29 January 2012

Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.

DW asked about the chain I'm wearing in my profile picture. The answer was a bit long for just a comment.

I don't wear it often - never for work, and I don't put it on just for the periods inbetween one shift and the next. But I do wear it on special occasions, when I'm dressing up smartly, that sort of thing. - As you'll all have noticed, I do have quite a fondness for jewellery :)

So, it is just a chain - plain, silver - and then on it there are a few different things. The first thing that ever went on it was an earring. It belonged to my Nonna - I don't remember ever seeing her without those earrings in my life. So, when she died, and we were asked if we wanted anything, I asked for those. Nicky's got the other one. It's just a silver drop-shape. Then there's a little pendant I found on a beach. I was walking along, miles and miles of beach, I looked down, and it was just there. It would have been so easy to miss. I just sort of thought I should pick it up. A chance in a million to find it - so it seemed wrong to leave it there. When I got back home I added it to the necklace. There's a tiny stainless steel ring, from one of my first bike jackets, that got wrecked when they cut it off me, and there's a little ball-ended linkage from one of my old bikes.

So, yeah, there you go. Lots of little memories, that's what's on it, DW.

59 comments:

Desert Wanderer said...

Thanks for answering, Lestrade. It's so wonderful for you to have kept those special memory pieces.

I hope asking didn't dredge up unpleasant memories. I'm sorry if it did.

Greg Lestrade said...

No problem, and no, it didn't. They're things I keep to remember, nothing bad.

REReader said...

Thatspectrum special, L--and thar's the best sort of jewelry, the kind that means something personal.

My grandmother had a pair of diamond earrings, each with a smaller diamond at the stud part and a larger diamond drop. They're not very good stones, they have flaws, and they don't match perfectly, but they were cut very well to minimize the flaws...by my grandfather, who was a diamond cutter. When my grandmother died, my mother made the larger stones into a pair of earring for herself, and the smaller ones into a pair for me, and when I wear them it's like have both my grandparents with me.

Greg Lestrade said...

That's lovely, RR. And yes, it is the best sort. I'd wear it more if it weren't for work - I don't feel comfortable wearing anything that a. means something to me, or b. is around my neck, when I'm at work.

John H. D. Watson said...

What beach did you find it on?

Greg Lestrade said...

One near Edinburgh. Bry had a show there, so I spent a lot of time walking on my own.

John H. D. Watson said...

Huh. He really got around. Nice place?

Greg Lestrade said...

Yeah, well, like everyone said when I posted that picture the other day, he had talent - he was popular, sold a lot of work. Before he figured that the 'getting drunk and high and partying' part of his work was more interesting than the 'work' part....and he did more of the former, less of the latter and...you know what happened.

It was nice though - beautiful empty beaches. Cold, bit bleak in places, but...yeah, nice.

REReader said...

"Thatspectrum"?? That's, it was supposed to say "That's"!

REReader said...

Absolutely you shouldn't be wearing a chain around your neck at work, or anything that can be used as a good choke-hold. Just...no.

Empty beaches are the best.

Anon Without A Name said...

That's a nice idea, Lestrade, keeping little bits of good memories like that. I like it.

Greg Lestrade said...

I hope to add more in the future, Nameless. (Sherlock's offered me his tooth...I had to decline. Told him he should write a nice letter to the tooth fairy asking if he could keep it. He shook his head at me as if in despair...and said he'd ask John.)

REReader said...

Oh, did Sherlock's tooth fall out today?

Greg Lestrade said...

No, much to my distress. I'm just going to sneak into his room one night and tug it out if this goes on much longer. He can twist it all around, make it tip over just by blowing his breath out hard enough, the works - God knows how he's still eating anything without it just dropping out. I think the joy of watching people squirm when they see it is outweighing his initial want to lose it.

REReader said...

Ha! Well, if he's enjoying it...just don't look. :D The new tooth is going to push the old one out soon enough, seeing as it's mostly done the job already.

(I now have this image of Sherlock chasing you around the flat by wiggling his tooth. Very cartoon!)

Greg Lestrade said...

