A friend and I drove (were driven) down to Multan today, which is where I am now. It was not a entirely smooth journey, as yesterday the driver who was supposed to take us called in sick with the hiccups so we had to arrange an alternative at some inconvenience. Then we left in the […]
Poison
The air is quite rank, like rancid oil. This morning I made the mistake of doing my exercise outside, and felt unwell afterwards, only later checking the air quality to find it was over 450. The GF and I have done extensive planning for our trip to Japan at the end of the year. It’s […]
A very large box
A sibling was leaving today and taking along a very large oil painting. It couldn’t be removed from the frame as it was hammered in so enthusiastically that there was a risk the canvas would tear. So I had a very large box constructed, a centimetre larger on all sides than the painting, which would […]
Quiet Sunday
It was a working Sunday, though to be honest I worked only from the afternoon onwards, but at least finished one of the things I needed to do this weekend. Lunch was phatooray from Icchra, a classic desi meal which I used to have with my mother back in the day when she went to […]
Miss Wisk
I’m reading Bleak House these days, feeling that my Dickens knowledge is lacking. I can’t say I’m loving it, but I can respect it and it is certainly very funny. I was surprised to come across Miss Wisk the feminist, and learned of JS Mill’s extreme disapproval of how she’s presented in the book. I […]
Change of plan
A quiet day today, with a couple of meetings and a bit of work, and a bit of not going to a biennale event after it changed the starting time for the third time, this time a couple of hours before the actual starting time, which did not leave me confident that it would start […]
To Nubia
It was a long day’s driving, but pleasant as it passed through interesting landscapes of barren hills with a vivid streak of green between, and drab houses made of worn brick, but the walls inside the balconies were painted vivid colours, sometimes with patterns or immense flowers, so I think the houses must not be […]
Working hours
Had a meeting and have changed my work plans for the first half of this year to make them more reliable but also more restrictive. A bit of a hassle since we’re off to Egypt soon, but necessary if I’m to take a long break in the summer. What I’ll be working on is moderately […]
Bus bhai bus
This morning we caught a bus, unusually, but something we has tried last weekend, and we’ve been rather slow in using the city’s bus system. There are a lot of buses, but there is also a lot of traffic and the buses are often crowded and their routes are not the clearest. The morning’s bus […]
This morning
This morning we took the ferry to Kadikoy and then a taxi to the airport, then to fly off to Dubai. Dubai is further than I would have thought – though of course closer to Lahore and just across the water from Karachi yet a different world. The last time I came to Dubai was […]