Monday, January 29, 2007

London is grey again. What is it about Mondays? JG and I could count on the fingers of a fingerless hand the number of people who looked happy on the 07:50 to Baker Street this morning. Lovely as it is to be able to pay one's rent, the stark reality of the métro-boulot-dodo routine can be summed up in two words: it sucks. Speaking of the French, the delightful mr assures me that despite their fondness for 2 hour lunch breaks and more bank holidays than is frankly decent, they are the most productive nation there is. clearly this has something to do with GDP and other numbers I don't understand but as implausible as it sounds, I'm willing (in fact happy) to believe him as it gives one a modicum of hope. I may volunteer for a Parisian secondment . All in the name of productivity you understand. In conclusion, the day was so dire that the most exciting thing that happened to me was nearly walking into Alan Titchmarsh as I took the corner into Burlington Gdns too fast on my way to work. I had to smile at him. Not - as he probably assumed - because he's such a huge star in the world of gardening tv, but simply because he so narrowly escaped having me headbut him. Unfortunately from that point onwards the whole day went steadily downhill. But on the bright side, only 4 more days till Friday. I say vive le week-end...

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 10:01 PM

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Sunday afternoon. The fire's on and jg and I are watching Manhattan. Brilliant shots of NYC and a great soundtrack. The best line so far: Diane Keaton asks Woody Allen what he's thinking, and he says "I was thinking there must be something wrong with me, because I've never a relationship with a woman that's laster longer than the one between Hitler and Eva Braun." Classic.

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 3:54 PM

Friday, January 26, 2007

London is cold. It's past my bedtime but the fire is on and I've found Breakfast at Tiffany's on TV so now I can't go to bed. It's just got to the scene where Holly and Fred decide to spend the whole day in Manhattan doing things they've never done before. They end up at Tiffany's (of course) and Audrey Hepburn has some fantastic lines, like "I've never been for a walk in the morning before." It's enough to make a girl want to go back to NY for the weekend. And in the meantime perhaps I should breakfast at Tiffany's in London, on the way to work.

Today was uneventful (perhaps because I skipped breakfast) but I did come across a beautiful French poem:

CERTITUDE

Si je te parle c'est pour mieux t'entendre
Si je t'entends je suis sûr de te comprendre
Si tu souris c'est pour mieux m'envahir
Si tu souris je vois le monde entier
Si je t'étreins c'est pour me continuer
Si nous vivons tout sera à plaisir
Si je te quitte nous nous souviendrons
En te quittant nous nous retrouverons

-- Eluard

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 11:19 PM

Monday, January 22, 2007

currently listening to: nick herbert, praiseworthy
currently reading: wendell berry's sex, economy, freedom & community
currently loving: writing in the evenings
currently thinking: i may have made a huge mistake with the 9-5. i can't stand it...

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 11:04 PM

On the way down the hill to the station this morning (at high speed in the rain) my brother helpfully informed me that January 22nd is statistically the most depressing day of the year. This may explain why I am still at the office. It may also explain why I ended up listening to the music from Schindler's List while on hold at the University of Zurich this morning. Brilliant.

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 6:54 PM

Sunday, January 21, 2007

another sunny morning in chorleywood. i went for a beautiful run around the common listening to the wonderful amos lee and enjoying the sun on the trees & the dew on the grass. came back really muddy which is the sign of a good morning outside i think. the usual suspects have been invited to lunch and there are very good smells of roast pork wafting up from the kitchen downstairs. i love sundays...

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 12:42 PM

Saturday, January 20, 2007

It is almost impossible to explain just how much I love saturdays now that the working week involves, well, work. I always wake up with a sense of excitement and usually an epic list of things I want to do. Needless to say, I don't normally get through everything, but generally it feels as if I could do a thousand things, just because the day is entirely mine. Today has been a beautiful day - the sun was shining and there were just a handful of clouds scooting around in the pale wintery blue sky. jg and I have finally found a place to live in london - a place of our own - and have been making various plans in preparation for the big move in a couple of weeks. it sounds mundane but i've loved thinking about setting up a new home and think it must ultimately come down to some innate desire to be settled and to have a sense of place. not that this isn't home here, but it is not our own corner, and it is certainly time to forge some new ground. and of course there is the question of the daily commute. not that it isn't wonderful to read the morning paper sneakily over your neighbour's shoulder but a short stroll to the jubilee line will beat that any day. and i'm even thinking - in a vaguely january-esque fashion - that i might be brave enough to cycle to work. but one thing at a time. first of all we'll try out the shorter commute. generally though, the less time you spend on the underground during the day, the better. it doesn't set you up well for the day. quite the opposite in fact, despite the entertainment that can be had comparing all the glum faces one inevitably sees on the 7:50am to Finchley Rd. One thing I have had to think about, in light of this move, is the question of community. jg and i are essentially moving for the sake of convenience, but we are moving to a neighbourhood where we don't know anyone, and away from a town in which you can't go down to the local shops without seeing at least 3 people you know. it will be a big challenge to create community in a new place. city dwellers don't have much of a reputation for it but i hope we are able to break the mould. and speaking of community, tonight is curry night. it's really become something of a local institution and numbers are growing. the more the merrier, i say...

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 6:16 PM

Thursday, January 18, 2007

from my office just around the corner from green park i can look down on the frantic pace of london life 4 floors down. there's always something interesting going on outside and i love indulging in a little voyeuristic escapism. it's still hard to believe that i'm really back in london, and really working there. yesterday i walked up regent street in my lunch hour and tried to remind myself what it felt like to want nothing more than just that - to be able to walk down a street and feel that i was home. i find it helps to remember the things that i've longed for in the past - it helps me to be thankful when i might otherwise forget and get caught up in the business and pace of it all. because life in london is hectic, above all else. today i had to walk for a few minutes behind an elderly lady with a walking frame, and the shock of it - being forced to really slow down - was a sudden reminder to me of how easily we fall in with everyone else's fast past. even when we don't need to. slowing down would be a good ny's resolution, if only it weren't so incredibly hard to sustain. if you look, though, there is plenty to notice and enjoy if you are prepared to notice it. yesterday on the underground a busker was playing ave maria on his violin. walking past him i couldn't help but smile - it was so beautiful, and so incongruous somehow - in a place that epitomizes the rushed nature of london life. tonight everything was in a state of chaos after the furious winds that have been with us all day. the trains were packed and i didn't even have room to read my latest train companion, wendell berry's brilliant sex, economy, freedom & community. but then (and this is the joy of the commute) there's always tomorrow morning...

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 9:44 PM

Monday, January 01, 2007

New Year's Eve 2006. Prime rib and mashed potatoes, Feist by candlelight. Everyone's downstairs but parties always leave me feeling somewhat awkward so I've escaped to the landing. NY's resolutions? To live life forwards, do more yoga & develop a deeper relationship with God.

'Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.' -- Kierkegaard.

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 12:38 AM