July 01, 2021
July 1st is Canada Day
I just wanted to remind you - in case you care(d).
(the only cheapish way to get around yesterday)
I am here. Where is here? you may be wondering, or you may not care at all but found yourself on this page because you had no place else you'd rather be, and while you're wishing that you had the life you dreamed you'd have when you were a senior in high school, when you were going to be the lead singer in some heavy metal hair band and when you were going to be the mother of Michael Jackson's baby, before you knew he liked little boys, you've drifted into my space.
Whatever. You are here now and I am here..here is London, England, as in across the Atlantic Ocean, where things are a bit chillier, but I've decided I like my summer this way - better than all the humidity in New York, the kind that makes me six feet tall because of my hair. I am in Covent Gardens to be more exact. Staying in an apartment for the week, for free, which is the best way to stay, although I've already been informed by my friend, the very talented writer, Kim, that if I have to take a large poo, although I think she means any poo, I should go across the street to the opera house where the flushing is more forceful, which makes me think more about what I eat, but that's not necessarily a bad thing either.
Anyway. Getting here was a bitch. See, I have this great timing thing, and yesterday the train workers, as in the Tube or Underground, were on strike, meaning that NO TRAINS WERE RUNNING. I got into London's Heathrow airport an hour earlier than expected, which worked in my favor, because by the time I realized that Kim wasn't going to pick me up at the airport, it was only a half hour after I was scheduled to land. So I had to take this train, the Heathrow Express, and from there I was supposed to take 3 buses with a 61 lb. bag, and then call Kim again. Instead, I met a very nice girl called (that's how they say it here in the UK) Louise and she saved my day. She sat next to me on the plane, we realized we knew some of the same people, then we went our separate ways at customs. However, after she realized that it would be really expensive to take a taxi to the city, we remet on the train (coincidence) and then she offered to company expense me to her hotel via taxi, which happened to only be a few blocks from where I was staying. Can you say "lifesaver"? cause that's what Louise was. Yeah Louise!!! (She doesn't know I have this site so she will probably never know I am eternally grateful, but I must put this out there anyway).
I met up with the very talented writer Kim R. at Ian Schrager's St. Martins hotel around 10PM. The last time I saw Kim was in New York in September, the same time that I decided to move to San Francisco, in fact, she left New York only two days before I did. I just love seeing her, and, for me, it's been too long. That's my point in all of this.
I've decided I don't want to be a tourist in England, at least not in London, so while maybe one day I will do some touristy things, for the most part I just want to act like I live here. Although, here, Covent Gardens, is more like Times Square (it's where all of the "Broadway" shows are - we are up the street from Lion King and Chicago) and I would probably have chosen a less theater-y area, I like it..I like it a lot actually.
Tonight, we are going to see King Arthur. One of my talented writer friends friends works for the BBC and she is getting us in for free. I've been to London before, but never to a movie in London, and if it's anything like going to a movie in Australia, which, yes, I have done, than this may be quite the experience.
I'll have to let you know.