Some Sunshine Please!

As I write this the sun is fighting its way through the clouds. What a joy to see it after 4 straight days of gloomy skies and intermittent drizzle. Each evening I watch the weather on TV and we are promised a change. “A high pressure system is sweeping through the country bringing dry, sunny weather. But there is this band of low pressure on its way out which is moving very slowly across the southeast.” Each night I prayed for that low pressure band to gtf out, and finally, oh finally …

Let’s see, so what have we been up to in the last few days? Last Thursday A level results came out. The two nieces, Zoe and Annie, did well and got acceptance at their universities. Zoe will go to the University of Manchester, and Annie goes off to Edinburgh. Our London friends, the Self family, had excellent news too. Dominic got 3 A’s and a B and will be going to Cambridge! Yea, congratulations all of you! GCSE results came out yesterday and Lili got 8 A*s and an A. Fantastico!

On Monday evening we saw another play – In the Club – at the Hampstead Theatre. The building, a 15 minute walk from us (right near the Swiss Cottage Tube Station), was a modern curved, silver structure, with very comfortable seating and excellent acoustics and stage views and stuff. The play, a political farce, was thoroughly enjoyable. It was about an MEP (Member of EU Parliament) and his political aspirations. The lines were so funny and the plot so ridiculous, the audience shrieked with laughter the whole time.

We spent most of Tuesday with the Self family at their home in Willesden Green. Dominic and his girlfriend from Birmingham, Lucy, entertained us with stories about their schools and teachers, etc. After they left we got caught up with Roger and Gil regarding the happenings of the last year – travel, family news, politics. For dinner we had Indian take away, a tradition we’ve had with these guys for many years now. Tasha was away with friends in France, and Katie, 12 now, (still wants to be a vet.), beat Daryl at Connect Four. Oops, I shouldn’t publically humiliate my hubby!

I am currently reading Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss, last year’s Booker Prize winner. I remember how disappointed I was that Zadie Smith’s On Beauty, which was also shortlisted for the prize, hadn’t won. Now, I can see why the judges made their decision. When I had finished On Beauty I remember feeling greatly satisfied. An entertaining story, beautifully written by a gifted writer with an incredible understanding of the inner workings and desires of individuals from extremely varied backgrounds. She bloody well deserved to win the Booker Prize! I felt certain that the actual winner couldn’t be as good as Zadie Smith. But I was wrong. Kiran Desai, like Zadie Smith, has an acute understanding of humans and captures this deftly in her book. I love how she gets inside the minds of Indians in various circumstances and shows us the complexities of their perceptions and attitudes toward other races/classes/nationalities. Desai’s book is not as accessible as Smith’s, which would bias high brow types. I guess being the daughter of Anita Desai, another literary giant, she has high standards to keep up to.
So, Melinda, if book club is looking for a book, this is a great choice!

It’s August Bank Holiday weekend in England. This means Monday is a holiday for most folks. The Nottinghill Carnival is on this weekend. I thought I might go, but on last night’s news they mentioned that over a million people were expected to attend. This might make it a bit too crowded for any enjoyment, so … we’ll see what happens.
At Hampstead Heath a funfair has been set up. So it looks like it’s going to be crowded and noisy everywhere the next few days. The sky has clouded over again. Where the hell is that high pressure system that is supposed to bring us sunshine?