trying to handle london

new puzzle. trying to learn london at the same time. starting with the river, it's pretty hard otherwise, just hundreds of pieces of streets...

ive been a bit obsessed with it. it's conviently laid out on the coffee table, so sitting on the sofa it's just so in my face, i cant help myself. ive started to doubt how much it will improve my knowledge of london overall though. i have of course picked up a few details or corrected some misconceptions (somehow i thought Blackfriars Bridge was on the right side of Tower Bridge...), but yet, yesterday when i was somewhere in the east, although i had a visual of the O2 arena, i was completely unaware of my actual location. it was by the river, near Royal Victoria DLR station. my friend Niina was doing a photoshoot there and i was just keeping company. chill afternoon. and delicious Indian food afterwards.

i watched Stephen Fry's Netflix special. ive always loved him so it was interesting, although a bit hard to follow as i wasnt sure about the theme or where it was going. also watched a couple of stand up shows recently, like Demetri Martin's The Overthinker. something weird happened with Netflix the the other day.  i realize its just me not knowing how netflix works perfectly... but it's kept me thinking. usually after one episode it automatically plays the next one. and the next one. and so forth. a few days ago, i think i was 2 or so episodes in (Lewis), but after that, instead of playing the next episode, it just gave me a trailer of similar show (finnish out of all things!) and then that was that. why didnt i get the next episode? was netflix like "okay youve had anough of this, go to bed, and watch THIS tomorrow". maybe i should give the finnish show a chance, but im kind of enthralled with the british ones atm.

im in a few facebook groups for childfree people. for group support and whatnot, its good to have spaces with likeminded people. what has bothered me is how all too often people in the groups refer to childred as "uterus turds" or "sperm being", in addition to the usual insults. of course the groups are intended to be a safe place to vent frustrations and whatnot. i guess it's just a culture/personality thing, i'm averse to that type of descriptions in most other contexts too. i also get annoyed with crying children and all that, but i cant find hate in myself. it doesn't make sense from evolution perspective. not that hate is sensinle most times...   anyway. i guess its good to be exposed to differing views and ideas...  that's what i get from facebook a lot anyway, if someone asks what's in it. there is a lot of facebook hate going around recently. how its addictive, how there is no content, no real relationships. i cant find myself agreeing. surely a lot of time is wasted scrolling the newsfeed and watching dog saving videos and cat memes, but to see my colleague from 15 years ago post something that's far removed from my lifestyle, or opinions... is interesting. even more remote acquintances... they have sometimes become closer through facebook, we have something in common and chat. maybe someone i once met a party is sharing links to articles i'd never see otherwise. i find it invaluable.


this popup (?) restaurant/bar had an amusing, if slightly sexist, stand outside. husband daycare center.