Saturday I took advantage of the sunshine and did something I've been meaning to do for the entire time I've lived in this city: visit Highgate Cemetery. I started on the wrong side of Hampstead Heath, so took the opportunity to wander across the heath in the sunshine and get a bit lost. Having taken a wrong turning out of the heath I turned around and walked towards highgate, marvelling at the beautiful houses and gardens, and then realizing that my “right turning” was actually the wrong one and now I was going to have to climb up the massive hill. Again. From the bottom.
I remembered a bicycle trip I'd taken when I was in middle school where we'd, for some reason, cycled up a mountain. I suspect it was a smallish mountain, but I was definitely the last person in the convoy and in order to help myself along I belted songs the entire way up. Finding that this was a useful tactic for me when faced with steep slopes, I sang to myself some more. I hope I didn't annoy any of the highgate residents. The houses were mostly set fairly far back from the road, and there wasn't really anyone on the road (the vertical slope of Highgate) so I think I was probably fine.
Once I got to Highgate Village I realized I still wasn't in the correct spot for the cemetery and tried to use a bus map to orient myself. When that didn't work I figured I'd just head down the other side of the hill. That didn't work either, but I did end up in a charming little park where I decided to take my sandals off and walk around barefoot. I was momentarily distracted by a very determined and upright toddler pushing a scooter just taller than her down the path. Her name was Ruby and she was heading away from the picnic, which I know because her mother was trailing her at a distance and calling to her.
Having reached an exit of the park I realized that the cemetery was on the other end of the park, so I wandered backwards and FINALLY- ended up in the correct place. Just in time to have a tour of the West Cemetery sold to me after what must have been the easiest sales job ever.
They made me put my sandals back on, but man that place is glorious. I had the mystery of the triple lined dollar signs explained (It's a J an H and an S, which has something to do with either translating 'Jesus Christ' from Greek or some other story that I don't quite remember.)(Okay, so it made *me* feel better about the weird but common Victorian symbol. I realize this doesn't really help you...) We went through the Egyptian wing, the Circle of Lebanon, past the giant sleeping lion of one of the UK's first successful Menagerists, heard stories about a handful of London's Victorian eccentrics and trailed through huge swaths of ivy. I spent a (possibly) embarrassing proportion of the tour chortling aloud to myself about how I loved the Victorians.
Our tour guide was from Inverness and had a delightful accent as well as a charmingly self deprecating demeanour. I thought she was great and when she pointed out that the cemetery always needs more volunteers I leapt at the chance to get a leaflet. (Who doesn't love leaflets??) She recommended a stack of books to read as well (while getting downright pissy about the Bloomsbury Group) and I'm hoping I get a chance to follow through on both things this summer. (Volunteering AND reading- in case that wasn't clear.)
Showing posts with label adventures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adventures. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
I had a visit from my sister. Adventure Part 4. (Wherein we don't leave the house)
Sunday was delightful, despite being plagued by jet lag and colds. We slept in and then Gwen showed up for lunch. I hadn't managed to start preparing anything yet, but Gwen brought wine, and Laine had the genius idea of bringing the folding chairs into the kitchen. (I don't know why Ella and I never thought of that, we hang out in the kitchen all the time because it is the warmest room in the house and, you know, there's food there, but we hadn't ever brought the chairs in. NOW, however, they live there. Thanks, Laine!)
Remember our awesome organic food box we get delivered? Do any of you know about Laine's peculiar devotion to cast iron pans? Have I told you that I've been experimenting with pastry? Well. All of those came together in a deliciously elaborate vegetable quiche with homemade pastry and about 10 different kinds of vegetables in it. We had extra pastry (and extra cheese and extra quiche mixture) so in addition to the quiche we also made little baby cheese quiches (soufflees? Kind of?) in a muffin tin. All of this was taking far too long for Gwen so we also made bar cookies with melted dark chocolate on top.
Delicious productivity, convivial atmosphere, and conversation that flowed and flowed and flowed. It was interesting hearing stories being re-told for a slightly different audience. I know how *I* tell the story of Gwen and I becoming friends, but it was fun to hear her version. Gwen has heard all sorts of stories about our family, but this time she got to hear them from Laine. Excellent, good times.
Gwen eventually went home so Laine and I, in our relaxed/lethargic state ended up watching a bunch of episodes of "Miranda,"a ridiculous and slapstick-y comedy that I've rather fallen in love with. Eventually we got hungry again, rummaged around the pantry, and ended up on accident with a divine take on macaroni and cheese involving orzo, sesame oil, tamari sauce, and bok choi.
And that was pretty much it. You'll notice that I didn't leave the house. (Laine and Gwen were both sent off to the shop for various bits and pieces as they became necessary. So I guess the title is bit of a misnomer...)
Remember our awesome organic food box we get delivered? Do any of you know about Laine's peculiar devotion to cast iron pans? Have I told you that I've been experimenting with pastry? Well. All of those came together in a deliciously elaborate vegetable quiche with homemade pastry and about 10 different kinds of vegetables in it. We had extra pastry (and extra cheese and extra quiche mixture) so in addition to the quiche we also made little baby cheese quiches (soufflees? Kind of?) in a muffin tin. All of this was taking far too long for Gwen so we also made bar cookies with melted dark chocolate on top.
Delicious productivity, convivial atmosphere, and conversation that flowed and flowed and flowed. It was interesting hearing stories being re-told for a slightly different audience. I know how *I* tell the story of Gwen and I becoming friends, but it was fun to hear her version. Gwen has heard all sorts of stories about our family, but this time she got to hear them from Laine. Excellent, good times.
Gwen eventually went home so Laine and I, in our relaxed/lethargic state ended up watching a bunch of episodes of "Miranda,"a ridiculous and slapstick-y comedy that I've rather fallen in love with. Eventually we got hungry again, rummaged around the pantry, and ended up on accident with a divine take on macaroni and cheese involving orzo, sesame oil, tamari sauce, and bok choi.
