london journals :: january 2006
After my year in Australia, I lived in London for two and a half years, but always with the intention of moving back to Sydney eventually. But I carried on writing my journals in London... mostly because I just liked writing them, and my friends in other parts of the world (and some in the UK) still liked to read them. Here they are! You can keep up to date with what I'm up to now in my new Sydney journals, far out!
Saturday, January 7 2006, 12:24
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, everyone! I had two great new year celebrations, although I've be
a wreck all week as a result. On Wednesday, my friend Darren poked me awake on the Tube at Shepherd's Bush, just as he was getting off, and on Thursday, a nice chap shook me awake at White City where the train terminated. It's lucky there are so many public spirited people about! A friend of mine has been instrumental in the design of these stickers from WakeMeUpAt.com, and they're well worth a look. You stick them on yourself somewhere prominent on your way home from somewhere, and trust that some community-minded fellow traveller will rouse you at your destination. I guess you have to hope they don't just relieve you of your more valuable items instead, but I think you'll be safe at rush-hour in the morning...
Wednesday, January 18 2006, 17:57
Pastoral interlude
Ten years ago, I was in the middle of my mock 'A' Level exams, and not far from the climax and conclusion of two whole years of study. Those months of frantic cramming, revision, and re-revision seem impossibly distant - but a whole decade?! My Upper Sixth year was spent in a study I shared with five other people: Mark, Kelly, Fran & Michael, and James. Every day followed a set routine: toast and last minute lesson prep, chapel, and six and a bit hours of lessons mixed in with study periods (aka 'frees') which we inevitably spent in our little study either working hard (and eating toast), or playing cards (and eating toast). I later spent three years with Fran at Swansea (and so Mike was a frequent visitor), but I haven't really seen much of the others in the intervening years.
So it was quite exciting to travel down to Dorset last weekend for an impromptu and much postponed reunion with three of my former schoolchums. James lives quite centrally in his suburban pad in Poole. Fran and Mike live nearby in a small and pretty village called Lytchytt Minster with their excitable black Labrador, Bella, and their incipient offspring who, though so far nameless, reminds us of his/her presence by periodically stretching sideways and sending rather disconcerting ripples across Fran's long-suffering tum.
In mediaeval times, ladies in Fran's 'condition' would have no doubt entered their 'confinement' by now, but Fran would no doubt find that insufferably dull! We accompanied her on her daily dog walk, which consisted of forty minutes walking through fields and woods. John and I were utterly unprepared for a weekend in the countryside, but we managed to fit into some brightly coloured borrowed wellies for that and a windswept stroll along the cliff-lined coast on Sunday to Swire Head, near Corfe Castle. The two days were a much-needed change of pace from my usual busy (grey, dirty, stressful, polluted) life in London, and it was great to spend it with three of my oldest friends. Hopefully I won't leave it so long before visiting again!
120 subscribers - show list
matt andrews, stu anthony, chris ashford, claire ashford, christian b, e bacares, matt back, lisa bate, glenn bell, james beven, edward bevington, simon blosse, tony bolton, deborah booth, nick bradley, adam coady, kymme courtney-vega, anthony cowie, jumpy crawl, lizzie curren, trish d'souza, matt darwin, matt darwin, siobhan de souza, siobhan de souza, chris duggan, laura elder, rick ellis, colin findlay, dan fischer, timothy fox, nick franklin, theo g, phil gazzard, moira george, ian gordon, deborah grim, mat h, kate hallward, helen henderson, emma herbert, adam hibbert, tash higham, wayne horne, chris howard, doug howe, louise howells, pete jameson, ed jolliffe, alex jordan, keau katsunuma, john kerswell, christian laws, colin leckey, scott lefcourt, dan lowden, katy luu, craig mack, alex macrae, curtis malasky, andrew mason, jon matthes, elana mccauley, chris mcgillick, chris mcgillivray, will mcintyre, shane mellow, kelly messer, simon middleton, lee moore, sarah morgan, dan mortimer, martin mrbdamien, robert mueller, cameron murray, tim newman, siobhan nichols, frances o'donoghue, bryan o'donovan, kate onions, mary jo palmer, beth peacock, matt pettitt, petey pine, warren prasek, shane quinn, egidio r, ed rees, b rees, nikki reid, james relph, brian revett, tracy richmond, marc roberts, tom robinson, mikey robley, kate rodgers, ben roets, fiona romeo, wally s, debbie schiel, dan smart, paul smith, glenn solomon, marty steel, natasha stevens, ashley stewart-noble, brendan swan, vicki taylor, vicki taylor, katherine thomson, michael tomlinson, paul truesdale, stephanie walker, bastien wallace, steve walters, katya williams, ross wilson, peter wonson, kim young.