First, a short preface for this rather chunky topic: I’m European. Furthermore I know little about politics, and nothing about economics. The small scraps of political information that I have gleaned come from the UK media, and politically enthused conversations happening around me. So all my vast generalisations and naïve proclamations can be explained by… [Read more…]
I smiled politely as Richard Black, my new boss, cross legged on the seat in the manner of the modern businessperson, orated. The sun was low, and cockerels in the yards below were crowing it goodbye. The Mosquitos were out. “The mental age” he said “of people here is much lower than where you’re from,… [Read more…]
I mostly wear camouflage. No, I am not an army enthusiast – more like a chameleon. Black jeans, dark top, plain cardigan. A few eccentric touches for my own amusement (floral boots, homemade jewellery), but over all I blur into the crowd. Sometimes though, I play dress-up. Clothing has a mythology for me. Built up… [Read more…]
In all the accounts of my days with the extraordinary Sherlock Holmes, there are none quite so strange as that which I now put to paper. Readers may believe or not as they wish, but I should think that the peculiarity of the case is such that reason dictates it must be truthful, as surely… [Read more…]
Language constrains me into ‘I’ and ‘my body’; which are really synonymous. There is nothing spooky about me, I don’t have a soul or spirit, I am not a ghost in a shell. What I am, really, is a Satrean black hole. This morning, walking home, I felt soft, diffused into the cold light. Usually… [Read more…]
I bought a Kindle a few days ago, have since read a couple of books on it, and it and I have become friends. So I am hijacking Cindy’s topic and deploying large amounts of creative license to bend it to my will, and write about this device that I think much more important than… [Read more…]
When we think of sexual images most of us probably imagine them to be something modern, ranging from lingerie models, through page three girls, to full blown porno, but there is nothing that we now display that hasn’t already been seen in centuries past. It is also tempting to think that today’s visual erotica is… [Read more…]
I have left London repeatedly, and repeatedly washed up in its gaping, concrete jaws. I am starting to wonder if its terminal between us. I sometimes like to think that there is nothing which I am really bound to. I like to daydream about fitting my life into just one small suitcase, and being able… [Read more…]
150: Dunbar’s now widely publicised optimal number of friends. This is meant in a broad sense, so would probably be better defined as the number of well established acquaintances. Dunbar’s is not the only such estimate, but it’s the one that has filtered into the pop culture phrase book of incidentally picked up factoids. Interestingly,… [Read more…]
Living in Edinburgh, I don’t feel like a foreigner. My London accent doesn’t even cause offense, which is more than can be said for most of England. But if I stick around long enough, it might turn into a separate state around me. The last time I lived in a country that split up I… [Read more…]
March 22, 2012
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