A Disorderly Retirement
I need to make it clear from the start that I’m not in favour of the language police. I know the French have the Académie Française to preserve the purity of their language, but I suspect that no-one pays much attention to it. English is a wonderfully rich language and if people feel the need…
Put like that, it doesn’t sound very appealing. Still, as I look around this room, I count ten items of furniture, of which five are old and five are new. When I say ‘new’ I mean not second-hand. In fact, I bought one of those supposedly new items of furniture 43 years ago. Upcycling and…
It used to be that the weather was our most popular topic of conversation, giving us an excuse for a harmless moan. But we seem to have moved on to something a bit more sinister and now we’re all talking about technology. For instance, is AI a good or a bad thing? It’s capable of…
I really dislike being referred to as a consumer. Yes I do consume things, but it isn’t my whole being. I walk, talk, breathe, sing (quite badly) and many other things besides. But my main function in life is not to spend money and buy things, so I am staging a rebellion. Christmas in particular…
January can be a very bleak month when you live in the northern hemisphere. The days are short and often grey. The wind blows, the snow flies, the rain drenches, the ice lies in wait. If you’re a fan of winter sports and live in a snowy country, January can be wonderful, but for the…
I am very attached to Spotify, even though I know I shouldn’t be. I’m not sure if it’s because of Spotify that so many musicians are struggling to earn a living, or if it’s the music companies that are failing to distribute the royalties they receive. Perhaps both. Still, if you’ve got rid of all…
Our newspaper has recently been devoting a lot of space to the subject of advent calendars. Whenever I talk about reading the paper I always feel like I’m a throwback from another era, like my Nanna when she used to sing Victorian Music Hall songs to me. Still, I do love to read an actual…
How far should we go in our quest for perfection? When do we need to simply call time and decide that enough is good enough? I’m thinking about all this because we’ve recently had a new kitchen fitted. To be honest, we’re still feeling giddy with excitement at having a working kitchen sink and tap….
Or maybe the question should be: How many books should you read at once? I always used to have at least three books on the go and I’d flip back and forth, depending on my mood. If you’re struggling with War and Peace, then reading a few pages of P.G. Wodehouse will refresh you, ready…
Last week I was considering whether we could – or should – admit defeat and stop trying to keep up with our constantly changing world, but this week I’m starting to wonder instead if I might just be a millennial in disguise. I’m always open to new possibilities, although this certainly wouldn’t have occurred to…