Letsseewhathappens

A pledge down

Sunday was a good day. Actually, it was a fantastic day. Because I succeeded in fulfilling one of my pledges. I didn't just do something that contributed to its completion. I actually did it. Finished. And I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't have made the pledge. I filled my window boxes.

I went to the gardening centre in NW6 (as advised by Tom Lewis-Reynier), picked a colour scheme to complement my red living room curtains and created a window box arcadia. In truth, it wouldn't have been such a success had it not been for Leeroy's wise words mulling over in my mind, "work with symmetry, choose the ivy with the white rim and dark green centre..." And I did. Mini fur trees on each end with some sort of yellow chilli plant in the middle  , some yellow flowers on the sides (think they may be pansies of some sort) and a dab of ivy for the finishing touch.

I must confess to having received a helping hand from Mrs Dollar. She has 35 years of gardening experience (so she kept telling me). This is her in Inverness St Gardening Centre:

And here is the finished product:

I went with yellow and I must say that I'm extremely chuffed. They may not look like much to outsiders, but they make me smile. So a huge thank you goes to Tom Lewis-Reynier and Leeroy, without whose support and horticulture consultancy expertise, none of this would have been possible.

From one yellow to another, I thought I'd finish on a little Van Gogh.

 

This makes me smile too.

A mixed bag

Not a shiny pick 'n mix bag from Hamleys, filled with chunky dark chocolate coated brazil nuts, fresh squidgy fried eggs and glistening cherry gums, but more a musty Woolworths cardboard cup of crumbly white mice, hard-shelled marshmallows and overly soured cola bottles. Put it this way, the downs have outweighed the ups.

Let's begin with the running and cycling. According to the pledge list, I've done rather well. I did Run London last Sunday, going for a run tomorrow morning and have been cycling (a little bit). However, I'm feeling somewhat bitter. What with all my attention deviated to alternative methods of transport, I forgot all about the little Ford Fiesta parked outside my flat. My little Ford Fiesta. And then I noticed these on the windscreen:

That's 3 on top of each other. I forgot to renew my parking permit and some mean spirited individual took it upon themselves to return to my car 3 times in a row to fine me £50. Two are on the same day. And all I was doing was trying to a) save the environment and b) keep to the pledge list that Paul encouraged me to compose. Plus, I never even received a reminder from the council that it needed renewing. I feel bitter and hard done by.

Then there's the toes. There they were all pretty and pedicured. Until I tripped up in the shower and sliced my big toe on the edge of the door. It now looks like this.

As a result of this downward emotional spiral, this week I chose a painting that's perhaps a little more sombre than the rest.

It's Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi. She was one of the few commissioned female artists of the 16th Century and clearly had a bit of a chip on her shoulder. In all fairness, she had a tough childhood. She was raped at a young age, had to go through a tough public trial to have the man convicted and then spent the rest of her artistic career expressing her emotional grief. Now clearly my grief this week doesn't stretch to Gentileschi's extremes. But at moments it was close. And it would also be unfair of me to direct my anger solely at men, as she clearly has. (Although it was a male who fitted my shower door and I reckon at least one of those parking tickets was issued by a man.) What I do love about Gentileschi's work is the incredible passion and energy that she manages to depict. Dark yet intriguing.

As for the rest of the pledges - I've discovered a penchant for Earl Grey, so no longer need to worry about not finishing my cups of coffee, still talking quickly, not eating so much of other peoples' food and have developped window box guilt.

Pledges on tour

I've been on holiday in New York for 5 days. I did however remember to pack my pledges. Funnily enough, I found them pretty easy to keep. They travelled well.

As a mark of respect to our Founder and birthday boy, Mr P. H. Colman, I took an illegal photo of Hopper's "Early Sunday Morning" whilst at the Whitney.

I really believe that you need a serene environment to view Hopper, and by some stroke of luck the Hopper exhibition was almost entirely empty. Perfect.  What I loved about this particular work was how clearly it seemed to speak to me, without the presence of a single person. It's as if each shape has its own personality - each window either half open or with a lowered blind, the shop fronts with their coloured canopies, the lamp  post leaning towards a fire hose point - almost as if they're talking to each other. It's solitary, yet there's an over-riding feeling of warmth and familiarity about the place... that's until I noticed a big black rectangle in the top right hand corner (think it's meant to be a sky scraper). Once I saw it, I couldn't take my eye off it. My impression of the  work completely altered - suddenly this charming town seemed threatened by an ominous, soulless building - Hopper made me feel nostalgia/concern for the future of a place i'd never even been or perhaps never even existed. Very strange and powerful.

On to the feet.

