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Three in the Quiet Hour
Three in the morning. That tender, middle hour when yesterday has slipped through your fingers and tomorrow is still stretching somewhere just beyond the horizon. I’m perched by the window like some half-awake lighthouse keeper, sipping on silence, letting the stillness settle into my bones. Outside, the wind is wide awake. Not angry, not restless—just…
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The Most Wonderful Time to Be Sentimental
By a guy who still gets misty-eyed at the sight of tinsel Ask anyone what their favorite time of year is, and you’ll hear all sorts of questionable choices. Some will say summer — which is basically four months of being basted like a rotisserie chicken. Others will praise spring, a season mostly dedicated to…
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The Day I Almost Remembered a Life I Never Lived, I Think.
By a man who still isn’t sure if he met a ghost or just inhaled too much pollen It’s been said—quite confidently, and probably over a pint—that England, for all its history of wars, plagues, and questionable cuisine, is the most haunted country on earth. Now, I’m not sure who’s keeping score here, because if…
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Dreams: Flights of the Soul
You ever wonder what dreams really are? Some people say they’re just the clutter of the day, your brain trying to clean house while you sleep. Science tells us that biologically, dreams are the brain’s way of processing and consolidating information—sifting through memories, ironing out emotions, even rehearsing possible futures. Freud called them the royal…
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The Last Generation of Mad, Wild, and Free Kids
Growing up, back in my day, when you wanted to talk to a friend, you didn’t send a text or drop a WhatsApp message—you got on your bike, pedaled furiously through the streets, and knocked on their front door like a proper human being. And if they weren’t home? Tough. You’d find some other bunch…
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“Do You Remember?”
By someone who still believes in mornings and the echo of old speeches. Do you remember? Back in October 1962, a young American president from Massachusetts stood his ground against a Soviet titan playing with fire 90 miles off our coast. John F. Kennedy — a Democrat — didn’t blink. He showed them what American…
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Saudi Arabia, Sand, and Surprise Barbecue
1998 — Saudi Arabia. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building. Me, a skinny engineering graduate with the wide-eyed optimism of a chipmunk in a nut factory. And let me tell you, if you’ve ever wanted to experience the majestic thrill of absolutely nothing, the desert kingdom delivers in spades. Miles and miles of beige. Not gold.…
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When Cool Peaked and Never Came Back
GenX or as I’d like to say it, Gen Us— wasn’t just a generation—it was an 18-wheeler doing a burnout in the parking lot of history while Rock Ballads blasted through the tape deck. It was loud, proud, and occasionally covered in glitter and neon zebra print. Everybody—and I mean everybody—was there. Michael Jackson was…
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How I Accidentally Joined the Railway and Dodged a Missile Company
by someone who wore boat shoes to a railway interview Back in the early 2000s—when Nokia was king and broadband meant waiting three hours to download one photo of a car—I returned to England after a stint abroad. I had a young family, a head full of vague responsibilities, and a sudden awareness that baby…
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Where Everybody Knows Your Name and a Cheers to Norm, One Last Round
You ever get one of those moments—like when the wind shifts just right and brings in a smell you haven’t smelled in years? Cut grass and diesel fuel, maybe. Or cinnamon from your grandmother’s kitchen. Well, that happened to me this morning. Not with wind. With email. Yeah, I know. Not very poetic. But sometimes…
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A Jubilee, a Corr, and a Cold Goodbye
February 2017, London. Cold, damp, and everything was wrapped in that stubborn, bone-chilling English gray. It was the sort of chill that could freeze tea right in the kettle. So naturally, I thought, “What better time for a nostalgia walk?” There I was, hoofing it down the Mall, past Buckingham Palace, when I realized the…
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