Weekend

Ahhhh! They've gone. All those adolescents with their hang-ups, aspirations and habits - a microcosm of working class English culture - bawdy, disinterested, foul-mouthed individuals mixed in with wholesome, hard-working " proper" students who look you in the eye and want to make something of their lives. They've gone with their bloody mobile phones and their bloody MP3 players, muddy shoes and cheap jewellery, eye shadow and scuffed footballs, manila folders and Nike bags. With a week's worth of emotional detritus, I remain here in the humming room where I have passed so many hours, spouted so many words, corrected so many lines, read so many books, fought so many battles. Ahead of me - the weekend, stretching out like a vast plain. Far in the distance I see horsemen riding towards a pine forest that sweeps up to faraway mountains. Every weekend it's the same but it always ends up like Groundhog Day - blink and it's gone, Monday morning comes round again and there's another week of hassle - fighting at the frontline for knowledge and decency, success and understanding.

So what of this weekend? Takeaway curry from Hamid's. Two or three pints in the pub. Back home to the mess that is my back room decorating project. Gotta make some progress this weekend - paint the ceiling and the picture rail with some wallpapering tomorrow afternoon. I've also got to fit in four or five hours of marking of students' papers following their recent "mock" exams. Don't think me and Shirley will be able to take time out to see The Tigers play Stoke City - there's too much to do. Tomorrow night, Saturday night, we'll treat ourselves to a few drinks at the pub. Our son, Ian should be home tonight - he's had a week's holiday and he's been staying down in London with friends. We've missed him. I think he's found time to visit three or four museums. I recommended the Tate Modern which is a fantastic home for some superb modern art - so beautifully presented - not busy and cluttered like some art galleries...

Click above for Tate Modern link...

Joan, the school cleaner, interrupted me just then, wiping the table tops, sweeping the floor. She showed me a picture her partner took in France - a marvellous purple sunset over a remote fishing lake - what the French call an "etang". I'd have been proud of that snap if I'd taken it myself. Gotta go - the weekend awaits - I'm "born to be wild"! Yay....!