Life
Am I a grifter?
I’m trying to organise an event in Westminster with the journalist Isabel Oakeshott and it’s proving a bit of a…
The turf
Usually in May I am still casting an enviously nostalgic eye backwards to Aintree and Cheltenham, reluctant yet to pack…
Real life
The lady standing on the doorstep did not need to tell me what she thought of my house, because the…
Aussie life
I’m a long-time devotee of the op shop, as anyone who has seen my wardrobe will confirm. I’ve spent many…
Language
A ‘sliding doors moment’ is one of those moments in life when a small, seemingly inconsequential decision (or event) goes…
Triplicate
In Competition No. 3298, you were invited to provide a book review in three haiku. When I saw that the…
Alice in gastroland
The Alice lives in a ground-floor room of the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, which venerates the fantastical and the savage,…
Can Raducanu rally?
Who can turn lying on a hospital gurney into a photo op? Emma Raducanu can, of course – beaming as…
Electric dreams
A couple of years ago I thought seriously about buying an electric car. Not a hybrid, but the full monty.…
Wild life
The Farm, Laikipia I realised the worst drought of this generation was at last over this morning when two Samburu…
Real life
If we cram any more doctors into our spare rooms we can put a sign outside advertising NHS accommodation. We…
Aussie life
The Melbourne Comedy Festival’s continuing refusal to apologise for not closing this year’s festival with a tribute to its co-founder…
Language
The word ‘gender’ has been part of the English language since at least 1390. It appears to have started at…
