Thought it would be interesting to find who is local to who, and some of the strangest places people live now. It may prove a resource as we will tend to be experts on our local area/customs, speech patterns ans word usage.
I live in Exeter in the UK--that's in the south-west of England.
Posted by stammsp (Member # 8000) on :
Most everyone lists their homeplace on the info link. But people move around!
I live in central Washington, grew up in northern Utah and spent several years in Southern Idaho.
Posted by tnwilz (Member # 4080) on :
Funny, my brother lives in Exeter - works at Sainsburys. I live in Murrieta, Southern California, about halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles. Don't see my brother too often but his kids sure figured out how to get here. We'll be hosting 3 of them for the summer.
Tracy
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
Richmond, VA. Not much interesting goes on here.
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
Rural Maine. Not much happens here either. If you ever need one, you should know that I'm an expert on culture shock.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
Midwest suburbia. Crazy. Still can't believe I'm here. I also still have jet lag (former Chicagoan.)
I lived overseas in the Philippines a few years while in high school. It was right after the EDSA Revolution (which was in 1986) when Marcos was kicked out. It was an amazing time to live in another country.
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
Chesapeake, VA (waves at ChrisOwens)
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
I live outside Detroit, Michigan but I drive a truck long distance. And now that I know where you live, I'm stopping by unannounced. Hopefully during dinner.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Maine here, too. (It's basically all rural...'cept maybe for Portland and Bangor.)
Posted by TaleSpinner (Member # 5638) on :
Derby, UK, about 130 miles north of London. Close to the beautiful Peak District where the twisties are motorcycling heaven.
Pat
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
quote:Maine here, too. (It's basically all rural...'cept maybe for Portland and Bangor.)
No, they're rural too.
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited June 12, 2008).]
Posted by marchpane (Member # 8021) on :
I live in Oxford, England - not for much longer though...
Posted by kathyton (Member # 7780) on :
St. Louis, Missouri, US
The center of the nation, right on the Mississipi. Right now the rivers are rising and summer's heat is upon us, but it's home.
Posted by RobertB (Member # 6722) on :
Birmingham UK. I grew up in Oxford, moved about a fair bit, then settled here.
Posted by Tiergan (Member # 7852) on :
New Hampshire. On top of a mountain. How rural is rural. No cable, hence direct TV. No highspeed except through satelite, hence hughes. My stone house looks like a radio station. Have deer, moose, and the ocassional bear in the back forty. As far as the weather here, now its hot, humid, and black fly season--that'l give you a few welts.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Cape Coral, Florida. Born elsewhere, dragged here against my will as a teenager, stuck here ever since.
Posted by Wolfe_boy (Member # 5456) on :
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Jayson Merryfield
Posted by Devnal (Member # 6724) on :
Surrey, VA Canada,
Originally from Winterpeg
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
Lets see
Among the army I am in Ft. Riley KS, soon to be in White Sands NM.
In the Civilan world Vienna VA, Jacksonville FLA, and anywhere in-between.
RFW2nd
Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :
I'm near Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Anyone in my neck of the woods?
Posted by Cheyne (Member # 7710) on :
I'm on an acreage about 30 kilometers (20 miles) West of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Posted by smncameron (Member # 7392) on :
I'm currently in Toronto, although I'll be moving back to Ottawa, Ontario in a week or two.
Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
Berkeley/ Oakland, California. Been here pretty much my whole life. Have spent a decent amount of time in the 'burbs of Tokyo as well--my extended family lives there and when I was a kid we used to spend our summers there.
Geez, I really envy you folk living out in isolation. Tiergan, a stone house on a mountain in NH? Sounds like heaven! As does 20 miles of acreage in Canada.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
quote:No, they're rural too.
Thus why I emphasized maybe. I'm in Mid-Coast, how about you?
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
quote:Berkeley/ Oakland, California.
Hey, annepin! I'm outside Sacramento. What time is dinner? Do you have accomadations for an 18 wheeler?
[This message has been edited by snapper (edited June 12, 2008).]
Posted by Pyraxis (Member # 7990) on :
quote:I'm near Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Anyone in my neck of the woods?
What town? I used to do caricatures at state fairs and festivals around that area. My parents still live out there.
quote:Originally from Winterpeg
Me too. *waves*
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
IB--I'm in central Maine. Not far from Augusta, actually. Not much here except me and some trees. I'm only half an hour from the coast, so I bet we're not far from each other.
