Howdy - the last post before Christmas, so I'm taking the opportunity of a mug of tea and a couple of mincies to put down what passes for my week. Like many peeps, I was struck with the here-comes-Christmas-so-just-to-make-sure-you-don't-enjoy-yourself-too-much rotten cold on Friday last. Thankfully, through the ingestion of much chilli (con carne, curry, sliced chilli on salads) and Tesco own-label lemon powders, it's been kept under control.

In the midst of all this, I managed to get in a couple of walks. Last Saturday, m'colleague Viv Schrager-Powell and I gave our Organised Finance walk in the City.

 

This was thanks to the good offices of my old schoolchum Brad Baxter, a fellow alumnus of Parmiter's School, Bethnal Green, who is now a mathematical guru at Birkbeck, and the walk was arranged with his M.Sc. Financial Engineering programme in mind.

Also, on Monday afternoon I gave my Westminster walk 'Of Commonwealths and Kings' for the UK Educational Development Agency - a group of Italian teens over on language experience.

An important development for Charnowalks is that, thanks to my good buddy and fellow University of Hull alumnus Graham Starling, I now have a website:
http://charnowalks.co.uk/
I'm getting to be increasingly professional, especially as I've added another walk to Eventbrite, my Theatreland walk 'Behind the Magic Curtain' on Saturday 4 January:

Time to see London's theatres before they all fall down!
http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/behind-the-magic-curtain-tickets-9885243028?aff=eac2

Thanks to Play-by-Play (www.playbyplay.co.uk) I've got a ticket for 'Strangers on a Train' next Monday afternoon, which'll get me out of the flat for purposes other than researching walks. For a theatre addict, it's been difficult having my theatregoing so curtailed, but come the New Year, when things pick up, I shall be able to fit more in.

Anyway, that's a brief account of what's been going on, other than that I was with Brad yesterday evening, and we popped into the Wenlock Arms - still a top-notch beer selection, but it's lost a lot of its atmosphere since the change of management. It's more like the many pubs now geared towards the fake Bohemians who have settled in the East End over the years, rather than the warm, locals' pub it was before.

Well, that's all from me. I hope you all have an exceedingly enjoyable Christmas, and a New Year full of goodies. Stay warm, keep up your fluids and vitamin C, read a book or two, and get yourself out to see some proper live theatre.

With all that's warmest and best,

D