Sim Carter: Past Tense Imperfect

Painting by Andra Hancock via Andra Hancock.com I'm writing bits of memoir and putting some of them together under the label On the Street Where I Lived stories. Hoping to get them published in a book someday. This one dates back to the early seventies, I was nineteen, still living with my parents on 14th Street in Santa Monica. (orig posted 12/12/14) Boys and Black Coffee The last thing I wanted was a part time job that had anything to do with food. Or uniforms. Not after my stint in the employee cafeteria at my mom's work . Still, somehow I ended up hemming a turquoise uniform to work at the snack bar at the grocery store right across the street from our apartment. The snack bar at the grocery store—if it had any other name, I never knew it—served up mostly cheeseburgers, milk shakes made with scoops of real ice cream, and deep-fried chicken. Plus a whole lotta coffee, especially to the employees. I ’ d see the stock clerks coming, and after working ...

image via 84CharingCrossRoad.com I’m taking a virtual walking tour ‘above ground’ on the London Underground. Using  my Tube guide & my fitbit® device, my goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day roughly following along the Underground route, reporting back here on Fridays with my findings.  Here are the days that came before .  We're following the Piccadilly Line, this is Day 34. Last week I got a little sentimental about my dad, sharing a photograph of the two of us taken in Hayes, on the outskirts of London when I was a toddler. I'm back on track this week, still at Leicester Square, right in the thick of things, so close to so many points of interest.  Checking my map I see the National Gallery is just a few minutes away down Charing Cross Road. Charing Cross Road! I can't go anywhere until I see 84 Charing Cross Road, the site made famous in the book 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, which in turn became a play, then a film starring Ann...

Leicester Square by Ross Ashmore I’m taking a virtual walking tour ‘above ground’ on the London Underground. Using  my Tube guide & my fitbit® device, my goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day roughly following along the Underground route, reporting back here on Fridays with my findings.  Here are the days that came before . This is Day 33 & we're still on the Piccadilly Line. Looking at my map I see Angel's Costume House is a short four minute walk from the Leicester Square tube station. That is a trip we have to take! I heard about Angels when I was writing a piece about the period costumes worn by Carrie Mulligan in Far from the Madding Crowd for Chapter 1-Take 1, my book to movie blog, and learned that the costume designer had used the BAFTA & OSCAR winning Angels costume house as a source.  While the 'Visitors book' is filled with scrawled thank you's from the stars, I also learn that that the company moved its production facilities to Camden...

  Photo by Kevin Yiu for Londonist.com   I’m taking a virtual walking tour ‘above ground’ on the London Underground. Using  my Tube guide & my fitbit® device, my goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day roughly following along the Underground route, reporting back here on Fridays with my findings.  Here are the days that came before . We're still following the Piccadilly Line. This is Day 32 Piccadilly Circus is a world famous tourist attraction. But why? For Brits, the term Piccadilly Circus is synonymous with Bedlam. Because let's face it, it's crazy-busy, with over half a million people passing through it every day, and crowded with a dizzying, possibly headache or seizure-inducing array of corporate signage ala Times Square. So what's it all about Alfie?  Matt Gedge, a tour guide with FunLondonTours.com shared some facts I certainly didn't know about Piccadilly Circus: One ... Where? Image by  Martin Kraft / Creative Commons licens...