A Few Things about Gypsies

The appropriate term in these parts is, "traveler", but come on: "gypsy" even sounds cool. Here are the three Gypsy Facts on my mind at present...

1. My mother used to threaten, "I'll sell you to the gypsies!" when I was naughty. So not only was she going to get rid of me, she was going to make a profit. Awesome.

2. I have clothes that weren't dry by the time I crawled into my bed tonight, so I left them out on the line. Are they all going to be there tomorrow morning?

3. The song I'm listening to is gypsy-esque. Click here for dyingforbadmusic.com and opt to play, "Ring Out, Wild Bells" (second track).

I hope you're having a splendid eve.

Abbey Road

Well, it was time to finally go see the road where the iconic Beatles album was shot. And isn't it the coolest that this, much like many of the tourist sites in this city, was full of regular people, school children, and mothers with prams crossing the street? It's so London that since this piece of history isn't thousands of years old, it's just a regular intersection with service vehicles and taxis. I loves.

My father was hilarious when I talked to him the other night. He said, in typical Ernie fashion (if you know what this sounds like, you might also be able to imagine the animated motions that go with it),

"Well...

...

Since you're there...

...

you kind of have to go see Abbey Road. I mean...

...

because you're there."

He's cute. Anyway, let's start here...

image courtesy of popartuk.com

We started the day getting photographed by this kind soul... (nice one!)

...outside Keu! Deli, a Vietnamese sandwich bar near Old Street Station. Side with me on this one: there aren't sandwiches in Vietnam, right? Anyhoo, the food was delicious and the people watching was a delight. Hipsters, floral-patterned "ladies" and well jeal models who couldn't partake in the goodness of a gluten-rich meal abounded.



And then it was time to move on to the Big Show...



We were fairly certain that this was the NOT intersection that everyone thought was "The Intersection", but it was only after seeing some graffiti and being turned down once inside the studios (more on that in a sec) that we realized (well, Erik realized. I have no idea what I'm looking at. It looked like a really normal street to me. Unless I'd seen the cameras lodged up on light posts, aimed at the street for the all-day-every-day stream, I wouldn't have known I'd stumbled upon it. Oh London, where is your signage?) The Intersection (wow that bracketed interlude was well long) was a little further down the road.

You might need a second to re-read that bit.

Anyway, as it turns out, everyone else was right...we were wrong. Oh well...I should have done some more research before heading out ;) The album cover was shot from the other direction, with the studios on the left hand side.



Ah yes, misplaced graffiti. Really? Does anyone really think that John Lennon looks down from a fluffy cloud and reads all this writing? Does he think to himself, "Wow, that recap of Imagine was well timed and spelled correctly"? No. No he does not.

Does Paul McCartney ever come back here and thank everyone for their kind sprawled, marker-ed words? "Oh! This guy really got me here when he quoted a whole song we wrote some forty years ago. Wow...I'm so glad we're still relevant." Sigh.

Alas, I digress...

This was my personal favourite: an abandoned keyboard. Now THAT is a gift! SO Ferris Bueller when he plays that song in coughs and sniffles. Loves.



This photograph marks the time when we walked through the gates clearly marked, "No Entrance: Private Access Only" and strolled into the studio. Upon arriving inside, two people greeted us and asked if they could help.

"Nope. Not really, we're just looking around," I replied.

"The Studio (now capitalized) isn't open to the public. That's why there are signs all over the place telling you so."

Right. Sheepish retreat.

(side note: the gate should be locked.
I mean, anyone could just walk in.
Close your gate.)

What we thought was The Intersection, but turned out to be the crosswalk just down the street ;) from it. What a riot.

Yours truly having a little walk across. How incredibly dorky did I feel right at that moment? (but also how awesome. I felt like I do when I watch Chicago [you know, when I dance around with Jazz Hands thinking I can sing and dance like Catherine Zeta Jones]: I embodied a Beatle for a moment. Yup...even if you can't see it.)

There you have it...one more check mark on the list of things that simply must be done before leaving the fair city (I'm glad I went, Dad). If you're curious, you can watch the intersection streaming live here.

Only five days and a few hours until I board that plane. I'm getting a little bit more than excited.

Showed my kids Bedtime Stories today (an hour of it). It was a delight. I found myself getting right into it. Ahh...finally the last week.

Blah blah nostalgia!

And then the nostalgia lifts because I get to be around these people soon.





Life is really made up of the little moments spent with the people that matter most.

Nostalgia

I'm getting nostalgic.

For first nights in new places...



For hours upon hours spent here because we had no internet at home...



(and because it allowed me to get close to these folks...)



For time spent planning my very first trip...



Ah yes, it was a very good year.

