First post ever. hoo-rah!

So okay. Let’s talk about this title. Pilgrimage. Means a journey to a sacred place. That’s what Webster has to say about it anyway. And that's valid. Truth is, Royal Albert Hall means a handful of special somethings to me—things that I feel are worth sharing on the internet. (Says a whole lot, I know)

So why a British concert hall?

This is where I'll be staying-- BYU London Center

Reason number one: The tickets are bought, my fees are paid (mostly), and I am going to London this Spring from April 25th to June 13th between which dates I'll visit this radical building! The program emphasizes on British lit and history about which I’m way excited, and I am using this blog as a means to prepare, geek out, share research, post pictures and keep in touch while I’m there for 7 weeks.

Reason number two: Royal Albert Hall stages ballet companies along with other artistic celebrations. I do a lot of thinking about ballet. One facet of the pilgrimage is a running comparison I seem to keep between any given ballet class and any given human life. Something I’ve noticed is how the principles of life seem to repeat. And repeat. I’m going to demonstrate how that remains unfailingly the case in something as unnatural as a ballet class.  It’s actually fascinating, I promise.

Reason number three: The best Christmas present I have ever received or am likely to receive was the dvd, The Killers: Live from Royal Albert Hall in blu-ray. (Ignore the urge to take that with a grain of salt. Just let it go.) One of the several things I’m justifiably passionate about is music. Recently, I asked my equally obsessive roommate, “could it be possible that during our waking hours, we’re listening to music more than when we are not?” She responded, “Yes. Yes it is.” And within that pool of music, the Killers take a top tier seat. Needless to say, there’s some deep pseudo-spiritual significance to that concert hall where they performed what must have been their best concert of all time. In summation, expect some music-related postage and certainly some Albert Hall fun facts.

Fourth reason: Royal Albert Hall occupies an asterisk in my own family history. Recently, I think I caught that genealogy bug that’s going around (might have something to do with the family history class I’m taking—what up, Brother Sperry) and I’ve become fascinated with my ancestors and their stories. One such story belongs to my Nana on my dad’s side. I’ve always admired her class and her flickering British accent left over from before my grandpa swept her off her feet and brought her to the States in the 1950’s. What I didn’t know about my Nana was that before she was married, she was involved in a lot of beauty pageants. When she was 20, my nana, Aileen Kearney was crowned Holiday Princess, Miss Great Britain in the Royal Albert Hall. More than just a cool story, that event connects this place to my heritage, which I hope in the coming years to explore and share.  (Here's a neat video I found of her in another contest--she's #11, the beautiful blonde who makes the camera man fall in the water) 

I hope you pop in now and again to read. If not, thank you anyway for reading the first post. I don’t think they’ll be this long usually.

Thanks,

Natalie