And that was pretty much it. You'll notice that I didn't leave the house. (Laine and Gwen were both sent off to the shop for various bits and pieces as they became necessary. So I guess the title is bit of a misnomer...)
I had a visit from my sister. Adventure Part 3.
Heist. It's a pretty cool game. This last run we did sold out in 77minutes. People like it. I was not at all sure that Laine would....
You take a team of 10 people, gather them up at a pub, and give them some sort of back ground about how a bunch of thugs have taken over an abandoned police station and how we need to get the (mumble) out straight away because of (mumble) which is why they'll only have 30 minutes and need to be super stealthy to get around the "guards." Then we give them maps, a bunch of radios with head sets, assorted other useful accouterments like wire cutters, gaffer tape, a nerf gun with one round of ammo, black beanie hats to look the part, coloured ties for identification and code name purposes, and express instructions not to cut the video camera wire because seriously it's a pain to fix. Don't do that. Then you give them 30 minutes to plan their attack before getting them to follow one of the "guards" to the station and letting havoc break loose from there.
Laine was kind enough to play a round for me so that she could understand what I'm always talking about. She made herself very useful in that she became the point person to relay lock codes through, but she also placed herself in the one spot the guards definitely wouldn't catch her. Clever and good at risk management, my sister. Also, silhouetted against a window which meant that I could see her the entire time, which was entertaining.
My role is to be the operations person for the team; meaning I give them their instructions, story, and equipment and then follow their progress and the guards' progress by listening to my radios from my secure spot outside the game boundaries. If the team needs some help, they've managed to get a box out to me, or the game is getting close to ending- I call that over the radio. Other than that I tend to listen in and chuckle at how completely their plans have blown up. (Because the plans always blow up. Always.) And cheer or jeer as necessary.
Laine hung out with me during my second and final round of the evening, so she got a good taste of how much fun listening to the radios is as well. At the end we helped the fire-hazard team tidy up a bit in preparation for Sunday's run and then went home where Laine Facebook introduced me to a bunch of her friends and then we passed out, exhausted.
Sunday's coming up next....
(ps. do you like my cliff hangers?)
You take a team of 10 people, gather them up at a pub, and give them some sort of back ground about how a bunch of thugs have taken over an abandoned police station and how we need to get the (mumble) out straight away because of (mumble) which is why they'll only have 30 minutes and need to be super stealthy to get around the "guards." Then we give them maps, a bunch of radios with head sets, assorted other useful accouterments like wire cutters, gaffer tape, a nerf gun with one round of ammo, black beanie hats to look the part, coloured ties for identification and code name purposes, and express instructions not to cut the video camera wire because seriously it's a pain to fix. Don't do that. Then you give them 30 minutes to plan their attack before getting them to follow one of the "guards" to the station and letting havoc break loose from there.
Laine was kind enough to play a round for me so that she could understand what I'm always talking about. She made herself very useful in that she became the point person to relay lock codes through, but she also placed herself in the one spot the guards definitely wouldn't catch her. Clever and good at risk management, my sister. Also, silhouetted against a window which meant that I could see her the entire time, which was entertaining.
My role is to be the operations person for the team; meaning I give them their instructions, story, and equipment and then follow their progress and the guards' progress by listening to my radios from my secure spot outside the game boundaries. If the team needs some help, they've managed to get a box out to me, or the game is getting close to ending- I call that over the radio. Other than that I tend to listen in and chuckle at how completely their plans have blown up. (Because the plans always blow up. Always.) And cheer or jeer as necessary.
Laine hung out with me during my second and final round of the evening, so she got a good taste of how much fun listening to the radios is as well. At the end we helped the fire-hazard team tidy up a bit in preparation for Sunday's run and then went home where Laine Facebook introduced me to a bunch of her friends and then we passed out, exhausted.
Sunday's coming up next....
(ps. do you like my cliff hangers?)
I had a visit from my sister. Adventure Part 2. (Wherein I make excessive parenthetical remarks about cars)
Heathrow serves London. People in London don't really need to drive because public transport is so good. Therefore, getting picked up from Heathrow in a car is a luxurious, exotic treat. Or, at least, that's how Laine and I were thinking about it.
Nik and I were hanging out outside customs determining whether or not certain people coming out of the doors would react well to spontaneous, enthusiastic applause. Then Laine showed up! And that was exciting! I may have squealed. I really don't remember. I'm pretty sure I didn't applaud but you'd have to check with Laine and Nik to make sure. My SISTER was FINALLY here!!!
We tumbled into the car (remarking upon our fancy-pants car privilege...) (Not that you'd have any reason to know this, but there is a parking lot *right next* to Terminal 1, which meant that we had to walk for a total of about 2 minutes to get from the meeting place to the car.) (I'll get over this eventually, but it was really exciting.) (For me. Probably not that exciting for you.) (Sorry.)
Nik was very sweet and drove us while Laine and I chattered away about her most recent exciting driving experience. (I feel like the presidential motorcade is probably more exciting than a ride from Heathrow, but I'm working with what I've got here...) Chatter, chatter, chatter.
We eventually made it to my house where, thanks to the Gods of Parking, there was a spot immediately in front of my flat.
We tumbled everyone off into their respective beds and fell asleep. Then everyone slept and slept and slept, except me because I was excited again so I got up early and made cornmeal pancakes.
Our corner store is remarkably well stocked for a corner store. It's not magic like Meredith's corner store (which once had fresh cranberries out of season (in the UK!) right when I was seriously craving some orange-cranberry muffins), but it's pretty darn good anyway. Which is why we had cornmeal pancakes with real maple syrup.
I'm only telling you this to make you jealous.
MMmmmmm.
