287 - Upmarket

Sunday spent with Alison was a vibrant day. Ali strikes up conversations. Although I can be chatty, I have a tendency to keep myself to myself, with strangers. So travelling with Alison is really refreshing. She initiates conversations and then I come out of my shell. We sat in the Upmarket on Brick Lane, sharing street food and got chatting to three young people, two women and a man. The guy was wearing opaque 'glasses' on his head. It turned out he was actually wearing a sleep mask prototype that he'd 3D printed. His other interest was Salsa dancing. He didn't know anyone else doing it but he liked the idea of teaching it. I felt a real connection with these young people. I'm not sure why?  Perhaps a shared sense of openness and engagement.

There was this energy in the air all around Brick Lane. I tend to think of it as a very touristic place, but there's a lot more to it. It's a kind of up, down and all around market.

Two bookshops appeared, which was a surprise. One of them on Brick Lane, up near the bridge and one just off Brick Lane, on Hanbury Street called Libreria.

From the Liberia website:

Our shelves are arranged according to broad themes like 'Wanderlust', ‘Enchantment for Disenchanted’ and ‘The City’, so you’re constantly encountering titles you might not have come across otherwise.

Browsing in our bookshop is a world away from the narrow algorithmic recommendations of Amazon.com.

I bought a book called 'Empire of AI' by Karen Hao.