went on holiday to Sri Lanka. we met some elephants and saw loads of birds (the type with feathers).
for the first time ever I took the exact right number of books on holiday. I was three quarters through the last one as the plane landed. finished it yesterday on the way to work. pretty sure this is the first time anyone in the world has achieved this feat.
one of the things I read was ‘Ceylon’ by Leonard Woolf, which is an account of his 7 years there as a civil servant straight after leaving university - from 1904 to 1911. he was given a year off after the seven years, came back to London, married Virginia Stephen and decided not to go back to Ceylon. deeply fascinating to read not only about the place but his reflections on the British arrogance of imperialism and being a civil servant. not from the book but from another interview: “the more I was there the more convinced I became that it was wrong. And that we were behaving in a wrong way.”
I’m going to pick out a few bits from the book and put them in a note somewhere.
Ben wrote about clocks on public buildings. since about 2013 I’ve been having a recurring thought when cycling: “the campaign for more public clocks on buildings”. there is a clock on the north side of London Bridge, above the old House of Fraser, but it’s never accurate and has freaked me out a few times. there’s another outside the big Natwest building on Bishopsgate, a digital one, that also gives you the temperature: excellent for benchmarking the day’s cycling outfit with the temperature.
going up hills, I always think, “change DOWN, James BROWN”. no idea any more which song I adapted this from.
so there’s a couple of thoughts I have when I’m on my bike.
back to an airport on Sunday morning. I am sick of going to airports and would like to spend some time at home.
HMRC have decided I owe them some money from more than three tax years ago. it has put me in a terrible mood.