The Brooklyn Adventurer: Wales

Showing posts with label Wales. Show all posts

Friday, March 2, 2012

Inspiration Fridays: When I Have Money

I came to a rather harrowing realization this morning- I am close to broke. (Sorry mom, dad, grammy and grampop...) Now, close is a relative term- I am not in debt, I am paying rent successfully, I'm not starving, I have a gym membership and am in school again. So, yeah. Not really broke. But, I have a small enough amount of money that all of those attempts at "watching it" I've been making lately have suddenly become absolute necessity. Honestly, this has been going well. I've been watching it, and saving some dough. At this point, I have to.

This post was originally intended to be a "stuff I will buy when I get money" inspiration post. A lot of bloggers I know do this- they post about things they want, and are working towards owning. Clothes they wish for, necklaces they found on Etsy. Frankly, it's usually clothes or cameras or random crafty stuff they found on Etsy. I tried to compile that post. I did. I'm just not materialistic enough to do it. I have barely been clothes shopping lately, and god knows I need some new socks. This should be done. However, I own such a ridiculous number of clothing items that I can't justify it; not to mention that I have no particular desires at the moment style-wise. My closet is pretty great. There are quite a number of nifty pieces in there, and everything I own matches in some bizarre way to equal one closet full to the brim with semi-gothy outfits. Only semi, because they manage to look within the general bounds of normal 99% of the time. That one percent day is the one where I allow it to shine and, you know, wear pirate stockings. Which, I may have bought as an impulse buy on Etsy. Okay- I might be materialistic.

What I really desire, and crave is experience. Learning. Living. Going. Doing. I want to move and I need to see. Talking. Listening. Giving. Receiving. THAT is what I plan to do with future money acquisitions. Save, and then spend those hard-earned dollars on travel, or eating a nice meal out with a friend, seeing a show, taking a class, what have you. I own too much stuff. Too much. I think it's a disease, buying crap. Then, you're stuck with it, and feel like you should attempt to sell it- but it's so much work! Organizing a yard sale takes forever, and carting massive bags of stuff to Buffalo Exchange almost requires a day off from work it's so tedious. There are two of said massive bags of clothing in my storage closet from our last move that I keep meaning to get rid of, but I haven't yet. They are sitting there. Inhabiting space that I could be using for something, you know, useful. That'd be cool.

In any case, guys, I have a wanderlust and a need for adventure. This may be why I am an actor, why I do martial arts, and why I do yoga. I like to have experiences that most people will never have. Fighting. How many people have legitimately been in a fight? Like, one that lasted beyond the initial punch? I fight multiple times a week, something I certainly thought I would never say. It's in a controlled environment, yes, but when you're working against a guy who is a foot taller than you, and weighs 100 pounds more than you, or when you are fighting against a woman smaller than you who has been training for 20 years, it doesn't feel fake. It's not. Before I started, the idea of legitimately hitting someone blew my mind. You know what? It's one of the most exhilarating things that I have ever experienced.

Everyone should try this. Everyone. I get to feel like a bleeping ninja multiple days a week, not because of an avatar on the screen, but because my actual, physical body, those muscles and bones that are me, are really doing ninja shit. It's freaking awesome.

So, these are some things I want to do when I have enough money. They are not things I want to have. They are things I want to do.

Yoga teacher training

(in progress! YES!!!)

New Element Yoga

Work with Andrew Wade for a full week next week!

(okay, this is free for me, but holy cow, is it awesome and going to be the most fulfilling)

Backstage

Savate Seminar with Nicolas Saignac at my martial arts school!

(this is in two weeks. note to self: pay for this on Monday. French kickboxing. Yes.)

UCLA

Go along with Danny when he might have to go to Los Angeles

(soonest! must save so fast! I've never been there...)

Public Domain Photos

Get up to Maine to visit my grandparents at their house on the lake

(it's been a year and a half, and it's time. also, it's so peaceful there. so much nature)

Millsaps

Get down to Texas again sometime in the near future.

(because I just love Austin. seriously, such an amazing town. also, it makes Danny the happiest.)

Last City Standing

Visit my sister when she studies abroad in The Netherlands next spring

(saving now, this is soon! love her a lot, but this is also a great excuse to go back there)

Trip extras

Get a Masters in Voice at the Central School of Speech and Drama

(this is in the 10 year plan... preferably the 5 year, but we'll see. Post- Danny black belt...)

Eye Magazine

Before attending grad school, tour Europe.

(this is the big one. all of the saving ever must happen.)

Mr. VPN

During said tour, explore more of Wales

(liked it, need more than just one day in Cardiff. was not enough)

Teenager Break

I have the exact same feeling about Scotland

(one day in Edinburgh- one of my favourite days during my entire time in Europe! I need more)

Explore the "mystical" towns/ cities in England

(though I love this stuff, I ignored Glastonbury, Avebury and Salisbury last time. must be remedied)

Wikimedia

Sit in a cafe for hours in Provence, France. Preferably outdoors.

(because, yes. this is what I want from life, basically)

Wikimedia

Rome, Italy.

(yeah. haven't been there yet. this must be remedied.)

Venere

Barcelona, Spain.

(Barcelona or bust! I know so many people who have been, and they have raved.)

