Wednesday 19 December 2012

Christmas Rush

Christmas play today. Ben in a white tunic doing some Russian Cossack dancing.  Lucy was at the piano so I took a picture of her son for her. A walk in Hyde Park this morning. Check in, tickets, boarding passes, passports sorted. Yesterday, house cleaning was productive. House Beautiful. A nice afternoon. It snows in California.

Sunday 16 December 2012

Bad Titles

Cycled up to Camden Town and dropped off cup to Cliff...pet man. He was pleased. His mother isn't well. Ben really needed a new bike. Five minutes in the shop and came out with new BMX bike.... a blue GT.  He is happy with his new ride. Then to shop to get birthday presents for Pam and Saffar....some dvds. Regents Park to see Brigitte but didn't have much time before party. Rode home in half an hour passing Villandry and Holiday Inn and the BT tower... and then to party in Shoreditch. Alice there. They are going to Puerto Rico on Saturday. A fantastic Asian food supermarket found on the 55 bus route...Longan. Got curly squid tentacles, dim sum, seaweed paper for sushi, deep fried bean curd etc. Yumbo. Ben loves miso and sushi too. xx An art gallery....chatted and made some contact. Street type work. Mixture. A Cuban artist with twelve foot mashed up metal buckets in rectangles...I liked. Otherwise... tattoo like stuff. bad titles... but a cool venue....a damp old train depot. Then to furry coat man who had Bobby Brown on the turntable, stopped by to say hello, but ended up with another one...black this time. So funny...a chat with two girls there and Jude...long intriguing chat with one main topic.

Oh Yes. And there was another mass shooting in America. I saw the headline on the way to the park. I had my little Guardian coupon for getting the paper....but most newsagents don't take this. I like what Morgan Freeman has to say about it. These things need less media coverage as the sick people who do these things have nothing to offer but want to go down with a little fame.....and all the reports focussed on the shooter, not the victims. People remember the name of the killer, but not a single name of any of the innocent people who die. Touch wood, but mass shootings don't seem to have caught on here yet.

Nice time carolling on Sunday Evening in Shoreditch. The American Ex pat meet up group did a Mexican brunch, but an odd assortment of people...didn't really click in fact there was nothing American about it. Don't think I met one American person there. Stick to the hiking group.
 

Saturday 15 December 2012

De-cluttering

Didn't drown in the pool this morning after an English at Andrews. Crap magician had guests arriving so couldn't accompany. Mine came at noon....Taiwan....two nights. They are cold. I have given them two duvets. Hungarian goose down. Couldn't turn the radiator knob. Need some muscle for that. Apparently, Crap Magician's child has never peed in the bin....but mine has. A first. Chatted with a mesophitic guy doing pool walking. He said swimming was boring. Boring pools. As if pool walking is a step up. He said he was starting a de-cluttering business. I have waded through a few items in the back of the closet and produced a big black bag of stuff that I downloaded at Calthorpe today. Part of it was meant for Leather Lane, but they took everything....clothes, toys....all except a bike part. That old bike part...still have it. Big orange raincoat from Folk today....self-present. Still can't find the shed key. Clive bringing a suitcase for me.

Ran into Anne's husband in Leather Lane. Nice chat. Back and forthe between here and Exeter. Dress needs taking up. Tailor had big grin suggesting I try the dress on in the back for him to take it up. Said I'd wait for the seamstress on Monday. Didn't leave the dress with him. He quipped about that.

Do...the shop in Covent Garden interested in seeing my work. A quick stop by on the way to see Julian at the gallery to catch up. South of France since late June. Said I looked like a Christmas present. ha ha. He's showing ceramic plates with quirky text....Handmade. Quite similar to what I do. Quirky text....hmm.  Meet again in the new year. Meet our left wing artist....? Mayfair...left wing...? Do I have anything else to pull out of the hat. Furry Hat. Clive over to dinner. Had to toss out the big pheasant yesterday. rancid. But had some pheasant breasts. Mash with sausage, onion, and cabbage. Nice and some curried cabbage that I felt was a bit too exotic to go with everything else. Clive has a friend called Jane. Her lover had taken a photo of the spare bedroom beforehand so that he could put it all back in place...BBC music producer...lives out of town. Not many of them. What a small world.

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Brigitte

Brigitte over for dinner tonight. A goodbye roast duck as she is returning to Hungary on Wednesday. I will miss her smiling face and our good times. She might be back. It depends if she can find a teaching job in Hungary and still needs to pass the written English exam.  A swim yesterday...long and luscious swim. Had not been in the pool for a week. More dinner plates painted today. More teapots in need of paint. Ben glued to the iphone. One last week of school. Hope to take him to winter wonderland and see Brigitte one more time before she goes. Perhaps Brick Lane or Hampstead Heath...see about a concert somewhere on the weekend. Ben's question this morning was rather koan like...Can you walk slowly fast? So we tried walking slowly. I showed him two forms of slow walking....Walk slow and think fast....walk slowly, think slowly... a Japanese moment. So he tried it a few times. I have the impression he's a smart boy.  

Monday 10 December 2012

To Do

1. Find shed keys....get suitcase and drill. (not happening....shed keys will appear when they want to)
2. Return Nexus tablet (Monday at 12:30 after 11:00 Camden meeting....back home for student 1:30)
3. more teapots (not essential)
4. Present shopping (tea, ???)
5. Post keys to Ca. express overnight (done)
6. Oxfam shop with shed contents (done)
7. Excess art remnants to Calthorpe (done)
8. Basic de-cluttering (not done)
9. Contact tile gallery man (done x 3)
10. Contact tanker man (not done)
11. Contact E. Gluckstein (done)

Not done is:
1. shed keys
2. Nexus tablet
3. presents
4. tidy
5. take dress to tailor on Monday about 2:30

Clean bird cage and under the kiln on the balcony with power washer
basic bathroom clean
bedroom
living room...possibly throw out some videos...put excess computer in closet
put tardis away....takes up massses of counter space
drawers...letters...file

 

Saturday 8 December 2012

The Mary Poppins Backpack

Lazare has just dropped by. We were both too exhausted to fill eachother in on recent happenings apart from the itunes story. Lazare. He does make me laugh. He stood there in the hallway with his black Russian fur hat, new swiss backpack, and tartan scarf pulling endless things out of his rucksack like a magician....all left by the customers at the bar where he works. "These British people....one drink and they forget the coat they came in." The perks....a kindle this week and a few select beers which I guess were left by the bar. I've seen the place. Thirst. It's loud and overflowing with thirty somethings drinking eight pound cocktails that are 75% crushed ice. Best not go there if you're truly thirsty. And last night, it was five pounds to even get in, so we chose the fresh air instead and dropped by The Angel. The gay fashion designer/barrister with bleached blonde hair who reads the paper in there most evenings....he was there. Lisa went home in a hurry to finish a job application at 10:30?? as you do...and I made the most of my evening off from Ben. The bleached blonde barrister had left his work wig in a suitcase on the train....I suppose he can get away with his hairdo as he has to wear a wig in court. He asked after Clive. We had been in there after the guitar concert in the church. He is planning a Christmas cocktail party. I suggested a before and after home decorating do.  But the barrister's hair....I feel transported to the 80's in Milwaukee standing in line behind an underage drinker at an alternative bar. Whereas Clive's flat is perhaps 50's with an assortment of Adam's Family lampshades. Time travel.