Category Archives: Uncategorized

It’s really worth looking ‘up’ from time to time as you beetle about your important business … no more so than standing on the opposite side of the street at Haymarket, where the horses jostle each other on the corner. Raise your eyes and leap into the blue. As ever, the clouds provide a perfect […]

I don’t belong to Twitter… am happy not to tweet … but this ‘poem’ came to mind on the Piccadilly line … short but haiku sweet. On the tube at Kensington I saw a man so smartly dressed Staring at his stylish garb Embarrassed (for I stared too hard) Then at Green Park he flew […]

We were passing the Odeon Shaftesbury Avenue, near to the market on Earlham Street when we had this – well – surreal experience. A sparky Irish girl came by – you can spot her legs in one of the photos. She stopped and got off her bike to join us in this fishy encounter. The […]

I tend to think that sunsets must always be best in exotic places. Here are two which prove me wrong! This also gives me the opportunity to quote one of my favourite speeches in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Pt. 1. This play was part of the ‘The Hollow Crown’ series which was on BBC 2 earlier […]

We took the train to Lausanne in August. John and I had been invited to stay with a colleague so they could discuss ideas about a book they are writing together. It’s a pity continental train travel is so expensive as opposed to the plane but later in the year, when I explored the possibility […]

This time last year we were starting out on our Lycian cruise on a Turkish gulet and I’ve been thinking how much I envy this year’s group – just beginning to enjoy it. If you remember, I was suffering from extreme stiffness and pain around my waist, hips and thighs before we left London. I […]

Unilever, who have sponsored the Turbine Hall installations annually since 2000, invited us to the latest commission. Almost 30 million people have passed through the hall attracted by the artists’ various creations over these past years. Whereas the Turbine Hall once housed powerful turbine engines, the energy this year came from live interaction between people. […]

John’s new book, ‘The Zeronauts’ was just published and a kind friend had organised all sorts of meetings and book signings for him in San Francisco. I found a ‘green’ hotel – ‘The Orchard’ – very near Union Square, which turned out to be a perfect location. I had wanted to spend my holiday money […]

A late family lunch for five at Wan Chai Corner on Gerrard Street, Soho, marked several celebrations – both for The Diamond Jubilee and things personal. The restaurant had been recommended by a colleague of John’s. She loves it and is a regular. She told me she sometimes goes alone. I never mind sitting alone […]

This was the month when the conference, organised by Volans, would (maybe) come to pass. I could have pulled the stress from out of the surrounding air but it would have strangled me like a giant octopus, so I survived carefully beneath its tentacles. John’s weekends were just constantly trying to fit in all he […]