Is it illegal to cover your partner’s eyes when he’s driving? Even if he is showing far too much interest in young female legs in short skirts? One young thing, bouncing along the pavement at about the same pace as we were proceeding in the Saturday morning traffic, wore a wide skirt, which suddenly … [Read more...]

Saw the brilliant Simon Mulligan Quartet at Club 606 on Wednesday night. www.606club.co.uk It was my first visit and it reminded me of jazz clubs of old. Which is a good thing. Not that I am an authority. I think we stopped going because of the cigarette smoke. I'm glad to see the smoking ban hasn't … [Read more...]

If you read any chick-lit or other type of fiction on the subject, or watch any number of more or less sickening TV programmes about a group of female friends, you are led to believe female friendships are the most wonderful to be held.I loved SATC, and as witnessed by long suffering partner, will … [Read more...]

After my meeting with the nice man from Business Link, I decided to do some food shopping. In these credit crunch times I try to cook the fridge empty, but partner and daughter complained last night that a thousand ways with left over meat loaf which had followed my million ways with minced meat … [Read more...]

While waiting for any news about my latest literary efforts, I have decided to try to earn some real money. (My partner is delighted) So I spent last week setting up the all new Halme Accountancy. I am enjoying going back to the day job so far.My intention is to leave a day or two ( and weekends) to … [Read more...]

Just back from a week in Finnish Lapland and boy was there a lot of snow. I forget how much I miss the stuff. As I huffed and puffed on the first cross country skiing trip in about 20 years, I wondered what it is about the stuff that makes me smile. Of course whizzing on snow down a mountain … [Read more...]

This morning I finished another of my Helsinki airport buys. In her book, which I'd loosely translate as 'You Were Never With Me', Leena Lehtolainen weaves an intriguing story about a marriage slowly dissolving into complete non communication. The narration is largely confined to two sets of … [Read more...]

Apparently there's a rush on books from Finland. I was talking to Nick at the lovely Mr B's bookshop in Bath last week and he said one of their bestsellers is The Howling Miller by Arto Paasilinna. He was popular when I was growing up in Finland and some of his novels were turned into films (The … [Read more...]

Prof Susan Fiske, of Princeton University, has found that some men do not see scantily glad women as human. The part of the brain which usually becomes active during social interaction deactivated in some men when they looked at pictures of women in their bikinis. The men's brains treated the women … [Read more...]