I’m sure that there were people around at home that use GPS systems but I never found them necessary. I drive a lot and know the greater Seattle area like the back of my hand. Should I need directions somewhere I simply look them up on google maps before hand, look at it and say, “Okay, I know where that is.” But here nearly everyone has a SATNAV. They come in handy because Leeds is a super dense sprawling area with no straight streets and few large arterials.

At home we have zip codes which mean absolutely nothing unless you’re the mail man. Even then if you get it wrong the straighten it out and get it where it needs to go. Here post codes actually have a purpose. The first letters represent the city, then there are numbers for the zone/neighborhood and then three more specific numbers that narrow it down even further. So when people ask for your address here they usually ask for your postcode and then deal with house number details later. So when people give me a ride (for which I am always profoundly grateful) they just pop my postcode in their SATNAV and we’re on our way.

I must say that I was a little surprised how SATNAV reliant people are. I suppose it’s inevitable, like cell phones. I mean, how many phone numbers do you actually know? When was the last time you had to dial a number? Even if you want to get someone else's number they often just call or text you to save you the trouble of actually having to enter the numbers yourself.

As you know following the voice on a SATNAV can be entertaining and sometimes downright annoying. They also have different voices with different accents. Over here they’re far more likely to have round abouts here over intersections. One of my friends had their SATNAV set on American and wondered what ‘traffic circles’ were. Well we don’t have many, but we do call them round abouts.

On the radio show Prairie Home Companion they have some great sketches where the SATNAV talks back. Enjoy! [Make sure you listen, don't just read the transcript.]

After Carol had first told us about the festival Louise mentioned that she was going to be doing a workshop that Saturday afternoon and would I like to help out. Of course. Then one day she asked if I wanted to do it, teach the workshop? What? No. I don’t even know what’s going on but I’ll come and do what ever you want me to do. She was scheduled to do a gig that night and mentioned that I should sing a tune or two. Great, I’d love to sing on one of her gigs. Then she mentioned that we could sing something together and so I picked out and wrote a few things. Then it was she wanted me to sing half the set. Then it was she was going to sing, I was going to sing and the workshop participants were going to sing. Every time if came up in discussion it was getting less and less structured. So I went from being all wound up and structured about what I would sing to realizing that I should just bring a couple charts and call it good.

I got off a stop later than yesterday which was a bit down the street. I was walking down the street listening to my tunes, looking at addresses when I realized that there was someone on the other side of the street flagging me down. It was Annie and Rachel from Institute Choir. They were getting sandwiches at a takeaway with a girl who was planning to move here for school next year. It was really exciting to be wandering through a neighborhood I rarely go to and find people on the street that I know. They had to run and I headed to the end of the block where I spotted a sign for Skippy’s Cocktail Bar. In the foyer I saw a pianist from the ped class standing with a pile of gear. Apparently she lives in the neighborhood and just popped in and Louise had asked her to watch the stuff while she ran to the car for more. We hauled the gear upstairs and got everything set up. Louise had recruited a first year trio to be the band since everyone else is so busy. We set up her amp and speakers (two EV monitors on stands) It was a rather small space and we got started a little late.

There were only four workshop participants. Two older women, S and W who I recognized from the Harrogate Open Mic, then L who is apparently some kind of music teacher and married to a part time teacher from the college, then J who is 15 and hasn’t ever done jazz before. It’s kind of tricky preparing for a workshop like this because you really have no idea what you’re going to get. It was really instructional for my to watch how Louise worked with the wide range of skills and styles of the individual voices.

