I really can't stop singing that tune from the kids at X-Press 2 with that nice Mr David Byrne. Really feel like it's an anthem in the making, if lacking a heavy enough dance beat. Although I have to say that as I sit in this easyInternet cafe on High Street Kensington I find it hard to remember any music with the pop-tastic crap they're pumping through the speakers. Still, at £1 for 93 minutes you can't really complain can you.

On the subject of internet cafes - this is now my third console. The first one seemed sensible but was right by the toilets (so everyone walks past you and sees what you're writing, the second had no headphones and this, the third, is right underneath one of the aforementioned pop spouting speakers. Sense that a fourth console would be in order if it wasn't for the fact that logging in and out now would move my charge rate down to only 82 minutes a pound!

The lack of constant access to a broadband Internet link has definately affected by diary entries. Apologies to the few people who actually read my random witterings (a big shout out to my mum and Quodnunc HR there). I also don't feel like I have anything really interesting to say, but since when has that actually stopped me? I also feel a bit embaressed that having left New York to go travelling I'm still in London with no ticket bought and no real impetus to do so.

The question becomes - why did I want to go travelling? The answer, after much pondering, is 'turtles'. When I went to Puerto Rico last year Tim and I ended up on a small island off the north-east coast called Culebra. This island, consisting mostly of gorgeous sandy beaches and few people, was where I spent one of the best nights of my life watching leatherback turtles laying their eggs. I hadn't come to see that and I certainly hadn't expected it. It was wonderful though, so now I want more 'turtles' in my life. Trouble is, cool unexpected things are hard to plan and my tendancy towards control freakism gets in the way of randomness like that.

So, I'm still here and Glastonbury tickets have sold out. Arse.

For those of you with more time on your hands than me - check out the "Which Simpsons Character Am I?" site. I'm Mr Burns which tallies nicely with my lack of coiffure at the mo (although Homer would have tallied better with my general physique I guess).

It's raining in London again, after 25+ days of warm, spring sunshine. Apparently in New York it's running 95+ F which is not nice and of course most people have yet to put in their a/c after winter. Ah, the foibles of weather. There used to be a running theory that London weather was New York weather three days later (and about 10 degrees cooler), so let's see if that holds shall we.

On a more scary, personal note - I find I currently have a minimal level of desire to go travelling. This is starting to get to me as it's the reason why I left New York and came back here, as the kick-off point to a grand world tour. If anyone has any advice on how to regain wanderlust then please let me know. Or if you find mine down the back of your sofa then a small reward is offered for its safe return to the usual address.

Finally got around to a long delayed walk across the Millenium Bridge with my old chum Bob Kelsey today. I'm working down near his office at Metrocube so we had a brief lunch at the Tate Modern. He's quite happy apart from contemplating a nervous breakdown from overwork and the fact that his book (in which I was character assassinated for the cause of writing) had recently been written up in the Times as he'd done a pastiche of Enron in it. Book sales are up, but it hasn't done his Bank PR business start-up much good.

Things have been quite strange for me over the past few days. I was out for lunch on Tuesday with my dad when I got a phone call asking if I wanted to do a photo shoot... all very bizarre and I have to make a decision on whether I do that by tomorrow. Then, about ten minutes later, I got a call from someone else offering me five days of consultancy work as an Information Architect doing UI review! Not quite sure what to make of this, I've been big into "things happen for a reason" of late so I'm just going with the flow.

Sometimes, of course, the flow doesn't want to go with you even when it seems to be heading the same direction... Go figure.

Quote of the day - which world leader said the following - "As we seek to preserve human life, we must also preserve human dignity" (BBC News).

Give up? Yes, it was the master of quotes himself, George W. Bush. Unfortunately he wasn't talking about stopping conflicts he's started around the world, but instead about banning cloning of human cells. The best thing about that is that if he is successful then there will only be one of him. Until the next Bush of course. Gotta hope he works out something about the whole dignity thing though.

On a more random note - Icelandic sounds like Russian with a Welsh accent. Luverley.

Got my Marin mountain bike working in a bit better shape so decided to go for a quick ride round the woods rather than sit through hours of dead queen mum. I'd forgotten how much nicer my bike here was over the cheapy one I bought in New York to get me up and down the long avenues.

Cycled round the woods off Matthews Road, an old bike stomping ground that I used to go with my friends years ago. They'd all be smoking and I'd be big anti-smoking boy. Fond memories. The old concrete water tower that I used to sit and draw has now been painted a luverley beige colour and holds about 50 antennae of various descriptions. The other thing that struck me is how many more paths have developed since I was last up there, everything used to be very straightforward as to which way you cycled. I guess everyone wants to make their own way sometimes rather than just follow other people.

Also just finished reading the Celestine Prophecy. This is a 'new age' look at how we live our lives and what the next plateau of human existance should be. Based around the concepts of auras, energy vibrations and synchronicity it describes nine insights that, in the story, are revealed by an ancient manuscript from Mayan times. The first eight insights are relatively straightforward when you strip away the new age stuff - things like meditate to build up your energy, go with the flow, pay attention to other people when they speak, avoid negative behaviours. At the ninth insight it describes how everyone will evolve to a whole new plane of existance, at which point it gets a bit silly. Worth a read just to see how your mind reacts to it. I found it matched a lot of things I'd read of late about synchronicity and actually gave me some clarity on current life thoughts - guess I was meant to read it at that time... {;)

Mmm... Sundried tomatoes. It's all I can do not to eat the entire jar. Bless 'em.

Things still seem pretty spinny in my head at the moment about life in general. I think the lack of a clear direction is playing havoc with me. Had this image popping into my head of me as a sequence of lens arranged on a vertical pivot, set up to focus a beam of light energy when they were properley aligned. Each pivoted lens is like an aspect of my life - physical activities, job, etc. At the moment they're mostly spinning round randomly, occaisionally coming into the same orientation and making me feel more focussed and energised. Then they spin apart again.

So now I'm just taking a few days to calm down at home and go sit in the sunny woods to think about everything. Hopefully this will allow me to see how to align all those lenses up and forge on with renewed purpose.

Quick geek moment... Just went to see Lord of the Rings with my little sister and they've added on a trailer for the next film (The Two Towers). Looks just as visually stunning as the first one - unfortunately have to wait until Christmas.

Sunday night had a huge heap o' fun wandering around Soho trying to get into clubs after a luverley dinner and wine session. The End had a d'n'b night on but having arrived just after twelve we stood around for about an hour without moving and then decided to give up and try elsewhere. Next stop was Camden Palace where the bouncer was very much in a 'tickets only' kind of mood even though lots of people were leaving. That kind of attitude is always so frustrating and just makes you feel like never going back to the place in question. Can't see how it helps a club to turn away punters who are willing to spend a few bob in there - guess next time I'll have to wear some shiny black shoes, tucked in shirt and everything else that fits in with the bouncers' perception of 'the right clothes'.