Yesterday, I went to help out at my choir's jumble sale with Ania where We worked on the men's clothing section. There were some very friendly people there and one woman really was unwashed (referring to my joke yesterday about 'the great unwashed') yet a fantastic character seemingly straight out of a Dickens book.
She wanted an extra large top but we only had a large one at that time and she said (whilst smoking a fag, natch!) that it wouldn't fit her and showed us the area that needed covering. It was considerable. She later told me, whilst I browsed the books, that she came to The Highgate Choral Society jumble sale before when it was held in Highgate, reporting that she preferred South London and that someone had come from there just for the jumble sale.
It was absolutely packed, although the women's clothing had brisker business than we did. I asked my friend on the book stall to find my Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years Of Solitude as the fools at Haringey Libraries don't even stock it in the whole of Haringey. No wonder children are illiterate criminals, hehe!
Amazingly, he found it and brought it over to me at my stall. I am overjoyed. At last, I'm making progress with reading David Copperfield, too. I ended up leaving the jumble sale looking like a bag lady, with six bags stuffed with books, a wet suit and various other articles including a Barbour jacket. Betsy tried to get rid of some lacey black knickers at the end by tossing them in one of Ania's bags, which was funny.
Now I must crack on with researching the magazine market and applying for a contributor post. My photo shoot pictures are still being prepared.
Showing posts with label choir. Show all posts
Showing posts with label choir. Show all posts
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Monday, 4 June 2007
Day 40: The Marketplace
The following is a quote by Osho:
"Schizophrenia
Man is split. Schizophrenia is a normal condition of man - at least now. It may not have been so in the primitive world, but centuries of conditioning, civilization, culture and religion have made man a crowd - divided, split, contradictory.... But because this split is against his nature, deep down somewhere hidden the unity survives. Because the soul of man is one, all the conditionings at the most destroy the periphery of the man. But the centre remains untouched - that's how man continues to live. But his life has become a hell.
The whole effort of Zen is how to drop this schizophrenia, how to drop this split personality, how to drop the divided mind of man, how to become undivided, integrated, centred, crystallized.
The way you are, you cannot say that you are. You don't have a being. You are a marketplace - many voices. If you want to say 'yes', immediately the 'no' is there. You cannot even utter a simple word 'yes' with totality.... In this way happiness is not possible; unhappiness is a natural consequence of a split personality."
To learn more about this Indian mystic's writings, see www.osho.org
Today, I was invited to see a friend singing with her band on Thursday night, so despite a schedule requiring a King's fleet of servants, I decided to go. I have heard her sing several times and she's great. The last time I met her was when I saw her name on a billboard outside The Twelve Bar Club off Tottenham Court Road. We were both blown out of the water by the coincidence and I met other old school friends there too. Now I have twenty minutes to get up the road for a drink with Ania before singing my little heart out at choir.
"Schizophrenia
Man is split. Schizophrenia is a normal condition of man - at least now. It may not have been so in the primitive world, but centuries of conditioning, civilization, culture and religion have made man a crowd - divided, split, contradictory.... But because this split is against his nature, deep down somewhere hidden the unity survives. Because the soul of man is one, all the conditionings at the most destroy the periphery of the man. But the centre remains untouched - that's how man continues to live. But his life has become a hell.
The whole effort of Zen is how to drop this schizophrenia, how to drop this split personality, how to drop the divided mind of man, how to become undivided, integrated, centred, crystallized.
The way you are, you cannot say that you are. You don't have a being. You are a marketplace - many voices. If you want to say 'yes', immediately the 'no' is there. You cannot even utter a simple word 'yes' with totality.... In this way happiness is not possible; unhappiness is a natural consequence of a split personality."
To learn more about this Indian mystic's writings, see www.osho.org
Today, I was invited to see a friend singing with her band on Thursday night, so despite a schedule requiring a King's fleet of servants, I decided to go. I have heard her sing several times and she's great. The last time I met her was when I saw her name on a billboard outside The Twelve Bar Club off Tottenham Court Road. We were both blown out of the water by the coincidence and I met other old school friends there too. Now I have twenty minutes to get up the road for a drink with Ania before singing my little heart out at choir.
