london journals :: september 2004
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!
Wednesday, September 15 2004, 14:20
Today dawned cold and clear
I'm always impressed by our bathroom view. This morning the sun hung over the coils of the Thames and the whole river was ablaze; a low mist shrouded everything east of the Barrier, and the wind turbines were giant silhouettes in the distance.
Summer is truly over.
This week I broke out the jackets and long-sleeved shirts; it seems a bit pointless once I've hopped onto a train, and utterly redundant when the hot breath of the Central Line blows over me.
So Autumn's upon us; the rain has that cold edge to it, and the wind is crisper. The leaves have already started falling, and I might as well dig my scarf out... But strangely, I'm not feeling heavy of heart at the moment. The weekend has left me with a smile on my face, and things in general seem to be coming together: with cash, with job, with home, and I'm reassured that I can meet nice guys now and again.
But getting back to the view (and last weekend), a lot more people got to share it at our housewarming parties over the last two weeks. Pete and I had a great time entertaining those of you who could make it - well, everyone pretty much entertained themselves, and Warren caught some great moments on camera. Thanks everyone who came, and thanks also to Brian for passing on the secret of great canapes!
Thursday, September 16 2004, 13:44
No more lesbian jam, Judy, I just can't keep it down!
"Britain, Britain, Britain, land of technological achievement.
We've had running water for over 10 years, an underground tunnel that links us to Peru and we invented the cat. But none of these inventions would have been possible if it had not been for the people of Britain and it's those people we look at today."
What the hell am I talking about? Maybe you haven't seen BBC3's genius comedy show, Little Britain. Basically, it's a show filled with sketches lampooning stereotype Brits - Brits like these:
Emily Howard, hairy transvestite with a penchant for Victorian fashions: "But I'm a lady! I do ladies' things!"
Vicky Pollard, council estate inarticulate teen slag/shoplifter/all-round pikey: "Yeah but no but yeah but no but yeah but shut up!"
Dafydd, pvc-wearing gay activist/martyr of Llandewi Breffi: "Shut up, Myfanwy! I am the only gay in the village and that's that."
Why the sudden interest, I hear you ask! At 5pm yesterday, Andrew rang to ask if I'd like to join him watching some of series 2 being filmed at world-famous BBC Television Centre, so I said yes. I've never seen TV filmed before, it was very good - although we did have to sit through two recordings of each sketch and surprisingly laughed just as hard each second time! The show is the baby of David Walliams and Matt Lucas (whom you might have seen on Never Mind The Buzzcocks) who write it and star in it and bring it to life. I used to live near Matt Lucas you know... I used to see him in Sainsbury's all the time! I knew that would impress you.
Well. Just thought I'd share that. Bet you're not even that excited...
Tuesday, September 28 2004, 14:44
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and other random thoughts
It's been a lunchtime of musings...
Earlier, I bought some books to take on holiday with me to Thailand. It's funny to think that in just three weeks I'll be soaking up the sun in the Gulf of Thailand with Alasdair, watching the waves gently lap against the shores of Koh Tao, sipping dirt cheap cocktails while I top up my tan. Ok, it might not actually turn out like that, but I'm hoping for an island paradise. So to while away the hours, I've just bought a few bits of light reading: Eats, Shoots & Leaves - a humorously written book about punctuation, I'm told. I was sucked in by a paragraph about the Oxford comma, which I hadn't realised I use religiously. Also got Microserfs by Douglas Coupland (recommended by Vicki) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, which I'm told (by Paul) is a good read. I'll let you know if they're any good.
For lunch just now, I bought a "chicken and pasta salad in a creamy tomato and basil mayonnaise style sauce"; "mayonnaise style"? Is it mayonnaise or not? And if not, why strive to emulate such a simple sauce. I was contemplating this while waiting for the lift at work just now. The lifts at Endemol are rather slow, I might add, so there was quite a crowd waiting to get in when it finally disgorged its passengers on the ground floor. Some of the people here dress like they want everyone to know they work in TV, and one such was the the man who grabbed my attention.
"What on earth is he wearing?", I remarked to myself; "what's going on with that great mane of hair?"
It wasn't in such circumstances that I ever dreamt I'd come face to face with the great man of interior design himself, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen of Changing Rooms fame, the man who said, "Think of colours as flavours and lick your walls".
He's quite small in real life, you know.
That's not all I've mused about today, by the way - that's just the highlights ;)
PS. Happy birthday Tim!
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