I’ve had a wonderful time in the UK. I have had productive and lively and intellectual meetings (OK, OK.. I mean there is some level of baloney associated therewith, but occasionally we have breakthroughs). I saw my friend Mike, his fiancée, and made the acquaintance of an awesome girl named Leigh at a strange club called Egg. I had a great time. The girl I travelled with on the way over was also smart and entertaining – it’s been a good trip I have a flight in 4 hours. See you soon USA.

Premium coffee, premium water, Heathrow airport, quicksilver cool Powerbook, t-mobile hotspot, the stone roses shaking out of the Virgin megastore express, the beautiful attendants in their full length fashionable uniform covering coats, the Russian girl with pretty eyes, ringed in jetlag black, her mascara melting ever so slightly, with the ornate flower painting in glitter and white on her fingernails. That’s entertainment. That’s Heathrow. That’s my last half hour in England. My flight just came up on the board, time to head on down to the gate.

I spent yesterday wandering about London downtown. I hopped the tube from Heathrow and headed the many (many, many) stops down into the centre of Swinging London. With the iPod of doom fully charged I plowed through a pizza at Pizza Hut, read Eastern Standard Tribe, and was then left wondering what to do with my time. Being that this is my second time to London, I have hit all the requisite MUST DO tourist sights, so I was free to add to the rosters something that has often been praised to me but up to that point had been left unvisited: The British Museum.

Lauren’s Birthday

At the end of October, we headed to London to take in the late-fall experience there. It was a wonderful visit. Here are some of the highlights.

I have always admired the English culture of organization, communication, and frankly, civilization. There are some definite low-points (Boer War, Partition of India, Partition of the Mideast, Partition of the Kingdom’s Islands), but there is some attention paid to how things “ought be done for the welfare of all.”

For example, pregnant women get an adorable pin (UK: “badge”) consistent with the look and feel and design aesthetics of the Underground that say “baby on board” which lets everyone know, “Hey, give up the seat” — even in the weeks and months when it’s not quite so obvious. Experiencing the anti-case in NYC and France, it’s a good idea.

I also admire that the English take the tube’s visual monopoly as an opportunity to extol civic virtues.