Derby day

I was in the town centre yesterday when a man asked me if I knew how to get to the Wardwick. "What's a Wardwick when it's at home?" I thought to myself, and apologised for not being able to help him. I went on my way, turned a corner, looked up and saw a sign saying "WARDWICK". The following thoughts then went through my head:

"Oh, this is a Wardwick? I always thought this road was called 'That street with the library and the Cats Protection League shop and all the old buildings'. I could never get the hang of street names that don't say 'street' or 'road' or 'boulevard' or anything like that after them. Oh, and the guy who asked me the way wandered off in the other direction. I feel all guilty now. No, it's okay, assuming he asked someone else (and you'd think he would have done, unless I'm the only approachable-looking person in town today), he could just have gone the other way around and got to this road from the other end. Oh heck, that means he might be walking towards me right now, ON the Wardwick, not five minutes after I told him I don't know where it is! He'll think I knew all along and just sent him in the wrong direction as a cruel joke! I'd better hide. But if I hide in the library or the Cats Protection League shop or one of the other grotty shops down here, that might turn out to be where he was going, and it will look ten times worse! He'll probably call the police and everything."

In the end I decided to just keep walking on my way, and I didn't bump into him, nor did I get arrested. Hopefully he found whatever he was looking for, despite my hindrance.

There's also a TV show on tonight about one of the few things Derby's famous for - sumo wrestling! Yes, it's a little-known fact that the British Sumo Federation is based in Derby. Makes me wonder if I should try to organise the British othello championships alongside one of their events - "the two most popular Japan-originating pastimes in Derby, together on the same day!" Hey, they have chess boxing, why don't we have sumo othello!

Another hit Derby-connected documentary of the future is taking shape - James Kemp and I are being filmed here next Monday talking memory for this latest project. This leaves me with the dilemma of whether I should clean up my flat a bit before the squalor is captured for posterity, or whether the cheerful clutter will just make me look loveably eccentric on camera. I'm inclining towards the latter, because it means I don't have to do any tidying.