Afterwards Louise invited me over and I decided to accept instead of spending the rest of the day on the bus. But this did mean that I would get to go home for charts or a change of clothes or food. We headed to her house where I sat at the table and watched her make dinner. I offered to help and did a few things but mostly she took care of it. She made us fried potato chips that we snacked on while dinner was cooking, beef stew into which she accidentally put hot peppers, roasted celeriac and sweet potatoes and rubarb crumble. It was great. For an hour and a half we chatted about the workshop, singing, teaching, education, cooking, gardening, random family and mission stories, politics etc etc. It was lovely. We sorted through a huge stack of her solo charts to get them all set for that evening. Then she went up stairs to take a little nap and I napped on the couch. It was great. She got up around 8:20 and I got up around 8:40 and we were supposed to be gigging at 9. Good thing we were in the same neighborhood.

We arrived and the place was hopping and the stereo was pumping. Louise had dressed up a little and so I felt a bit out of place but the band wasn’t dressed up so oh well. When we got there I was surprised to see J from the Harrogate open mic who I thinks go to LCM but who I’ve never seen at school. She had brought charts and her own trio along too.

So the band got set up and Louise was sorting through charts when a waitress came by and asked if we wanted drinks. Louise said that she was performing and had been in earlier to talk with the manager and had arranged for drinks for her and the band. The waitress went to find the manager of the evening who was not the same person who Louise had met with earlier who then gave her some run around about having vouchers for drinks. Then all of the sudden Louise snapped in a stern manner, “I am a professional musician. I’m not getting paid for this gig I’m doing it as a favor for the Headingley people. I talked with your manager and set this up and if you can’t even get free drinks for me and the band it’s over. I’ll pack all this equipment and go home.” It a rather sudden change of tone and I was shocked. On the one hand I would never do that. I’m so non confrontational and that really shows that she knows what is owed to her and what her rights and expectations are. It was a good lesson to me on how to stand up for yourself. The girl worked out the drinks and we got started.

Louise did three or four tunes.  It was a bit embarrassing during the last one. She did Fine and Mellow, blues in C without a chart and the band got lost. She ended up having to teach/sing the changes to them. Then J went up and did several tunes which were, not so good.

I had been texting back and forth with Wei Li, until he decided that he was coming and I was glad he did. I asked him to play for me. I ended up doing three tunes and was able to get the attention of the people around which was good. There were lots of people there all talking and not listening- it was crazy and loud and confusing. But I’m a bit more grounded and made more of an effort to communicate with the audience which helped. I started with There Will Never Be Another You. I did the first half rubato, which I think I like better a cappella than with rhythm. Then I finished the head. I had planned to do another chorus with words, fast but I blanked on the words- since both halves of the tune are so similar and just defaulted to a scat solo, the instrumental solos. I had kind of discussed the ending with Wei Li but it didn’t go quite as planned. That really bugs me when tunes train wreck and die at the end. That being said Wei Li is really good at working with singers, making eye contact, adjusting. I’m going to have to convince him to play for me more. Then I did One Note Samba. They messed the ending up, I don’t know how they did that, it’s clearly marked, oh well. Sometimes they don’t actually read what you write, the glance, summarize and assume. Then I finished with Devil May Care which I’m stuck in a bit of a rut on. Overall though, it was good. I mean I was competing with a room full of people talking who weren’t paying attention and I had a lady, who wasn’t with anyone in the bands, come up to me afterwards and compliment me on my voice.

After me L from the workshop did a few tunes, then the trio did a few then Louise finished off with two. I think Wei Li had wanted to sing too but it was way late. We were chatting afterwards and he said he thought that we ought to start gigging. Perhaps this is a reaction to the mediocrity we’ve see this weekend. In the fall he had kind of poo pooed the idea because he had gigged lots at home and wanted to focus on practicing and he wanted to focus on his own tunes rather than learning other people’s. But I think he might be at the point now where we could start doing something’s together. But we both agreed that we need someone in the band who has a car.

This was the first year for the Headingley Jazz Festival. It ran over the whole week and there was a wide variety of events but none of them were very well publicized. The first I had heard of it was when Carol, my Open Mic ride asked if Wei Li and I would like to sing on Friday night. Of course we would. Apparently a few other singers were singing that night and we would each do two tunes somewhere in the set. She had said that she would email me about rehearsing with the band before but that never happened.

