Tag: trip

Gramercy

James HoganLeave a comment

Hello from Houston!! (And not hello from New York, where I was just a few hours ago!) I am very deeply tired now(really looking forward to a long night’s sleep!), but wanted to write just a few words while my memories are yet fresh! For yes, I just had a brief one-night vacation in NYC. Random what! Well, exceedingly so, yes. But a few months ago, I was perusing instagram(as one does) and saw that Tarja was doing a few shows in the US. Those of you who don’t know Tarja…she is the original singer of Nightwish, one of my very favourite bands. And if I was forced to choose a favourite singer of theirs(because they’ve had three over the years), I would pick her in a heartbeat. Sadly, I came to Nightwish too late to ever get to see her live with the band. But it’s always been a dream to see her live…but unfortunately her solo career pretty much never brings her to the US. Americans are uncultured and don’t appreciate her, I guess. Anyways though – her voice is oh so gorgeous. And as I saw that she was going to four cities in the US(only four!!), I pondered for a few minutes…then spontaneously decided, “You know what? I may never get the chance to see her again – I’m going to do this.” So booked a ticket for the show in NYC, got a plane ticket…and then started second-guessing myself the next day! But I’m quite glad I did this…really just having a little mini holiday in NYC was brilliant. I had an early flight out of Houston yesterday morning, landed in Newark and then made my way to the city. Had to wait a few hours to check into my hotel and it was very grey and wet and rainy(and cold!), so I hunkered down at a corner deli, had lunch and enjoyed coffee and reading for a few hours. Reading John Flavel’s “All Things Made New” currently – some truly heart-warming and most encouraging words contained therein. How wonderful it is to read of the glories and majesties of Christ!! So yes, even some quiet hours reading old Puritan writings got to be part of my vacation. Lovely.

And eventually…I walked down to my hotel, checked in and dropped my bag off, and then made my way down to Gramercy Theatre…I got there over 3 hours before doors, but I was definitely not first in line! About 20-25 people in front of me. So settled down for the long wait. Thankfully, as one does, made friends with the people I was standing with in line – had some great chat as we waited! I met Ken, your classic metal aficionado(complete with long curly hair!)…apparently he goes to some 60-80 concerts a year!! Yeah, I could not compete. Also met this man named Bill…a guy probably in his forties who still yet loves metal. It was fun talking to him because he’s definitely not your stereotypical metal fan…works in construction in the city, part of the Iron Workers Union, just your average New Yorker. We had plenty of football and baseball chat, aside from concert talk! So yeah, it was fun to make some friends. I very much am not a fan of going to a concert on my own, but since I made that decision in this case, at least I got to meet some fun people!! Later on, nearer to doors opening, talked to this one girl(never did her name!) for a while. She was probably a couple years younger than me, and upon chatting with her, realized we both got into Nightwish about the same time, back in 07/08. We had much fun talking about our favourite songs, favourite albums…all the shows we’d been to…all the singer drama, etc, etc. I have to confess, I enjoyed that much, mostly because I don’t have many people I can discuss Nightwish with!! I ended up standing next to her at the actual show too, so we got to look at each other and get excited when particular favorite songs were played!! Oh and one more thing…while we were standing in line, a few hours before showtime…I noticed the people in line were getting louder for some strange reason. Looked over to see Tarja and her husband and daughter crossing the street! They made their way into the theatre, but she was smiling and waving at us, passing a few feet in front of me – my first time seeing her, so I was a little starstruck, ok!? – and I’m sure I had a silly smile on my face as I waved back at her. Moments like this. Fun times.

But alright, enough prologue, am I right?? (But seriously, standing in line for over four hours…always fun right???) Finally, after a bit of a delay, the doors were opened and in we rushed!! I was able to maneuver my way to a pretty excellent spot on the far left. Second row!! Yes, not center, but I’ll take it! The support band played and they were…acceptable? Not my favourite, but they tried hard and gave it their all, I’ll give them that. But then finally, finally – it was Tarja time. She came out, the crowd went crazy and the show was amazing. …I honestly don’t really know how to describe it and I fear I would not do it justice. She was energetic and fiery and passionate and radiant and it all was wonderful. Seeing the classic Tarja expressions and smiles in real life…making eye contact with her as her voice rose high…seeing her dance around the stage in joy…what a wonderful, beautiful show. I must now make a small confession and say that while I do like her solo material and seeing her sing is a treat no matter what the songs are…obviously my favourite songs of hers are the ones she sung with Nightwish. So when about halfway through the show she did a medley of Nightwish songs – I was simply ecstatic(along with the girl I was standing next to – we were so much hoping she’d do some old Nightwish!!). That was for sure my favourite part of the night – hearing her sing Ever Dream…Slaying the Dreamer…!!! I never thought I’d ever get this chance to hear her sing those songs in person. And of course…hearing other great songs of hers – Innocence, Diva, Demons in You, and more…was really happy to hear her sing Diva – love that song so much and she brings such energy to it. And of course for that song, she wore a special crown. Oh Tarja. Never change. Near the end of the show(think it was the last song, possibly?) as the band rocked out, she did some of her classic Tarja headbanging…then hilariously stood up, pointed to her neck, grimaced, smiled and laughed – as if to say, “Too old to still be doing this!!” Tarja has just a magnetic stage presence. As much as I tried to enjoy the rest of the band, it was almost impossible to keep from watching her perform. Part of what makes her a legend, I suppose!!

