Back from London

an_situps
Originally uploaded by stevenjude.

Back (geddit?) from London - where it seemed to be 1950. Everywhere I went gay men lurked in the shadows (SoHo), the Long Grass (Hyde Park) and corner offices (work)... all very strange, but managed to put George Michael into a context where his behavior seemed more British than odd.

Not going to say a lot here as my bath runneth over but the London trip was a bit of a success. I hate being in the London office (nobody knows me, the technology doesn't work, you have to beg for a card to access the bathroom etc.) but I also had a delightful day listening to experts, cooking fish and talking brand turkey with a very international group (Brazil, France, Germany, Holland, Australia, Italy, US etc...)

Anyway now the bath really doesd floweth over

Later

London

so a flying vsit to London - to take part in an induction day. I'll be on a lane home tomorrow and not a moment too soon. The traffic is awful, the streets too narrow, the parks full of odd men who lurk in the long grasses, the pound too strong, the accent too thick and the people too Dick Van Dyke. Or something.

Did a walk around Hyde Park (I'm trying to stay awake) and was shocked at how yellow everything was. Especially as people are already remembering the big thunderstorms of the last couple of weeks with a fondness usually researved for the recounting of The Blitz.

Dead on my feet here, time for something sugary I think, home tomorrow!

Steve

Quite a day

an_vista
Originally uploaded by stevenjude.

In to the office this morning for a 7am breakfast... my role purely decorative as spaces are limited for the actual 8am meeting so I'm there to "greet and eat" and nothing more.

Tonight I have an overnight flight to London. Land Thursday, come back Friday but it's the flight that tips me over to super dooper Gold status on Virgin and earns me a free companion flight the next time I book - making our planned January trip to Africa significantly cheaper.

Anyway with all the late nights (left the office at 10pm yesterday) and early mornings (6am start this morning) I'm starting to remember what my life used to be like before my body said 'no' and threatened to close down completely.

So this is the last 'silly week' that they'll get out of me - after this I'm chilled, I'm sitting out in the sunshine with my laptop and I'm heading home early; where I shall relax without the aid of alcohol.

Hurry up and wait

Originally uploaded by Aleksandra Radonić.

Waiting for a 9am meeting to actually start (it's 11.33 right now) and for London to call me (it's 1948 there and they're still mourning the blitz) and for somebody to in the building to smile with something that approximates genuine warmth.

Meanwhile I'm looking at this guy's pictures - so many of them are great. Wish I had his talent.

Short entry - don't have the energy for anything else.

Where we want to live

aur_views
Originally uploaded by stevenjude.

Lots of things should be coming to a head today. I hear about a possible short term move out of New York (and out of the US), about a possible new job at another company within New York, about my options should I stay with my current company in New York... though not (yet) about Judith's job options moving forward.

As my Dad might say "It's all go"

Really though all I want is to live in the apartment from which I took this picture. It overlooks McCarren park, has an elevator for the dog, views of the city, is absolutely beautiful and is within our price range.

Or it would be if I could get a mortgage. Nobody wants to insure a mortgage against somebody who has an 80% chance of having a fatal cancer within two years. A brutal but understandable truth.

Anyway this is all tedious, personal stuff. We'll offer it up to the universe and see what karma brings us (to mix religious philosophies)

It is a very cool place though.

Hypno-cat

inky
Originally uploaded by stevenjude.

Hypno-cat says "Do exactly as I say. Go to the cupboard. Take out cat food. Feed me."

He's a funny old thing is inky, forever licking at your arms and trying to get your attention (he's been on the desk for every post of this blog I think)

Me? Well I only did an hour or so at work - I'm more into provocation than proof when it comes to initial meetings and it was all getting just a little chart heavy. I think it's better to come clean, to say "we know nothing... yet - but here are some interesting places we'd like to look."

I'd rather leave the analysis until we have official data.

Anyway have to run, writing this while Jude is out with the dog and she'll be back soon as we're half watching Ms Universe (manish jaws very in vogue this year it seems)

More tomorrow, no doubt

Finding beauty in the differences

Well despite my protestations my first week back at work has been a seven day one. I've arrived early, skipped meals, filled up on crap and left late only to come home and start over on e-mail. Everything I thought that I'd not do in essence. The only good news is that I'm now acutely aware of how badly this kind of behavior can impact your health. I didn't survive cancer to kill myself at work. Of course there's a piece of me that quite likes the fact that I'm no longer wrapped in cotton wool - but that piece is small next to the look of concern on Judith's face as I drag myself home from another day at the office.

The picture above is of Redcar's premiere nightclub - Leo's. Many may argue that it's not the top club in my desolate seaside 'home town' - insisting that it's part of the Redcar Triangle into which drugs pour and welfare money disappears. They may be right but Leo's has been there, crumbling on the seafront for aeons with it's mix of downmarket entertainment, lethally spiked 'snakebites' and girls dressed to spite the bitter winds blowing in off the north sea.

I may well be back in the UK within the next week or so, depending on whether a work project comes through. Just a short blast through the place but enough time I'm sure to remind me just how alien I've become to the country on my passport. I will try however to find beauty in the differences between the UK and the other places we've seen rather than seeing only signs of deterioration everywhere - from the production values of the TV shows through to age (and price) of the trains.

Actually that's not a bad mantra against which to live life - "find beauty in the differences"

Right breakfast, dog to groomers, work. Beautiful cereal, beautiful walk, beautiful... something or other