Back in December I wrote that “What a coincidence” is one of our catchphrases, and why, and in January (“Porlock”) wrote that themes, stories or references will recur if you keep your eyes and ears open, and keep on reading, and watching, and listening. They’re not really coincidences. You won’t know what they are in… Continue reading February’s “Coincidence Corner”
You know that thing in Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. Well, maybe you didn’t until just now, but that’s okay. You’ll come across it again sometime. It’s just about the only thing that anyone ever quotes from the book, and it appears right… Continue reading Quotes, and cheating
Many times in my life people have asked me a question and not waited long enough to listen to the answer, even when the answer was short and immediate. (I only use the option “Say the third thing that comes into your head” if I’m not sure which answer to give, or if the answer… Continue reading An answer for any question beginning “Why”
Most summers our children eat a lot of ice cream. It should probably be regarded as an occasional treat but for years it was a regular, unquestioned, daily part of our holidays. Two summers ago we decided to change this, or at least change our approach to buying it. We were on holiday in Wexford,… Continue reading “Would you like an ice cream?”
William Ewart Gladstone, British Prime Minister in the 19th century: what do you know about him? Well, “you gotta phone incha?”, so you could look him up, but before you do here’s what I know. Having studied 19th century British history I can dredge up a few facts about his career (initially Tory, then became… Continue reading What Gladstone did
For most practical skills there are three levels of competence: nothing, something, everything. (“Everything” is usually called expertise, or fluency.) Take, for example, playing a musical instrument, or speaking a foreign language. If you have never picked up a trombone or spoken a word of Mandarin you are at the first stage: nothing. That’s where… Continue reading Nothing, something, everything
“Say the third thing that comes into your head.” This is advice I heard a year or two ago in a TV interview given by the comedian Reginald D Hunter. He is from the American South but has lived in the UK for many years. When he returns to America his English style of humour… Continue reading “Say the third thing that comes into your head” (contains rude words)
Brick: it’s now a verb, as in “iOS5 upgrade bricked my iPhone 4”, which means that someone’s Apple-made mobile phone has become about as useful as a brick. I remember when mobile phones were the shape of a brick, and just as heavy, so putting “brick” and “mobile phone” into the same sentence is rather… Continue reading Word of the week: brick
“Changing Places”, the David Lodge book from the 1970s, has been on my mind a lot lately. I read it in the early 1980s and it’s the kind of book I would like to make time to read again. I mistakenly thought that it was made into a TV series in the late 1980s, but… Continue reading “Changing Places”
We had some very welcome house guests during half-term, Steve (an old work colleague and good friend), his wife and their two daughters. Steve and I worked together, on and off, for over seven years, until the middle of the last decade. We have seen many of the same things in the world of IT… Continue reading Flow Charts
The Compartments 