50 x 100 x 50

This post is number 31 in a series. Prices are sky high. Japanese restaurants are two a penny, whatever that is. Hordes of visibly different people, mostly young, crowd the streets. Voices fill the space with an incessant Babel. Old shops have been replaced, probably more than once. I’m in London on a flying visit, [...]

Even though I conduct all my gardening these days in silly little pots, I’m aware of how much I like the anticipation. A big blooming bush is instant bliss, but often leads to heartbreak as the plant struggles to cope with conditions outside the pampered nursery environment. Going out every morning to check on newly [...]

It was a brief tussle. The sinister little red guy said, “Fake it.” The putti on duty chorused “Who would you be fooling?” And the putti won. Two unforeseen social engagements yesterday conspired to deliver much merriment but no time to write. Hence the brief tussle. I could have faked it, and while I didn’t [...]

I was fibbing when I said that nothing happened yesterday. There was a whole heap of stuff, but many things are best left unblogged. So lets focus again on the unbelievable self-centredness of the average Italian behind the wheel of a car. Works are taking place on the road to the station. The pavement is [...]

The average academic-style seminar is a tar-pit for the unwary. The questions are fraught with baggage and meaning. I’m smarter than you are, and that’s why I’m asking this question. I’m thick as pigshit and I don’t even know it, and that’s why I’m asking this question. I know why you’re asking that question, and [...]

“You seem melancholy,” she said. “Really? I don’t feel it.” “No, not you right now, your blog. It seems sad. And what’s all that about giving and happiness?” “I think I know what you mean. But I don’t think it’s melancholy.” “You seem to want something, to be … missing something?” With that rising question [...]

From the morning’s round with the dog, when we marveled at the big trees brought down in the Villa Sciara, to the evening’s leek and potato soup with fresh-baked bread, it has been a fine day. It’s always nice not to have to go to work, but even better when there isn’t anything all that [...]

While I’m not above stealing content occasionally, if I feel it is necessary, so many people have released their work with some form of Creative Commons license that there really is no need. What’s more, the quality is often astonishing. It’s also often truly appalling. The same is true of copyrighted material. Which figures. Adding [...]

Blue Girl asks: “Have you created your new habit yet?” And the truth is, “No, not quite”. I was very tempted to skip today; late, tired, I could always backdate it tomorrow morning. A real habit would not have allowed that. And to be honest, if I hadn’t taken the precaution of preloading a few [...]