Category Archives: food

Ordering on the menu

Posted on October 2, 2015 by

I’m visiting my parents again. My dad is in a long queue for a new knee on the Spanish national health service, so after my conference I trotted a couple of hundred kilometres down the coast to boost his spirits … Continue reading →

Posted in body, experience, food, holiday, location, occupation, person, privilege, society, spain, surprise, tourism | Leave a comment

Piscine-chauffée socialists

Posted on June 9, 2015 by

This weekend we were in Sheffield, looking at possible houses to buy. Sheffield’s contrasts always surprise me: green parks jostling alongside brownfield sites and lockups; smart social engagement cheek by jowl with grinding poverty. We found a park none of … Continue reading →

Posted in body, class_warfare, cliques, diary, entertainment, environment, exercise, experience, far_away, food, location, made_our_own_fun, overheard, person, privilege, property, sheffield, signs, society, status | Leave a comment

Stop fighting the mountain

Posted on February 15, 2015 by

Most people who know me can’t quite believe I’m into skiing. Sometimes I can’t believe it either. It’s what insurers would consider a high-risk sport—when I’m usually a very low-risk person—and involves a large amount of consumption: it’s probably (depending … Continue reading →

Posted in belief, body, climate, entertainment, environment, exercise, food, france, health, holiday, injuries, location, occupation, person, public, sport, tourism, trains, transport, understanding | 4 Comments

Twice cooked, often recalled

Posted on January 1, 2015 by

After K. and I returned from an in-laws Christmas in Cardiff, I went out to do a big shop. We rarely do that usually, and we certainly rarely buy much junk food—a bag of posh crisps occasionally, sitting alongside the … Continue reading →

Posted in age, body, christmas_2014, drink, entertainment, experience, food, inspiration, intuition, made_our_own_fun, past, person, seasons, time, understanding | Leave a comment

Christmas days

Posted on December 27, 2014 by

The tendency for Christmas over the years has been for it to spread out, much like my waistline. When I was younger—even ten years or so ago—I saw Christmas as a landmark day. There were celebrations either side, of course: … Continue reading →

Posted in age, christmas_2014, cliques, consumption, drink, entertainment, family, far_away, fatigue, food, intoxication, location, made_our_own_fun, person, society, time, travel | Leave a comment

Near and Loire

Posted on July 12, 2014 by

I’ve just come back from a trip to the Loire. A friend is currently trialling working from Lille rather than Oxford (his commute to near Stevenage remains the same time, and roughly the same level of shlep) and he decided … Continue reading →

Posted in body, buildings, food, france, freelance, holiday, location, occupation, person, tourism, travel | Leave a comment

Postscraps

Posted on May 18, 2014 by

A few days ago, we went to a Spanish café/restaurant that we’ve been to several times before, and I ordered the same goat’s cheese salad I ordered before. I checked the menu—again—to make sure they hadn’t sneaked any meat into … Continue reading →

Posted in body, commerce, consumption, diary, experience, food, location, person, society, spain, tourism | 2 Comments