All the things I do instead of writing…
I've very little to write about these days. The new job that I took with a view to earning enough money to take time off has subsumed all my time, energy, friends and hobbies. So the only thing I've really been doing is what I usually do when big voids open up in my life... Continue Reading →
Travel writing is the description of a different reality. For this reason, I have always found it almost impossible to write anything interesting about my travels, mainly because I become so instantly absorbed within this new reality that I fail to write down unusual impressions - once you've been in Delhi for a few hours,... Continue Reading →
I've been on a little downer recently, as a result of which I indulged in watching Twilight on DVD. There is nothing quite as escapist as the idea of superhuman strength, speed and immortality - like feeling seventeen again. When it finished, I somewhat jealously googled Stephenie Meyer , the author of the books. Her... Continue Reading →
I spend a tiny bit too much time in Shepherd's Bush at weekends. Westfield is my second home, to the extent that I know the location of pretty much every single one of the 300 shops in it - I've never not known the answer when asked for directions. Yesterday, I actually wanted to buy... Continue Reading →
I went to see the recently released film of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with Gary Oldman, and while he was perfect, Colin Firth was very disappointing. For me Bill Haydon was always Julian Sands or Ralph Fiennes. Colin Firth is too heavy set, and even though he is described as "jolly" in the book, Firth... Continue Reading →
I do love weddings, and this year seems to have had a particularly plentiful supply. This weekend's specimen was a little unusual, since I had never met the bride or the groom. A recently single friend asked me to accompany her in her ex boyfriend's place. She spent the entire time saying "This is Freya,... Continue Reading →
As ever, when anything changes in my life, I descend into introspection. For no particular reason, I start to find my gilded existence tragic, and turn into a navel-gazing drama queen, nervously necking champagne at a wedding and sloping off home in tears because they’re playing Oasis and I have just drunkenly stepped on my own... Continue Reading →
Awful lot going on at the moment, in both my world and the real world. In the real world, London is burning with the fury of a generation unwilling to accept that hard work reaps rewards eventually, and in an ingenious scorched earth policy, they both steal goods and then set fire to commercial real... Continue Reading →
I've not seen any of Terrence Malick's other films, but am told they are very good. I'm a tiny bit wary of auteur cinema, even if there are plenty of examples of so-called highbrow films which impressed me - Dogville, Solaris, The Royal Tenenbaums (although I'm not sure anything with Owen Wilson counts), The Seventh... Continue Reading →
I tend to vacillate between the kind of people or activities that are slightly bohemian (and a little nihilistic), and the completely conventional. Sometimes, I just want to go and get really drunk, or do stuff that's irresponsible but not criminal. On days like those, I imagine getting up from my desk at lunchtime, getting... Continue Reading →
The resting writer 