grace before meat.

 

This is me right now. I love wordle, i'm wordling all over the place and getting good banter at school but gosh it's a rollercoaster. I'm drinking coffee like an adult, working 14 hour days and moaning. Always moaning.

But if that's brushed away there is lots to be excited about, real life people are picking up my tract in Philadelphia!

And to keep me going when braindead i've been watching videos of Mumford and Sons in a bookshop:

I can unashamedly say that the love I have for Marcus Mumford is rivalled only by Nick Carter circa 1998/99.

There's a book related reason for this too...his book blog! Yes it's not updated often like all good book blogs are, but it's so much more interesting than seeing another fancy picture of a band doing something fancy on tour, instead you get to know what they're reading and I think what you read is an amazing insight into who you are.

With that in mind, i'm currently planning an a-level class on language and power in Mills and Boon books (I love the titles!).

 

I need half term, sleep and my sanity to come soon!

'Just another diamond day'

I came across this through a review on the Bitch magazine book blog. I wish things weren't from America all the time but I think I have to own it!

I also saw this on the blog of its creator, Kelly Abeln:

 

Vashti Bunyan's a hero.

'each evening when dusk was removing the outline of things, like a rubber'

I'm teaching an A-level class on oral storytelling and children's books tomorrow and it's brought up some of the loveliest things, including the classic:

Here's Michael Rosen reading it, indulge your inner kid!

I also came across this:

It tells the tale of six-fingered Jub, whose job it is to climb to the top of an old oak tree and let out all the happy endings ready for bedtime. They return to her by morning, ready for her to do it all again (once she's visited her friends and done the washing and shopping). Until something horrible happens and she has to save the day...

It's very dark, but it's lovely to read and the illustrations are lush. I like Jub, she would've been a brilliant heroine to believe in when I was 8, though just as equally brilliant now :)

Go read it in a shop when you have 10minutes to spare!

'counting stars'

It's the biggest cliche, but a Sylvia Plath quote totally sums everything up right now:

"If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then I'm neurotic as hell. I'll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days."

There's too much to do and too little time, I don't feel at ease with myself because I feel so lifeless so I worry my lessons are suffering too. Damn being a perfectionist and too much of a sap. 

Chin up though, this came on the radio the other day and pops into my mind when I least expect it. Which is nice:

I'd quite like to curl up with the book i'm reading right now and wake up with my qualification. I've just finished reading:

This is a collection of short stories from David Almond's childhood in a Catholic Teeside town. I started reading it because i'm teaching Skellig right now so I thought it'd help me understand David Almond a bit more and would inspire me for my short story assignment. It's not helped with the teaching yet but it definitely has with the assignment. It's lovely, each story is more beautiful than the last. It looks like a kids book but I think it could be appreciated by an adult audience much more, and it is written that way. There are no fancy literary devices used, it's just simple story telling about those moments in life that tend to pass us by. Almonds father and sister both died when he was young and his mother sufferred from an illness this is dealt with within these stories but it's written about with such dignity and hope that you don't pity him, only feel proud. It's been a while since I've felt emotionally attached to a character in a book.

'we all want the eggs'

Oy vey! Application forms have to be the hardest, most mind-numbing things to fill out! It's also really strange going on about how great you are.

Though I have the best background:

The snow's also falling properly now, I wish I had a decent camera to photograph how beautiful the park near us is at 7 am. It actually feels nice to get up and go to school, don't know what I was so worried about! I've had a lovely start to my proper teaching placement and for once don't feel too scared about this grown up job thing, though I guess I shouldn't talk too soon!

Also, i'm not really in any position to talk about clothes but i'm pretty proud of my Oxfam/Clarks combo today... I think I totally channeled Miss Honey from Matilda and Miss Stubbs from An Education!
And to add to my paperback and postcard collection:

"did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"

It's snowing rubbish snow that never sits and stays pretty but brings an unbearable cold and i'm a little bit scared about my next phase of teaching, i'm a lot scared.

So i'll plan. I got offered the chance to teach in Cambridge again over the summer, a day after I found this postcard:

I've been writing love letters to Cambridge in my mind. Being there last August felt like being in another world, perhaps because it was the smallest amount of time when I was thinking about nothing and nobody other than my job. After two weeks of the simple life with christmas and a cold, everything feels like a chore and my imagination's a bit blue... pretty useless when trying to write a story and plan amazing lessons!

I feel like the A.A.Milne (a Cambridge bloke) quote above and I want time to finish a book and visit book stores like Davids:

 

My plans are predicting that I won't go to Cambridge again this year, I'll miss friends too much and I have something bigger in mind. But I really can't wait till I get this simplicity back again!

Chin up though... i'm scared but excited about my next teacher training slog. I may have to invest in ice picks to plough my way up icy hills though!

I also got very exciting news about a piece I submitted for a Darwin-themed tract house in Philadelphia, similar to the previous one below:

My writing is to be placed in it for strangers across the world to pick up and do whatever they wish with very, very soon. I can't wait to see what Lisa Ann Auerbach or some other designer has done with something that popped into my brain one morning!

'le cahier 2010'

I love new year, it's pretty much my favourite time next to the coming of spring, the start of summer, the change of season to autumn and the beginning of winter... I love the chance to make a fresh start, with a fresh notebook!

I don't like new years resolutions, they're always broken and nearly always a little bit unrealistic. I love Joy the Baker's end of 2009 'Dear future joy the baker', it's a little bit too easy to dream big and not appreciate life just as it is. In the spirit of being realistic and content I wrote new years aspirations based on my last twelve months:

 Bonne Année !