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Last night we went to a dinner party at Doris' house. As always, the other guests were interesting, intelligent and fun. Yum Yum also paid everyone a visit and ate her share.
Doris is on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize which is very exciting!
Her next book will be The Story of General Dann and Mara's Daughter, Griot and the Snow Dog, which is a sequel to one of my favorite books, Mara and Dann. I can't wait to get my hands on it.
Ok, it's cold and snowing. Not that that's a bad thing.
The fact I haven't walked in the cold while it's snowing since 1996 makes it at least a different experience than the perpetual fabulousness of the San Francisco Bay Area. Although I prefer the fabulousness, this is kind of fun.
And some happy news: I went to bank today to find out how one buys a house and discovered that if we upgrade our account we will get customer service people in the U.K. Sign me up.
And in even happier news: I found a cd I wanted in the classical section of the Virgin Megatore on Piccadilly.
And yet even happier news: the owner accepted our offer for the apartment we saw yesterday. I'm really looking forward to getting rid of those inflatable mattresses.
More than one miracle a day makes me nervous so I'm staying in the rest of the day.
Yes, it sleeted briefly today, but I'm actually referring to our bank account. Frozen.
In a situation similar to last summer, I somehow got John's access to our accounts disabled because of "security": I logged on as him instead of me. Being married and having joint accounts would make one think one could use the same login, would it not? Not. 
I've decided to look for another bank but I have a sneaking suspicion they may all be evil. As soon as I find one with a customer service department located in the U.K. that's the one for me.
In happier news, today we looked at a few flats for sale. There are no single houses in Covent Garden for sale that are either large enough or north of The Strand. But there are several condominium-style flats available and they are very nice. This one is a real possibility. Pack your bags, there's guest space!
Last night was one of the best we've had in the theatre, ever.
One of our favorite friends, Larry Dreyfus joined us for an exceptional dinner at Le Deuxieme and then we walked over Waterloo Bridge to the National Theatre to see The History Boys, one of the most amazing plays we've ever seen.
It's rare that a completely new play can be so captivating, moving and entertaining. It was 3 hours long and every minute of it was mesmerizing.
Once again, it's always a shock and delight to see famous people on stage. In this case, Richard Griffiths, who plays Harry Potter's Uncle Vernon Dursley in the films and was also in a wonderful 2004 film Stage Beauty, which I highly recommend.
All the actors were excellent, if not extraordinary, making for a very special and memorable evening.
Wow!
Today I went to a concert by Trevor Pinnock at Wigmore Hall. Luckily I ran into one of my favorite London friends, Simon Foster from Avie Records who are releasing Pinnock's fabulous new cd of Rameau (and we're releasing it on Magnatune too).
The concert was amazing, Trevor Pinnock was at the top of his form. He played Bach, Rameau, Handel, and for his 2 encores: Scarlatti and Purcell. Pinch me. It was an amazing experience.
Then Simon asked if I'd like to meet Trevor Pinnock. I tried to sound calm when I said "sure" but we both knew I was ready to faint. So, we went back to the green room and Simon introduced me to him. It is a really surreal moment in my life, Trevor Pinnock being one of the harpsichordists that has affected my life in a seriously positive way. He has heard of Magnatune, surprisingly, and was really pleasant and charming. All I can say is: wow. Thank you, Simon.
Today, we had a visit from Abby Allen, a long-time employee at Lyris Technologies, who we've worked with for over 5 years. She's been here for the last couple weeks meeting with clients, etc. Abby is an amazing combination of intelligence, elegance and humor and we're so glad we had the chance to get together while she was here.
We went to see the play "A Life In the Theatre" starring Patrick Stewart and Joshua Jackson. Well... the play didn't make any sense at all but it was fun to see Jean-Luc Picard and Pacey on stage. Although seeing Jean-Luc without his Starfleet uniform was enjoyable I can't say the same for the scenes in which he appears in only his underwear. Pacey appeared in only his underwear in a couple of the scenes too. What is it with actors in their underwear? I already saw Christian Slater in his underwear; is this a requirement for the stage?
After the play we had dinner at Quo Vadis. Pink champagne? Bien sur!
We're so happy to be back in London!
The sun was shining this afternoon and the temperature was mild. John went out immediately to buy equipment for his Magnatune recording project tomorrow. I stayed in and dusted, napped and tried to remember how to work the electronic equipment (stereo, etc.).
This evening we had dinner at Mela, one of our favorites right nearby. It was packed but luckily we got in. It was delicious.
I was starving because dinner on the plane was surprisingly awful (they ran out of chicken so I had the overcooked strange steak, of which I took only one bite). I slept so much that I don't remember what the stewardesses look like. What time is it? zzzzzzzz
Tomorrow we're returning to London!
At last. For those of you who have been jealous of our California weather, don't be. We had 4 weeks of non-stop rain and gloom. It was actually worse than the weather in London. In fact, it's raining right now! Normally, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the far distance but not today.
I'm going to miss our neighbor cat Clyde so much. Here he is frolicking on the floor, he is such a cutie! Oops, that last photo isn't Clyde, it's John getting in some last-minute Magnatune work. Ok, he's a cutie too.
We're looking forward to London, see you soon.
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