Michael Harling's Blog, page 27
May 6, 2015
Modern Anxiety
We have a lot to be anxious about, us modern folk. In ages past, anxieties were more severe, but the anxieties, themselves were fewer in number.
Granted, they were more likely to happen, and the consequences were less forgiving, but once you learned to live with the notion that you might die of the plague, or that the crops might fail, or that barbarians might sweep through the valley, life just pretty much bumped along without any surprises.
Anxieties today, while not as extreme, are many, and...
Granted, they were more likely to happen, and the consequences were less forgiving, but once you learned to live with the notion that you might die of the plague, or that the crops might fail, or that barbarians might sweep through the valley, life just pretty much bumped along without any surprises.
Anxieties today, while not as extreme, are many, and...
April 28, 2015
Coming Around Again
I’m one of those virtual pariahs the Social Network gurus warn you about: I only post to Facebook and Twitter when I have something to promote, namely, an update to my blog, like this one. I expect a lot of you are here because I have recently committed this virtual faux pas.
I make no apology. My views concerning Twit-Face are no secret and I do not plan to give then another outing now. What I do wish to acknowledge, however, is that Facebook, in its never-ending quest to become as annoying a...
I make no apology. My views concerning Twit-Face are no secret and I do not plan to give then another outing now. What I do wish to acknowledge, however, is that Facebook, in its never-ending quest to become as annoying a...
March 3, 2015
The Silver Screen
Never mind that I didn’t make it onto Joey’s Expat TV show, I’m a movie star now.
Those of you with long memories may recall that I spent a few days playing an extra in the movie, A Dark Reflection some time ago. Well, the movie is out now, and my wife and I want to see it last night.
The movie is a miracle, a heart-breaking miracle.
The director, Tristan Loraine, was an airline pilot. He can no longer fly due to heath issues brought on by the toxic air in plane cabins. So he, an...
Those of you with long memories may recall that I spent a few days playing an extra in the movie, A Dark Reflection some time ago. Well, the movie is out now, and my wife and I want to see it last night.
The movie is a miracle, a heart-breaking miracle.
The director, Tristan Loraine, was an airline pilot. He can no longer fly due to heath issues brought on by the toxic air in plane cabins. So he, an...
February 23, 2015
Calling All (Recent) Expats
So there I was, having a Skype chat with a television producer in New York City and he asks me to do him a favor, so I say, “Joey, baby, anything for you!” and he says, “Don’t call me ‘Baby’ and get your feet off your desk; who do you think you are, Cecil B. DeMille?”
No, this really happened, except for the part about me calling him ‘Baby’ and that Cecil B. DeMille thing.
Here's how it went down.
About a week ago an intern from a film company e-mailed asking if I’d like to be on a popular US tr...
No, this really happened, except for the part about me calling him ‘Baby’ and that Cecil B. DeMille thing.
Here's how it went down.
About a week ago an intern from a film company e-mailed asking if I’d like to be on a popular US tr...
February 15, 2015
The Lion, the Witch and the WTF
I just finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia.
This is not, as many might assume, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is the story most people envisage when they think of The Chronicles of Narnia because that is the only story many of them have read, or even heard of.
In fact, The Chronicles are a series of seven books, but the titles of books 2 thru 7 tend to elude people, like lines 2 thru 7 of God Save the Queen:
God save our gracious queenDum dum dum dum the queenGod save the quee...
This is not, as many might assume, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is the story most people envisage when they think of The Chronicles of Narnia because that is the only story many of them have read, or even heard of.
In fact, The Chronicles are a series of seven books, but the titles of books 2 thru 7 tend to elude people, like lines 2 thru 7 of God Save the Queen:
God save our gracious queenDum dum dum dum the queenGod save the quee...
January 24, 2015
Sod’s Law in Action
Recently, I experienced such a classic dose of Sod’s Law that I thought I’d share it with you as a means of differentiating it from Murphy’s Law.
My American friends will only be familiar with Murphy’s Law, as Sod’s Law has no jurisdiction in the US – or at least it didn’t when I lived there. Murphy’s Law, despite its misuse, is a simple design principle observing the fact that if something can go wrong then, eventually, it will.
For example: you take your new yacht on an extended voyage (or, f...
My American friends will only be familiar with Murphy’s Law, as Sod’s Law has no jurisdiction in the US – or at least it didn’t when I lived there. Murphy’s Law, despite its misuse, is a simple design principle observing the fact that if something can go wrong then, eventually, it will.
For example: you take your new yacht on an extended voyage (or, f...
January 13, 2015
Getting in Touch With My Inner Geezer
I have a birthday coming up shortly and, despite the obvious fact that it beats the alternative, I am not at all happy about it.
It’s one of those milestone birthdays, you see, the round kind, ending in zero. Modern convention holds that this particular age is “the new forty” but, assuming that is so, it is, nonetheless, a dodgy knee, stiff back and "can’t remember where I left the car keys" sort of forty.
Knowing this was in the offing, I began, some months ago, casting about for something new...
It’s one of those milestone birthdays, you see, the round kind, ending in zero. Modern convention holds that this particular age is “the new forty” but, assuming that is so, it is, nonetheless, a dodgy knee, stiff back and "can’t remember where I left the car keys" sort of forty.
Knowing this was in the offing, I began, some months ago, casting about for something new...
January 7, 2015
Denied!
Dear Credit Card Company,
I would like to thank you for denying my card yesterday while I was trying to make a purchase. I realize this was done for my convenience and I want you to know how grateful I am for making my convenience such a priority.
Would you like me to tell you how convenient it was? Too bad, I’m going to do it anyway.
Yesterday was the day I decided to book our annual excursion to the States. This is always a stressful event because it involves a lot of jockeying for position on...
I would like to thank you for denying my card yesterday while I was trying to make a purchase. I realize this was done for my convenience and I want you to know how grateful I am for making my convenience such a priority.
Would you like me to tell you how convenient it was? Too bad, I’m going to do it anyway.
Yesterday was the day I decided to book our annual excursion to the States. This is always a stressful event because it involves a lot of jockeying for position on...
December 26, 2014
The Christmas Miracle
It’s the twenty-fifth of December, and you know what that means: after the orgy of gifts and the festive breakfast, when boredom begins to settle in and you decide to take a walk around the park, the True Miracle of Christmas occurs.
That’s right, this is the one morning of the year when people in Horsham—and possibly throughout West Sussex, and even the rest of the southeast of England—actually acknowledge one another.
To be fair, you can’t say “Good Morning” to everyone on a normal day—there...
That’s right, this is the one morning of the year when people in Horsham—and possibly throughout West Sussex, and even the rest of the southeast of England—actually acknowledge one another.
To be fair, you can’t say “Good Morning” to everyone on a normal day—there...
December 14, 2014
Settling In
“Privileged” is not too strong a word to describe how I feel about having lived for a dozen years in the flat at 36 Pelham Court.
It was solidly and thoughtfully constructed. It was accommodating, quirky and wonderfully anachronistic. It was timeless, imbued with a sense of permanence and continually surrounded us with the comforting feeling of home.
All that said, having now spent a month in a flat built a mere decade ago, I have come to appreciate that there is a lot to be said for modern liv...
It was solidly and thoughtfully constructed. It was accommodating, quirky and wonderfully anachronistic. It was timeless, imbued with a sense of permanence and continually surrounded us with the comforting feeling of home.
All that said, having now spent a month in a flat built a mere decade ago, I have come to appreciate that there is a lot to be said for modern liv...
