I'm finally doing it!

And by "it" I mean tra la la-ing

Hello beautiful peeps,

The rules of tra la la

The sun is shining, it’s Monday morning and I’m tra la la-ing! Good job this is a newsletter and not a blog post coz the SEO on that title is shocking (I imagine, I dunno, probs need to learn about that sort of thing if I really want to be a tra-la-la-er in earnest). It tells you nothing about what this piece is going to be about except, if you know me at all, you probably know that all I aspire to in life is to “tra la la” - the definition of which is…fluid. Or, is something I’m currently working out with my therapist. But as far as I can tell, the main thing is freedom - the freedom to choose what I do and when I do it. It’s also joy. And fun. And energy and enthusiasm and…bliss. Sometimes called, being in a flow state.

Is that too much to ask for in one’s life? I genuinely don’t think so. Then again, my son often says, in sort of disbelief, that’s he’s never met anyone as optimistic as I am (by which, I suspect he means, completely delusional).

To me, the ultimate manifestation of a life of tra la la is sitting in a bougie coffee shop* with a laptop and a book. Since my kids were in their teens (they’re now in their thirties) I’ve talked about how life would be if I just had a laptop. To which…they (still) fall about laughing. It IS a weird one because I’m very sensitive to noise and one of the noises I can’t bear is the clackety clack of keys on a keyboard (or phone) as someone furiously taps away. It makes me see red, almost every time. I just can’t tune it out, it’s like someone is incessantly tapping away inside my brain**. Please tell me I’m not the only one?

Aside from not having had the type of job that allows you to sit in coffee shops all day, or, at all, for the past twenty years, there’s been a huge stumbling block - the lack of a laptop. But, at the grand old age of 51, I finally bought one. I think it’s symbolic. I think I’ve been stuck, and on a wrong direction for a long long time and now, I’m ready to make a shift - not just in my head but in reality.

I set up my Virtual Assistant business late last year and have BIG plans for something I’m launching this autumn. I can’t live the life I want to live, and more to the point be the person I want to be, if I’m chained to a desk, to an office, to a space*** and yet, so much of my experience is computer based and therefore does require a certain amount of sitting down, head down and working. So you see, it isn’t just a flight of fancy but a necessity.

I have a niggling feeling I’ve banged on about laptops already, haven’t I?******* Please excuse me if so. It’s just that, I’m finally doing it, I’m finally sitting in a coffee shop tap tapping on my laptop and I cannot explain the utter joy I’m feeling. A sense of peace and, satisfaction. It’s a Monday, I’m not at “work” because I’m only there part-time now, it’s the first day, and here I am, writing. Writing to you no less. I could burst with excitement!

And for my first day there could only be one coffee shop, Jolene Hornsey Road (formerly Big Jo), my one true coffee shop love, since it opened, during the pandemic. I’m not gonna lie though, the table is too high for me and I’m super uncomfortable so, love it as I do, this isn’t going to become ‘my tra la la shop’, not for laptop time at any rate. But in years to come, I shall look back fondly on my first time, knowing that it couldn’t have been more special if I tried.****

Sitting looking out of Jolene’s doors onto Hornsey Road and writing the first few words of this here piece! Magic.

I’ve always wondered how people manage to work in coffee shops though, I mean, whenever I’ve rocked up with a notebook and pen, or a book, the coffee is drunk before I’ve even had time to settle down and get started. And, I mean, there’s only so much coffee one can drink right? But it’s funny (it’s afternoon now and I’m sat in my garden, determined to prove a point and sat with my laptop balanced on my knees) I found that I very easily got into a flow, my words kept tumbling out with ease and I stayed way beyond my coffee - I guess that’s why the bakeries I tried at the weekend had “no laptops at the weekend”***** signs up, they get too much business then to accommodate lurkers.

In other news

A very civilised evening

I went to a “Meet the artist” for Danielle O’Connor Akiyama and to see her beautiful exhibition “Matters of the heart” at Clarendon Fine Art in Islington. I’d had a shocker of a day and, as I got off the bus my hip gave way and I almost fell onto the pavement, stopped only by a man, at least 30 years my senior, putting his hand out to steady me. I felt too shy to speak to the artist but did fall in love with one of the pieces - it almost made me cry, in a good way but maybe also because I’d nearly face planted onto Upper Street. I was very tempted by a limited edition print but in the end, walked away empty handed. Clarendon Fine Art has several galleries across London and a fair few further afield - if you’re new to appreciating art and are curious about starting to buy any, I think they’re a not bad place to start - the staff are friendly and they have a range of artwork usually at each gallery, unless there’s an exhibition on.

The refractions sort of call to mind O’Connor Akiyama’s work.

An afternoon with Southgate Adelaide

My dad and I went to watch some cricket yesterday. I’m the worst West Indian…I know nothing about the beautiful game****** and, I’m even less interested. But, it was nice to get out with him and chat about how much he used to enjoy playing and why it is that you don’t see any black children playing in the UK (a gross generalisation by us, I suspect). It was a lovely afternoon though, he drank beer (I had sparkling water), I’d made some biscuits and I laid out a blanket, set out some crockery and we had a little picnic and a most charming time. You don’t need to live in a quaint little village you know, London has it ALL.

A surprisingly good day watching cricket

Northern Lights hunting

Having failed to see the lights on Friday night, one of us was too drunk and the other was fast asleep, Horatio and I headed out on Saturday night to try our luck and this…is what I have to show for it. Plus having had a fun time, bien sur. Don’t tell me, you caught them in all their gloriousness right? Good, I’m glad. My time will come but for now, I’m happy for those, especially the Londoners, that did manage to see them.

Is it? Isn’t it? It’s not. It’s just a night sky from a park.

*I really want to type cafe with an acute accent but, I don’t know how to do it on the laptop! Pah ha ha ha ha.

** and *** both things I am working through in therapy.

**** Absolutely no idea but I’m hopeful it’ll come back to me before I post!

***** Heh. The modern day version of “No blacks, no dogs, no Irish”. Obviously this isn’t the same, it just struck me as a comparison as I imagined notices being put up across London effectively ending the practice of nursing one coffee for four hours whilst using someone else’s electricity and wifi. Just when I’m getting the hang of it.

****** Yes, it can be referred to as such, though football is more commonly called the beautiful game.

******* Oh dear, sigh, I have (banged on about laptops) about a month, or two posts ago. Sigh, again.