Trans-Atlantic Journeys

So I just got back from a week in London. I left SFO on a Sunday (from the middle of a swim meet) and arrived just in time for the start of the workday. The trip was productive, though after 10+ years of kids and marriage, it felt very strange to wander the streets of such a great city by myself. I'm so used to the ongoing conversation, the feeling of a hand slipping into mine, the demand for a bathroom at an inopportune time, that walking silently and alone made the relatively familiar streets of the City feel slightly alien. The trip back was a daytime flight, and I couldn't remember if one is supposed to sleep or stay up on the return journey. I did, however, remember that the purpose of unaccompanied flights is to watch the movies that one would never get one's spouse to consent to at home. And so, I would describe my return journey as follows: Parker (heist/revenge movie starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez); Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (words cannot describe how stupid this movie is. As the kind of person who was ready to love this movie based on its title alone, the fact that I found this movie incredibly lame speaks poorly of every aspect of it. I also note that the ending leaves it open for a sequel); Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise as ghostlike ex-army bad-ass who travels the country by greyhound, paying cash for tickets and kicking ass for justice); [interlude - episode of Game of Thrones in which no-one of consequence died. Having read the books, I find this hard to fathom. Were they just filming 10 pages from book 2?}; and Stardust (Clare Danes & Michelle Pfeiffer in a Neil Gaiman classic, with Robert DeNiro camping it up hugely as a closeted campy sky-pirate). I'm not sure how you the reader would describe this journey, but I think the principle stands - if you're doing a solo trans-atlantic trip, try and make it as fun as you can.

I will note that my younger son was until quite recently, also obsessed with trips across the Atlantic. Actually, it was just one trip, and it didn't even make it all the way across. For over a year, all books on his shelf were Titanic related. He would draw the Titanic for art class and thank you cards. He built models of the Titanic. We went to the Titanic museum (conveniently located in Southampton, home of his grandparents) and learned about the engineering failures that lead to the sinking, and tried to allocate seats of the lifeboats people in the fairest way (he was indignant that all of the 1st class women and children lived, but the 3rd class did not do nearly as well). And so while this obsession is fading now (curse you, Skylanders), back in February it was still in full swing, and so his birthday was celebrated with a Titanic cake. Trans-Atlantic plane trips seem to last forever, but eight years has gone by unbelievably fast. Happy (belated) birthday Finn.