Pick-A-Day

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Whatchamacallit 165: £10 (reverse side)

This copy of the 2017 UK £10 note is on display because it features a quote from Jane Austin:

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”

Although the line is spoken in great irony (and the Bank of England is mocked for choosing this line), out of context it is a […]

Whatchamacallit 7: Alan Turing First Day Cover

This is a first day cover of a stamp honoring Alan Turing, cancelled at the Bletchley Park Post Office.

This is on my mostly gay wall of art in my bedroom. Strangely, I do not remember exactly how I acquired it, but it was likely shortly after issue in 2012, which was his centenary […]

2015 #Books Number 2, 3, and 4 (plus 5)

Ah… now that I’m feeling better, I thought it was time to update everybody on what I’ve read – since I am keeping track of books that I read in 2015.

Book number two was, as I feared, embarrassing: BAMF (SJD Peterson; Kindle) – a gay romance novel. Unfortunately it was not particularly well written. […]

Nothing like differences between what you’re told to do in German and in English…

Today I picked up a new pair of shoes and was given a free can of G-Wax that I could use to waterproof my new shoes.

I read the instructions on the bottom of the tin:

Anwendung: Sparsam mit den Fingern oder einem Tuch auftragen.

Basically, I’m supposed to sparingly apply it with […]

Some Random Thoughts About Cheltenham

The last time I was in Cheltenham was, I believe, December 2008 – and it was a dismal time. Businesses were going out of business and High Street was depressing. From my perspective, at the time, Britain seemed less outrageously expensive than normal and I ended up buying a lot of stuff.

This time British […]

My Winter Weekend in Cheltenham (For Five on the Fifth)

Reindeer were on display at "The Brewery" in Cheltenham, and I found the antlers fascinating.

I almost bought some of this quite pleasant, Christmassy smelling stuff, but I thought it woudl get damaged on the way back to Berlin, and it was sticky.

"The Minotaur and the Hare" sculpture has fascinated me […]

Nicht nur für Royals – Auch für Sie | Wedding Fever!

Royal Wedding Fever is setting in…

Going to the MacDonald home: Glencoe

As I’ve noted, I grew up in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood.

One of the features of the neighborhood is that the streets were a double alphabet with the first street in each pair being a place and the second a plant. So we had Hudson Street followed by Holly Street. There was also Leyden and […]

Almost time to party!

Tuesday at 6pm, German Time, the long Bush nightmare will be over.

I’ll be at a party with my colleagues, celebrating. In the meantime, back in December when I was in Bristol, I saw a thought provoking question.

I say we can keep blaming Bush for a few more years.

[…]

…Innit?

In the last few weeks, since my last trip to the UK, my media diet has changed slightly.

It’s become more British. Obviously I’m coloured by my investment in fantastic British television shows on DVD, but also by my listening to Guardian podcasts.

My main new addition is the 30 minute Guardian Daily, a newscast […]