Mycroft and I went to the Tate Modern this morning. Afterwards, we walked along the river for a while. And saw this man...standing in it.
In the water. By the Millenium Bridge. With a microphone. Playing a guitar. An electric guitar. There was an amp on the shore.
It was cold, too. Not freezing, all right, but far from the height of summer, and I wouldn't have wanted to be standing in a river, playing to a sparse crowd on a Monday morning. I thought it might be for a video, but we couldn't see anyone filming him.
We had lunch, looked for wensleydale with cranberries and found some, and then went to get Sherlock from school. We were there nearly an hour after school because Sherlock needed to show us everything that had happened in the pond, naturally, and...I think Mrs T has conned me into agreeing to talk to Sherlock's class about some of the places I've been. Problem being of course that the parts of them I've seen aren't generally the parts you want to share with six year olds, but I imagine I'll come up with something. Maybe I'll just tell them about Montreal and bring them all bagels.
Sherlock had a minor meltdown when he found out he'd missed the chance to see the man in the river and interrogate him about his life choices, so we came straight home. He's so worn out he's actually fallen asleep on the sofa, which hardly ever happens. Mycroft and I are eating cheese and bread and plotting dinner. Pretty good day.
Also, here are some photos from the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan.
We had lunch, looked for wensleydale with cranberries and found some, and then went to get Sherlock from school. We were there nearly an hour after school because Sherlock needed to show us everything that had happened in the pond, naturally, and...I think Mrs T has conned me into agreeing to talk to Sherlock's class about some of the places I've been. Problem being of course that the parts of them I've seen aren't generally the parts you want to share with six year olds, but I imagine I'll come up with something. Maybe I'll just tell them about Montreal and bring them all bagels.
Sherlock had a minor meltdown when he found out he'd missed the chance to see the man in the river and interrogate him about his life choices, so we came straight home. He's so worn out he's actually fallen asleep on the sofa, which hardly ever happens. Mycroft and I are eating cheese and bread and plotting dinner. Pretty good day.
Also, here are some photos from the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan.
69 comments:
Glad you and Mycroft had a good day together John, it must be nice for Mycroft to have some quality one on one time with you doing the more grown up things :-)
I personally would love to hear you talk about the places you've been, you strike me as having had a very interesting time and I can see why Mrs T might want you to talk to her class but 6 is quite young you're right.
I hope Sherlock is feeling better after a nap and that that doesn't mean another fight at bedtime!
Anonybob
That is very tired indeed, the Sherlock-falling-asleep-on-the-couch--and goes a long way to explaining the minor-meltdown part of day. The first day back at anything is always very exhausting--it's like jet lag, having to change schedules and mindsets. Work lag?
(Also, why WOULD someone want to sing in the river? There has to be an explanation, but in a way it's more fun not to know.)
I'm sure you'll be interesting talking about Montreal, John, but I suspect you're going to be asked about some of those other places. Unless the bagels prove a sufficient distraction. :)
And those photos are quite haunting.
Oh, and I meant to ask--what did the two of you, Mycroft and John, make of the Damien Hirst exhibit, or did you not go to that?
Hope the meltdown wasn't too severe. I'll be home in a bit.
RR - we didn't go to that. Sherlock wants to see it and we promised we wouldn't go without him, so probably not until the weekend.
L - severe enough, but at least it was short lived. I think the duration of his upsets is getting shorter in general. Well. Except on special occasions.
Sherlock wants to see it and we promised we wouldn't go without him.
Ah. That was really very good of you. However, IIRC, they have plenty else to see, I hope you enjoyed yourselves. :)
All serene (or as serene as it gets :)) now?
Duration of all our upsets, I think?
RR - all good now, yeah.
L - actually...yeah. Maybe. I hope so?
You definitely make all my upsets better.
aahhh you two are so cute when your like this ;-)
I kind of want to throw a tantrum because of not seeing a man playing an e-guitar in a river too...
Ah well, next week one of my internet friends comes for a very brief visit, so madness and chaos will rule again and we shall spread our awesomeness through the whole city :-)
*happy warm fuzzies*
And yay for your visitor, CR!
L - so do you. Just that you care makes things better.
CR - at least Mycroft reminded me to take pictures. He said the internet would never believe me otherwise. ;)
I can't understand where Mycroft would get the idea we wouldn't believe you without pictures ;-)
How's sherlock doing? Is he looking good for bedtime or did his nap mean he's wired again?
Hope you're having a good evening :-)
Anonybob
Mycroft has a firm grasp of the realities of the situation. (ANY situation, I'm starting to think. :) ) :D
RR - well, any family needs somebody like this :-) In our family we alternate :-D
Also, the friend of mine, she's one crazy lady - one of my friendly rivals in writing contests (we proofread each other's things) and awesomely skilled bead-weaver. I mean, look at this. That shows some crazy imagination and patience (the girl on the photos is her sister)...
CR, that is truly professional-quality beadwork. Is that what she does for a living?
RR - Nope, she has a licence but that's just a hobby that pays occasionally. She's actually a store manager for one of the smaller discount supermarket chains. She's seriously awesome girl and she's now helping me with my costume accessories for the summer (yes, yes, I will post and link the photos as soon as I have something to work with) :-)
AnonyBob - Sherlock was a bit reluctant, but he was still tired enough not to make too much of a fuss.
