COLOSSAL CHEEK

Well, as I suspected, the company I've done contract work for--you know, the one who said they'd give me a $500 retainer up front and then pay me the rest of what they owed me on April first--you know, the ones who have yet to pay me a penny for what I've done--have sent me email asking me to do additional work on their website.

People.

Yesterday I ended up going to one of my favorite places in London so far, which is St. James Park. It might actually be called something else, but I think that's it. Anyway, it's gorgeous, and the day yesterday was one of those ones that couldn't decide if it wanted to be just warm enough or just slightly too cool, but I ended up hanging around in the park and reading for the majority of the day, and it was really lovely.

Mind you, as I was walking on the path I was blindsided by a stray soccer ball, and when I was lying down on the grass, reading, some kid who was throwing sticks (for no apparent reason) and who had really bad aim managed to hit me on the back of my calf with one, and it has left a really impressive bruise. Other than that, the day was quite lovely.

There was this huge white bird that resembled a pelican, and he was walking around bothering people for a while. At one point he stood on a bench next to this very British-looking man in a suit who was reading, and I wished like anything that I had a camera.

These tourists (Indian, not American for a change, which either heartened or appalled me, you know, because it means that idiocy is not confined to the borders of the US) with this 18-month-old (or so) walked over to the bird, and then let their child run toward it with outstretched arms. I was terribly far away, so suppressed the urge to walk over, whack them over the head with sticks, and say, "That's a bloody wild animal, you great idiots!" because this bird was at least twice the size of this toddler, and DearLordWhatAreTheseIdiotsThinkingThisBirdIsGoingToEatTheirChild, but then I realized that I was being given the opportunity of a rare viewing of one of the wonders of nature--Natural Selection in progress.

I felt so fortunate. Really. I mean, you see these things on National Geographic and stuff, but how often do you actually get to see it in the flesh?

Unfortunately, the child was pulled back at the last minute, and so escaped almost certain death.

This morning, the boiler was fixed, so I finally got to take a *hot* bath. I've been bathing in freezing cold water for the last two days, and I don't know what the neighbors are thinking by now, since uncontrollable little cries of "Cold cold cold cold cold" escape my lips every few minutes, but at least I have been clean. The luxury--the absolute luxury--of warm water this morning was fantastic.

By the way, the upshot of not thinking for two days is that at the end of it, I was suddenly back to myself. I mean, I've spent most of my time here in a state of at least semi-panic. Two days of not allowing myself to think about anything completely cured me of everything, and I feel absolutely normal again, and it's got to be one of the most lovely things ever. I know it may sound a bit weird, but one of the reasons I've liked having Matthew around is that I think his non-thinking helps balance me out, and I kind of think that I make him think a bit more, and as a result, well, we sort of both become a bit better.

Well, I'm starving, and so I'm going to rush off and find something to eat. I know I have other things to write about, but I'll just have to save them for later.

Cheers.