Bardo: Interval, Intermediate, In-between. Welcome to Now.

Thanks for this little nugget, Dani!

"Whenever we embark on a long journey,
there is a sense of death and rebirth.
The experiences we go through have a transitional quality.
The moment we step outside our house and close the door,
we begin to leave our life behind.

We say goodbye to family and friends
and to the familiar rooms and routines that we inhabit.
We might feel regret mixed with excitement
as we climb into the taxi that will take us to the airport.
As our vision of home recedes,
we are both sadly parted and joyfully released
from all that defines us.

The further from home we go,
the more focused we become on our next destination.
We think less of home and more about where we are going.
We begin to look at a new map;
we start to think about where we will land,
about the new people, new customs, and new environment—
all the new sets of experiences to come...

This experience of the present moment is known as bardo in Tibetan Buddhism. Bardo in a literal sense means “interval”; it can also be translated as an “intermediate” or “in-between” state. Thus, we can say that whenever we are in between two moments, we are in a bardo state. The past moment has ceased; the future moment has not yet arisen. There is a gap, a sense of nowness, of pure openness, before the appearance of the next thing, whether that is our next thought or our next lifetime."

Quote from Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
via thebuddhadharma.com
via my friend Dani at Dani Does England
via Good Morning and Good Night.

In the Stocks

We had a summer fete (the English pronounce that word wrong) and I made a guest appearance in the stocks. Only my friends dared to throw wet previously-car-washing sponges at my head and body though...the children cowered in fear. Ha!

Michelle told me last night that the children love me: she's never heard that they didn't like me or heard a disparaging word about me. I was truly touched. Dani said the kids were quoting the Gospel of Miss. Bergamo the whole week. "Miss Bergamo says this and Miss Bergamo says that". Sweet. Keep it up, kiddies: five more working days until this year is over. I have some appointments tomorrow in London for my year 10 students, so after they're over, I'm hitting up Abbey Road and maybe for a little picnic in the park (if the weather holds up). Swell way to spend a Monday evening, if you ask me ;)

Defining Moments

"A few times in my life,
I've had moments of absolute clarity.
When for a few, brief seconds,
silence drowns out the noise
and I can feel, rather than think.
And things seem so sharp.
And the world seems so fresh.
It's as though it had all just come into existence.
I can never make these moments last.
I cling to them, but like everything,
they fade.
I've lived my life on these moments:
they pull me back to the present
and I realize that everything
is exactly the way it's meant to be."

Quote from A Single Man

Image is mine from Graz.

Ah yes, here's to things being exactly as they are supposed to be. Ten days until I'm back home, a new and fabulous house to move into when I'm back in England, and things that put butterflies in my stomach and a grin on my face. Life is good.

Quote of the Day: Present Thinking

"My dad once told me
that the secret
to happiness in life

is to be conscious
of what is uniquely great
about your current situation
and put your focus there."

Quote thanks to Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook via Cup of Jo.

SO England

Tiny

We've been working on something different at school that includes being with the students all blessed day without reprieve. I'm alone in a room with 12- and 13-year olds and I've quite literally have had enough. I seem to recall a certain winding down at schools back home: a calm atmosphere where parents, teachers, and students all felt at ease. Why not? Summer, oh glorious summer, was just around the corner.

But here, with reports to write and children with which to spend time, and books to mark, I'm just knackered. Every week it's the same story: next week will be better; I just have to get over this hump. Some hump.

Anyway, looking back over my pictures from Cambridge and painting them in the sort of light to make them look a bit dated, a bit sun-kissed, certainly did put me in a better mood today. And I had a spectacular night last night, so I'm feeling pretty much as happy as a clam. Exhausted, but really content.

Found this and thought it was just perfect after last night...

Image courtesy of Post Secret

So the next bit of news is this: I've changed my roommates again. I know, I know...I told you all about the Irish folks I'd met who taught next door. Well low and behold, Gavin has come back into my life (the amazingly fabulous man who was the roommate of a fellow teacher here before she moved to London) and has reserved a spot for me in his (what turned out to be) absolutely fabulous house. Huzzah! I move in the day I get back from the Great White North and just could NOT be happier. Living with one person definitely trumps living with four and I just can't beat the amount of solitude that would be guaranteed here. I'm full of glee.

Oh, so I'm meeting Gavin for the first time in my life tonight (so excited). My tutee hasn't shown up, so I'm free as a bird. Whipped up some homemade chicken noodle soup because this dreadful cough has returned and I certainly don't want my last two weeks here to be full of a cold. It's operation Get Better and live it up. Apparently the girls and I are going to see Wicked on Wednesday. Riiiight...me and musicals: best buds for life, Mitch.