Today I ran some errands late in the afternoon and, frankly, I did not know what to think. Is this more like November? April? What exactly? The news tell me that this is the wettest January since the beginning of all Januarys and I can well believe it, for I don't remember one coming even close to this constant drudgery of spitting/bucketing/lashing down that afflicted London almost every day of this month. And to the uninitiated perhaps London always looks rainy but, believe me, it is not. It surely experiences nothing compared to Manchester.
So, there I was, walking down the street struggling to keep the brollie within the proximity of the head and then realising that I was wearing a hooded coat and I am sure this will help. Yeah, right. Then I was fighting the wind, the rain, the brollie and the hood puffing up like the cheeks of the big bad wolf. Eventually, eventually, I made it to my destination and eventually, eventually, I was able to stop for a hot choco on Kensington High Street. If you haven't tried London in inclement weather, you're probably no closer even to imagine what running a marathon every day of your life entails.
It was well past 6 pm and the place was dead, which isn't the usual Kensington scene. But the upshot was a wonderfully private gander at the local Waterstone's in which I picked up the Listography 2014 diary. Who cares that we are a month in, all the better, for it was 50% off. I'm a huge fan of Lisa Nola who created Listography a few years back and has now given us near-legendary list books, from Film Listography to Music Listography to Love Listography.
The diary is a week to a page, which obviously suggests it is for as un-busy people as they get. But the point is the left-hand side list for you to fill in. With pearls such as new restaurants to try, your favourite sounds, the qualities of your Chinese sign, your hopes for next year and then some, it provides a light-hearted way to reflect on the present and on our likes. The Listography books are published by Chronicles Books and are printed on wonderful matt paper.
January 2014 has been extraordinarily generous to me. It may have been the wettest, most disastrous one, certainly for Somerset, but my life was lit up by a raft of wonderful events: a stellar job offer (accepted), a wonderful exhibition (Isabella Blow at Somerset House), lots of fab food (from The Berkeley to The Delaunay), a brilliant send off (at the Aqua Shard, with flowers and a Tiffany pen too), some magnificent movies (especially August: Osage County and American Hustle) and a lot to look forward to. Who cares about the rain, this was the most brilliant January since my records began.
