Level 2 Chi Kung Body and Mind Process. Microcosmic orbit.
Decided I had better have a Bayswater day before the nanny disappears. Got my roots sorted at my old hairdresser, where when I casually asked if she had had a good summer, Lena announced that she had found love and would be leaving for Denmark at the beginning of December. It’s a bit ironic that she speaks Bulgarian, German, Russian, French and Italian and she falls in love with an English guy who lives in Denmark. She has promised to invite us to the wedding. Had a late lunch at Grainger (disappointing), then got a neck and shoulder massage. The therapist threw in 15 minutes of reflexology for my knee, which hurt like hell but felt good afterwards. Finished up with a walk in Hyde Park for old times sake – I’m not impressed with what they’ve done to Round Pond but the rest of the park is looking lovely.
Home and a sandwich for dinner to finish off the last of the roast chicken before browning the bones and putting them on to simmer for stock. Went upstairs to do some urgent paperwork, forgetting that my useless hob couldn’t manage a low simmer if life depended on it, and was alerted to the terrible fate of the stock only when the lovely smells wafting up the stairs turned to acrid smoke. I raced downstairs to find Nick asleep in the living room and the pot burned black. So much for the long-awaited chicken soup. I’ll have to roast another chicken next week.
I think I might be falling in love with John Lanchester. It’s purely platonic – I’ve never met him, I’ve never even seen a photo of him. I love him for his clear thinking, his wonderful writing, and most of all, I love him for this paragraph:
‘This may sound grim, but I am not pessimistic. Rising inequality is not a law of nature – it’s not even a law of economics. It is a consequence of political and economic arrangements, and those arrangements can be changed. Inequality in the developed world fell for most of the 20th century; we can make it fall for most of the 21st century, too. But it won’t happen without sustained pressure on politicians from electorates. So let’s get on with it. Let’s start to make them hear what we’re saying: it’s about the inequality, stupid.’
Here’s the full article: http://www.theguardian.com/…/poverty-uk-better-calling-it-i…