trapped in marylebone

i had perhaps one of the worst head colds in my entire life this week...pure nastiness. on sunday i was sneezing a whole heck of a lot and made the assumption that my allergies were acting up. in a city as old as this, dust has become my number one enemy. however, i woke in the middle of the night and my sinuses were on fire. so...the term work from home was my reality virtually the whole week. except for wednesday. i took a real sick day on wednesday and sat on the couch, watching the entire season 5 of entourage.

friday was the day michael moved out, and for 48 hours, i lived on my own in a fab 2 bedroom flat in the middle of london. and well, being sick, i enjoyed most of those minutes inside. but at least i was able to settle things like the monthly bills and what i want to make for come dine with me season two. i'm waffling between moroccan and spanish but wow, do i ever have some great potential dinner party menus!

saturday was a unique day though. i decided to get my hair cut as it was getting a bit unruly, and was stopping at an cash point when an elderly woman came up to me and asked if i had a moment to talk. i knew right away she was going to ask me for money and i thought 'bold as brass to ask while i'm completing a withdrawl.' so i said 'of course, how can i help you' and the woman started to cry...and then she said 'thank you so much for acknowledging me. so many people pretend they don't see me'. it broke my heart. she told me about a woman she met not thirty minutes ago who took her to sainsburys to buy a few items (literally a loaf of bread, ham and peanut butter) and in light of the fact that i was about to drop a wad of cash at the salon, i felt obligated to give her a fiver. but here's the thing...whether she was going to use it for her bus ticket or not, i felt the better for doing it. in fact, i wish i would have given her more. i felt ashamed that my big debate right now is whether i can swing dublin, aberdeen and san giovanni in fiore in one month. i felt slightly ashamed.

all i could think of was something i had literally read earlier in the morning, just before meeting this woman on the street. it was something mother theresa had said....it was 'there are thousands of people dying for a piece of bread. there are thousands upon thousands dying for a bit of love' ain't that the truth.

on my walk home i came upon a movie set...couldn't tell who the stars were and the lack of proper craft services indicated to me that this was an indie (aka budget) film. precicely the type of movie set that would make ari gold squirm.

then for the hell of it, and because i haven't had enough faulty biological functioning, i was craving gelato. i head for cocorino and oh my god...best gelato in london, i swear to it! if you ever come to visit me, i'm taking you there for a proper ice cream. i shoveled down fragola, banana and nocciola, but they also made yogurt grecko (YUM!) and there was also sesame (interesting) and my other fave, coco (aka coconut). so now that i've broken that seal, i'll be heading over often. lactose pills in hand.

tomorrow is sunday and although i don't have too much planned, i do have this. i'm meeting about 150 other fellow canadians at the canadian high commission where i have to show my passport (yes, that exclusive) to watch the men's gold game vs. the US. i feel so privaledged. now, all we have to do is win.