Whitney Houston

So sad to hear about Whitney Houston, such a great voice. love tt


Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love par hushhush112

The Royal Institution

I'm in the mood to explore London & visit places that are new for me. So on Tuesday evening I went with a few friends to a talk at the Royal Institution [link] whose impressive building houses a museum & charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science. When I was a child I was strangely fixated - given that I have no aptitude for the sciences at all - with a Ladybird book about the scientist Michael Faraday most famous for his work with electricity and magnetism. He was a member of the Royal Institution & I was thrilled to find, on the lower ground floor, Faraday's magnetic laboratory as it was in the 1850s. The talk was also interesting. It was given by Philip Ball the science writer [link] and based on his new book 'Unnatural'. The Heretical Idea of 'Making People' [link] and just made me want to read this and a hundred other books! At the end of the talk, when the audience were invited to ask questions, a couple of my friends did have great ones but were too shy to ask ! However, we did spill out in to a mild February evening continuing our own lively debate. There is a whole season of talks at The Royal Institution and if you are in London I think it's well worth a visit ! Love tt

Rue McClanahan

Sad to hear the actress Rue McClanahan has passed away. I was captivated as a teenager by her wonderful portrayal of the very seductive & sassy Blanche in 'The Golden Girls' and although Blanche could be a little bit mean it was difficult not to love her sense of freedom & appetite for life. This is a great quote from an equally spirited Rue McClanahan from her 2007 autobiography 'My First Five Husbands... And the One's Who Got Away."People ask me if I'm like Blanche. And I say, 'Well,Blanche was an oversexed, self-involved, man crazy, vain Southern belle from Atlanta - and I'm not from Atlanta..." I guess we all dream of being that feisty , love tt

Happy Taxi !

Yesterday, I was in the back of a black cab & I noticed that the driver had hung a string of small multi-coloured flags around his window. On the flags I could make out what looked like ancient script & I asked the driver what the flags meant. He explained that they were Buddhist prayers & as the wind brushes against the flags the prayers are also gently blown around the world. We then chatted about meditation and at one point I laughed and said, "Well, I've never met a Buddhist cab driver before" (& I've only ever seen St.George's flags,which represent England , in black cabs !) and the driver who did genuinely have a Cockney accent answered :"Oh, there's a few & I know a few Transcendental Meditation drivers too..." This made me absurdly happy. I don't really know why, I'm not religious but the idea of meditating London cabbies is too cool to resist :) Love tt

Illustration (c) Sylvie Bardet

Cooking lesson !

I've realized that my not being able to cook is a problem so I have decided to ask my friends to teach me (and my mother, I hope at some point she will reveal the secrets of her irresistible satay sauce recipe to me so I can share it on this site!). I had my first lesson today with my friend Bharti. The menu consisted of these classic Indian dishes: Tarka Dhal, Dry Potato Curry, Jeera Rice and Chapatis (Indian flat bread). I prepared the meal for 6 people and under Bharthi's wise guidance I'm proud to report that the meal turned out to be very tasty. I will be posting the recipes on the 'My Stuff' page as soon as I can. Hope you will be tempted to try some of them out ! Lots of love tt.

Photo (c) Sylvie Bardet

Abba Mania

My five year old nephew, Louis, has begun writing. In a neat hand, hardly a child's scrawl, he patiently begins : 'Honey, honey','Thank You for the Music ', 'Mamma Mia ','Voulez-Vous'... By the fourth line it becomes clear. He has memorized the greatest hits of Abba, and it is to these glorious titles that his early penmanship is dedicated, not 'dog', 'cat', 'sat', 'mat'. I am absurdly proud, not only is he advanced, he has great taste !! Love tt

Bea Arthur

Sadly, Bea Arthur passed away this weekend. I remember when 'The Golden Girls' first came out & what a buzz it caused amongst me and my teenage friends. I don't think we had ever seen such feisty, sexy, sassy & hilarious older ladies before - it was wonderful and life affirming. Of course, we all had a soft spot for the really tall one whose grouchiness mirrored our own teenage temperament. Here is a classic clip which is also a reminder of what a great singer Bea Arthur was. Lots of love tt

Piano Mania

Last week my two pianos were regulated and generally spruced up by a wonderful piano technician called Ben Edwards. And although the biggest influence on my piano playing remains Les Dawson : .I can still appreciate that after all Ben’s hard work if someone proper played the pianos they would sound amazing ! Ben also has another talent under his stage name Ben Fairlight he is a professional story teller : [link]. That seems like two truly cool jobs. In my fantasy job life I think I would like to be a piano technician/story teller ! Love, tt

Wolfgang Tillmans

Tuesday evening was rather exciting. I had my photo taken by Wolfgang Tillmans. I love his work but what is an even more pleasant discovery is that he is such an affable and warm man. I also have the impression that he is as passionate about photography as the day he began. Talking of affable, lovely people I met the young Australian singer - songwriter Lisa Mitchell recently. I can’t praise her enough. There is something intense and light about her which probably doesn’t make sense until you hear her music. Check out ‘Neopolitan Dreams’: [link]. Lot's of love, tt.