Simon Says

• Lost in translation 2 weeks ago Living in a multicultural nation and working in an even more multicultural organisation, translation and its attendant problems are often at the forefront of my mind. And yet while the necessity for translation is never questioned, one thing about translation has always bugged me: why do we...
• Moss Rules 2 weeks ago It started some years ago with a sarcastic comment on a friend‘s photo of some moss. “Moss Rules!”, I said. She laughed. It became a running joke, used whenever anyone we knew posted a photo of the same subject matter. It got to the stage (as it often does with flickr) that I went...
• Eating Portland 3 weeks ago I didn’t have any particular culinary expectations regarding Portland, Oregon, but then a friend reminded me via facebook that there’s a big food cart scene there. A few minutes later I’d downloaded a free smartphone app and was on my way downtown to search for lunch. According to...
• OMG, TBISC 3 weeks ago We stayed for one night in a hotel on the Oregon coast which seemed inordinately proud of the fact that they give guests clean bed linen. Yes, that’s right, unlike all those other hotels which let you sleep in the same filthy, sodden sheets which have been used by all the previous guests, the...
• Coffee Capital 2 months ago One afternoon, back in our hotel after a hard day’s sightseeing in Seattle, I popped in to the tiny coffee shop next door. It was smaller than our hotel room, and could seat about five or six people. On one wall was a fireplace, although, upon closer inspection, it turned out not to contain a...

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