Watching the Winter Olympics I’m now old enough to have the recurring reaction “gosh, that must be very hard on your knees”

Am reading collected letters between Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald. Scott wrote: “I wish you would read more books (you know, those things that look like blocks but come apart on one side)” A more relevant comment than ever! (Written in bad mood from his sickbed. He apologised for tone in next letter)

I find it droll that a tattoo parlour can also so brazenly advertise tattoo removal. It’s a bit like a doctor advertising that they also run a funeral home.

Consultation on solid fuel burning - taking action to reduce fine particulate matter and smoke emissions consult.defra.gov.uk/domestic-bur...

I could watch this all day. Crazy pronunciation of “for sure”. Iconic sunglasses.

Karoline Leavitt, the Gen Z Magda Goebbels. Or should that be Maga Goebbels.

My friend told me in the middle of last year that according to astrological predictions everything is due to kick off bigly this March, same sort of foreboding planet alignments as March 2020, and I can’t help keep thinking about that. Just in case, I’ve made no plans beyond February!

Wow, even the Daily Mail may now be facing the fact that repeatedly catching #Covid damages your immune system... will wonders never cease... better years late than never. www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic...

We are all only one ignominious incident away from global viral fame www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

So, Euro leaders won’t condemn Trump re Venezuela because they need US help re Ukraine. But failing to condemn his illegality undermines Euro stance against Putin. But won’t this lack of condemnation encourage Trump to go after Greenland? Like failing to respond adequately re Crimea encouraged Putin

lovely article www.ft.com/content/cc77...

FIFA giving a prize for peace makes as much sense as the Nobels giving a prize for football.

I'm just fine being single I send a few hearts in replies and done for the day.

lol “a good dog and a library card will never let you down” might put that on a T shirt

Checked two versions of ‘Don Quixote’ out of the library today because I want to try both and then stick with the version I like best (which in this case might be the funnier one). It started with Tolstoy, increased with Proust, now I’m a translation nerd/snob. #tolstoytogether #prousttogether

I have just joined the Green Party because I am a total leftie stereotype, but good God, I can't live with no hope that a fairer world isn't possible. And being a realist, if I want to see change, I've got to support something rather than just despairing the entire time.

We French love our history teachers – Samuel Paty made us remember why In Memoriam #SamuelPaty www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Being accountable to an international court means our Government has to answer to them if it tries to undermine your human rights. Be very suspicious of any UK politician who wants to remove that check on their powers. Share this and speak up for your freedoms.

I saw this @literaturesc.bsky.social and thought of you

Day 449, Aug 23: “What do you think of Enoch?” = Enoch Powell, UK politician known for his views on immigration & demographic change. In 1968 Powell attracted much attention for his "Rivers of Blood" speech, in which he criticised immigration to UK, esp. from former colonies. #anthonypowelltogether

My thought about migrants on small boats: numbers are only ever going to keep increasing and increasing, because of climate change. Pretending otherwise is just wishful thinking. The only effective thing anyone can try to do to help is attempt to reduce or mitigate (the effects of) climate change.

Day 441, Aug 15, Fri: I’m a day ahead, sorry, but… reference to Trapnel as a “Ninetyish figure” is I think a reference to the decadent writers/artists of the 1890s - I found this article about it. internationaltimes.it/decadence-an... #anthonypowelltogether

Day 438, Aug 12, Tues - START CH 2 p30: (1) heresiarch: founder of a heresy or leader of a heretical sect (2) thaumaturge: a worker of wonders and performer of miracles; a magician (3) neophyte: (a) person who is new to a subject or activity (b) a new convert to a religion #anthonypowelltogether

Day 435, Aug 9, Sat: Yet again another book opening where Powell flings us headfirst into new waters, and we just have to sink or swim. I started to quite enjoy it, once I’d managed to resurface and catch my breath. And I learned a new word: ‘vaticinatory’ means ‘prophetic’. #anthonypowelltogether

#prousttogether libertiesjournal.com/online-artic...

Hey, this is an article by Kirtan Nautiyal, do any of you remember him from #Tolstoytogether ? #anthonypowelltogether www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

Saw this bar-restaurant in Tavistock Square in London where VW once lived. You can order the Woolf sea bass if you like. 🤦‍♂️

A good reason to visit Paris #prousttogether

From the ‘newspaper’ - woman awoken by slug.

