The Seabass Restaurant

We've had a nice, if cold, afternoon in London again, this time visiting the Anish Kapoor exhibition at the Royal Academy. Very interesting, and some made me physically smile in that I couldn't help myself, but found the corners of my mouth turning up. Particularly the big red wax block going through the five galleries and the giant yellow painting that turns out to have a big bulbous intruberance inside it. If that's a word!

Then we headed back to St Christopher's Place on James Street for H's birthday tea. We went to the Seabass restaurant. His coconut prawns were delicious, I enjoyed my hummus and pitta bread. Then his lamb shish kebab was very tasty, my seabass on roast vegetables was succulent, but the chips were a bit oily and overdone - not as good as mine, so mostly left. Overall, very nice, we enjoyed ourselves.

And now I'm off to bed!

Mimosa's Bar and Grill

It's been a while since I reviewed a restaurant; however, when we saw the prices at Mimosa, I decided that I ought to do a review, whether good or bad. £6.95 is a good price for a starter and main course in London, and I'm glad to say that H was wrong when he assumed that might mean that "all the food will be from packets from Tesco"!

To service was very good. The young waitress was new and, I think, still learning English; she brought us the wrong starter. However, H did not realise until half way through, and when we pointed it out, the manageress brought us the right dish; this meant we got to try three of the starters for the price of two!

I had hummus and fried livers. Delicious, and spot on starter size. The small mound of livers were succulent and just a little pink, resting on a coral reef of hummus. I had watched the waitress carefully brown the pitta bread on a big metal dome on top of the smoky, firey grill earlier - it was crispy, not too much, just right.

H's first starter turned out to be a spinach and soft cheese filo pastry with salad. The pastry was very slightly too oily for my taste, but the spinach and cheese was just right. The salad - which also came later with the main course - was the only time that I thought H might have a point about food coming from a plastic bag in Tesco! Red and green cabbage with carrot and a spot of mustard dressing. Anyway, the filo parcels were not the calamari rings expected, but when they came, they still had the slightly too greasy batter but with tasty squid that was not too chewy or rubbery, the main reasons why I don't really like squid.

We were probably getting full on bread and extra starters before the main course arrived. I had a very tasty vegetable moussaka with more of the salad and some mint yoghurt raita sauce. Lots of tomatoes, peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines and bechamel sauce! Very tasty and, once again, a good size for lunch. H had lamb sheesh kebab and rice; it's always a good sign when he finishes something quickly!

We finished by ordering "a cup of tea" which, in translation, became "a coffee", but, once again this mistake was quickly rectified. I had earlier had a delicious, and thick, strawberry milkshake.

I would definitely take any friends or family here for lunch if we are ever in the Bond Street area ... although we passed many other good looking cafes, creperies and trattoria in that same area that we'll need to try some time!

I should point out that we ate out having spent a very interesting and enjoyable hour and a half or so at the nearby Wallace Collection. Hope to go back at some point in the future to peruse further the collection. Not too impressed by the Damien Hirst's this time; well, H wasn't anyway, I didn't really have much time to have an opinion before I heard his!

Martin Creed

What would an evening with the man who created the whole world plus the art equals the whole world, and lights switching on and off, in a dance studio in Islington, consist of? Some mathematical ballet, arty videos and repetitive drumming and strumming, along with Creed's distinctive vocals and slightly awkward but endearing gait. A very funny and relaxing evening, full of surprises and amusements, pauses, possible improvisations and planned happenings. In the midst of it, the choreographer called out seemingly spontaneous and random letters - "We'll have L followed by T front to back" - and the dancers rhythmically entered the space, producing ordered and controlled movements that reminded me of square numbers and logorithmic equations. Creed joked throughout the evening ... In one distinctive piece he commented that he had got the timing wrong, in another he stumbled over that he was glad to be there - he thought. Some may ask, as Creed did in his first song, what's the point? But that is, I think the point. A great evening.

Long time no write

It has been brought to my attention that I have not blogged here for two months. Which means you have not heard about our pleasant wander round the British Museum, our visit to the Byzantium exhibition or our trip to see the photographs at the National Portrait Gallery.

Don't worry, I am well and keeping busy - I've simply been trying to take a break from this blog and my computer in general - however I am busy elsewhere on the web. Should try to write more here occasionally though!

