eight things i learnt in july

to quote sarah over at saipua "we are learning things, and learning is good (except I hate learning. I like knowing)". i read that and thought yes, i like knowing too. except this is the second month i've kept note of what i have learnt and i've realised; i quite like learning. i guess i didn't realise how much i learn each month. so here goes - what i learnt in july.

1. a british male won wimbledon for the first time in 77 years.  no news there - andy murray became front page news around the world for winning the championship at the all england club but what i didn't know about was his school history. dunblane in scotland, where the murray family are from, suffered the worst school shooting the uk has ever seen when in 1996 gunman thomas hamilton opened fire in a school gymnasium and killed sixteen children and one adult before turning the gun on himself. a bbc documentary showed andy break down in tears while talking about this incident when he was eight years old. his class were the next ones due in the gym.

2. no building can be built in london that obscures the view of saint paul's cathedral. my sister in law told me about this while walking over blackfriars bridge and marveling at london by night. the construction of the new "cheesegrater" building has had it's design adapted so that londoners can still see the cathedral dome from fleet street. see fantastic aerial photos here. 

and speaking of london:

3. wiltons is the oldest surviving grand music venue in london. i visited it this month when meeting up with an old friend, this place is her local cafe/bar. if you visit i can highly recommend the watermelon, feta, black olive and mint salad, in fact all the food is delicious. 

and speaking of friendship:

4. true friendship transcends time. the last time i met up with my beautiful ethiopian friend she was pregnant with her son, by the time i saw her this month she had given birth to her daughter whom i didn't know she was pregnant with. it makes no difference that there may be holes in our timelines, honest friendship picks up like you saw each other yesterday. 

and speaking of time:

5. observing sabbath has taught me how to rest. since january jane and i have been members of shelly's sabbath society. this month was the first time this year i had a good chunk of time off, i not only used my time differently - i deliberately left space to relax and just be - but i no longer had to wait until the end of the week before i felt as if i'd relaxed enough to benefit from my holiday. i was on holiday from five minutes after i drove away from my office.

6. teenagers have been setting their mobile phone ring tones to high pitch sounds in order to keep their phones on them in school - the teachers can't hear the high frequency but they can. imagine their annoyance when their outgoing youth group leader found an app for his phone which contained a high pitch whistle. cue complaints from teenagers about how their ears hurt. turns out my hearing is better than i thought, i could hear it too. 

and speaking of teenagers:

7. this month i stumbled across the word bershon. the urban dictionary describes it as: "pretty much how you feel when you're 13 and your parents make you wear a Christmas sweatshirt and then pose for a family picture, and you could not possibly summon one more ounce of disgust, but you're also way too cool to really even deal with it, so you just make this face like you smelled something bad and sort of roll your eyes and seethe in a put-out manner." this is bershon: 

google it. it's hilarious. and speaking of google: 

8. google plays tricks. don't believe me? open a new tab, go to google and type in askew. now tell me, what's wrong with that picture? got an ipad? be warned, not sure it works on all devices but it seems to on iphones, it definitely does on a mac. oh, you didn't know i was a apple girl? well, there's something else you can add to the list of things you learnt this month.

Emma

linking with emily over at chatting at the sky.