This page represents only my own views, and not those of any university or other body.
Posted Tuesday 21st August 2012 at 10.57am
The end of the story
My former flatmate has spent the last ten years living in Vancouver and Montreal. I asked him once which he preferred.
"Vancouver," he replied, without pausing. "There are mountains and forests and a beach."
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Posted Thursday 16th August 2012 at 10.38pm
Alzheimer's
My grandma has Alzheimer's. And it's come quickly. My other grandma had Alzheimers for years before she died, with years of memory problems, then mobility problems, then loss of speech, each symptom coming on gradually so that, seeing her regularly, one found it difficult to know when exactly the problems had started. For a long time my grandad spoke and acted for her, and it was hard to tell how much she remembered and how much she could do for herself. But still we were aware that things were slowly getting worse.
This time it's different. A year ago, as far as I can tell, my grandma was ok. I mean, she's 80, she's had health problems of course - she became diabetic several years ago and has had problems with swollen ankles for a long time too which meant walking tired her out - but even at Christmas she could happily hold a conversation with us and slowly walk around the house. Now she can say hello and yes and no, and that's about it. She can't stand on her own, and it's not clear that she knows who her grandchildren are unless she's told. She counts things religiously. Always counting, always, like if she can only get to the end then everything will be ok. If we sit her down to take her shoes off, she'll take her shoes off, then forget that she's just taken them off, see herself sitting by the shoes with no shoes on, assume she's supposed to be putting her shoes on, put her shoes on, and then start counting the shoelace holes.
And my grandad... well, he's getting on for 80 himself. It's so hard on him - he has to see his wife of so many years disappear before his eyes, and not only that but he has to care for her too, never leaving her alone for a minute, dressing her, feeding her, taking her to the toilet. It breaks my heart just thinking about him - I can't imagine how he feels. It must be like having your heart torn in two in front of you, and having to clean up the mess yourself knowing, knowing that whatever you do it won't be enough and that there's nothing waiting for you at the end, no reward, no thank you, and in fact it's worse than nothing - it's the hardest thing you've ever done but you don't want it to be over, because that's the worst thing that could happen in the whole world.
In one small way we're lucky in that my grandad has stayed up to date with technology over the last 10 years or so, and he can use skype. Which means my dad can see him and my grandma on a regular basis, and even I, 3000 miles away in Canada, can keep in touch. At least that makes it easier for us, and I think it helps my grandad a little bit to have people to talk to. There are so many people out there facing these problems without that tiny relief, without any family or friends to rely on occasionally to break the dreadful routine.
I saw this article about David Blunkett tonight, which is what made me think of writing some of this stuff down.
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Posted Monday 13th August 2012 at 7.18pm
Fast Mo
Some of these made me laugh.
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Posted Saturday 11th August 2012 at 7.23pm
Higher power
Can't we just rack up tons of these things and solve global warming?‹/naive›
She said let's put a plastic bag over our heads
And then kiss and stuff till we get dizzy and fall on the bed.
We were in heaven for five or six minutes, then we passed out
And I was so in love I thought I knew what love was all about.
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Posted Saturday 11th August 2012 at 5.26pm
Mobot
Incredible scenes!
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Posted Saturday 11th August 2012 at 1.43pm
One good summer, part II
A really great article from Jonathan Freedland. But who, or what, is TOWIE?
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Posted Thursday 9th August 2012 at 1.39pm
Eight out of ten!
Thanks to Erik and Andreas for this...
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Posted Tuesday 7th August 2012 at 5.21pm
Flapjacks
I've been making flapjacks for a while now but never quite cracked the recipe - sometimes they were too flaky, sometimes too hard, sometimes too sweet, sometimes not sweet enough. Today I got it just about right...
2 and 2/3 cups oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
100g butter
100g(ish) honey
Chop the butter into cubes, put everything in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Then stir until everything is combined, and flatten into a tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake on 180C for 12 minutes, then turn down to 150C for a further 5 mins. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Obviously you can stir sultanas / cherries / cranberries / other fruit into the mixture before baking if desired!
Team GB are pulling up trees at the olympics... but whether you're from the USA or Uzbekistan, whether you're winning races or limping in last, just the fact that you're there means you can be proud of yourself. You might not be happy unless you're number 1, but sometimes it's good to take a step back and reflect on how far you've come. Wayne Coyne knows that, and he also knows it's not only true for athletes.
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Posted Tuesday 31st July 2012 at 12.56pm
By Gove
Here is a short indictment of Michael Gove's latest fantastic idea.
A girl, who has already counted the five items correctly, suddenly looks panicked when asked how many there are, like you've switched to advanced calculus.
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Posted Monday 30th July 2012 at 9.53am
One good summer
"People look for patterns in everything. It's what keeps us sane, I suppose. I struggle to see any patterns in my life. I think I can understand depression a bit because of my sister. My own feelings of..." Palin hesitates. "I'm aware that, if you feel down, it can be strangely unrelated to circumstances around you. That's just the way life is."
"Of course you must have witnessed depression in others, like Spike Milligan."
"I loved Spike, yet I never realised, until I got to know him, that this person, who made me so happy, was desperate, and that writing the comedy I adored was tearing his life apart. When I interviewed him for Comic Roots, I asked him what it felt like to work on The Goon Show. He said, 'It was like one good summer.'" Palin pauses. "What a moving phrase that is. 'One good summer'. Something fleeting, that you can never recapture. That sense of: was it all just a dream?"
Source: Robert Chalmers, The Independent.
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