The Right Thing?

It's the day before I go to SF. Steven's supposed to join me Friday for a fun-filled week-long purge 'n pack. Wondering whether we're doing the right thing. My shrink thinks it's last minute jitters and I'm inclined to agree. But you never know. Could be the biggest mistake we've ever made. If you have any words of encouragement, please email Mr. Overman. He needs 'em. Steven underscore Overman at Jackmorton dot com.

In addition to shaving off my brow again (adds a nice symmetry to the whole experience - also, that brow merkin might not be a bad investment after all), the skin on my left hand has started peeling off (eew, gross). Don't think it's flesh-eating bacteria. Could be the hard-as-nails water. Probably stress. Wound up getting briefly snagged in some internet moving scam. Today found out from Thierry at First Line in Paris that animals normally travel only on weekdays. I'm due to arrive on a Saturday. Hurrah. Could any of the legion of BA or BA Cargo (separate entity) representatives in New York, San Francisco, London, and (most likely) Bangalore have told me that before today? Or maybe before I booked my ticket from SF to Paris? Of course not. What kind of nonsense is that? Information? Useful? Timely?

Oh, well. What're ya gonna do? Here's some eye candy:

Brixton market mosaic

Hadn't realized Sainsbury's was a Klingon-owned company...

Took another ride on TC2, up the Grand Union Canal to somewhere around Wembley.
This is where the canal becomes a bridge over an 8-lane freeway. Yikes!

Holland Park flower bed
This was the day I walked down to the pet store off Kensington High Street to stock up on Alice supplies in preparation for her arrival in London on the 17th. If BA Cargo or any of their Paris agents can manage to put a cat on a plane on Saturday. But you know the French and their work ethic...

Subway by the Imax again. No, really, it's cool!

Notting Hill Carnival
I've got a video clip of this, but until I figure out how to get it on the blog, you'll have to keep looking back & forth between these two pictures and pretend.

Are we doing the right thing? I don't know, but that's Alicia Silverstone reflected in the window of Julie's. I was staring all through dinner. What did you say, Steven?

The Evidence

Easier said than done, kids. The gizmos don't play well together. Like even though the phone and the Palm have bluetooth, they don't talk to each other. Also, the phone won't speak to the iBook. So I have to email myself the picture. It's a pain, plus who knows how much it costs to email from the phone? They're not really big on useful information here. In any case, Steven & I are going to some tennis thing -- we're supposed to be there in 15 minutes. And I'm going to meet all the colleagues with this:

Brow Lite™

Bear in mind that the 5-o'clock brow shadow makes it look better in this picture than it does in real life. Also, I trimmed down the other one so as to appear less freakish (perhaps making myself appear even more freakish in the process).

Out & About

Instead of searching for an eyebrow merkin as Kath suggested, I tried to get a few errands done today. Leaving home and heading for Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill, the first thing one passes is the terrace filled with Chanel-clad lunching ladies at Julie's. That's where I saw Alan Cumming last time and where you tell your driver to take you if you want to get to our house without any extra explaining. Up a little hill and around Steven's church one passes Annie Lennox's place:

Annie's place

Stopped by the post office on ("in") Westbourne Grove to collect 3 packages for Steven, but one of them (from his mom) had already been sitting there for 3 weeks so they sent it back. Then I went to Fresh & Wild for organic rice milk, organic black currant yogurt, organic muscovado sugar -- you know, the usual stuff. I thought muscovado sugar was going to be like brown sugar, but in fact it's like crystalized molasses. Can't wait to put some on my oatmeal -- excuse me, my "porridge". Also stopped at Tesco Metro for some basics, picked up a copy of Loot (where I hope to find a cheap used bicycle), got a shepherd's pie and some Neal's Yard cheddar at Lidgate the butcher, contact lens solution at the "chemist" (I have to wear contacts so I can cover the missing brow with aforementioned gigantic sunglasses). I wonder how fast eyebrow hairs grow?

Day One

Last time I locked myself out on day one. This time I shaved off my eyebrow. Kath (who saved me last time) suggested that I never attempt to do anything on day one. I won't get into the details. It's a man thing. OK, maybe it's a gay man thing...

I went to switch my phone from pay-as-you-go to monthly service and wound up getting a whole new phone. It's a fancy expensive phone that came free with an 18-month contract. Sorry friends in America, but now I have to stay at least 18 months. I also tried to spend some of the £70 in coins that I found in various nooks & crannies around the "flat": 7-day subway thingie; charger for my Palm; glass kitchen canisters at the Bodum store...

Around 5 I was in Soho trying to find a place I could get a pint and still feel OK with my one brow (the left one). Called Kath, who told me to call Craig. I met him at his office on Noel Street and we walked up Marylebone Road, through Regent's Park to Camden Town, where we met Kath. We had tapas at a place called El Parador. Not bad, but Moro is super-duper delicious (though considrably pricier). My idea originally was that nobody would look at me funny in Camden Town, but El Parador wasn't that kind of place -- I had to remove the gigantic brow-obscuring sunglasses and people were staring.