Tuesday, March 27, 2007

16:18 on a beautifully warm tuesday afternoon and i haven't been outside all day. i'm eating frosties out of a small cardboard box (one of those mini things you get on camping holidays when you're small) which is the closest i can get to a holiday spirit. roll on the weekend...

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 4:18 PM

Saturday, March 24, 2007

news flash: it really is saturday morning this time. so far today i've been for a run on the heath (accompanied by the soweto gospel choir, prince and puccini), cleaned the blinds in the lounge and eaten two pieces of toast. i'm still hungry. jg is leafing through a hardcore indian cookbook trying to decide what to make for curry night tonight. it's a shame i won't be here to sample the results, though a birthday party with miss cs and company promises to be just as exciting. and apparently there will also be cake this afternoon, which is never a bad thing. it's grey and cold outside, but i'm all warm on the inside - you can't beat saturdays...

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 11:53 AM

Thursday, March 22, 2007

It's snowing in London. It's rather late in the year for snow, though I'm not complaining. As much as I love the promise of spring I never fail to get excited when I see a flurry of flakes outside my window. I'm sitting at my desk at work, enjoying the view of the mad morning rush below. Yesterday was a full day, but today promises to be quieter and I hope that there will be space in it for some reading, perhaps another yoga class, and the worship jam at st. m's tonight. i'm trying to look forward to the weekend without wishing the week away, but basically i am doing just that. it's hard not to feel with the 9-5 that you are just holding your breath until you wake up and realise that it really is saturday morning this time...

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 8:39 AM

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

london is glacial. last night, crossing regent street on my way home, i saw two guys cycle by in the snow, a familiar grimace on their faces. i almost wanted to shout something cheerful at them. it's funny how something annoying like a few flakes of snow can become a reason to talk to strangers or at least to sympathise when they cycle past you frowning. this morning the weather shows no signs of improving. my lenten avoidance of coffee makes walking past starbucks particularly painful when the hands are cold. just as i reached the office i heard a man behind me whistling 'fly me to the moon' which i thought admirable on such a dreary morning. so despite the absence of coffee i made it to work with a smile on my face.

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 8:23 AM

Saturday, March 10, 2007

the magnolia trees in west hampstead are just coming into bloom. i saw lots of them this morning, in various shades of pink and white. i got up early and went for another run round the neighbourhood. it's a good way to explore; i found a beautiful cemetery full of blossom-clad trees and old leaning gravestones, a tiny glass shop and a view across london from a bridge somewhere in nw2. i love being out early in the morning although when i ran past a guy trying to break into a bmw i wondered momentarily about my choice of route. ah, the delights of the metropolis.

it's now nearly bedtime and i'm sitting listening to the traffic outside and my newest french cd, courtesy of amazon.fr and vincent delerm (my favourite french singer). it's been a full day - a very good day in fact. miss cs and i have been at the refresh weekend at st. m's. we bunked off in the afternoon and spent a good part of it in a cafe on marylebone high st, watching the world go by and discussing everything from chocolate muffins to skiing accidents and people watching. and of course boys. the conference itself was refreshing (as promised) but also challenging. more on this another day perhaps. for the moment suffice to say i'm feeling very blessed.

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 11:01 PM

Thursday, March 08, 2007

today, in a 5:45pm yoga class that i rushed to after another strange day at the office, i met a friend from university who i hadn't seen in almost ten years. it's funny the people you can run into in the middle of such a huge city. the yoga class was good - i always come away less distracted by the frantic pace of life - but seeing someone who i'd lost touch with was even better. there is a comfort in rediscovering friends with whom you lived through important moments in life. not that all moments aren't really equally important, but there are some which shouldn't be forgotten. we walked back to the tube together, reminiscing about shared acquaintances and memories of eccentric professors. the question we seemed to keep coming back to was whether or not we had really made the most of our time at university. an impossible question to answer, i suppose. but i do find that the asking of it - assuming we don't dwell too much on the past - can sometimes remind us of the need to appreciate the now, and to be present in it. or perhaps i've been to one yoga class too many...

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 10:00 PM

Sunday, March 04, 2007

just for the record, it takes about 40 minutes to walk from #9 to hampstead heath. that's factoring in time to look at the lovely houses along the way, which you need if you're like me. something happens on the other side of finchley road and suddenly you feel as if you've strolled into another world; one in which you might at any moment be accosted and asked to put on a suit and tie. or at least remove the converse. despite feeling somewhat out of place i will say that i enjoyed every minute of the walk up the hill. the higher you get the more you start to catch glimpses (between the expensive housing options) of distant rooftops, so that by the time you reach hampstead heath itself, you know you're in for a treat if only you can get past the treeline. on my way i passed a beautiful church, sauntered past hampstead high street, and found some little streets that could be in any village in the country. well, almost. hampstead heath itself was initally disappointing, though that may owe something to the fact that i took my directions from google maps (never a good idea) who felt it necessary to take me around to some minor back entrance which involved walking past some caravan-like burger vans that seemed very out of place for the area. mind you, i did go past a house in which d.g. lawrence once lived (also near the caravans) so perhaps it was worth it. once past the initial mud and over a steep hill i found out why the heath is so popular. in the summer it must be idyllic, but even on a brisk march afternoon it was wonderful: a glorious mix of children, kites and dogs leaping into muddy puddles. right at the top of the hill a number of people stood looking out at the amazing view of london which almost - and i do mean almost - rivals the view out across paris from montmartre. it's a view i'd not seen before, and one that encompasses the bt tower, st. paul's and canary wharf. plus a whole load of other places i probably should have recognised. the best thing about it, view aside, was simply the response it seemed to elicit in people. especially in london, you rarely see people stop just to stare at a view if there's nothing else to accompany it. but there, at the top of a slightly muddy hill in london, in the company of wet dogs and people in wellingtons, it seemed almost to be expected. i, for one, am grateful for the fact that even in the concrete metropolis there are places where you can stop and stare. a very happy saturday afternoon.

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 8:32 AM

Saturday, March 03, 2007

a quiet saturday afternoon in nw6 & i'm peering out at the street below #9. lupa, the neighbourhood's best pizza place across the street is disappointingly empty. maybe everyone's out enjoying the sun. speaking of which, i ventured out this morning in search of a some more odds and ends for the flat. part way through the morning the decision making got too much and i had to put in a call to my interior design consultant mr. thankfully he didn't mind being woken up to tell me what colour rug i should buy. soon afterwards i had to head home before i got too grumpy and whacked a poor defenseless tourist with my many shopping bags. on the way home i spent the best 55p ever on a chocolate bar and suddenly all was well with the world again.

since the sun is still out i'm ditching plans to paint in favour of an exploratory mission. destination hampstead heath, if i can walk that far.

posted by Joanna Ruth @ 2:10 PM