I must confess to slipping somewhat in the toe nail department. However, courtesy of Nancy's nail bar, my toes and feet are a glistening vision of loveliness. And at an extremely reasonable price too.

Running's also been going well. I did 45 mins in Central Park. Very pleasant. I was forced to stop temporarily to photograph the 'new mums with prams running club". Was extraordinary. About 30 of them.

As for eating other peoples' food, not a problem. I ate enough until I was filled to mid-neck region after each meal. Tackling companions' plates was not an option.

There were eggs benedict

chicken soup with kneidlach

rubens sandwiches on rye

chocolate and pear tarts. Suffice it to say that my healthy eating plan went to pot. But it was very delicious. And that's more important.

Sunglasses pledge is all sorted. Bought a brand spanking new pair. And a fancy case, so no chance of them swimming in the handbag and getting smashed.

All in all, very chuffed with my international pledging experience. This weekend - window boxes.

A new pledge

I suppose that I'm plaigiarising Mr P Colman here, but I really liked his idea of appreciating a piece of art each day. I read a good article yesterday on Cezanne's Lac d'Annecy. About how he was mentally traumatised (wouldn't touch people including his wife and child etc.) and used painting as an outlet for his torment. It made me reappraise this picture entirely. So my pledge no. 10 is to look at a piece of art every day (be it one I've seen before or not) and question it. And not let it wash over me.

As for the rest...

...got 7 of us out running on Wednesday. That's a new record.

Planning to buy  flowers for the window boxes tomorrow. Will post pictures for proof.

Haven't given out any more certificates, so thought I'd do this one for Leeroy at his request:

Don't understand it in any way, but hope it makes him feel better.

Haven't mended my sunglasses and still running late. Every day.

As for eating other people's food, it's a tricky one. I've taken to wandering round the Spitalfields Farmers' Market and hoovering a number of sampling tasters from the cheese, bread and chocolate brownie counters. Does that count? Confused.

All in all, i'm going to give myself a:

All Shiny and Polished

Made rather a good start with the toes. (Even though they still, and always will, look like pink chipolatas.)

Declined a cup of coffee even though I thought I might possibly fancy one. Didn't want to take the risk of not finishing it.

Got told by client that I was talking too quickly. (But he's Irish so not sure that counts.)

Only had 2 of Jonathan's grapes, 3 of Rebecca's Worthers Originals and 1 of Alex's apples. Asked before I took them. Not a grand start though.

Got up 15 mins late.

Didn't water plants.

Didn't give out any certificates. Wasn't appropriate.

Didn't go running. Will get up 1hr and 12mins early and go for a run before work tomorrow.

All in all a less than average start. Going to use Marcus's marking system for the day:

No Cigar.

$ophie Dollar's List

After many hours of contemplation, I have now compiled my list:

1. I will water my window box flowers at least twice a week. At the moment they're all dead. So I suppose I will water all my new window box flowers at least twice a week.

2. I will speak slower. Sometimes I speak so fast that my skinny cappucino goes cold. Sometimes I speak so quickly that I feel a little light-headed. So I'm going to try and slow down. And breathe more.

3. I will service my toe nails more frequently. I've found myself waiting until they hurt when I go running in my trainers. By which point they've reached the point of no return and take 2 months to recover. So from now on I will cut my toenails once every two weeks. The same day that I water my window boxes.

4. I will give out more certificates. The other day I tore a piece of paper out of my pad and wrote on it, "Certificate for the person with the most unfulfilled potential". Then I gave it to my best friend. And they loved it and kept it. Certificates make people feel good about themselves and help them move forward. I'm going to give out more to the people I care about.

5. I will finish my cups of coffee. I think I finish 1 in every 7. This is a waste of coffee and it hurts the feelings of the coffee maker. From now on I'll try to drink all my cups. And I will wash up the mug.

6. I will keep running. I discovered running a couple of months ago and I loved it. So I organised weekly running at work. I want to keep doing that through the winter and run at least twice a week in my spare time.

7. I will bother to put my sunglasses back into their case before I put them in my bag. I currently have a big crack down the left lense. Once it's mended, I'm going to be more careful.

8. I will get up 17mins earlier. I always get up at the last possible minute, meaning 2 things:
- I have to do my make up on the train
- By the end of the day I'm running 12mins late. Sometimes more. If I get up 17 mins earlier that should sort it. And make people like me more.

9. I will stop eating other people's food. I can't help it, but their food always looks more appealing than my own (NB. I do always ask their permission before eating it). But it's annoying and people don't like it. So I'm going to stop eating their food and get my own.

10. Will think of a 10th pledge by the end of next week.