I leave for work at nearly 8 a.m. The light is falling lower and lower on the horizon. It lives below the equator now. My shadow stretches long and tall behind me. I cannot see, but I don’t care. The sun is on my face and I would rather be nowhere. The only thing, really,…
Me vs. the Minutes
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I’m supposed to be typing up minutes. But I’m not. As you can see. Big round table. Men in suits… Ties everywhere. Nice cup of tea, getting cold. Mumble mumble. Scratch on pad. Quote: “MUMBLE. MUMBLE.” Now I’m at my desk and now I have to type up MINUTES. Minutes are the Brussel sprouts of…
What I am Reading: Wild Dogs
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Mary Flanagan brought me this book to workshop this week. “I just thought…” she said, then her voice trailed off. I started reading it this morning, on the Tube. This isn’t the cover of the book I have. Books have all sorts of different covers, in different markets. Probably the one here is the American…
Lovely Carter Lane
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If I hadn’t taken the temp job at the Kuwait Investment Office, I am quite sure I would never have found Carter Lane. Lovely, narrow, winding Carter Lane, which is most certainly a ghost of itself on the weekend, when the City empties. But this City of London lane, stretching from the south side of…
How to be a Proper Pubman
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This is John. For 25 odd years, John has been doing just what you see here… serving pints at the Warrington Hotel. It isn’t an easy thing, to be a landlord. Sure, on the surface, it seems like a cakewalk. Hire a few Aussies, order barrels of bitter, decide between black or yellow shirts, and…
All the Plastic in the World
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Lately I’ve been thinking about Little House on the Prairie. Not the books, but the show, with Melissa Gilbert and her pigtails flying. One of my favorite characters was Mr. Olsen. Not because he was so nice and long-suffering, with the noisy wife and spoiled children. No, I remember him because of his store. Inside…
Health Care Perspective
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295,734,134 = Current US Population 15.6 = Percentage of Americans without health care coverage 46,134,525 = Number of Americans without health care coverage 60,441,457 = Current UK Population 100 = Percentage of British citizens/residents and EU residents with health care coverage in the UK 0 = Number of Communist plots concocted as a result of…
T-E-M-P
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Where am I, you might be asking? I am in a temporary place. It’s really pretty. I have a glass box–well glass on two sides, that I sit inside for 8 hours. I type things on letterhead. I make coffee and tea. I am in T-E-M-P land. It’s nice here. This particular version of Templand…
Days of Wine and Dial-up
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Seems like just yesterday I was hanging upside-down from the arm of the sofa, reaching into the mass of cords behind our computer, to unplug and plug the phone cord. Seems like only a day or two ago, I was tapping my foot, watching that little bar in the bottom right hand corner slowly fill…
Launching a Mistress
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At Random House last night I met Lily (not her real name) and it reminded me of a story I want to tell you. But before I tell you, you have to know about last night. Lily and I and a roomful of disconnected people milling, the spaces filled with small talk and wine. We…
The Parental Invasion
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My in-laws, Henry and Linda, have descended upon us in London. Henry is a proper old limey, having been born here. Still, things are somewhat different since the World War II days, so I’ve been taking them around the town. Here we flying high in the London Eye… The weather has been spot on and…
My Run in Hyde Park
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2006 Women’s HydroActive Challenge September 3rd London’s Hyde Park Finish Time: 40 minutes 31 seconds The HydroActive Challenge 5K is a race for women and there were woman all around me. But even so, I didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Almost everyone there was running for some charity or other, so the other runners…
My Left Slipper
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On Thursday, we were just fooling around in the bedroom before bed. You know. The way people do. I never wanted this. I never wanted to become so attached to– Well, anyway. I tossed off my slippers. One foot, two foot. Barefoot, blue foot. Like a Dr. Suess rhyme. I tossed them away. It’s Wednesday…
Notting Hill Carnival: The Corporate Mob
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We went for our third Notting Hill Carnival yesterday. Didn’t plan to, just like we didn’t plan to be in the city for the bank holiday weekend. But it has always been the right idea in the end. Sarah and Tom planned the day for us and I suddenly remembered what it was like to…
Old West End, to the Nines
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Last Chance Londoner, Part III Closer, closer. Quiet now. Listen. It is dark and the night is over us. I am hiding here, but not because I want to. London swallowed me, and I am sunk, sinking into her marshy fields, her fetid greens, the old, rubbish-strewn streets. Find me, around this corner, and that…
