lost in leeds

simba, take I and II
petey being attacked by a bee in howarth
fish + chips in leeds
neighborhood near uni. leeds






friday we went to the mackie's for dinner and very entertaining conversions. to get there we took a train to stalybridge then a very nauseating bus ride [winding through some yorkshire moores] to howarth. also on the bus was a middle-aged hiker who had asked the bus driver for some assistance finding his way. no less than three other local passengers took that as their queue to grab the bus schedule he was studying out of his hands and repeatedly advise him of the route they thought he should take. it was entertaining.

upon our arrival we caught up with the summer's events, which included a string of bad luck. thankfully after family dinner and wine the conversation became cheerier. topics included, but were not limited to, conspiracy theories regarding the US and UK government, german robots, england's pub culture, frank zappa, that notorious russian christmas party in clarkston [circa 1976], cuban cat-cuisine and traveling europe as an actual starving artist. we chatted until past bed time then ate cheese and biscuits then fell asleep by the fire place.

in the morning we bonded with the family pets [simba the old rickety persian and mac the henry-lookalike] and ate pie before wandering town a bit and setting off to leeds. i had spend most of friday morning at work making a list of vintage stores to visit. i included detailed directions for each and even found some cheap restaurants. unfortunately i forgot to print it out so we only had a map and my fickle memory to guide us. we did find one decent store from my list, then stumbled upon an excellent and very busy fish + chip shop. but then we wandered north and got lost trying to locate the notorious hyde park and the surrounding shops. we never did find it, but did get to see the ivy-covered neighborhood around uni. leeds and a very sketchy housing estate.

back in manchester we sat in st. ann square while petey recorded the terrible [but very well dressed] cover band and the tail end of an art market. afterwards we picked up some faux gordons gin and ate leftover fish pie [take II was much better than the first attempt] with green beans for dinner.

today we did not leave the apartment. the only thing worth mentioning is the very momoun's-ish lentil soup i made for dinner.

please observe the current 'most popular' page on NYTimes.com:
it seems as if the editorial team as well as the informed public have some concerns over that lady who looks like lemon.