Newsletter

It seems such a quiet September. There’s no rush—for work, for school, for supplies, for uniforms—at least for now. (Albeit, there is Zooming, and two novels

Social media, love it or leave it, it’s here to stay? Whether you agree or disagree—and I have one colleague who literally calls it “evil”…

I don’t usually sputter when moseying up to the monthly newsletter/blog, but this month is an exception. I’ve delayed. Can’t blame it on the weather—it’s been perfect; can’t censure Covid-19—lockdown is easing; can’t accuse time—learned a long time ago that it’s my responsibility to make that work. So what’s the issue?

How many times have I heard the adjective surreal used to describe this spunky new post-pandemic world? Fairly, how many? More than I care to count. I’ve considered new descriptors. Oxford Languages provided several: unreal, bizarre, weird, strange, freakish, unearthly, uncanny, and dreamlike. Most curiously, thesaurus.com suggested hypnagogic (related to the state immediately before falling asleep)…

When the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was released in January I went to see it, not because I actually watched the original series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001, but because I hadn’t seen it.

As the child of a military officer, a lot of my time was spent overseas

So much for the mention last month of my upcoming April interview with virtuoso author Anna Hope at the wonderful FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival, which is now like every other such event across many countries cancelled due to COVID-19. Can we do anything to counteract this crisis apart from frequent hand-washing, wearing a face mask, staying six feet away from others and not hoarding groceries? I think we can—turn the tide and dissipate the fear. Or at least, I am willing to try.

One of the great perks of living in Oxford is having the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival, which runs from March 27th until April 5th, on your doorstep.

Continuing with last month’s “eat, sleep, work and play theme,” I want to introduce you to the fun-loving soccata. Apparently it’s similar to an Italian frittata, a dish made from beaten eggs with the addition of other flavourings such as cheese, peas or potatoes. A soccata, however, replaces the eggs with chickpea flour to form a pancake-like base known as socca.

Happy New Decade! 2020. While I always celebrate a new year, the prospect of a new decade leaves me simply awestruck. A ten-year span? That’s room to breathe, to think, to grow, to imagine; to create and recreate. In ten years’ time, anything could have happened.

Recently, a friend and past teacher of mine from Oxford University Continuing Education, award-winning author Rebecca Abrams, spoke and read from her brilliant new work before an audience at Brasenose College.