let them eat cake…
This beginning of today’s post is brought to you once again by East Coast trains (or their free Wifi at least); my second London visit of the year has sadly drawn to a close and after a final exciting day encompassing swimming, museum-going, shopping and the second visit of the week to a Yo Sushi (well, it does have to tide me over until I next descend on a town boasting a branch, and according to my current schedule this is to be two months away in Edinburgh) I am heading for the fresh sea air of home, pet-fishes and a few days leisurely R&R.
Having arrived comfortably and serenely (if not entirely according to plan) by National Express on Tuesday afternoon, my first port of call was the Travellodge (not being officially ‘on duty’ in my usual accommodation until Wednesday) and whilst this particular offshoot was modern, clean and completely inoffensive, the same could not unfortunately be said for the other occupants and after being woken up for the second time in one night by the sort of incidental-but-constant crashing about which resembles having halfbricks dropped on your head, I longed for the peaceful tranquility of my regular London pad, where my fellow guests at least belong to a demographic that wears clothes which one has to fasten.
I did get the opportunity beforehand to visit the Crossroads Women’s Centre in Kentish Town and was made very welcome – the centre is home to several grassroots women’s organisations and also a homeopathy clinic; it is the base of the English Collective of Prostitutes and I was delighted to meet both Niki Adams and Cari Mitchell, longtime campaigners for those among us who are often overlooked, misrepresented and dismissed by both wider society and the law. Anybody who (like me) enjoyed watching Niki make the improbably obnoxious Dennis McShane squirm on Newsnight (and if not, do have a look at the link below when you have the opportunity – warning, there is sound)
Sex Trafficking Lies – Newsnight 21st October 2009
would have looked forward to a meeting, and after tea and lots of positive conversation on sex worker safety, law and our lot in general (which I am ashamed to admit I was far too tired to participate in at any sort of useful level) I left, literature in hand to eat, answer emails and finally collapse until the aforementioned cast of Animal House came to life and well, buggered it up. I look forward to catching up with the Women’s Centre and the ECP next time (if they’ll have me) and hopefully offer a bit more constructive input, rather than the incoherent ramblings of one who is running on two hours sleep – the opportunity for me to meet other women is one that comes round all too rarely, after all!
Those who visited during my trip will be aware of the next surprise awaiting me on Wednesday morning – an unexpected hotel upgrade to an upper floor mini-suite so large, well-appointed and comfortable that I harboured secret fantasies about being forgotten by the management and hiding away there for another week. Naturally, I didn’t dare unpack anything for over an hour in case it was a mistake but nope – the room was very much mine; having made girly lunch arrangements for fetish-clothes-and-cake-shopping with Kinky La Rue there was no time to agonise about it, and following a brief minor emergency due entirely to my elderly work phone, lots of fun was had with a visit to the fabulous Honour store just round the corner (whose website I have long admired, and the shop is no less enthralling or pocket-draining), her latest baking-find Konditor and Cook for cakes to die for (the second slab did at least make it through to breakfast-time) and Yo Sushi (for gossip, New York talk and Japanese lunch to feel virtuous about). For those who may be keeping up from the Big Apple, Kinky will be arriving very soon… (and that’s really enough with the links, especially since it isn’t really fair on the Adultwork readers).
The remainder of the week has seen me entertain no small number of enthusiastic gentlemen, finally purchase my much-needed (Brooks) running shoes and discovering in the process that (as predicted) I have the flattest feet in the world, which makes me an Over Pronator (as diagnosed by the very helpful lady who sent me jogging up and down outside Greggs in order to properly assess my gait). I have also looked at the James Watt Workshop, goggled mesmerised at the huge steam engines and generally enjoyed the lengths and breadths of the Science Museum, dashed happily about the Oxford Circus Topshop (and wound up purchasing in Zara, another personal high street favourite on the We-Don’t-Have-That-In-Scarborough list) and not forgetting the ample time spent relaxing around my lovely hotel room in my oversized dressing gown, watching Mock The Week repeats on Dave with one eye and reading undemanding fiction on my faithful Kindle with the other. It’s a hard life, right enough.
To this week and a bit of a rest! I will be available on and off, but intend to take advantage of the chance to catch up on household and administrative stuff prior to my Coventry trip next week – enquiries for this are beginning to pile in and anybody wishing to book, please do get in touch as soon as you can to avoid disappointment, especially since I’ll be gone before you know it! As per usual, no same day bookings will be forthcoming, but anybody wishing to see me before I head off to the Midlands will surely find a way (and for everybody else, I’ll be back on Monday the 18th).
More news on Scotland soon – plus Race for Life info! Until next time…
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