Just when you thought I'd sent my lot for this month, along comes another one . . .

The WebPage  for the Michael Hoppen Gallery is 

http://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/exhibition,current,2,0,0,0,52,0,0,0,the_new_york_school.html?link=exhibition%2Ccurrent%2C2%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C52%2C0%2C0%2C0%2Cthe%5Fnew%5Fyork%5Fschool%2Ehtml&searchString=%5Flevel0%2Erow%5F1&index=12&iD=1&targetButton=%5Flevel0%2Ebutton%5F1&targetCover=%5Flevel0%2Ecover%5F1&targetBackground=%5Flevel0%2Ed%5F1&targetLabel=%5Flevel0%2Eb%5F1&onRollOver=%5Btype+Function%5D&onDragOut=%5Btype+Function%5D&onRollOut=%5Btype+Function%5D&onRelease=%5Btype+Function%5D

and I may try and go there this Saturday. The photographer I tried to emulate in my most recent completed project on the photography course was Lee Friedlander  (see  http://www.fraenkelgallery.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1π=10000&s=0&p=1&a=10&at=1 ), and a few of his photos, or ones like his, may well be on show.

What else is going on in my life ??  Annette's gone to Sevilla, Barcelona and Granada for a week with her Mom Rita; they didn't know that it would be 20 degrees Celcius there, and 25 degrees here . . .  Our garden (no photo yet) has been partly re-furbished; we've re-made the window boxes on the walls (5 metres long each, loads of geraniums now blooming in them), and hot enough here to need watering EVERY day . . .

The A-level photography course I'm doing one day a week has been withdrawn by my college. This makes sense when I tell you that it's a two-year course, and I'm finishing the first year . . . . I am seething with (unhappiness ??) and I have the blessing of my tutors to arrange a meeting with my Member of Parliament to discuss the matter of the 'missing funding' which has meant that this course and hundreds like it have been stopped, so that other types of courses can be funded instead . . . so far I've done four hours of (mostly Internet-based) research, and can sent you the details if you want to read a bunch of government reports and proposals about Tertiary Education funding 2001 -2008 . . .No, I didn't think so, but it will be useful for when I meet my MP this week or next  . . .

I continue to work at the Catholic school in deepest, darkest Hackney in the East End . . . I've told them yesterday that I want to try and stay on there next year (I work day-to-day as a 'supply' teacher) to facilitate continuing with the photography course (a new one, natch) one day a week . . . they will think about it and let me know . . . I did squeeze a (modest) 8 % pay rise out of my agency a month ago; I used the simple pretext that other agencies were trying to lure me away to work for them, for up to 15 % increase in salary, so my agency should 'bite the bullet' and pay me more . . . it seemed to work, but then they realised that I'd been working for them since 2004 without any contract whatsoever . . . I now have one . . .

Life has its moments . . . Our twenty year old van had a major engine repair a year ago but recently has exhibited unmistakable signs that the head gasket has blown once more. This is a serious matter, as it takes two days to remove and replace, because it's stuck in the middle of the engine. It is with the greatest reluctance that Annette and I have realised that although 20 is new for a person, for a vehicle with a tiny 1.0 litre engine it could be Alzheimer territory . . . I have been checking (mostly on the 'Net) for a replacement we can afford (tiny savings so far), and we think we'll get a Fiat Doblo, but with a 1.248 l. engine. Unfortunately for us, this engine size is an option only on the newer registrations, so we'll have to save a bit more money . .  who wants a rusty old van wioth a 2.0 l engine (that's what we can afford, at present), anyway . . . 

I think I'll stop there, as I want to put my feet up at the end of a relatively full and satisfying day. I'll end with two snippets . . . ONE, I'm to be on the First Aid team at Emirates Stadium at the end of May for two nights of Mr Bruce Springsteen, not the usual Arsenal football (the season's over now, except for that match in Moscow, and a couple of 'relegation decider' matches). One divergence from the usual jargon in the protocols for football matches, is that First Aid teams working at Stage Left and Stage Right are to be issued with Ear Protectors, something we never use for football match duties . . . and, we have a grassy football pitch for the matches . . .I wonder where they're putting that, so they can roll out a stage for two nights . . . .

and TWO, I have  an on-again, off-again hate relationship with my local council rubbish collection service. . . it's been going on for more than five years now, and I don't know why I bother, really . .  . the boss-guy John doesn't like people e-mailing or ringing up to say that bags of rubbish have been left lying around on the pavements and street corners; he seems to prefer his operatives to collect the waste as they see fit. Which usually means leaving stuff not in the 'official' pick-up location. Since we live in a transient inner-city neighbourhood, with a multitude of languages spoken and mis-understood, lots of our neighbours leave the rubbish where they think it's OK to do so. and then there's the guys who buy a new TV, and just dump the old one at the end of the road (our end).
So, I left the rubbish team alone for five months, I just moved 100 bags of rubbish a month to the official pick-up, on the grounds that even if the council has been notified about dumped rubbish, they take days and days to come and take it away. I sent John at the Street Management team an e-mail the other day, outlining the huge number (eight) of bags dumped outside my front door on Tuesday. And he e-mailed back immediately to say they were 'on the case'. I copy all my e-mails to one of the elected representatives on the Council, which he doesn't really like, as she has some say over how efficiently the council services should operate. 
He blew a gasket tonight, as I sent him a couple of e-mails about the escalating pile of bags being dumped, complete with photos. He now wants a face-to-face meeting; I welcome this, as we should then be able to agree a set of rules about how to deal with all the dumped rubbish. It probably sounds like a waste of time, but when you have to move 100 bags a month, and the council says that if you're caught 'dumping' (ie moving) other peoples' dumped rubbish to a proper pick-up point, YOU are liable for the £ 20, 000 (!!!) fine, you do feel a bit upset.

Enough of that . . . life is good, I shall now have another cup of China tea and await a flood of e-mails back, telling me just how wonderful; (or otherwise) your day/ week/ month has been . . . did I tell you that i got a 'new' computer ? Maybe I forgot. I am typing on a MacBook Pro, the slightly older version, not the wafer-thin new one. I really love it. I hope to finish paying it off within a few weeks. It does everything you'd expect a PC laptop to do, but it is just so intuitive at doing the stuff you need a computer to do. I thought I'd feel stranded without a mouse (I can add one if i want), but life is wonderful using just the touch-pad. And the other part of that revolution for me has been the introduction of the wireless router. i have been typing this whilst I looked out the window at the beautiful cloud-scapes, and now the twinkling lights of the hovering helicopter (probably looking in the road outside for drug-dealers) . . . such is life in the big city. How's your street this evening, then ??

And, I'm going to dinner at a friend's house this coming Sunday. We're all photographers, although we have diverged this year. We should have lots to talk about . . . I may bring a few photos, as well as a bottle or two . . . we had a drink in a local pub a month or so ago . . . which got me thinking that we should really have another photographers' party, so I've tentatively asked my photo buddies 'If I threw a party, would you come ?' They haven't all rushed to reply to that e-mail, yet  . . . Should I be worried . . . ?? hope to hear back soooooon . . . .

Cheers
Franc & Annette in Finsbury Park . . .