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  • Book Review – The Funeral Birds

    The Funeral Birds by Paula R.C. Readman. My rating: 4 of 5 stars. Funeral Birds is a charming little tale about a private detective who is about to close his agency for good when one last client walks in. I don’t usually read crime fiction, but I found this to be a fun, fast-paced story…

  • Book Review: About a Boy

    About a Boy by Nick Hornby. My rating: 5 of 5 stars. About a Boy is a simple tale about a relatively shallow man in his thirties who thinks he has everything, and a twelve year old boy who is struggling to fit into life at a new school after the separation of his parents.…

  • Feelings of Nostalgia During Lockdown

    Searching this phrase turns up some interesting results on Google. I’m not the only one feeling nostalgic at the moment. Lockdown is having a big effect on people, creating mental space for reflection, and for many, nostalgia is proving to be an effective coping mechanism as we try to process the daily death tolls. I’ve…

  • Book Review: Atlas Shrugged

    Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. My rating: 1 of 5 stars. Atlas Shrugged is a behemoth of a book that doesn’t know what it is. It wants to be a novel, but it also wants to be a vehicle for Rand’s objectivist philosophy. By trying to be both, it fails to be either. For a…

  • Morning Pages

    A couple of years ago I read a book called Gravitas, by Caroline Goyder. I read mostly on the train travelling north to Glasgow on a Monday morning. I was always happy when I could get a seat to myself and spread out, relax without worrying the person next to me would want to squeeze…

  • How it Really Feels to Shave Your Head

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    Spoiler: it’s amazing! Back in March, just before the UK announced it was going into lockdown, I buzzed all the hair off my head. Two months later, I’m still sporting the buzzed/shaved/bald look, and loving it. Here, I’m going to address some of the doubts other guys may have when they are thinking of embarking…

  • Computers used in the Classic Dallas TV Series

    Earlier this year I began watching the classic TV series, Dallas, which ran from 1978 to 1991. I don’t recall what made me look, but I discovered all 357 episodes on Apple TV, and committed myself to a new daily routine of watching one over breakfast each day. During the first five seasons, the appearance…

  • Getting Back on Path

    To-date, apart from the odd wobble, this blog has been mostly about photography. There’s nothing wrong with having a dedicated blog, and everyone says you should focus and specialise, but I can’t help feel that practice is limiting. Maybe my own life is reaching one of those turning points. I still love making pictures but…