[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-parents-in-town":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"My parents live all the way over in Seattle, so I don't get to see them very often. The last time was when we went to China. (You might remember the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.davidficklingbooks.co.uk/blog/index.php/2011/07/29/sarah-mcintyres-china-travel-comic/\">China travel comic\u003C/a> I made then.) So Mum and Dad are in town now, and as always, we're trying to pack a whole year of quality family time into a week or two. Here's a drawing I just made of my mother, trying to overcome a jet lag daytime crash with strong coffee:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mum_drawing-737c145367.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for lots more under the cut...!-->\\r\nIt's been a busy few weeks leading up to their visit, and I must confess to having got a bit stressed out in the lead up to their visit. You could sense this if you followed \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/jabberworks\">my Twitter stream\u003C/a>, on the day I was collecting them from Heathrow:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ci>*Which numskull designed T5 Intl Arrivals so there are two exit points? Hounslow will be full of lost Americans tonight.\\r\n*Seriously, Heathrow T4 only has one place people can come out after Customs. This is ridiculous.\\r\n*They should just put all the arrivals in an arcade tank, and we could pick the out with The Claw, like the aliens in Toy Story \\r\n*I think I'm a little stressed. If I go quiet, it's cos The Aliens have landed.\\r\n*Gosh, Customs are taking awhile. I hope my dad hasn't stuffed his suitcase with live marmots again. ...They whistle, you know. \\r\n*I think The Claw is how the sorting works for Baggage Claim. It's operated by a 3-yr-old with attention deficit issues. \\r\n*Going to write a graphic novel about an airport totally run by toddlers & aliens. Will be super-creepy. The Costa only serves warmed milk.\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/parents_shadthames-761e31259e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nBut then they arrived, and it was great to see them.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/dadsarahmum-cd01fec927.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOn the first morning, the weather was fine, so we headed to London's \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highgate_cemetery\">Highgate Cemetery\u003C/a>. My dad had always wanted to see it, and my mother had just been reading \u003Ci>Her Fearful Symmetry\u003C/i> by \u003Ca href=\"http://audreyniffenegger.com/\">Audrey Niffenegger\u003C/a>, which is set there. (See my \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/301205.html\">fan art here\u003C/a>.) Here they are, inspecting Karl Marx's grave.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/parents_highgate-484a7068da.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe also visited neighbouring Waterlow Park, and Dad decided this tree looked just like a lady's bum. We met up with Audrey and \u003Ca href=\"http://www.hayleycampbell.com\">Hayley Campbell\u003C/a> for dinner that evening, and Audrey said that the Lauderdale House in the park was where \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Gwyn\">Nell Gwyn\u003C/a> supposedly dangled King Charles II's illegitimate baby out the window until he agreed to give it a royal title.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/dad_bumtree-b87a618258.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe second day, we went to the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/\">Geffrye Museum\u003C/a>, just next to Hoxton tube station and floated about in tea cups.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/parents_geffrye-6dabba7e1c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThen we walked over toward Brick Lane and watched all the painfully hip hipsters promenading, and did some graffiti spotting. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/bricklane_graffiti-b0b2c5489f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI tweeted the puking rainbows photo and \u003Ca href=\"http://www.woodrowphoenix.co.uk/\">Woodrow Phoenix\u003C/a> noted we were in the area and advised us to go look at the Broadgate Venus, on Exchange Square, overlooking Liverpool Street Station. So we did. And here's the broad, who is very broad.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/broadgate_venus-2e3f84a53e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nShe even has fantastic chubby feet, and is rather good for climbing. Here I am, giving her a pedicure. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/broadgate_venus_feet-baaafd29b8.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nFor Easter Sunday, we went to the choral service at Southwark Cathedral, and were pleased to discover they had chocolate written into the liturgy. Here's a priest dispensing lamb-shaped mint Aero bars.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/southwark_chocolate-d0c38e13f6.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nIt's fun introducing my parents to my friends, they usually only get to see them on my blog. Here's Woodrow and his partner \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/bridge\">Bridget Hannigan\u003C/a>. We also got to meet up with \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/search/johnaggs\">John Aggs\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://nanarealm.com/\">Nana Li\u003C/a>, which made my parents' day.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/parentswoodrowbridget-c01557460c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe're off to have a few more adventures, so I'll be away from the blog for a few days, but check back later for more news...","2012-04-08T22:06:00.000Z","parents-in-town",[],"parents in town",1776628721652]