Success is a five-letter word —

I love Japan. One of my favourite destinations with a blend of the odd and the delightful, weird and wonderful. The food alone sells the place but there are places of awesome majesty, frenetic life, and just plain unbelievable, often in one crowded moment. So it was a no-brainer when…

It’s all about the children — Children are — if we are doing it right — the biggest investment in our lives. Sure, it might take a lot of work to keep a relationship on track but if things get rocky we always have dozens of ways to leave a lover. At four in the morning…

Are your wishes blocked? — When I was a boy, men were training to go to the moon. There was a war in Vietnam that our guys were winning. I walked barefoot to school, read science fiction at lunch time, and I came home to play with my Lego, where I’d build kludgy, blocky lunar…

Calm in the face of change — A day of renewal today. I got my hair cut. I closed my eyes while the hairdresser worked, practicing a bit of mindfulness, noting the various sensations without comment. The buzz of the clippers, the feel of the blade moving through my hair, the smells of sprays and lotions. …

High standards on the high seas — I’m taking a cruise later this year. It was a lucky coincidence: a couple of mates — absolutely nuts on cruises and hit particularly hard over the past two years — announced that they were doing a Japan cruise. Now, as it happens, we’re booked for a Japan trip later…

Arms merchant — Following on from yesterday’s arrival of 1.9 kilograms of random bricks, today I opened a few and began putting them away in my oh-so-organised storage system. Bricks in Bulk Random selectionmedium.com In days to come I’ll show how the thing’s coming along, Early days yet as I have a tonne of system bricks to sort…

Random selection — A few weeks ago I became aware, mostly through other brickers skiting about their purchases, that it was possible to buy bulk bricks from AliExpress dealers. Not bulk bricks of any one type, you understand. Nor bulk random bricks per se. These were, apparently, random bags from random sets. Presumably…

The splintering begins — The whispers began after half a day. Something screwy with today’s Wordle. My wife and I got different words. The New York Times is messing with our minds. I thought at first that these were coming from people who didn’t have a solid grip on how the game worked. They…