Short Takes

This is the lazy person's way to write a blog post, because I don't have to make things flow or come up with any transitions. But it's a good way to catch up on minor issues! Here goes:

-- I realized after publishing yesterday's post that I missed an opportunity on the title. I should have called it "A Whole Lotta ABBA." Oh well.

-- We had Storm Jocelyn last night, yet another named storm, continuing into the early hours this morning. Again, it was more severe in Ireland and up north. Here in London I don't think it's amounted to much. (Although it's dark out there so I can't see the condition of the patio yet!)

-- When I recently published a photo of Olga scratching in the grass near the train tracks, some readers asked about the barrier atop the fence. Here's a close-up that I took yesterday morning when we were back in that area. They're metal strips that have been peeled back in a sort of pinwheel fashion, meant to keep people from climbing over them. Some similar barriers apparently rotate in the wind, but I've never noticed that with this one. Maybe it's just too old and rusty and crusty to be mobile anymore.

-- While we were coming back from ABBA on Monday night, my friend Colin pointed out these weird shadowy images over the benches in the tube stations along the new Elizabeth Line. He'd seen news stories about these so-called "ghost marks," which are the result of people sitting on the benches and leaning against the wall. Transport for London, the organization that runs the tube, is trying to figure out how to prevent them. They're kind of cool until you realize what they are, and then they're kind of disgusting.

-- I came across this article in The New York Times about so-called "observation journaling," or writing down the mundane things you notice during moments of down-time during the day. I was amused because this isn't exactly a new idea. It's basically what I do every single day, making a mental note of things I can put on my blog. You're reading my "observation journaling" right now!

-- Finally, Dave and I watched an interesting (and enraging) documentary last night on Netflix called "Victim/Suspect," about victims of sexual assault (almost all women, of course) who report the crimes to the police, only to be accused and even charged themselves for making a false report. It examines how police come to their conclusions, often almost immediately and sometimes based on erroneous evidence. Other factors, such as the social prominence of the alleged attacker, come into play as well. I can see why women are reluctant to report assaults, sometimes with tragic consequences.

(Top photo: Off Kilburn High Road, last week.)