even more random than usual

i am stealing an unprotected wireless LAN's bandwidth again. the neighbours never learn, the dear souls.

well, it's been a full weekend. i've just come home after taking a friend drinking and walking (with his suitcase and backpack) on south bank and then the strand. he was over from france, where he studies in a place 20 km from paris that i can neither pronounce nor spell. i had hopes of seeing the changes, if any, in the newly re-opened Royal Festival Hall, but the fact that he had to drag his suitcase around, up staircases and down ramps, kinda killed our enthusiasm. my other friend, who joined us at NFT, was keen on the loud Falklands War celebration happening all over the city today, including South Bank. I stood it for the duration of one coffee, then made them cross Hungerford Bridge, away from the roaring jet plane flight path and away from the rather sucky rock band which was entertaining the throng around there. quite random. then to Gordon's Wine Bar for the rather nice house port, which neither of my companions appreciated, and the cheese platter, which was way too big for the ladies' small appetities, and way too plebian for the gentleman's acquired but refined french tastes. basically, the evening was not a very satisfying one. i attempted to improve it by taking an easterly walk along victoria embankment. but by the time i crossed under blackfriars bridge, my bladder was reminding me that i had decided to make it a habit to pee Before leaving the places where i drink. i had half formed thoughts about abusing the hospitality of either the Tate Modern or the Founder's Arms, across Millennium Bridge, [really sick of linking now] when a seemingly harmless tourist dude started asking me for directions to Tower Bridge. You look local, he said (I bursted with pride). You look Indian, he followed on. Is it true that if you fell in love with me, your family would kill you? I'll ask them, i said, and pointed out where he should go and how much time it would take, like a good little local. he continued to say weird and random things, looking me up and down, but i said the appropriate things and went on my way. so the river and St Paul's haven't stopped fucking around with me, i realised. this suspicion was supported by the lights going out in the underground loo of Cafe Rouge (just by St Paul's) that i then ran to, thinking it would be a good way to avoid the Turk who was crossing the bridge, once i had shaken him off. i decided to fight it (evil conniving of river + St Paul's) and crossed the bridge. strangely, Still not much satisfaction. the Turkish dude found me again, and said Maybe you are happy like this. i didn't get it. like this? like with short hair and a summer dress? with my job? with walking alone by the riverside? with being indian and with murderous parents? still random. clueless, i walked on, now wondering if my morning Saridon was making me hallucinate. still not sure if it was.

Anyway, saturday was made up of 2 nice meals. The now-regular greasy spoon breakfast with the neighbourhood gang. and then dinner at Anu's with the extended Indian gang. which is actually her gang, not mine. do i have an indian gang? gotta try and classify my friends more... Dinner was good, with nice company and much wine. people looked at my legs, which always makes me feel nice.

On Friday I went to an Urban Age Event. Which is related to my MSc programme, so a lot of people from LSE were there. Including. It was all right. I arrived late, so just had enough time to schmooze equally with all the little groups. Zorba the Greek looked good, and was nice as usual. Though he cheekily asked me, in a group, why my hip flask was called Constantine. [once, long ago, at a similar juncture, Inky ji had said 'Flirt hai saala', and i was thrilled to bits] I explained that it was named after the city of Constantinople, and not Greek boys who share the same (middle) name. Hope he remembers this time. Hah.

I'm a little out of sorts. I've been telling people recently 'life is good', but today the good feeling ran out. Maybe Constantine is why. Oh well. Life is cyclical.

Tomorrow is a big day. Lots of work. the start of the new project which i helped the team to win. i'm proud and hugely scared because my commitments are overtaking my capacity, as we jargonise it in private consultancy.

At least i have a nice clothes rack now. Goodnight!