It’s a throw back to my childhood, but whenever I eat cherries I line up my pits on the side of my plate and count them up with the rhyme “tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief.†Apparently this is some kind of folkloric way of predicting the kind of man that you will marry. Continue reading
It’s the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and my Mum had a busy schedule planned, full of BBQs, fireworks and street parties.  “Should be fun!!” she texts, and I send her :)s and try not to be jealous. It must be like this to be an American in London on 4th July, and say to people, “But it’s July 4th!†and for them to look back at you and say “so?†Continue reading
It’s fleet week here in NYC, which means that enormous ships are floating along side Manhattan like pods on a space ship, and bars up and down the west side are filled with men in uniforms and the gals and guys who love a man in a uniform, all having a fabulous time. Continue reading
New York has changed me in ways that I could not have imagined. I now say “awesome†a lot more than I used to (never, in fact) and I have on more than one occasion said “super awesome!†without irony. I “take†my showers. I don’t “have†them dammit, I take them, I show them who’s boss. I enjoy pretzels, and peanut butter. I squirt my own liquid butter on my popcorn at the movies without thinking about how gross that is. Continue reading
I have a friend who lives in Brooklyn, works as a designer and collects vintage T-shirts. Like it or not, he’s what is known as a hipster, and he has the customized converse shoes to prove it. This friend took my husband out for a boys only evening of retro computer games and locally brewed beers at Barcade. Continue reading
It’s interesting to talk to Jon’s physicist colleagues, who often have a very different spin on things that happen in life. “Nobody wants to do local galaxies anymore,†they say in passing at parties. Continue reading
Of all the tiny triumphs and tragedies of growing things out on the balcony, the fact that the rhubarb sprouted then promptly died is probably the one I took the hardest. And with only a week or two tops left of rhubarb season, I’m determined to take advantage of it. Continue reading
The other Sunday I shopped for a diamond solitaire. Platinum, Tiffany-style band, at least a carat, perfect clarity and color. I looked into the heart of the stone through a tiny magnifying glass and saw it sparkling back up at me. Continue reading
The thought of not being able to watch the Olympics on the BBC is making me consider turning to a life of download crime. Considering, mind, I’m not actually admitting to anything, just to be absolutely clear here. Continue reading
It was my friend Wendy’s best friend Mary’s YA book launch yesterday, so a crowd gathered at a Soho bookstore to drink wine, listen to her reading extracts from Wuftoom, and celebrate her fabulous achievement. Continue reading
