Quick Thoughts Before I Go

Just packed up most of my stuff -- gotta get up in about six hours and head for the airport (boo!) -- but there are a few things I ought to report.

- Went this morning to Geek Mecca, aka the Forbidden Planet Megastore.  It opened at noon, and I got there about 10 minutes early.  I didn't want to be the Idiot American who stood outside the door waiting for the store to open.  When I walked 'round the corner and saw the shop, there were about twenty people waiting to get in.  I wondered if there was a book signing or something.  There wasn't.  Just a lot of geeks like me who had shopping to do.

- I try not to laugh at my fellow geeks, but there were a couple of girls there with obvious American accents who were alternately overwhelmed by the amount of Doctor Who stuff they had and really annoyed that all that Doctor Who stuff was not available on our side of the pond.  When they started to squee over the autographed John Barrowman biography, I had to stifle a giggle.

- I bought, um, way more stuff there than I thought I would.  Mostly stuff for me, from the Impulse Buy department.  Shut up.  And only one book -- although I discovered another book I wanted, which I then downloaded when I had dinner in a place with free Wi-Fi.

- Cillian Murphy is, in fact a crazy good actor.  Misterman, however, is one weird-ass play.

- So, I saw that show at the National, which gave me another opportunity to work out the route between Waterloo Station and the National Theatre.  This time, I tried it in reverse order.  During the day.  Walked from the National to Waterloo Station.  This was made easier by two maps posted along the way, and a street sign.  Also by the fact that, once you're anywhere near it, you can see this really ornate building which says "Waterloo Station" on it.  I still managed to have a hell of a time getting to it.