Wei Li isn’t as bus savvy as I am so I headed to the city centre and then we took a bus out to Headingley together. We found the club and wandered in but didn’t see anyone. I called Carol and found out they were in a back room. It was down a hall behind a plain door that looked like to should go to a supply closet or something. The room was long with a low ceiling a bit like a budget hotel conference room. And considering that it was 30 minutes to the gig and the band had just arrived and was setting up I was starting to get a glimpse of what kind of gig it was. In the end there was probably 15-20 people in the audience, most of which had left by the end because it went on a while.

Carol opened with a few tunes then the other two singers did sets. They were obviously more experienced than me but still amateur. They had a fair bit of performance poise but I wasn’t overwhelmed. I felt like the woman failed to really connect with the audience or even with the rhythm section. And you could see in her body that that base swing feel wasn’t really set. The guy who sang was stuck being a Michael Buble copy. Set tunes, the same tunes the same way. He had potential to be more but it just wasn’t there. Everything felt routine.

Every time I perform I have a greater respect for other performers and how good they are. It’s so easy to sit in the audience and judge and pick apart. It’s much harder to actually do it, know what you want and get it from the performance. For all my critical watching from the side it’s always a bruising reality to put your money where your mouth is and get up there and do it yourself. Nerves rear their ugly head and intonation and control go out the window.

I had brought two songs and they went fairly well. I started with One Note Samba which went well. I had taken great pains to write out the ending just so but we still botched it a little. Having a really solid ending is really important and brings you away from the open mic jam session level. People seem to like that tune. Both of the singers before me had used music stands. Not always singing off them but there for reference in front of them and that bugs me. I know as well as the next person that you get up there to sing and every lyric you ever knew goes right out of your head but I still don’t want to use music, I think it’s unprofessional. Anyway then I did Devil May Care. I scatted a chorus and got harmonically lost coming out of the bridge which was lame. I just sometimes project forward in my head a different progression, I think it’s going one place but it’s going another. Not that I haven’t practiced it and don’t know the tune. Back to practicing. I was however impressed with how both singers had their books organized and will take some pointers from that. In these situations scatting feels brave and reckless. The lady kind of did a little but not really, not a whole chorus. Growing up in a vocal jazz culture we just all scat all the time but I’ve found that as a solo singer you have to really balance how much you do and it’s go to be really good.

During the interval I chatted with Wei Li and talked a little to the two guys sitting next to us. They were curious about who I am and what I’m doing here. Why Leeds? Aren’t there much better programs in the States? Well...

After the interval Wei Li did two tunes- singing and playing which were great, followed by more tunes from each of the other three singers and it ended rather late.  Thankfully Carol gave me a ride home.

I remember doing a Classical Mythology unit when I was in 5th grade. We listened to recordings of lots of myths from a reel to reel tape player- those were old even then. We had little quizzes and then ended the unit by drawing different characters on a big poster. I was immensely proud of my Athena. I loved the stories, they really captured my imagination. 

My first year teaching when I first started listening to lectures on CD on my commute I decided to try some Classics but never got into it. I found the 18th and 19th Centuries more interesting. Perhaps it was the particular course that I started but I just couldn’t get into it. Also revisiting some of these stories twenty years later I realizes how violent and immoral they all were. Well I don’t need that so I moved on to something else.

Well this year I’ve been consuming commute media at an alarming rate. After listening to 4 years of Wait Wait Podcast,completing a Tolkein course and having dabbled in some History 5 from Berkeley I happened upon a Classical Mythology Course from ----Missouri State of all places. It was originally a telecourse taped in 1996. When I first started I was a little turned off by the odd Professor but as I got into it he became an integral part of the experience. He’s geeky with a funny laugh but he tells the the stories like he’s well, telling stories and it’s so funny. And while after 14 years some of his cultural allusions are a bit dated it’s still really fun. I was curious and looked it up and found that he’s still there teaching this class, among others. He was so entertaining which was contrasted with the few lectures that were done by guest professors that were dead boring. It would be nice if his comparative mythology class was on iTunes U as well.

