Saying something else

Two things stuck in my memory from the conversations I had over the last few weeks, but to protect her identity, I'm going to call the lady I spoke to by an assumed name. Let's call her Fraunwin.

First Fraunwin said, while we were remeniscing - "...and it was the start of a beautiful friendship". It was quikly followed by "My ass is itchy".

Secondly, Fraunwin was lamenting not living in a proper city. She said, as we walked down Broadway "I miss living in a big city. Watch out for the vomit"

These are valuable things that I'll keep with me always. Thank-you Fraunwin for the colour and wit you injected into the last week and a bit. I almost feel I should give out your real name, so people know who you are.

More beer than I could possibly have drunk

Yesterday evening I went to a bar, and they served us beer in pitchers (about 4pts) for $8 (about 4 pounds sterling). It was all good.

We went to mass this evening, at a Catholic church that has been influenced by certain other, newer Christian churches. There were some shalws being made for the local poor people, and they were brought to the front and blessed by the priest and the congregation. I was a little surprised when everyone in the congregation held out their hands in front of them. I'm not sure why, but it made me feel slightly uncomfortable. After that, a nice man offered us the parish cookbook, for sale at the back fot eh church, and I felt much reassurance.

Tonight we're having stir-fry and mulled wine, and an early night. Tomorrow will be a long day, Braunwin and I fly to New York at 11.15am.

Cats at the Mall

Yesterday, I was made very happy by someone I saw at the mall. He was wearing a red suit with matching hat, and he must have been 70 if he was a day. He was the stereotypical jazz enthusiast, a kind of black George Melly, and I think my trip to America would have been much the poorer for not seeing him. Oh, and I bought a fabulous coat, and lots of clothing, and I think I've got Christmas just about wrapped up.

The day before, we went to a great little greek/general mediterranean restaurant, and they gave us more food than we could possibly have eaten. At lunchtime today we had a sandwich in a local deli. It was more food than we could possibly have eaten. In fact, I've been noticing a theme. We're just off to a local bar for dinner. I'll tell you how it goes tomorrow.

Bagels and liquor, and breaking the law

This morning I had a bagel. I don't think I've ever gone to the trouble of eating a bagel before, and it's a shame, as it was very good. I understand it's a bit like bread, only boiled instead of baked. Mine was filled with egg, cheese and sausage, and was a bit like a more respectable version of the Sausage and Egg McMuffin (tm).

Yesterday at the liquor store, a nice man gave me mulling spice. Because US supermarkets don't sell wine, I could easily have predicted they wouldn't sell mulling spice either, so it wasn't a huge surprise when they didn't. Logically, I thought, they must therefore sell mulling spice where they sell the wine. They didn't either, but they did have some mead that came with promotional mulling spice. About to buy a bottle of mead, purely for the spices around its neck, I was pleasantly surprised when the man took the spices from the neck, and with a simple 'Some people don't use it that way anyway' he handed me the spices and set me on my way. Tonight, Braunwin and I will enjoy some very nice mulled wine because of it.

My rebellious streak has me jaywalking at every opportunity (Yeah! Stick it to the Man!). Oh, and I spent $400 at Best Buy, on an iPod and some other stuff, which isn't even the beginning of the cheap stuff I plan to buy. Don't tell customs...

Great! Viral Meningitis!

Yesterday, I sat and watched two episodes of Seinfeld. I was disappointed to discover it's actually quite funny. The show could do with a quieter laughter track, but then I'm 4 series behind so I probably have a lot of catching up to do.

I went to the bank, and someone offered me chocolates. They were selling cuddly mooses as an incentive to buy some sort of rechargeable credit card. It was all pretty strange.

This evening I'm roasting some pork, and later this afternoon I'm going to the mall. I feel like a proper American.

Hi, I'm over here!

