August: I got some major health news (no, I am not dying), finalised some major life decisions for the coming years (incl. buying my old flat in Hastings!), solved an unexpected big tax/work pickle (six-digit kind of big), and I am now British---more on which anon. And I found that I liked all of it, as stressful as most of it was. I feel that I am moving into the autumn finally looking at what's in front instead of over my shoulder.

September movements: In the US 11-29 Sep. Very short stop in NYC, then moving between DC/Montreal/Chicago, give me a shout if you want to meet up! Back in the UK for October.

As I was sorting out stressful work admin, for a couple of days it seemed like many difficulties could be solved by taking an extended sabbatical. At some point it even looked like not working would save me a lot of money. And right then, in a very visceral fashion, I realised that I just can't imagine not working. I'm not saying that it's good or enviable to be married to my work, but it was nice to be reminded how much I like it.

Britpositivism

How Jay sees me now.

Took me 12 years, but here I am, one of them. I mean us. One of us. Let me start my tenure as a Brit by doing the least British thing you can do: actually say out loud things that I like about my country.

• Yes, Brits are very repressed and reserved sometimes, but what a wonderful transaction: in exchange we get (1) pubs and pints, (2) British humour: Freudian, self-abasing, ironic, parochial, surreal. Surely the best in the world.
• Countryside! The beauty, accessibility, and variety of British country is the best. I don't even know what more to say, IYKYK. And that applies pretty uniformly across British isles: not all of it is pretty, but you're never far away from so many beautiful places.
• Is the UK (and specifically London) often just cutting off coupons on its past achievements? Without a doubt. But why would that be a bad thing? Culture (in the sense of human capital and cultural products) needs time to accrue its compounded interest. Sure, Poland's national income may be catching up on the UK's and I am sure many cities have more accumulated wealth (in the broad sense) than London, but London is still the iconic city and random third town in England has social capital that you'd never dream of in a random Polish town. Britain often just wins because it's old.
• On that note, maybe being a has-been country is the best for your psyche? I feel that even the highly critical middle-class Brits deep down know that they live in a very cool place, but they also don't really suffer from illusions of grandeur.

• OK, so this one is contentious and it may not a net positive, but Brits don't tilt too far to right or left. I don't mean that people here are uniquely politically moderate---although they may be uniquely predisposed towards gradualism---but that within your average Brit there is an interesting mix of left and right. I think short-term this may be what keeps producing terrible politics (politics needs polarisation and trade-offs!) and in general they can be boringly practical, but in the long term it may maintain social cohesion?
• Culture is truly accessible here. Theatres, museums, gigs cost much less than in the US, with some amazing discounts for young people.
• Basic things that blow my mind when I think back to where I grew up: mostly everyone is socially liberal and respects privacy and individual expression; rule of law (no, it's not an empty slogan); dropping greenhouse gas emissions by fifty percent in my lifetime (compared to 3% in the US).

I wonder if any of my British friends even managed to read to the end of the list.

Happenings

For my British Micropride Month, I:

• Went to BBC Proms twice in one week with various old London friends. Now I am asking myself why don't I do it every week. (Also, it's 8 quid!) Underrated! Particular highlight: Reich's Tehillim
• Started watching Ludwig, I don't think it would be worth remarking on normally, but it's a very good complement to the list above. I believe this genre is called Mitchellian anorakism. Don't mind if I do!
• Cycled around Sussex a lot. And there are SO MANY cool cycle routes! There should be a noun to express the happiness of using nice public infrastructure. "All of this? For me?!" The more of it I see, the more I want to do. As far as early middle age roulette of hobbies goes, I am happy if the wheel stops on this one.

OK, now that I got this barrage of Britpositivity out of my system, few odds and ends

• Reading Braudel, as promised, and it's a joy, but in general I've either been too busy or too tired to really read. Also getting bored by Kadare's Broken April.
• Best movie I've seen all month: A Separation.
• Tweet of the month. Sadly missing from the British culture.
• Couple of you asked last month: am I worried about AIs? No, I am too stupid to worry about AIs. I've got Gavin for that.

Catch you all after the US! Here is a Hastings sunset from my window