In 1997, after nearly 10 years off the booze, I started drinking again. The chronology and the reasoning behind all this are in this piece on my Compartments menu. It was also the year that my mother died. On Christmas Day 1997, before the big lunch, I had a few drinks at the local Parish… Continue reading Drinks in a bar on Christmas Day, first time since 2019
Just over a year ago I wrote this piece, “33 months of 5-a-side”, reporting that I had continued to play football at least once a month for nearly three years. For a while, in the spring of 2022, I was playing twice a week. By last summer I was only playing once a month. As… Continue reading Word of the week: Symbolic
Earlier this summer, for many reasons, I cancelled my subscriptions to all the sports channels. The most important of these many reasons was time: I didn’t want to spend untold hours watching live cricket in daylight hours or baseball late into the night just because I could. Our main justification for subscribing to sports channels… Continue reading Sports Channels and Smoking, an Analogy
Every now and then I read about a number that seems significant and think that I should write about it, a “Number of the week” piece to sit alongside the 200+ “Word of the week” posts that you can find elsewhere on this Blog. I see that I have never done so. This is my… Continue reading Number of the week: 15.5
Every now and then this Blog becomes almost inactive. It still receives tens of thousands of views per month. I still use it as my Exobrain, but I go through weeks or months without posting anything new. The last three months have been like that, since this piece shortly after Tony Slattery died in mid-January.… Continue reading A long overdue catch-up (April 2025)
“All I Have To Do Is Dream” was a 1958 #1 here in the UK for The Everly Brothers, a double A side with “Claudette”. I added it to my repertoire in September 2021. I can tell you the exact date without having to check anywhere else: Saturday 11 September 2021, or the 20th anniversary… Continue reading Repertoire: “All I Have To Do Is Dream” and my reasons for playing it
Last September I had two medical appointments on the same afternoon. The second of these, at the dentist, had been booked six months earlier: the twice-yearly check-ups for me and my two children. Having turned 60 I am eligible for free eye tests, but still have to pay for all dental visits (including check-ups). So… Continue reading The 266 Bus Route
Sad news today. The actor and comedian Tony Slattery has died aged 65. He was a schoolfriend of my brother’s, and a family friend for many years after that. He has been mentioned a few times on this site. The handful of references to him on other pages can give you a sense of our… Continue reading Tony Slattery RIP
Last month, for the first time ever, I visited a hospice. I have visited people in hospital hundreds of times, but had never even seen the outside of a hospice. One of my favourite cousins on my mother’s side had taken ill. She told us many years ago that she had cancer that was “incurable… Continue reading Word of the week: Hospice
Happy New Year to you. 2025 is a square number, 45 squared to be exact. The last time that I wrote about the mathematical properties of a New Year was in 2017, the most recent year that was prime. 2027 is the next time that the year will be a prime number. The last year… Continue reading 2025 is a square number
The Compartments 