books – Page 11 – EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS

The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 30

This is the weekend we welcome tens of thousands of new friends to our town by the Thames. Reading Festival has been a Bank Holiday highlight for over fifty years, starting as a haven for rock fans before becoming the post-exam celebration/commiseration we enjoy today. From our house on the hill we can hear the headliners, and Caversham teems with bright-eyed younglings on an adventure. Come Monday, you often see the casualties slumped over one last coffee or pint, waiting for their rides back to the real world and a new start as college or university beckons. It’s a nice way to close out the summer, and part of the reason I love this town so much.

Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.

The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 29

I’m very careful not to call myself a sports fan. Ball games in particular leave me cold (a correlation to the terrible time the clumsy, short-sighted schoolboy Rob had during PE, shivering at the boundary or in goal, always picked last, missing every shot fired in my general direction).

However, TLC and I spent a great afternoon at the Diamond League athletics meet in Stratford last month. The UCI World Cycling Champs were a lock on the TV recently. And yes, we will be in front of a screen this Sunday cheering on the Lionesses.

Hmm. #notallballgames. Maybe I’m more interested than I thought. Just don’t ask me what football team I support.

Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.

The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 28

Summer’s back! Well, at least for a bit. We’re maybe two weeks away from the August Bank Holiday, then all of a sudden the days will start closing in and the leaves will drop and you take a breath and it’s Autumn. Some of the pubs near me are already advertising their Christmas menus. Who knows where the time goes…

Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.

The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 27

Our greenhouse full of tomatoes is starting to bear fruit. I go out every morning now, checking to see if the little sweethearts will detatch neatly from the vine, or if they need a little longer. The scent on my fingers as I dig and pull is amazing: heady, heavy, dense and bright all at once. I’m growing four different varieties, including a dark purple plant called Chocolate Cherry which is a flavour bomb. Wish I could say the same for the cucumbers, which are all flower and nothing for the salad bowl. Blame the weird weather.

Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.

The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 26

Lurgy central at Swipe Manor this week. Probably a viral load delivered while being amongst crowds of people in That London. Oh well, a price worth paying for a great weekend—Diamond League athletics, an incredible meal at The Ivy in Canary Wharf (don’t listen to the haters, the Ivy Collection does great, affordable food with lovely service) and, although we didn’t Barbieheimer, it was cheering to see all the pink-clad youth out in force at the Vue in Westfield Stratford. Let’s hope the actors and writers can get the studios back around the table before this rare green shoot of growth chokes out.

Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.

The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 25

A short one this week. TLC and I are off to That London for a significantly-adjacent anniversary treat. The Gods of Transit were kind and stalled a potential tube strike on the day itself. Hail to The Gods of Transit, may their fast lanes be ever free-flowing.

Anyhoo. Join NYT restaurant critic Pete Wells for lunch, get a little worried about fish and chips and yes, we have items pertaining to Barbieheimer. Finger firmly on pulse, yo.

Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.

The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 24

I’m writing this on a rainy Friday afternoon in July. It’s damp and cool, and the garden is so lush with the heavy dose of sun and water it’s received that it’s almost sagging with the weight of life. I could spin this into gloom—‘I too feel the weight of life on my shoulders’—but no-one needs that jive on the weekend. We’re off to see loved ones and celebrate being here and alive and able to dance and sing, even if it is in the rain. I hope you all get a dose of that feeling this week.

Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.

The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 23

I joined Threads this week, along with, at the last count, 70 million other people. It’s kinda fascinating to see a new social media vector take off quite so quickly. Sign up is incredibly easy (which helps the speed of adoption), and it’s a lot of fun being around a lot of new folks, all finding their feet at the same time. I guess it shows how sick a lot of us have got with Twitter.

What sort of place will Threads be? Well, that largely depends on us. The keyword a lot of the app-runners are using is kindness. We as users have to facilitate that in our interactions. Resist the temptation to yell at complete strangers if they say something we don’t agree with. It takes a tiny bit more effort to be nice—but it’s worth that few seconds of thought. Take your thumbs off the keyboard momentarily and think. If you wouldn’t say it to someone in a pub, don’t say it on the socials. Trust me, we’ll all have a much better time of it.

Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.

The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 22

The family member I mentioned last week is out of hospital and on the road to recovery. Relief is not the word to describe the way I feel. I know there will be more of this stuff down the line—age has an inevitable end point, and you can’t expect the things and people you love to be around forever. But for now, at least, I can enjoy the reprieve and let the world spin on as normal.

Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.

The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 21

Slightly nervous this week as a beloved family member goes into hospital. I’m assured all is going well but still, yannow, a guy worries. I’ll try not to let the fear of mortality and the ever-ticking clock that counts the seconds of our lives get in the way of a cheery discourse.

Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.