29 April 2009
Sun's back. Hard to continue on to work some days when that little bank by the Regent's Park boating lake is looking so appealing.
Welcome to the Lodge!
Saturday, May 02, 2009
27 April 2009
Guess it does still rain in London... on my walk back from a conference and then tea with my friend Ruth at the Royal Automobile Club. I'm just that posh.
26 April 2009
Cooking up a Sunday lunch for friends...
And then lunch stretched into the wee hours and ended up with absurdity at a friend's studio...
25 April 2009
Another gorgeous beautiful day, another long aimless walk. This is the beautiful light along the Broad Walk in Regent's Park.
24 April 2009
Waiting on a friend for lunch at an outdoor cafe in Soho on a Friday afternoon almost as gorgeous as the mens strutting by...
23 April 2009
In summertime in London, the pubs spilleth over. Copious Pimm's were consumed with my coworkers. Curry followed.
21 April 2009
Walking home, I noticed this household 'walking their bird' - everyone deserves a bit of London sunshine, I suppose :)
And on the way home from my appointment, had to stop and sit on the stoop of the pub with a sprightly Pimm's... mmmm... and right as I was taking this shot, a friend in the neighborhood happened by and joined me. How I enjoy serendipitous neighborliness!
20 April 2009
Spotting (and smelling!) some freshly cut grass in Regent's Park! Spring has sprung, indeed...
19 April 2009
Waiting for friends at the Warrington pub, I try to get my life sorted out (for the time being, at least).
Waiting for
18 April 2009
It's a beautiful day, so I hop the Bakerloo to the end of the line and visit the village of Harrow
Lord Byron used to sit here in his special spot while a student and gaze out at the London countryside...
16 April 2009
Walking to the cinema in Mayfair (to see the 400 Blows... beautiful) I saw a few people sitting across the street from Fortumn & Mason, watching expectantly. Had never known there was a glockenspiel there! 
15 April 2009
Soho on a Wednesday Noon - when it's still fairly quiet and not yet heaving with hedonists...
Latex dress shops... a victim of the Great Recession?
And right across the street from one of my favorite old shops, that looks as though it has withstood many a cycle - the Algerian Coffee Store
14 August 2009
Death and Taxes... the morning after... invective against the damned IRS still coursing through my veins...
13 August 2009
Easter Monday and the living is easy... sitting in a pub garden in St. John's Wood discussing life and literature and food with Shazzie...
Monday, April 13, 2009
11 April 2009
Went for a walk through the neighborhood, and happened upon tourists doing the standard thing at Abbey Road Studios:
Passed by this house that inexplicably had Easter Island man statues on every windowsill...
And finally settled into a leather armchair at the Clifton Arms for a pint of cider and my Saturday Guardian. Picked up a nice curry takeaway on the way home. Quiet Saturday.
10 April 2009
In which I set out to do my taxes... I tried to create as peaceful a scene as could be but still ended the night in a blind ranting rage. And still not finished. Such waste...
Friday, April 10, 2009
7 April 2009
Walking from the doc's office to the library, came across this interesting moving service along Elgin Avenue. Well preferred to taking the stairs!
6 April 2009
Went shopping after work in Covent Garden.
Trying on my new 'springy green' sweater from Next:
5 April 2009
Delicious Sunday lunch of simply garlicy baked sea bass and potatoes and cheese and strawberries and wine a la Casa Ruth & Trefor! Just a wonderfully civilized way to spend the afternoon, followed naturally by a sojurn to the Warrington.
The gang's question of debate this night settled on the Pope's responsibility for preventing the spread of AIDS in Africa. The matter grew heated and we ended up instituting a Lord of the Flies style 'Holder of the Conch has the floor' rule, with Tref's wallet serving as Conch.
Summed thus:
Shazzie: 'All he has to do is say two words: Use Condoms.'
Chris: [positing that the Catholic church's area of responsibility is as a moral force not as a public health advocate]: 'I don't go the the bank and ask for a tomatoe.'
All were in agreement that the heart of the matter is that humans like to f&$%.
Also of note, I had my first Pimm's of the year. For the next five months or so, it's Pimm's o'Clock, people!
4 April 2009
Took the bus to the City and ended up at the Le Corbusier exhibit at the Barbican.
It was the perfect place to host the exhibit as the Barbican seems to me to be apotheosis of the entire modernist utopia movement - it's a remarkable and compelling idea, and yet still it just doesn't quite work. Too much concrete, too inorganic. The Barbican is London's version of Boston's City Hall Plaza.
Can't say as I much share Le Corbusier's taste, although I appreciate the clean lines of the furniture and even of the individual buildings. It's his master urban planning visions that sent shivers down my spine. I actually gasped when viewing his 'map' of Paris, which envisioned mowing down the Right Bank and replacing the existing arcades and already-Hausmann'd Boulevards with a giant council estate of twenty identical high rise buildings. On his modified map of Paris, he had drawn this overhead view and the buildings looked like the hulking metal jacks that served as WWI anti-tank barriers (I'm sure there's a proper name for this). In Algiers, his plan was for a miles-long apartment building that would hug the entire crescent of the seafront - completely cutting off public access and the relationship between the sea and the rest of the city. What was he thinking?
3 April 2009
Friday night at the Prince Charles Cinema - for a showing of the French film "The Class".
