One of the chicks is getting ready to fly. You could say he’s taxiing to the runway, all cleared for take-off. In fact, if you’re quiet you can probably hear that the nearest emergency exit is behind you. Boy One is off soon and there’s much flurrying. Since last century (or some other time, ages […]
Top books we lie about reading to appear more cultured
The best blogs are about making you feel that you aren’t alone in your secret little shame. You read them to feel better about feeding your children toast three times a day, cleaning your bathroom with your dirty knickers or fancying Tyrion Lannister. That kind of thing. This one’s about the books you pretend to […]
A slacker’s guide to Treasure Island
OK, I am not as on track with the Slacker’s Guide than I’d hoped to be. In the same way that only getting half-way up a hill twice does not equal having bagged a Munro, half of Moby Dick plus half of Anna Karenina don’t equal two properly ticked off classics. Ho hum. Maybe […]
Show me the Monets
The shame… “Oh no, madam. The Monets are at Kelvingrove, we’ve got Manets, and Degas and lots of other stuff. But if it’s Monets you want, you’ll need to go elsewhere,” the lady with the badge at the Burrell Collection said gently. But her kindness didn’t soften it, Boy Three’s face fell. We were crushed. […]
Auschwitz: unequal to the task
This weekend we travelled to Poland and visited Auschwitz and Birkenau. I called this post unequal to the task because there’s nothing I can say about the place and what happened there that would come anywhere near doing it justice. But the camp was – horrifically – equal to its hellish task. Astonishingly so. 1.3 […]