To be honest, I'm almost immune to it! (Still slightly freaked out by the degus bright orange teeth...but apparently it means they're healthy.)

Anon Without A Name said...

That's very sweet of Sherlock to offer you his first tooth - and to be fair, I'm sure it's a lovely memory (and one you presumably were never expecting?). Well, lovely in the abstract sense, rather than in the "OMG he's wiggling it at me!" sense. Of course, teeth offered up to friends and DIs don't result in a financial reward.

I've probably mentioned this before, but if you like big empty beaches that don't smell of chips, candy floss and cockles, try the Northumbrian coast. Glorious miles of golden sandy beaches, often without another living thing in sight. (Having grown up in a fairly tacky seaside resort, I'm a bit of a beach snob)

Small Hobbit said...

By watching people squirm, does that me you L?

I think the idea of the memories on your necklace is really lovely, although I do agree that Sherlock's tooth probably wouldn't be a good addition.

And belatedly I would also have thought "no underpants" when looking at your alarm system.

REReader said...

For some reason the degus having orange teeth makes me think of flamingos. (Probably because they have to be fed carrots to look pinky-orange. Or something.)

I agree with Nameless--it is very lovely of Sherlock to offer you his first tooth. Not sure how you'd get it on a necklace without breaking it, but it's really a sweet gesture.

Greg Lestrade said...

Nameless - It is very very touching. But hopefully he can keep it safe and it'll bring him back good memories, too.

We'll have to make it up to Northumbria sometime, definitely.

SH - Glad it's not just me! :) (on the 'no underpants' front....which sounds dodgy, out of context.)

Greg Lestrade said...

Carrots? I thought it was blue-green algae in the wild, and then in captivity, if the zoo or whtever want them to be pink, they add in a sort of...food colouring, a chemical, to mimic it.

Unless they get that from carrots...I don't know, not my area!

I'm not actually sure why the goos have orange teeth...

Small Hobbit said...

Since you asked "The reason degus teeth are orange, is that the chlorophyll in the greens that they eat reacts with an enzyme in their bodies and produces an orange organic fluid in their saliva."

Thank you google.

REReader said...

I dunno--at the Bronx Zoo, the zookeepers always told us visitors they gave the flamingos carrot juice so they'd be the "right" color...and my parents used to take us there at least once a year when we were kids, so we heard it a lot. (Doesn't make it true, of course.) I don't suppose it has anything to do with degu teeth, it's just where my mind went. (Yes, fine, my very odd mind. :D)

Desert Wanderer said...

I once went to Cromer accidentally, and the beach there was lovely. It was in November, but I wouldn't imagine it'd be any good in the summer; too many people. The Wash is very nice, though...

Anon Without A Name said...

DW - I am intrigued at the idea of "accidentally" visiting Cromer. Were you aiming for Norwich and overshot? Aiming for Amsterdam but didn't make it all the way?

I mus admit, I've never thought of East Anglia as a holiday destination, but I ought to bear it in mind.

Greg Lestrade said...

SH - glad they don't drool on me then! Cows have a sort of horrible orange saliva, too. It's...really vile, actually.

Nameless - after working that case there, can't say I've ever thought of East Anglia as a holiday destination, either. But if that windmill Mrs H counts, then...I highly recommend it :)

Anonymous said...

Greg - If Sherlock is that determined to, um, donate his tooth to your necklace, maybe suggest that he give you a metal charm for your birthday/Christmas/next big event in your lives?

That way, you have something precious for your chain without having to... wrestle with the tooth fairy. *coughs*

~A from NW

Ria said...

On the topic of flamingos: in the wild they get their color from eating blue-green algae, but in captivity they're fed shrimp and carrot juice to give them their color, presumably because blue-green algae is more expensive.

H. Savinien said...

Oh, that's awesome. Almost all of my jewelry has some sort of history to it too, if only "this person I love gave this to me", but the bits that are history you make yourself are really cool.

My mom kept my brothers and my baby teeth, probably for sentimental reasons. I don't think she would make jewelry out of them, though.

Desert Wanderer said...

