What I Have Been Up To.

We went on a boat trip up and down the Thames from the Houses of Parliament to the Thames Barrier. We went under the green laser line marking the Prime Meridian and past the Millenium dome, which to me evokes the frames of English royal crowns of coronations once the jewels have been removed.

We had a candlelight nighttime picnic on the banks of the Thames at low tide. We had to make a hasty exit when we noticed that water had already covered the bottom of the ladder.

We went to a townie pub full of elderly British people that had a live band playing American jazz standards, swing-danced in the middle of the floor, and were stared at.

We went to an old poured-concrete church to walk out into the middle of a pool of water on steps that only appeared before you as you stepped on the preceding one. They were supposed to also disappear behind you, giving a feeling of isolation and perhaps of having walked on water, but the exhibit was so popular that the retracting mechanism failed. It was still pretty neat.

We watched a fireworks display that was put on without warning across the river from us. It was extravagent, prolonged, choreographed, and innovative -- I heard many of the startled Docklands residents walking away calling it the best fireworks display they'd ever seen. And it was evidently set off to celebrate someone's birthday.

Notice that I haven't done a lot of studying.