We all had a nice morning together and that was lovely, though frustratingly cut short because I had to be in New Cross for that weekend's round of Heist with Fire-Hazard. So Laine and I waved goodbye to Nik as he set off back home and then set off for Adventure Part 3....
coming soon!
ps. Spell check is fun on these entries because Blogger doesn't like 'Laine,' 'Nik,' or 'Heathrow'
Nik and I were hanging out outside customs determining whether or not certain people coming out of the doors would react well to spontaneous, enthusiastic applause. Then Laine showed up! And that was exciting! I may have squealed. I really don't remember. I'm pretty sure I didn't applaud but you'd have to check with Laine and Nik to make sure. My SISTER was FINALLY here!!!
We tumbled into the car (remarking upon our fancy-pants car privilege...) (Not that you'd have any reason to know this, but there is a parking lot *right next* to Terminal 1, which meant that we had to walk for a total of about 2 minutes to get from the meeting place to the car.) (I'll get over this eventually, but it was really exciting.) (For me. Probably not that exciting for you.) (Sorry.)
Nik was very sweet and drove us while Laine and I chattered away about her most recent exciting driving experience. (I feel like the presidential motorcade is probably more exciting than a ride from Heathrow, but I'm working with what I've got here...) Chatter, chatter, chatter.
We eventually made it to my house where, thanks to the Gods of Parking, there was a spot immediately in front of my flat.
We tumbled everyone off into their respective beds and fell asleep. Then everyone slept and slept and slept, except me because I was excited again so I got up early and made cornmeal pancakes.
Our corner store is remarkably well stocked for a corner store. It's not magic like Meredith's corner store (which once had fresh cranberries out of season (in the UK!) right when I was seriously craving some orange-cranberry muffins), but it's pretty darn good anyway. Which is why we had cornmeal pancakes with real maple syrup.
I'm only telling you this to make you jealous.
MMmmmmm.
We all had a nice morning together and that was lovely, though frustratingly cut short because I had to be in New Cross for that weekend's round of Heist with Fire-Hazard. So Laine and I waved goodbye to Nik as he set off back home and then set off for Adventure Part 3....
coming soon!
ps. Spell check is fun on these entries because Blogger doesn't like 'Laine,' 'Nik,' or 'Heathrow'
I had a visit from my sister. Adventure Part 1.
Laine was here last week, and we completely failed to take any photographs. So you're just going to have to trust me that it was *awesome* and we still look nothing like one another.
She showed up Friday night so I went up to visit Nik ahead of picking her up at Heathrow. Nik just got a car so he took me on an adventure to Windsor Great Park, which, ps., covers 1,000 acres. It is newly spring time here so the sun is going down tantalizingly later each day- the light was fading but we went for a stroll anyway. (These things are important! Strolls, that is.) We got to the sculpture Nik thought he was aiming for but it turned out to be a granite doughnut instead of a horse. It looked like the horse was on ahead so we kept walking, enjoying the breeze, the squelchy mud, and actually getting to see each other.
Remember how the light was fading? And how the park is, oh, I don't know, HUGE?
The funny thing about large swaths of parkland is that, particularly if you are not on a path or road, there aren't any street lights. Or, really, lights of any kind save the light pollution coming from nearby towns.
We got a little bit lost.
Laine is really quite lucky we made it to the airport...
(That's not true. We found out way out of the park fast enough that we were able to nip home, make Laine a cheese and pickle sandwich, go out to dinner, and then wait patiently outside of customs. What is true is that we had an adventure in the dark (the very dark) and felt lucky to have finally found the place we started from again.)
My shoes are still a little bit covered in mud. Exactly the way I like them.
She showed up Friday night so I went up to visit Nik ahead of picking her up at Heathrow. Nik just got a car so he took me on an adventure to Windsor Great Park, which, ps., covers 1,000 acres. It is newly spring time here so the sun is going down tantalizingly later each day- the light was fading but we went for a stroll anyway. (These things are important! Strolls, that is.) We got to the sculpture Nik thought he was aiming for but it turned out to be a granite doughnut instead of a horse. It looked like the horse was on ahead so we kept walking, enjoying the breeze, the squelchy mud, and actually getting to see each other.
Remember how the light was fading? And how the park is, oh, I don't know, HUGE?
The funny thing about large swaths of parkland is that, particularly if you are not on a path or road, there aren't any street lights. Or, really, lights of any kind save the light pollution coming from nearby towns.
We got a little bit lost.
Laine is really quite lucky we made it to the airport...
(That's not true. We found out way out of the park fast enough that we were able to nip home, make Laine a cheese and pickle sandwich, go out to dinner, and then wait patiently outside of customs. What is true is that we had an adventure in the dark (the very dark) and felt lucky to have finally found the place we started from again.)
My shoes are still a little bit covered in mud. Exactly the way I like them.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Chichester, West Dean College
Go.
Shoo.
This post will still be here when you come back.
Abby is there to study book conservation, but other people study ceramics, clocks, instruments, metals, furniture, and tapestries. It was like a post grad, English Interlochen. A tiny, gorgeous environment populated with creative, passionate people that you divide according to their majors. ("See that guy? Bet'ya he's ceramics...") Most of them live on campus in this idyllic country estate.
I went for a couple of walks (first by myself because Abby was in class) I wandered through sheep fields, alcoves made from trees, and corridors of autumn leaves. I took a short nap on a bench with the sun shining on my face and chortled to myself whenever I startled the pheasants. (Which was constantly as they are both abundant and easily startled.) Abby took me through the Victorian kitchen gardens and I kept delightedly clapping my hands and grinning. We ate apples from the orchard, went on an epic tromp to the trundle, ate delicious food (even if Abby's classmates complain that the cheeseboard has the same cheese every night. Whatever, the Stilton was lovely.) And fell asleep gossiping. The next morning I was allowed to watch their book binding class and was fascinated. What a delightful visit.
As a quick aside- West Dean College was founded by the estate of Edward James, who worked with Salvador Dali. When Abby took me on a quick tour through the main building we kept turning around innocuous corners and running into, you know, just random things. Like two of the lobster phones. And the original watercolour of the artichoke house. You know. Just things. (!)