Now on Easter holidays - however, I have a revision session tomorrow, so I should really go and get some sleep now!

Snow Day!

There can hardly be two words that are as pleasant to a teacher's ear than the blessed, "Snow day"! Growing up in Scotland, we were lucky enough as pupils to have had a fair few; sometimes a few snow days would begin with an early closure, where we would all have to wait in the hall and would be called out a bus load at a time, "Those going to Auchinthingumbyjig, leave now." "The bus to Inverwhatjamacallit is about to depart." Sometimes we wouldn't even need snow; we were blessed in those days with a slightly dodgy boiler, which would occasionally break down and occasion the need to evacuate the school.

Nowadays I live in the slightly warmer parts of South East England, that is, London. Snow days are fair and few between. So it is quite exciting to have one today! Now, I realise that the weather conditions are making travel difficult for many people, and quite a few cars have been going (mostly slowly) along the road this morning. I don't envy those who have to make journeys today. However, I got the call just before I left the house at 7am, and I have spent an hour or so frollicking in the snow, taking photos and making snow angels. Highly recommended! I am sure that many of the photos will turn out to be blurry, because it's not really advisable to use the flash when the snow is falling, unless you like big white blobs all over your photos, and since it was quite dark, they need a longish exposure (and I wasn't going to frollick with a tripod). Anyway, it was fun!

Actually, the fun began last night, when H and I went to the ICA to see Mark Leckey give a talk about the Long Tail. I had no idea what to expect, and thought it would be some sort of pretty boring lecture; I was pleasantly surprised to discover a cross between a lecture and a performance, very entertainingly presented, with good use of multimedia (no powerpoints!!) including music and a gramaphone. Mark Leckey won the Turner Prize this year, which for once had sort of passed me by; I am now more interested in seeing some more of his art. It was also my first visit to the ICA; we are going back on Thursday to see Giles Foden talking to Tom Perotta.

Walking up the road round the corner from the Mall, taking photos in the snow, we passed a nice looking restaurant and decided to pop in. It was a Lebanese restaurant called Noura. Since we are in a credit crunch, I decided to try one of the cheaper main dishes on the menu, Musakaat Batenjan with rice, Baked seasoned aubergine cooked with tomato and chick peas, served with rice. H had the lamb skewers with salad. I have to say, I think I came out on top - particularly on such a cold, wintery night. The succulent aubergines, having soaked up the tomato juices, were just the right texture; soft and a bit gooey, not too oily or slimy. The chickpeas crumbled in my mouth, not like the hard little balls I have eaten before. And the rice, long and wild, each grain separate and special, was the ideal accompaniment.

On the home we took photos in the snow, before having a late night - all the more reason to appreciate a snow day! And, there, we're back to where we started. I'm going to go and catch up on that missing sleep now!

Martin Creed

We went to Martin Creed's flat yesterday. A bit more crowded than that sounds, though! He is using his Brick Lane flat as a mini gallery, and the small front room was packed. I had arrived later than H, and was wondering where to find the flat. However, as I paused on a corner and looked around, I noticed a light going on and off just above me, and knew that I had reached my destination! Other than that infamous work, I could not see Creed's other painting - the works on display in the front room were all by other artists. However, the highlight of the evening was first of all recognising, and then talking to, Martin himself. I hadn't realised that H had met him before, although I am sure that he would have been just as pleasant, down to earth and friendly if we were only all meeting him for the first time. It was very tempting to tell him that he was one of my favourite conceptual artists, but I didn't, even though he is. I think that I particularly like his work since I discovered it first not in a gallery but in the house of a friend, before he won the Turner Prize. I remember trying to explain his work to other teachers at school when he won that! Nice to have finally met him.

Busy Bee

What a busy week it has been - again! I've hardly had any time in school to think about anything other than teaching or admin, ie no marking, filing, chasing up minutes, phoning parents etc.

Fortunately most of my classes have been fairly straightforward and well behaved, other than one day when my Year 11 class was very poorly behaved, along with many other students from another class. I wrote a long email to their Head of Year, and we are giving them an after school detention this week. Their letters arrived today - so they were not too happy in this morning's lesson!

