Come outside and tell me about that subtle hint of citrus. — Thinking about the language of coffee. “This is more traditional, chocolatey…” something, something “…while this is fruity…” blah, blah “…and this has definite overtones of…” something else I didn’t hear, said the man behind the counter at the coffee place I go to occasionally because everybody talks about how good…

What if we’re still heroes but nobody notices? — What I really need in my life right now is an interior monologue. I need a theme tune as well, of course, but a deep, thoughtful voice in my head, full of purpose, saying where I’m going and what I’m doing, would really make my day. Deckard in the first…

Where are you in the film of your life? — I watched The Crying Game last night, Neil Jordan’s film. 1992. Without spoiling anything, I think it’s safe to say that when two of the characters meet in the final scene, they contemplate time and the future. It’s no spoiler to say that I too came away from The Crying…

So much for dry ground — This latest dam-busting incident. Never mind who’s denying it most convincingly. It’s a defensive move. Two days ago I listened to a Western military strategist explaining how the long-awaited wouldn’t happen until— Oh, sorry. Usually I type “long-awaited” and autocorrect adds “Ukrainian offensive”. News broke yesterday that Apple will now…

Stop reading the paperwork — Well, that was an experience I won’t repeat. I collected together all the slips of paper that came in the boxes with my tablets — and on each slip, I read Section 4. Which is the section about side effects. Assuming I get the rare side effects as well as…

They’re not the same thing, even for good men — Two, three, maybe four years ago, I found myself in a relationship. I do mean “found myself”. The relationship kind of — happened. Combination of luck, circumstance and a friend who happened to be an attractive person (who seemed also to be attracted to — you get the idea). Our…

And you can forget about love-hot herbs — So much in tech repeats the recent past, doesn’t it? ChatGPT makes up sentences from words that have already been used, while Instagram gives me more of what I’ve already looked at. Sylvia Plath wrote a poem called The Times Are Tidy. …

Now read this, Surveillance Capitalism! — In one of my DRAFT stories here, by which I mean one of my NOT YET PUBLISHED stories, I mention the book Suspects by David Thomson. Suspects was published in 1985, and somewhere in this house I have it in hardback — first edition. I might have reviewed it (as…

It’s a gift — but don’t give it — Here’s some advice that’s hard to take. If something goes wrong in your life, you’re supposed to ask, “Where is the gift in this?” The idea is that adversity is an opportunity to grow. Spiritually, I mean. We’re in the territory of “What you survive makes you stronger,” and other…