Everyone a Critic

... or what it is to suffer for one's Art.

Well, okay, Art might be pushing it, but still.

I decided this afternoon that I would take a detour on my way home, and instead of rushing straight to the bus stop, I'd take a wander round the back of Kings Cross station and have a wander along the tow path of Regent's Canal.

I spent a wonderful hour and a half walking along, minidiscman playing good music in my ears, snapping photos here and there... whatever attracted my attention.

I stopped for a bit, just after the above photo was taken, to try and get a snap of a bee on a flower. Unfortunately, he was a little too frisky for me and got away.

As I walked away from the bee, I became aware that I'd had something of an audience.

A group of six or seven boys, the oldest of which was maybe 13, were hanging over a wall, watching what I was doing.

They watched me walk towards them, and I ignored them as I walked past, figuring they'd shout whatever they wanted to shout, and I couldn't hear them anyway, or they'd spit, and probably miss, and that would be that.

Well, I'd got the idea that something was about to be propelled in my direction, I just wasn't prepared for it to be a styrofoam cup of coffee.

Although it might not seem like it, there were some positives to this situation.

1. It was cold coffee.
2. It wasn't piss.
3. It glanced off my bag and then the cup bounced off my ass, so my legs took most of it.
4. None of it got on my camera.

Now, every silver lining has it's cloud.

1. Cold coffee stinks.
2. Cold coffee with milk and sugar smells worse than black coffee.
3. Cold coffee with milk and sugar is sticky.
4. Cold coffee with milk and sugar evaporates very quickly in bright sunlight.
5. Evaporated cold coffee sticks to skin and not only stinks, but looks from afar like you've had an unfortunate episode of very violent and unexpected diarrhoea.
6. Realising this will make you pull out your mobile phone and explain to someone on the other end of the line that you've had coffee thrown at you, for the benefit of the people on the bus that aren't currently having their nostrils assaulted by the overpowering stench of coffee that is currently surrounding you.
7. Despite having showered, and then scrubbed the areas tainted by the aforementioned cold coffee several times, you will continue to smell coffee for the rest of the evening.

Bunch of savages.