Family Affairs

[poliphilo]

We were in Whitechapel this January.  My cultural associations with Whitechapel are Jack the Ripper and- er- well- that's it really, but there's a great Art Gallery right next to the tube station.  

We drank coffee at a pavement table and a psychotic busker with a huge head of hair circled the cafe brandishing his guitar like a club.

I fell in love with the place.

Trouble is, we couldn't afford the rents.

But in one of those odd developments that isn't exactly spooky but seems to be verging on it, my ex-wife is moving there tomorrow, along with her friend, the Methodist Minister, who is being sent there by her Church.

All this is by way of explaining why my son Joe, who is a northern lad and doesn't want to be based in London, is moving in with us. He and his girlfriend Sarah showed up yesterday with boxes.

And here they are.
 

 

Comments

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

I remember being taken to the Whitechapel Art Gallery to see a Robert Rauschenberg exhibition (Google tells me this was 1964; I'd have been about 13): I remember these heavily painted canvases with things like socks stuck on them.

I've been there once since, but all I recall of that visit is that there we were, now resident in the North-East, doing the visiting cultural things in London bit, when we noticed a sign on the front desk asking Cllr. Jeremy Beecham (then a Newcastle councillor) to contact a name which I have now forgotten, but which we recognised as his head of social services.

Pointless anecdote that seemed to fit your patterns & coincidences / London & the North theme!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Life is full of these odd coincidences. They're not weird enough to support any theory, but they do make you stop and wonder.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Life is full of interesting surprises!

Who would have thought?

What beautiful people are Joe and Sarah.

My, my. Batten down the hatches, Tony! Your life is speeding up...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

"Batten down the hatches"

Yes indeed- among the bits and pieces Joe brought with him are a large statuette of the Grim Reaper and a samurai sword!

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Gods!

Well, I have no recommendations for that!

Do you know Karate?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Funny you should ask.

Among the stuff that has been dumped with us is my other son's karate kit.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

:)

My own son is taking Tai Kwan Do.

When he was young, he practiced by kicking at the refrigerator (or the car, or me) and stopping just short.

Now he was a colored belt, and is moving up the ranks.

For myself, I learned the glacially slow and utterly boring Tai Chi some years ago. Alas, I have almost forgotten it. Too dull, like posing in a tableau.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who taught me a single, simple Tai Chi move.

I find it invaluable if ever I put my back out.

Mike got to be a Karate brown belt (I think.) But since he went to Japan he's let it slide to concentrate on his frisbee.

hmm ...

[mazzie.livejournal.com]

is "large statuette" an oxymoron?

Re: hmm ...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Could be.

But I'm trying to suggest that this thing- though far from being life-sized- would be rather too big for the average mantlepiece.

Re: hmm ...

[mazzie.livejournal.com]

and i am just trying to be difficult.
:D

Re: hmm ...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Not at all- these things are important.:)