i went walking in central london and on my way to hyde park

i saw this inscription on a war memorial:

'OUR FUTURE IS GREATER THAN OUR PAST'.

i thought, what a powerful message. i felt hopeful.

i am currently sitting in my study watching two men in overalls prune the trees in our back garden. these monster trees have caused much upset in the neighbourhood, so my mother finally relented and agreed to have them cut back. our 90ft eucalyptus is now a 50ft amput(r)ee. i was out yesterday and monday, but prior to that i had been essentially housebound for a couple of weeks because of my illness. i am on the mend now, i hope, and going out made me feel a lot better. autumn in london is beautiful. emma and i sat in st james' park and watched the leaves fall. i lay on my back and looked up at the lacy canopy. in my mind i made plans to find happiness for myself in every small way that i can, because life is a fleeting thing.

i am going to brighton this evening to see the sea and have a few drinks with my good friend ella. then on saturday my cycling around london plan finally kicks off with a free road proficiency lesson in which i attempt to conquer the beast that is Elephant & Castle roundabout with a trained instructor (because i am a pansy). on sunday my family are throwing me a party to celebrate my 21st birthday (only 53 days after the actual day, but who's counting? me). and then on wednesday i am off to spain to see my dad's new house, and my little brothers, who i have not seen in ages. sorry blog, you seem to have become a calendar. but i still like you and i promise to write more in the future (which is greater than our past).

p.s. i have developed, recently, a real fondness for soap. to have soapy-smelling hands is nice, it transports one back to a more civilised time. retro. more people should smell of soap. savon de marseilles is the best. and what the hell happened to talcum powder? other things i dig at the moment are jasmine tea, bbc radio 4 and orange nail varnish. my current shade is 'orange you cute' by sally hansen. i hope it has oranged me cute. i also have been listening to ron sexsmith and bonnie 'prince' billy. i also still miss chicago and am still on the lookout for an american to marry so that i can move there please.

p.p.s. how did i forget to write about Bestival? It was brilliant, i only wish i hadn't been ill so that i could have enjoyed it more slash HAD A DRINK. I will never forget: seeing Kraftwerk with Meera as the sun set/dancing in the reggae tent on sunday/ hearing Elbow sing 'newborn'/thinking i was going to die because i'd inhaled too much laughing gas/having chocolate-covered rich tea biscuits for breakfast/sleeping in all of my clothes and half of meera's every night. i will almost certainly go back next year.

bye for now.

oh but p.p.p.s when i was in soho yesterday i noticed that they seemed to be building a Central Perk! oh look! umm... i have to go now.