I’ve been inspired by the New York Times food writer this Autumn. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t end up cooking anything he suggests though I love his recipes and will get round to experimenting in the kitchen.. soon. See, Sam Sifton, also contributes a comforting quarantine-relief blog called ‘At Home’, on the side and I look forward to it appearing in my inbox each week. His is a remarkably soothing voice in troubled times. A little while back he suggested keeping a record of little things: the stuff of life that occurs day to day which you would otherwise forget. Such as the dog getting stuck behind a Halloween pumpkin at the green grocer or the reopening of the ladies’ pond on the Heath.

I began recording my own daily list of minutiae which has now grown into a bulging iPhone note. Sometimes mine veers into very strange territory […]

I was going to write about how September has, so far, been a riveting month spent reclaiming quotidian experiences nixed by the pandemic, such as travelling on public transport for the first time since March (the Overground from Finchley Road to Shoreditch last Friday) and reclining in the cinema for the first time since I don’t remember when (Tenet on the gigantic BFI Imax screen on Saturday) but, with breaking news of an impending UK clamp down that will last who knows how long, these precious slash ordinary moments may once again be unavailable while we Don’t Kill Granny.  That said, Autumn gear changes ushered in by back-to-actual-school mean a quiet house and much less unpacking and repacking of the dishwasher, which in turn has freed up valuable thinking time.  Background processing if you will. So, in the spirit of a sharing, I’m going to disgorge my grey matter for your edification. The subject […]