Journal

Haphazard.  That’s how I see my rather chequered life.  Nothing was planned.  I had no great aims, no target, no ambition.  Looking back and trying a bit of self-analysis - dangerous! - I reckon that for much of the time DP’s semi-conscious mantras were ‘live for the...

Both in fact. As It works its way through each day these days, a lot passes through the DP mind, as you can imagine.  Taking stock of the last 70+ years; looking around and evaluating how things are now; considering a limited future; relishing sights and sounds that...

Yesterday afternoon was rather unusual: I watched television for a few hours.  It was the debate in the House of Lords, the Second Reading of the Assisted Dying Bill.  133 Peers spoke. In many ways it was frustrating.  I wondered if some of them who opposed the Bill...

It wasn’t what I’d expected, but I should have realised it was likely. On Saturday morning, two days ago, Dignity in Dying issued a press release about the Assisted Dying Bill going through Parliament.  It focused on the importance of the Bill and on the polls showing...

….have been greatly exaggerated”, as Mark Twain is often misquoted as saying. An old friend from schooldays read the last blog entry and wrote today wondering if I’d already made the journey.  Obviously not.  I’m sorry if anyone else has been thinking that way.  I...

Since starting this blog in April last year I’ve tried to keep the illness in the background, or at least in parallel with other things I’ve been writing about.  The inevitable has happened though.  It’s now really taken over my daily life.  Most thoughts and efforts...

And finally, back to my own school days, my state grammar school, quite new.  I was there for six years from the age of 12.  It was well run, and in my memory there wasn’t much indiscipline.  Some things you never forget however. At the end of lessons one day, those...

A short one, and lighter.  I watched an old comedy show the other day, with funny talk about nicknames.  I’ve had my share: At secondary school I was ‘Pax’ - yes, they taught Latin Over the years, various fore-names: Master … Penny … Cod … Restin … Warren … (clever)...

Following the last blog post, other examples are: The same 1972 university course but this time teaching in Spain.  We TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) trainees were sent to Barcelona for a couple of weeks and were allocated a school each. Mine was in the...

Well, the memory bank was triggered yesterday by a report on the unruly behaviour of some students, partly or wholly as a result of boredom during the lockdown.  Unusual punishments from my dodgy background came to mind.  Here are a few: It’s 1972 and I’m at London...

No change on the health front.  Still much the same, so let’s move on.  Something along the lines of “That reminds me of when ….” The local residents’ association here, which I used to run, covers six streets and has a voice at our local Marylebone and wider...

The other day I read about a conversation between a novelist and a historian.  They were disagreeing about a health problem.  Suddenly a breakthrough, with deep embarrassment and laughter when they realised that one had consistently misheard the other.  The topic was,...

Well, Tuesday 3rd was definitely interesting.  If you haven’t read the blog that day, click the amber. The BBC included the short version of the interview on its TV London local news. It also had it on its website as mainline news, and for much of the day and the next...

Time: 09.00.  Moving on hastily from whiskers, here’s the latest about the BBC broadcast where I might have a part.  It’s scheduled for tomorrow, 3 August, but could be postponed if last minute news items take precedence.  On 21 June I said I’d let you know as soon as...

Well that was a surprise! Four days ago I wrote about the difficulty of living with an increasingly paralysed left arm and hand. To demonstrate, there were a few mildly humorous suggestions.  One was that men who wet shave might like to try it single-handed.  What...

On a grey and windy afternoon four weeks ago I was interviewed by the BBC in my little roof garden.  Ellie, from the charity Dignity in Dying, had proposed it, having already got The Daily Telegraph to ask me to write a short article which it then published.  So on 22...

Does anyone read books more than once?  It seems so, when people quote their favourites and the pleasure they get from re-reading them. I was thinking about this the other day after a faithful follower of this blog reminded me that in August last year I had written...

Yesterday afternoon.  Wimbledon.  Men’s semifinals.  Six hours of pleasure in front of the TV.  Later today, Ladies' Finals.  Much pleasure this afternoon, for sure. Ah, the memories.  For years I entered the ballot for a couple of tickets to Centre Court and No 1 ...

….. it was a significant day again: the 4th of July. I was going to write about it but then decided not.  I was getting maudlin and couldn’t find the right tone. That’s still the case but rather than let it go unrecorded I invite you to read again the 4 July blog...

Not much to say.  I’m having some quiet days.  It’s been rather tiring getting through recent events: the rush to produce the Telegraph article (published); the preparation for the BBC interview and the interview itself (to be broadcast end July / early August); and...

Today is Wednesday. The last two days have been busy, or at least busy for me, ‘cos with my low energy levels life is quite slow. Monday: 1. Summer solstice - nice to know. 2. Global Motor Neurone Disease Awareness Day - same, and as it happens I am aware of it. 3....

Thank you, young P, for your sponsorship of the Peacemobile efforts in the 21-mile challenge (see ‘Comments’ at the top).  Thank you to others who’ve given money direct to the Fund as a general encouragement to make it.  And thank you to everyone who has recently...

I decided to cheat.  On June 5, two blog posts ago, I wrote about the imminent Global MND Awareness Day on June 21 and the challenge for anyone to run 21 miles before that day, even if they only do a couple of miles at a time. That’s not too difficult, surely. ...

What’s this strange title?  Well, it’s because for an hour a day I’m experiencing the rest of humanity at its hip height. It’s the Peacemobile of course.  Rolling through the streets of London and into Hyde Park or Paddington Basin or round the blocks and the lovely...

Something new, or at least new to me: June 21 is ‘Global MND Awareness Day’. Around the world the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations organises fundraising activities to boost interest and turbocharge research.  I had never heard of this until a newsletter...

The Peacemobile arrived yesterday morning, fully charged. Range of 15 miles on one charge. Four speeds and a tiny, tinny horn.  All I have to do is sit in it, turn it on, choose the speed, hold the joystick, and glide on. So yesterday afternoon I ‘drove’ for half a...

... for the wicked.  Yes, despite the name I’m as wicked as the rest of you.  And this ain’t a complaint. After 14 months of blogging I was thinking of slowing down a bit, and had been doing so, and frankly had been rather struggling with ideas and energy levels.  Two...

It was a bit of a struggle to write the last two blog posts.  Authors talk about ‘writer’s block’, where inspiration and the flow of words just disappear.  Blogger’s block hit me but I cobbled a few things together.  Surprisingly they generated a number of interesting...

There’s been some discussion in the press about the superior value and usefulness of Imperial measures - stones, pounds, ounces, feet, yards, miles and so on - compared with the metric system.  And plenty of arguments the other way round.  Tedious!  Calm down: this...

Prince Harry is in the news again, and again at his own instigation.  He’s now talking about emotional pain inherited from his parents, and presumably pain they inherited from their parents, and so on.  Well, it’s a pretty unique family, coping throughout their whole...

Another big, very welcome, and somewhat embarrassing surprise! Last week, out of the blue, a link arrived by email. It was another recording of my voice, this time from eleven years ago but this time not only the voice.  A video.  I think the DP memory must be...

Looking for anything to hang a blog entry on, yesterday I noticed a small story in the press about an English town that is so tired of pigeon droppings that it is going to trap the birds and transport them to an aviary 250 miles away where, after a time, they’ll be...

Ah, the memories!   Those following the news in Britain will probably know that at the moment our Prime Minister is being investigated by three different official organisations.  Why?  Because allegedly up to £200,000 has been spent on redecorating and refurbishing...