Other than that, my evenings have also been jam-packed, which has been enjoyable, but very tiring! For example, we had another open evening (the grand total of two parents visited the department), following which I went to the opening of a gallery fairly near the school. H joined me about an hour later, and since he knew people, we then got chatting and stayed until quite late, when we went next door for a Vietnamese/Chinese/Thai meal. Fortunately we had the car, so it was fairly easy to get home!

The next evening we were out late at a reading event, which again was fun and we met up with some friends and relatives. Another late night - we tried to go to Tayyab's for dinner, but by the time we got there, they were closed, as was the Orange Tree, so we settled for a kebab instead!

Friday I managed to stay in and watch Ugly Betty. How relaxing! Now that Doctor Who is off the air, it is the one show I love to watch regularly.

We visited the new Saatchi Gallery on Saturday. Some of the art seemed quite "vacant", like the eyes of so many of the figures on display, but a few pieces were more interesting. Unfortunately my wisdom teeth started playing up at the weekend so I wasn't able to enjoy the experience as much as I would have liked to! However, it was good to finally discover the King's Road, which had a lovely market selling lots of delicious looking food. We had a sausage on a roll each (yum!) and a box of healthy vegetable dishes, which were unfortunately cold, which was quite unexpected having stood for some time beside the (hot) pans. However, we would still like to go back some time.

Sunday seemed so busy from the start to the end of the day (and the beginning of the next ...). From church I went straight to the shops, then I came home, cooked, then marked lots of books (three out of four sets). In the evening we went out to the home of a new friend, and we stayed until midnight. A great evening, loads of good chat and plenty of good food! Arrived home after 1am, so I am pretty tired now.

I got back earlier from a meeting. Another busy day, but at least I have had the chance to catch up a bit on my blog and some admin stuff here at home. Must go to bed now, though - I think I deserve it! (I definitely need it ... !)

Busy, busy week!

Wow, what a busy week! And with so many late nights! I have had a wee sleep, which was much needed, and I hope to have a lazy day tomorrow to catch up on my rest - but also on the tidying up, washing etc! So, what have I been up to this week?

Monday 28 July - Celebrated our anniversary by staying in for once! H was very busy getting ready for some shows, so I did some shopping for him and went to Ikea to buy a new bed, since we were having lots of guests this week.

Tuesday 29 July - My cousin arrived to look at flats in London. It was really nice to see her. She and another friend will be starting work in September. H continued to work on his preparation and I was able to help him. Think we were getting a bit high on the glue he had to use!

Wednesday 30 July - I dropped my cousin and her friend off at an estate agent. At least, that was the plan. Turns out the road she was on was so long, the numbers repeated themselves in different parts, so she was dropped off about a mile or two from her destination! Later, Mum and Dad arrived with my sister and her husband. I went to meet them, then later they met my cousin (who had found a flat - sounds nice!) who then left. After a short rest, we drove to their hotel and had dinner there.

Thursday 31 July - The highlight of the week! Really enjoyed the evening event, which was a great success. Loads of people there, friends, old, new and just met. During the day we had to prepare - it was SO hot, and I stupidly didn't get dressed up in the morning, choosing to come home, get changed, then go back. Silly idea! Anyway, an old school friend of mine had come down in the morning, and he was able to stay and help H get set up. I think everyone seemed to enjoy it. We stayed until we were eventually kicked out, drove home via the Orange Tree for some delicious Lebanese cooking, then stayed up chatting until about 3am, H, F and I.

Friday 1 August - Arranged to meet M&D at Camden Market. Wandered around for a bit, had some lunch, then took the tube to Waterloo, where we had a coffee. It was a cooler and wetter day, although the rain tended to be a drizzle, so it made a nice change. Then we took the Thames Cruiser - wonderful! - from Waterloo to the O2, where we met up with S&B. Kylie was playing, so there were loads of crowds, and the queues were long, but we got a good round table at Nandos, where we had lovely lot of food. It was funny when we got there; S, B, F and I followed the waitress up a flight of stairs to the table, then turned round to discover that H, M and D had continued up the staircase - which turned out to end up with the toilets! Fortunately they eventually found us! We had a really lovely evening, lots of chat and laughter, and all too soon it was time to go home. We took the tube, although H, F and I went to the supermarket before going home, had a nice walk, then stayed up talking again until about 3am once again.

