just a nice full on view of his cat tree.

Coming up, I have tons of trips to fill you in on. Ludlow, the Lake District, Dublin, Cambridge and a parental visit!

Someone’s a-moving to London!

May 22nd, 2008 by matt

So Carolyn’s visa came through with no problem. I’m back in the UK and this means that very very soon, Carolyn will be moved here and can look for work and no more distance. Hurray! Very exciting.

In saddening news, I came back to find Anna extremely thin. She’d had problems and some very nice friends had taken her to the vet. She’s seems ok, but she is really really skinny. The vet took some blood and hopefully, they’ll have some news soon. Poor kitty.

A Very Matt and Carolyn Wedding

May 12th, 2008 by matt

So, on 10 May 2008, I married a wonderful woman. Most of you who read this have met Carolyn by now and know she’s pretty darn cool. Allow me to officially introduce you to my (hee hee) wife, Carolyn:

mattcarolynwedding.jpg

I’m not sure who that snazzy lookin’ guy is, but I hope she married him 🙂

We’re working on getting Carolyn’s visa set up now, but we’ll spend a day or two in NYC to relax while we deal with all sorts of chaos in the meantime and I head back to the UK in less than a week. So many wonderful things going on. Married life so far is going very well. I wouldn’t change a thing.

She’s here!!!

March 16th, 2008 by matt

Well, it took a year, but Carolyn is finally making the move. She arrived for her first really extended stay on Friday night. She makes the final, official move after the wedding (in 2 months!). Now we’re stocking my bachelor pad up to make it a little more friendly to others as Anna and Chewy get used to the confusion of another person around. And, as luck would have it, the hot water broke in my place. Allegedly, it’ll be fixed tomorrow morning. I never realized how much I love having a shower nearby. We have some nice friends who are letting us borrow theirs, but it takes a little trip to get there. Never fear, Linda, your daughter is not stuck without a hot shower.

In the meantime, I’m obviously very happy to have her here. It’s nicer to have your loved ones around in person than over the phone. And, the waiting is over as Carolyn begins her adjustment to a pretty big move. Here’s a picture of Carolyn and her new roommates:

carolynannachewy.jpg

Yeah yeah, I’m lazy

February 4th, 2008 by matt

OK, this is about the longest I’ve gone without posting. It’s January and I’m basically working and doing the usual day-to-day things. If you’d like me to write about the mundane, I can try 🙂

In the meantime, the first Super Bowl in ages that was actually a game (well, I guess lately they haven’t been total jokes) and it starts a little before midnight my time. Not only that, but the Giants freaking ruined the Patriots perfect season. How cool is that?!?!

Anyway, I need to figure out what to do with this blog when there isn’t tons of exciting things to be written about/photographed. In the meantime, I’ll jump in with whatever random I can come up with.

Busy Busy Busy

January 7th, 2008 by matt

Sorry for the radio silence. I’m in New Jersey and I’ve been spending heaps o’ time getting wedding related things done. I’m flying to Arizona tomorrow and hopefully, I’ll have some more downtime whilst I there to provide some entertaining updates. In the meantime, talk amongst yerselves or something.