Wear only secret clothing
hello Another year done. It’s been nice to have you aboard. Thank you for flying Afternoon Slow. Five things I’ve found: We had a trip to Lisbon a few weeks...
For he had spoken lightly of a woman’s name
hello, hello November? No! Five things: Years ago (actually, thinking about it, probably about 40 years ago) Anne and I bought a tape cassette version of...
Cringe and hope for the best
hello, October. Virginia Woolf wasn’t sure about October in London, she thought about going to France to escape. “I will sit on pavements and drink coffee”....
Erupted in polite conversation
hello, September. The best month. I think, thanks to kind advice from Kim, that I’ve fixed the dark-mode formatting thing. It’s to do with stuff I’ve copied...
Mouth-juice of vowels
hello, Lots of self-promotional content in this one. Apologies. But regular readers will be excited for the first appearance of a picture (if I can make it...
Cannons, disguised as flowers
hello, I’m writing this watching the rain pour down on the second day of Le Tour. I’m properly committing this year. Going to watch as much as possible. Here...
Tennis, theology and a politburo of bullshit
hello, Late again. I hang my head in shame. Thank you to everyone who came to Interesting. I have just booked the Conway Hall for next year; 20th May 2026....
It's us and the public library
hello, This is short (you don’t care) and late (same) because of work and Interesting and things. And, frankly, I was going to skip it until I came across...
How to learn a bird call
hello, This is late, apologies. It should have come last Sunday but we were away. Back in London the sun has come out, very slightly taking the edge off the...
To the sound of trumpets in thrusts March
hello, Five things: Ronald Blyth writes about the end of February and the beginning of March in Next to Nature:“The colours of Christmas have been...
A ballet for searchlights and speakers
Too soon, I was late last time. And now the first Sunday is right at the beginning of the month. So this might seem a bit sudden. Sorry. Anyway. Five things:...
She wanted to be an orchestra
Forgive me, I should have sent this last week but I was lurking in the interregnum, still stuck in the lovely liminality between Christmas and New Year. It’s...
A garden square gentles the pace of the city
Hello, Almost at the turn of the year. Then back the other way. Then off we go again. Remember Camus: ‘In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within...
Being rescued by the French
Apparently Hilary Mantel said that a writer should aim to make the reader feel “acknowledged, and yet estranged”. So, hello, and yet, WFT? Some things: I’m...
Uncomfortable and not numb
hello, I should start with an apology. Earlier this week I was supposed to do an online talk but I cancelled it at the last minute because of ‘illness’. The...
Sometimes just the sky
hello, September! The best month. I hope it’s going well so far. Sorry, theoretically, I should have sent this last week but theory only works in theory....
Trees for dancing
hello, Mostly joyful. Joy in clothes. “The underground master of big fits”. This is lovely. Scroll down and look at these clothes!Trees for dancing in....
Could only fall asleep if she had her tiny bottle of radium next to her bed
hello, The first of these newsletters under Labour. Things can only get better. We’ve just got back from a bougie bit of inter-railing around Europe. We...
Fireweed
hello, hello, like and unsubscribe Interesting happened! I think it was good. Huge thanks for coming. We’ll do it again next year. Watch this space. All five...
Slack elastic
hello, Not long now to Interesting. There are still some tickets left. Come on, it’ll be a lovely evening. Honest. (And don’t forget. You’d be mad not to...