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Adam J Taylor
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Postgraduate researcher in The School of Pharmacy at The University of Nottingham.
Vices include épée, wine, opera and Evensong.
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This is my personal site and as such may not represent the views of my institution or funding bodies.
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Sidmouth, east of the Town Beach. Christmas Day, 2011.
Ship of Fools: 756 km to Santiago
On completion in Santiago, we bemusedly, quietly, attached small scallop shells (the symbol of St James) or yellow arrows (the directional sign of the Camino) to our jackets and packs, and returned to our lives, such as they are. Not many recognize these symbols, but when they do, it surprises. One winter day, I entered a coffee house in Ottawa and this haiku records the incident:
Elgin Street Starbucks,
Muslim barista spots pin.
“Con leche, hajji?”
TEDxPortofSpain - Stefan Grosberg - The humble pumpkin.
I studied with Stefan in Bath, and he remains one of the most genuine, down-to-earth people I have met. It’s great to see him talking with such passion and humility on his conversion from chemical engineer to artisan pesto producer, and the place of regional food in his home island of Trinidad.
We’re not even a week into Advent, and yet I’m already enthralled by this beautiful Epiphany carol: The Three Kings by Peter Cornelius, sung by the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, directed by Stephen Cleobury. The soloist is Rupert Reid.
“I was twenty one, at midnight, running down a dark street on my own, with ten big men chasing me; and the fact they had cameras in their hand meant that that was legal.”
— Sienna Miller, speaking at the Levenson Inquiry
Nuit Blanche. Directed by Arev Manoukian (via parcemihidomine)
On avoiding melencholy
Dear Lady Georgiana,
Nobody has suffered more from low spirits than I have done, so I feel for you.
1st: Live as well as you dare.
2nd: Go into the showerbath with a small quantity of water at a temperature low enough to give you a slight sensation of cold.
3rd: Amusing books.
4th: Short views of human life — not further than dinner or tea.
5th: Be as busy as you can.
6th: See as much as you can of those friends who like and respect you.
7th: And of those acquaintances who amuse you.
8th: Make no secret of low spirits to your friends, but talk of them freely — they are always worse for dignified concealment.
9th: Attend to the effects tea and coffee produce upon you.
10th: Don’t expect too much from human life — a sorry business at the best.
11th: Compare your lot with that of other people.
12th: Avoid poetry, dramatic representations (except comedy), music, serious novels, melancholy, sentimental people, everything likely to excite feeling or emotion, not ending in active benevolence.
13th: DO GOOD, and endeavour to please everybody of every degree.
14th: Be as much as you can in the open air without fatigue.
15th: Make the room where you commonly sit gay and pleasant.
16th: Struggle little by little against idleness.
17th: Don’t be too severe upon yourself, or underrate yourself, but do yourself justice.
18th: Keep good blazing fires.
19th: Be firm and constant in the exercise of rational religion.
20th: Believe me, dear Lady Georgiana, Very truly yours, Sydney Smith.
— Sydney Smith, later Dean of St Pauls, 1828
(via Daniel Robinson. ht Dave Walker & Sara Batts)
Self portrait of L.S. Lowry
Oil on canvas, 1938. 21 in. x 17 1/8 in. (535 mm x 435 mm)
National Portrait Gallery, NPG L224. Lent by a private collection, 2002
My sister thinks that this is my spitting image. I’m tempted to improve it by adding a set of marker pen glasses when I catch it at the new Lowry exhibition at Lakeside Arts soon.