Danger - ditto. I still have to pinch myself to believe I'm lucky enough to have you in my life though.
Glad he went ok :-) it's getting back in the routine that is the killer!!
(so cut you'll make people sick you know!!)
Anonybob
Great pics, John! I'd have loved to have talked to him too, Sherlock, to find out why he was in the water.
CR - your friend's bead work is AMAZING!
Oh, and I think this belongs on the other blog, but happy anniversary & congratulations, Nameless! Nice one!
I'm so pleased to hear that there were some John-and-Mycroft shenanigans today; you're so fond of each other that every understated word each of you says about the other rings out loud and true.
I feel like anyone in Sherlock's vicinity should have something like an organ-donor card in her/his wallet, a laminated card listing her/his life choices and at least some justifications for each decision. That might hold Sherlock long enough for the owner to flag down some ice cream as a distraction.
But innie, if he doesn't ask, how can he know the answers?
Ro, thankies, I will be sure to pass the compliments :-)
RR, true, but innie's suggestion is fun too. Just imagine it for a moment: "Sir, I've read your card and you say here you've chosen to study amphibians. But you don't say why. You have to say why too." or something along this line. :-)
Thanks, Ro!
I hope you've had another fun day with John Mycroft :-) and that Sherlock was less tired when you picked him up from school :-)
Anonybob
In case your blog is feeling unloved John I thought I'd come and say hi to it but I notice I was already the last one to do that!
Anyway Hi blog ;-)
Anonybob
I assume we're only here as a temporary measure (sorry Doc) until L posts. Which I wish he would get on with as I am totally knackered (and I can't even blame it on being a dirty stop out). I hate oilseed rape.
I'm doing it, I'm soing it, my brain and fingers aren't coopertaing.
John will be getting a complex SH :-)
You know we love you really right Doc?
Is it a pollen issue SH? hope it's better soon :-)
Anonybob
Thanks Anonybob - yeah, I don't get hay fever except at this time of year.
And Doc, that room looks truly amazing.
I hope it's all cut down soon then SH ;-)
Oil seed rape is horrible, you have my sympathy, SH.
(And that Doc is amazing.)
SH - I feel for you. I start with my allergies in March and they stay with me loyally until end of July. Every. Single. Year. Except now I have both allergy attack and some bacterial nonsense which I take antibiotics for. Simply awesome!
Awww, SH. Sorry to hear that. :(
SH - sorry to hear you're suffering. There's no getting away from in this part of the country at the moment, is there? It's like half the countryside is bright yellow. Hope it passes quickly.
John - that was a stunning date night you set up for Lestrade, exactly when he needed something good. Wonderful :-)
Thanks everyone for all your good wishes. Yes, my drive to work is illuminated by the bright yellow fields.
Oh dear, SH, that's horrid--I hope the season passes quickly!
(For me it's tree pollen in spring--for which this appears to be the worst year ever in much of the US, by actual measure!-- ragweed in fall, and mold spores in winter. I'm good in the middle of the summer, though ! :D)
I hope you and Mycroft are having fun somewheere dry, Love. It's belting down here. I bet your newts are happy though, Sherlock!
So, I have to share the fact that I had a dream about you guys last night - I was desperately trying to look up a recipe that one of you had posted some months ago, only I couldn't seem to get online, but that was OK because someone had published the blogs in hard copy book form.
So then I just needed to explain to my family why I had this book (which was full of pictures of Danger) and what it was about without letting them think I was completely cuckoo mental for owning it.
And I never did locate the recipe. It was a good one, too. It was a recipe for biscuits that involved eggplant. Aubergines to you. :)
That's all. I hope you all are having good days. <3
Are there really aubergine biscuits?? I don't know if that would be good but I would try them just in case. If John and Lestrade's blogs were a book it would be a really long book especially if you put in all the comments.
I can just imagine the look on a publishers face when they received the manuscript to approve!
They would believe us all to be mad but then they'd see the recipes and that would be that, hard back copy on the shelf by christmas ;-)
It WAS a really long book! And I was annoyed because you can't search on tags in a book, and there was no index.
The biscuits were good in the dream, but complicated to make because you had to de-seed the aubergines, and I don't know if that's even possible to do in real life. They had silver balls on top, too, so you might have liked them. What are those things called? Dragées? Yes. Those.
Sherlock--"Aubergine biscuits" doesn't seem to turn up, but if you google "eggplant cookies," there certainly are a number of recipes! (I have no idea if any of them taste good, though. :))
Hi, thirdbird! Are you new or am I displaying my bad memory for names? Either way, I like this dream idea! But I do think any such book REALLY needs an index. (It would be fun to design, too, so if you lot ever get it published.... :D)
Sherlock, lots of things don't exist until someone makes them. You look up what goes with aubergine, we shall bake this weekend.
You are the BEST!!! And we will put silver balls on them! Can we make my rainbow dinner too??