Posted by Cheyne (Member # 7710) on :
quote:Sounds like heaven! As does 20 miles of acreage in Canada.
Annepin: I'm not sure about US usage but in Canada the word acreage denotes a small ranch. I have 5 acres situated 20 miles from the city.
Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :
I live in a cliché, a manufactured home set on a utopian subtropical coast.
Posted by wrenbird (Member # 3245) on :
Columbus Ohio zzzzzzzz
Just kidding, it's fine. It's just that I lived in Hawaii for ten years. So for me, Ohio is a tad boring.
Posted by Lullaby Lady (Member # 1840) on :
Coming out of lurkdom to say that I live in hotter-than-Hades ARIZONA. However, I was born in Georgia, and raised in Southeastern Idaho. (That's the part of Idaho that's NOT pretty, just covered in spud-- er, potato-- farms.)
So, ya. I know kudzu, cactus, and potatoes.
~LL
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
Grew up in South Texas. Live in Portland, Oregon. So I know hot and hurricanes and incessant rain. Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
And gloomy endless clouds.
Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :
Started off in North Central Illinois, then Boston, then Northeast Tennessee, and now in North Alabama. Hope to get back north before it is all over with.
Posted by Tiergan (Member # 7852) on :
quote:Columbus Ohio zzzzzzzz
Go Buckeyes!
Sorry, couldnt help myself. I lived in Dayton, Ohio for most my school years.
Posted by JamieFord (Member # 3112) on :
Montana.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Utah. I've also lived in Texas (near the coast) and West Virginia (near the Kanawha River), and my idea of heaven is the Oregon Coast.
Posted by illiterate (Member # 7997) on :
I'm in Charlotte, North Carolina. I've spent considerable time in Japan, Philippines, Hawaii, Hong Kong, and India....
I love Charlotte.
Hawaii is nice, but Charlotte is home.
Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
quote:Hey, annepin! I'm outside Sacramento. What time is dinner? Do you have accomadations for an 18 wheeler?
Lol! Give me a heads-up next time you're in my hood. We could go get coffee or something. We could probably find some place to ditch your truck!
Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :
Show Low, AZ, about fifty miles awaay from I40, which is the big route across the state. Our doors are always open (usually by the kids - if anyone is thinking of dropping by, you're fore-warned).
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
quote:Give me a heads-up next time you're in my hood. We could go get coffee or something. We could probably find some place to ditch your truck!
Oh now you tell me! I got to get to work. Got to load something in Sacramento then make it to LA in the morning. I will take you up on that next I'm here though. I am out to meet all my fellow writers that I can. I got two checked off my list thus far.
Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :
You want a weird place for me to live in? How about this? I'm living in a country which is half covered by forests in the middle of Europe and most people don't even know it exists.
Maybe this will help: US president Bush was here just this week.
Posted by brainie (Member # 7810) on :
I'm near Brighton, England, but I grew up in San Diego.
Posted by skadder (Member # 6757) on :
quote:I'm living in a country which is half covered by forests in the middle of Europe and most people don't even know it exists.
Transylvania?
or Austria?
I am intrigued.
Posted by marchpane (Member # 8021) on :
quote:You want a weird place for me to live in? How about this? I'm living in a country which is half covered by forests in the middle of Europe and most people don't even know it exists.
Oooh, now I'm interested. Slovakia? Slovenia? Montenegro (not exactly the middle of Europe but people still seem to think it's part of Serbia)
I used to live in Switzerland. If I had a penny for each time someone asked me if I can speak Swedish...
Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :
I'm up here in Northern Virginia for work - Sterling but am just outside NOVA for home - Midland. Since Midland is still mostly farm land nothing much happens which is why I like it.
Summers are just outside Augusta, Maine.
Waves at Chris Owen, Unwritten, Mrs Brown and IB.
Posted by Crank (Member # 7354) on :
Born in DC. Raised in College Park, Maryland. I never attended UofM, but suffice it to say I spent a small degree of time on the campus and in the student union building.
I've lived in various spots throughout northern Virginia the past 20 years, and am now in Manassas. I'll probably stay there until my oldest daughter graduates high school, then it's anybody's guess where I'll move to. Leading candidates are the Austin area of Texas, and the Delmarva coastline.
S! S!...C!
Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :
Pyraxis; I'm about 6 miles north of Huntington and about 4 miles from a little spot in the road called Bippus. Ring a bell? We're also about a 20 minute drive from Wabash, and I grew up in North Manchester.
