Pink Sauce

I have been living in this country for over four years now and it has been a real journey of discovery: during that time, I witnessed the strange things people do to food, the fact that they place traffic lights after a crossing or the completely illogical way in which supermarkets are (dis)organised (I remember seeing a sign attached to a display of Christmas puddings informing me that bleach had been moved to another aisle or being directed by a hesitant member of staff to find tissues in the pet food section!). Tonight for me turned into another anthropological study of this most myterious of things: the British Psyche. I went to my first ever pantomime Now, what is pantomime (or panto as they call it)? The answer is pretty simple if somewhat perplexing for the unsuspecting mind: Panto is a theater show taking place in the Christmas season, where a series of stock characters will perform the silliest antics. The performers mainly comprise men in drag and the lines are ridden with l...

It is that time of the year again. Christmas! It's cold outside, the shops are full and you have to write those bloody cards! As you might have guessed, I am not exactly a fan a crimbo... Although it is passed as the season of good will, I usually end up feeling lonely at that time of the year; I also fail to see why there should be a particular season for good will to blossom. Christmas has now turn into the commercial celebration of tackiness and “fakeness”, Christmas decorations are like a mask people use to hide the daily, mundane grime of their lives. They expect that a little (sometimes, they need a lot of it!) tinsel and light will transform everything and make the world and other people nice. Breaking news: IT WON'T!!! Another problem I have with Christmas is that it is a religious celebration. I am not religious: I was dipped in holy water when a kid and kept on wading there for quite a few years but I have finally seen the light (or stopped seeing it?!) and hav...

On wednesday afternoon, I somehow got releaved of my wallet. When I realised I did not have it with me I cast my mind back on the past day to try and see if I could figure out how this had happened. Either I had lost it, which seemed unlikely, or it had been stolen. After several minutes of anxious probing of my memory I seemed to remember an individual on the bus with a slightly out of the ordinary behaviour. I came to the conclusion that he had taken advantage of the fact that I was reading to pick my offered and willing pocket. I was with a friend at the time of discovery (we had just been for food and were about to pay). It was late-ish in the evening and I still had to check at work the next morning for the unlikely event that the wallet had fallen out of my pocket there. Past the first moments of shock and the attempt at divination as to what might have happened, we moved on to other subjects and, I have to say, I forgot about it! It only came back to my mind on the next morn...

For a long time, I wasn't sure I was going to go. I don't like finding myself in that sort of situation. But then I thought, as always in those cases, that I should give it a try, not be my usual self. Plus it would have been rude to have said no... So last night, after work, I got in a bus and made my way to a party. Well, drinks and nibbles. A room full of people I don't know whom I am expected to talk to! The friend who had invited me is a partner in a small design agency. The event was taking place at their studio. They were organising this for Christmas as an opportunity for networking. Both business contacts and friends were there. I have to say I think I did rather well this time. I talked with most people: usually I stick with one or two persons during the whole night. I stayed there a good three hours, so it can’t have been that bad: it never is really (apart from once in sunny Sidcup but that is a different blog!). It’s just that I am not good with people I do...