floral nose

it's the second night in a row that i've come home after the lebanese grocery has already closed. i've travelled so far, ridden the buses, but it's past 10.30, and they're shut, no late night sweets to tempt me.

instead of sweets, what i am treated to is the feast of smells. from the bus stop to my door, every tree, every bush, every front garden - is in bloom.

at 11 pm, the huge pink fist shaped bunches glow even pinker, the white tulip-ish bulbs even whiter, the little yellow flowers stand out like never before.

during the day they all meld into the flower/light green spring scene, but at night, when the smells overpower the vision, each and every flower is lit like never before.

i should be a bee.

abandoned blogs

or abandoning...whatever you prefer.
my life has drifted alarmingly away from my computer. alarmingly, because i'm missing connections with acquaintances and lacking any sort of recent news knowledge. the blog is withering. also, because it seems to be replaced by work computer-ness, and staring out the window.
so what have i been up to?
i've been reading quantities lately, letting my brain relax after the days of work.
i'm discovering some new people have come slowly into my life.

i'm basking in the spring sun of london, and all the new greenery that's budding away.
meeting up with friends for lunch on the river
eating white chocolate cheesecake and (almost) crossing london to go back for another slice the next day.
a jamaican jerk chicken easter with andre jen neal and co, &
a 'social' evening with the corp - out bowling, of all things - to watch my directors get pissed

all in all i sense the vibrancy of life has lessened over the past 2 weeks
perhaps its the work exhausting me for at least eight hours a day,
perhaps springs' warmth has softened my character, relaxed my will
perhaps i'm gathering strength for a new offensive yet to be discovered.

guil at the prince regent

guil at the prince regent
Originally uploaded by wonderwomanyank.

rainy london afternoons, behind the wood and steamy windows. chilly nights under the gabled georgian roofs.

life still hasn't stopped

did i manage some sleep on thursday? no... met up in the spring evening for drinks with the old flatmates, then the golden hind for fish and chips and bring your own wine with the boys. friday the after-work pub conversations, standing awkwardly between the young uns and the directors, trying to behave. did make it home early though, and up saturday for a windy run.

and sun, gorgeous warm sun. decided on the long way home from the library, through chelsea without my helmet, long hair and sunglasses basking on the bicycle. victorian townhouses, green squares, the world outside worshipping the warmth.

met with guillaume on sunday at the prince regent, just like karan a year ago. and a relaxed, solid evening of chatter and reminisces with jen and guil and neal, new french boys and a dining experience in the dark.

the exhaustion creeps, and i've got three projects due by thursday, with a jazz night and jen's party as well. so it's off to dream now.

dazed

it's a bit too late and i'm just that too tired to be properly writing this,
but when there's the want, there's the will.

the new job has rediscovered my old powers of concentration and tendancy towards work whoreness. i left early the first few nights, but the last three days have been 11 hour computer screen serious concentration days, with too much drinking to complement the exhaustion of the evenings.

tonight a trip down the memory lane of marylebone, and a relaxed but refined dinner with an old friend. where the waiter remembered his last bottle of wine, where the monkfish came with avacado, and where the chef came out for the last laughs with the final customers over a bottle of rose champange.

and a midnight glide home in the spring nights, twinged with a chill, but i flew through roundabouts, parks, and red lights. unclipped once, and breathless from the beauty of a dark, glittering, london.

thus, the circles around the eyes now. but also, thus, the giddy early mornings, where i sing aloud while cycling along the river in the late dawn sun. i am concentrating hard, learning, loving what I do. the brain is challenged, and the spirit is happy.

i've been appointed to the irish axis, with directors sean and patrick delineating my days and dreams. you'll never believe it, but they both speak faster than I do. and with irish accents.