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Chaperoning for a Living
Due to a lack of a sufficient number of chaperons for the Nursery tyke's field trip, there were no music classes today. This is because I was drafted in to help a trip of 60 three year olds go to the Wetlands. Man, that was fun/exhausting.
Highlights:
"Miss Casey! We're going on a school trip! ... (pause wherein he realizes that I am sitting across the aisle and one row in front of him) Miss Casey? Are you going too?!"
There is a little Italian boy who only recently started attending nursery at my school. Up until about two weeks ago he was wailing every morning and frequently was taken home by 10am because he was so upset. This little boy? Today? WOULD NOT SHUT UP- he had a massive grin on his face and was chattering away to me and though he was mixing up his Italian and English a bit, most of it was understandable and ENGLISH. How do kids learn this fast?! I'm in awe.
We took nets and hunted for creatures in the pond, we strolled around wetlands and looked at "ducks" (Any ornithologist or even mildly interested bird watcher would be appalled that we referred to everything as "ducks.") had lunch in the "sunshine" and then spent a good hour or so in the playground!
The! Playground! Was! AWESOME! (And that's me saying that, not just the kids.) I was in charge of watching the gate so that none of the tykes could escape. Fortunately, the giant bouncy dragonfly/see saw allowed me to have an unobstructed view of the gate while simultaneously allowing me to bounce constantly for an hour. Except for a short period of time when I was required in the "secret lair" (a bunch of child sized underground tunnels with skylights in the hills above) the tykes were moving swiftly through the "secret lair" (did I mention it was child sized I was all "yeah. Okay guys. Hold on a sec. (crawl, crawl, crawl) I'll catch up in a second!")
There was also one of those zip line things, a bunch of smaller seesaws, a rubberized pit for running around in, and a lot of plants/bamboo for hiding in and then popping out and saying "boo!" from.
Over on the giant dragonfly we did a lot of singing (they *were* missing music class after all.) The whole thing was pretty precious. And exhausting. In the class that I was helping most with all but two of the tykes fell asleep on the bus ride home. I ended up carrying one back into the school and he just kept snuggling his head into mine- which was very sweet except that he seemed to most want to push my head over to the side, knock my glasses off with his forehead, and burrow his skull into my nose. Like that was comfy?
Highlights:
"Miss Casey! We're going on a school trip! ... (pause wherein he realizes that I am sitting across the aisle and one row in front of him) Miss Casey? Are you going too?!"
There is a little Italian boy who only recently started attending nursery at my school. Up until about two weeks ago he was wailing every morning and frequently was taken home by 10am because he was so upset. This little boy? Today? WOULD NOT SHUT UP- he had a massive grin on his face and was chattering away to me and though he was mixing up his Italian and English a bit, most of it was understandable and ENGLISH. How do kids learn this fast?! I'm in awe.
We took nets and hunted for creatures in the pond, we strolled around wetlands and looked at "ducks" (Any ornithologist or even mildly interested bird watcher would be appalled that we referred to everything as "ducks.") had lunch in the "sunshine" and then spent a good hour or so in the playground!
The! Playground! Was! AWESOME! (And that's me saying that, not just the kids.) I was in charge of watching the gate so that none of the tykes could escape. Fortunately, the giant bouncy dragonfly/see saw allowed me to have an unobstructed view of the gate while simultaneously allowing me to bounce constantly for an hour. Except for a short period of time when I was required in the "secret lair" (a bunch of child sized underground tunnels with skylights in the hills above) the tykes were moving swiftly through the "secret lair" (did I mention it was child sized I was all "yeah. Okay guys. Hold on a sec. (crawl, crawl, crawl) I'll catch up in a second!")
There was also one of those zip line things, a bunch of smaller seesaws, a rubberized pit for running around in, and a lot of plants/bamboo for hiding in and then popping out and saying "boo!" from.
Over on the giant dragonfly we did a lot of singing (they *were* missing music class after all.) The whole thing was pretty precious. And exhausting. In the class that I was helping most with all but two of the tykes fell asleep on the bus ride home. I ended up carrying one back into the school and he just kept snuggling his head into mine- which was very sweet except that he seemed to most want to push my head over to the side, knock my glasses off with his forehead, and burrow his skull into my nose. Like that was comfy?
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Springtime Adventure
Linda came round today and we went trekking. It was a gorgeous, gorgeous spring day and I have the privilege of living nearby this massive set of parks. So we went to the corner shop and got provisioned with trail mix and juice boxes. (side note: corner stores in the UK are brilliant. Specifically for their selection of Rubicon juices in exotic and delicious flavors. I had mango and Linda had lychee. We skipped the guava and passion fruit that was also available. Yum.)
The trek was epic- we went through many of the parks and even wandered into a very cool nature preserve that, we later figured out, only has one entrance which is unfortunately located and the opposite end of where we wanted to get out. So we looked a some water birds through the wooden flaps in the viewing area, and we admired the giant mosaic of a grasshopper, and we read informative plaques about small and cute ponds before deciding that, really, since we could SEE the path we wanted to be on just over that fence- we might as well just hop it.
So we did. But first we had to find a place where there wasn't barbed wire and where it was low enough that we had a chance of being dexterous enough to get over. We ended up jumping down in front of this family of four with two small, blond, impressionable young boys that we were setting a very poor example for.
It was an excellent adventure.
The trek was epic- we went through many of the parks and even wandered into a very cool nature preserve that, we later figured out, only has one entrance which is unfortunately located and the opposite end of where we wanted to get out. So we looked a some water birds through the wooden flaps in the viewing area, and we admired the giant mosaic of a grasshopper, and we read informative plaques about small and cute ponds before deciding that, really, since we could SEE the path we wanted to be on just over that fence- we might as well just hop it.
So we did. But first we had to find a place where there wasn't barbed wire and where it was low enough that we had a chance of being dexterous enough to get over. We ended up jumping down in front of this family of four with two small, blond, impressionable young boys that we were setting a very poor example for.
