“Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beats and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liver slices fried with crustcrumbs, friend hencod’s roes. Most of all he liked mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine.” Ulysses, James Joyce. When … Continue reading One About Eating
E.’s in a shed and M.’s in her bed and A. has put her makeup on especially for it. There is no money exchanged, no offers of, ‘do you want half of my scone?’ and there’s certainly no overhearing what the couple at the next table are talking about. Because at the virtual tea shop, … Continue reading Virtual Tea Room
Plain eating in January hasn't been much of an imposition for me after the feasting of Christmas. Whilst January has many drawbacks, reduced choice at the dinner table, just for a little while, is not one of them. After eating so well, it’s a welcome relief to settle down to a few weeks of plates … Continue reading Bread and Butter
There are times writing, when I remember a story someone has told me because it fits whatever convoluted point I’m trying to make. Often I go right ahead and recount it – a stich here, some beading there, a nip, a tuck, a little glue and glitter. Occasionally I stop and think: this is not … Continue reading Tell Stories
The time to make your mind up about someone is never. That’s what my father used to say. It is both an uplifting and depressing maxim as it means, in equal measure, that people can unexpectedly delight and disappoint. They can act out of character - or what you suppose to be their character. For one’s character … Continue reading Ordinary People
Sometimes when we watch unrelenting media coverage of unimaginable brutality, we are left feeling traumatized, and sit back, bewildered, asking ourselves: “what have we become?” Countries that used to lead the way in the concept of ‘service’ now seem to be backpedalling on social progress, bereft of a sense of shared humanity. And if we feel powerless … Continue reading Pay It Forward
The world is going to hell in a handcart – except it’s not. No sooner am I giving up on the state of the world, than I am reminded that generosity, sharing, hospitality abound: all three, alive and well and being demonstrably rolled out before my eyes on a daily basis. Yesterday morning I was … Continue reading It’s A Generous World
My Edinburgh Press 