Let It Snow

That was one hell of a weekend! It's quite appropriate that I am returning to gainful employment tomorrow (I've taken on a new contract doing some Business Analysis work) because it will help me to settle down and stop me from behaving like such a hedonist. We had Jenni's birthday dinner on Friday evening which was predictably a boozy affair. We all went along to Shaw's afterwards where there was a band playing and so the whole place was crammed with people and a carnival atmosphere ensued. After that we went to Jenni's apartment for more drinks and some of us – and this is a sure sign that we had drunk too much before we even arrived there – some of us picked up some battered sausage & chips on the way. Blurgh.

On Saturday, a couple of friends dropped round to the flat early in the afternoon and so we began drinking rather sooner than we should have done. Then a couple of other people dropped by, and before long there were empty bottles strewn everywhere. We went out to eat – first at the Kean's Head, then eating again in the Cock & Hoop. Here we were joined by the Finns as well as a couple of guys from Dublin, and Marga the Australian-sounding Dutch girl. It seemed sensible for us all to retire to my apartment for even more drinks – Marga & her boyfriend were the first to leave, she dancing off into the night sporting my feather boa. Some of us were still partying at 6:00 a.m. – my poor neighbours. Two groaning sacks for the bottle bank later, a quick trip to the supermarket to replenish the stocks, and the fun started again on Sunday afternoon. Jenni hadn't been home for thirty-six hours by this point so with soon-to-be-famous young Stuart Hosker in tow, we went out to La Tasca to gorge ourselves on tapas and red wine. Oh, groan.

And today we have blizzards and my terrace has disappeared under a drift of snow (see picture above). I've been busy this morning catching up on paperwork, cleaning the flat, loading the washing machine etc. All quite mundane, but all quite necessary for the resumption of normal service. I must pop down to the Broadway though because there are some words I have written (a short piece of prose) being projected onto the building's glass frontage. My father has always asked me if he'd ever see my name in lights – and now he can.

So, back to work tomorrow – I hope the shock of this won't kill me. Mind you, I might not make it if these blizzards don't cease soon. Apparently the country has closed down south of Nottingham – it was ever thus in our country of such normally temperate climate. The Swiss & Norwegians must find this inability to deal with even a smattering of snow so amusing....