I do know that I booked tickets for a show with this title. But this reminder still felt like an email from the Grim Reaper! 🙀

Nick is like a private detective, but he’s not trying to solve a crime, he’s trying to solve a mystery: what is the latest gossip? He knows when to talk and ask questions, and when to keep quiet and let other people talk until they spill the beans. #anthonypowelltogether

This is my maddest ever result. Wordle 1,482 4/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

One other 7/7 thread today. Because I think how the bus network got running again is a real testament to some serious heroes that day: The bus drivers and staff who got that network running again and got London home that night. And TfL/the Mayor disobeyed the Security Services to make it happen /1

Let's introduce new versions of golf or football where everyone has a nice sit down every 10 minutes like in tennis.

Day 401, July 6: So, Americans are all the same in substance, although they appear in different allotropes, i.e. with varying properties. Amusing idea. Perhaps this applies to all nationalities, not just Americans. Welsh, English and Scottish perhaps allotropes of Britishness. #anthonypowelltogether

Day 400, July 5: (1) 70s Powell is more likely to write something outré than 50s (or even 60s) Powell (2) Like last book I still feel the narrator is more Powell than Nick (3) Temporary Kings would be a good name for a band (4) Is Pamela bound to have an affair with Gwinnett? #anthonypowelltogether

Day 375, June 10, Tues: “He gave her one of those ’adoring looks’ Lermontov says mean so little to women”. (Lermontov very fond of a Byronic romantic hero.) Thoughts? What do we think about being looked at adoringly? #anthonypowelltogether

Day 372, June 7, Sat: Widmerpool saying how much he dislikes pompous people… #anthonypowelltogether

Day 372, June 7, Sat: “Now he began a long dissertation about ’pairing’” #anthonypowelltogether www.parliament.uk/site-informa...

The best dresses for summer wedding guests, according to an insane article in the Guardian. This one is primary school art smock meets Alien 3.

Day 371, June 6: "Callot-like figures pervaded labyrinthine corridors". Wiki mentions Jacques Callot, a baroque printmaker who made many etchings of soldiers, clowns, drunkards, beggars, court life. Hopefully there'll be an @alisonjaye.bsky.social 'Pictures in Powell' post... #anthonypowelltogether

Day 370, June 5, Thurs: Have we discussed Powell's use of fake book titles, especially in this vol? They seem (deliberately) naff/bad to me. Is he just being funny? Or is he making a broader comment? (I found a TLS article about it but it was spoiler-y & mostly behind paywall) #anthonypowelltogether

Day 368, June 3, Tuesday: I’ve ‘lost’ Nick in this (section of the) book. I’m hearing Powell discussing Trapnel et al, not Nick. #anthonypowelltogether

Day 367, June 2, Mon: “If you bring off adequate preservation of your personal myth, nothing much else in life matters. It is not what happens to people that is significant, but what they think happens to them.” Quite a profound statement lurking amidst the literary squabbles. #anthonypowelltogether

Day 364, May 30, Fri; Talk of Trapnel’s doctrine of facing the world with ’panache’ (always taking a taxi even though he can’t afford it) - does anyone have panache any more? Anyone in public life? Perhaps some people in the world of fashion.

Day 363, May 29, Thurs: Ha, that’s funny, you know when to ‘call it a night’ with a drunken Trapnel when he starts doing his Boris Karloff impression. (Same with @miss-mainwaring.bsky.social when she starts doing the can-can 💃 😉) #anthonypowelltogether

Day 361, May 27, Tues: “To lose one husband, Ms. Manasch, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.” Powell’s descriptions of Rosie are always rather double-edged; any compliment somewhat backhanded… #anthonypowelltogether

Day 360, May 26, Mon: Funny that Powell should say that Jimmy Brent now works in Oil, given that the Brent oil field was discovered in the North Sea the same year as this book was written (1971) Quite possibly just a coincidence. #anthonypowelltogether

Day 359, May 25, Sun: The TV comedy ‘Blandings’ (adapted from stories of P. G. Wodehouse) featured a Death Comes for the Archbishop cocktail, composed of equal measures of gin, sherry, port, brandy, pudding wine, and a substantial dash of bitters. I dare you to make one. #anthonypowelltogether