Let's get up to speed
Where were we? Ah the blue pictures were taken while visiting a friend down on the Kent Coast last Sunday. It was one of those English seaside towns that has that slightly melancholy feel to it that everything is transitory. The buildings could do with a lick of paint and it seemed half empty...perhaps the people who live there travel into London while Londoners go there.
It's not as trendy as some of the other seaside towns and so it wasn't as crowded but I liked it for that reason...being near the sea is always something special.
MONDAY...Easter Monday or a Bank Holiday for those in the U.K, I don't know if such things exist in other countries or not. I spent the Monday up in London by eating my version of comfort food in my favourite Chinese restaurant for lunch, I stick to the basic Crispy Pork, Chicken and Choy Sum on rice.
From there I wandered into the National Gallery first to see Leon Kossoff's works and then Manet to Picasso. What struck me first in the gallery was just how many Spanish and French speakers were there. I'm sure everybody has different takes on the works in the exhibition but for me I could see the march towards abstraction and the importance of 'mark' making and its potential in many of the works. Throughout the majority of the work I could see painting as an action, a physical act that was inspired by and recalled nature both in content and technique. Some of Monet's work bordered on abstraction yet still maintained a sense of place but the technique by becoming loose is surely a hint of what was to come in the mid 20th Century onwards. This act of painting, the action of painting begins to manifest itself in the colours and the techniques of showing brushwork and leaving parts of canvases raw and unfinished...or we can just say there some really great pictures including Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Pissarro, Seurat, Degas, Cassat and Picasso.
Then I went to the cinema and saw 'Sunshine' another case of something I interviewed for but didn't get employed. I was very impressed with the multi national cast and the tension was built up very well and the whole look of the film made me wish that I had been on it. After about two thirds of the film though I was getting a bit restless and wanted it to end. I thought the music score was very good and am wondering if that will be released.
TUESDAY - back to reality of sorts and back to trying to figure out just what the hell I'm supposed to do with myself. I am toying with the idea of getting a TEFL qualification and escaping for a while to somewhere and teaching English but this would be a short term solution. If I am going to re-train then there must be no doubts and I must throw myself in 100%, I cannot allow myself to have doubts over what I pursue...the only trouble is I could spend a lifetime trying to convince myself of what is the right thing to do and not actually do anything.
I spent the evening in the company of one of my employed friends in the business that I am disillusioned with and trying to convince myself that I must leave. I cooked Tuna Burgers (using fresh tuna) served with pan-fried Oyster mushrooms, oven roasted new potatoes, salad and a wasabi mayonaise. There was no poisoning and plates were cleared of all food.
Manchester United went nuts in The Champions League against Roma and won by a big margin...grrr!
Chelsea squeaked through with a goal in the last minute of play against Valencia...I was left wondering how comes the Morientes that was playing for Valencia last night couldn't play like that in England.
WEDNESDAY - a little bit of the weekly self-pity drama club, I think this sums it up:
Jerry Maguire: You see this jacket I'm wearing, you like it? Because I don't really need it, because I'm cloaked in failure!
Thankfully that passed and by early evening i met up with my brother and ate hand made noodles...the guy makes the noodles in front of you before watching a very uninteresting football match but one that we wanted to watch regardless.
So now the Champions League Semi Final Line-ups have been decided.
I'm looking for a repeat of the 2005 Final in the teams that play in Athens and the team that wins.
It's not as trendy as some of the other seaside towns and so it wasn't as crowded but I liked it for that reason...being near the sea is always something special.
MONDAY...Easter Monday or a Bank Holiday for those in the U.K, I don't know if such things exist in other countries or not. I spent the Monday up in London by eating my version of comfort food in my favourite Chinese restaurant for lunch, I stick to the basic Crispy Pork, Chicken and Choy Sum on rice.
From there I wandered into the National Gallery first to see Leon Kossoff's works and then Manet to Picasso. What struck me first in the gallery was just how many Spanish and French speakers were there. I'm sure everybody has different takes on the works in the exhibition but for me I could see the march towards abstraction and the importance of 'mark' making and its potential in many of the works. Throughout the majority of the work I could see painting as an action, a physical act that was inspired by and recalled nature both in content and technique. Some of Monet's work bordered on abstraction yet still maintained a sense of place but the technique by becoming loose is surely a hint of what was to come in the mid 20th Century onwards. This act of painting, the action of painting begins to manifest itself in the colours and the techniques of showing brushwork and leaving parts of canvases raw and unfinished...or we can just say there some really great pictures including Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Pissarro, Seurat, Degas, Cassat and Picasso.
Then I went to the cinema and saw 'Sunshine' another case of something I interviewed for but didn't get employed. I was very impressed with the multi national cast and the tension was built up very well and the whole look of the film made me wish that I had been on it. After about two thirds of the film though I was getting a bit restless and wanted it to end. I thought the music score was very good and am wondering if that will be released.
TUESDAY - back to reality of sorts and back to trying to figure out just what the hell I'm supposed to do with myself. I am toying with the idea of getting a TEFL qualification and escaping for a while to somewhere and teaching English but this would be a short term solution. If I am going to re-train then there must be no doubts and I must throw myself in 100%, I cannot allow myself to have doubts over what I pursue...the only trouble is I could spend a lifetime trying to convince myself of what is the right thing to do and not actually do anything.
I spent the evening in the company of one of my employed friends in the business that I am disillusioned with and trying to convince myself that I must leave. I cooked Tuna Burgers (using fresh tuna) served with pan-fried Oyster mushrooms, oven roasted new potatoes, salad and a wasabi mayonaise. There was no poisoning and plates were cleared of all food.
Manchester United went nuts in The Champions League against Roma and won by a big margin...grrr!
Chelsea squeaked through with a goal in the last minute of play against Valencia...I was left wondering how comes the Morientes that was playing for Valencia last night couldn't play like that in England.
WEDNESDAY - a little bit of the weekly self-pity drama club, I think this sums it up:
Jerry Maguire: You see this jacket I'm wearing, you like it? Because I don't really need it, because I'm cloaked in failure!
Thankfully that passed and by early evening i met up with my brother and ate hand made noodles...the guy makes the noodles in front of you before watching a very uninteresting football match but one that we wanted to watch regardless.
So now the Champions League Semi Final Line-ups have been decided.
I'm looking for a repeat of the 2005 Final in the teams that play in Athens and the team that wins.
posted by fb at
11:47 PM
3 Comments:
THAT WAS LONG!
oK, first of all, you're so lucky to live there and be able to see those exhibitions. I saw a piece about Kossoff's show on Euronews. But I didn't get it - is he retro? I thought his work was Rembrant's...
Bank Holidays don't exist here - nevertheless, no ONE was working on Monday. It was painful to watch. Bunch of slackers...
Ok, on to other things...you said:
"I cannot allow myself to have doubts over what I pursue" - I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but that's precisely the LAST thing you should be saying to yourself. And I'm telling you this, not only as a blog-friend but also as a psychologist (sort-of). And you know why you shouldn't be saying that, you say it yourself: it's the kind of thought that gets us stuck and never lets us do anything.
But I understand why you say so, you've been pondering things for a very long time and you don't want to fail. But it's like I've been saying: we can never been 100% sure of anything we do.
It sucks.
(please, don't let me get you down!)
Boy, I wish I had been there in that meal, sounds delicious! :)
I think they have Bank Holidays in Australia, and maybe other former British possessions.
And if you're interested in teaching English abroad, can I suggest the JET program?
Sounds like a fun time, pleased to see that food featured so highly in your plans, all the reading about noodles has made me hungry, lol
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