Snow is Cold

Errr actually, no it isn’t. It’s still dark (at 7.50am), windy, wet, raining and cold. God I love English winters!

Check derr top link int’ linkblog – ’tis piss funny.. Should probably have put it here instead!

A certain pic that a certain someone sent me springs to mind.. Envisage lots of dayglo pink trousers.. ;)

You know those times when you feel like you just don’t have anything interesting to say?? This is one of them.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

[Rudyard Kipling]

Today at lunch, as nothing was pressing or forthcoming, I decided to go for a wander and explore some more of the surrounding area.

Initially I headed down Fleet Street in search of yet-to-be-tried food places and booksellers. First of all I found a very tasty looking sushi takeout place. It’s strange that there seem to be a glut of sushi places around where I work, albeit that many of them serve a bastardized (and overpriced) version of it with tuna flakes (please!) or one piece of cucumber wrapped in seaweed. Ha. No thanks. This one actually seemed worth its salt (no pun intended) but I wasn’t in the market for sushi today so I continued my exploration… Duly marked.

Branching left off Fleet Street took me past a million small legal practises and, turning left again, through an alleyway leading to Chancery Lane. On the far side of the road I noticed an intriguing passageway where many people were sitting outside. Turned out to be another spate of fancy sandwich shops, alongside work-fashion boutiques, all very quaint and “London”.

Exiting the narrow winding backside of the passageway brought me out at the back of the law courts. Here there were many barristers with their robes and fancy neck-ties on. I’d never seen people decked up like that before so was quite fascinated by their appearance. No wonder they use the entrances facing away from Fleet St/Strand!

After hitting a couple of dead ends I thought it would probably be a good idea to grab food before the lunch hour ran out. Nothing was grabbing me but I eventually settled for a Cornish pasty. This apparently granted me membership of some manner of club – as I passed a worker/van driver holding a styrofoam box containing (as far as I could tell) some kind of creamy pasta, my pasty elucidated a nod from him – I smiled a reply.

Isn’t life exciting???

Seriously though, there are loads of hidden treasures around. Just a case of seeking them out…