I couldn’t tell you how I know the Harold Lloyd theme tune (dodo-do-do-do-do-doo-do-do-do), but I do. There may have been old repeats on television when I was a child, because I have known the catchy tune since I was small, “A pair of glasses and a smile.” You’ll find lots of clips on the internet; try … Continue reading Hooray for Harold Lloyd
Make like a Gumble and get through the new lockdown.
Yesterday, I was the recipient of a cheeky wink. It was lobbed to me as I was disembarking the train at York in a distracted flurry, trying hard not to forget my trail of accoutrements that, over two and a half hours, I had liberally deposited above me (on the rack), beside me (on the … Continue reading Wink
‘A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances.’ So decreed Robert Baden Powell when he drafted rule number eight of his manual, Scouting For Boys. It contains nine Scouting rules - ‘A Scout is thrifty’ being the ninth - and, amongst those seven rules ranking higher than what I’m calling the ‘cheerful rule’, are: loyalty, obedience, … Continue reading Reasons to be Cheerful
“Have you been there recently?”B. asked me in the course of a meandering catch-up conversation. I hadn’t. It was a café she’d visited the week before and she was remarking that, although it had one of the most amazing views in town, the staff were unfriendly to the point of her being put off ever … Continue reading Eye Contact; We Contact
My name rhymes with ‘beamer’. Sometimes they would call me that at school. They weren’t referring to a high end German make of luxury car when they used the word; no, ‘beamer’ referred to that rosy shade of blush-red one goes when embarrassed, mortified by some mild humiliation – a.k.a. ‘taking a beamer’. The funny … Continue reading Beamer
“He never grew up. He’s nothing but a big child,” is what she would say about him. It was not meant as a compliment. The thing is, I think being able to maintain a light hearted and youthful outlook should be valued; that we should rethink the use of the word ‘childish’ and start using it … Continue reading Nonsense
I need to laugh. But I don’t have the energy because I’m still sick. Although they do say that laughter is the best medicine. If it were in a box or container beside my bed like the Paracetamol, the Vicks, the Brochco-Stop pastilles and the Echinacea drink, then I might take some, but I can’t … Continue reading Curative Smiling
My Edinburgh Press 