I lost one of my heroes this week – the amazing David Bowie died. He was 69 and had just released his latest album, Blackstar. I’m listening to it as I write. Bowie’s music has been with me all my life, since I was living in a tiny room at university, and first heard someone…
I remember as a child being chastised by my teachers for using made up words. If it wasn’t a ‘real’ word, I wasn’t allowed to use it in my school work. To be fair, those teachers were trying to give me the kind of education that would allow me to make a living when I…
So, it’s the start of a new year and a time for all sorts of resolutions that probably won’t get kept (especially those involving eating better, wasting less time on Facebook and doing my income tax in a timely fashion). However, there are resolutions that I am serious about keeping, and those are the ones…
Another year has passed – and what a great year it has been. Books, good friends, travel and more books. Thank you to all my friends and readers who have helped make this such a wonderful year. I love you all. I’ll be back in the new Year – ready to do it all again.…
So – the year is almost over. Time for one last book blog. I didn’t read as many books this year as I might have wanted. I never do. There are far too many wonderful books out there and far too little time. But here are a few of the books that just about rounded…
On a recent museum trip – I saw images from the Qajar dynasty in Persia – the period from 1795 -1925. The display focused on the women of that period. My attention was caught by description of the beautiful women of the Qajar court – paragons of beauty with a thick monobrow and moustache. Today’s women…
It’s official – Christmas has started. This week I went to my first Christmas party – and , as is almost always the case, it involved my lovely writer friends. The London RNA chapter gathered in a new venue for us – a pub just down the corner from a most famous literary location in Baker…
As part of my ongoing love affair with museums, I recently lost myself for a few hours in the fabulous Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. The building is a work of art in itself – a beautiful collection of lines and shapes and angles on the outside and modern bright spaces on…
It’s November. It’s getting cold. The sky is low and grey and yesterday we had hail. I was sitting at my desk, going through some photographs – and I stumbled across just the thing to brighten a dull day. I thought I would share. The last couple of years, we’ve escaped every summer for a…
