Down by the riverside

Lately I have been reading Waterlog, by Roger Deakin. It’s a bit of a cult book, and it’s easy to see why. It is humorous, idiosyncratic and inspiring, a tangle…

A tin of cat food and a transistor radio

­The coppers are doing VIP protection training in the grounds of my workplace. We were warned a couple of times in advance, but the occasional boom of a controlled explosion…

Career aspirations

My boss is great. In the face of continual pressure and ever-looming deadlines she remains largely unfazed by the caprices of her editorial staff. We’re currently working on my appraisal…

Familiar faces

My mother is a musician, who also teaches singing and piano. Her pupils encompass keen singers and players of all ages and most abilities, and every January she hosts a…

Schadenfreude

I adore and despise the Metro in equal measure. I never take a copy from the poor bastard loitering in the rain outside Cally Road tube, but once down in…

Out of office

Last night I left the office early to go and interview a minor celeb via ham, egg and chips at a Sainsbury’s café in Southall. Just in case anyone stopped…

The campfire gourmet

Faced with a half page to fill in a magazine, the most grown-up and professional solution for an editor is probably not to draw a picture. Nevertheless, this is what…

A reminder of festive times

2011 seemed to be the year of the Christmas jumper, and in our office the fundraising department ran a little competition wall of jumper pics. Since I was the nearest…

The stuff dreams are made of

A side effect of entering the London Boat Show is that you immediately lose all concept of money. You are horrified by the decadence of the first £700,000 yacht you…

Mixed messages

The stroppy note on the front door annoyed me slightly, but I think the transparency of this Christmas message is quite sweet. I texted a nice message back.

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