I’ve always thought of automats as lonely, melancholy places. Continue reading →

Invincible came into service right before I joined up. It was a big deal at the time. Continue reading →

The Name of the Rose is one of those books that I read at an impressionable age and was terribly impressed by it. I read it again a few years later and it was better still. It’s firmly in my … Continue reading →

Nan was less than two years away from her century. She was born before the First World War. Continue reading →

A Buccaneer scholar is someone who takes responsibility for their own education. Continue reading →

A long time ago, I had a girlfriend and I used to sing to her. Continue reading →

I opened the book and, on the very first page, was the program that changed my life. Continue reading →

The Golden Treasury of English Verse and a harmonica were my only mementos of civilization. Continue reading →

You can make something out of nothing but the thoughts in your head. Continue reading →

Crossing the line is an important milestone in a young sailor’s life. Continue reading →