Nameless, I was trying to get to Bury St. Edmunds. I might have gotten...a bit turned around. I also was once trying to get to Cambridge via the M1 and ended up somewhere in Lincolnshire. My UK geography sucks.

East Anglia is a good holiday destination precisely because no one thinks of it. It's nice and secluded, with gorgeous countryside and wonderfully windy roads. If you don't mind people mumbling in a really thick accent, it's perfect!

AfNW, given how we know this will work, what makes you think Lestrade would object to wrestling with the Tooth Fairy? ;)

Anonymous said...

DW - He wouldn't. However, there is nothing that says he can't wrestle with the Tooth Fairy and recieve a tooth charm in return. *whistles innocently* ;)

~A from NW

Desert Wanderer said...

I like the way you think. :)

Anon Without A Name said...

DW - if it's any consolation, my UK geography sucks too :-) I'm OK following maps and stuff, but on the motorways I get confused because I have no idea if, for example, Doncaster is north of Sheffield, or whether Leeds is east or west of where I'm trying to get to.

I was born in East Anglia, and grew up in the South West, so I can cope with thick mumbling accents :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

Oi, the Westcountry doesn't have thick mumbling accents! (But I don't have a problem understanding East Anglian ones...)

Anon Without A Name said...

Hah, well, not *everyone* in the Westcountry has a thick mumbling accent, I'll grant you. But mostly it's not exactly RP either, is it? :-p

Desert Wanderer said...

Bristol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FENw5satQsA&feature=related

Norfolk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVXxj_Mdwos&feature=related

REReader said...

If you are all going to start picking on accents, I am going to be forced to point out that all you lot have one... :D

Desert Wanderer said...

not *everyone* in the Westcountry has a thick mumbling accent

No, not everyone. Just the ones born there. :P

Ro said...

Nice story on your necklace, Lestrade. I have a similar one (here) - it has a small Chinese fish charm given to me by a friend (like this, but green), the Chinese symbol for the year I was born (the year of the pig), a silver heart locket my mum gave me when my cat Curvitash was killed (it has her picture and some of her fur in it), and the small green nametag of my other cat, Dion (died at age 21, in November 2010). Used to also hold a tiny copy of the One Ring (from Lord of the Rings) that a friend gave me, but it was getting a bit bulky! I don't wear it all the time, but it's nice when I do, to be reminded of things.

Greg Lestrade said...

Cheeky, DW.

RR - Danger and the boys have an rp accent though, which doesn't count to us. And which I occasionally strive for, and even more occasionally succeed in...

REReader said...

But that's identifiably a Briitish accent, so it counts!

I, on the other hand, don't have an identifiable accent, or so I'm told. I've lived my whole life in New York, but I'm not even sure I sound entirely American. Most people tell me I sound vaguely European but not exactly. (?) :)

(Yes, I'm still awake. I took antihistamines, so I'm hoping for a drug-induced drowsiness to pop up any time now...)

Greg Lestrade said...

I've never met an American without a clear American accent, you'd be a first.

I have met a lot of Americans who are completely terrible at identifying other accents, though.

REReader said...

Well. It's mostly non-Americans who've said it, but I don't know. It might be--well, I'm terrible at learning languages, but good at sounding like I know them, I think I might start reflecting the accent of whomever I talk to , which might account for it. And I did grow up in an immigrant neighborhood--most of my classmates' parents were not born in the US. (My mom was born in Belgium, if it comes to that.) So I might come by a "vaguely European" accent honestly.

Desert Wanderer said...

Is Doc's RP natural, or learned?

Anon Without A Name said...

DW - according to this map: http://yfrog.com/kkfugmrj you were probably trying to visit London when you hit Cromer :-p

ReRe: I don't think I've ever met or spoken to an American who didn't have an identifiably American accent of some description, in the same way that British people tend to have British accents of one sort or another. Hope you managed to sleep, eventually.

Kira said...

If people can't remember my name I am 'the small scottish lady'... very clear accent, even though I've lived on the south coast since I was 7!!

Somehow I guessed that the boys would be RP but not Danger - is it an officer thing??