Now, I fear this post is getting rather long, but I suppose I will – as is tradition – also confess that I couldn’t help praying for her as she sang…in one of her talking moments, she spoke of how music was her first love, great passion, etc. And you can definitely see that passion within her! But I do pray for her soul – that she will someday find a new great love, that she will come to know Christ. So many people(very obvious at show last night!) worship her, adore her, shower her with love. May she discover that all in this life is as vanity without knowing God. This I pray. And as for me – as much as I found great joy in listening to her sing…I have a higher joy than that. May I not forget that my true love is Christ! (That’s why it was so special yesterday that I got to read for a few hours in Flavel!)

So the show ended and it was sad and magnificent all at the same time. She did three songs for an encore, then the band made their bows and Tarja had that beautiful smile she always has as she waved farewell. She truly did seem so excited and happy by the love she got from us!! But finally it was over. I eventually made my way to the hotel, feeling oh so tired and having no voice!! (Yes, I yelled a bit too much. Alas) Woke up early this morning(oh wow, it was really only this morning. Seems so long ago now) so that I could take a nice early morning walk. Grabbed some coffee at Pret and made my way through the rainy streets up to 441 W 53rd Street. What is that address, you may ask? (Well, you won’t ask if you’re Mom). Because that is where Mom worked back in the day(80-81, I think) – the “Power Station”, recording studio extraordinaire! She’d sent me the address earlier, so I couldn’t help but make a pilgrimage to see it. Took some pics and called Mom while I was there! It was pretty special, I have to admit.

Eventually though…it was time to return to Houston. Walked down 8th Ave, enjoying walking amidst all the normal New York foot traffic…even though it was *still* raining! I don’t think it was dry the whole time I was there.

Now though, I’m back in Houston, sitting on my couch while John watches some The Last Jedi deleted scenes and I am oh so tired and oh so hungry. Think I’m gonna make some mashed potatoes and go across the street to get some nice spicy chicken. A good dinner, methinks. Thanks for putting up with this rambling entry(sorry for the ill-structure and repetitiveness – tiredness does not a good writer make)…as a reward – a few pics!!

Standing in line

The rather interesting support band!!

Diva

Always love a good acoustic song!! (plus Tarja’s voice!!)

Tarja forever

Outside the Power Station!!

Thanks for reading all this. Love you all!!! Now. Dinner time.

Girl Named Tennessee

James HoganLeave a comment

And this sleepy Tuesday night, I am greatly looking forward to my dinner and my bed! But firstly, I must earn these rewards by at least a bit of writing this night! My dinner is quite an epic salad(lettuce, spinach, red peppers, yellow peppers, green peppers, black olives, green olives, cheese, green onions, spices, balsamic vinegar, etc, etc…delicious much? Oh and side note – as much as I enjoy being able to put a whole can of black olives on the salad and eating as many of them as I want, I sort of miss being able to fight with the sisters for the olives. Just saying). Anyway! Enough about my salad! Soon enough I will eat it, but now just a few words about my weekend of loveliness in the great land of Hungary…

And it’s something I said to Anna yesterday, but just to say again, there are some things that just can’t be expressed in words. My heart is full of joy and love and wonder and yet my lips cannot say words enough to echo the depths of my soul. And still I try. So here we go…