Finally I feel like I have a little better understanding of what role the stories played in Greek culture and how they relate to each other. Also how stories have evolved from a kernel of truth, how they created stories to explain the world around them and the fact that the ones that have survived this long have mostly done so mostly on entertainment value. Check it out.

Last Saturday we went to the Royal Armouries for the primary activity. I had never been there before but it was very nice and the best bit-free! It’s a large, lovely new building on the south side of town along the river/canal. 

The whole area has been built up recently with high rise apartments over retail space. It’s all lovely and knew but doesn’t look very inhabited. It’s interesting because before I moved here I had looked online and some of those apartments. They’re all new and stylish and only about a half mile to college. Very handy. But they would have cost a little more and not included bills, cable, internet, council tax, etc. There’s a lovely staircase in the armouries that looks through a glass wall out over the canal. 

It’s basically a museum of weaponry but they also have an outdoor arena where they have jousting tournaments and falconry displays. Some events and demonstrations like that have a fee so we just stuck to the free stuff.  We ended up with five kids and six adults. I’m glad that I’m not in charge of elementary field trips. Even with these odds it was still a bit tricky keeping track of everyone. For the first round of rooms I was with M. We had a good time walking around and observing things. It was interesting to see things from her point of view and think about what she, as an 8 year old, might find interesting. The first gallery was mostly suit of armor and rather cool. 

There were also some interactive stations which I and the kids appreciated a lot. One where you could pull back a long bow and feel how hard it was. Also some armoured gloves to try on and a sword to try and lift.

At 11:30 there was a firearms demonstration that we took them all to. M wasn’t the least interested. I wasn’t sure if she was scared or bored but I took her out and we looped another gallery or two, pointed at lots of countries on a giant map and ended up sitting in some chairs looking out the window playing I Spy. 

That demonstration was followed hard on by another with a man posing as one of Robin Hood’s men, Scarlock (Will Scarlet). He was very good but by this time the kids were done with sitting and listening and were starting to get restless and hungry. 

On the fourth floor they have a seating are of tables and chairs where you can ‘picnic’ if you brought your own food. We got the kids all settled in and eating. Janet had made them goodie bags with sweets in them and cute little pencils from the armouries.  Also we had made them warriors with armor out of the primary manual that we colored and laminated.  The armor stuck on with magnets.  Very cool, too bad I didn't take pictures. After lunch we perused the Oriental and Hunting galleries and then it was time to wind up. 

I’ve heard of the color spring leaf green but now I really get it and have something to tie it to. Sure it rains as much in Seattle as it does in England but in Seattle we have a site more evergreen trees. Sure the deciduous trees lose their leaves, which is necessary but the whole world doesn’t go totally brown and grey like it does here and in Ontario.

When I arrived her in September it was just lovely. Fall was lovely too with all the leaves changing, particularly well demonstrated on my trip to Derbyshire. Then they fell and were gone. For a good five months or so, nothing. Spindly, brown skeleton trees were everywhere. The weather brightened up and even then it took a good month for the leaves to really commit to showing up. I would walk by trees in the park with faded green tips trying to peek out and I would cheer them on, “Come on trees! Let’s go, leaves out!”

And arrive they have :) I particularly noticed them on my little weekend trip to Amsterdam. When we got away from the massive orange crowds and were able to wander down a canal I was enamored of the lovely seen: tall narrow houses, cobblestone ‘streets’, bikes leaned up against bridges, and trees lining the canals with bright green leaves. Hooray! 

My street is once again lined with lovely trees even with leaves bursting out all over the trunks.

 I just love that color and often as I walk by trees I’m compelled to reach out and touch a leaf just to feel the soft newness of it. 

