Sim Carter: Past Tense Imperfect

If it's Friday we must be back in London.   Every Friday I take a virtual walking tour ‘above ground’ on the London Underground. Using  my Tube guide & my fitbit® device, my goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day roughly following along the Underground route, reporting back here on Fridays with my findings We're currently following the Central Line.  Here are the previous days . This is Day 47. Last week we visited the remains of the Japanese Garden at Hammersmith, left over from the Japan-British exhibit from 1910. Today we’re going to stop off briefly at the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park. Briefly because I want to spend more time in Kensington Park, where Kensington Palace awaits, as well as Princess Diana’s Memorial Playground.  The Kyoto Gardens were given to London in 1991 by the city of Kyoto in honor of the longterm relationship between Japan and Great Britain. In addition to waterfalls, there are charming little bridges, stone lanterns and koi. And sometim

If it's Friday we must be back in London.   Every Friday I take a virtual walking tour ‘above ground’ on the London Underground. Using  my Tube guide & my fitbit® device, my goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day roughly following along the Underground route, reporting back here on Fridays with my findings.  Here are the previous days . This is Day 46. Today we’re walking from the Ealing Broadway underground station to White City. The trek is 4.2 miles which should clock in at just about 10,000 steps.  Back in 1908, the area was transformed from Shepherd’s Bush farm land into the location for the Franco-British exhibition and the 1908 Summer Olympics. Called the white city because of the white cladding of the ornate exhibition buildings, the area was used for the Japan-British exhibition in 1910, the Latin-British exhibition in 1912, and finally the Anglo-American exhibition in 1914 when WWI put an end to it. After that the White City was left to fall into disrepair and ult

Originally published in the Daily Breeze. On the set of Free Willy II with my son at 14 months. May 1994 I thought you might get a kick out of this old piece about being married to a guy in the film biz. How old? It’s so old it goes back to the days we used pagers to communicate.  It’s so old my then-four year old son turns 23 in a month, We’re talking old.  HOLLYWOOD WIVES & MOTHERS I'm not a single mother but sometimes I feel like one. My husband works in the film business. If you're thinking screenings, A-list parties and hobnobbing with the stars, think again. Think 16 hour workdays, dinners without Dad, two minute sound bytes that have to pass for conversation and late-night, long-distance phone calls from a burned-out spouse on location. Think about the grilled swordfish he had for supper on the set versus the Kraft dinner I split with my kid. "The swordfish?" he says, when I ask how his meal was. "It was a little dry." We had

  If it's Friday we must be back in London.   Every Friday I take a virtual walking tour ‘above ground’ on the London Underground. Using  my Tube guide & my fitbit® device, my goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day roughly following along the Underground route, reporting back here on Fridays with my findings.  Here are the previous days . This is Day 45. We’re finally going to follow a route other than the Piccadilly! Today we’re walking from Southall— where my grandfather had his shop —down the Broadway to the Ealing Broadway Station where we’ll catch up with the Central line, the longest, busiest and fastest line on the London Underground Network.  It’s an almost-four mile walk which should take the better part of an hour and a half. No worry, when we get there, I’ve been told there’s a great pub—The North Star—which boasts burgers and craft beer. And an outdoor beer garden.  Before the burgers we’ll take a very quick turn in Walpole Park, home to Pitzhangar Mano