Busy weekend. Friday, the office went to the London Eye for our Summer outting. True to form, the weather was awful -- hot, humid, wet, cloudy. But, a day off is a day off. The London Eye (also known as the Millenium Wheel) is actually quite impressive. Here are the photos. We then took a cruise of the Thames to see the river view of London, including some of its most famous buildings. Of course, drinking lager on a swaying boat does something to one's inner balance, and I spent hours afterwards feeling as though I were going to be pitched over.



Last night went to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I was reluctant to be excited about a Glam rock musical about a East German transsexual GI bride. But it's deliciously trashy -- and has a surprisingly strong performance by Michael Cerveris as Hedwig. Watching the show transform from a rather predictable drag story, to a deeply moving, troubling show is inspiring. Go see it if you can.

Tonight I'll be co-presenting Collaboration: Organic Experiences with Team Structure to the London Advance for Design. This is the first time I'm speaking to this group of London designers. A bit nervous, though I quite like the presentation which I'll post on my site soon.



Had drinks last night with Nick and Neil in Soho, then dinner at the always delightful Busaba Restaurant. Wonderful Thai food served by beautiful people in big, flowing, charcoal grey pants.

Had dinner last night with our CEO and his wife and their charming little baby. We ate at a Sudanese restaurant in Notting Hill. Sudanese food is a lot like middle Eastern food -- grilled meats and rice and hummus.

I'm co-presenting a talk about collaboration with one of our engineers and can't get him to meet with me. Isn't that ironic.



John and Jason have been together for a year. I'm jealous [oops, I mean happy for them. Yeah, that's it.]

The Divine Comedy are brilliant.

Bought a digital camera this weekend and have decided to become a more active chronicler of my life. Now I wander my way through my day wonder what this and that would look like in a photograph. The great this about it is that I was able to quickly show my friends and family a bit of my London life.

Went to Paris last weekend. Stayed in the Marais. Got soaked on the Eiffel Tower. Marvelled at the renovation of the Opera. Bought expensive stationery at the Galeries Lafayette and new CDs from Patricia Kaas!



Ate moules frites at a Belgian restaurant near Montmartre and found tiny, perfectly-formed crabs the size of the fingernail of your pinky inside the shells and inside the flesh of the mussels. I'd never seen that before, but was assured by the waiter that it was normal. They must grow the crabs and the mussels in the same tanks.



My French isn't as out of practice as I thought, though it's by no means fluent. I understood most of Buffy, le Vampire-Slayer.



Then this week I had dinner with Giovanni. I hadn't heard from him in weeks and was worried he had taken offense at something I might have said. Instead, a friend/mentor of his had died and he had been dealing with that. But Giovanni's very consistent, and seems to have handled everything with a certain maturity. I also got to meet the boyfriend, Giovanni (I kid you not!) who, behind his quietness, seems lovely. They're an annoyingly cute couple but it's hard to begrudge Giovanni the happiness he seems to find in the relationship. I'm glad we're rooted in friendship.



It's important now in light of certain situations I'm being asked to go through. Must act with grace, must act with patience, must have a vodka martini.