Keeping Up

Loads has been happening lately, not least the Easter and Royal Wedding holidays, which gave Britain a vast swathe of time-off at the end of April. Canny office workers realised that if they got in quickly, they were able to get 11 consecutive days off with only taking 3 days holiday. Personally I wasn’t really into having such a stretch off work, especially as for me, this period is practically bookended with holiday overseas anyway. What with NYC and these public holidays, I think I actually spent more time at work in February last year – when I went to OZ – than I have in April this year.

The blessing about hanging out with Ralph is that he lives in Brooklyn. Historically, the borough is pure Nouveau, with vast brownstone mansions, built to house the new, wealthy middle-classes as the moved away from the crowded city to the developing, spacious borough. It is difficult to put into words the studied opulence of these buildings, many of which retain their single-home status. Oddly, their virtuosity reminds me a great deal of the Crystal Palace, which also gained it’s popularity at about the same time for much the same reasons.
If I won the lottery – I mean a big win, not the £6.40 I have won 3 times this year – then I would buy a home here and move myself (and Sean, natch!) into a five-storey brownstone. He would make hats for vastly rich ladies on the Upper East Side and then come home to me in the evening for a Cosmo and a home cooked meal. Failing that, I will just have to wait for Ralph & Tyron to buy one and we will move in. Honestly, they are so big, they probably wouldn't even notice I was there!