Better than sex
Confirmation from my sleeping partner that valeta (‘servant going to a dance’) is a kind of waltz gave me v as the third letter of ‘it was in form when young’. Since I already had L, e and … Continue reading
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Araf! (Drive slowly in Wales)
I went on a Speed Awareness course in Newbury last week and a few interesting things came out of it. Not enough things to fill four hours but still, a few are better than none. Like everyone else I was … Continue reading
Je mange donc je suis
My daughter is due back from France at the weekend. I must hurry up and finish the crisps before she gets home. I’m worried about her. Her eating habits are terrible. She nibbles at mealtime and pushes her plate away … Continue reading
A day in the life
It’s great to learn from twitter and facebook how much fun other people are having and how fantastic the weather is, where they are. Life can be quite exciting here too. Unlike Saturday’s upcoming Inferno race in Mürren, yesterday’s school … Continue reading
On needles and haystacks
My first reaction to the needle in the haystack art event story was, why is he doing it in France? How many Parisian art-watchers will be au fait with English idiom? If Tate Modern showed a man stirring butter into … Continue reading
dream suite
My dreams were so vivid and peculiar, I feel the need to write them down. There were three of them and I can’t remember in what order they came, or if I moved back and forth between them. We were … Continue reading
Dead duck. Fowl play?
If our idiom-coiners are to be believed, ducks have only death to look forward to. They are doomed, and in this they are not alone. This morning I looked out on our pond and saw an inert object adrift in … Continue reading
Calling Mag and Jock
The attraction of a second hand book resides not only in the price tag but also the clues to be found inside, about its life story and the lives of those through whose hands it has passed. The shelves of … Continue reading
Ski helmets: a hard nut to crack
I had a rare endorsement from my son recently, when he asked if he could borrow my ski helmet. “What’s wrong with yours?” I asked. “Your helmet is so beaten up, it looks really cool,” he said. He’s right. After … Continue reading
James Bond, skier
Of course Bond skis. Half Swiss by birth, he is a citizen of the world, the go-to can-do man. Which is your favourite Bond skiing sequence? The Spy Who Loved Me perhaps, when James slaloms through crevasses and skis off … Continue reading