Photoblog: England a couple weeks ago. I met with John Hyde  who showed me around a bit of London to help calm my nerves before my crazy stint at Royal Albert Hall. John is  the talented musician who produced the sparkling children’s songs for my  Gingerbread CD.

Management apparently thought otherwise.

I’ve wanted to ride in a double-decker bus ever since I saw The Spice Girls Movie

with Kandice-Now-Lola, who watched it over &  over. (She still watches it.) By the way

 I wore pink because I was hoping people would mistake me for Baby Spice.

No such luck. One young mum DID ask, “Aren’t you Baby Spice’s great grandma?”  Ugh.

I coughed on her.

It might seem as if no one wanted to sit by me, but actually the bus driver was just

trying to keep me safe from paparazzi. I think.

I had to quickly zoom off the bus so I could  hug one  of these classic old red guys.

I didn’t know these contraptions existed any more.  So much cooler than Redbox!

 I couldn’t wait to show this pic to my old “phone phreak” hacker friend – John Draper.

I can just picture myself back in those days.

The phone booth era. Gone. Sad. All good things comes to an end too soon in America.

Maybe the Brits can’t get rid of  telephone booths completely until their country is crime free.

After all, where would Superman change?

 I couldn’t understand the menus AT ALL even though they were in English.

It fried my brain just trying to eat.  (Notice my Union Jack sunglasses. Yup.)

Wait!  What is this? I thought what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas.

“Something is definitely fishy,” I thought. Then I got hungry for fish.

So I had lunch with my  scientific educator friend Peter and a few other lovely people.

Look at what we ate.

Peter ate fish and chips like a proper Englishman, and I ate Flounder from The Little Mermaid.

Poor guy.

 I had no idea that Picadilly Circus wasn’t actually  a circus. Did you know that?

This was the first time I had ever been to England.  I even had a spiritual experience I think.

For decades now I thought my lifetime of angelic deeds and good works

went unnoticed and unrewarded by God.  Apparently I was wrong.

 

 I was unexpectedly blessed with superpowers from on high and suddenly

I was able to lift the entire Albert Memorial with one hand!  I felt like an X-Man!

Unfortunately, “Monument Lifting” is not a very practical superpower to have.

Come to think of it, I feel sort of jipped actually.  God confuses me.

Now back to more substantial issues. Like fashion.

Notice the Union Jack leggings I bought for Ms. Lola Blanc. By the way, a few days later

when I called Lola on my cell phone & told her what I got her, everyone in the London airport

could hear her squealing with delight.  (Luckily, admin just thought it was intercom feedback.)

Here I am announcing my presence to the British citizens in case anyone wanted autographs.

As you can see, the only person that cared to take action was the security guard on the left.

Ellie sang the smash hit song – “I Love Yellow”  for the Gingerbread children’s music CD.

In case you haven’t heard it yet, or if you just want to brush up on your colors,

I’ve provided a link for you right here:  “I Love Yellow.“

LISTEN NOW.  You’ll love it.

This, by the way, is what John Hyde looks like when he’s back in his village producing music.

And on that note (get it?) ,on that “note” let’s go to Royal Albert Hall.

  I had my speaker phone on in the corner, trying to explain to Tolga how big the hall was.

“It’s sooo big,” I told him.  ”How big is it?”  he asked, desperate for details.

“It’s really, really big!  It’s this big!” I exclaimed, trying to show him with my arms.

But he couldn’t see what I was doing since he was just a voice on the phone.

So I quickly corrected myself. ”"Wait, no! It’s even bigger than how far my arms go!”

At that point Tolga understood precisely how enormous it was.

* * * * *   ♥    * * * * *

And finally…

 

I accomplished my lifelong dream of singing and dancing at the Royal Albert Hall.

No one was watching, but so what?

I poured my heart & soul into my performance anyway – just in case Prince Harry drove by.

* * * * *   ♥    * * * * *

And by the way, my performance was breathtakingly spectacular. I was flawless.

When I was done, I even surprised myself with a standing ovation.

I was the only one clapping, but it still counts.

* * * * *   ♥    * * * * *

I couldn’t believe it!!  My first standing ovation. Wow.

* * * * *   ♥    * * * * *

So then I felt compelled to give myself an encore.

So I did. I was killer.

What an incredible trip it was.

* * * * *   ♥    * * * * *

Final Thought

I loved England, what little I could see of it during my one free day. I was hypnotized by the architecture, the history, the food names, the ancient pubs, the fashions, Harrod’s, the Victorian wallpaper with roses on it, the romance and oldness of everything.

