the spring in the step

The past few weeks have been quite a stress, but it's time to take stock of things as London warms up and more and more yellow daffodils pop up from the ground. It has been quite pretty with daffodils popping out in the middle of nowhere. Staring out the window on the train one day, I saw that daffodils had bloomed out along the tracks. It was certainly a sight for sore eyes. As some of you may know, daffodils are my favourite flower - they are so happy and bright (quite unlike my personality i know), and they are also the emblem for the Cancer Council, of which my mum has a lot of involvement in.

Another little cute thing which I enjoy in London is when I read thelondonpaper on the way home. thelondonpaper is a free newspaper which is given out all over London in the rush home, and it a vastly better newspaper than the London Lite which is also given out as well. In thelondonpaper there is a great little section where people send in pictures of their pets. There have been the cutest pictures sent in (as well as the usual array of horrendously ugly pets), and my favourites include a pair of baby bunny rabbits and this fluffy cat which was standing up on its hind legs - and dressed up in bow tie. It was so funny, and it was hilarious that the kitty cat looked so unhappy being dressed up in that way. There is also a "London picture of the day" where you send in pictures of London life. One memorable picture had a penguin and his keeper making writing on a clipboard - the penguin is looking at the clipboard and the caption is "that's not how you spell my name!".

I'm easily amused.

It's been a busy week - I was sent to Coventry (pun intended, but doesn't have quite the same impact given its factual accuracy) for work. I've now working my way up north, having now visited the east Midlands (Leicester) and the west Midlands (Coventry) on government business. I travelled up on the Virgin train service which was quite slick and very fast - indeed, the entire train was decked out in suits and my ticket price seemed to match. For the privilege of travelling on a peak hour service to Birmingham, I had to pay 109 pounds for a return ticket! Unbelievable! I felt bad, despite the fact that the NHS was paying for my ticket.

To add to it all, I've been having some fun as well. I managed to see another comedy show with Rob last Friday night. Unfortunately the gig we wanted to see had sold out so we went back to the same place. Rob and I again double parked ourselves with beers for the show - only to find that the ticket seller had dudded us and we found ourselves seeing the same comedian. We were getting annoyed when we heard the same jokes, but as the comedian was doing impro, the show got better as it went along. Rob and I looked at each other with relief, and then got pissed after the show. I may or may not have sent drunken messages to people or engaged in drunken calls on the last train home.

My bad.

That weekend Frances and I also went to see a movie in North Greenwich and had dinner out in North Greenwich. North Greenwich isn't that spectacular but it's the closest cinema complex to home. Nor was the food spectacular, and after dinner we had to wait in the cold for the bus home. I complained to Frances that in Melbourne that after dinner out I would get in the car and go home. Clearly, there is much suffering having to rely completely on public transport in London!

My fingers are getting tired talking about my social life which continues its annoyingly frustrating habit of being absolutely packed one weekend and then being miserably quiet the next. That weekend saw me in Greenwich with a colleague from my old job for a cup of Fairtrade tea, and then dinner later on in Brick Lane with Rox, Mel and Ben. I was so pressed for time that weekend that I rushed home from Greenwich, ironed my shirts, then ran out the door to get to Liverpool St. That night I missed the tube to get to London Bridge by seconds, then had to wait 10 minutes for the next northern line tube, only to miss my connection back to Woolwich. I calculated I could get home 5 minutes earlier than waiting 30 minutes for the next train by taking the Jubilee line to North Greenwich and then taking the bus and ended up home 3 minutes earlier than I would have had I waited for the train.

An easy ride home it was not.

Last night I went clubbing for the first time in a while and had a blast. Went with my friends Luc and Andrew and their mates to Soho and danced the night away to a countdown of the top 100 pop tracks. Walking to the nightclub, sheltering underneath umbrellas, I commented that despite the soaking rain (which ruined my hairstyle that evening) the weather was quite mild (it was about 8 degrees). My friends laughed and told me I had made it as an English person - a complaint and a non-complaint about the weather!

We arrived at the huge club at song 75 and danced away until song 30 where by then we were complaining of our sore feet. Not to mention that my lower back wanted to strangle me. By the time I staggered out at 4am, I still had to crawl to the night bus stop for a 50 minute ride home. I'm not a fan of the night bus given how long it takes, but that night I felt ok as I spent most of the time eavesdropping on the conversation. For some reason they started singing themes from TV shows and "Round the Twist" came up - I woke up in confusion hearing the lyrics from a kiddies TV show which I hadn't seen in excess of 15 years! Nevertheless, I got home safe and sound, having company on the walk home with 3 blokes who proceeded to urinate against a wall near home. Charming.

If they were thoughtful they should have done it against the chestnut tree for fertiliser - the chestnut tree is now sprouting new leaves and foliage. I'm looking forward to seeing it with all its foliage again - because then I will know that the chestnuts will come out and I would have come full circle in London.

Just like my bus ride home last night.