Not very many people realize that this area is also the birth place of two U.S. vice presidents. Thomas R. Marshall was from North Manchester, and Dan Quayle hails from Huntington.
[This message has been edited by Crystal Stevens (edited June 13, 2008).]
Posted by Grovekeeper (Member # 5650) on :
Manassas, VA as well.
Born in NoVA (Oakton), lived my entire life somewhere in NoVA but for a 2-year adventure in South Carolina, Saudi Arabia, and Newport News.
Howdy, Crank...
-G
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
i use to live in vienna va 5min walk from wolftrap before i joined the army. i workd at the gient in town, but quit for getting in truble for yelling at a old hippy woman who kept asking me the same question. and getting the same answer
RFW2nd
[This message has been edited by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (edited June 13, 2008).]
Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :
skadder, you were off.
machpane, you got it. I live in Slovenia.
And don't you just love it when there's Slovakia right next to it. Nothing bothers me more than mistaking Slovenia with Slovakia.
Posted by Jo1day (Member # 7800) on :
I live in South-East Idaho, now. There are some towns that are pretty, because they've planted lots of trees . But there's some fascinating landscape--open lava fields, of the seeping sort, not the explosive volcanic sort. More like what you'd get in Hawaii. But if you go up into the mountains to look at the scenery, you're likely to find that it's federal range land being grazed by cattle. Watch your step! .
Until recently I lived in Moscow, Idaho, which is up north but milder climate and more wet. Beautiful country, plus Moscow has a lot of organic farmers and recyclers (including a guy who made journals with recycled large floppies for covers).
I've also lived in Utah, Argentina, Miami FL, and Minneapolis MN
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
The only other place I've lived was Poughkeepsie, NY---from birth to being dragged down here. If I'd'a had my druthers, I'd'a stayed.
Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :
Gee Jo'l day, you're right in the heart of Appaloosa country. The birthplace of the breed is the Wallowa Valley... home of the Nez Perce. Moscow, ID is the home of the Appaloosa Horse Club. I'd love to visit that whole area just once. My Foundation Appaloosa mare traces back to that area over 20 times in her extended pedigree.
Posted by SchamMan89 (Member # 5562) on :
Santa Clarita, California. I'm five minutes away from Six Flags Magic Mountain (if anybody knows where that is). I'm also like 30 minutes from Los Angeles.
Posted by arriki (Member # 3079) on :
Cedar Park (think, Austin suburb), Texas
Have lived in the past in Bryan, Texas (Go! Texas A&M Univ!) Baghdad, Iraq Houston, Texas Provo, Utah Taipei, Republic of China and now in Cedar Park, Texas
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
I am sitting for the weekend. Who said they lived near Phoenix?
Posted by Grant John (Member # 5993) on :
Well I come from the land down under... will refrain from singing. Melbourne, Victoria to be precise, though have been wandering Victoria for the last few years.
Anyone ever end up in Melbourne send me an e-mail.
Grant John
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
The Mom in me wants to say to those of you who are underage, You should check with your parents before posting your locations. Okay, so now that I got that out of my system... I live in Ogden, Utah. Ogden is a weird town. Within ten miles you can find a jail,a homeless shelter, hiking trails, million dollar houses, One hundred year old houses,and the most beautiful mountains in America.
Posted by Shane (Member # 8035) on :
Currently I'm "between homes" but that should change Tuesday. Location wise I'm in Wisconsin, US but I only just moved here a few months ago from Illinois.
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
Grant John, I've never been there, but my kids all sing Waltzin' Matilda like natives. It's one of our favorites.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I'm of age. Enough for two people.
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
I just did the math and technically--so am I. Ouch!
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
The sun is shining. That means I have been mysteriously teleported from Oregon. Still looks like Oregon but that ball of fire up in the sky and the lack of clouds means it can't be. The temperature is even in the high 70s!
Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :
I'm in Northwest Georgia, US. Originally from Florida, which I hate. Lived in Indiana and Kentucky for a while. Wishing with all my being I lived somewhere cold and caked in snow.
Posted by Lullaby Lady (Member # 1840) on :
snapper,
Sorry I missed you! I live near Phoenix, doing my best to endure 112 degrees. Ah, summer!
bleh...
Hoping you're heading to cooler temps, ~LL
Posted by stammsp (Member # 8000) on :
Shimiqua, Lived in Sunset most of my life. We moved from Roy about 5 years ago. Both hubby and I went to Clearfield High. Nice to 'see' someone from the old stomping grounds.
