My son turned 21 this week amidst scant celebration. He is not one to mope about feeling sorry for himself but it must have been tough spending his 21st with his parents. Inside his card, I wrote out one of my favourite poems, “The Orange” by Wendy Cope. It is an ode to the joy […]
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If I ever said “Mother’s Day” my mother would immediately correct me, “It’s Mothering Sunday” she would say, in a way which suggested she had reminded me more times than should strictly be necessary. She was very particular about certain things, mostly connected with the church, and utterly oblivious to others, such as leaving sufficient […]
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Flicking through Instagram I come across a post from Derek Halpern, entrepreneur, and social media expert. It is a photo of what he describes as “my favourite picture in my house” which is a framed tweet from Kanye West which reads, “I need a room full of mirrors so I can be surrounded by winners” […]
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Sitting across from me on the leather armchair Tom covers his eyes and says, “Oh no, I don’t think I can watch this” turning his head away from the screen and towards me. I have a small keyboard on my lap trying to work out the chords to Abba’s “The Winner Takes It All” while […]
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When my daughter started at University I can remember having a conversation with her about how I thought it would suit her because she enjoys working on her own and seems to have no trouble in motivating herself to get her work done. She is less good at proactively emptying the dishwasher. What causes her […]
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My friend Martin, a long time recovering alcoholic, was telling me, during a recent recording of the podcast we run together, about how he invented aerophobia (fear of flying). Being stuck on a plane for hours is a nightmare for an alcoholic with even the most accommodating of cabin crew, so having an excuse to […]
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My supervisor, who I haven’t seen for a couple of months, asks me how I am. “I’m good,” I tell her. “Have you lost weight?” She says, wondering if the stress of eye surgery has had an impact. “Maybe, but it won’t be stress. Sometimes I forget to eat.” She raises an eyebrow and I […]
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Having booked tickets for a film I have wanted to see for a while I search for reviews and try to work out why I don’t do it the other way around. The first piece I come across gives the film one star. Emerging from the cinema later I have found it funny, touching and […]
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My car, now fifteen years old, is literally falling apart. Today, the doors won’t open at all, which is good for fuel economy but not much else. After I have spent twenty minutes with a screwdriver breaking into my own vehicle I decide to fill up the washer fluid too and then find that the […]
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I’m sorting through a basket of old cables, guitar strings and microphones looking for a jack adaptor so that my daughter can play the piano through headphones. “You don’t have to play quietly, you’re not disturbing me,” I tell her. She doesn’t hear me because she is on her phone and has her headphones in. […]
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