Things of the recent past…

I had quite an interesting weekend. Lot’s of things happened and to be honest I don’t know where to begin.

I signed up for a ‘Java’ course. I want to acquire the “Sun Certified Java Programmer” certification (become a geek with another degree). That was my goal for this year. I started studying on my own with a couple of self taught books some months ago but that hasn’t been going very well. My progress is quite slow. So, I’ve decided to do a proper, adult only, Saturday course. I found a college somewhere in central London and I’ll start my course right after I get back from Greece. The courses run for 6 subsequent Saturdays. After those weeks, I hope to be able to get the certificate without a problem.

Apart from the visit to the College on Saturday morning (to inspect before signing up), I managed to finish the things I wanted to get for the people I’ll meet in Greece. My brother ordered me some clothes and sailing stuff he can't find in Greece and some other friends wanted me to bring them clothes or books. The preparations of the journey, the cost of the Java course and all the shopping put a real strain on my credit card and savings. I’ll probably try to keep a low profile after I come back and until the holiday season (don't bet on it though).


On Saturday night though, I went with ‘JJ’ to Soho Theatre. There was an artist (which I didn’t know existed) called ‘Our Lady J’. I really didn’t know what to expect since the tagline of her concert is called: “Gospel of the Godless”! The stage had a piano where a variety of different lit candles, a synthesiser and a macbook were standing. The rest of the stage was empty were I was told that a choir would be performing. At some point the lights of the theatre went dim and the artist arrived on stage. She started playing a romantic melody for a few seconds until she turned on her macbook. Then, a variety of electronic sounds were heard from the synthesiser and she kept on singing with her voice electronically altered! My mind went directly to ‘Ross’ from ‘Friends’ performing for the rest of the group in one of the episodes. I realised that ‘JJ’ was laughing next to me, thinking the exact same thing as he later told me.

Our lady J

However, the choir appeared giving the songs a different touch. Also, the next songs were quite different and both me and JJ quite quickly stopped giggling but enjoyed the show. Apparently, ‘lady J’ is quite an entertainer. Most of her songs have a spicy, naughty touch while being uplifting, humorous and ‘theatrical’. The choir accompanying her was also very good, consisting of young boys and girls with nice voices. After the second song I was really glad I went to see her. What I really liked was the fact that between each song, the lady was telling us about her story. She grew up in a very conventional environment where she learnt to appreciate and love gospel and Church music. She also told us about her journey to become a woman and how she managed to get the money to do her boob job with objects donated to her by different artists like ‘Dolly Parton’ and arranging a couple of concerts called 'Boob Aid' with breasts as a general theme!

The show lasted for an hour and to be honest, I wouldn’t mind it lasting more. ‘Our lady J’ is quite a character that we had the chance to briefly talk to after the show. I got her latest CD signed and dedicated to me. She was quite friendly, chatty and smiling.