Saturday 2 August - This is the day everyone had to leave and go home. So it was an early start in order to catch the lunchtime train. However, everyone managed to get there with plenty of time to spare. H and I had a wedding to go to in the evening, so after waving off the train we went to Oxford Street to get a present. They do excellent gift wrapping in John Lewis! Also got a new SIM card, and H got a new phone, which I have been playing with since. Quite jealous! We both had an afternoon nap once we got home, then had to rush to get ready to head across London. We decided to drive, and H managed to get through the lights as they changed to amber on Tower Bridge - just before the bridge went up! So that was lucky, or we would have been even later in arriving. It was a nice evening; H met up with some old school friends and I was able to chat to an old friend as well. Then we drove back with a couple of friends which was a good laugh, reminiscing. Another late night for H and I again, as we chatted about the wedding reception.

Sunday 3 August - So tired getting up for church, but made it. Hope my closed eyes looked like I was being particularly prayerful rather than sleeping! Came back and tried to sleep for a bit, but the noise of the Red Bull planes outside alerted us to the fact that the Air Race was on, so we decided to try to get a closer view and went to the O2. When we got there, we learnt that the tickets for the seats were £50 a go, so we decided to forego that and just stand and look up for a few minutes, before taking the tube to meet up with yet another friend at the Serpentine Gallery. Took a while to meet up, since the rain meant we changed our plans and first of all met her at her borrowed apartment, but we got there eventually and saw Richard Prince's work before heading home. For a much needed (and hopefully deserved!) afternoon nap. And then I got up, made some dinner, and here I am catching up with my blog. Hopefully this coming week will be a bit quieter! (Although, somehow I doubt it!)

See you next Sunday - if not before!

Life Drawing

I went to my first life drawing class after work today. Well, not exactly a class, but there was a model and a few folk drawing her. It was a bit strange - I hadn't realised the woman was the model at first, and wondered who she was - this was in school - and then I realised that it was Thursday and there is life drawing on a Thursday. (She was dressed at that point!) It was a bit strange at first as she disrobed, because having a naked woman sitting in a classroom is not an everyday occurrence (just a weekly art one!), so I started be sketching the outline of her back and the shape of her legs, and by that time everyone was so intently drawing that I had become used to her nakedness too and it was a very relaxing and enjoyable half an hour or so. I was quite pleased with my finished work, apart from the fact that I had sketched it with the paper on the table at a slight angle to me, and when I lifted it up to look at it, the face in particular was completely different! I will need to remember that for next time! It was like an optical illusion - it looks sort of normal from a certain perspective, but from viewing on a wall perspective it's sort of elongated. (Also, the face is not particularly good anyway, since I'm not a great faces person.) The woman was very striking. She had quite spiky hair, and deeply hooded eyes, thickly covered in blue eyeshadow and black kohl. Her mouth, purposively painted, was set in a calm yet pouting distinctive way. Her eyebrows were black and arched. She wore a purple beaded necklace.

It had been a good day all round. My Year 9s produced some artwork and two of my Year 10 boys, who are on report and often don't turn up at all, took part in some excellent, thoughtful discussion about poverty and wealth. Does money always make you happy? Is it always a bad thing? Can you be happy if you are poor?

Updating my list ...

1) Watch London marathon (want to get pics of the Maasai warriors that are running)
2) Visit our friends with a newborn baby
3) Plan a unit on the Holy Spirit that involves art
4) Mark another set of books (and possibly pop in to school to pick up some more sets of books, and the two sets of year 7 assessments that I left at school by accident)
5) Buy an outfit for my friend's wedding, and a present
6) Buy a present for our nephew's first birthday
7) Plan the forthcoming lessons
8) Tidy the house!! (I've done it, but it has to be continually kept up to date!)
9) Sort out the car insurance stuff following my accident the other week.

