Mariacristina has always claimed to have a sixth sense – a premonition of how things are going to turn out. And I'll admit that on a number of occasions, her 'feelings' have turned out to be right, often contrary to my expectations. However, it's much easier to notice and remember the successful predictions, and I'm … Continue reading A foolish bet
The hair gets thinner up here
One evening when I was out of hospital for a time during treatment for my first bout of leukaemia, I found myself in the queue for a club (the Clapham Grand, for connoisseurs of such establishments), merrily enjoying life with a bandana on my head and a Hickman line in my chest. I was standing in … Continue reading The hair gets thinner up here
On the balance of probabilities
88.2% of statistics are made up on the spot (Vic Reeves) Imagine a parallel world, where estate agents are truthful and reliable. In such a world, Mariacristina and I were incredibly close to getting the beautiful house we now own for a considerably lower price than we ended up paying. Having had our first bid … Continue reading On the balance of probabilities
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
It's amazing how quickly we can get used to our circumstances. I'm generally a pretty good sleeper, but – as you can imagine – a hospital ward is far from being the quietest place to try to get a decent night's kip. There's a veritable orchestra of sounds every night: the clatter of the observations … Continue reading Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Looking forward to Friday 13th
Walking home after enjoying a delicious pizza at the truly Neapolitan Bravi Ragazzi in the days between diagnosis and my being admitted to hospital, Mariacristina and I were confronted with a road sign held up by two poles on the pavement. For years now, I have avoided walking below such signs, after Mariacristina told me … Continue reading Looking forward to Friday 13th
The English patient’s patience
Patience is a virtue; virtue is a grace. Grace is a little girl who doesn't wash her face There's a remarkable phenomenon regarding our microwave at our home in Streatham: like most microwaves, it usually displays the time, but on a fairly regular basis I find the time has been replaced with a single number … Continue reading The English patient’s patience
The stress-relieving power of now
It was at the birthday celebrations – with fireworks – of a fellow leukaemia patient, when talking to the partner of yet another friend of leukaemia (we had a little network), that I first heard of Eckhardt Tolle's The Power of Now. I had been explaining my bacon theory, when Bridget delightedly piped up to … Continue reading The stress-relieving power of now
Forza Italia! / Go Italy!
(Scroll down for English...) È un po' di tempo che non scrivo su questo blog in italiano; scusatemi! Non scrivo/traduco molto velocemente, e dopo aver scritto un articolo in inglese, di solito mi sento troppo stanco per riscriverlo in italiano – e Mariacristina è molto impegnata, sopratutto al lavoro. Però, ieri sono successe due bellissime … Continue reading Forza Italia! / Go Italy!
A strong sense of justice
When I was far smaller than I am today (I realise that's very small indeed), somebody drew a couple of lines with a crayon on the cream, lightly patterned wall of the playroom at home, and subsequently attemped to hide the misdemeanour with some inexpertly applied sploshes of Tippex. My parents were understandably disappointed, but … Continue reading A strong sense of justice
The Great Libraries of Room 5
I recently read in the newspapers (after having been pointed in the right direction by my father) that the Literary Review judging panel for the Bad Sex in Fiction awards has chosen not to include the latest Bridget Jones novel on its shortlist, despite what is said to be a fairly fruity description of the eponymous … Continue reading The Great Libraries of Room 5