A view

I enter the room. The expansive space is filled with laughter and joy everywhere. People are seated around a long table, almost seeming as though there is no end to the right or to the left. He is in the middle with an empty seat before him. I walk to greet him, extending my hand as you would to anyone you are meeting face to face for the first time. He shakes my hand warmly, greeting me and welcoming me to join him at the table. I am honored to sit before him. Indeed, what a privilege to sit so close. He laughs with delight, endearment and a little dash of amusement, saying, "Silly child, don't you know how much I love you?" And he motions for me to sit in the seat directly next to him. I am astonished but I cannot deny this pleasure. As I move to leave my seat, I find myself suddenly in the chair next to him. He wraps me in his arms in an embrace of love I have never known before, a perfect embrace of acceptance and affection. He calls me by name, "Jeffra, oh how I love you." He takes my hand and we join the conversation around us. As the complete sense of belonging envelopes me and perhaps some time has passed, I realize I am now in another seat at the table further down from him. I see he is welcoming in another one. Oh, the joy and exhilaration! I am not sorry to lose my seat or envious of the new person. I can still feel his hand in mine and the warmth of his embrace hasn't left me. It should be strange to feel so near when so far, but it isn't at all. It is as it was always meant to be.

Dear Jesus, you are my beloved and I am yours.

Jeffra
Sent from my iPhone

Current London Bridge

Not so pretty.

Old Roman Wharf

From like AD 73, that's old!

Model of old London Bridge

When it had buildings on it, shops and homes.

Tower bridge

London & Tower Bridge photos

Sheep!

Last bit of Horsleys Green - other way

This is going South. See how it becomes a one lane only? And to the left is a public foot path. (Sadly could not take the stroller on it. )

Last bits of Horsleys Green

It only has one street. This is North view.

Sunny but brrrrr

Like a brisk San Jose day in December. Clear days are often colder than cloudy days. In other news, Jenn and I managed to lock ourselves out of the room early this morning. And since it is Saturday, workers bees on site are few. I had to call the duty manager who is sending someone over.

Cold!

Our "Dorm" building

This is where we are sleeping, resting and playing.

Super condensation

Everything is soooo wet. I think Z is almost soaked. Little C will be shortly since she is playing with tree leaves.

Super sunny morning

The sun is out in full bloom.

A little of what we have done

Breakfast is at 7:30am, so early morning wake-up alarm. We all eat together. Then back to our rooms for final prep. Andrew and Amanda went off to their meeting at 9am and nanny duty began. Jenn and I pile up the three kids to go play in the play ground (and sand volleyball pit). At 10:15am, Jenn takes littlest one for his nap and I keep the girls occupied. Usually we end up back at the rooms by 11am, baby boy sleeping until lunch. Jenn and I keep the girls occupied with reading, coloring, snacking and playing with my old iPhone.

At 12:45pm, it is lunchtime! Parents are with us, so our wrangling lessens a bit. Parents go back to meetings at 2pm. Next hour or so is quiet time for the kids. Sometime around 3:30pm, we all head over to the playroom. In here there are lots of toys and a little tv with a VCR. There are also biscuits (cookies) and juice. We usually end up staying here until Andrew and Amanda are done with their meeting around 5 or 5:30pm.

Dinner time is at 5:45pm. Food is less heavy at dinner than lunch. Also, no dessert! After dinner, we head back to rooms (maybe a bit of playtime), then getting the kiddos to bed can take some time. Perhaps later, there is some time for chatting with the parents.

And that has been the basic routine so far. Two more days to go.

English countryside more

We even have had some sun sprinkled in the days of mostly clouds.

English countryside

Views from English countryside

Sorry for not posting much. First, I got pretty sick, no fun. Second, taking care of three kids keeps you super busy!

High Kensington Street 4

In the background, you can see a Claire's. It was my form of rebellion back in 2000, to get second pierced holes in my ears at this location. Oh yeah! ;D

High Kensington Street 3

High Kensington Street 2

The tube station.

High Kensington Street 1

I used to visit this street frequently when I lived in London.

The lobby of the hotel

Where I had wireless, like the only place I had wireless. I really thought a decade later, wireless would be more widely available.

Great name for a cookie?

How about Digestives?

Inside the British Museum

This is the Great Hall, built in the 2000, completed just after I returned to the states. We arrived too late to enjoy the exhibits, sadly.

Outside the church

Holy Trinity Brompton - inside

This is the church I went to when I lived in London. Also where I became a Christian.

The Big Ben

And a lot of cloudiness.

I scream for ice cream!

At Icecreamists, I'm having white chocolate ice cream with pistachio. Oddly, the pistachio was not very sweet but very nutty flavored. Quite good.

