a collection of short literary or philosophical extracts
Not all ideas fit neatly into the pages of a book. When I see, hear or read something that moves me—a news story, a snippet of conversation, a musical phrase, a storyline or cityscape—I capture the thoughts it provokes by jotting them down. From art and sports—whether Wimbledon or the World Cup—to politics, love and war, all topics have the potential to spark my imagination.
At one time, Calgary, Canada, boasted the largest Scrabble club in North America. It was all due to Siri, who started it with a group of six British ex-pats like me. Siri became an evangelist for...
My first morning at Griffith Miles Sully & Co. was spent peering over a pristine desk, robbed of its usual mess of working papers and the obelisk of files piled this way or that — the epitome of...
At my previous firm, where I’d started in accounting, punctuality had been drilled into me. Consequently, I arrived at my new employer, Griffith Miles Sully & Co., shortly before 9 a.m. Instead...
“Sorry, we don’t employ trainee accountants.” Thus began my twenty-minute interview with Mr Griffith, the senior partner of Griffith Miles Sully & Company. I was desperate. My current employer...
My luck had finally run out. After completing 106 consecutive weekly analects/blogs, I hit a brick wall. Every analect posted attracted a raft of reader comments ranging from “Loved it”, to...
At the top of the steep stone steps, a large, ornate stone arch greeted us – the Puerta de Toledo – one of several gates converging onto the Plaza Puerta del Sol, the grandest of Madrid’s squares....
The merciless heat, dust and incessant squeeze of the horde at the Royal Palace of Madrid had drained us. Entering Calle de Bailén, we were parched. At this time in the afternoon, the broad,...
It was the beginning of the end. Today was the last day of our family holiday in Spain and, indeed, of our future travels together. A week before our holiday, Alex had graduated from the University...
At high school, Eric was my best friend. He was Scottish, a rarity in our Berkshire village. We prided ourselves on how open and liberal we were, detesting and calling out any form of prejudice that...
My father was so popular, he was nicknamed before he was born. Along with perforated eardrums (teachers regularly slapped his ears for being a mischief-maker), Dad left school with two things he...
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Emil Rem, an eccentric accountant becomes a writer of eccentric characters, in exotic locales—each chapter taking us on a trip into his fascinating twisted world. Born to a close knit, middle class Muslim East Indian family in Dar-es-Salam, Africa in the 50’s, he is then moved to Maidenhead England at the age of five. The next twenty years are spent shuttling between England and East Africa, wearing a St. Christopher’s cross one minute and attending church, to wearing a green armband and attending Muslim religious classes in Africa the next. Moving to Canada, marrying a woman from the Philippines and having two boys only adds further texture to his stories.