It was an excellent adventure.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Tykes and Firehoses
On Tuesdays I am meant to be doing planning with Linda and only sticking around for two hours. This has never been the case, I've always stuck around longer than that. Recently, because I finally figured out the utility of lesson plans and sort of figured out a good system for doing them (we'll see if it keeps working. If it does then I'll say that without the "sort of"), I have found myself chaperoning field trips. This morning that involved a trip to the Fire Station!
Gosh, golly fire stations are fun. I was arguably more excited than some of the reception students that I was brought along to chaperon. Definitely more excited than poor Z whose face was pure misery the whole time. She found the whole thing rather frightening, and that combined with the frigid weather and lengthy trek to and from the fire station meant that Z was not a happy bunny.
J on the other hand? MAN fire stations are COOL.
"Did you know that the fastest car in the world is longer than a bus?"
"Is it?"
"Yes, and it can go faster than the fire truck!"
"Wow."
All of the children got to climb into the fire truck, ask questions from Fire Man Charlie (isn't that just an ideal fire man name?), wear fire helmets, play with flashlights (oddly the highlight of the event), and this super-neat view finder with heat sensing...ness. THEN everyone got to try out the hose. With water going through it.
Some of the mothers were taking photographs and they got a little in the way of the fire hose. Guys? When a four year old has control of a fire hose, may I suggest that standing anywhere in front of the hose is a poor idea? J-N's mom got rather wet.
You know I said that everyone got to try out the hose? I mean it. I totally tried it out too. And it was *awesome* (though really it' just like a large shower head attached to a red truck...)
Gosh, golly fire stations are fun. I was arguably more excited than some of the reception students that I was brought along to chaperon. Definitely more excited than poor Z whose face was pure misery the whole time. She found the whole thing rather frightening, and that combined with the frigid weather and lengthy trek to and from the fire station meant that Z was not a happy bunny.
J on the other hand? MAN fire stations are COOL.
"Did you know that the fastest car in the world is longer than a bus?"
"Is it?"
"Yes, and it can go faster than the fire truck!"
"Wow."
All of the children got to climb into the fire truck, ask questions from Fire Man Charlie (isn't that just an ideal fire man name?), wear fire helmets, play with flashlights (oddly the highlight of the event), and this super-neat view finder with heat sensing...ness. THEN everyone got to try out the hose. With water going through it.
Some of the mothers were taking photographs and they got a little in the way of the fire hose. Guys? When a four year old has control of a fire hose, may I suggest that standing anywhere in front of the hose is a poor idea? J-N's mom got rather wet.
You know I said that everyone got to try out the hose? I mean it. I totally tried it out too. And it was *awesome* (though really it' just like a large shower head attached to a red truck...)
Friday, January 29, 2010
Oddities
1. Lavender scented tissues. I needed some kleenex (this is me we're talking about, I always need kleenex) and the nearest kleenex was in Marks and Spencer's where the cheapest tissues were lavender scented. Doesn't that seem odd? Think about it- if you need a tissue- can you smell?
2.I went to Oxford today to go visit my friend Ken and to see the Steampunk exhibition at the History of Science Museum. On my way there I found a small Doctor Who umbrella that had been lost on the tube. I carried it around all day and used it as an excellent gesticulator. It was not a good cane, however, at it was approximately one and a half feet high. I feared that the child who had lost it would want it back so at the end of the day I left it on the same tube line. Probably a better way of getting it to lost and found would have been to give it to a TFL worker, but oh well. Next time.
3. On Thursday I went to my co-worker's house for supper but was *so* hungry on the way there that I bought a small sandwich from a kiosk stand at Moorgate station. That sandwich turned out to be filled with the best chicken tikka I've ever tasted. From a random little kiosk that mostly sells chocolate bars. What? How strange is that. But sooooo tasty.
4. I took the bus to Oxford. It was, confusingly, called the Oxford Tube (it's not a tube. It's a bus. Don't be silly.) I got a little car sick on the way up (unusual for me) and fell asleep on the way back. The way back was delicious, actually. It was warm and cozy and I had two seats to myself so I curled up and fell asleep in the gently rocking darkness.
5. The steam punk exhibition was so cool. It was very small, but some of it was so amazingly intricate and delicately crafted. Tom Banwell was one of the artists. These photos don't do it justice, but the link there should go to a fire helmet that was luscious with the leather work. Gorgeous. I also really liked Sydney Padua's comics.I bought this mug because I thought it was so funny
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Trafalgar Square Adeventure or GIANT KARAOKE
So T-Mobile is, by all accounts, not the best of the mobile phone service choices. That being said, they have the freaking awesomest ads ever! Check out this one that they did in Liverpool Street Station: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM They didn't close the station, so there were a number of bewildered commuters. I'm totally bummed I didn't get to see it, because HOW COOL?
So when Jo told me this morning that they were filming the next one in Trafalgar Square today I was like "We're GOing!!" And so we did.
This time there were hundreds, if not thousands, of people there and instead of dancing it was giant, Trafalgar Square style Karaoke. The crowd jumped up and down whenever the cameras on these giant, impressively mobile booms swung over us and on the giant screen they had the words and shots from the crowd.
We sang Hey Jude, Build me up buttercup, Total Eclipse of the Heart, and Summer Lovin' before Pink showed up. She ended up standing on a short platform about 10 yards away and we didn't notice at first. We were just like "why are we suddenly being shoved by SO MANY PEOPLE?" And then we figured out she was there. She was lovely the whole time: performed well, put her arm around a couple of the people who shoved their way on to her platform, and was even good natured when someone threw a phone at her (aren't Londoners nice?)
Then we all sang Hey Jude again and this was clearly the one they were actually filming because we sang the na na na na's for (and this is not an exaggeration) 15 minutes. By the end I was singing into my microphone (most likely fake, because that many cordless mics? No way.) "No no no no, no no no nooo, I'm bored now, let's stop"
If you get featured in the Ad you get 500GBP, but Jo and I have a very slim chance of that happening. The two little girls in red jumpers sitting on their parents' shoulders? They're totally gonna be in it- the flexible boom cameras circled them for a good 30 seconds at one point.
