Day 302: Full and Fulsome

Not a park. Esalen's gardens.

Today? Today rocked like it was hot. And it was hot. And full of parks.

I had the pleasure of a party in the park (Vauxhall) to celebrate the first birthday of Finnegan Grundel. Lots of lovely people there. Hats off to Pam and Rob for being lovely, to Waller for being a very interesting egg indeed, and Ange for being a pleasure. Finn was a toothy, bag-of-little-boy delight. He has the best wonderment face I have every seen on any creature. I made contacts new and old. Good faces. Good talks. Good times.

Then offff again up to Clissold Park to see very pleasing Steve and talk getting/not getting living space together. All feels right and happy. He had with him a bag of meat. I carried curry (butternut squash). Not the wisest thing, either of us, on the hottest day for a long time, but mine was fine. I hope that his was too, and that the barbecue blasted away any warm harm that could have been done. Oh - warm harm! Have we had that before? Surely we have.  Say both words the same - no purpose but pleasure. Hedonistnic word glee. 

Clissold Park has goats. These are not goats.

And then, oh joy, back down to Stockwell to see Emily Moon and her stunning flat. It floored me. She has space, style, three floors, a garden, a cat, even! It was a house that had been shaped with love. You could feel it in every corner. And the people living there have excellent taste, too. The place is a pleasure to be in and it suits Emily beautifully. So happy for her and for its owners, who have such a fine person there loving it for them while they're away. 

Thank you, Emily, for giving me a big bag full of colourful, feminine, wonderful clothes. Now I have no excuse not to do pretty any time I feel like it. And I can stop shopping - even in charity shops - for girlier things. I have many many now and they will be a pleasure to wear. It seems odd that anything of Emily's should fit me - she is much smaller and much slighter than I am - but many do, so I'm making the most of it. And the ones that really didn't - one dress in particular - made me laugh out loud at myself in the mirror. Shame on me for not taking a photo. I looked like a walking camel toe, all squeezed into the wrong places in a little purple dress. One to show my grandchilden. 

I just remembered, yesterday, discovering Louis CK. I may have put that up, but I want to mention it again. Chewed Up parts 1-5 are on YouTube and they rock. He is very warm, very blunt and enormously skilled in what he does. There's a connection even though he's done this a thousand times before. He's totally approachable, even when saying the awfullest of things. He's a master of creating an image in your head with a beautifully crafted juxtaposition. Oh, and he's very funny, too. That's the main bit. Very funny indeed, if you're me.

View from Esalen, I think

Back to Emily delights. Such good talks, we had. I always feel nourished and happy, full and grateful when I've seen Emily. She's very funny too, and very, very authentic. She lives truthfully and with an open face and heart. I admire her and enjoy her. She rocks. We went to a party, fairly briefly, also full of pleasing people. Many of them had noticeably warm and sparkly eyes. Not just alcohol/other substances - a calm, smiley presence in many of them. Very nice to see. We talked about Esalen. That reminded me of lots of stuff. It's quite a place and it had quite an impact on me. Sometimes, things make me realise quite how much of one. 

Em & Paul'. Watch out for liberalisim!

Then we walked back to Stockwell and made each other laugh with silly stories and assumptions. AND I know she got home safely. I have seen photos of her with her cat (whose name, brilliantly, is Paula - said in the Spanish way, originally, but I prefer an East End accent for that cat).

I shall go to bed glowing - from the sun, from a life full of people who please me, from a full and fabulous day. Thanks, then. Cheers. Ta. I am truly grateful. Truly. 

PS - Just read this on reasonstokeeponbreathing - my friend's wonderful blog. The second bit is my favourite sentence of the year so far:

And the arbiters of fashion?  Skinny stick men made from ketosis and bitchery (see Karl Lagerfeld).