I was reading Ian Jack’s LRB review of Ken Livingstone’s memoirs and this passage caught my eye: “Two years later [in 1972], the electors of Norwood voted him onto the Greater London Council. This gave him an income of £2,000 a year, which meant that he needed no other job”. What a difference 40 years, makes, […]
Ten years ago yesterday, I begin my first visit to England. It was my last year at university, and I came to visit my friend Lauren (who was studying abroad at UCL and living on Gray’s Inn Road) and my friend Allison (who was studying abroad at Girton College, Cambridge). To say that I enjoyed […]
As I mentioned last week, we’ve moved offices. And (joy of joys) I can see the entrance to (and the roof of) the British Museum from my desk. Well, I’ve thought of something to do with this amazing opportunity: I’m going to go through the hundred objects in the BBC Radio 4’s fantastic 2010 series […]
We moved offices over the weekend. The new one is absolutely amazing. Here, for example, is the view from the gym. It’s a 22 minute walk from our flat, which is pretty great. I can even see our block of flats from my desk. And St Pancras. And the roof of the British Museum. Possibly […]
Once or twice a year, I find myself in Dublin for work. It’s a nice enough city. Like Amsterdam, the hotels are (on the whole) disappointing, but the Guiness is good and I enjoy both the compactness of the city centre and the weather. Also, the food in our office has improved dramatically in recent […]
“Same as I want every day,” I say. “Six hours of uninterrupted reading, a large Charlie Bigham fish pie and a glass of prosecco the size of my head for dinner, world peace, last night’s Chelsea Lately on Sky+ and bed by nine. I don’t suppose I’m going to get any of those, though, am I?” Worth […]
Today marks five years since Andrew and I started going steady. The incident that precipitated that decision was both alarming and hilarious, and ended with me trying to lean against a fence which was really a gate and falling backwards down 3 steps where I landed flat on my back in a giant puddle while […]
To anyone who will listen: I *hate* remarketing. Not just a little bit. A lot. I find it as annoying as pop-ups. It’s akin to a someone working in a shop following me around and saying “I saw you looked at that towel. Are you sure you don’t want that towel?” repeatedly. If I wanted […]
Sunday will be two weeks since Andrew and I got back from our extended time way. They have been two of the busiest weeks of my working life. On the plus side, that meant that I got to archive the 879 emails I missed while I was away without reading them. On the minus side, […]