Travel Destination Info

Paris, France.

(I just can't get enough. been there twice. not enough.)

Fruhling in Paris

Helsinki, Finland.

(most popular clothing style is "cyber alien" and their top selling band is Nightwish. I need to see this place)

Go Finland

Oslo, Norway

(must connect Danny to his Viking heritage.)

Iguguo

Augsburg, Germany

(I want to eat a pretzel and sausage in the town square, and see the cathedral. my dad loves this place and raves about it, and I want to see it.)

Travel Pod

Study Kali/ Panatuken in the Phillippines with Danny

(yes, really. this would be for like a month before Europe in an ideal world... and would be so cool!)

Allfight

SO. There is my life plan for the next five years.

Yup, plan. Expensive? Yes. Very optimistic? Yes. Possible? With some penny pinching, planning etc, yes. Absolutely. Especially if we do it cheaply.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Sunday Style: Ode to an Old Coat

I received a new coat for Christmas this year, a military-style one, and I like it very much. It's a great coat- simple, attractive, flattering, and a little bit badass. That's about all I can ask for in a piece of clothing.

However, a button fell off of the front a few days ago, so I wore my older coat today. It's black and white, with buttons down the front. I love it mostly because, when I look down at the sidewalk beneath me, I silhouette like an Elizabethan courtier.

And that, my friends, is cool.

Anything that makes me feel Renaissance-chic is wonderful. Anything that went to Europe with me is marvelous. I wore this coat all around Europe- it traveled through four countries with me, and even though it isn't as new, or as trendy as the military-esque coat, this fact will always give it a place in my heart.

Stay tuned to see what I was working on today, why I wore the coat... I was acting in a short film directed by my friend Ginny. I'm so pleased with how the shoot went, I can't wait to see the final result! Hopefully I'll be able to post it on here once I get a hold of it.

Until then... another reminisce through my European travels with my coat.

God, I need to get myself back to Europe!

In a tourist shop in Picadilly Circus, London, England, paired with a Union Jack cowboy hat.

At the Albert Memorial in London, with a black beret.

At the Tate Modern in London with Lenny and Jackie!

At Camden Stables Market, London, with a be-dreaded horse.

At the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London, with a hunting cap, pipe, and Watson.

At Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England, with some graves.

In Canterbury Castle, Canterbury.

Trapped in Canterbury Castle, Canterbury, but wearing some cute gloves.

Outside the Rupert Bear Museum in Canterbury.

Inside the delightfully awesome Rupert Bear Museum in Canterbury.

Inside of Cardiff Castle in Cardiff, Wales.

In Bute Park, Cardiff.

At Stonehenge, England, with a black scarf.

In The Rocket pub in London, with Kim!

On the hostel-boat in Stockholm, Sweden!

With Laura, Morgan, Alex, and Kelly in Stockholm, on a ferry!

Gazing into the future in Oxford, England.

In a college courtyard in Oxford.

Pairing a pink face with a pink scarf in Cambridge, England.

Gazing into the baths in Bath, England.

Straddling a crevice in Bath.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Inspiration Fridays: I Just Want a Castle...

Who doesn't want to live in a castle? I do. Castles are the coolest.

While I was studying in London, I was able to visit many of them, including Canterbury Castle, below. I wrote a post about it soon after visiting, but the structure was incredible. By incredible, I mean it was old, historically important, and crumbling to bits. Though it had been a residence of the monarchy of England, it apparently wasn't important enough to charge money for entry, or even to be guarded. We walked right in. I climbed around in it. I stole a rock from off the ground, which was part of the Roman wall that surrounded it. This was legal, apparently, because were there cops or Unesco Heritage Site guards or anything? Nope. It was a big, open space that, you know, happened to have a castle in the middle of it. No big deal. The UK has tons of those.

As an American, this pretty much blows my mind. Living in a castle, or seeing one, is one of the pinnacles of existence, as far as I'm concerned. I was in awe of every structure I had the pleasure to view that was built before about 1550AD because we just don't have any of those on our continent. At some point during the first couple weeks I was living in London, I took a moment and bragged to one of my English friends that I had lived across the street from one of the oldest pubs in New York- it was founded in 1865! With an utterly straight face she said something along the lines of "Yeah, whatever, my building is fifty years older than that and it's the newest building on my block"... It's just different.

But, this post is about castles, not pubs. Once again, as I have hypothesized during basically every Inspiration Friday post from the past few monthes, I may only be inspired by castles because I read too many fantasy and historical fiction books, watch too many fantasy and historical fiction films, and play too many fantasy video games. I'd play historical fiction video games if more of them existed. Or, maybe I do all of those things because I love fantasy and historical fiction with a passion. Honestly, I'm rather certain this is the reason. I almost accidentally acquired a minor in medieval and renaissance history in college. If I had been paying attention, I would have achieved that, but frankly, I didn't notice I had done it until I was about to graduate. I just gravitate towards this stuff. Reminders of times gone by, times in which I did not live, excite me. Or, maybe I did live there. Who knows the true nature of our existence?

Yet someday, I want to climb a castle tower in the middle of the forest and gaze out over the land. I want to feel the wind whip through my hair as I do this; I wish to watch a hawk circle overhead.