Author Archives: Dreamaticus

A job role too far (Rousse)

I was in big trouble at work (again). I’d turned up 15 minutes late to the graduation ceremony. I sneaked up to the balcony and found a seat so that I could listen to the choral music. ED and an … Continue reading →

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Paris attractions (Rousse)

I’d only just arrived in Paris and already I had bumped into two people from my Gallic past. First I saw PG on his way to work. He was now a grey-haired father of three, yet had kept his great … Continue reading →

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Rousse’s Northumbrian anxiety

This was a worrying prospect: taking LM to meet my parents in Northumberland. Whatever would she make of their house?

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Miniscule, muscular, olive-skinned actors (Rousse)

TPR and I were the only audience members at this bizarre performance. Apparently it had been playing to a packed house every night, and the only reason that it was so quiet today was that we had chosen to come … Continue reading →

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Alan Hollinghurst leads double life as computing lecturer (Rousse)

Some of my colleagues were lovely. Unfortunately the rest were vile. One of the latter set had just made a formal complaint about me: that I’d used more than my fair share of soap when taking a bath. I took … Continue reading →

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James Bond and a hand-knit metallic jumper surprise (Rousse)

HH opened the massive cardboard box that she’d brought on her visit. “Just a few presents” she announced as I spied the beautiful hand-knitted string jumpers in a dazzling array of metallic colours. I grabbed a golden one and pulled … Continue reading →

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Commercial opportunity for a copy shop chain (Rousse)

I ran across the road, narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic from the right, to reach the bus stop before the arrival of the number 11. Although it was a Sunday, the bus was packed. Most of the passengers were on the … Continue reading →

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Rousse’s encounter with the England World Cup winners

I had to travel from Birmingham to London to check out the venue for the following day’s conference. While the others piled into cars and minibuses, I wandered around the car park regretting that I had not arranged a lift. … Continue reading →

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A £50k lottery win (Rousse)

M and AP were looking very pleased with themselves – and no wonder: they’d just won £50,000 on the National Lottery.

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The body in the bedroom (Rousse)

TPR made the gruesome discovery when we lifted the bed across to the other side of the room. Gently swinging from from the bedstead was the stiff little corpse of a fully dressed toddler. From the state of the decomposing … Continue reading →

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