On Friday evening, flew late from Aberdeen through Frankfurt(where I had to run, but I did catch my flight, hurrah!) before arriving in Budapest! And breezed through the terminal to the welcoming hall to see Anna standing there! After more than a year, it felt like it’d been no time at all as we spent the drive back to her hometown of Miskolc talking almost nonstop(as tired as I was!!). And now to attempt to paint a picture of the wonderfulness of the weekend…woke up Saturday morning to an amazing breakfast(toast with cheese, scrambled eggs, gorgeous coffee sweetened with honey and milk…) shared with Anna, Boroka and their dad before Anna and I explored Miskolc together! Seeing her church and her old school, wandering through ancient castles and eating way too much delicious ice cream and cakes, walking through a lovely park in the gently fading sunlight of an autumn evening…enjoying a massive dinner of goulash and pancakes and laughter with the family…watching a TV show with classic traditional Hungarian dancing and music with Anna and Boroka and their grandparents and loving every second! And yes, still on the first day! I really can’t properly get my thoughts across, but oh well! A few more fond memories…dipping popcorn in melted chocolate while sleepily watching Bourne Identity(I think Anna only fell asleep twice! Me and Boroka resisted)…worshiping our great God in their church Avasi Reformatus Sunday morning, and while not knowing most of the words(but Anna was a great translator!), still soaking in the love and joy that was oh so present..oh what a joy it is to sing praises to the Lord, no matter what tongue we speak! And I really desire dinner now…but a few more words, I swear!

Sunday lunch was a grand affair(even though I did no work…Anna and I were able to walk Daisy their dog and talk and talk and talk as Boroka and her mother did most of the cooking!) And finally we all(Anna, Boroka, the grandparents and the parents and me!) sat down and enjoyed a dinner of roast chicken and potatoes and sweet pudding…but far better than the food was sitting and enjoying each other. And afterwards, Anna and I eventually got on the train(I think we missed the first few train times, but that was no matter…more time with the family!) to Budapest! And Budapest, oh I wish I had more words to describe it! But Anna and I walked its broad streets that next day and as I marveled at the grand palaces and churches and bridges and structures that man had so proudly constructed, I couldn’t help but pray for the great city of Budapest. Oh so lovely. Oh so needing of our Savior! And as Anna and I walked and talked and ate and laughed and prayed and rejoiced in the knowledge of knowing our Lord…I cannot help but thank God for giving me such a gorgeous weekend. Maybe one short on sleep! But one full of the peace that comes from the Spirit of God…I just think back to my thoughts as I sat in Miskolc Sunday afternoon, piano playing sweetly, as I pondered how much my God and Father has blessed me in this life… Oh what joy is mine!!!

And now it is truly time for dinner…I hope you didn’t mind this slightly rambling post, but I just had to at least try and translate some of my heart to page. A futile effort, alas. But to be blessed so greatly by our God…oh what bliss is ours in abundance, my friends!

Grace and peace and love be with you all. Always.

Hello there!

James HoganLeave a comment

For some strange reason, I’ve got a weird desire to watch Star Wars – Revenge of the Sith right now…so imagine the subject line as said by Obi-wan to Grievous.

And wow, what an odd opener to this entry! Maybe I haven’t gotten enough sleep yet? See my update last night for more details on that…

Anyways though, I’m sitting in Starbucks now, enjoying my deliciously crafted peppermint mocha as I sit in peace, some chill big band music playing in the background. Saw Steph when I came in this morning – she and the family finally got back from Portugal last week – someday I must visit there! Anyway, finally everyone is coming back from their holidays – John is back from the States, but I haven’t seen him yet – he’s been recovering from jet lag with his parents in Montrose. Hopefully he comes back to the flat tonight or tomorrow!

Last night was…interesting. I was hoping to see a movie or something with people, but thankfully pretty much everyone was already busy, because then I ended up having to work late. Not fun, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Cameron, you owe me one.

And this feels like a really random entry – caffeine fueled madness, perhaps? I really only am writing this because I wanted to at least write a few words about last weekend! Like I mentioned earlier, yes – I was in London. Olympics, y’all!!

I think it was a couple weeks ago at evening church when me and Joel were talking about how sweet it would be just to go down to London for the Olympics. We said it half-jokingly. Then looked at each other…”Wait, why *don’t* we?” So we bought airplane tickets without even having any Olympic tickets, figuring we’d find some! Joel eventually found some marathon(10k) swimming tickets before we headed off to London…

So last Thursday night, we made our way down to London. After dashing through Heathrow, picking up our bags, taking the tube, then getting detoured onto a bus(with a small side-trip into a pub to watch Usain Bolt’s 200m domination!)…we finally, finally got to Joel’s friend’s house. A couple frozen pizzas later, we collapsed into bed. Friday morning dawned bright(Seriously, it was amazing weather my whole time in London…sunny and warm. I have never seen it rain in London. Due to this, I have concluded it never does) and we made our way to Hyde Park for marathon swimming!

