Grateful. I got my health... I got a job... My family... Coffee in the morning... British documentaries... My lovely friends who come to visit... Fountain pens... I live in London - cool ... Digital cameras... The Italians who work on the corner deli... Rainy London nights... Music... My new shower... How good I sound singing in my new shower... Emails that make me feel in touch... How good Judi Dench was in that play... Long weekends in Cornwall... Co-workers who don't mind that I'm occasionally an ass... My mother telling me there's nothing going on then gossiping for an hour... A hope for peace in Afghanistan... Planning a trip to California... My team... London friends who keep me rooted... I've counted my blessings and find I'm on the credit side. Happy Thanksgiving.

Guy Fawkes Day. Once a year, in early November, England gathers around bonfires and firworks to celebrate one of the strangest events in English history. In 1605 Catholicism was an embattled religion -- all were forced to swear allegiance to the monarch as supreme head of the Church in England. Guy Fawkes was one of a group of catholics, called recusants, who conspired to blow up Westminster when the protestant king and others would be observing the opening of Parliament. They stockpiled several barrels of gunpowder (which gave the name, the Gunpowder Plot) in a cellar nearby. They were found out when Monteagle, the brother-in-law of one of the conspirators was handed a note warning him to stay away. The note was given to the king, and a search was conducted of Westminster. The conspirators, including Fawkes, were captured and were hung, drawn, and quatered in January 1606. Every year since, on the 5th November (or thereabouts), the English gather around bonfires burning straw effigies of the Catholic treasoner, Guy Fawkes.



"Please to remember / The 5th November:

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.

We know no reason / Why Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot."



So now you know. In other news, I bought the iPod and am waiting for it to ship in the UK. I've been loading MP3s onto my Mac in anticipation and can't wait to get my hands on it.



Today, after a meeting on Shaftesbury Avenue we ran into that finest of British wit, Stephen Fry.

Have you seen it? Apple introduced iPod, the new mega-powered Digital music player than can store over 1000 songs but is only 4x2 inches. I'm in love. I want one, making it the third product this year I yearned for: the cube, the Titanium laptop, and now the iPod. I'll have to wait until sometime in November.



Happy Birthday Debra! The little tart tried to keep it a secret, but I let in slip. Poor dear is sick however so I hope she manages to have some fun.

Welcome to the new site. Hopefully this is working -- I should be better at this web thing than I am.

Happy Birthday to me. Friday was my 33rd and having navigated a hectic workday and the "Jesus made it to 33" jokes I went off to celebrate in Soho. A co-worker and his wife had 30th birthdays last week and we joined forces to throw ourselves a fete in a back room at Lupos on Dean Street. The three of us paced the room nervously for an hour and a half, but the room soon filled with friends and colleagues and the rest of the evening was a whirlwind -- as it should be. The rest of the weekend was quiet and stormy. I went yesterday to the Tate Britain to stare at the Pre-Raphaelite paintings and got stuck in a massive downpour of rain soaking everything I was wearing and carrying. I had tea in the National Gallery and did some shopping. Last night, the BBC had a documentary of Ewan McGregor in the Honduran rainforest -- I'm in love.



In more sombre news, the US began retalitory strikes on Afghanistan last night and London is on hyperalert.We've moved forcibly onto the cusp of the first defining days of this century and I feel the anxiety.

Last night's wine tasting party wasn't simply and hour swill and spit affair, but a 10-bottle tasting followed by a four-course four-wine dinner. I'm very headachy and slow today. It's hard, however, to not enjoy oneself in such a pleasant surrounding especially when one is gorging on monkfish and venison. Oddly, my favourite wine of the evening was the Californian zinfadel they served with dinner.

Picutres from Greece are finally online! Now that London is firmly footed in Autumn I find myself daydreaming about the sun, the Aegean, the German. How fantastic are holidays?



As I mentioned below, John was here and has posted images on his site. I love when people visit because it means spending a good amount of time with people one may only see over coffee or fleetingly at parties. I've made a mental list of things he'll need to do on his next visit -- the Tate, Portobello Road market, the ride down the Thames to Richmond, a walk through Regents Park. Basically, anything other than shopping.



Had a quiet, somewhat blue, weekend. I did very little but sleep and watch movies. But as this weekend IS MY BIRTHDAY and I may be off to Italy soon, I should be glad to have some time to myself. For now I'm off to a wine tasting party at Home House with John B.