under another sun

Up to London to meet Mum in Hampstead. Pleasant journeys both ways, despite the trains being stuffed with holidaymakers heading for the airports and, on the way home, even one family with heavy cases but looking forward to their holiday in Seaford. Big thundery looking clouds around today, but I saw no rain, although my lightning tracker went off once or twice, mystifying a little girl sitting opposite me as my trousers rumbled with thunder. I had arrived early and so snuck into Waterstones and treated myself to a couple of books and a new Moleskine notebook. I had a fleeting vision slimming my shelves down a highly-curated library and taking the rest to charity. But this was a moment of madness.    Mum also early at the station, so we mooched down Flask Walk past the school and up New End to The Old White Bear. Had a lovely time with Mum enjoyed a long chat over lunch and a couple of drinks and coffee. I gave her a little glass necklace which Adele had made, and she told me a...

The train dragging itself late into St Pancras. Writing more of my book on my lap for a while, until I gave in and played a few rounds of the hugely addictive Candy Crush. London sweltering today, and the office little better. At lunchtime off with Karam, Slug and Alan to a local pub where we sat in the sun on a cobbled area of a pub called The Lord John Russell. Drank a pint of Fosters shandy baking in the sun discussing among other things the resilience of Londoners in the war. Working on cough medicines during the day. Work done I walked across town to The Salisbury to meet Toby and Mum. Very good to see Toby, who has tufty hair and a tiny new manbag, but otherwise seems in fine form. He and Mum had been walking about in Hampstead during the day. Caught up with some gossip and chatted generally before crossing the road to a Spaghetti House, which was on the borderline of annoying, but that may have been the heat. Ate pizza hungrily and had another good chat. The call of th...

Up and re-editing Defenders of Guernsey , and a few hours of writing and admin before zooming off to London. Many communications on the train, including being offered a couple of weeks freelance, and a tweet from Jane, who is coming to stay in a couple of weeks, saying 'Just watched video. Change of plan. Will stay in B&B' after seeing my sinister little film  Janus . Also spoke to Betty who was having busy day with a showcase and an audition in town. South Bank to the Poetry Library and various bookshops, the temperature dropping and feeling like I have the beginnings of a cold. Then went to London Bridge station, under the massive Shard spearing up to the sky, and made my way to Borough Market, where I eventually found a restaurant called Roast to meet Aimee. A place with swanky pretensions, a lounge pianist and singer and stiff prices. Sat near the piano, looking out of the window at the closed for the evening market. Had a lovely meeting with her, discussing the b...

Woke up at 5:30 both Lorraine and I up early, wrong footing the cats, and I caught the early train full of grey faced sleepy heads. I felt much more cheery and made it early to Tavistock Square.  I sauntered off with Kate in the lunchtime sun to look at dresses for the French Bloke and Max's wedding this weekend.  For Kate, not me, obviously. I don't look great in a dress. Although I did once wear a fetching dogs tooth two piece and a red wig while working for IBM in a once only appearance as a female impersonator. A modicum of lung disease work this afternoon.  Listening to Titus Groan on the way home, but it is heavy going. Peake writes like a poet, so much of the joy is in the description. This invites rereading. As an audiobook you plough through, and I keep thinking I must go back to look at certain passages. Another distraction is that I have become addicted to a game called Stick Cricket on my phone, which I played so obsessionally that my eyes hurt. The Shard...

The Shard spearing into low murky cloud this morning. Spoke to Hamish, a freelance designer at the agency, was telling me that he had worked on visualisations of the shard dropping computer generated images of it into the surrounding landscape, so whenever he goes past it, it still surprises him to see it unfinished. A pleasant day at the agency. Popped out to buy lunch from the  King of Falafel with Nicola.  Then an afternoon writing a report about how Inflammatory Bowel Diseases impact people's working lives. Although I am finding there is only so much reading about loose stools  I can do without wanting to think about something else. Home reading Jung and shooting zombies. Lorraine cooking surprisingly delicious roast vegetables and couscous, and later skyping on her iPad with Betty.

Dark start Up to London. Archetypal start to the year. As I always say, January is the Monday of the year, and it was raining and dark when I left home, becoming grey with glum-looking commuters shuttling up to London. Reading the Guardian and looking out of the window noticing how much the Shard has moved on, rearing up and piercing the sky near completion. Work surprisingly enjoyable, doing concept work with Keith and chatting to Matty boy and Katie. More sadly, First Matie lost her grandfather just before Christmas, and Nicola is burying her father this week. After 18 years of fighting for justice, two of the murderers of Stephen Lawrence were finally found guilty. Lawrence was 18 when he was killed, and it is sobering to think that it took slightly longer than he was alive for justice to finally be done thanks to the tireless campaigning of his parents. On a murder note still reading My Dark Place Places by James Ellroy - which is incredibly raw and fascinating about his mother...

At the sharp end Met Dawn at the station as she'd given my keys to her daughter by mistake. Then off to London to work on a pitch with my chums in Tavistock Square. Reading the paper on the way up. The train snaking past The Shard near London Bridge station, which is climbing ever-more piercingly into the sky. To Tavistock Square for a fair amount of chin stroking culminating in a teleconference in a roomful of people with Matty boy and The French Bloke on the phone. The FB sounding understandably a bit ropey. Working with Andy, and art director I worked with a year or so ago, and who is refreshingly easy to work with. Then home on the train, reading the paper and one or two Akhmatova poems. Not trusting my ears enough to use earphones. My dodgy ear is now gradually improving. Clicking and gurgling a good deal, which must be a good thing, and there are time when sound is definitely coming through it. Lorraine cooking a fricassee tonight. Not entirely sure what a fricassee is but it...