Everydaystranger

I keep a notepad by the computer upstairs, as from time to time a reminder of some kind of work or chore I’m supposed to do leaks out of my head, and I need a place to anchor it. The notepad was previously a David and Goliath notepad with a cartoon drawing of a [...]

Yesterday Angus and I had to go to Tesco for that weekly ritual known as “Oh my God, there is absolutely nothing to eat in the house, we must take thee to the vendor of comestibles.” About 20 minutes drive away is what feels like England’s biggest Tesco’s, the Queen Mother of all grocery [...]

Last night I got home, threw on my pajamas, and cracked open a bottle of wine. I wish I could say I delicately sampled the liquid from fine fluted crystal, however I was much less refined. I was in desperate need. As in, desperately wrenched the cork off, willing to lose teeth [...]

Since I am exhausted (not sleeping still) and stressed (as I am still employed), I have nothing today. I am off to a full day’s meeting which will undoubtedly do my head in.
So I leave you with a few pictures, the skirted ones of which I asked Angus to take when I got home [...]

Yesterday when the surgery rang up to tell me they had an appointment for me, I was amazed. Why? Because most doctors just send a letter to a specialist. Once the specialist’s admin has read the letter and left it in the in-tray, the specialist may get to it at some point. [...]

So this morning I manage to get an appointment with Dr. Henry. Because I love Dr. Henry, and because I can’t entrust my ass with anyone else. Because I will wait three days with a blod-clotting bum just to see Dr. Henry.
I walk into the waiting room which, to my astonishment, is packed. [...]

So I called the local surgery to see if my favorite Doctor, Dr. Henry, is available. There is no way I’m going to see anyone else but Dr. Henry, the man who named it the hand herpes, with “the” being an important characterization of the illness. If I can’t see Dr. Henry, I [...]

Yesterday didn’t start off well-I woke up with a splitting migraine and a trip to the toilet showed my old friend Ass Bleed was back for a visit. Luckily I had canned my usual London meet to an audio only, so as I slogged around in my pajamas and a cup of coffee, bemoaning [...]

I am 31 years old, but the older I get, the more I am growing down.
I am sitting here on yet another train to yet another London day, and amongst the business-suited men clutching their Blackberries and their sheaves of papers that have indelible red ink smattering the margins. Shiny black shoes reflect the [...]

On Saturday we decided we needed a day off. Work could more or less stuff itself, we needed a time out. So I went online to find some tickets, and bought us some seats in London for a show.
Saturday dawned bright and Fall-like. I draped myself in my new French Connection shrug [...]

My father had a hard childhood, pockmarked by abandonment, the taunts of being an illegitimate child, physical abuse at the hands of an evil uncle, and emigration to the States at a tender teenage age where he had to learn the language and the customs and the meaning of the word family. His mother [...]

Last night a glimmer of my past raised its ugly head and stared at me again.
I couldn’t sleep.
I even took a sleeping tablet, but I just stayed up most of the night anyway.
I haven’t had sleeping problems since I moved to England, since I spent those cold dark nights in Sweden in the purple glow [...]

On Friday we went back to the IVF doctor for the final blood tests. I’d already been to get checked for gonorrhea and syphillis (despite an interesting university experience, I am pleased to say I am negative. All I have is a Weepy Eye and a cured case of Hand Herpes, neither of [...]