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Day 33: Started writing articles
Last night I stayed up all night getting carried away with linking in my blog to the wider web community and found a great site that just now I spent forever trying to find you the address for! The internet is great but diversionary in the extreme! Anyway, it was something along the lines of blogging for dummies and had some very useful stuff for bloggers. I wrote an article for an online site and reviewed a bunch of stuff. Again, good to have done it, but it was time-consuming as I found myself reading messageboards and a lot of stuff that was captivating but not essential to read! My plan now is to see if I can get a regular contributor position on a magazine whilst continuing with the online reviewing and article-writing. As a result of all my work researching and writing on the net, my reading plan is delayed, so I hope to read solidly for four or five chapters today or tomorrow (from David Copperfield, Dickens's favourite child, you may remember) . My friend from choir is coming over soon so perhaps we'll watch a dvd or something. We had a day off last night so it will be good to catch up with her and gossip. I think I need a blog manager to do all the boring widget things for me and to fire this blog to the outer reaches of the known and unknown universe. However, just as writers don't usually relish having to do interviews and create a business-like media platform, when all they want to do is write, needs must! The sun has come out in London just now, after endless rain. Fabulous!
Monday, 21 May 2007
Day 25: Double Edition Today: Performance Feedback
Our choir performance went very well - here is feedback I just found that the local member of parliament posted on her blog:
Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary Lynne Featherstone is Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green welcome Comments about Lynne:
I have great admiration for what Lynne Featherstone and the LibDems are doing in Haringey. GS, Muswell Hill
Add to your siteSunday, May 13 Hearing the Highgate Choral Society
On Saturday evening it was off to a concert by the Highgate Choral Society at St Joseph's Church (Highgate Hill). Apart from some Christmas choral concerts at St John's in Smith Square, choral music hasn't been my musical place - despite having such wonderful local groups as this one and the Crouch End Festival Chorus.
But - I was invited to become a patron of the Highgate Choral Society, so it was off to attend the concert to see and support them. And it was absolutely wonderful. The first piece was Haydn's Nelson Mass - which was soaring and uplifting. The second piece (which everyone warned me was 'challenging' and not at all 'traditional') I really liked. It was 'modern' by choral standards - and the composer, Paul Patterson (who is a Highgate resident) was actually there. In eight parts, it veered from discordant to melodic and dramatic.
The choir itself must have numbered eighty or so people – plus there was the New London Orchestra, four soloists and Ronald Corp conducting. All in all, a great local evening and the church was absolutely packed out with hundreds of people.
Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary Lynne Featherstone is Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green welcome Comments about Lynne:
I have great admiration for what Lynne Featherstone and the LibDems are doing in Haringey. GS, Muswell Hill
Add to your siteSunday, May 13 Hearing the Highgate Choral Society
On Saturday evening it was off to a concert by the Highgate Choral Society at St Joseph's Church (Highgate Hill). Apart from some Christmas choral concerts at St John's in Smith Square, choral music hasn't been my musical place - despite having such wonderful local groups as this one and the Crouch End Festival Chorus.
But - I was invited to become a patron of the Highgate Choral Society, so it was off to attend the concert to see and support them. And it was absolutely wonderful. The first piece was Haydn's Nelson Mass - which was soaring and uplifting. The second piece (which everyone warned me was 'challenging' and not at all 'traditional') I really liked. It was 'modern' by choral standards - and the composer, Paul Patterson (who is a Highgate resident) was actually there. In eight parts, it veered from discordant to melodic and dramatic.
The choir itself must have numbered eighty or so people – plus there was the New London Orchestra, four soloists and Ronald Corp conducting. All in all, a great local evening and the church was absolutely packed out with hundreds of people.
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