I heard the phrase a few years ago when a young student sidled up to my husband at an event we were attending, stretched out his arm and offered his hand, saying, ‘I am so pleased to meet you, I have had a brain crush on you for years.’ What does one say in such … Continue reading Brain Crush
Come on, remove that petulant pout, suppress that cynical mutter of, “valentine-schmalentine” and admit that, deep down, you love it too. Who cares if it has become overly commercialised? Hasn't everything? So drop the Hallmark-hate, stop boycotting bouquets, and quit with the sudden intolerance for chocolate. As for being single? So what? I’m single and I still … Continue reading Valentine-Schmalentine
“I’m passionate about baking, singing, cooking, dancing, sewing, potting.” Insert whatever activity you like according to whatever cook-off or dance-off or bake-off is airing these days, and you can be sure that you’ll hear every contestant tell us they are ‘passionate’. Which is as it should be; after all, no sane person would put themselves under the spotlight … Continue reading Lukewarm
The things you learn at school set hard like concrete. You don't know they’re buried deep in your brain, until something is said and all of a sudden - pow! - like cracking through the earth and tapping the well, out pour words or songs or facts; pure springs of knowledge you’d forgotten you knew. So … Continue reading Let Me Count The Ways
Is there any better song in the word about the sweetness of infatuation than the Gershwin brothers’, ‘I Got A Crush On You’? Composed by George, with lyrics by his brother Ira, it describes the giddy confusion that comes with harbouring a crush. “How glad the many millions of Annabelles and Lilians would be, to … Continue reading Crush
“There’s nothing worse than widows. Even priests will tell you that.” So writes John McGahern in his novel, ‘That They May Face the Rising Sun’. It’s a line he gives to an old, moneyed bachelor, one who doesn't know how to spend his accumulations, and has a fear that the sure way to lose it … Continue reading Let The Hare Sit
When time has elapsed, and you can put enough distance between yourself and whatever it is that has been getting you down, a sense of perspective will descend. Sometimes you might even see the funny side. Between the saddest lines we speak and write and think, there can often be a gentle take on it … Continue reading The Saddest Lines
Back in my student days P. would be the go to friend for advice. He was wise, for a young man, and had a great way with words, speaking in a stream of local idioms that made him sound like a fairground fortune-teller. Unlike the fairground fortune-teller, much of what he said did come to … Continue reading Broken Hearts Mended
How eligible are you? Would you be a great catch today for someone? Are they lining up to proposition you? Let’s start with the basics: are you single? Then we can move onto: are you solvent? Do you have your own hair? (not a deal breaker) Own teeth? (preferable). GSOH? (essential) I’m (sort of) joking, … Continue reading Ach, I Dunno!
Are you a romantic, a realist or a bit of a sceptic? When it comes to affairs of the heart, do you jump in feet first, run a mile at the first sign of doe-eyes, or weigh up the costs and benefits like a hedge fund manager? For example, if you were to cross the … Continue reading Forever
