Pennies and Totoro

This is the house across the street from us. It's undergoing some sort of re-roofing or renovation project, and it has one of those massive scaffold sheds over it. As a Floridian, used to hurricane-proofing and tropical-storm preparation, I am skeptical of these things. Granted, we don't get many (any?) hurricanes in England but we certainly have high winds, and I'm just waiting for some of that sheet metal to go flying.

Yesterday was FABULOUS. I walked Olga in the morning, then stayed on the couch reading for a couple of hours. I am really enjoying "The Deep End of the Ocean."

I also did this:

Those are pennies and 2p coins (is the word "tuppence" still in use?). I've been saving them up for years in a pair of cups in the dining room, and I finally, finally had enough to package them up for depositing in the bank.

In the states, I'd roll the coins. But in England we don't use coin rolls -- we use these ridiculous plastic baggies that don't seal properly and threaten to spill the coins everywhere. The seal is a plastic flap that fits beneath another plastic flap, and let me tell you, they are clumsy and not that secure.

As we discussed a few days ago, I seldom use pennies (or any other coins) anymore. Once I get these out of my life I expect to remain pretty much coin-free, though I'm sure I'll still pick them up when I find them on the sidewalk. Even buskers and homeless people often discard their pennies.

Then, after lunch, Olga and I went to the cemetery. We passed this cute hat on top of a hedge on our street. Hopefully whoever dropped it will return to find it again. It looks like a character from Japanese animation...

...which brings me to my final activity of the day. Dave and I went to see "My Neighbor Totoro" on stage at the Barbican (after having dinner at the Barbican Brasserie, a restaurant overlooking the pond and fountains in the central court behind the theater building). This was my birthday present -- Dave bought tickets back in October but we couldn't get seats until now. As longtime readers know, I love the Totoro movie (and indeed all Hayao Miyazaki movies), and the show captured the movie's essence brilliantly. It was so well staged, with breathtaking sets and costumes, and it perfectly embraced Miyazaki's reverence for nature and evident skepticism toward modern technology. (You will never find a computer or a plastic bottle in a Miyazaki production.) I loved it. I bought a t-shirt on the way out.

Hamster Wheel

At last! After the craziest week of my recent working life, I have some time to myself. Let me try to explain why things have been so nuts.

This past week was exams week in our high school, which means a different daily schedule. The kids have only two longer class periods per day, and otherwise they have free time to study, meet with teachers, finish projects or whatever. Well, of course, a lot of them wind up in the library, so I was surrounded by about a hundred chattering students (because even if they were studying they were not silent) for hours each day. Even during the class times, there are always some students who have that particular block as a study period.

The 9th and 10th grade English classes all came down to get books for the break, which for some involved a presentation from the head librarian. Plus, the Grade 6 classes were all coming in waves to get books. Plus random kids from all other grades when it was convenient for them. The shelves were in a constant state of chaos.

I don't mean to complain about this. We are a library, after all, and I want the kids to check stuff out. But I literally never had a quiet moment. Last night I actually had a Library Stress Dream, in which I was trying to find books for different people all at once PLUS I had a meeting to attend PLUS I was in a weird library which wasn't really our library and I was having to greet co-workers and wish them happy holidays while trying to get things done etc etc etc.

Anyway, now I am on Winter Break until Jan. 8 and I am so ready for it. I can't wait to have some quiet days to read and walk and explore and just live in my head.

The courier never has come to collect those books I packaged up to sell on the library's behalf. Every day I get an e-mail saying they're coming to school that afternoon to pick them up, and then every day they don't show. The boxes are still sitting there. Perhaps they'll be collected during the break, or perhaps not. I don't care anymore. It was always an experiment with a low payoff, so if it completely falls through the only thing wasted is one day of my time and effort. I can live with that.

I have two presents for Dave for Christmas, and I should ideally get a few more. Some of you suggested giving each other the television set and calling it a day. I kind of like that idea and I may well fall back on it!

I am looking forward to finishing my current book, "The Deep End of the Ocean" by Jacquelyn Mitchard, which was a best-seller in the '90s and one of Oprah's first picks for her famous book club. I have always intended to read it and it's a page-turner so far, but I've been so busy I've only been able to snatch brief moments with it. I also have a huge stack of New Yorkers to catch up on.

Last night I read this profile of author Joyce Carol Oates, a brilliant, eccentric figure who sounds like she may well be dancing on the edge of insanity. I've never been a fan of her as a writer. I've tried to read a couple of her books and they just don't do it for me. I don't think I've ever finished one. Truman Capote had famously harsh words for Oates: “I’ve seen her, and to see her is to loathe her. To read her is to absolutely vomit.”

I don't feel that strongly, and I often think I should give her another try. (It's been probably 30 years and maybe as a more mature adult I'd respond better to her work.) Then again, there's a lot to read out there.

