myz_lilith | For there is in London all that life can afford...

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For there is in London all that life can afford...

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 06:49 pm

So, it's neatly two months since I finished moving to London, and since I last updated LJ. These two things may not be entirely unrelated.

Can suddenly understand WHY the region within the M25 is such a gravity well - it's not that there's nothing to do out there, it's just that there's SO MUCH to do in here.

Random snapshots of the past two months:

Walking through St James Park on a bright crisp New Year's Day towards the princess exhibition in Kensington Palace... then walking on without going in, because on days like that a museum in London is like a fishtank in an ocean

Riding buses, especially new buses, and wanting to jump off at every stop and rush into all the restaurants/bars/shops and eat/drink/get dry cleaning down in each and every one

Leonardo di Vinci exhibition at the National (after Ellie got us tickets by queuing for 6 hours on the coldest morning of the year) - fascinating seeing such familiar paintings not just as capital-A Art, but rediscovering them both as a product of a (rapidly changing) place and time, and as the nexus of a kalidescope of preparatory sketches and studies after that all blurred into one another - all wrapped up in the pursuit of very euclidean perfection

The Correspondents at Cafe de Paris and falling head over heels into Moon over Soho via early 20th century decadence and stilt-walking transvestites

Lectures at the Wellcome on the brain, and the nature of consciousness, and therefore humanness and reality, which of course struggled in places but were fascinating (often as much for the exposed ~whys~ of the panelists and the audience as for anything they actually said)

Double bill of Fargo and Red State, followed by two hours of non-stop, impassioned, self-interrupting talk about dick jokes, and protesting the Westboro Baptist Church, and what it means to create from Silent Bob himself... complete with comedy photo-ops (and impressed by Red State, which I've not seen before - the comedy and horror aspects were very jarring, but it worked all the better for that, and it was at once not at all a Kevin Smith movie and completely a Kevin Smith movie, which is quite an impressive feat!)

Taking a walking tour of the 'secret alleys and ginnels of London City' that turned out to be an exploration of one man's three-generation-deep obsession with Fleet Street and the history of newsprint in the capital, ending with Samuel Johnson's cat - not quite what it said on the tin, but still fascinating and evocative, especially the description of the presses making the ground tremble for miles around

Wandering around the Tate in the evening after work, just because it was there and I could (and now have +1 membership for the year if anybody wants to come see anything?)

Learning the routine of the commute, and exactly where to walk and stand and the sneaky short-cuts and the weaving dances and the other exits (and the impossibly cheerful platform announcer who ends every update with a beautiful laid-back Rastamouse-ish 'no problem')

Resisting the temptation to touch the tube trains as they rush by (also nothing is on fire)

Working too hard and staying too late but making stuff exist where it didn't that morning (and maybe saving lives, and winning clients, and making money, and proving worth, and building a career, and making things look beautiful, and suggesting and imagining and creating)

Managing to be late (but not in a towel) to my own birthday party, which accidentally started several hours early in a Mexican restaurant and descended into a chaos of coloured shots and corsets and wolfhoods and very messy madness (and may be the last time anyone ever lets me be Responsible Adult... until the next time)

Managing to end up on the pages of 'Goths up trees' in spite of not being up a tree at the time

Failing to make two parties and numerous club nights, after completely underestimating how much this city draws upon both your energy and your bank balance

Repeatedly failing at housework due to being nowhere near the house at the time (can suddenly see why so many people here have cleaners)

Watching London turn white, and then a million shades of grey again

Walking home in the dark past workmen cutting down sections of railings, sending a fountain of sparks leaping higher than a bus

Ancient clock towers just sitting there minding their own business, and gorgeous old tombs and gravestones that are simply part of the scenery

Meeting lots of new London folk, and finally putting faces to names I've seen online for years, and catching up with people I've not seen in too long

Delightful visitors who arrived bearing just the right amount of chaos

All kinds of planned and impromptu evenings in and out, and spending quality time with quality people

Madness and beauty and adventures and games

Cupcakes and beer and we're going to have a DJ in the basement just as soon as we can find some turntables

Discovering all kinds of convincing arguments about why my bit of London is the only REAL bit of London (although it's all mine, really)

The river at night... always

Counting a 30 minute walk as standard transportation, instead of automatically jumping in the car

Exploring new pubs and restaurants, and introducing people who have lived here for years to some of them

Shopping in little local bowls-of-vegetables-outside-on-the pavement shops (and finally cooking from scratch in new flat)

Surviving first flat inspection in spite of turning the bathroom pink (and, on a related note, going sort-of-um-ginger instead)

Walking and walking and walking and slowly piecing together the map in my head (while still leaving plenty of room for dragons, and secret kingdoms, and cheese, and things not to be where you left them because it all switches round while your back is turned)

Going back to Leeds for Wendyhouse, which was a very strange experience, because it felt like stepping backwards (not that Leeds is somehow backwards from London, just that it was too soon after I'd left and so felt... odd - hopefully next time I visit it will all feel like part of the onwards and upwards)

Introducing Kris to London, and being surprised (and impressed) by how well he handled it

Looking forward to more people visiting from Leeds and elsewhere (and some long-distance Skype-based girlie nights too)

Making all the exciting plans in the world for the coming days, weeks and months (and knowing half of them will fall apart, but that even more interesting things will pop up to take their place)

Being wide open to everything the world has to offer right here and right now

Current Mood: flying

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