We had sweet seats in the grandstand, so after picking up some souvenirs(shirt for me, hat for Joel), we settled down to watch the action on the Serpentine. Our seats were definitely prime – we had the Aussie Olympic swim team in the rows right in front of us. Anyways, as the sun beat down on us, we enjoyed our packed sandwiches as we watched some beast athletes swim 10k. A guy from Tunisia won, sadly no one from USA or GB got on the medal stand. One of the swimmers was about 15 minutes behind everyone else, but Joel and I couldn’t really poke fun at him, seeing as neither of us probably could have swum even one kilometer.

And wow, I better quicken up the pace here…or this is going to be one mammoth entry!! So after the swimming, we wandered over to a large public area in Hyde Park where they’d placed giant TV screens showing all the Olympics action. There were thousands – no, TENS of thousands – of people there, just soaking in the atmosphere and enjoying the sweet sport of the Games! We watched Team GB win the bronze medal in woman’s hockey and finally decided to make our way to a more secluded area of the park…where we just lay back on the grass, watching the clouds float through the gorgeous blue sky as the oak trees stood sentinel over us. Oh what a lovely time did our Father give us!! I think relaxing with Joel in that quiet corner of Hyde Park was probably one of my favorite times of the whole weekend…

Anyways, to try and speed this along – we eventually met up with a friend of Joel’s for some curry, enjoying eating outside in the oh so lovely weather!

Now – next day, Saturday! Woke up, had toast and coffee…and since I’d brought my laptop, me and Joel checked for available tickets online, since we had none for the day. Every time we checked, there was nothing, so our hopes were low and our expectations nil. Finally, about ready to leave the house and head to the tube station, but we decided “One more time.” Checked online…and wait. Volleyball tickets? I told Joel, “DO IT.” And he bought us a pair! We had no idea who was playing, but it didn’t matter, we had tickets!

As we sat in the tube, merrily speeding to Earl’s Court to pick up our tickets, we perused one of the London dailies and found the match we’d bought tickets for – women’s hardcourt vball finals. Gold medal match! USA v. Brasil, winner take all!! PSYCHED.

And so with that happy news, we set out to enjoy the rest of the day. Went back to Hyde Park to watch some Olympics action with the masses(truly, there were so many people…people from all around the world, all excited to watch the best athletes of the world) then relaxed a bit more in the Park. He called Laura(his gf) to chat while I talked to Maryanne for a while. Oh I miss my fam sometimes.

Anyway, eventually we decided it was time to head over to Earl’s Court to catch the vball game! We made it to our seats and settled in. There were far more Brasilian fans than Americans…and they were much louder too. I don’t want to say that was a contributing factor, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt. Our girls took the first set in fine style, but after that…all Brasil. They played with passion and fire and our American ladies just could not stop them. Alas. Still, viva Brasil! A great match and just to be able to watch it in person with Joel…awesomeness. After the game, it was great watching the Brasilian women clown around, enjoying their victory. The American ladies stood there disconsolately…I felt bad for them.

Anyways, me and Joel finally made it back to the house, and then on Sunday, back to Aberdeen! For some reason I decided to come to church that night, even though I was feeling exhausted. Ah well, always good to worship with my friends!

And wow, I think it’s time for this entry to come to a close, but I just wanted to chronicle this Olympics adventure before the memory began to fade…truly, such a sweet gift our God gave me, to have this chance and to be able to enjoy it so! And truly, the best part was just being able to hang with Joel and adventure through London with him…and enjoy ever so much the friendship our God has given us.

And thinking again upon the Olympics – why do I enjoy them so? Well, I do so love seeing the power of men and women plunging through the waters…the fastest men in the world speeding down the homestretch…the utter grace as gymnasts soar high above the earth…citius, altius, fortius. It is a joy. But why? I think partly just because the beauty of the human form and ability is so apparent. The human form that was made in the image of God. Tarnished, yes. But that glory can still be partly seen…and so to see what God had made, I cannot help but rejoice in Him, our Saviour, our God! Oh but would all see it so!! One day. One day.

And now, time for me to exit Starbucks into the bright sunlit day above. Think I’m gonna pick up a birthday book for a friend and then figure out what I want for dinner. Meatloaf or beef stew, y’all? I can’t decide. Or maybe just hamburgers and potatoes? We’ll see. All I know – I desire a restful remainder of my day. And I think my Lord is granting that to me.

Have a sweet day and pardon the length of this over-wrought entry. I’m out!

Peace upon the cobblestones,
clouds play the music of the sky-
A wreath bestowed to victors,
Delirious with joy I sigh!