So when Jo told me this morning that they were filming the next one in Trafalgar Square today I was like "We're GOing!!" And so we did.
This time there were hundreds, if not thousands, of people there and instead of dancing it was giant, Trafalgar Square style Karaoke. The crowd jumped up and down whenever the cameras on these giant, impressively mobile booms swung over us and on the giant screen they had the words and shots from the crowd.
We sang Hey Jude, Build me up buttercup, Total Eclipse of the Heart, and Summer Lovin' before Pink showed up. She ended up standing on a short platform about 10 yards away and we didn't notice at first. We were just like "why are we suddenly being shoved by SO MANY PEOPLE?" And then we figured out she was there. She was lovely the whole time: performed well, put her arm around a couple of the people who shoved their way on to her platform, and was even good natured when someone threw a phone at her (aren't Londoners nice?)
Then we all sang Hey Jude again and this was clearly the one they were actually filming because we sang the na na na na's for (and this is not an exaggeration) 15 minutes. By the end I was singing into my microphone (most likely fake, because that many cordless mics? No way.) "No no no no, no no no nooo, I'm bored now, let's stop"
If you get featured in the Ad you get 500GBP, but Jo and I have a very slim chance of that happening. The two little girls in red jumpers sitting on their parents' shoulders? They're totally gonna be in it- the flexible boom cameras circled them for a good 30 seconds at one point.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
I teach tykes
I survived my first day of work! And it was lovely! Here are some things I learned:
1. I need to work on how I use my voice, because talking for 3 hours straight is throat scratchingly difficult
2. It is best when the teachers are involved in the music class instead of off in the corner
3. Big slobbery kisses are charming the first time, and then just a little bit slimy
4. ohmygosh these kids are cute
5. 1/2 of them don't speak English...if only I spoke French!
6. Nursery teachers swear an unexpected amount when in the staff room
I taught *6* classes today. I arrived at 8:30 in the morning to meet the head of Early Years again and also to meet the upper school music teacher. I was so afraid I was going to be late- I was so wired that I couldn't fall asleep until 3am last night and then waking up was tough so I didn't leave the house until 20 minutes after I planned to- but instead of taking the estimated hour and a quarter to get there that TFL said it would, it only took 45 minutes- so I was early!) I didn't actually start teaching class until 10 though, so I had a chance to wander in to the classes, meet the teachers, and give a little spiel about what I was going to do. The nursery classes were in the morning, back to back. So I had three classes of 3-4 year olds from 10-11:30.
Here is what we did: First I said hello and introduced myself (that's Miss Casey to you!) and explained that I was the new music teacher. (There isn't really a music room, so I was traveling from room to room with my glockenspiel in a plastic case) Then I said "now that you know my name, can you help me learn yours? Okay, everybody keep this lovely circle and stand up!" So we'd stand up and I'd ask them to make shapes with their bodies for me- a big circle over their heads, lots of superhero poses, a bunch of sort of rocking back and forth nervously, etc. I pointed out nice shapes that kids were doing and got the rest of the group to do them. Then we went around the circle and said our names with a shape.
The idea was to have the group say the name back and also do the shape- in practice this only worked about 40% of the time. The kids would do the shape- but pretty much it was just me saying the name. Or rather, butchering the crap out of their names and needing to be corrected four times before completely forgetting anyway. Six classes, people. SIX CLASSES! And they're all foreign with fancy weird names that I can't pronounce. Little kids speak with lisps anyway, but now imagine a classroom full of accented lisps.
Right, so- now we've gone around the circle and more or less (less) know people's names. Then I ask them to sit down again and bring out the glockenspiel- from here on out referred to as the "xylophone." Does anyone know what this instrument is? No, it's not a piano- close but a piano is played with your fingers and this is played with...? Yes! Mallets. No? No one knows? Oh that is lovely that you have one at home! This is a xylophone. Can we all say xylophone?
So I play them a little tune and ask them what it sounds like. My *favorite* class came up with this gem: "it sounds like butterflies dancing" Awww. That class was full of beautiful, wonderful imagery- we ended up walking around as princesses and tigers and fairies and leaves.
So then they walked to the music when I said "walk" and froze into a shape when I said "shape" I was playing in quarter notes and periodic phrases to get them used to phrase length and listening. I was hoping that some of them would figure out that there was a pattern to when I would say "shape." I think a couple of kids did in the older, reception (kindergarten) classes because I missed one once and extended it a second phrase and they kept saying "shape? shape?" So that was cool.
For some of the classes we paired up and then tried to do the same exercise but with pair shapes instead of solo shapes. I hadn't considered how troublesome it is to get small children to work in pairs. There were always a few tears when choosing the pairs...my favorite was a little boy and girl who were just bawling at being stuck with each other but then as we played the game they were totally entwined and had the both the best shapes (many involving pulling their mouths out with their fingers to make silly faces) and were absolutely together- the same angles with their bodies and everything. It was incredible how in sync they were- especially considering their mutual crying fits at the beginning of the game. (or maybe their mutual crying fits explain everything?)
So that was all we had time for with the nursery kids. I told them that I would be back next week and we'd do some singing, because we did a lot of dancing this week- didn't we? Then the head teachers would ask them to thank me- sometimes they would and sometimes they would stare at the ceiling. Bye Miss Casey!
Lunch was then at 11:30. 11:30 isn't so early in American time- but Brits rarely eat lunch before 1pm so it was sort of like "oh! Okay. Lunch it is." So I went to the staff room and had a wonderful time talking to some of the other Early years teachers. They're a very welcoming and chatty bunch. There were several whom I felt very comfortable with. I wasn't meant to start teaching again until 12:45 so I took the opportunity to take a stroll through the park. I *love* that the parks are across the street. How lucky am I?!
Afternoon was the reception (kindergarten) classes. They all desperately wanted to play the xylophone as well so we did a bit of passing it around the circle:
"Wow, that was some lovely playing- can someone tell me what animal it sounded like to them?"