I was going to say that if you were making your rainbow dinner I'd be coming to knock on your door for some Sherlock but then I remembered you had enough security to scare me away before I got to eat any of it anyway ;-)
You better give us a full report on how good it is though!! :-)
Anonybob
I will!! I might pick something different for yellow though. Lemons are yellow but once they're in the risotto it's just kind of risotto colour.
We can get saffron for rice or other things, or use sweetcorn in something?
I look forward to hearing all about it Sherlock :-) and saffron does sound like a better idea than Lemons Greg's right :-)
Is saffron the little strings that come from flowers?
thats the stuff Sherlock, it's quite expensive but would give you the perfect colour :-)
Will it make ANYTHING yellow?
I think it might depend on your definition of anything Sherlock. It won't make steak suddenly change colour but is you have something that is a lighter colour such and rice then it will make that yellow. it can do quite a job of clothes, skin and work tops aswell in my experience!
o-kay, aubergines are all yours, Sherlock. I shall not intrude :-) Mainly because I don't really like them, to be honest.
I am baking mustard chicken tonight, mustard is mainly yellow, isn't it? I keep it simple: de-bone the chicken, pre-heat the oven to 180°C, salt and pepper the meat, put it in a slightly oiled pan in one layer only, spread enough mustard on top of it so that it's covered thoroughly, dice a big onion (for five chicken fillets) or two normal-sized ones and sprinkle it on the top, then cover the pan with a tin foil and put the whole thing into the oven for 45 minutes. If you feel like melted cheese, remove the tin foil when done, put enough cheese on the top of the whole thing (the more the better) and return to the oven without the cover for 5 more minutes, just to melt the cheese. Whip up some creamy mustard sauce of your choice and serve with cooked pasta or German/Czech-style dumplings (Knödeln). Or skip the sauce and cut the portions on a top of a salad or something.
Works very well with pork too, just one has to tenderize the meat before adding salt and pepper...
Thirdbird - I get it :-) I like the dream :-D Next time tell your dream-family that it's just like Simmel's It Can't Always Be Caviar (or how it's properly called in English) - that was a novel with recipes included too!
Well, I'm off to read Mycroft's post!
Mustard chicken sounds good, or we could have yellow AND blue potatoes but if we had chicken we could have tomatoes instead of steak and I like tomatoes. And CHEESE! Cheese can be yellow or orange or blue!! Is there red or purple cheese?
Red windsor cheese is red Sherlock and it has white funny shapes in it like the cheese John picked on weird cheese day :-)
The way your ideas are going you are going to have enough rainbow meals for a whole week!!
Anonybob
It looks like sausage cheese! Is it redder in real life than in internet pictures? It looks kind of pink in the pictures.
Did you know that the ancient greeks didn't have a word for blue and thought the sky was bronze coloured? That's what Stephen Fry said.
The stuff I get is always pretty red but some places make it a bit too pink I agree.
I didn't know about the greeks no, how strange not to have words for things it must have been very confusing don't you think? I'm sure there are things we don't yet have words for though and people will think it odd in a few years time :-)
Anonybob
You can get for example cheese with tomatoes or colored by pesto. I've seen both red and green, like intense dark green, cheese. With my family it is a tradition that my husband and I buy them red, yellow and green cheese (nobody likes anything to dust anymore) and call it "traffic lights" :-)
And about the saffron - I guess it would make most of food yellow and it is also used to dye fabric and in perfumes (although there it's for the smell, not color).
About Greeks and bronze-colored sky: nearly completely true - they didn't use the word for "bronze" like we use for color, they used the word to describe when they perceived something was "bright". So they did not describe the sky as "bronze", but they considered both the sky and bronze things "bright"... So they did say the sky was bronze but not because of the color. Makes sense? :-)
You should write QI and tell them that because it makes a lot more sense that way. The sky isn't bronze but it is really bright.
I think they know it and only said it like that because it's shorter. TV shows are limited by time usually and they save seconds wherever they can.
I have The Book of General Ignorance at home (and also the edition about animals) and that's where I have the fact from. Stephen Fry wrote a foreword for this book, so I really think he knows :-)
But I agree completely that to say that ancient Greeks used "bronze" instead of "blue" is misleading.
They shouldn't say it like that if it's not true! Not without explaining properly! I'm going to write and tell him so.
You do right Sherlock. They should get it right if they are going to say these things.
Anonybob
If you write to them about that, Sherlock, you should also point out that it's not really correct to say the ancient Greeks didn't have a word for blue--it's that they didn't have different words for green and blue but used the same word for both.
(This is actually not uncommon, several languages use the same word for green and blue. Likewise, some languages have different words for dark and light blues, but English doesn't.)
RR, help me out here: so what's "cyanos" then? The blue-and-green and any shade between? Or is it really connected to the color of a corpse of somebody suffocated?
CR-- I'm sorry, but since I don't speak or read Greek, either modern or ancient, I can't tell you what "cyanos" means specifically--maybe Mycroft can help out there?From other books I've read, and from friends who have degrees in linguistics, I've learned that where English has two words ("blue" and "green") ancient Greek had one word that covered both, and that this is not unique. It's not illogical--green is just blue with yellow mixed in, so one can easily think of them as different shades of the same color.
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