We watch movies in our house, and they enter our language. Crying, for example, is known as ‘Going a bit Sound of Music’ after my habit of weeping uncontrollably whenever Captain Von Trapp sings Edelweiss. The key Christmas movie, though, is It’s A Wonderful Life, which was released seventy years ago this week. Jimmy Stewart …
There is a recurring dream I’ve been having for 34 years. It is the last term before my A levels and I am trying to revise Geography but, horrifyingly, I have done none of the course work. Not a single essay. I move from classroom to classroom, fearful of what and who will be behind …
On Monday, I went to a memorial service for a former colleague. These things are often a duty or an obligation, and it’s true that they're seldom an unalloyed pleasure. But this time I really wanted to be there, to honour the person we were remembering. At first, my colleague and I weren't exactly friends. …
It's great to have a lot of money. I know this to be true because once a month I feel as if I have a lot of money and I like it. It makes me wonder whether I might buy a new bike, or some new sneakers, whether I might go out for dinner or …
I’m afraid this is a selfish and slightly whiny Pause. I spend a lot of time travelling. By which I don’t mean that I am perpetually whisked from airport lounge to first class cabin to penthouse suite. That’s what my brother Bill does, selling pizza in Siberia, Azerbaijan and Senegal. I kid you not. No. …
Like most English people, I'm excellent at saying sorry. Sorry is almost never the hardest word. It’s a piece of cake. I can do the unnecessary sorry when no-one is upset. I can do the polite sorry that suggests someone else’s fault is my own. I can do the ridiculous sorry which means that something …
When my son Silas was still at primary school, he was constantly told to ‘be the best he could be’. It drove him nuts. Sometimes, we just need to be what we are. And anyway, being the best we can be doesn’t always feel like enough, especially when we catch a glimpse of our heroes. …
Anyone who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday saw something extraordinary: thousands of the world's greatest athletes, after four years of training and self-denial, finally in the moment when they get to compete and exercise the skill and prowess that stems from an absolute commitment of time, energy and effort. Now, in …
I went to the pub on Tuesday with my daughter Esther, known in the family as Eddie. She's back from university for about 45 seconds before she heads off again for the summer. Eddie is excellent company. She’s smart. She knows about maths and physics. And she’s at least as argumentative as I am, which …
Just now there’s an exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, where I work, called 'Storms War and Shipwrecks’. It’s terrific, full of ancient treasures from the bottom of the sea around Sicily, but I feel slightly wistful whenever I arrive at work and see the posters for it, because it seems to sum up all the …