Monday, Monday

Dave and I went to see a great movie yesterday: "My Brother the Devil," about Arab kids growing up in a tough neighborhood in the London borough of Hackney. The Guardian calls it "muscular and heartfelt," and I would agree. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I won't relate the whole plot -- you can click on the link to the review for that. But I was impressed.

Suddenly there are all these movies we want to see -- we also want to check out "Argo" and "The Master." Why do movies always come in clusters?

Otherwise, yesterday was taken up by routine housework and my weekly sub reports for school. And this morning I had four teachers call in sick. That may not sound like a lot, but for a school the size of ours it's more than is typical at the last minute. What the heck is going on out there?!

(Photo: Graffiti at Trellick Tower.)

Rooster Express, Part 5

I've already noted several times (here, here, here and here) the amusing names and apparently mandatory red-white-and-blue color scheme of chicken joints in London.

These two, which I came across last week in Shepherd's Bush, carry the added benefit of being named after states.

They're not the first state-named chicken joints I've found -- you may remember Carolina Chicken and New Jersey Chicken from those previous posts. I suppose fried chicken is an American invention -- isn't it?

Because I know this is a topic of burning interest to all of you, here are a few more entertaining chicken facades I've encountered over the past several months:

You've got to love Dixy Chicken -- complete with novel spelling.

I wonder how Dallas Chicken differs from Texas Chicken?

These guys abandoned American references and went instead with the name of the local neighborhood.

And this place just looks scary. I'd run!

Pennies for Prunes

I'm waking up to this news about Gen. David Petraeus resigning from the CIA because of his extramarital affair. I'm confused about why that's an offense that demands his resignation. He's not an elected official, and unless the affair somehow compromised national security I can't see how it makes a difference. Seems like there must be more to this story.

Great, Obama already entangled in a new scandal. The guy just can't win!

I got an interesting piece of mail the other day -- a packet from my former employer offering to buy me out of the company pension system. Apparently they're making offers to all their former employees, trying to lighten their pension obligations. They want to pay me a lump sum or a monthly sum for life. Entertaining to think about, but my inclination is to just let that money sit where it is. Supposedly it's guaranteed even if the company goes under, though I do question how many of these pension plans could conceivably be supported by government if things get bad enough.

I did learn that my pension is worth far more than I ever imagined. So that's encouraging. I thought I'd get just enough to buy a jar of prunes and some Depends each month, but it turns out to be far more than that. Maybe I won't starve in my old age.

I went walking again yesterday. We didn't have as much sun as the day before, but it was still nice to get out and about for several hours in the morning.

(Photo: Street art in Finsbury Park, by the artist who also did this.)

Early Morning Phone Fatigue

Here it is almost 7 a.m. and I'm only just starting to write my blog entry. Unheard of!

I've had a crazy morning already. A class assistant called in sick and I could not find a substitute for her. I called ten people (and let me tell you how fun it is to call ten people at 6 a.m.) and none of them could take the job. I exhausted the school's sub list. Well, I've done all I can do -- and there's a teacher in the room, anyway, so it's not like the kids will be running wild.

Did you see Rachel Maddow's post-election show? She went on a terrific monologue in which she basically slapped the Republicans with a reality check, and went on to point out that our opposing parties ought to be able to work together and balance each other's interests in the service of better government. Awesome. I liked it so much I recorded it and you can watch it here.

We are having a refreshing run of sunny(ish) weather, so I seized the opportunity to go walking again yesterday. I'll probably go out today too. I am wearing out the camera!

(Photo: Seven Sisters Road, on Wednesday.)

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Among the weirder pieces of public art I've found -- this giant snail on the side of an apartment building. Wouldn't you love to know the thought process of the person who conceived this project?

At least it's smiling. It's a happy snail.

I don't have much to report. I took a long walk yesterday along Seven Sisters Road, which has a great name and runs a couple of miles through northeast London. It felt good to get outside after a couple of days of indoor hibernation and work, and the weather cooperated with intermittent sunshine. Got some good pictures to which you will no doubt be subjected over the next few days.

I've seen surprisingly little complaining about Obama's victory. One of my evangelical friends (yes, I have a few) wrote unhappily on Facebook that she woke up early yesterday morning and could not get back to sleep, seeing the election results. "I needed to pray," she wrote. "The dream I had when I finally did fall back asleep was all about praying in the spirit prostrate before The Lord. Was a very intense, sad dream, but as I started praying, situations (and people) began to change for the good of others."

I am just fascinated by that. It's so different from the way I think and view the world. I haven't seen this woman, who I knew in high school, for years and years, and I don't mean to belittle her faith. But it's safe to say that I would never dream about praying in the spirit prostrate before The Lord. I suppose I'm going to hell.

She also posted an article lamenting the lost (presumably Republican?) votes of babies who have been aborted since the passage of Roe vs. Wade.

