Death of a Salesman

Fast forward to November 26, when I flew to London for my first visit since late September. Dinner at Effe's, a Turkish place I like on Brick Lane. Then to my garret bedroom at the latest AirBnB. The last two were tower blocks, which I didn't like. This was a four-storey terrace house and I was at the top. The stairs were a lot of work, but the room was fine. As always when I'm in low rent areas of East London, I found it was majority Muslim. Which makes me feel very safe. Possibly because the men standing on the corners talking and laughing aren't drinking and don't pay me any mind.

Nov. 27 went to see Death of a Salesman with an all black cast. Wendell Pierce, famous for The Wire, was Willy, and Sharon D. Clark was Linda. I'd seen her in Caroline or Change and I enjoyed this performance even more. I can see why the play has staying power. Insecurity and identity are such powerful drivers of behaviour.

Thanksgiving was the next day, and I enjoyed dinner and a wonderful open mic night at Andrei's, AKA Cafe 12. The performers were all very talented. I was particularly moved by the performance of a teenage boy. He sang a heartbreaking son about a homeless man. Heartbreaking partly because of the man's loneliness and sadness and partly because the singer seemed too young to be familiar with this condition. He told me he spends his days busking so he gets to know homeless people, like this man who has been living on the streets for 13 years. The teenager had a 1.5 hour train ride home to Woking.I asked him how he heard about Andrei's open mic. He said there's an app for that: you can search for where there are good open mic nights. Of course you can.

Friday night was the PRI Christmas party, which was a lot of fun. PRI hires really interesting people. I was at a table of 10: two Australians, two New Zealanders, two South Africans, one Colombian, one Malaysian, one Latvian, and me. My favourite part was dancing with Lorenzo Saa, a Brazilian who is a very good lead. I also found I just enjoyed watching people in animated conversation. I'm very fond of some of the young women there and its fun to sit back and watch them tell stories—good deal as I find it hard to hear conversation in loud rooms.

Nov. 26-29