Loughboro, UK
At 16:30 the Pickfords, my host family, picked me up to go to Loughboro for Sylvia's birthday party. I watched "The Pelican Brief" with Sylvia and her fifteen-year-old friends. The group was young, but had a lot of spunk, so I had a good time.
1994
London, UK
Kate woke me with tea on her way to work at 09:00. I showered and took the tube to Leicester Square to check the ticket booth, but they didn't open until noon. So I walked to Tottenham Court Station, then to the British Museum for an hours walkabout. I met Malcolm downstairs at Kate's workplace at 13:00.
Malcolm's current gal was filming downstairs in the studio of Kate's building that day, and ran quite late. So Kate and I went to get a seat and food at the Digger Cafe, or something like that. I ate an avocado salad. Incredible. Mel and Malcolm joined us at 2:20pm, just as Kate was was leaving to return to work.
Mel brought a red fuzzy shag chair that she made in the show earlier, and so she sat on it in the restaurant. Then we carried it back through Leicester square. No Half Price tickets of interest, so we went to the Geilgood theatre, formerly the Globe theatre, for tickets to Alan Ayckborn's new comedy, which he also directed, "The things we do for love".
I then went to the National Gallery until 5:40pm, then to 1 Steven's St. to meet Kate again. We ate Middle Eastern at Gaby's. I had a tabouli salad, and it had far too much bulgar wheat. They went crazy with it. Not very tasty either, but the fallfhel pita was of course good enough to make me smile. And the bottle of Macabbees. We had enough time to arrive early for the show. I got a bailey's on ice while Kate went to the lou. Then Malcolm came back, and I downed a Laphroig, that black peaty hastility down my throat, like my snowy day on the old castle walls of Conwy in Wales.
After the play, which was wonderful, with three split levels of the house and what's going on in each, we went for coffee and a desert across from a sex world place, with an indian woman bekoning passing men into the draped doorways. To be that kind of a greeter doesn't hold much appeal to me. Malc and Mel drove us back to Kate's flat.
We were dropped off at the entrance to Eardley Crescent, and walked the distance down the one way curve. Kate searched for the key in the dustbin, which is in the below street level behind a wooden door, even moved the dustbin to find the keys, which Kate's room-mate was supposed to leave. They weren't there. Kate made us look a few times, then we walked out for some wine to keeep us warm and bide the time. We passed a spooky cemetary on the way to get the the convenience, but they had stopped searving alcohol by that time in the evening. We purchased orange juice instead. On the way back to the flat, we passed the cemetary again, where gays reportedly have three ways to pass the time, so we couldn't curl up there.
We tried to get in, first by climbing the building. Then we buzzed the apartment below. They let us in, and we layed on the landing to her flat. I sat on the top step and offered a recitation of monologues to pass the time.
I went through all my monologues, and I felt I did them better in the dark than I had ever done in the light. I have to use that method to practice them again sometime. Because of the desparate visual separation, I felt the need to get so much closer with my voice, it was intense and exhilarating, at least for me. Then I did some poetry, but I only know a few of mine, and it came to an end after about a half hour.
Most of the time was spent thinking of which monologue to recite next, and only a few of them flowed smoothly.
Then I laid next to Kate and held her against the cold until we both eventually fell asleep. At some point we switched places and directions, which made it much more comfortable. Her room-mate came home at 3:30am. She had the keys in her purse, and she really thought she had deposited them off for our use. So Kate thought it was a shame, but I didn't really feel that way. It was so surreal, so dark, so wonderful to hold her close and warm and trusting. I regret nothing of it. I think it brought us closer, which I hope is good.
We were finally let in by her roommate at 04:00 or some time.
1998
Lunch club met at Koreana, which I walked to, but got a ride back to work from Faust. Rachel and I met up with Jill at T-bocks after work for happy hour, and we went to a recital at Luther for a Verdi Baritone on staff. We spent the rest of the evening on Hulu, catching up on Caprica, and watched GHOSTBUSTERS before bed.
2010
London, UK
I just ran from Bolingbrook up to Hollingbourne, up to the train station one about a mile away from the town and then realized the train doesn't come in until 54 after instead of 18 after and I was gonna be early but I'm going back down to Hollingbourne and I'm going to walk around taking pictures. I had a quick pint because I knew I'd already missed my previous train. I just was in the most amazing labyrinth in the Matt maze and now I'm back in something of a labyrinthian public foot path that goes between the wall in the building it's very tight.
I'm still in good time for my 6 o'clock in London and also my 7:30pm if my 6 o'clock falls through. C'est la Vie but the 7:30pm is the place to be if anybody responded in him wanting to join me for the "The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. " Nobody got back to me. I ate at the bar of a curry house called "Spice" near the theatre. It was wonderful, and watching them make all of the dishes at the bar was a treat.
2019