It’s garden time in England. TIme to do a bit more wandering around to admire the colors and breathe in all that green!

The next morning Kim’s flight was a few hours before mine and so they had to be at the airport early. Beth’s was about the same time as mine and so we decided to hang out. I got up early and was already packed, threw on some clothes and said goodbye to Kim and Glenda.

At the airport we stuffed our luggage in a locker, picked up some breakfast and took the train back to Centraal.  From the station we got on hour long canal cruise. The prerecorded narration was in German, English, French and Chinese which was interesting. Taking pictures through the plexiglass cover and drizzle left a little to be desired, but then my camera battery died and it was game over anyways. The glass front building is the Anne Frank House Museum.

There are around 800,000 people in Amsterdam and 600,000 bikes. We floated by a four floor parking garage that holes 3,000 bikes. There are over 150,000 bikes stolen every year. I don’t know if that’s entirely true because I saw a variety of statistics, but you get the idea. Next time I’m in Holland I need to ride a bike.

There are 2,500 houseboats in Amsterdam.

When we arrived at the airport the check in line was ridiculous. Apparently it was the first day of holidays for the school children. We were doubled back down a long hallway but the line actually moved super fast. After more waiting at the airport we were up and down and back in Leeds before you know it. I picked up my luggage, hopped on the bus and two hours later I was home and knackered. The good news was that I did manage to eek out enough time to take a little nap before getting ready for Stake Choir practice.   It was a bit surreal to think that I had been in Amsterdam that morning and now I was running a rehearsal in Leeds, amazing.

Saturday morning [May 1] we were up and at em. I took a shower but found the provided hair dryer absolutely pitiable and asked Kim to braid my hair, can’t remember the last time I did that. Yesterday was beautiful and sunny if not a little breezy at times. This morning started out grey and drippy. We headed down stairs and met up with Glenda’s (Kim’s mom’s) friend Beth. We walked down the street to the nearest station but when we tried to get tickets from the automated machine we got stuck because it only took coins. We walked back to the hotel where the woman shook her head at us and told his to go down a block further and there was a ticket office. Turns out the ticket office is located in a convenience store which was handy so we could pick up some breakfast. We got on the train and rode out to the tip of Holland on the North Sea. It was a lovely ride and I had a great time chatting with Kim and catching up. We talked about school and jobs, callings, wards and had did a quite thorough analysis of period dramas. It was lovely.

It was still a bit grey and drippy when we arrived in Den Helder. There was a little flower shop at the station which smelled incredibly of eucalyptus. We popped into department store to use the loo, for which privilege we happily payed 20p. Then we found a tourist information shop and got a map and directions to the ferry terminal. We walked through a lovely pedestrian shop area and past the maritime museum out to the ferry dock. We walked on and off and hopped on the first bus handy and off again and another tourist bureau on the island of Texel (tessel). It was of course breezy on the ferry but overall the day weather was beautiful. From there we walked into the little town of Den Burg. It was adorable. 

We kept heading into the centre in search of lunch. We wandered through adorable streets of little shops until we found a square full of tables and people eating. 

We opted to dine in and I had tomato soup and a toastie- grilled cheese. [You know you’ve been in England a while when typing tomato soup the voice in your head actually says, ta-mah-toe.]

We meandered back through the shops to the mini transit square where we hopped on a bus heading away from the ferry dock for a pour mans public transport tour of the island. It was about 45 minutes out to the far tip and then we looped back.

It was lovely and sunny and warm and I dozed most of the way back. I was however awake for some hair raising little village bus maneuvering through an alley that was not meant for coaches. 

Back off the ferry and headed to the train station. We stopped to take a picture on a lovely canal and were asked directions by a nice man with a familiar accent. He was from Virginia and we gave him our map as we knew the way back to the station. 

The train ride back to Schiphol was lovely. The sun was setting and along the train tracks were giant colorful fields of tulips and adorable houses along tree lined canals.