Ignis aurum probat. ‘Fire tests gold.’ The rest of the phrase: ‘… and adversity tests the brave’.
If I’m ever unsure as to the correct course of action, I’ll think, What would a ferret do? or, How would a salamander respond to this situation? Invariably, I find the right answer.
I talk to her sometimes, I'm not ashamed to admit it. When the silence and the aloneness press down and around me, crushing me, carving me like ice, I need to speak aloud sometimes, if only for proof...
Music. It was a cacophonous din, with too many guitars and not enough melody. It was, I thought, the sound of madness, the kind of music that lunatics hear in their heads just before they slice the he...
They were heels which were easy to walk in, but which were, nonetheless very feminine. On what basis was this decided, and by whom? Did it matter? I made a mental note to research gender politics and...
She only really enjoyed her own company. She tolerated mine, but fundamentally she was a recluse at heart, like J.D. Salinger or the Unabomber.
Before and after the fire. One day I was breakfasting on watermelon, feta and pomegranate seeds, the next I was eating toasted Mother’s Pride smeared with margarine. That’s the story Mummy told me, at...
There are days when I feel so lightly connected to the earth that the threads that tether me to the planet are gossamer thin, spun sugar. A strong gust of wind could dislodge me completely, and I’d li...
Life should be about trying new things, exploring boundaries, I reminded
It takes a long time to learn to live with loss, assuming you ever manage it.
Human mating rituals are unbelievably tedious to observe. At least in the animal kingdom you are occasionally treated to a flash of bright feathers or a display of spectacular violence. Hair flicking...
Hoy en día se pasan la vida diciendo que todo el mundo va al infierno de cabeza, que el que no es pederasta es un ladrón, y eso no es verdad. Olvidamos que el mundo está lleno de gente corriente y dec...
Fire tests gold, and adversity tests the brave.
Did you enjoy yourself?' I asked.'Mmm,' he said. 'It was fun, wasn't it?' He wasn't using a knife, but held a fork in his right hand like a child or an American. He smiled.
Arranged all the tins in the cupboard so that the labels were facing forwards in zetabetical order.
Why is it that client-facing jobs hold such allure for misanthropes?
Whilst I am neither stylish nor fashionable, I am always clean; that way, at least, I can hold my head up when I take my place, however unexalted, in the world.
When you’re struggling hard to manage your own emotions, it becomes unbearable to have to witness other people’s,
I allowed my mind to wander. I’ve found this to be a very effective way of passing the time; you take a situation or a person and start to imagine nice things that might happen. You can make anything...
There was, it seemed, no Eleanor-shaped social hole for me to slot into.