katherine gregor | katherine gregor
Dec.02.2012
“Just be yourself.” How many times have you heard that? It is the advice given by friends, psychologists, life coaches and even career advisors. “Being yourself” is widely recognised as the best policy.
But what if that were not always the case? Of course, from other people’s point of...
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Nov.28.2012
Of course, not all the English are like this.
"Is this all right, my dear, or is it too much?" The hostess looks in earnest.
You stare at the minuscule mound before you, and resist the temptation of lifting your plate to check if there is more food hiding underneath. You refrain from asking...
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Nov.25.2012
As I understand it, it is a medical fact that an allergy is often an intolerance to a substance with which your body is already saturated. A kind of overflow. In other words, an allergy is your body’s way of screaming it has had enough.
I have developed an allergy to the word “busy”....
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Nov.21.2012
Why do people – strangers – feel they have to kiss you on the cheek, as a greeting? The British, for one, seem to have suddenly decided they will be all Continental about it. Except that their enthusiasm is now exceeding the number of kisses given by the average Continental...
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Nov.18.2012
I like still days, like yesterday in London.
They creep up on you softly and, suddenly, you walk out of the house and find yourself in the midst of one. Early winter days, when the sky is a grey so pale, it is almost white. Not a breath of wind to stir the few fiery leaves left on the...
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Nov.11.2012
I was very sad to hear, through fellow-Red Roomer Kim Packard, of the death of writer Han Suyin, last 2 November. Only last Sunday, I mentioned her novel, A Many-Splendoured Thing, in my piece about the moon. I was very sad, that she did not know just what a...
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Nov.07.2012
Playwright David K. O'Hara
It all began in Oxford, last year, with director James Savin planning to direct Sartre’s play Huis Clos. Playwright David K. O’Hara read it and something did not sit well with him. In Huis Clos, we are in hell – represented by a Regency-styled...
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Nov.06.2012
Can I be honest?
Why are you suddenly looking worried? There, you see, just because I said, "Can I be honest?" you automatically assume I'm about to say something negative; or at least something you think I think you won't like.
Don't you find that fascinating? If you notice...
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Nov.04.2012
Sun-kissed, sunbathe, suntan, a sunny disposition. Good morning, Sunshine.
And what of the Moon?
In his magical book, Portrait of the Gulf Stream, Erik Orsenna tells us that the Moon is getting further away from the Earth. No wonder. There is only so much...
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Oct.30.2012
I meet two female friends for an after work drink at the Windsor Castle Pub. I give one (Lady A) the socially compulsory kiss on the cheek. I turn to the other (Lady B) but she takes a step back. "I have a cold," she says.
Lady A promptly sidesteps away from her. Lady...
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