Earlier this month I took a look at one of our bookcases and realized that there were dozens of books there that I am unlikely to read in the next year or two. I grew up in a house without many books for adults. (I was going to write “adult books”, but that means something… Continue reading Books, shelving and storage
Having grown up in London I am familiar with many of the traditional red bus routes and have seen both the routes and the vehicles change over the years. One evening earlier this week I took a bus that didn’t exist 20 years ago, the number 70, a single-decker which follows a meandering route from… Continue reading A meandering bus route article
A simple dictionary definition of fungible is “replaceable by another identical item; mutually interchangeable”. I find that an example and a comparison is more helpful. Money is fungible. A £20 note can be used to buy anything up to that value. Time is not fungible. The time that you spend commuting to work is not… Continue reading Word of the week: fungible
Can you tell me a joke? Any joke will do, childish or adult, long or short. I have met many people who say that they can’t, they can’t remember a single joke, yet they must have heard hundreds or even thousands of them in their lifetimes. Most of us have. My children (currently aged 9… Continue reading Jokes and lyrics
On our walk along the river last month we stopped for drinks and crisps (or potato chips as the Americans call them) at the Sun Inn by Barnes Pond. While distributing the three packets of crisps between the four of us I asked the following trivial question, which had never crossed my mind before: “If… Continue reading One flavour of crisps
Earlier this month I read “Gut” by Giulia Enders. It has the subtitle “The inside story of our body’s most under-rated organ”. I had been looking forward to it, enjoyed it, and recommend it. There are lots of exclamation marks! And rather weak jokes! But that didn’t spoil it for me. This book constitutes a… Continue reading Gut
In March I read Patti Smith’s “Just Kids”, her memoir mainly about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. When she first met him, on her arrival in New York City, she was looking for some friends who had moved on. He was lying on a bed, she told him of her plight and “he rose in… Continue reading Huaraches and Bobby Pins
Orlando Florida, last weekend. Dozens of people murdered in a nightclub. Don’t tell me the name of the murderer. He’s dead. Let his name be forgotten. Refer to him as “that nutter who murdered dozens of people in Orlando”. Norway, 2011. 77 people murdered by someone who’s still alive. I don’t want to know his… Continue reading Please don’t tell me the names of the murderers
Last month, as part of her homework, my 9-year-old daughter had to research palm oil. Among other things she had to check foodstuffs at home to see which of them included it as an ingredient. I have been checking ingredient lists for decades but the prevalence of palm oil had passed me by. When did… Continue reading Palm Oil
Sometimes you encounter a word in a few different contexts in a short space of time and then you don’t hear it again for a while. Palimpsest was like that, back in January and February, and I haven’t come across it since then. The word crummy (which means “not very good”) appeared three times in… Continue reading Word of the week: crummy
