No One Belongs Here More Than You

Less than a week after wandering through Hyde Park, I was back in the area today because I was very excited about a free talk at the Serpentine Gallery this evening, and I decided to get a good dose of nature on my way! I started out in St. James's Park, which just might be my favourite bird park. I don't know how to identify many birds though, and thought I should begin to do something about that, so I'm guessing this is a red-crested pochard:

These young coots made the most of the floating muck, half-flying, half-hopping on top of the mass when they wanted to forage in a new area.
These bar-headed geese (yes, that's what they're called!) were as cute as ever,
and I think this is a snow goose.
I'm still getting used to black swans and the pelicans were in a less-accessible, but definitely more regal location than the last time I saw them.
When I arrived at the Serpentine, there were a lot of irritated-looking people milling about and I soon found out why: although tonight's event had been listed as a free, non-ticketed talk, it turns out that potential audience members were supposed to email in advance to secure positions on a guest list. Half of us seemed to know this, while the other half (including me) had no idea there was a guest list. After about an hour of chaos and everyone associated with the gallery telling us different things, most of us got in, although as a way for compensating for their error, the gallery allowed many more people in than originally planned. About twenty stools had been set up at the front of the room, but as soon as we got inside, the people at the front were told to pick these up and pass them to the sides of the room, so that everyone could get a view of the proceedings.
(I thought this would make a good installation piece on its own and that it would be slightly--only slightly--amusing if we were all told to go home after all the stools were repositioned.) Anyway, after cramming ourselves down on the floor with no room to move (the man next to me smashed a wine glass sitting behind him when he leaned back a bit to shift his weight), our lower limbs were fully asleep by the time Miranda July entered the room. Good thing she was worth it! Miranda read from her recent short-story collection, No One Belongs Here More Than You (best book website ever, by the way), was interviewed by a fellow writer, and took questions from the audience. (That's her on the right.)
Although the event was pretty straightforward in format (the only other time I saw her, in Toronto, she screened several of her short films, told jokes, asked audience members to join her in performance, and even took requests), Miranda's personality shone through the night. In spite of the hot, uncomfortable room, I was sorry when the talk finished. It was nice to stand up though!
I didn't hang around for the book-signing; I've only ever stuck around for one of those, and even then, the whole thing made me feel a bit silly . . .