Bright lights, big city

Just over a week back in London and I'm wondering if I've gone native already. The city seems much as it ever has to me. Whether up or down umbrellas are wielded in a position calculated to cause most damage to the innocent bystander, a phenomenon I've not noted anywhere else in the UK, and tourists seem to hone in on me to ask directions as though I have the aura of someone who knows their way around the place. Which of course I do.

There are changes I've noticed of course. A preponderance of waxed moustaches, for example, is novel to me. A new trend, or an indication of a Dali convention in town perhaps. Who knows?

A new billboard near Leicester Square also demands attention. Large scale video screens in cities the size of London are nothing new, but the sheer brightness of this instance makes it worthy of notice. It is literally dazzling - its glare is visible from some distance and I first mistook the glow in the sky it cast it for a spotlight. Not only is it painful to look it but it is spectacularly obnoxious. Environmental graffiti. Sadly it was being used to advertise a worthy cause, which mitigates my loathing for it, but I hope it's not a sign of things to come (pun unintended).

Hmm, A ladybird is crawling up my bedroom wall. Not something I'd expect to see in January, but a welcome sign nevertheless - I've long been fond of ladybirds. Not that I believe in such things, but I think I'll declare it a good omen for the year ahead.