My lesson in kite flying

Ryan was absolutely great when I told him that I wanted to do this study abroad program in London for three weeks. He didn't blink when I told him the cost of the program and airfare. Or when I told him I wanted to put the two classes toward a second master's degree.

My kite.

And then he saw that I needed to purchase a kite for a class outing at Primrose Hill, the site of the famous kite flying scene in Mary Poppins. Ever since, he has told anyone that has asked about our trip that I was going to London to be taught how to fly a kite.

So I am happy to report to Ryan that I believe I passed kite flying on Wednesday. My kite caught a breeze on the first attempt and it stayed up for a good 10 minutes. I even managed to take a couple of good photos at the same time. It was a lot of fun to take part in, even if we were viewed as crazy Americans (especially after the group sing-a-long of "Let's Go Fly a Kite!").

Besides serving as an ideal spot for kite flying, Primrose Hill offers a beautiful view of the London skyline and a perfect spot for lunch after spending the morning in nearby Regent's Park with its beautiful gardens. And now I'm blogging about the experience, so Ryan can see exactly what else I'm learning (which today, incidentally, was how to use the foilage setting on my camera).

A cheeky newspaper choice

After checking out a variety of newspapers the last few days -- the Independent, the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, and the Evening Standard, Ryan went a little trashier on Saturday:

Ryan said he simply couldn't resist the headline.

Watching the swift death of a newspaper

For the last three days I have bought three different morning newspapers and picked up the free Evening Standard each afternoon. And each edition's front page contained another revelation about the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World hacking into the voicemail of various Britons, including a murder victim, families of victims of the July 7, 2007, London bombings and others.

Ryan reading the July 7 edition of the Evening Standard, featuring the latest revelation about the News of the World scandal. As Ryan read that in the BBC's lobby, the news broke that the NoW paper will cease publishing after Sunday.

Today, we were touring the BBC when news broke that News of the World will publish its last edition this Sunday.

It should be noted that most of the improprieties seemed to have taken place between 2003 and 2007, and much of the staff has turned over since then. So it is unfortunate that this current crop of journalists is paying a price for the sins of their predecessors.

But with a steady stream of revelations and public condemnations published by the News of the World's competitors, it has been like watching the journalistic version of a car driving off a cliff. And it's stunning to think that it was completely self-inflicted.

In Kentucky, we've been slammed with news of cuts and layoffs at newspapers -- plus the closure of the Kentucky Post -- because of decrees from corporate headquarters as executives try to cut costs.

But the News of the World saga is on the opposite side of the spectrum in which fierce competition and the thirst for readers, advertisers and buzz apparently fueled a get-the-scoop-at-ALL-costs approach.

As a result, its epitaph will read: Here lies a newspaper investigated for paying off police for tips, that apparently sanctioned the hacking of personal messages of private citizens, and that touched off a political firestorm among public officials and media executives alike. And as it breached the journalism ethics code and potentially the law, the paper also broke a cardinal rule of journalism by becoming the news instead of covering it.

For those reasons, I didn't think the News of the World could ultimately survive. But I didn't think my trip to London would outlive it.