TODAY, the third Monday of January, has come to be known in the UK as "Blue Monday", the most depressing day of the year. The idea originated in 2005 via a press release issued by a travel company. Using a formula accounting for factors like weather, debt, post-holiday gloom, failed resolutions, low motivation, and the need for change, they calculated this date to be the saddest day of the year.
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HELLO again and Happy New Year! After unintentionally taking off more time than had planned (and missing two Weekend Links in the process), it’s good to be back. Did stop in briefly on New Year’s Day to share my resolutions for 2024, but other than that, for the most part of the past four or so weeks, we’ve been on holiday, which is extremely rare.
LAST WEEK I read an article about a couple who had such trouble staying offline when they wanted to be, that they did the most drastic thing they could think of: they disconnected their internet. They had a landline installed to make calls, and used the Yellow Pages to look up telephone numbers.
BETELGEUSE, the red supergiant star in the shoulder of the constellation Orion, will disappear from the sky briefly tonight, at 8:17 p.m. EST in what scientists are calling a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. An asteroid called 319 Leona will pass in front of Betelgeuse and block its light for a few seconds as a shadow falls across Earth’s surface.
OUR FIRST Christmas film this year wasn't actually one of our usual old favourites (Christmas Vacation for P, The Holiday for me⏤although we've seen them both so much now that we mainly put them on as background ambience), but The Holdovers...
ON FRIDAY morning we drove up to Richmond Hill to see if we could catch the last of the turning leaves at the Viewing Point overlooking the Thames and also stopped by the bakery there that everyone loves, next to the wine shop on the corner.
I DON'T KNOW what it is about Kings Cross that makes us want to join long queues for food, but this weekend, we did it again. This time, it was for dim sum and you don't even want to know how long we waited. We were tempted to leave a few times, but the promise of the best dim sum in London was too much, so we stayed.
THIS WEEKEND we saw Anatomie d'une chute (Anatomy of a Fall), Justine Triet's French courtroom drama that actually won the Palme d’Or in Cannes this year. It was though-provoking, gripping at times, and made us talk about it quite a bit, even long after it was over.
ON FRIDAY we finally made it to Hampstead to visit The Holly Bush, perhaps one of the most photographed pubs it London. It's on a really lovely quiet street and looks just as charming when you first happen upon it as we had hoped.
ON THURSDAY we took the long train journey north to Scotland. It's normally a five-hour trip, but there was a delay, so it took a little over six and half hours before we finally arrived in Glasgow. It was marvellous to be there again⏤it felt like it'd been a long time.
THERE IS a Welsh word, hiraeth, that is used to describe a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past. I've been studying words in other languages recently, marvelling at how different languages have so many descriptive ways to denote very specific feelings or situations.
THE WEATHER has suddenly turned cold after last week's unseasonably warm days. Unfortunately, because of our location, we were unable to view this weekend's spectacular celestial event: the ring of fire annular solar eclipse. Did you see it? It was apparently visible from parts of the US, Mexico and in South and Central America...
ON SATURDAY we walked to one of our favourite pubs along the Thames. It’s right on the water, with a row of tables on a dock set below the large outdoor terrace that backs onto the pub and we were very lucky to get the very last available one. The weather was unseasonably warm, the leaves were just starting to turn, the air was crisp on the water and when P asked me if there were anywhere else in the world I’d rather be right at that moment, I was amazed to realise that there wasn’t.
ON SATURDAY we cycled to Richmond Hill for a picnic. We were hoping to see the turning leaves, but it must still be too early here yet. P picked up a bottle of our favourite cava, an absolutely delicious baguette and some extraordinary brie and we laid down our plaid wool blanket in the grassy area overlooking the Thames...
ON THURSDAY we met up with an old friend who we hadn't seen in over ten years. He was in London for only two days and thought we might meet for a pint and catch up. We choose that little pub in Belgravia that I told you about before. It was so good to see him again and we had such a nice time over mid-afternoon drinks...
