According to an Ipsos-MORI poll, a large majority of people (79%) think that there is more swearing on television now than ten years ago. And here’s another poll-generated statistic: only 55% of people trust civil servants to tell the truth. I generally skim over such statistics, for, when I read claims about the pulse of … Continue reading Avert Your Eyes
In both the religious and the secular world, November is the month of remembering the dead: the ordinary dead, the glorious dead, the forgotten dead. Remembrance Sunday fell this month and people are still wearing their poppies (a smattering of white now joining the red). They are probably worn for different reasons: to respectfully call … Continue reading Past Glories
I’ve just come across an online reference to a conference that took place in Glasgow a few months ago. It was called ‘Everyday Compassion: Supportive responses to dying and bereavement by schools, neighbourhoods and workplaces.’ I didn’t read much more, but I was interested in the fact that there had been such a conference as … Continue reading Everyday Compassion
I wonder why we say ‘drama queen’? Why not ‘dramaholic’, or ‘drama-addict’, or ‘drama-fanatic’? After all, Elizabeth Windsor (as my good friend likes to call her) is probably the least dramatic person I can think of. Not that I claim to know anything about E.W.’s character, other than what history tells of her 65 years … Continue reading Drop The Drama
People watching: the daydreaming it gives birth to is a great pastime, as one comes up with imaginary back-stories for him in the mustard trews with a Harris tweed waistcoat, or the older lady in a belted kimono with chunky amber clipped round her neck. The older I get, though, the more I realise that … Continue reading Invisible Load
“Please don't tell me what to think.” There is a stage – or maybe it’s an age – we reach when that’s what we say. We have all been that headstrong teenager who knows best, has been in the world for only a short few years, yet somehow knows it all. Then we reach a … Continue reading Restoration
Life can turn on a dime, goes the saying: the smallest of coins; the smallest of chances; the smallest of opportunities. Life can be governed by events that seem insignificant, and it may be only with the benefit of hindsight that we can take the long view and see that one decision tipped a line … Continue reading But For The Grace Of God
I felt really sad this week on reading a news story about a Polish mountaineer, Tomasz Mackiewicz, who was lost while climbing in the Himalayas. A rescue team managed to get to and save his climbing partner, French woman Elisabeth Revol, but they could not reach Tomasz on one of Pakistan's most deadly mountains – … Continue reading Good Grief