An interesting 'year in the life' idea of an inner-city Parisian high school French class. I appreciated that the story lines seemed organic, not hewing to an artificial overarching plot of trial and redemption. You feel the challenges the teacher faces, you see the students evolve (or not) over the course of the year... it seemed very real. There are questions left unanswered, situations not tidily resolved. Good film.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Brown paper packages tied up with strings...
How happy was I to return home (in a bit of an urgent stress) to find a brown box care package! Such a surprise - and the proper comfort package for a girl with too much downtime on her hands right now. The chocolate! The candy! Mad Libs, nailpolish, and, best of all - not just a trashy magazine, but ANNOTATED with catty comments! Almost as good as having a good friend here to keep me company during the day. Thanks, Abby for reminding me that even though I feel awfully bound to my flat and my neighborhood these weeks, I do still have wonderful friends out there in the wider world that can be present even if they can't be in London. I am a very lucky person, indeed.
1 April 2009
Going in to work today was optional due to the anticipated mass protests in response to the G20 conference being held in London. I decided to go in, and found it all to be very quiet. No problems on the bus, and our offices are just skirting the potential 'problem areas'. Saw a lot of helicopters out the window (and heard Obama's landing last night - he's staying just down the road!), but the biggest action was watching the BBC website.
Did leave early in order to get to my doc appt, and it has really, properly become spring in London - almost don't need a jacket! Amazing what good weather can do for one's mood... maybe that's why the anarchists were not too riled.
31 March 2009
After the daily doc visit... a quiet rest at my local pub, the Warrington, to read a bit.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Leprachauns and Agas...
So, I'm off this weekend to my flatmate's family home in Northern Ireland for a country weekend of long walks, longer dinners, and, hopefully, not much else. A few words on Killinchy, the village closest to the home... sounds just as 'hopping' as I can take right now.
Wiki says...
Killinchy (in Irish: Cill Dhuinsí, ie (St) Duinseach’s Church) is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland, two miles inland from the western shores of Strangford Lough in the Ards Borough Council area. According to the 2001 Census the population was 492.
The village sits on a hill overlooking Strangford Lough. The nearby settlement of Balloo is often treated as part of Killinchy. In Balloo, the main shop is McCanns (formerly called Killinchy General Stores). It includes a coffee shop, 'Muffler's', and a hardware store and post office. Opposite McCanns is a petrol station including a Mace convenience store. Balloo also has a branch of the Northern Bank, a Masonic Hall and a butcher's shop. Killinchy has a community hall and a new children's playground. A firework display is held annually. The main pub in the district is Balloo House. 'Daft Eddy's' is a well-known pub and restauarant and though often described as being in Killinchy is actually in nearby Whiterock.This restaurant has a fine sea view and has an excellent seafood menu.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Up on an Airplane...
I've often said if I have to go, then an airplane crash seems most justified. Really, what are we doing up there anyway? I've had a hard time explaining why I feel this, but just read this in a Slate article about the wonders of the Skymall catalog that seems to sum up this sense I have quite well:
"Something to do with the fact that when one is up in the air, however familiar, on some limbic level of the brain, one is aware of how absurd it is to be suspended eight miles high in a metal container, only some poorly understood laws of physics keeping you from plunging abruptly to certain death. "
The article in question is actually pretty funny, too... love the existential contemplation of leftover chicken wing bones in the description of the SnakDaddy - "Where the wings have no shame". Heh... http://www.slate.com/id/2164517/pagenum/all/#page_start
Enjoy the flight!
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Wierdest night ever...
So, I went to Claridge's Bar (swanky art deco very expensive hotel) with my friend Alexis for a drink and to catch up - bar was full, so we ended up sharing a table with this Aussie guy Nathan, who was actually quite nice - he's a commodities trader and we ended up discussing everything from nuclear energy to poltiics to Russian history over the next two hours - it was hour three that got particularly weird. He'd gone to the restroom and came back with his new friend "Cody, I'm a male model", a very gay guy from New York via L.A. and his hometown of Salt Lake City. He studied marine biology, was in town for a friend's art show, had shaved his chest for "fashion week" and had written five children's books that are about to be published. Qua? The boys talked about shaving for a bit, then Nathan, the trader, launched into a story about how he had been stabbed in the neck two months ago on a street nearby (In Mayfair) and then a cop caught the guy while running away and Nathan's Brazillian girlfriend had jumped the guy and then the cop back on the scene - bad guy got away, Nathan ends up in hospital with potentially fatal stab wound and girlfriend is now headed for trail and potential deportation. Male Model Cody gets bored with the shift in attention and Alexis's mom's drunk friend Sheila turns up and distraction ensues. Cody leaves and Nathan and Alexis then discuss crime and money. It is a wierd night - ultimately, Nathan the trader insists on paying our tab (Lex and I must have had GBP 100 to drink - not a cheap bar) and then shoves 20 quid in my hand for the taxi home, despite protests. I now feel like Holly Golightly.
This is easily my most random night in London since pole dancing at a gay bar in Soho to Gwen Stefani... is it perhaps a sign that I should stay??? Gay mormon male model marine biologists who write children's books? Bullshit? Absolutely! Fucking hilarious and absurd? You betcha!
I am stumped. Perhaps I should put my future to a poll... this is where I'm getting to... life can be a trip sometimes. And it's a much more interesting ride with 6 Vanillatinis in you.
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About Me
- Name: kelly
- Location: London, Europe, United Kingdom
No matter where I go, I'm always here.
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