THE LONDON BLOG #1

April 27, 2010

8:03am

The fabulous Douglas Haverlation took me to the FlyAway in Van Nuys, I arrived at the airport on schedule, ate some lunch around 3:00 (hadn’t eaten since 8:30). Talked to Mom twice yesterday – she’s in Seattle. She will disembark in Long Beach Thursday and stay at my place until I come back next Sunday. She has a boyfriend, Barth, who lives right in Long Beach. They’re going to hang out. I can’t wait to meet him.

It’s about 90 minutes until we land in London. We’re somewhere west of Ireland. I’m in the middle section of the plane, and I wish I could see out the windows.

This is the longest flight I’ve ever taken. I see this as the “pain for pleasure” part of the trip. When you’re my size, flying isn’t fun for you or anyone around you. I tried to circumvent this lack of fun by buying 2 coach seats for myself, and the fact that the arm rests don’t go up all the way on this particular plane has made this a futile effort. I thought I could spread out, but I have an arm rest basically across my boob. I do fit in one seat, the belt buckles just fine, but I always feel bad for the poor guy next to me. I would have attempted to upgrade to first class, but it was already full. See, if I upgrade, they get 2 seats and I only take up one. Maybe on the way home.

They fed us really well! A snack when we took off, followed by chicken or beef dinner with salad, dessert, etc. And breakfast a bit ago was an omelet and fruit and yogurt with oj, hash browns, a tomato. There is built-in on demand entertainment built into every seat. Movies, tv, games, etc. The lavs get pretty disgusting after this long though.

I’m not as tired as I thought I would be, even though it’s the middle of the night in LA. I did manage to get a little shut-eye (of course, I’m yawning as I type this).

I have about 30 postcards to send. I should get on that pretty much as soon as I get here. I have a feeling I will want a nap when I get to the hotel though. And I’m meeting Alicia from Spain at 6 at a Caffe Nero, down the street from the stage door to the theatre. Can’t wait to see “Private Lives” tonight at the Vaudeville!

I love being surround by other travelers from all sorts of different countries. Lots of Brits and Kiwis on board.

On my landing card for entry into the UK, as occupation, I listed musician and writer. ‘Cause that’s really what this trip is – research for the book. It made me wonder if at some point I will list yet another occupation. I’ve been cellist, teacher, actor, director, writer. I don’t think I’ll ever settle into just one of those. It takes all those things to keep my juices flowing.

Time to pack up for landing.