California Kid Visits London Town

When You're Tired of London, You're Tired of Life. Or so Samuel Johnson claimed (though people long ago swiped the comment and replaced "London" with "Paris". Typical French PR stunt.)

My own take is that When You're Tired of London, You're Probably at Heathrow. Be that as it may, I'm not tired of London, and I'm going to be dropping through in late June--the 19th through the 21st, to be more precise. I'll be meeting with some business associates (hey, I typed that with a straight face!), and will also be meeting, at last, Will Atkins (and maybe even Sophie Portas).

I'm staying at some hotel in the Kensington-Hyde Park area. The name of the hotel seems to involve pop groups; both Abba and Queen are mentioned. This worries me. I've got nothing against Queen, but the prospect of having Abba piped into the lobby is a bit frightening. The location is great, though, as it allows me to drop through the Nat Hist Museum--which I visit almost every time I pass through London--to see Mary Anning's ichthyosaurs. (When I was young I wanted to be Mary Anning when I grew up. This accounts for all the bonnets I wear in childhood photos. All this was before I worked out that dinosaurs were in fact extinct--which is why I no longer wear bonnets, and am so bitter about life.)

In any case, my point was that if any of you folks who live London-ish are going to be around, I'd be pleased to buy you a drink.

But if the timing doesn't work, I'm guessing I'll get another shot at meeting you in September...