It's currently 4.20pm, which means that I'm about an hour from wanting to go to bed. At first, I thought I hadn't been affected, but when I woke up at 4am on Sunday and couldn't get back to sleep (until about 10 minutes before we had to leave the house, when I was out like a light) I realised roughly what was going on. Apparently it's worse in the other direction. But not as nasty as I thought it might be.

Seeing Braunwin again was great. I know she reads this so I'll not embarass her, but I thought it would be odd being away from someone for 5 months and then just turning up again. It wasn't at all.

America is a little bit odd though. The flags are everywhere, which I'm in two minds about. In some ways it's a shame we can't wave the Union Jack around without being considered psychopathically nationalistic, but, I suppose because of this, the US Flag being everywhere has an air of the psychopathically nationalistic about it. But the people are all very friendly (with the excpetion of the immigration guy, who just grunted at me, despite the sign at immigration that said 'We pledge to give you a warm welcome to our country), and can't do enough to help. The shoes are cheap and well-built, as are the sandwiches. The buses all seem to run on time, there are no problems with traffic, and I don't think I've seen anyone who appears to be genuinely poor (though some people are less rich than others). But it all seems a bit like Milton Keynes in that respect. Everything works, but it has only served to highlight how I define being British. We revel in the things that don't work. We're constantly complaining about the bloody weather, the traffic, the trains, the government, the weather, the heating, the rubbish collections, the weather, the neighbours, the price of everything, and the weather. But when it's all working...

Anyway, more on that later, sorry this has been so unedited - I'm in a bit of a hurry. New York is from Sunday, and I think that's going to be a different kettle of fish completely. In fact, we've already pencilled in a visit to Pulton Fish Market, so fish might well be involved.

Dalston, Dalston, it's a helluva town!

So tomorrow, I'm throwing off the shackles of working life and of the more earthy regions of North London for a nice country town in New York State. I'll be awake for 25 consecutive hours, I'll be travelling a total of something like 3,500 miles, and by the time I go to sleep that night, I'll be further away from the place I was born than I've ever been before.

I'll be seeing Braunwin for the first time in 5 months. I thought that deserved a new paragraph, as it's a particularly important point.

And I'll have eaten the first fast food meal I've ever eaten from the country that invented it. This doesn't deserve a new paragraph, but I was feeling whimsical. Expect regular updates on how weird America is, though I'll try to remind myself that Brits are just as weird to Americans, and we're both weird to Canadians.

Santa Claus is refracting, through town

I found this:

http://jewel.morgan.edu/~salimian/humor/humor_008.html

and this in reply:

http://www.cyberslayer.co.uk/jokes/joke0395.html

and I realised I was spending far too much time on the internet.

Da dum (bing!) da dum, daaaa dum, da dum....

I have Jaco Pastorius' solo of Amerika rattling round my head for some reason today. It's full of harmonics and interesting noises, driving rhythms and dexterous fingers. Apart from the last one, I hope New York will be much the same.

But why?

Yesterday I spent much money on 6 speakers and a little box to make them all work. After turning the sub up so the room shook, we noticed there was a 'bass boost' button. We decided not to press it. Sometimes I worry that I'm spending large sums of money on things just so I have something to write about here.

Then I said... then she said... then he said...

Yesterday was the 1st annual Jaco Pastorius Birthday Dinner, in Stockwell. Jaco would have been 53, if he were still alive. And he wouldn't have come, even if we'd have invited him. Thanks to Ben and Emma for hosting, and to everyone who came (Ben and Emma, and me, though it would be unseemly to thank myself). I will be looking for hosts for next year's dinner in late November, though volunteers are welcomed beforehand. I'll also be making sure I have some of Jaco's music available, including The Birthday Concert, and some of his solo stuff. I may even have learnt to play some of it by then.

I have a sore head, so I'm going to try to concentrate on work.

December already?

Where did the year go? I've only just stopped putting '03 at the end of dates absent-mindedly! I want to have another go at it, I didn't do it right the first time....