November 2008 – Jeni Barnett

Thursday came and went.

27 November 2008 by Jeni Barnett

Yesterday exhausted me. One day off and I get all rusty. I managed a 30 minute run this morning. Up to the Buddah and back. The trees shedding the last of their leaves. I nearly caught a big crispy sycamore leaf, heard my self moan when it flew into my hands and out again. I’m … Read more

Adoptagran

24 November 2008 by Jeni Barnett

Today we discussed how to look after elderly parents. It always makes me wonder what I did with any money I had if, at this stage of my life, I can’t put my mother up in a 5 star hotel with all the trappings. But my relationship to money is a bit like a bear … Read more

Full Fathom Five

23 November 2008 by Jeni Barnett

Jim drove up last Wednesday so we could have dinner with Rupert Ponsonby at the new Gauchos.
We were on time only we went to the wrong Gauchos.
Walking swiftly into the one in Spitalfields – all stainless steel and girls with headsets on – I opened my eyes very wide and speaking, very slowly, asked them, impatiently, to call the other Gauchos in Smithfields.
Finally after a taxi ride and a bit of a ruck we arrived one hour late.

Houseshirk

18 November 2008 by Jeni Barnett

I know it’s shameful five days since blogging BUT.
Well excuses are just that arn’t they an exemption from a task and then seeking pardon for the said exemption.
I hope you will pardon me I am exhausted and I’ve only been back two days.
Radlett looms.
I’m not sleeping.
Getting back into the rhythm is hard.
I’m not exercising.
I feel miserable, anxious and now I have to go out to the theatre.

Half Term

13 November 2008 by Jeni Barnett

I made a decision to stay at home in the ‘Cottarge’ instead of going away.
I made a decision that sitting in front of the fire with the old git would be preferable to hanging around an airport, travelling through the night, being in someone elses bed and not knowing what the weather was going to be – and I was right.
Staying at home is out of the ordinary for me as I am always in London working, The cottarge feels cosy and welcoming. The colours are deep and warming and being in my own big bed with my books and the silence, waking up to the ‘oosbind and the cat, padding around on the carpets, having a bath in my own bath and listening to the wind in the trees, really is exactly what I need.
Not that I’ve been idle. For that I really do need to get away. But I have enjoyed my week so far – give or take Wednesday….

No Complaints

6 November 2008 by Jeni Barnett

The problem with venison stew with parsnip mash is that there is a fare bit of sugar in it – innit.
I’m all a bit spinny and nauseous.
My evening with the girls was short but sweet.
Thursday at LBC went well if a little frantic.

Bedroom antics

5 November 2008 by Jeni Barnett

When I interviewed TARELL ALVIN McCRANEY last week I had no idea I was in the presence of genius.
THE BROTHERS SIZE and IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER are two plays about young black people. Their relationships, using Yoruba myths, movement, music, theatricality, poetry, are played out with poise and power.
I went to see ‘Red and brown Water’ last night to quell my excitement.
I went to see the ‘Brothers Size’ as an antidote to all the excitment today. Brothers Size was as rivetting as Mr. Obama. Both brilliantly rivetting.
As Barak Obama’s fate was played out on my little telly screen so the slipknot of Mr. McCraney’s dialogue lingered in my mind. The lilting melody of the Southern States of America. Where, not surprisingly the Republicans held their power.

The night before tomorrow.

3 November 2008 by Jeni Barnett

It’s not the politics of envy but a fear that achievments are only ever described in pounds, shillings and pence, not to mention the yankee dollar.
Lewis Hamilton stands to be the first ever Billion Dollar sportsman.
One Billion dollars for a boy who drives a car round a track. No it isn’t any more complex than that. Yes he’s a 23 year old role model but worth one billion dollars? I don’t think so.
As homeless people treck miles, barefoot, to hide from death and find a life away from the killing fields, and as we await the outcome of the American Election, a single car driver stands to rake in more dosh than the Gross National Product of the Democratic Republic of the Congo – cockeyed values if you ask me.
And tonight, November 3rd, I dare to believe that Obama will get in.
As the old order totters before our eyes like a drunken sailor, replacing anxiety and fear with optimism and courage must be the only way forward.