Some Thoughts On Racism
(Caution: the following words are written by a rusty lawyer. On the specific legal issues, the views of a smarter and more up to date lawyer are demanded. I [...]
A True Friend?
On my first day at university, I met a fellow northerner, who I shall refer to as “S”. S and I were both obsessed with football. He lived on the [...]
The Manchester Bomb
On Saturday 15 June 1996, my best friend and I – both 16 – had planned to go shopping in Manchester. That morning, my mate was dropped off at [...]
Positive Memories
This blog - like many of my blogs - is written on a plane. This time, I’m en route to Dublin - just for one day! - a place [...]
The Lie I Told to Become a Lawyer
Picture the scene: aged 24, I am – nervously, sweating in a cheap suit – sitting in front of a panel of four imposing male equity partners, in a spacious [...]
Dodging Landmines in Nagorno-Karabakh
In the spring of 2005, to gather ideas for my second unfinished book The Anti-Guidebook, I travelled, solo, to Armenia. Why Armenia? Because, I had “done” South-East Asia and [...]
Thinking
A few months ago, at breakfast in my hotel in The Canaries, I asked the waiter: “Perdon, Senor. Tienes el pan sin gluten, para dos personas, por favor?”. (Excuse me, [...]
Getting Colder
North Yorkshire’s sudden slide into winter destroys my mood like nothing else. Turning the heating on today - when just a few days ago it was sunbathing weather - [...]
El Dueno (the owner) and Strangeways
It’s 8pm - vino-o-clock! – here in Puerto De La Cruz, Tenerife. I’m doing something most un-Spanish: dining solo. Sitting here on the veranda of a locals’ restaurant, near to [...]
Genes and dogs
Slowly, step by step, I am walking up Casterton Fell in North Yorkshire. My son is somewhere ahead of me. My wife and daughter are – surprisingly – somewhere behind. [...]