(Photos: Reflected light on a tree near the Tate Modern, a few weeks ago.)

Sunrise and Miscellany

As I passed by the former Decca Records studios on my walk to work yesterday morning, I saw that some work is being done on the building. There was a worker out front kneeling on the steps -- I'm not sure what he might have been doing, or what that red light is in the window, but it made an interesting photo.

There was talk for a while of turning this vacant building into a school, but those plans got rejected and as far as I know it's still for sale.

I was walking about half an hour earlier than usual, because I had to get to school to do my first Newbery presentation to the Grade 5 students.

I even got to see the sunrise, which I don't usually experience on my walks.

The Newbery talks went fine, and in fact most of the books I talked about got checked out. I even inspired a little competition between two students who insisted they'd been the first to ask for "Johnny Tremain," which I never imagined I would turn into such a hot property. Fortunately through a combination of technology and librarian observation we were able to determine who should rightfully get it first.

Last night, after the library closed, I joined a little gathering of co-workers in a school-owned house where one of them is temporarily living. It's the same building where Dave and I briefly lived when we first came to London back in 2011, so I got to revisit our former flat (if you can call it that -- we only spent about four nights there). I had forgotten so much about what it looked like. That was a long time ago! Anyway, last night we had drinks and traded stories and it was pretty fun.

I am so ready for this week to be over. After today, I'm done with work until Jan. 8!

Oddbins and Some Snowmen

I found this graffiti on my walk home from work last night. Seasonally appropriate!

I was just reading about the demise of my favorite wine merchant, Oddbins. We have an Oddbins shop here in West Hampstead and every once in a while I'd take all the £1 coins we'd accumulated in our change bowl and go buy a bottle or two of wine. It was a good way to get rid of coins.

Oddbins has a sort of legendary status in the UK. It's been around for 60 years, and at its height in the '90s it operated a chain of more than 275 outlets all over the country. It was so well known that "Absolutely Fabulous" made a joke about the hard-drinking, Chanel-wearing character Patsy Stone living in a flat above Oddbins.

But apparently it fell on hard times about ten years ago, something about corporate debt, and then Brexit and the pandemic finished off its high-street shops. Last night I happened to walk by and noticed all the windows dark and the shelves stripped of stock. Apparently Oddbins is still trading as an online presence, but it won't be the same.

Funny thing, though -- I went down the street to our other local wine merchant, a little independent shop, and the guy who used to work at Oddbins is now working there! So at least he landed on his feet. Maybe Patsy can find a flat upstairs.

And since I never use cash anymore, I don't accumulate change. My need to get rid of coins is pretty much nonexistent.

Times are different!

This looks like a picture of nothing, and it kind of is. It's showing our newly painted hallway wall (foreground) which, before our recent renovations, looked like this:

You can see how it's much improved now, though the colors don't show up as well because of course I had to take the post-renovation picture at night. (It's always night at this time of year!) We had saved the paint from our earlier paint job so the contractors were able to use it and match the color exactly.

Today I have to get myself to work early because I'm doing two presentations to Grade 5 classes about the Newbery awards. I've certainly gotten a lot of mileage out of reading all those books a couple of years ago!

Changing Colors

The apartment complex on the street behind our flat has put out its Christmas lights -- these colored fixtures that hang over the doors.

The colors change, which you can see in these two photos, taken a few seconds apart.

This is Harvard Court, above, and across the street (directly behind our flat) is Yale Court. I've written about them before. I still wonder who thought to name them after American universities. I guess we have references to Oxford and Cambridge in America, so it's kind of the same thing.

I got up waaaaaaay too early this morning -- around 4:15 a.m. I just felt like I couldn't stay in bed anymore. I went to bed early, too -- about 9:30 p.m. I think all the darkness at this time of year messes with my internal clock. By the time 9 p.m. rolls around, it feels like midnight.

We're having a crazy week at work. It's exam week in the high school, which means a slightly different schedule with more unstructured time between classes. Ostensibly this is so the kids can study, but of course they all come and hang out in the library, so we are wall-to-wall. I'd say about half the kids are studying. There's also a whole lot of socializing going on, which will probably be reflected in some people's grades!

I spent much of yesterday re-shelving those 400 science books we pulled a few weeks ago. My knees and legs are getting a workout, crouching down to access those bottom shelves. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to do this job, but then again, I guess doing it probably helps keep me limber.

Directory

This stuffed bear hangs on the gate at a construction site down by the railroad tracks. It's where they tore down that council office building to erect a block of flats. I guess the workers felt they needed a mascot?

It's been pouring rain all morning, although it has slackened a bit now. Olga wouldn't go outside even for a quick pee. I'll have to get her out the door at least briefly before I go to work.

Other than that, I have no news, and this post is about to get as boring as a telephone directory.

