Tag Archives: katherine gregor
Odds & Ends: The Silence Experiment
I am recovering from a drawn out case of laryngitis. During this time, there was one particular day when I could not speak. My throat hurt too much. Because I am currently between jobs, I was able to indulge the … Continue reading
Odds & Ends: Rain
I love the rain. We had a few thunderstorms, last week. One afternoon, just as I lighting sparked into my room and I heard the thunder drumroll, I grabbed my mac, and rushed out into the street, towards the Thames. … Continue reading
Odds & Ends: Illness as a Friend
I am unwell, and beginning to enjoy it. For one thing, it is giving me time to think. No, I am not mad. It is like observing a student being taught a difficult but valuable lesson. The student throws a … Continue reading
Words and Civilisation: “I don’t want to get involved”
A friend and I were walking down the street and saw a woman sitting on a doorstep, crying her eyes out. “Don’t get involved,” said my friend, picking up the pace. A few steps further, I let my friend go … Continue reading
The Temple Church
As a rule, I feel uncomfortable at church services. It is not that I have an issue with God, or with churches per se. I believe in God, and like most churches built at least 500 years ago. It is … Continue reading
Yekaterina Gregoryán – My Grandmother
My grandmother had nerves of steel. My mother and I used to joke that if anyone were ever to tell her there was an imminent nuclear attack, she would purse her lips in that way she did when considering various … Continue reading
Odds & Ends: ‘Hushabye Mountain’
As many of you will have heard, Robert B. Sherman passed away, last week, aged 86. With his brother Richard M. Sherman, he wrote songs for films many of us will remember from their childhood, such as – among others – … Continue reading
Words and Civilisation: Coffee Language (Part 2)
For Part 1, please click here. It had been a long day and a late night awaited so, at about five, I ventured into a Central London Starbucks. “Tall, half-shot, wet latte,” I ordered, using the company’s recognised terminology with … Continue reading
Words and Civilisation: “Laid-Back”
“Oh, don’t worry,” my friends say about someone I have yet to meet, “he’s very laid-back.” Little do they know that that is when I start worrying. Describe somebody as “laid-back” and I have an inner reaction of tension, irritability … Continue reading
Pet Hates: Mean-Spirited Favours
There are favours for which you are sincerely grateful. Favours which come as rain upon the desert, or a hot salt bath when all your muscles are aching. Then there are favours which are a pain in the far South … Continue reading