We spent four hours at the US Embassy in London today waiting to be processed, scanned and assessed for our visa applications. No mobile phones, iPods or Blackberries are permitted inside the embassy and it struck me how much these items have become part of our daily existence. We stave off our almost pathological hatred of boredom by filling every minute of downtime with clicks and communication.

There is a Buddhist meditation practice called ‘Just Sitting’ in which you let go of making any effort and also let go of not making any effort – one of those great Buddhist paradoxes. Ultimately, you transcend the concepts of ‘just’ and ’sitting’ and experience the current moment raw and unfiltered.

So I sat amongst the fidgeting, farting mass of humanity while Stephen sketched and did Sudoku.

“Ticket number N239 please proceed to window 24.”
“Quick! That’s us.”