So, as far as school goes, I still need to:
1) Mark the other half of Y9 books
2) Mark the other set of Y9 books
3) Mark the two sets of Y7 assessments
4) Plan lessons for Y9 assessment
5) Plan lessons for Y8 assessment
6) Plan lessons for new Y7, Y8 and Y9 schemes of work
7) Plan LOTC scheme of work on religion and art for Y9
8) Arrange times for Parents' Day
9) Complete Risk Assessment for school trip

Also need to:
1) Send off car insurance stuff
2) Get the car keys back
3) Possibly buy coat and gloves for wedding outfit (Done - Sunday)
4) Complete at least 2 applications
5) Arrange graduation stuff (at least I've started on this by asking for time off!)
6) Bind my dissertation

Hmmm. So I still have quite a bit to do tomorrow ...

PS GREAT NEWS! I got the car keys back!

Great weekend

Just a quick update! We've had a lovely weekend. On Friday night we went out for Chinese, then on Saturday we got up and went to a couple of galleries in Shoreditch. We had lunch at Viet Hoa - H had a huge tilapia fish and I had chargrilled pork. Both were delicious! It was nice to be out. The rest of the weekend has been taken up with writing CV stuff, planning lessons and celebrating Palm Sunday at church. Busy day. Still not quite finished! Also, we watched The Passion, and both decided it was really good. Highly recommended!

Laughing at art

We went to the Hayward Gallery today to see their "Laughing in a Foreign Language" exhibition. The first thing that struck me on entering was the seriousness of the visitors, as we read the explanations with furrowed brow, and contemplated deeply the meaning of each work. The four furry animals in a pile, supposedly an illegal immigrant family being paid to dress up this way each day. A clown walking along a green and leafy river, like Sisyphus or an Escher drawing. A video giving instructions to an illegal immigrant on how to blend in, with simple drawings to match. The battle between fire and water, with remade teapots and fans facing each other in a luminous head to head. A portrait of a family made out of pornographic pictures. A door that leads no where with a miaowing cat and a pile of keys to tempt the viewer. Three joke machines that tell a seemingly endless number of jokes when you press a button. A video of Chinese people, old and young, poor and police, dancing to some sort of electro-hip-hop. A Japanese Bin Laden who is fed up of terrorism and has been converted to sake and Japanese food. Little squiggles and sketches graffited on the walls, including a king's head that is either happy or sad depending on which eye you close.

A man dressed up as a stag performing a shamanistic ritual in a Liverpool tower block. A Cameroonian who deliberately makes himself an object of suspicion when he travels, by carrying wooden luggage or a strange walking stick. A man who gives white wet paint handshakes while wearing a smart black tuxedo. A little girl who plays with rabbits and has her own burrow in the kitchen. A box who tells his story. A stool that looks like a person bending over, so if anyone sits on it they look very peculiar indeed, like they are cruelly squashing someone. The Chapman brothers' vandalism of The Rake's Progress. David Shrigley's drawings.

I laughed at some of the jokes, the Cameroonian when his passport photo looked simply like a black blob, and the girl playing with the rabbits (and her little brother playing plastic bottle drums along with their father). The rest were interesting, but probably had more to say about migration than laughter or laughing. So lots of interesting art, but not so sure about the title!

Weekend Catch up

What a packed week! We have been so busy in the evenings that I haven't had time to update my blog ... so I'll do it now!

Wednesday's notable incident was when SMT came into my lesson, and decided to show me how to teach a class. Think he meant it in a supportive way, and I've decided he probably occasionally misses being a classroom teacher, but it wasn't at all appropriate ... after he left the pupils were obviously not too impressed with the way he'd spoken to me, and said that I should have stood up to him more and told him off! Didn't feel too able to do that in front of the class. However, I went and spoke to him at lunch and he apologised for the way he had come across - he was only reminding them how to behave or something. Anyway, very bizarre, not too great, but was glad I spoke to him about it. Let's hope it doesn't happen again ...

H and I went out to an opening during the week. Interesting to see paintings. But the best bit was going to The Orange Room Cafe afterwards for dinner. It's a Lebanese restaurant that does delicious takeaways. Yum!

One amazing moment ("almost Biblical" as a colleague described it) midweek, came at the end of a busy day. I was tidying up the classroom, and noticed that it had become very dark. I presumed it was just that winter darkness, forgetting that it's beginning to still be light around 4pm these days, before realising that it was raining. I happened to look up at one point, and thought I saw a flash like a huge living room light being switched on and off. A thunderstorm? Then, a few minutes later, a rumble of thunder shook the room, growling its way across the skies, moving me to look up and to speak to myself: Wow. It was one of those truly amazing deep belly rumblings. The rain splashed big, heavy drops outside, and I was glad to be in, but a bit worried about leaving the room.

