i have a feeling this entry is going to be long. i just sat down at an internet cafe a few blocks from the yoga studio where i just finished a class. i'm exhausted from a night of clubbing that got me to sleep near 4 am. it was interesting, i suppose. well, not really. it was just like any other night of clubbing, just in a different city. i don't know if it's because americans and brits are so alike or if it's because club culture is relatively uniform throughout the globe, but there was nothing distinctly british about clubbing in london, save the accents. same drab places, same crowded dance floors, same meat market vibe. i'm not sure if it was worth the trouble of trying to coordinate six opinionated girls with different ideas of what constitutes a good night out. we hit up two different places (oxygen and club rumba) and managed to reduce the covers of both, because six girls wearing makeup and tight tops can take you far in clubland. i did have a very good time cutting a rug at the second club, which played decent house music to an appreciative crowd. there, i shook my ass as only a true house music aficionado -- who's neither interested in scoring ecstacy nor getting laid -- can. yet it still doesn't make me want to party too much in london because, i'm sad to report, it's not all that fun. the bars close early (11 or midnight) and the people aren't so warm. maybe it's cus i'm a tourist who doesn't know where to go and yadda yadda, but i'll save my midnight oil for spain, where going out always promises a good time.

in other news, i ended my production rotation at work on friday and begin the reporting part on monday. i'm starting work on my first story and have conducted two pre-interviews for it already. with the help of my very kind boss, al, the story has found a new focus and is ready to move forward. i only hope do some original reporting with it instead of rehashing news that's already out there. i'll only say that it's about tony blair, whom i'm sure i'll have no problem getting on the phone for a comment. my first pre-interview was a disaster. i called some cocksure professor at the london school of economics (LSE) who was all too happy to remind me how lucky i was to have his superior expertise contribute to my lowly story. our conversation went something like this:

me: so, professor, tell me what you think tony blair's...(insert details of general story idea here)

the asshole: look, if someone like you is going to be talking to someone like me, you better have more focused questions. otherwise, you're just wasting my time.

me: ok. well, as i mentioned before, this is a PRE-interview, so i'm just--

the asshole: yeah. yeah, i know what a pre-interview is. i taught journalism classes before. give me a better question.

me: well, i was hoping you could just take the question i gave you and respond with whatever enters your mind first. i know the question is general, but i'm looking for your first response, because that response will be the most important aspect of this story.

asshole: i don't have time for this. i could go on for hours with what you're asking me. go get some more focused questions, because i need to call back time magazine and the economist.

that was the gist, no lie. luckily, i have it all on audiotape, which i am saving for posterity. i shared it with al, who agreed that the guy was unnecessarily rude and gave me some good pointers for dealing with assholes interviewees in the future. i didn't take it personally or get too upset by it. it was obviously not about me or the story. it was about this one guy and his ego. the fact that assholes exist doesn't bother me so much. living long enough will expose you to plenty of assholes. it's not worth becoming upset over each one. what bothers me is that these assholes are everywhere. even in places you wouldn't expect to find them. teachers and doctors can be assholes too, and those are real people professions. maybe dealing with people who are assholes turns them into even bigger assholes, but that's a chicken-or-egg question i'll save for some other time.

anyhow, following the hellish interview, i called a different professor, one from cambridge, and he was all too happy to help. he kindly answered my general questions without asking for clarification or focus, confirming my suspicion that i wasn't the one off the mark. he agreed to a proper interview once i had my questions narrowed, so i won't need asshole LSE professor after all.

so my internet cafe time is running low. just want to add that the weather has been abnormally hot and bit humid, but it's a nice change from the overcast skies and shower london is famous for. i also sent out postcards the other day so if you sent me your address, expect something in the mail soon. see you next time. same bat time, same bat channel.