Life
Meet me in St Louis
Garry Kasparov retired from competitive chess in 2005, but has proved that at the age of 61 he remains competitive…
The slippery business of catching a snake
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna It is strange how events elide and create a pattern whose significance remains elusive. I had just…
How Maggie took her whisky
The whirligig of time brings in his… astonishments. Who would have thought it? Even a couple of decades ago, the…
Spectator Competition: Lines on the leaves
In Competition 3374 you were invited to write an ode to autumn. There was bathos amid the beauty. I regret…
My run-in with Greta Thunderpants
The anger management counsellor stormed through the door and shouted at me to turn the heating up. Hello to you…
Aussie life
Despite historically owning less property than men, women have always exerted a powerful influence in the sector. Like lyre birds,…
Language
When human rights commissions were established both federally and in all the states, we assumed this was a good thing…
The glaring mismatch in English football
Your starter for ten: who was the last English manager to win the top flight of English football? Treat yourself…
Does ‘tummy’ turn your stomach?
‘How old does he think you are?’ asked my husband when I told him my GP had asked me if…
Martin has worn down my defences
Provence My older, adopted sister came to stay. She suffers from peripheral neuropathy secondary to diabetes and is registered disabled.…
Will Keir Starmer get me banned from football games?
Last Saturday, I made the 400-mile round trip to Burnley with my 16-year-old son Charlie to see Queens Park Rangers…
Dear Mary: How do I stop my boss sending me rambling voice notes?
Q. I am a concierge for a high-net-worth individual. She likes to communicate with me mainly via WhatsApp voice messages…
You’re spoiling us: The Ambassadors Clubhouse reviewed
The Ambassadors Clubhouse is on Heddon Street, close to Savile Row and the fictional HQ of Kingsman, which was a…
My fears for the National Hunt Chase
World politics is dire but so long as Mick Herron is writing spy novels, David Mitchell is raising laughs and…
Hands off my empty plastic bottles!
‘Where are my empty plastic bottles?’ I ran around the house screaming, after discovering my stash had disappeared. The government…
