under another sun

Off in torrential rain this morning. Pleasant enough ride to work once the train had slid from under the brooding black cloud over Brighton and the downs. My new tea flask has transformed my journey, splashing a little comfort into a cup after half an hour or so... Such are the straws I clutch at. Work okay, but this is not an especially friendly office. An interesting area however, and I took myself off for a rainy half hour walk at lunchtime. Listening to a Start the Week programme with Salman Rushdie being interviewed by Andrew Marr on the way home. Found myself warming to Rushdie in a way I'd not done before. Walked home from the station in stair-rod rain. I left my umbrella in the office in London. Despite being happy to be earning, I have been longing for Friday since Monday morning. Home to some lovely food Lorraine had cooked. All well. Below St John's Gate (I know nothing about this, and must investigate); Passing Alley a most Jack the Ripperish rat run; the gau...

Life in Modern Britain Back up to London today to work with my chums in Tavistock Square. Listening to Andrew Marr's book History of Modern Britain on the train. Anton had recommended this accessible and interesting account starting just before the war. Fascinated by the late forties and fifties, which I am a little unclear about. Politically, it sounded increasingly grim and disillusioning, with the UK broke after the war and paying the Americans back, a process that didn't end until this century. Made me think what a strange little country we live in, but also how in some ways it has coped with the loss of power and influence it has experienced since the war. Work fairly enjoyable. Working for Kate today, which was fun. Went with Nicola to the King of Falafal for a species of wrap for lunch. Working on material to do with the eye health pitch that I had helped them win. All good fun. Home and Lorraine was home before me, hugged Lorraine and gratefully scarfed the food she had...

Pitching in Off to London at 7 and worked hard on the pitch all day. This meant finalising concepts, writing lots of bits and pieces for various executions of the concepts Keith and I had. Snuck off at lunch to buy a pot of wild rice and Thai curry for lunch. Listening to several Andrew Marr Start the Week podcasts on the train. Arrived home at 10:00 and ate some pasta, rather tired. Lorraine tired too. And so to bed.

Squid, mackerel, lions, hatted cats and Cranes Interesting day. Went for a swim after working, which I enjoyed despite painfully banging my knee on the stairs into the pool. After slumb'ring on the Norway foam for a bit, left the pool only to encounter a noisy demonstration about giant squid. More on that in the daywork . Lots of telephone chats today, including with Louisa a neighbour who has suggested that we gate the Twitten by night to prevent some of the nocturnal rampages. Then round the corner to the station to meet Mike, the Cat with the Hat. We jumped into a taxi and sped down to the Brighton Dome to see Gore Vidal in conversation with Andrew Marr. I bumped yet again into Andrew Comben as I did so, because I am stalking him. For some reason I'd not been inside The Brighton Dome before. A lovely venue. I must have been one of the few people there who had never read any Vidal, so I had no preconceptions. He did the literary lion stuff, and donated various entertaining op...