Another day in seclusion. This morning I had my Spanish class, which went quite well – a bit of reading (Primero estaba el mar by Tomás González), some conversation about dogs in prams. A brief chat with the GF last night which was pleasant, and the start of the third of The Wire which remains […]
Hometown
A rather good essay from the Paris Review, on leaving and returning home.
Note of caution
The newspapers and so on have been getting over-excited about the BCG, and I had also started to hope it was true, for all my ‘it’s population, not individual’ muttering at family members who sent the pre-print of the study. So here is the note of caution.
Window on Taipei
A magnificent cloud is rolling in over Taipei. I am sitting in the living room of our flat, watching from the tall windows, one whole wall of the flat. Taipei has disappeared and now the cloud is coming towards the hill on which this building is set, engulfing the trees. The world shrinks to sight […]
The end of this fucking world
This morning, suddenly, it all began to feel real, that today is the moment that the world has changed, that this is the day that defines the rest of the lives of my generation. I had viewed the plummetting of my meagre investments a few days ago with equanimity, as they feel imaginary anyway, and […]
Lost cause
We watched Black Klansmen last night. I enjoyed it very much indeed. Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing is one of my favourite films but this came in around second place. Funny, sad and light of touch, with a remarkable ability to push, push, push and then stop, holding the pressure. Spike Lee is not […]
Flashbacks
In around 1995, I and a couple of friends at my posh private girls’ school wrote a play retelling Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I played Sir Gawain, a friend played the Green Knight, another played King Arthur and a fourth played The Mouse. The Mouse character was added in because we wanted to […]
Strange times
As I started writing this, I looked up at the tall building, about 30 stories, under construction across from me, and watched a large plank of wood fall off the side. It took very long to fall. I opened reddit as usual for my quick browse of various country pages. On Nepal, a genuine question […]
Lost interest
Spoilers follow. I came to Star Wars late, in my mid-teens instead of the more usual pre-pubescent sort of phase. What can I say? Movies were only to be rented from a video shops and only one, in Mini Market, had a decent selection that wasn’t 90% camera prints of the year’s Indian releases. You […]
Besieged
There are rats in the office. I was the first to spot one, a dark little creature which scampered across my line of sight while all the others had gone to the cafeteria for lunch. A few days later, two others spotted a rat climbing up the wall and into the false ceiling. Then it […]