101 things update
I did some more of the things on my 101 things list! I'm about halfway through the allotted time and have only managed 32 things, so it’s going to be a busy summer. Original (and increasingly implausible) list here.
13. Find where the local library is and join it.
I am now a card-carrying member of Sutton library and can borrow up to 20 books at once! I haven't, though, cos I'm never at home when the library's open. The one near work is quite good as London libraries go, though, except when you have to pick your way through a rhyme time session to check out books on their annoying self-service machine.
20. Watch five films at the David Lean cinema:
Done! I think I’ve actually watched seven now - it suddenly became a habit this winter to check the listings and book a ticket for anything interesting. It’s really nice that there’s a place to see good films for under a tenner that's a bus ride from home. I’ve got used to its odd quirks - that I’m usually one of the youngest people there, that you have to buy tickets weeks in advance as there’s a hardcore crew of regulars who book up any good film as soon as it's announced, that I usually get stuck in the seat right against the wall and can’t leave at the end of the film till the oldsters have all shuffled out, and that we always have to watch a tedious short film made by the students at the BRIT school before we’re allowed to enjoy ourselves. (And once, an excruciating unexpected Q&A with one of the teenage filmmakers - everyone was very polite…) I’m being mean, I’m glad it has a loyal audience that keeps it going, and in the last six weeks or so I saw ‘The Favourite’, ‘Sullivan’s Travels’, 'Stan & Ollie' and ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ which were all excellent.
21. Crochet a toy.
Done! I went to an amigurumi class at Tea and Crafting in Covent Garden (which is very good if you ever fancy a one-off craft class in something or other; though not cheap, and up a steep flight of stairs). I made this rabbit! It was a struggle!
63. Go on the underground train at the Post Office Museum.
Done! I went with Kevan on my birthday. It was good fun squeezing into the little train and trundling through a few of the tunnels of the Post Office underground railway, and pretty cool to think about it running all the way from Paddington to Whitechapel. The rest of the museum was all right but not nerdy enough for my tastes, so a bit of a swizz for £17; I didn’t find out much that I hadn’t already learned from the Danish post museum in Copenhagen for free. I did enjoy watching a film made by the GPO film unit called ‘The Fairy of the Phone’, where the eponymous hero taught the etiquette of answering the phone to a mad professor, a child eating sweets, and Mr Parsnip.
98. Do a thing with my dad.
Done! I took him to a classical concert at the Royal Festival Hall as a Christmas present, and we watched a Romanian pianist called Radu Lupu, who is apparently one of the best in the world. I don’t remember much else except that I spent most of the time being furious with the woman in front of me for recording the whole thing on her phone, but it was a nice evening and Dad seemed to enjoy it.
45. Go to the Eritrean restaurant near Clapham Junction. FAIL - it's closed down! Probably my fault for never going...
13. Find where the local library is and join it.
I am now a card-carrying member of Sutton library and can borrow up to 20 books at once! I haven't, though, cos I'm never at home when the library's open. The one near work is quite good as London libraries go, though, except when you have to pick your way through a rhyme time session to check out books on their annoying self-service machine.
20. Watch five films at the David Lean cinema:
Done! I think I’ve actually watched seven now - it suddenly became a habit this winter to check the listings and book a ticket for anything interesting. It’s really nice that there’s a place to see good films for under a tenner that's a bus ride from home. I’ve got used to its odd quirks - that I’m usually one of the youngest people there, that you have to buy tickets weeks in advance as there’s a hardcore crew of regulars who book up any good film as soon as it's announced, that I usually get stuck in the seat right against the wall and can’t leave at the end of the film till the oldsters have all shuffled out, and that we always have to watch a tedious short film made by the students at the BRIT school before we’re allowed to enjoy ourselves. (And once, an excruciating unexpected Q&A with one of the teenage filmmakers - everyone was very polite…) I’m being mean, I’m glad it has a loyal audience that keeps it going, and in the last six weeks or so I saw ‘The Favourite’, ‘Sullivan’s Travels’, 'Stan & Ollie' and ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ which were all excellent.
21. Crochet a toy.
Done! I went to an amigurumi class at Tea and Crafting in Covent Garden (which is very good if you ever fancy a one-off craft class in something or other; though not cheap, and up a steep flight of stairs). I made this rabbit! It was a struggle!
63. Go on the underground train at the Post Office Museum.
Done! I went with Kevan on my birthday. It was good fun squeezing into the little train and trundling through a few of the tunnels of the Post Office underground railway, and pretty cool to think about it running all the way from Paddington to Whitechapel. The rest of the museum was all right but not nerdy enough for my tastes, so a bit of a swizz for £17; I didn’t find out much that I hadn’t already learned from the Danish post museum in Copenhagen for free. I did enjoy watching a film made by the GPO film unit called ‘The Fairy of the Phone’, where the eponymous hero taught the etiquette of answering the phone to a mad professor, a child eating sweets, and Mr Parsnip.
98. Do a thing with my dad.
Done! I took him to a classical concert at the Royal Festival Hall as a Christmas present, and we watched a Romanian pianist called Radu Lupu, who is apparently one of the best in the world. I don’t remember much else except that I spent most of the time being furious with the woman in front of me for recording the whole thing on her phone, but it was a nice evening and Dad seemed to enjoy it.
45. Go to the Eritrean restaurant near Clapham Junction. FAIL - it's closed down! Probably my fault for never going...