Learning to Play the Oud

I’m an idiot.

Somehow, along the way from childhood to adulthood, I’ve managed to acquire an overinflated sense of my own capability. I don’t really know how it happened, or when it happened, or what events in my life have conspired to give me an irrationally…

5 ways to catch up on reading novels

Novels are magical. In a novel, you get lost in another world. No two people read the same story; no two readings are the same. Now, finally, I can get back to reading…

Welcome to the Post-PhD World … At Last

I started studying for a PhD ten years ago, in February 2007. I was young(er), full of…

Canoeing in the Ardèche

I’d rather be canoeing than finishing this interminable thesis

Core Strength FTW

I am pathetic.

Of course, when I think about it, I’ve known for most of my adult life just how pathetic I am. It’s just that being pathetic is one of those things that you don’t really confess, is it? To yourself, let alone to anyone else.

Reading Recap, November 2018 (pt. 1)

Since finishing my PhD I’ve read lots of fiction again. Here’s a…