Andrew J. Lederer

I do feel like I have actual friends in London and not just the virtual, blog-followin' type.

Hung out again on Saturday with Anna and Elise, my two Edinburgh-derived, filmmaker friends. Anna used to go out with Debra-Jane Appelby and Elise used to be a respectable entertainment journalist but both are now poverty-submerged artistic types who are in no position to look down on me when I can't afford buy a round or whatever and are therefore ideally suited to be my boon companions here in the UK.

It took me forever to get to our appointed meeting place -- a Starbucks across from the British Museum -- because of confounding tube reroutings and station closings. (I could've walked there faster.) When I did, there were additional members of our group, including an attractive, red-tressed Irish girl who'd lived for a time in my native Brooklyn. I was, however, so frazzled from my journey that I was unable to properly calibrate my personality fast enough make it explicable to this potential new friend and so, I think, she found me somewhat overbearing. (No "American" jokes, please. I am perfectly capable of being noxious in my own fashion, unencumbered by national characteristics of any sort.)

So, now there's another one wandering the planet who will probably never love me. No matter. By the time the speaker of limited English with limited teeth approached our table looking for a handout, I had regained my equilibrium and -- though we could not and did not give him any money -- I bounded over the language barrier to keep him in stitches, burnishing my under-heralded reputation as an international everyman.

From that point on it was a good day. We wandered around town, lingered in a non-franchised, inexpensive cafe and I even got to wax rhapsodic about the first season of the vintage "Abbott and Costello Show" while Elise was waiting for a bus.

Then, passing a murder-site shrine on the way -- I went to John Gordillo's house to give notes on a screenplay he's working on. (I was flattered he was interested in my opinion.) We had pizza and talked about the film and about comedy -- it was fun.

I walked back to Notting Hill from Highbury and Islingtion, following the trail of the #30 bus. Upper Street seemed like a lot of fun and it was fascinating to see how it's basically a straight line from King's Cross to where I'm staying. (I guess I should've known that from the train map, but those are often imprecise.)

So, now I feel I'm starting to figure out the more northerly regions and how they fit into the London pie.

Yum.

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www.myspace.com/anthologypage

Last edited by andrewjlederer on Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:32 pm; edited 1 time in total