However, when I did leave the classroom in order to do some photocopying in the staffroom, I was again stunned, this time by the contrast. The sky above me to the right was a clear, lucid, cloudless blue, bright and hopeful. To my left, the now purple thickness of the storm clouds rolled away like a carpet. I stood and gazed at the sky for some time. Wow, again.

The key sight on Friday waited until I was almost home. I had stopped at lights by a roundabout, when I noticed a young man, in his early twenties, walking along the pavement towards my road. Nothing special, you might think. But he was wearing a black t-shirt, dark jeans, and was strumming his guitar and quietly singing to himself as he walked along. It wasn't exactly a balmy evening, so his lack of coat or even jumper might have been startling enough, but to be playing his guitar as well ... it was like a scene out of the Liverpool Nativity! I obviously wasn't the only one who was struck by this strange occurrence - as he crossed the road and continued walking, another pedestrian in a green hooded top, turned to look at him as he walked past. Bizarre.

We had a lovely evening out at the home of one of H's friends, along with a lot of other friends. Tasty home cooked food, but more importantly, great conversation. A good (and late!) night.

Saturday I had another of my many courses. This essay is due for the end of February, so that makes two I need to complete, but at least I only have another two or three of these modules to complete and I'll have finished that course. It led to an interesting discussion and reflection on the impact and significance of crosses and crucifixes. I like the empty cross, with its symbol of hope and resurrection - Jesus no longer hangs, being crucified, instead he has conquered death - and have always struggled a bit with the crucifix, which in some ways seems to have Jesus always continually suffering and dying for us, rather than resurrecting. However, the cradle Catholics in the group all felt that the empty cross was a Protestant way of denying Christ, of removing him from the picture in some one, and they saw it as a symbol of emptiness and desolation in some way. It's good that we have shared our ideas and feelings - I think we were both shocked and challenged by each other's perceptions and learnt from each other to appreciate both symbols.

Church this morning was good, although a bit surreal. For a start, we began a bit late (I'm not entirely sure why, but at least I know it wasn't because of me, because I managed to get up and arrive a bit early!). Then the priest almost forgot to incense the Gospel - he started reading, then stopped in order to do that. I was doing the readings and prayers, and the readings were fine, but I remember starting the Creed, then the next thing I noticed the altar server was nudging me - I was supposed to be up and saying the prayers, but I was very far away I don't know where, and there had been a long pause, when the priest had had to motion to the altar server to nudge me to go and say the prayers! Finally, when the Mass was ending, the priest wished us all a good evening - "Oh, sorry, day!". So it was a funny sort of informal type Mass, and Fr D was fine when I apologised, so everything was okay, but I don't know what I was thinking of!

Finally, the big news of the weekend was that H's bound galleys have arrived along with a mock up of the cover, so it's all very exciting!

Right. I've ticked of four of the nine things on my to-do list, and it's now after 10pm, so it's time to pack up for tomorrow and go to bed. Next week is a busy week ... doctor, dentist, Doris Lessing, the African Cup of Nations, writing a lesson plan about Fair Trade chocolate ... So perhaps it will be another Sunday catch up!

Catch up time!

A few thoughts from last week ...

Geese flying overhead, through the blue sky. I looked up and watched them fly directly above me, in a V formation. Beautiful.

SACRE meeting on Wednesday night went very well, although there was a lot of running around trying to find the correct keys etc. I made a presentation, and it went across well. There were some very interesting questions, particularly about how we teach about sex and relationships in a Catholic school, and whether or not there is a tension between Science and RE in how we teach about the creation of the world. There isn't, I don't think, although some of our pupils have a different point of view on things ... Anyway, left school at 9:45pm that night. Had arrived at 7:45am ...

On Thursday, a TV researcher got in touch about another one of my blogs and the technology I use in my classroom. We had a chat, then she emailed asking if they could come and film me with a class in the ICT suite on Monday or Tuesday! I'd expect longer notification for an ordinary observation! Have told her I'll need to get Head's permission and pupil consent first, so we'll wait and see what happens.