I really miss the mountains. I can see Mt. Adams and Rainier from my windows, but it's just not the same.
Gina
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
Hey LL,
I am still here but headed to Vegas in the morning. My job gets me over here quite a bit. I would be happy to meet you.
The same goes for all you wonderful writers. It is my goal to meet all that I can. If I keep playing the odss, I can say that I personally know the next J K Rowling one day. I really am a nice guy, I rarely bite, and I have the antidote for Merlions potioned pastries.
Posted by Lullaby Lady (Member # 1840) on :
snapper,
I'm guessing I missed you this time. Have a safe trip to Vegas, and maybe we can catch each other another day.
I have to say, however, that we plump housewives who dream of being writers aren't that exciting to meet! (Ooo! I'd love to be the next Rowling!)
Happy trails, ~LL
Posted by redstar (Member # 8038) on :
I just moved to Martinez California but before that I lived in
Boulder Colorado Brampton Ontario Kingston Arizona Las Vegas Nevada Provo Utah Lethbridge Alberta
That's all in the last 10 years, so I figured it could all count. I move around a lot. Somehow I think I might be missing one. Hmm. . .
Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
Hey redstar! now your getting close to my neck of the woods (berkeley).
Posted by djvdakota (Member # 2002) on :
Shimiqua!!
I'm in Ogden, too!!
Drop me a line offsite.
Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :
Snapper don't make me summon the rust zombies.
Posted by redstar (Member # 8038) on :
hey annepin!
I've heard that Berkeley is even weirder than Boulder.
Posted by Stagecoach (Member # 7875) on :
In the Arizona desert. It will be 114 degrees here today---in the shade (and there's very little shade).
Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :
Hey, Stagecoach! where in AZ? I'm up in Show Low.
Posted by SaucyJim (Member # 7110) on :
I live in Central/Western Massachusetts, though I'm constantly moving around from Malden to Littleton to Amherst. Depends on the time of year, mostly whether or not I'm away for a semester at uni.
I did live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for three glorious years, though I'm told that when I lived there (1999-2002) was one big drought. It was still amazing, though. I have every intention to go back once I have the means.
Posted by Lullaby Lady (Member # 1840) on :
Stagecoach--
I'm in Gilbert. Maybe we should go visit Deb up in the cooler temps, huh?
~LL
Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :
You should! Or we could meet for tacos in Globe or something.
Posted by Stagecoach (Member # 7875) on :
Hi Deb and Lullaby Lady. I'm in Mesa. Getting to the cooler climate sounds nice. For travel these days, all I need is some free time and medication to get over the shock at the gas pump.
Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :
I think Spaceman is in the valley, too.
Posted by CABaize (Member # 8032) on :
Louisville, Kentucky. We were just voted the most livable city in the US! Not sure exactly what that means, but it sounds cool...
Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :
I've got relatives in Louiseville. The Buchanans? I've got about a million cousins.
Posted by CABaize (Member # 8032) on :
Actually, I was just playing poker last night with a Tom Buchanan. He went to high school with one of my uncles. Any relation?
Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :
I bet. Is his dad named Louis, by any chance? Or possibly granddad?
Posted by CABaize (Member # 8032) on :
Not sure, I know his wife's name is Julia, but it's been ages since I met the rest of his family. I'll have to check with him.
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
i am curently in Orman Beach FL. a nice place but streets are quite confusing.
RFW2nd
Posted by Chaldea (Member # 4707) on :
Newport Beach, CA Yucca Valley, CA (high desert) Makaha and Honolulu, HI Seattle, Tacoma & Puyallup, WA Albuquerque, NM Eastern Australia and South Australia Hmm seems like I forgot one too. Oh yes, how could I forget? I was raised in Grosse Ile, MI (an island at the head of Lake Erie) What a wealth of information we have for each other! This was a great idea!
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
We ought to make a tally at the top, listing each country (or state) just to get an overview of what our real demographic is.
Posted by Antinomy (Member # 5136) on :
Cincinnati, Ohio... often cold and caked in snow. Willing to consider even trade with Merlion-Emrys.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
quote:We ought to make a tally at the top, listing each country (or state) just to get an overview of what our real demographic is.
You volunteering, Zero?
Of course, since this is what statisticians call a "self-selected sample," it won't exactly be an overview of our real demographic at all, but it might be interesting even so.
