A two storey carousel at Tokyo DisneySea (December 2007).

Takeshita Street, Harajuku (Dec 2007)

It may be a busy little street bordering on tacky and frequented by tourists. But I really enjoyed it and I’d love to return, try and squeeze into some xl clothes to no avail, then turn to cheeseburgers to console myself.

Leading up to Christmas 2007 we stayed with Henry and his family in Fall River. The evening after Henry had taken us out to Cape Cod his wife Michelle kindly showed us around some of the local houses decorated for Christmas. There were plenty of smaller displays on the way, but despite Henry strongly pushing the enormity of Chuck and Flo’s display on us, we were still rather overwhelmed when we saw it in person. Quite literally the most lighting I’ve seen per square meter of land ever.

E is for Edward who authored many books.

Anyone who has heard of Edward Gorey seems to hold a significant deal of affection for his books. He’s an author and an illustrator, but his categorization seems to end there. His picture books aren’t graphic novels, they’re quite different from those. Gorey made a career out of small picture books in a way that few have outside of children’s literature. I adore his books, Gorey managed to perfect the art of creating a convincing, seamless and believable world – an artistic talent I value above any other. Set in Edwardian times, in some fictional place that manages to transcend ties to reality, many of Gorey’s books are dark and whimsical while often remaining humorous and cute.

When visiting the United States in 2007 our friend Henry took us on a day trip to Cape Cod in order to visit the Edward Gorey House – his Massachusetts home turned museum after his death. We don’t have many snowy towns in New Zealand, and arriving at Strawberry Lane with the Gorey House covered in snow, the doubtful guest in the yard was about as magical as it gets.

Though I did wonder just how much Edward Gorey stuff could be made into a Museum, I didn’t have doubts and the experience was well worth the visit. The collection on display ranged from his personal items, to original artwork from unpublished books and props created in honor of his works – the Gashlycrumb Tinies in particular are great. There stands a mannequin draped in his eclectic clothing purchases and a collection of the many rings he wore on his hand. Even the resident cat is rather absurd, much in the fashion of Gorey’s cartoon cats. The rather curious character of Edward Gorey is enough to drive the interest in the museum. When we visited, the museum was helmed by his personal friends who added an extra touch to paying homage to an admired author.