Icecreamists

And their crazy menu.

I was actually there, too

Mom always wants the pictures of me, right, mom?

Jenn, my travel companion

A guard

Waiting to be changed. I zoomed in for this shot, and I can't tell if it is blurry from my iPhone.

Changing of the guard

At Buckingham Palace. Neat to watch, I never saw when I actually lived in London.

Heading out

When we left Harrods, it was nighttime.

Harrods at the start

When we entered Harrods, it was daylight.

Triple hitter

We went to a Chocolate Bar at Harrods. On the right are three hot chocolates: Italian (like a very light textured pudding, a creme pot de cocoa), Trinidad (white chocolate, like sweet hot milk), and Equador (pure Ghana dark almost bitter hot chocolate with a hint of orange). Yum!

Liked the look of it

A street in Knightsbridge. Kind of cloudy out, not best for iPhone photography.

Sunset view

Out the backside of the hotel. I'm so tired right now. Though I did not sleep at all on the plane, I rested with my eyes closed for about 80% of the time. Since our hotel has a refrigerator and a microwave, we went to Sainsbury grocery store for some basics in food (fruit and yogurt). I took a nap for two and a half hours but I'm up for a bit now before going back to bed for real. Nothing too exciting yet. I just love being here.

Airplanes are miraculous!

I will be flying on a plane like this in about an hour, whoohoo!

I hope to actually sleep a little. To that end, I'm having a mocha right now since caffeine makes me sleepy.

London Awaits

My top ten parts of London that I am looking forward to:

10) Just being there, walking around and taking the tube.
9) the cement rectangles that make up the sidewalks (they are maybe 1 foot by 1.5 feet)
8) Harrods
7) the buildings
6) the history
5) the Parks
4) Afternoon Tea
3) Theatre, plays!!!!
2) Wagamama's (Asian fusion restaurant, the menu has changed since I last went a decade ago)
1) Holy Trinity Brompton church, I became a Christian in London. So in a way, London is my spiritual birthplace.

I probably forgot something. I'll see if this list changes when I get back.

This one is for the Richey kiddos

Everyone else can ignore.

Comics - did I mention that I love them?

Especially, Silver/Bronze Age ones.

Unsticking the back tape of the plastic comic sleeve. Carefully removing said comic. Oh, the anticipation. Haven't done that in a looooong time. I bought some old comics at Comic Con so now I get to do it again. Yay!

The most special memories I have with comics are because of my awesome dad. Before a camping trip, we would make a stop at a comic book store. He would let my brother and I pick out comics to bring and read during the camping trip. I guess I am bit girly because I sort of gravitated to the Lois Lane and Supergirl comics, with the occasional Superman. Of course, I always read whatever Shane choose too. But we are definitely a DC family.

In the 90s, we also collected some of the contemporary comics, like the various Superman titles, Supergirl, and the Legion of Super Heroes. Good times.

Thanks, Dad, for sharing this world with us!!!

Newest Walking Plan

I brought my sneakers and crummy old khaki cut-offs (they were once my favorite pair of pants but then the knees got holes, so cut-offs seemed like the next best option. They also have various shades of yellow paint splattered here and there.) into work to wear for my after-lunch stroll/hike.

I really do love walking.

Google Plus - now what?

Anyone else there? I'm in it but functionality feels limited. I guess I need to remember that it is in beta. I look forward to when that iPhone app comes out. I do like the idea of "hangout" feature and not so sure about the +1 (similar to FB's Like button, I guess).

Well, I guess more playing is required. ;D

Jeffra

Sent from my iPhone

Breakfast!

I'm not the best pancake maker or flipper but sometimes I just can't resist, and I overcome my fear of pancake flipping.

Jane Eyre - What was once My Scathing Review

(Beware: Spoiler-filled!)

Yes, I had high hopes for this movie. I mean doesn't this trailer look awesome and like it really catches the story, right? It's unfortunate that a few key scenes were in the trailer that were not in the actual movie. I hate when they do that, grrrrrr.

Anyhoo, have you read the book? I think this is key to understanding my review. Clearly, I have read it but in fact, only within the last two years.  The core elements of the book/story are (imho):

• Jane's isolation and longing to belong, to have friends, family, love (& I think Mr. Rochester is actually seeking the same)
• The mystery of Thornfield, in gothic style
• Mr. Rochester's taunting of Jane, pulling and releasing her. And this is equally important: Jane's own teasing and taunting of him. As her confidence grows, she truly becomes his equal.
• And well, of course, the Romance of it all.

