Idealist; one guided by ideals;

Narrative has never been my strong suit. A quick scroll down the page would show that many of my posts are entitled ‘Part One’. This implies that at some point there will be a Part Two (at the very least). But at the risk of disappointing I’ll have to say that there probably never will be. I am wonderful at starting things, not so good at finishing them.

As a youngster I used to write stories (sometimes of my own volition, other times because I was told to ‘find something constructive to do’) about topics that interested me. Inevitably these stories were fantasies that put me right in the middle of the action – envisaging myself as a prince, a sorcerer, a hero. However I could never make it to the end. By the time I’d set up the narrative and the characters I was bored of the idea and gave up. Every story I ever wrote ended ‘not with a bang but a whimper’.

So narrative has never been my strong suit. I’m good with language, just not good with structure.

But a blog should have a narrative. It should be a story. It should follow a sequence of events/ideas/concepts/personae so that as one reads through the entries one begins to get a picture of a whole person, a three-dimensional entity.

Well here is my attempt to remedy my narrative deficiencies: A PHOTO ESSAY!

These pictures will say more than words ever could!

N.B. On a technical note, these photos were all taken on my shiny new phone. The wonders of modern technology!

Our ‘To-Do List’ wall … continually updated … as yet to be used!

The view from my desk … rainy windows and bare walls.

LONDON CONSTRUCTION

… on a nice day!

A more cloudy day … much more common!

Gotta have a red bus in one of these pics!

TRAPEZE!

I have started Trapeze lessons. I have been doing it for seven weeks so far, one night a week. Its great to be doing something active again!

It’s bloody hard work, but really rewarding! … By the time I get back to Sydney I’ll be an eloquent Arnold Schwarzenegger!

WHITECHAPEL ROAD … aka: In Search of The Gherkin.

This is Whitechapel Road, the second cheapest property on the Monopoly Board. We do our weekly vege shop at the road-side shanty-town market stalls. Every second shop is a purveyor of Halal Fried Chicken.

Down on the left-hand side of the road is the East London Mosque. You can hear the Call To Prayer from our bedroom window.

This is technically Liverpool Street, not Whitechapel Road. Before Jess and I leave London we are going to find out where this Gherkin is and visit it!

BRICK LANE … very famous.

Brick Lane is wicked. Very famous for its strip of Indian Restaurants, but more recently for its trendy hipsters and little coffeeshops, as well as streetside markets.

Favourite haunts:
93 Feet East
Rought Trade Records
Coffee @ Brick Lane
Cafe 1001
Prithi & Preem
Upmarket (fantastic market)

There is frequently some great busking up and down Brick Lane.

And some fantastic graffiti art. London is Banksy’s original home, after all.

The Old Truman Brewery towers above Brick Lane, it is the site of some great events now: gigs, exhibitions, one-off happenings, etc.

The most wicked thing about Brick Lane is the people watching. There are, to quote Noel Fielding from The Mighty Boosh “some crazy characters.” Coincidentally, I saw Noel Fielding on Commercial Street a few weeks after arriving in London. He lives in Hackney, in the suburb next to ours!