Friday ended up being really busy - I had 3 non-contacts, but they all got taken up with admin type things, so I still haven't planned my lessons for this coming week. Am about to do that now.

On Friday evening, we were going out to an opening, so I met up with H in town. We went to a gallery just off Bond Street (some nice shops around there!!!), but then discovered it was all locked up. The exhibition there had obviously been on for a while. Later we discovered that the gallery did have another opening on that night - in Munich!

We wondered what to do, and H remembered that there was another opening in Whitechapel, so we decided to try and find it. Eventually found the opening to the Fieldgate Gallery near Atlantis. That was quite fun. I particularly liked a couple of works by Maria Anwander, for example a video of someone swimming in a pool that is set inside a sink. There was also an excellent painting by Andy Harper, which looked very realistic. You can see some pictures from the exhibition here.

Seeing we were in the area, we decided to head down Brick Lane to Chutney's. As we were about to enter, a girl standing outside was calling out, "We've got a celebrity dining here tonight - Carole from Big Brother!" And, sure enough, she was there - in fact, we were almost placed right beside her, within elbow knocking when you use your knife distance, but H prefers to be further inside the restaurant, away from the door, so we sat nearer the middle of the restaurant. I had chicken passanda - very nice, as always.

Yesterday I had another course to attend, which ran from 10am to about 3.30pm. I found it really hard to keep my eyes open! Afterwards I wanted to buy a pair of more casual shoes, and the Dorothy Perkins next to Bond Street tube station had a huge selection - nice to be able to find some so quickly and easily! Then I headed across to Mexx, where a little top caught my eye. I tried it on, and bought that too ... Will go back, I liked their look.

Today I've been to church, and now I have to plan those lessons. This week I am giving a presentation on Wednesday to teachers from other schools, and we need to plan for our upcoming open evening. So I expect it will be busy again! And I still need to finish my dissertation ...

Busy, busy!

Back at school

I have enjoyed the week off - very busy getting ready for the Open Studio, which was fun. Really good to see everyone else's work.

I had training last night in a program called Mediator. It's excellent ... I can put a whole unit of work with tasks and downloadable revision sheets onto something that looks like a website, and it should be really easy to make into something that pupils can use to revise from. Up till midnight playing on it!

Had loads of revision today - but so nice. Top set pupils who sat, listened, took notes, and made good points occasionally.

Waiting for dinner to be served ...!

Half way through half term update

It's Wednesday, H and I have spent the last couple of days getting the studio ready for the Open Studio, and the car passed its MOT this morning. I went to school yesterday for some A Level revision. Can't believe their exam is next week. I'm really nervous. With my GCSE group, I had never felt so prepared. With this group, I've never felt so unprepared. Oh dear.

Well, better get back to holding up shelves and pictures.

Visualisers

We had a lovely weekend. Actually, I can't remember much of what we did on Saturday ... ah, we watched the cup final, or rather H watched it while I did stuff on the computer, then we went to Oxford Circus to buy a book for our new cousin, who was born three weeks ago and lives not far from us (Yay! A baby relative who is close to us and not miles away!). In the morning I had watched some cooking programmes (while H had driven to Sainsbury's) and had been inspired by Gary Rhodes, so after we arrived home, I cooked up a tasty salmon dish, with the salmon marinated then grilled in a garlic, olive oil, chardonny, mustard, salt, thyme and soya sauce marinade. Delicious! We have Italian potatoes and salad with it - sorry, no photos!

On Sunday, after church, we went out to view some open studios in Deptford then went a bit further south to visit our new baby cousin. He's so cute! And you wouldn't believe he was only about three weeks old! For most of the visit he was fast asleep, very cute and quiet. He woke up a bit before we left and was crying a bit, but not much.

Today I've been blogging and learning more about computers on my ICT course, which finishes tomorrow (although, actually, I have another half day of training after half term). So that's been a good three or four days then. Wonder what Wednesday will hold!