Kira
xoxo

Greg Lestrade said...

DW, Kira - you'd have to ask him, really. I'd probably say it's natural, but when he does 'break' from it he tends to go a bit London/Estuary, which suggests to me that he's picked that up since living here.

Sherlock also has the odd London twang, which I think he gets from school, mainly, and I definitely lapse that way if I'm not around anyone from the Westcountry :)

Mycroft, however, speaks beautifully. I can picture him in a wing collar, reading the BBC news in the war :)

Desert Wanderer said...

Goodness, that reminds me of this Wing Commander (Lt Colonel) I was deployed with. So there we were: 1 British Wing Commander, 1 Australian Wing Commmander, 1 French colonel, 1 British Squadron Leader (Major), 1 Canadian Major, and me, Captain Wanderer, sitting in the briefing room waiting for the general to arrive. The British Wing Commander was the poshest dude you ever saw in a war zone. About 6'3", built like a rugby player, wrote with a fountain pen in calligraphy, spoke RP to put the Queen to shame.

We were discussing this plan that involved moving people to the States on very short notice and trying to figure out how that would work. I told the Canadian Major he could just take off his blouse and learn to say "y'all" and he'd pass for American. He laughed, but the posh Wing Commander got his dander up.

Him: "Captain [Wanderer], that is not proper English."
Me: "But sir! It's just a contraction. Like can't or don't."
Him: "Maybe in America, but it's still not proper."
Me: "That's American English 200 level, sir. 300 level is "all y'all""
Him: *gaping mouth*
Aussie: "Sounds right to me"
Me: "If you'd like to be really advanced, American English 400 level is "all y'all's""
Brit Maj: "All y'all's. I like it"
Brit Wg Cdr: *turning bright purple* "That's an affront to the Queen's English!"
Brit Maj: "Sir, I'm pleased to report the colonies haven't spoken the Queen's English in 300 years."
*General arrives, briefing begins*
French colonel, 30 minutes into briefing the general: "What y'all will see here is..."
*cue four officers stifling giggles, one turning bright red, and one slightly confused general*

I did then get a direct phone call from the British Wg Cdr on every little thing that was wrong in his area, but it was worth it.

REReader said...

LOL, DW! But "y'all" isn't general American--it's just for Southerners, no one north of the Mason-Dixon like can use it without sounding all fake!

I AM American, so I imagine I sound more American than anything else. Alls I know is what I'm told. If you can tell me how to get my voice on here, I'd let you decide for yourselves... :)

So is Sherlock's tooth still hanging in there, so to speak?

Anonymous said...

DW - that is a brilliant tale - can visualise it perfectly.

SH

REReader said...

(Never mind--I saw Sherlock's comment on John's blog. Woo! :))

Calliope said...

Just for fun, here's my entry in the Pronunciation Meme - http://soundcloud.com/themusecalliope/the-pronounciation-meme

Now you can all listen to my Californian (with random other stuff) accent.

mazarin221b said...

I'm pretty far north of the M-D line (Indiana), and we say Y'all around here with the best of them. Probably because where I grew up it was all Tennessee transplants, but still...

REReader said...

I can't get it to play. :(

REReader said...

Then you shouldn't be saying it! :) "Y'all" only sounds right with a Southern drawl--ANY Southern drawl. Would the Dictionary of American Regional English lie? (Admittedly, I'm going by memory and very old memory for the DARE reference. It's been years, and I only worked on it for a few days, it was a temp job. :D)

Calliope said...

Sorry RR. It seems to play just fine on my not-quite-up-to date IE, but as I'm at work I can't check with any other browser. :(

mazarin221b said...

Then again, RR, we here in Indiana do have a lovely Hoosier accent, which sounds "Southern" to my in-laws in Wisconsin, so. It all depends where you are. And "Southern" accents are noticeably different depending on where you are in the South, too. Texas, Carolinas, Georgia, Northern Florida, Louisiana, they all sound distinct to me.

REReader said...

That's because they ARE all distinct!

CzechReader said...

"OMG he's wiggling it at me!"

okay, you killed me with that sentence! :-)

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