Tag Archives: friend

An intruder, a storm, and the terrible after-effects of tree resin rain (Rousse)

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Dreamaticus

There’d been a number of break-ins at our flat over recent weeks, none of which had triggered our burglar alarm. We were sure, however, that it was just matter of time before we would walk in on the culprit(s). When … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acoustic, after-effects, alarm, alternative, arrest, bell, black, bouquet, box, boxes, break-in, burglar, caramel, celebrate, celebration, chocolate, chocolates, coffee, conversation, culprit, cushion, cushions, damage, door, flat, flower, flowers, fly, flying, friend, friendship, garden, gardens, ground, guitar, gym, hall, headlice, house, houses, identity, intruder, kettle, kitchen, lice, lifestyle, loss, memory, mother-in-law, mystery, neighbour, neighbours, paralysed, paralysis, peanut, peanuts, police, policeman, prison, rescue, resin, Russian, sitting room, sky, sofa, stiff, storm, stranger, tea, TPR, training, tree, weather, wind, windy, woman, work | Leave a comment

How to improve your REF 2014 ranking (Rousse)

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Once again, at the airport I bumped into someone I hadn’t seen for ages. This time it was MH. Our last encounter had been over quarter of a century ago on the campus of the University of Birmingham. We spent … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airport, Birmingham, Birmingham University, Blackberry, broken, cell, degree, degrees, documentation, friend, inoperable, iPhone, Isle of Man, Masters, meeting, mobile, phone, ranking, rating, REF, REF 2014, school, student, students, submission, submissions, teacher, teachers, undergraduate, undergraduates, university, University of Birmingham | Leave a comment

Man falls to death from medieval tower: “lost” handbag takes the blame (Rousse)

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I found my new Joey D handbag again where I’d left it: sitting in the corner of the lift. It must have been travelling up and down the floors for hours, yet it appeared untouched. I pulled the zip to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged apron, art, babies, baby, bank, batter, birth control, Blackberry, busker, candle, candles, card, cards, cash, cashpoint, children, church, city, contraception, cooking, Corstorphine, council, death, die, drop, dying, Edinburgh, fiver, fivers, friend, gym, handbag, Indian, installation, iPhone, Joey D, kids, kitchen, lift, lost, mat., mats, medieval, money, Murrayfield, Newcastle, niece, Omni Centre, phone, prawn, prawns, purse, recipe, riot, sling, staircase, step, steps, stranger, tenner, tenners, tower, train, trains, Virgin Active, visit, wasteland, wax, weekend, wick, wicks, wife, window, wreckage, zip | Leave a comment

Teenage bedroom furniture choices (Rousse)

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Dreamaticus

LF and TF both glanced at me sitting on the futon. “No, that’s it. We’re definitely not getting him one of those“, said L. This declaration came at the end of a long debate on bedroom furniture choices for teenage … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bed, bedroll, beds, boy, boys, bunk, double, floor, friend, furniture, futon, roll, sofa, sofabed, son, teenage, teenagers, woodwork | Leave a comment

Bad behaviour and an F1 fireball kill conversation (Rousse)

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The conference launch event was a Victorian-Edwardian music hall concert in the style of BBC’s Good old days show. I thought this a bit OTT for a librarians’ conference, but this was the US, and it did make a change … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alumni, alumnus, America, BBC, Berkeley, Birmingham University, California, car, colleagues, conference, conversation, dead, dinner, Edwardian, F1, fire engine, fire engines, flame, flames, flirt, flirting, formula 1, formula one, friend, gate-crash, gatecrash, Good old days, hall, kill, librarian, librarians, Manor, Manor House, Mountain View, music, music hall, news, Oxford, Oxford University, PhD, reunion, San Francisco, school, siren, sirens, Stanford, table, TPR, University of Birmingham, University of Oxford, US, Victorian | Leave a comment

Rousse’s mistaken hot property purchase

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I was looking forward to moving house. We were going back to the north east of England to be within a one hour drive of my parents. It would be wonderful to be surrounded by friendly northerners again. TPR left … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bar, beating, buckle, children, council, door, fields, flat, floor, floors, friend, friendly, garden, hospital, house, job, kids, lady mad, mistake, neighbour, neighbours, north east, northerner, northerners, parent, parents, patent leather, playing field, property, purchase, real estate, rota, running, school, shoe, smoker, smokers, smoking, student, students, TPR, York | Leave a comment

JK Rowling extends her estate (Rousse)

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The best of friends, JK Rowling and I shared a Victorian villa by the seaside. She lived on the top floor, and my flat was below. One morning I looked out of the window and noticed a series of white-painted … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged beach, beach-front, beachfront, best friend, best friends, canister, dune, dunes, estate, film, flat, friend, Friends, JK Rowling, lawn, mobile, relaxing, sand, sand dune, sand dunes, sculpture, sea, seaside, shore, stakes, Victorian, villa, white, wooden | Leave a comment

School reunions: beware the ex (Rousse)

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Dreamaticus

It was difficult to establish my role at this reunion. For example, when KP and I disappeared to the ladies for an hour we felt terribly guilty, believing that we would be missed. However, when we emerged again afterwards, nobody … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged auditorium, bathroom, Birmingham, Birmingham University, car, cashmere, classmate, classmates, driving, film, friend, Hoppings, house, jersey, jumper, ladies, movie, Newcastle, Oxford, pupil, pupils, reunion, school, sweater, teacher, teachers, Town Moor, TPR, university, University of Birmingham, University of Oxford | Leave a comment

Rousse’s surprise school reunion

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Dreamaticus

This was meant to be a family reunion organised by me. Everyone on the guest list was related either to me or TPR, and I had control of the whole event – or so I thought. When I apprehended my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cloakroom, coat, crying, family, friend, Friends, GCSE, GCSEs, guest, guests, kiss, kissed, kisses, mini-skirt, mini-skirts, niece, party, reunion, school, shirt, shirts, sister, sister-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, skirt, skirts, tears, tie, ties, TPR, uniform | Leave a comment

Dancing bear imposter (Rousse)

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The famous dancing bear lived in a plush apartment on the eight floor of a brand new tower block, above a branch of Boots the Chemist. I knew this because he belonged to my friends J and GC. I almost … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1970s, act, animal, apartment, arm, audience, bear, beg, begging, black and white, boots, Boots the Chemist, bowl, chemist, dance, dancing, dog, famous, flat, friend, leg, legs, mother, number, phone, photo, photograph, teenage, teenager, telephone, video | 1 Comment