"I really liked how smooth that was! Can someone play for me the opposite of that?"
"Wow! That was REALLY LOUD! Can someone else play really quietly for me?"
"Good job! That was REALLY LOUD TOO! Now can someone play quietly?!"
giggle giggle squirm
So whew. Then SIX CLASSES and a meeting with the headmaster later it was all over. Unfortunately my boss had stepped out for the afternoon so I was like do I stay? Do I go? Do I need to talk to someone else? I found the upper school music teacher, spoke quickly about ordering instruments (I started today and already I got to order supplies. Sweet.) and then left to go wander in the V&A before having supper with my favorite RCA artist. Nice.
Oh, and I gave my phone number to a frazzled American mom (3 kids and pregnant with the 4th) for babysitting purposes.
1. I need to work on how I use my voice, because talking for 3 hours straight is throat scratchingly difficult
2. It is best when the teachers are involved in the music class instead of off in the corner
3. Big slobbery kisses are charming the first time, and then just a little bit slimy
4. ohmygosh these kids are cute
5. 1/2 of them don't speak English...if only I spoke French!
6. Nursery teachers swear an unexpected amount when in the staff room
I taught *6* classes today. I arrived at 8:30 in the morning to meet the head of Early Years again and also to meet the upper school music teacher. I was so afraid I was going to be late- I was so wired that I couldn't fall asleep until 3am last night and then waking up was tough so I didn't leave the house until 20 minutes after I planned to- but instead of taking the estimated hour and a quarter to get there that TFL said it would, it only took 45 minutes- so I was early!) I didn't actually start teaching class until 10 though, so I had a chance to wander in to the classes, meet the teachers, and give a little spiel about what I was going to do. The nursery classes were in the morning, back to back. So I had three classes of 3-4 year olds from 10-11:30.
Here is what we did: First I said hello and introduced myself (that's Miss Casey to you!) and explained that I was the new music teacher. (There isn't really a music room, so I was traveling from room to room with my glockenspiel in a plastic case) Then I said "now that you know my name, can you help me learn yours? Okay, everybody keep this lovely circle and stand up!" So we'd stand up and I'd ask them to make shapes with their bodies for me- a big circle over their heads, lots of superhero poses, a bunch of sort of rocking back and forth nervously, etc. I pointed out nice shapes that kids were doing and got the rest of the group to do them. Then we went around the circle and said our names with a shape.
The idea was to have the group say the name back and also do the shape- in practice this only worked about 40% of the time. The kids would do the shape- but pretty much it was just me saying the name. Or rather, butchering the crap out of their names and needing to be corrected four times before completely forgetting anyway. Six classes, people. SIX CLASSES! And they're all foreign with fancy weird names that I can't pronounce. Little kids speak with lisps anyway, but now imagine a classroom full of accented lisps.
Right, so- now we've gone around the circle and more or less (less) know people's names. Then I ask them to sit down again and bring out the glockenspiel- from here on out referred to as the "xylophone." Does anyone know what this instrument is? No, it's not a piano- close but a piano is played with your fingers and this is played with...? Yes! Mallets. No? No one knows? Oh that is lovely that you have one at home! This is a xylophone. Can we all say xylophone?
So I play them a little tune and ask them what it sounds like. My *favorite* class came up with this gem: "it sounds like butterflies dancing" Awww. That class was full of beautiful, wonderful imagery- we ended up walking around as princesses and tigers and fairies and leaves.
So then they walked to the music when I said "walk" and froze into a shape when I said "shape" I was playing in quarter notes and periodic phrases to get them used to phrase length and listening. I was hoping that some of them would figure out that there was a pattern to when I would say "shape." I think a couple of kids did in the older, reception (kindergarten) classes because I missed one once and extended it a second phrase and they kept saying "shape? shape?" So that was cool.
For some of the classes we paired up and then tried to do the same exercise but with pair shapes instead of solo shapes. I hadn't considered how troublesome it is to get small children to work in pairs. There were always a few tears when choosing the pairs...my favorite was a little boy and girl who were just bawling at being stuck with each other but then as we played the game they were totally entwined and had the both the best shapes (many involving pulling their mouths out with their fingers to make silly faces) and were absolutely together- the same angles with their bodies and everything. It was incredible how in sync they were- especially considering their mutual crying fits at the beginning of the game. (or maybe their mutual crying fits explain everything?)
So that was all we had time for with the nursery kids. I told them that I would be back next week and we'd do some singing, because we did a lot of dancing this week- didn't we? Then the head teachers would ask them to thank me- sometimes they would and sometimes they would stare at the ceiling. Bye Miss Casey!
Lunch was then at 11:30. 11:30 isn't so early in American time- but Brits rarely eat lunch before 1pm so it was sort of like "oh! Okay. Lunch it is." So I went to the staff room and had a wonderful time talking to some of the other Early years teachers. They're a very welcoming and chatty bunch. There were several whom I felt very comfortable with. I wasn't meant to start teaching again until 12:45 so I took the opportunity to take a stroll through the park. I *love* that the parks are across the street. How lucky am I?!
Afternoon was the reception (kindergarten) classes. They all desperately wanted to play the xylophone as well so we did a bit of passing it around the circle:
"Wow, that was some lovely playing- can someone tell me what animal it sounded like to them?"
"I really liked how smooth that was! Can someone play for me the opposite of that?"
"Wow! That was REALLY LOUD! Can someone else play really quietly for me?"
"Good job! That was REALLY LOUD TOO! Now can someone play quietly?!"
giggle giggle squirm
So whew. Then SIX CLASSES and a meeting with the headmaster later it was all over. Unfortunately my boss had stepped out for the afternoon so I was like do I stay? Do I go? Do I need to talk to someone else? I found the upper school music teacher, spoke quickly about ordering instruments (I started today and already I got to order supplies. Sweet.) and then left to go wander in the V&A before having supper with my favorite RCA artist. Nice.
