Never a Dull Moment

True to my word I went back to the “Sleep Lab” and thoroughly enjoyed another 15 minutes of pure nothing-filled bliss.  The conceptual artist was there once again and recognised me immediately, although it has to be said that I don’t exactly blend into a crowd.  We hugged as if old friends and enjoyed another long and meandering chat about sleep, the universe and everything.  I went for a bit of a wander from there, taking in some of my usual ports of call and to say hi to a few familiar faces.  I also met a couple of Tolkienesque characters outside a hotel, as you do on a Saturday in this wonderful city.  Their costumes were very impressive as was their general demeanour; as I stopped to chat one held out a map of Middle Earth and asked directions.  I suggested a bus route which I thought might take them somewhere near, not wishing to leave their comical question without riposte.

As I was approaching the library a couple of East European gentlemen were capturing snapshots of their visit for posterity.  Normally I would just pass by such things without further ado but I could not help but note the irony; one gentleman was photographing the other, mobile phone in hand as if calling home, whilst leaning casually against a public phone box.  Whether or not this setup was fully intentional I do not know; the gentlemen merely explained that they were gathering memories of their holiday in England.  I wished them a happy holiday and bade them farewell.

It really does seem a shame given the almost gloriously summery weather here in the latter part of October, to be sitting indoors writing this but there really is a general lack of practical outside seating.  That which exists is either in the midst of building work or engulfed in street theatre and mobile vendors hawking various low-quality wares from their hand carts.

The weekend always brings a different set of people to the city; it is far from a white-collar 9 to 5 place during the working week but the weekend always brings more of a festival ambience.  The younger generation dressed and made-up in their various guises – I will not try to fathom the peer groups and meanings behind the many styles – I never even really figured which fashion category I could possibly fall into aside from “just me”, so instead I casually observe them in my journey through life, I even get the occasional comment about my jacket.

Now feels like as good a time as any to ascend from the literary bunker which is the library and wander the streets some more.  It is a pretty dead certainty that I will find something or someone else to write about while I am there….