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And this, dear friends, is why I'm pro-choice

My little sister, probably the coolest person I know, laughed down the phone at me this morning, when I told her that universal suffrage did not exist in Switzerland, at the cantonal level, until 1991. The year before she started at school, the women of Appenzell Innerrhoden got the right to vote. Now, Rosie’s not [...]

The morning after three nights before!

Or “It seemed like a good idea at the time!”

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve made several new friendships, and spent time with old friends, among my Google colleagues. It seemed like half the engineers formerly-known-as Sysops were in Mountain View, and I had already stayed up til 6AM with Tiarnan more than once [...]

This one's for you, mum :-)

Or “Turning Twenty-Five in the San Francisco Bay Area”

As the quarter-century creeps steadily up on me, I’ve been having a blast seeing the sights and meeting friends old and new. I can’t help thinking back to all the things I’ve enjoyed (and suffered through!) along the way. I’ve been incredibly lucky, and I hope that [...]

Choosing Charities

Those of you who know me may have noticed that I don’t often respond to solicitations for charitable donations. Whether it’s a sponsored walk or a collection for malaria, I’m just not into “impulse buying”.

Those of you who know me better might know why this is. It’s not because I’m mean, honest I’ve [...]

Ada Lovelace Day – thank you Valerie!

I had some computer troubles yesterday, so I’m posting my Ada Lovelace Day post a little late. It’s still March 24th in Hawaii though, so I think I’m alright really

Like many others, I had a seriously hard time trying to decide who to write about. I’ve been so lucky in many ways, and [...]

Yummy toffee banoffi banoffee!

Once you’ve made it once, you’ll never again need a recipe for banoffee – it’s a fantastically forgiving dish

Step one, somewhat unintuitively, is the middle – the toffee. This basically involves cooking a can of condensed milk until it turns into caramel My mum always used to make this on the [...]

Why I’m taking the Ada Lovelace challenge

Costigan Quist says he’s not taking the Ada Lovelace challenge. But I think he’s missed the point, and in my own rambling fashion, I’ll shortly explain why.

Before I do though, what is the challenge? Suw Charman-Anderson set up a pledge on PledgeBank, saying “I will publish a blog post on Tuesday 24th March about a [...]

Drinking responsibly

Kae has posted his thoughts on enjoying a drink. I can’t seem to leave a comment, but I think he’s missed a fairly vital point.

I’m all in favour of enjoying alcohol. Wine or sherry, cider or beer, champagne or cocktails. Red wine isn’t generally my tipple of choice, but there are apparently clear benefits to [...]

Statues

I’ll never forget,
Standing. At attention.
Fists tight to keep from shaking.
Tongue pressed hard, against my teeth.
A statue, cast in uniform,
In a house too small
For so much grief.

Only my eyes,
Revealing my heart.
A statue, cast in uniform,
But blinking, too much.
Willing back the tears.
Searing, salty tears,
That washed my face
The night before.

Matching uniforms, a sea of black.
Three generations, father, son, [...]

They don’t make them like him any more…

Another year later, I look back at what I wrote about my Grandad’s passing. I woke up last night, in tears, remembering him. I’m not one for idolising squares on a calendar, but there’s something natural about anniversaries too. The seasons change, and we remember past changes. The years go by, and the events of [...]

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