Pros:

• The actors do quite well. Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre) pulls the plain off quite well. Michael Fassbender (Mr. Rochester) is appropriately grumbly, though he is supposed to be a bit more eccentric and unpredictable in his behavior.
• The aura of the movie, I don't know what you call it. The coloring, the music, the stylings, whatever. They were just right. Ah, looked it up, cinematography. Yep, this was great.
• Oh, there is a scene where we are informed that her imagination has overwhelmed her. I liked that addition.

Cons:

• Poor direction. Should we laugh or should we cry? When she as a child bangs her head on the door and is knocked unconscious, was that supposed to be comical or sad? When Mr. Rochester & Jane return to Thornfield unmarried, the house staff in ignorance throw flowers at them and Mr. Rochester yells at them to stop, was this supposed to be comical or sad? When Mr. Rochester tells Jane that he feels tied to her in a way that he has never felt before, was this supposed to be comical or serious? Well, I can tell you that the audience I saw this movie with laughed at all these parts and more that to me didn't seem like they were intended to be funny. 
• Perhaps it is just poor editing rather the directing that caused the above. 
• The mystery of the house was barely noticeable. Where's that gothic feeling of mysterious horror?
• Jane is too somber. I like the idea of her being a free independent spirit that has never really been able to be this way until she settled at Thornfield. In this version, she is so serious that Mr. Rochester goes even so far to ask Jane if she ever laughs? She never seems to tease Mr. Rochester as she ought to do so.
• Perhaps Jane Eyre is not a story that can be told in 2 hours.

I guess I would give this movie two and a half stars. It is possible, as I have ruminated on this more and more that I was heavily influenced by the audience I saw it with and all of their "wrong" reactions. Their laughing and mocking it as they watched it was thoroughly distracting. And I confess to re-reading some of my favorite scenes in the book only a few days before seeing the movie (rarely a good idea).

Ultimately, I highly recommend the 2006 version with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens (son of Maggie Smith, I couldn't believe this when I found out because she is awesome!), the BBC and Masterpiece Theatre TV mini-series. Ruth and Toby are Jane and Mr. Rochester to perfection. (Though, I suppose they are both still a little too pretty ;)

I decided to widen my view a bit by watching two other versions of Jane Eyre. (Thanks to Danielle, I could watch them both streaming through Netflix.)

First, Jane Eyre (1943) with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. Of the women you could pick from during that era, Joan Fontaine is a very good choice (I'm thinking of her role in Rebecca (1940), in some ways a very similar character). Orson Welles has a strong screen presence, which works well for Mr. Rochester's character. This movie certainly carries the mystery of Thornfield. The end, unfortunately, is where it fails. It is like suddenly they look at the clock and realize there is only 10 minutes of movie time left but about 4 hours of story time still to go. So major cutting of plot occurs. I suppose it works out okay but it was a bit surprising to someone who has read the book. From character development perspective, Jane's character is not given the opportunity to grow in understanding of herself and her need for family/community in this version. But I don't want to give away the details.

Second, the much talked about Jane Eyre (1983) with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke. Now this is actually another BBC TV mini-series. Something like 11 episodes of about 30 minutes each. Now I have to admit not being a big Timothy Dalton fan, only knowing him from some unfavorable roles. However, I think he is able to pull off Mr. Rochester. Zelah Clarke is fine, but a bit too old, being around 28 years old. These two seem much closer in age, so a little less scandalous. Now because this was a low budget mini-series, artistic cinematography is practically non-existent. Most of the interior shots look like cheaper theater sets (& probably are). The story moves slowly, trying to hit a number of the details in the book, but still changing many as you would expect. The soundtrack for this TV series does nothing to help the pace of the movie. Fortunately, this Jane and Mr. Rochester do tease each other. She is gentle but firm while he is brusque and a little wild. It is pretty much what you would expect from a good 1980s BBC TV series book adaption.

My final comment is on a piece of the book that is one of my favorite components that I have not yet seen shown in movie form. And this is after Mr. Rochester and Jane become engaged, he wants to treat her differently, really to treat her as his lover, but she shuns him away. Jane will only see him after dinner and keeps him at a physical distance as well. While this aggravates Mr. Rochester, it also leads him to respecting her more. In this case, Jane is not teasing him but rather securing their relationship as friends, companions and equals before they become a true united couple. I can't figure out why all the film versions ignore this part. It really adds so much more to their relationship and I think it is instructive even for us today.

Okay, so there is my Jane Eyre ramble. I started writing this post on March 28th and have finally finished!!! Phew.

Kitty tussle

The out of the wilderness part

The road not taken part

The lost part

The tall grass part

The desert part

Pedometer Plan = Fail

Batteries are rusted and the fancy KP pedometer thusly won't work. Bummer.

Instead here are some pictures from yesterday's lost in the UCI wilderness hike.

Oliver & Dove