Another high school acquaintance, who at least appears to live in the same universe I do, won election to the Florida Senate as a Republican. I sent her a congratulatory message and wished her good luck. Even though we may not see eye-to-eye politically I can appreciate personally her victory and how happy she must be. She wrote back, "Thank you Steve, I might be Republican but I appreciate anybody who will learn the issues and vote their conscience whether you're a Republican or Democrat. Thanks again for your encouragement." Which I thought was cool. We need to be able to talk to each other and be friends even if we disagree, politically or theologically -- you know?

Anyway, it's fascinating to see how people react. Most everyone I know had a very, very good day yesterday.

Woo Hoo!

Wow, is the news ever looking good this morning! I haven't absorbed all the details yet, since I just woke up about an hour and a half ago and I spent most of that time working -- more on that in a moment. But it seems the election results went well in just about every race I'd been watching -- not only for Obama but also for Elizabeth Warren, Claire McCaskill, Bill Nelson and many other Democratic senators. Way to go, voters! I'm amazed. I almost feel bad for every derogatory joke I've ever made about gun-toting, Bible-thumping America.

I've been watching the comments from my friends on Facebook, and it seems everyone is pretty psyched, at least among the people I know. I'm sure someone somewhere is disappointed, but I'm not friends with them on Facebook! And apparently gay marriage is passing in certain states? Who'd a thunk it?!

What a relief. And now, best of all, it's over. We return you to our regularly scheduled program of moving the country forward.

For once, I'm sorry I live overseas. I want to be there, in the midst of the excitement, like I was four years ago.

Yes, I worked all morning. I got up at 5:45 to find three voice mail messages from teachers calling in sick. I had to scramble around and find subs in the pre-dawn darkness, and I was so preoccupied that the election didn't even enter my mind. It wasn't until I had everyone squared away for today that I thought to check the news.

Also, the draft copy of my newest photography book arrived yesterday. I'm a little disappointed in the results, actually. Last night I had to redesign the cover, because the edges of the image had been cut off, and I had to adjust the type size inside. I also think the photos are printing a little too darkly -- some of the detail is lost -- but I can't really help that. I ordered a second copy, and if this one looks good with its revisions, I'll make it available for public sale.

(Photo: Kensington High Street, on Sunday.)

Hermitic

Forget my doubts about Bonfire Night and whether it could possibly be different from the nights prior. It was very different. For more than an hour our living room walls were lit by pops and flashes and explosions. I could look out any window and see fireworks in any randomly selected direction on the horizon -- northwest toward Wembley, north to Queen's Park and Maida Vale, northeast to Westbourne Green, south and southwest to Kensington and Holland Park. I made a few videos, but I'm not going to put them online. I might even erase them. Videos of fireworks don't really do them justice, and I find that I never watch them afterwards. Fireworks have to be enjoyed live, don't you think? You have to be sitting on a picnic blanket holding something alcoholic.

Once again, I was glad we don't have dogs. Now I remember why Ernie got so worked up last year.

I didn't leave the house yesterday. I'm not sure how this happens, and I'm not sure it's really good for me to be so hermitic. I get up and I get busy with things like blogging, uploading photos, showering, cleaning, doing my sit-ups, working for the school, making breakfast and lunch, reading, Facebooking, and before I know it it's 5 p.m. and Dave is home. I suppose I really should make myself take a walk at least -- but I walked and ran both days over the weekend, so I was entitled to a day of rest.

Yesterday I finally cut down our tomato plants and threw them out. That experiment has ended for the year. On the way to the dumpster I ran into Chris and Linda, the neighbors who gave them to us as tiny sprouts last spring, and showed them that I was removing them. Chris said, "Well, we won't hold it against you." He was joking...I think. Surely he didn't expect us to keep them through the winter? ("He doesn't garden," Linda said, by way of explanation.)

Our amaryllis are turning yellow, so we've started to withhold water to help them go dormant. We'll begin watering them again in February or so. I just have to keep an eye on our pupating caterpillar and remember to save that leaf! My plan is to hang it from the wall near the window in the bedroom, on the north side of the apartment, where it's coolest. If I were going to pupate, I'd do it there.

I had a very strange dream last night about trying to find a mailbox to mail some letters. I walked into an office complex here in England and they said there were no mailboxes. They directed me to a site over some adjacent hills, an incredibly far walk. I was incredulous but began walking and complaining to Dave, who was with me, and then suddenly a huge piece of machinery -- like a cherry-picker or tree-trimming truck -- rolled down a hill in front of us and crashed onto the roadway. We tried to call emergency services but just as the operator was about to pick up I realized I didn't even know where I was. Then I woke up.

(Photo: I was taking a picture of that bench in Kensington Gardens on Saturday when the woman wandered into the frame carrying the little girl with a pink balloon. A happy accident!)