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
Quite right KDW.
If I knew how I would volunteer.
I am now in Jacksonville Fl, anyone here, or neer?
RFW2nd
Posted by AWSullivan (Member # 8059) on :
Another Louisvillian here. Not the most exciting place in the world but has suited me fine for all of my thirty years.
That's Louisville, KY not Louisville, AU.
Anthony
Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :
if you started a post open to edits by everyone, we could alphabetize - that would make it easier to locate people nearby.
Posted by TaleSpinner (Member # 5638) on :
"if you started a post open to edits by everyone"
It's a good idea but nothing comes at zero price.
One thing that often happens with shared files is someone accidentally messes up or deletes the whole thing. Unless someone offers to save a copy off-line periodically, there's a risk of corrupting or destroying it by accident and being unable to revert to the last good version.
Been there, done that, Pat
Posted by didee (Member # 8055) on :
I live in Queensland, Australia, where at the moment it's cold of a morning and night but the days are lovely. The coldest day so far has been 17 degrees down to -2 overnight. Not to sure how that converts for some of you. But it it early days of winter yet, but even so the coldest we are likely to get is around the -6 mark.
It is a great place to be.
Posted by Badger (Member # 3490) on :
I'm in London, England. It seems that I'm alone in this forum, which I find hard to believe. Come on folks, move. Ignore the fact that it's ten times the annual average salary for a flat the size of a shoebox. You can fit a notebook and pen in a shoebox, right?
Posted by TaleSpinner (Member # 5638) on :
Depends what you mean by "alone".
Alone in London? Possibly. I don't recall other Hatrackers from England's greatest city though I could be wrong of course. I lived in Earls Court for a short while on my return from the US of A and decided that living in a shoebox wasn't for me, so now I'm in a king-size shoebox in Derby.
Alone in England? There are a few English contributors to Hatrack but I'm not going to embarrass myself by trying to enumerate them and omitting someone.
Cheers, Pat
Posted by Badger (Member # 3490) on :
Only England's greatest city?
I did mean London. I know you're in England, and Skadder and Darklight (I think!) and a few others.
No need to brag about the man-sized shoebox..
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
We have had other threads on this topic before, but I'll post again where I live... in Oregon, in the Columbia River Gorge, specifically in The Dalles which is the end of the overland Oregon Trail.
I'm sure Utah has nice mountains, but I'd hesitate to call them the most beautiful mountains in America, shimiqua, until you've seen the Cascades. After all, we did have one blow up on us about twenty-eight years ago. THAT was exciting.
And MartinV, if it's any consolation, I hosted a foreign exchange student from Slovakia one year. She was duly insulted when I bought her a little flag to remind her of home... and the flag was from Slovenia.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Okay, let's not get into a "our mountains are nicer than your mountains" discussion here.
When I lived in West Virginia, I teased a native about the Appalachians, saying they really didn't count as mountains compared to what I'd grown up around (in Utah). The response was
quote:You may laugh at our mountains, but we laugh at your rivers.
Of course that shut me up, because the only river we have in the West that can begin to compare to eastern rivers is the Columbia, so Elan wins because she lives near real mountains AND a real river. (And I'm jealous.)
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
I really jealous of those of you who live in England. Besides the free healthcare and all--I'm trying to write a story in an alternative 12th century, but unfortunately, Virginia doesn't have much in the way of medieval ruins. I really need to get the sense of things in person. I'd love to take a day's drive take a tour of a castle, have a tourguide explain things bit by bit.
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
quote:I really jealous of those of you who live in England. Besides the free healthcare and all
Nothing, I repeat, nothing is free. The Brits do indeed pay for their healthcare, they just pay for it differently than the way people on the otherside of the pond do.
[This message has been edited by snapper (edited July 02, 2008).]
Posted by tnwilz (Member # 4080) on :
England is the perfect place to live if you enjoy making slightly less than it costs to survive. Have you ever wished you could pay a 65% tax on petrol, making a US gallon cost close to nine dollars? Then England is your kind of place. Yes England, a great place to be from.
This message was paid for by the French tourist board.
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
lol. I should've known my heresy would get somebody worked up.
What the sound of the invisible hand doing the one hand clap? Wave, wave, wave, chop, chop, chop. My coworkers last day was Monday, the reward for all his hard work. Sooner or later, that'll be me.
Oops--I better duck out before I commit further blasphemy...
