This week has been quite a professionally trying one. In fact, I've been having quite an extended period of professional tedium for the last few months. The restlessness has got so unmanageable that I've in fact made quite a hash of a number of obligations over the last few days, in favour of a bit... Continue Reading →
Things not to do as couples
I was having a pretty nice time at the climbing wall the other night, climbing with a friend. Had a good-ish go at some fairly vertical 6as, rattled through all the 5s and the few 5+'s they had, and at least felt a bit more confident about it, even if I was only top-roping. For... Continue Reading →
What makes everyone else happy?
This whole Royal Wedding/ May Day bank holiday weekend has been quite strange. I enjoyed watching the wedding on Friday much more than I thought I would, and somewhat embarrassingly found it quite touching, particularly the Queen's somewhat melancholy facial expressions. On Saturday I bought a car. Spending quite so much money on a "thing"... Continue Reading →
When London Underground fails, it really fails
I walked down the escalator to the Jubilee Line platform quite slowly this evening. There was already a train waiting there, but it had had its doors open for long enough to be fully loaded, and as the oh-so-droll platform announcer kept reminding us, "there'll be another one along in a minute folks, so don't... Continue Reading →
A night at the opera
Last week seemed to have a bit of a non-stop schedule of activities based in the city, which made today's 10km run through the Arundel Estate in West Sussex all the more enjoyable. Still, I also went to the rather more rarefied spectacle of an evening at the Royal Opera House. I had got some... Continue Reading →
Keeping up appearances
I went to pick up some documents from another office this lunchtime, and walked all the way through the main Canary Wharf shopping centre. Canary wharf, for anyone not living in London, is the gleaming peninsula of corporate headquarters that was built in the middle of London's rather deprived and run down docks in the... Continue Reading →
Must stop getting obsessed with hobbies
The many faces this blog has already taken on are perhaps some testament to my peripatetic nature. I'll pick up a new hobby, do it like a crazy person for about six months, then get all demoralised about the fact that it's not a career, and I therefore prefer to stop doing it rather than... Continue Reading →
Richmond park races and other goals
In an effort to feel like I'm doing something with the acres of time at my disposal, I entered a whole slew of 10km runs at the beginning of the year, and a half marathon in September. Running is in some ways quite an irritating activity, mainly because of the way other people view it.... Continue Reading →
Between a rock and a play
I have been terribly remiss in writing anything recently - not even my own paper diary (which contains even more endless chatter than this blog). There are several reasons for this, but the main one is that I went on a rock climbing holiday to Spain, in Gandia near Valencia. I have been climbing indoors... Continue Reading →
Smoking is cool, really
I was reading a comment article in The Times this morning entitled "If you're not Kate Moss, smoking isn't cool". I don't think she looks cool smoking at all, or certainly not in the Louis Vuitton catwalk image. It was following the well-trodden path of generating controversy for greater press coverage, and the whole effect... Continue Reading →
The resting writer 