Andy

A facade and columns of the Reichstag building.

Me, in an orange hat and jacket. The Reichstag dome and a German flag in the background.

A German flag flying from the Reichstag building.

The roof of the Reichstag dome with a circular hole. The sky is very grey.

In Berlin this weekend. I went and wandered up the Reichstag dome today.

Jetting off on holiday after work felt efficient when I booked the flight, but I obviously didn't think about having to get to the office in rush hour with luggage in tow, and now I'm full of regret.

Aspirational!

Enya said "gay rights!" (Probably anyway. She could be saying anything in that made up space language she sings in).

Environment need bar in tatters.

One of those stripey victorian all-in-one swimsuits, complete with parasol, of course!

Thank you!

Thank you, Jamie!

It's December, which means I'm once again asking why 'December Will Be Magic Again' by Kate Bush is not on streaming.

Shout out to swimming for being the least objectionable form of exercise.

My payday falling on Black Friday feels like a recipe for disaster.

A painting of architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh with a gold backdrop. He's wearing a big black coat and holding on to a floorplan.

External view of the Gothic revival Scottish National Portrait Gallery with intricate stonework and an ornately decorated lamppost in the foreground.

The great hall all done up for Christmas with a Christmas tree and garlands between gothic arches decorated with colourful historical murals.

The library, with hanging lamps and a number of busts on display.

Some more from the very snazzy Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

On the one hand, the web is a terrifying panopticon, but on the other hand, I just used the internet archive to find a long-deleted nut roast recipe, so maybe the panopticon has its perks.

“You’ll be visited by three spirits.”

The three spirits:

Great find!

Detail of an oil painting featuring a white greyhound with black spots looking up as a hand strokes its head. The standing figure wears a tartan kilt and socks.

Close-up of an oil painting showing a small, fluffy black and white spaniel looking at the viewer. He is being petted by a small child.

Detail of a painting showing a large tan mastiff looking up at a standing figure. He is wearing a very fancy looking embossed collar.

Dog-spotting at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

On my way to the airport from Charli xcx's 2024 song 'Apple'. I hope they have a highlighter green plaque somewhere noting this fact.

Is the sandwich okay though?

Bonus points if it's following a tragic ski accident.

A Duane Reade bag with the handles tied > an urn

I have to submit a "song you want played at your funeral" for a game. What would you choose? Any answers, from sincere tearjerkers to gallows humour nonsense accepted.

I will concede that it is ridiculous to call it 'the greatest love story of all time' when The Muppet Movie (1979) exists.

I get what people are saying when they say Wuthering Heights is not a love story, but it is a story about love. A possessive, obsessive, grave-pilfering kind of love, sure, but we call Romeo and Juliet a love story and that is mostly about teenagers speaking in iambic pentameter and then dying.

A very colourful old map in a museum display case.

A sea monster and some other decorative detail from an old map.

Cows on a creased, early modern map.

The Secret Maps exhibit at The British Library is quite fun. Also the only exhibition I've been to with a Where's Wally? puzzle on display.

But if it leads to a resurgence of videos set to that saxophone bit from Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Run Away With Me' I'm all for it.

I think Vine may have been the first in a long list of social media platforms I was absolutely certain I was too old for, so the idea of a Vine Reboot makes me feel truly ancient.

They are really, sincerely great gowns though.

For all the hype over that Netflix Frankenstein adaptation, it's a bit of a "great gowns, beautiful gowns" situation for me.

That shop tries to lure me in with its siren song every time I go to Pudding Mill Lane station.

It's a really great film. Both leads were brilliant. I wasn't sure if I loved or hated how it all turned out. I think maybe both.