Posted by tommose (Member # 8058) on :
I lived in England for about 18 months. I absolutely loved living there, but it was entirely not affordable. With the VAT adding hugely to the cost of everything, to the insane amount of taxes taken from my paycheck to pay for the "free" national insurance, we found that the cost of living there was about 70% over what it was in the US. Basically, whatever something cost in dollars, it cost in pounds.
Back in '95, we were paying about $1.40 per liter for gasoline, which is more than I pay now in these "hard times". My wife worked at the Royal London Hospital, as the P.A. for the head of the Trauma and Orthopaedics department, and heard enough that we would have flown back to the US rather than take advantage of the "free" health care. Suffice it to say that anyone who made any money had their own supplemental insurance, to avoid the free stuff.
All that said, though, I miss it. The history and the country are wonderful, and the people are great. I enjoyed driving on the right side of the road, and I love being only a few hours car ride (and a hovercraft) from France and the continent.
Tom
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
Precisily, the hands-on access to history was the real point I was getting at. Of course, I've never been there, but it has to more informative in person than through google. If you live there and, and not taking advantage of that as a writer, shame of you!
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited July 03, 2008).]
Posted by Badger (Member # 3490) on :
Shame on me.
Seriously, it's ridiculous the extent which you end up taking stuff for granted. I live in the suburbs of London and within four miles of my home there's one of Henry VIII's hunting grounds (no palace - it burnt down in the 17th century), a house where Anne Boleyn lives, remains of a roman villa, a town where 6 anglo-saxon kings were crowned (and the coronation stone - although as this was only 'redsicovered in the 19th century its probably a great big fib), the remains of Richmond palace, Hampton court... I could go on, but the point I'm making is that I take it ridiculously for granted. Hence the
And I did my degree in Medieval History...
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
It's never too late to repent! I do envy you.
I'm trying to place my story in Sheen. And of course, the only online map I can find is several centuries after the place had been renamed and built up. And even that map doesn't convey that much to me. My quick-and-dirty solution? Have the protagonist find it a pile of rubble... ruins are ruins...
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
You know historical settings can be very inspiring and other times their not. I did some work near the steeple on the Gettysburg battlefield. You could just feel that something big happened there. It was easy to see where the battlelines were drawn and imagine soldiers advancing and men fleeing. Such a magical moment. I was at the Alamo the week previous. I didn't have the same feeling there. Maybe because what is left of the structure sits in the middle of downtown San Antonio. Maybe because it felt more like a city park than a battlefield. Maybe because they sold plenty of trinkits within the walls of the historic site. Whatever the reason, I didn't feel it there when I felt it at Gettysburg. Other places invoked the same imprecise feelings. A roadside sign marking where Daniel Boone did battle with indians that kidnapped some woman in Eastern Tennessee meant little. An old custom house from 1730 in Maryland did. Perhaps its the same way in Europe.
[This message has been edited by snapper (edited July 03, 2008).]
Posted by Badger (Member # 3490) on :
Chris, I am currently two miles away from what's left of Shene Palace (Henry VIII changed the name of the area to Richmond after his estates in Yorkshire - sorry if you knew that). I think after work I may very well be sat outside a pub, overlooking Richmond common and -imagine what it would have been like when they held jousting there and the palace still existed.
I may not make the most of the history around me, but I'm still a history geek.
Posted by TaleSpinner (Member # 5638) on :
I grew up in North London and like you, Badger, took the history for granted. I never visited the Tower nor many of the other "tourist traps".
When I returned from nine years of living in Orlando, Fla, I found myself staring up at St Paul's Cathedral and said to my daughter, "Wow, look at that. It's old."
My daughter winced and said, "Dad, you sound just like an American tourist." (Sorry guys, in London that's not a compliment. It goes back to the second world war "over paid, over sexed and over here" thing. But, we love y'all really.)
When I lived in Florida I pined for English beer, sausages, bacon and a sense of connection to old, old culture. Now I'm back in England I long for Florida's weather, American steaks, shops that are open when you want to buy stuff and a society that expects and delivers customer service.
I think that we always want and appreciate what we don't have--which for most of the English these days is enough money to live in comfort!
I'm in Mid-Coast, how about you?
. But there's some fascinating landscape--open lava fields, of the seeping sort, not the explosive volcanic sort. More like what you'd get in Hawaii. But if you go up into the mountains to look at the scenery, you're likely to find that it's federal range land being grazed by cattle. Watch your step! 
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