Sunday 12th August
Primrose Hill, Summer 2007
Saturday 11th August
There's a sweet boy (presumed Polish, aren't they all) from whom I buy coffee at a stall close to the office.
In the nature of these things, we've established our regular routine: smile from him, banter from me, smile from him, order from me, coffee from him, money from me, banter - and close.
I take a certain pride in always providing exactly the right change; I'm not at all sure why.
As I was waiting for him to steam the milk (or whatever the hell he does behind that noisy stainless steel machine), I got my payment ready and laid it on the counter, watching in bemusement as I laid out the coins in a carefully symmetrical pattern.
And then walked away with my coffee, thinking: "Aren't there birds that do that - as a courtship ritual?"
Friday 10th August
Greenwich, Summer 2007
Thursday 9th August
One of the few (the, trust me, very few) useful things about hanging around dingy cam-centred internet chat-rooms I've been frequenting of late is that one learns to recognise sub-cultural references a week or so before they hit the mainstream.
Thus it was that I learnt the comedic undertones of shouting (or, in that case, typing) "Penis!" - not quite what you might imagine - or singing (or, in that case, typing) along to the chorus of Spiderpig ("Does whatever Spiderpig does").
I also learnt (though what to do with the information?) who, or what, Optimus Prime is.
It's been a bit of a month for the shadowy Prime family, in general, in fact: young master Subprime in particular has been making a lot of headlines.
The related 'sub-optimal' I already recognised, of course, as - at worst - dire management-speak, flavoured - at best - with a certain degree of tongue-in-cheek irony. ("How's you today?" "Hmm...sub-optimal, at best.")
But "subprime"? Is that worse or better than sub-optimal? Does it mean like what it sounds like it means? Who invents this kind of nonsense?
Questions like this (plus, let's face it, a distinct lack of interest in financial news) have kept me from any kind of understanding of just what, exactly, has been bugging the financial markets lately.
But I have it now: lending cash to poor (and largely ethnic) prospects doesn't interest most of the American banking community; they hive that side of the business off to back-street money lenders whose rules of conduct are, ahem, sub-optimal - and when it all goes tits up and they can't get their money back, global markets suddenly find themselves desperately short of cash. And panic.
Back in a moment: I just need to go spread that capsule explanation through the chat-rooms.
Wednesday 9th August
Regents Park, Spring 2007
Tuesday 7th August
Tempting as it is to dwell on Roger's nuptials, spare a thought for the eighteen men arrested in Northern Nigeria this week who face death by stoning under Sharia law.
Their crime? They planned to attend a gay wedding. In drag.
Monday 6th August
Wapping, Summer 2007
......previous week
