Over Christmas when Jon and I were visiting his parents in Scotland, we were given the task of organizing all our stuff that was stored in their garage. We moved to New York with 2 suitcases, so literally everything else we own – sofas, bookcases, books, photo albums, cds, pots, pans, candle sticks, an air pop popcorn machine – is in familial garages, lofts and barns. Continue reading
Inspired by necessity – taking 17 hours of Christmas Music off my iPod – I have been organizing my iTunes library. Out of this flurry of activity has come the Kitchen Music Playlist. Tag line: songs to cook to. Continue reading
Upon first impressions you may be fooled into thinking that New York is a highly rational place, rooted in the real. Real estate, real hard work, commerce, business – some guy was talking trash to a transvestite outside the Duplex the other night and she threw her shoe at his head. Serious, real stuff. Continue reading
Our friends Hilary and Jeremy, inspired by Gertrude Stein’s famous Parisian artist salons, hosted a dinner where everyone had to stand up and do a turn, talk about their latest play or project, test run a new song, and generally be creative and fun. Continue reading
The skeleton of the Christmas tree is out on the pavement waiting to be collected. The majority of the needles have been swept up, though we did find some in our bed this morning, which is frankly, a little curious. Anyway. It’s gone. The holidays are over. In spite of the unseasonably mild weather, January is beginning to bite in all kinds of insidious ways. Continue reading
Today is epiphany. Time to take down the Christmas decorations, sweep up pine needles and surrender to the inevitable gloom that comes with the realization; the holidays are well and truly over now. Continue reading
January is a time for reflection, resolution, change, expectation, tentative starts, running out of steam, postponement, utter failure, despair and drinking. A time when we make lists about the things we intend to change about ourselves and enumerate our shortcomings and flaws. A time when we grasp for inspiration and insight wherever we can find it. A time when quotations on mugs profoundly speak to us. Continue reading
Back in New York on the cusp of a New Year brimming with possibilities, Jon and I headed more or less from the airport to a party in Brooklyn hosted by our friends Shea and Raphael with their adorable sausage dog James, dressed in a furry collar that jingled whenever he moved his head. Continue reading
New Years Eve is almost upon us. It’s a time to stop and reflect for a moment on the year gone by, the lessons learned, the things that we intend to do differently in the future. For my Aunty Jennifer, this mostly means not planting Pampas Grass in her front garden. Continue reading
Back in London, post Christmas family visiting road trip round the country, and with the prospect of being in the same bed for consecutive nights, thoughts turn firstly to drink, and then to New Years Eve and the celebration thereof.
This jelly ticks both boxes. Continue reading
