There might be many millions of writers out there but only a tiny minority who make a living at it. And for the large remainder, perhaps the romantic notion of just writing is enough? As ‘writing’ goes there is an obvious hierarchy; headed up by the professionals…. Those who write screenplays which become movies. Then,…
Continuing on with my spate of writing of a more personal nature, during lockdown, like me, many of you will have completed very cathartic house clear outs of clutter and accumulated stuff. Stuff we have no use for and are better off without. For this, cupboards/drawers need to be cleared and ordered. One of my…
You will understand why I did it though? Imagine the scene. I am sixteen years old, waiting to see a man who is not keen to see me. Mr McMahon. A man with a big responsibility. A maths tutor, handsomely paid by my parents and charged with getting me a maths O level. Two fails…
I note that Tom has a splurge of publicity of late with the impending release of his new movie Cherry and including a front cover for Esquire and looking suitably sultry. More on Esquire to conclude – the word I mean and not the magazine. I’m not much of a reader of such mags and…
An exciting start to my year and a need perhaps to recalibrate my career, my accomplishments and my place in the world. Because it turns out that I am in fact, a legend. Who knew? Not me and it seems not my son either when Daniel Kaluuya made the surprise announcement during an actor to…
Finally, an upside of Covid 19 with Sam returning home because the world famous Gleneagles resort has been shut until February 2021. Waiting for him at Gatwick airport this week I felt ambivalent. Excited of course to see my Sam but saddened to experience a once bustling airport now so deserted and desolate; a metaphor…
People prefer absolutes in life, of course. Binary decisions and outcomes. But life is often more complex than this and becoming ever more so. Who crossed the finishing line first? This is fine when measuring the fastest sprinter on earth but less satisfactory when the finishing line happens to be in an election as we…
With three Holland boys away, our house has never been bigger and I suppose this is a good thing. People often cite space as a life goal. There are other upsides too… like chargers being more available. Less likely to go missing for one reason because it is easier to finger the culprit. This makes…
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan does it a lot. David Beckham too and Joseph Gordon Levitt. A whole raft of show-biz types in fact and including on occasion and to my horror, my eldest son. I refer to pulling a certain face for the cameras. Ben Stiller called it Blue Steele in his…
We live in hierarchies and we all know where we stand, right? Tallest? Best looking? Wealthiest? Funniest? Most successful… What we do for a living; from the vaunted professions down… we are all workers with our names either on our shirts, our desks, the office door or finally on the building itself. …