The Weekend

I have spent most of it blowing my nose. However, we also went to an model shop then had lunch at Shalimar Restaurant in Brick Lane which was very enjoyable. But it was also very wet ... It's really been pouring down in London these past couple of days! On the way home (yesterday) I also took a detour and wandered past the EastSide apartments in Bow and the Roman Road market. I saw a couple of squirrels and two gigantic plastic red tulips. There are some nice areas around there. I then walked past a building that had a blue plaque dedicated to Annie Besant, who set up the Matchgirls' Union.

This morning I missed church for the first time in ages ... I slept in. My alarm went off, I set it to snooze ... and it didn't go off again! So instead I had a long lie in, and have now finished all the tissues. What a cold. We were supposed to visit H's cousin to see his new baby this afternoon, but decided it wouldn't be fair with the dreaded lurgy still choking me up and making me feel tired and under the weather. So I've been surfing the net while H has been hard at work!

Best day so far

I think yesterday was the best day so far since coming back after Easter. Partly because so many of the Year 11s voted with their feet claiming that the had coursework elsewhere. I didn't give them permission to go, but they walked out anyway. (Spoke to the teacher they claimed to be seeing who has given them a piece of his mind). The Year 10s helped me label the Year 8 report boxes, I saw my nice Year 11s for the last time, and the Year 8s really enjoyed the video I'd put together for them.

H has double booked himself - art opening or England v Brazil at Wembley?!

Good Friday

I've just arrived back from the Good Friday service. I understand how so many artists, writers, musicians, creative people can have been inspired over the years by the Catholic Church. There is so much symbolism, so much mystery, so many moving aspects to the service.

Entering the church is haunting. So plain, so silent, people quietly moving to their places, shuffling along rows to let as many people in as possible. No flowers, no candles, no incense, no holy water. The statues, from the large crucifix on the wall to the little statues of Mary and Joseph that sit before the rows of (now extinguished) votive candles, are all covered in white muslin: Jesus enters Golgotha alone, without support, as he faces his final hour. The feeling of emptiness is completed by the open tabernacle ... empty now, the sanctuary lamp without its familiar warm red glow, we are reminded that God is dead.

The Mass began yesterday, during the Lord's Supper, the Maundy Thursday service, where feet were washed and bread and wine broken and blessed. So today, there is no bell, no processional hymn; the priest and altar servers walk slowly, solemnly, quietly in to their places, only pausing as the priest prostrates himself at the foot of the altar. The congregation kneels in memory of the events of that day, so many years ago now.

And then the Passion is read. The priest takes the role of Jesus; two women act as the narrator and as all the other individual speakers ... Pilate, Peter, the woman in the courtyard. We are the crowd, calling out for Jesus to be crucified: we have no king but Caesar. And so we are implicit in the crucifixion of Christ, our Lord. Our guilt is complete. But so will our redemption be ... We get to the point in the reading where Jesus cries out "It is accomplished!" The church goes silent. The priest kneels, the congregation follows suit. A long pause, a time of prayer, of reflection. Then we stand again, to remember that the story did not end there. We finish as the body is laid in the tomb.

The main aspect of this 3pm service is the Veneration of the Cross: a large wooden cross, with a marble looking statue of Jesus on it, held up by the altar servers so the congregation could kiss the feet of Jesus. The congregation, solemnly processing towards the crucifix, of every age, race, gender and socio-economic background, mingling together in shared adoration of Jesus. At one point, the Irish priest was sitting down, resplendent in red robes, and the African altar server bent towards him to ask him something, their two faces looking towards the edge of the church, side by side. Very picturesque. I could imagine a Rembrandt ...

At the end of the service, the final image is of the altar, a plain, cream stone table, with three crosses standing underneath it, surrounded by rocks on a baize, and the crucifix with Jesus, reclining on two purple cushions behind. On the altar is the silver ciborium, and thus, perhaps, a circle is complete.

We leave the church in silence: no holy water today, only reflections to carry with us. Outside, the world seems quieter. As I walk, steadily, surely, more slowly than usual, back home, I reflect on the crowd who had watched the crucifixion. They had had their entertainment, they had seen things they had not expected ... now they walked away, along the dusty road, sun shining as it is today, leaving Jesus behind, hanging there on the cross, only a few followers daring to stay, to wait, to take his body and tenderly prepare it for burial. The rest of us, we walked away, back to resume our busy lives ...

Perhaps to be inspired to draw, to write, to paint, to compose, to sing, to create.