And that's because it's about to BE a telephone directory. I was Googling around the other night when I discovered that my alma mater, the University of South Florida, where my parents used to work, has put some of its archived staff directories online. Above is a portion of the directory for 1975-76, and you can see my mom listed, along with everyone who used to work in her office.

This won't mean much to you, of course, but reading these names was like time traveling for me. I remember all those people vividly. My mom used to come home talking about them, and I met them at office parties, or when I was sick and spent the day with her at work. (I'm sure they loved having a sick kid around the office, but I don't think I ever went if I had something contagious. I remember once having infected insect bites on my legs, for example.)

Sylvia K was one of my mom's best friends, and we socialized with her and her kids. Susan F had a ribald sense of humor that my mom loved. Jeff S was a bearded guy with a groovy conversion van, and at the time I was obsessed with the idea of living in a motor home, so Mom and Jeff took me down to the parking lot to show it to me. It had blue shag carpet all over the inside and I remember being specifically told not to open any drawers or cabinets. I'm sure Mom suspected I might find a joint.

Conchita S once told me a story about how, as a little girl (in Cuba, I believe), when she ate fried eggs, she would stab the yolk with a knife and pretend it was blood running around the plate. I have never forgotten that!

Here's the directory for 1980-81. By this time my mom was coordinator of the advising team, a job she hated. She got along with most of her co-workers but did not like managing people. As you can see, there were a few staff changes, and once again I know all these names and can picture everyone. I wonder where they all are now?

Here's a terrible picture of my mom in her office around that time. I have no idea where she got that "Keep Calm" poster but she probably needed it. Isn't it weird to see a desk without a computer?

For some reason, the directory pages that would have shown my dad and his office in the math department are missing from the online directories, along with all the student information (which I'm sure USF deliberately omitted). So I can't time-travel with my dad, but I didn't know his co-workers as well anyway.

Animals, Dust and Otherwise

Since I cleaned so thoroughly beneath the TV table on Saturday, I decided yesterday to tackle the other side of the living room -- beneath the couch. I knew it needed cleaning because when we had Dave's co-workers over for Thanksgiving, Olga's Kong rolled under there, and when I reached in to retrieve it my arm came back -- to my mortification -- with a whole zoo of dust animals clinging to it.

So, yes, I moved the couch, vacuumed up the dust, mopped the floor, and thoroughly cleaned all the crevices of the couch itself. Dave and I were afraid our little mousie friend might have a nest in the couch, but I checked all the seams and they're secure. So wherever mousie was living, it's not there.

And then I set a trap, and this morning, there's a mouse in it. Adios, mousie.

Some of you commented that you're sure I'd be using humane traps. I would if I had any handy. Unfortunately, I don't, so I used a snap trap and mousie is indeed dead. (I would never use a glue trap. Those things are horrible.) I have read that humane traps actually aren't all that humane. Once released outdoors, the mice -- if they don't get inside again -- often die because they're displaced from their nests. I have no idea whether or not that's true but in this case I felt I had to act fast and didn't have time to struggle with the ethics.

Anyway, after all the cleaning, I arranged disposal of our old TV set -- pickup is scheduled for New Year's Day, weirdly -- and then took Olga for a walk.

We found a tennis ball behind a construction fence on Potteries Path. Olga wanted that ball. Never mind that she has about ten of them at home.

We both tried valiantly to reach it, but it just couldn't be done. We had to leave it behind. Fortunately, Olga is the epitome of "out of sight, out of mind," and it was promptly forgotten.

Looking for some reading recommendations? Here are some interesting articles I've come across and bookmarked during the last several weeks/months. Some of them may be behind a paywall, depending on whether you subscribe to any of these publications or have already run out of your allotted handful of free articles for the week or month:

-- A story in The Washington Post looking critically at our cultural obsession with purging possessions. And here's a related story from The New York Times about the positive aspects of clutter. Neither of these are particularly new, but maybe you'll find them timely during the holiday season.

-- A somewhat related Washington Post story about the benefits of decluttering your life goals. In other words, re-drafting your bucket list to create a "chuck-it list."

-- A hilarious (but fairly rude) analysis of the the famous urban myth involving Richard Gere and a gerbil. Again, several years old, but well worth reading. (MEL Magazine)

-- A completely insane story in the Tampa Bay Times about the planned demolition of a gigantic mansion in Tampa (built by former pro baseball player Derek Jeter) by its new owner, who intends to build an even bigger house.

-- A touching story, again in The Washington Post, about a Florida school librarian who quit her job because of the state's crazy fixation on the content of library books.

-- An NYT story that I confess I haven't read yet about tropical parakeets that have occupied the skies over Brussels, Belgium. (I intend to read it, though, because the same parakeets are all over our bird feeder here in London!)

-- An excellent video in The New York Times that explains how the British government has managed to endanger what should be the country's proudest achievement: the National Health Service.

(Top photo: A Christmasy real estate agent's office on our high street.)