Whenever I go and stay with my parents, I always find Betsy on my bed. Betsy is a toy rabbit I was given on the day I was born – though by whom I have forgotten – and who, thirty years on, remains just about in one piece. Her little pink dress is long gone,… Continue reading In defence of clutter
Where it all began
This is the story of a band that could have been. I hated music lessons at school. You know – the compulsory classes, often on a Friday afternoon, where you had to learn what crotchets and minims are, and play things on Casio keyboards. Someone would always manage to trigger one of the pre-loaded backing… Continue reading Where it all began
Fragrance notes
The roses in Preston Park are nearly all gone, and I feel slightly bereft. I only found out what roses smell like a couple of months ago, you see, and I’m still dizzy with joy, high on their heady sweetness. I grew up in a family of keen gardeners; when they talked about the unmistakable… Continue reading Fragrance notes
Everything I know about drinking
It feels kind of embarrassing to say, ‘yes, I enjoy drinking, actually’. To state it as a fact, no qualifications or caveats. It feels a bit dirty, a tiny bit shameful. We’re not supposed to just straight-up like it. We’re supposed to water down our desires like whisky, put limits on our appetites. Drinking seems… Continue reading Everything I know about drinking
Who says you’re attractive?
I wrote recently about dating – or more accurately, the sheer relief of not dating – during lockdown, and the following came out of delving further into that. It’s been interesting to see what happens when your habits and routines are upended, hasn’t it? The things you carry on doing, and the things you abandon with… Continue reading Who says you’re attractive?
The fourteen-year wait
Remember how exciting it used to be – when we were younger, and less measured about such things – to discover an emerging band or artist that sounded like they were making songs just for you? And how much of a thrill it was to finally get your hands on their debut album, after weeks… Continue reading The fourteen-year wait
On love and panic
I woke early this morning – who’s on a healthy sleep schedule these days, anyway? – and looking for something quick and digestible to read, stumbled across this New York Times opinion piece. And it needled me more than it should have done, possibly because I had a conversation with a friend a few days… Continue reading On love and panic
It’s not about her health
I am a reasonably thin woman and every ‘news’ story of a celebrity losing weight feels like a tiny betrayal. That sounds mean-spirited, doesn’t it? It sounds like an ugly way to live. Especially since I couldn’t give a toss what the people I know and love weigh. It just doesn’t occur to me to… Continue reading It’s not about her health
Bookcase detective
Judging people on a specific behaviour or habit of theirs is obviously fairly limiting; I for one would not come off well if judged on the speed with which I reply to WhatsApp messages. I would be found wanting. But we all have our methods, our metrics for ascertaining whether a new acquaintance will become… Continue reading Bookcase detective
Gateway artist
It’s sad the way we all go through a phase of disowning things that a few short years earlier, we loved wholeheartedly. Around our mid-to-late teens, we suddenly want to be cool above anything else, and so we distance ourselves from the things that make us look anything other than blasé. We get over it… Continue reading Gateway artist
Inbetween Girl 