American Beauty

This is a Moroccan restaurant about a mile from our flat. I keep thinking we should try it -- after all, I lived in Morocco for two years and I love Moroccan food. But we just haven't made it over there yet. We all get in a rut, don't we, going to the same comfortable places over and over again? Last night Dave and I went to dinner and once again it was the pub across the street. (On a 35-degree night it's hard to beat across the street.)

Nothing very significant is going on around here. I worked a lot yesterday and then, yesterday evening, I turned off the phone and closed the computer and I have vowed to keep it closed until I go back to work on Sunday. (My work computer, I'm talking about.) One of the dangers of working at home is that you could easily find yourself working all the time.

I took Olga over to Latimer Road yesterday morning for some graffiti photography. We've only done that outing twice but she already seems to know what's expected. I loop her leash over a fence post while I take pictures -- always with her in my sight -- and this time she sat and waited for me to finish, occasionally issuing a plaintive little mini-bark. (She almost never barks.) She didn't stand up and strain against the leash like last time, though.

Last night we watched "American Beauty," which has to be one of the best movies ever. Not only is it technically great, with terrific writing, performances and camera work -- it's got a sort of Buddhist twist, with the idea of letting the beauty of the world flow through us, rather than trying to hold on to it. Or seeing beauty in ugliness, like the famous "dancing bag" scene -- non-duality, yin and yang. The magic of the ordinary. The dangers of festering repression and anger. I find it an incredible film.

Oh, and the blog Shit London used one of my photos! Click for some irreverent humor.