Up to London with Anton this morning. Good fun to catch up, making the Monday morning journey seem not too hideous. He's just finished listening to Kafka on the Shore on his iPod and quite enjoyed it.

Felt pretty cheerful this morning, with a post-retreat glow.

Got out of the tube at Baron's Court this morning and decided to take a pleasant walk through Hammersmith cemetery again. I passed a grave that had the headstone recently broken. The stone was bone white at the point of the break. Got a momentary insight into the Buddhist idea of Samsara the ocean of suffering that we live in. There as something about the combination of walking past a possibly-desecrated grave, a woman in a hijab near the war memorial, the fifteen year old girls dressed in jewellery and heavily made up, the security van driving by quickly with its fierce eagle faces on its logo and the looming hospital with people smoking cigarettes outside it, and I was suddenly gripped by a sense of how terrifying the world is, and how terrified we all are of each other.

Nice. Anyway work not great today, but passed quickly as me and the Gnome were so busy. Unable however to go for a swim. On the phone briefly to Mad dog and then Matty boy who seems to be going through extraordinarily poor times with Taranjit, and Reuben. Got a note from MJ saying she'd recieved her mother's wedding ring safely, which is a relief.

Gratefully home before 8:00 for the first time in days and days. Amazing. And off for an early night. Sweet.