Workaday fragments

My first cycle ride into Zone 1, so I wear the silly helmet I bought—and feel glad I did. That traffic’s a bitch, isn’t it? Seriously considering buying a smog mask—reading a headline like ‘European deaths from air pollution set to rise‘ after gulping in Balls Pond Road air in the morning is surely a sign… And talking of signs, it’s so fucking great to see one that says, "No entry, except for bikes." You can cut through the city like a pedestrian, but not be too arsed about having to double back a bit if you take the wrong turn. Apart from risking your neck while you’re riding, and your bike while you’re not, it’s the perfect form of city transport… Time wasted in the office, crossed lines, ill preparation… Unexpectedly plunged into brief conversations and connections with someone I’ve fancied for a while: resulting social fumbles probably viewed as "a bit odd" from the outside, barely mitigating the muffled internal apocalypse… Never get out of the boat! Never get out of the boat! Absolutely goddamn right… A glorious ride home, despite the… no I wasn’t lost, I was exploring… I am glad to have water and trees between me and the heart of the Smoke… Onion, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, spaghetti, red wine, parmesan, The West Wing, and Julian Cope being interviewed by Mark Radcliffe on Radio 2… Very little inclination to write. Work’s like that, I now recall.