Oh, and I gave my phone number to a frazzled American mom (3 kids and pregnant with the 4th) for babysitting purposes.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
On my way
Today has been a big day already and it is only just past noon.
For the rest of the summer my stuff, and sometimes my self- will be staying in Stoke Newington in a house that is being rented by friends of my friend Imogen. I am staying in a room on the top floor (3rd or 2nd depending on how you count it) and the people I've met who already live there are lovely. But mostly I'm excited not to be homeless and also to have somewhere to store *all my stuff.*
How did I get this much stuff? I came with three suitcases and now just moved with the aid of a van. Like, a proper van for transporting stuff- not a minivan which is called a "people carrier" here. Funny story that- I called up a taxi service yesterday, explained that I was moving all of my worldly possessions and could I hire a car? They said certainly and so at 11am this morning a people carrier showed up. Unfortunately- the driver took one look at all of my *stuff* and decided that his band new people carrier could not take it all. Which is reasonable and his prerogative- but still put me in a bit of a bind. So I called up the taxi service again and they said that they could send a van (two seats, lots of plywood covered storage area), but I could not ride with it. Since at this point I was getting panicky- I said Okay. I would ride the bus and hope my new housemates were nice people who would help unload the van before I got there.
Fortunately it all turned out peachy. The driver, Aaron, was lively and entertaining and helped me load all of my *stuff* and then let me ride in the van too. Because he's cool. He's from Sweden, but his mother is Jamaican and he grew up in Leeds where he played professional football for a while. His partner just got pregnant and their first child is due on Christmas eve- he's not sure about names but he really likes "Casey" and he asked if I minded if he put that on the list? I said absolutely, go for it.
I leave for King's Cross station in half an hour or so with my bass, my little red bag, my stool, my backpack, and another bag that I meant to leave at the sublet house but accidentally forgot. I'm taking all of this on the tube in order to get to the train station where I am meeting Lisa Hanson for lunch before getting on a train to Kings Lynn station in Norfolk where I will spend the week trying to remember how to play the bass.
I'm going to Norfolk for a week of Handel Opera. Well, technically an oratorio- Theadora. We're rehearsing all week and then performing next weekend. The singers and continuo players have already been there for a week. I have no idea what I'm getting in to. But it should be good- the food we get is apparently legendary.
Last night I went out to Walthamsthow for a lesson with Peter McCarthy. It was great to see him and catch up, and truly lovely to get to play his bass. Magnificent instrument. However, it was unsettling to realize just how very much I have forgotten. Yes, I have played bass this year- but it is a very different thing to be using a bass to make a riff on versus the much more nuanced playing that is needed for baroque and classical music. I'm pleased I had the lesson before the rehearsals begin, but I am more than a little nervous about this whole process now. That being said- before they had me, they had no bassist at all- so better me than nothing. And I'm not terrible. I do have a degree in this after all. I just haven't played in an orchestra in two years.
I am bringing my computer along with me, so hopefully I will be able to blog from out there. Obviously this is subject to what sort of Internet I can find- but at the very least I'll write some blogs and take photos to post when I get back on the 27th.
For the rest of the summer my stuff, and sometimes my self- will be staying in Stoke Newington in a house that is being rented by friends of my friend Imogen. I am staying in a room on the top floor (3rd or 2nd depending on how you count it) and the people I've met who already live there are lovely. But mostly I'm excited not to be homeless and also to have somewhere to store *all my stuff.*
How did I get this much stuff? I came with three suitcases and now just moved with the aid of a van. Like, a proper van for transporting stuff- not a minivan which is called a "people carrier" here. Funny story that- I called up a taxi service yesterday, explained that I was moving all of my worldly possessions and could I hire a car? They said certainly and so at 11am this morning a people carrier showed up. Unfortunately- the driver took one look at all of my *stuff* and decided that his band new people carrier could not take it all. Which is reasonable and his prerogative- but still put me in a bit of a bind. So I called up the taxi service again and they said that they could send a van (two seats, lots of plywood covered storage area), but I could not ride with it. Since at this point I was getting panicky- I said Okay. I would ride the bus and hope my new housemates were nice people who would help unload the van before I got there.
Fortunately it all turned out peachy. The driver, Aaron, was lively and entertaining and helped me load all of my *stuff* and then let me ride in the van too. Because he's cool. He's from Sweden, but his mother is Jamaican and he grew up in Leeds where he played professional football for a while. His partner just got pregnant and their first child is due on Christmas eve- he's not sure about names but he really likes "Casey" and he asked if I minded if he put that on the list? I said absolutely, go for it.
I leave for King's Cross station in half an hour or so with my bass, my little red bag, my stool, my backpack, and another bag that I meant to leave at the sublet house but accidentally forgot. I'm taking all of this on the tube in order to get to the train station where I am meeting Lisa Hanson for lunch before getting on a train to Kings Lynn station in Norfolk where I will spend the week trying to remember how to play the bass.
I'm going to Norfolk for a week of Handel Opera. Well, technically an oratorio- Theadora. We're rehearsing all week and then performing next weekend. The singers and continuo players have already been there for a week. I have no idea what I'm getting in to. But it should be good- the food we get is apparently legendary.
Last night I went out to Walthamsthow for a lesson with Peter McCarthy. It was great to see him and catch up, and truly lovely to get to play his bass. Magnificent instrument. However, it was unsettling to realize just how very much I have forgotten. Yes, I have played bass this year- but it is a very different thing to be using a bass to make a riff on versus the much more nuanced playing that is needed for baroque and classical music. I'm pleased I had the lesson before the rehearsals begin, but I am more than a little nervous about this whole process now. That being said- before they had me, they had no bassist at all- so better me than nothing. And I'm not terrible. I do have a degree in this after all. I just haven't played in an orchestra in two years.
I am bringing my computer along with me, so hopefully I will be able to blog from out there. Obviously this is subject to what sort of Internet I can find- but at the very least I'll write some blogs and take photos to post when I get back on the 27th.
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