If aesthetics were all that mattered, I think I would be delighted to live there – just to bask in the wonder of the environment.  And besides, I already have a truly devoted fan there.  Myself.
I love England so much, I guess that makes me an Anglophile.

I’m also an anthophile, a bibliophile and  a  heliophile. And I have arctophilia and photophilia.

Tolga, on the other hand, has nyctophilia, xerophilia (think Las Vegas), and technophilia.

 

So what about you?  What kind of PHILE are YOU?

I am actually interested to know.  

 

[edit]Hobbies

• audiophilia: Love of high-fidelity sound reproduction
• arctophilia: Love of teddy bears; especially, an interest in collecting teddy bears
• bibliophilia: Love of books
• cinephilia: Love of cinema and film
• glossophilia: Love of languages
• horolophilia: Love of timepieces, specifically wristwatches.
• icthyophilia: Love of fish
• logophilia: Love of words – Logophiles may be interested in word games, such as crosswords, or Scrabble, and in the extreme, derive enjoyment from reading things commonly given less notice, such as labels
• metrophilia: Love of the metro rail or subway systems
• neophilia: Love of the latest novelties and trends
• oenophilia: Love of wine
• ornithophilia: Love of birds
• schediophilia: being attracted to cartoon or animated characters.
• taphophilia: Love of graves, cemeteries and funerals
• technophilia: Love of technology
• turophilia/turophile: Love of cheese / connoisseur of cheese
• naimphilia

[edit]National

• Anglophile: a non-English person who is extremely fond of all things English. Antonym: Anglophobe
• Cymrophile: a fan of Welsh culture (alternative: Cambrophile). Antonym: Cymrophobe
• Francophile, a fan of French culture. Antonym: Francophobe
• Europhile: a person who wants to increase cooperation between governments within the European Union. Antonym: Eurosceptic
• Germanophile, a fan of German culture. Antonym: Germanophobe
• Hellenophile, a fan of Greek culture
• Hibernophile: a lover of Ireland or Irish culture.
• Indophile, a fan of India
• Islamophile, a fan of Islam and Islamic culture
• Japanophile: a non-Japanese person with a strong interest in Japan or Japanese culture. Antonym: Japanophobe.
• Lusophile: a fan of Portugal or Portuguese things. Antonym: Lusophobe
• Russophilia: love of Russia and/or Russians. Antonym: Russophobe.
• Pakophile, a fan of Pakistan
• Semitophile, love of Jews and Judaism. Antonym: Anti-semitism
• Sinophile: a non-Chinese person with a strong interest in China or Chinese culture. Antonym: Sinophobe

[edit]

• anthophilia / anthophile / anthophilic: Attraction to flowers.
• anthrophile / anthrophilic: Attracted to humans (e.g., parasites).
• cryophilia / cryophilic / cryophile: Preference for cold environments, climates, objects and low temperatures; e.g., Protea cryophila (Snow Protea).
• dendrophilia / dendrophilic / dendrophile: Preference of trees or other plants.
• entomophilous: Adapted for pollination by insects.
• extremophilia / extremophile: Preference of living extremal conditions for some microorganisms.
• geophilia / geophilic / Geophile Referring to organisms that prefer the soil.
• halophilia / halophile: Attraction/attracted to salt or salt-water.
• heliophilia / heliophile: Attraction/attracted to sunlight.
• hydrophilia: Attraction to water.
• hyperthermophilia / hyperthermophile / hyperthermophilic: Describing organisms that thrive in extremely hot environments.
• limnophilia / limnophile / limnophilic: Preference of ponds or marshes.
• lithophilia / lithophile / litophilic: Preference/affinity to stones.
• myrmecophilia: in names of orchids of genus myrmecophila, “love of ants”
• nemophilia: Love of the woods/forests, in the name of the genus Nemophilia of flowers.
• necrophilia necrophile: attraction to the dead
• nyctophilia: A preference for darkness or night.
• ombrophilia / ombrophile: Affinity/affined to large amounts of rainfall.
• petrophilia / petrophile / petrophilic: Preference of living or spending time in rocky areas.
• photophilia / photophile / photophilic: Preference of living or spending time in lighted conditions.
• psychrophilia / psychrophile: Preference of cold temperatures.
• rheophilia: Preference of living in running water.
• rhizophilia: Preference of living on roots.
• sciaphilia or skiaphilia: Preference of living in shady or dark areas (as opposed to photophilia).
• thermophilia: Love of high temperatures; thriving in high temperatures (e.g. microbes).
• tropophilia / tropophile / tropophilous: Preference of seasonal extremes of climate.
• xerophilia: Love of living or spending time in very dry conditions.
• xylophilia: Love of wood.
• zoophily: a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by animals.

 

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