under another sun

Work abates Spoke to Richard on the way to work about our Doubles business, and heard at the end of the day that our paperwork is all done, and the application in. I was left ticking over today, so I had a few minutes to sort out some of my French work. However this meant there was time for lunch with Matty boy in The Distillers an old haunt now with a French twist. Good to catch up with him. He is zooming between countries every week. We opted for traditional fare, I had a nice plate of sausage and mash, done rather wonderfully, and Matty had fish and chips. I drank sparkling water, and Matty on fruit juice. Much unlike the debauches of yesteryear. I was allowed to leave 'Glamoursmith' early, with a genuine sensation of something lifting from my shoulders, despite enjoying the work and people there. Headed home cheerfully, despite the drearily compelling The Nightwatch on my iPod. Lorraine and I went off to The Cricketers which was full of middle aged blokes and ladies dres...

Back in the swing Spent some time today at work with Mark, another writer, coming up with names for a high profile entertainment business in the centre of London. (Can't go into any detail here naturally.) This was quite fun and, in the unlikely event that one of them sticks, it will be cool to have named something famous in London. I like brainstorming so that anything can come sluicing out. After about an hour we'd generated about 70 names. Many of the utterly appalling and bizarre. This was a nice distraction from working on a stultifying brochure about ISAs and Unit Trusts, which also forced me to learn about them in soul-withering detail. After work yet another leaving do in the revamped Distillers which has become the bar of choice for the agency (not that there's much choice). Lots of chatting and general networking. Saw American Craig and the excellent Bei Li who'd been doing some freelance together. Also saw a cheery Taranjit who I'd not seen since she and...