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The Hell House Chronicles: From Chaos to Clarity
In August 2024, I achieved a significant milestone: securing my “dream job” at a prestigious business school in London. Elation quickly set in, though tempered by the realization that this new chapter would bring substantial challenges. I had been enjoying a high standard of living in Birmingham with minimal costs—a balance that simply doesn’t exist…
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Merry (Mad) Christmas 2024, a reflection on the Big Day (and Year)
I have not posted for three months, and for good reason: it’s perhaps been the most stressful and busy three months of my adult life. Well, there were at least four more challenging occasions now that I think about it, but it has been pretty extreme nonetheless. I would not normally dream of posting on…
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The Privilege of Working in the Heart of London
Since arriving as an employee in the heart of London’s financial district I have done little more than catch a tube into Old Street, walk 5 minutes to the office and then do the reverse to get home. My office might as well be in Slough, Swindon or anywhere else because I’ve ignored its surroundings.…
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Hamilton
Such is it’s acclaim there’s no point in me adding my own two cents. A masterpiece. I was reading that it was seven years in the making – that’s just in terms of the writing and development. Two and a half hours of entertainment gold takes years and a global village to deliver, not to…
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Hunstanton – day at the beach #2
I was committed to going to the beach if hot weather came along on a weekend. For the second time this year it obliged so I kept my word and headed for another beach on the England’s east coast. It was pretty with a small dose of “Skeg” – a cross between Frinton and Clacton…
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Clacton on Sea
Hey, I completely forgot that Clacton is now the centre of Faragedom on Earth. If I knew that I would have probably still visited but it did send a shiver down my spine to think that that racist, smug crocodile is the kleptocratic MP for this town. It wasn’t an overtly a racist or hateful…
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Summer in the City: first day at Bayes
Like every first day it was exciting, chaotic and somewhat overwhelming. This was no normal first day though because my new job is in the heart of the old City of London, which for me is the most interesting part of the city. It is after all its financial and economic engine and the centre…
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Barber Institute of Fine Art
As part of a flying departure from the University of Birmingham I spent an hour or so enjoying the Barber Institute of Fine Art. It’s an incredible place featuring fine works by world famous artists (e.g., Turner, Monet, Van Gogh, Magritte, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec). There was also a special exhibition by Claudette Johnson, a current finalist…
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Winterbourne Gardens
The horror! The horror! I worked next to Winterbourne Gardens for two and a half years and I never visited. On my very last day I decided to pop by for a now-or never-visit. Thank the Gods I did, it’s stunning! I kick myself though because I could and should have been a regular.
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Saying goodbye to my beautiful office
The thing I loved most at the University of Birmingham was my amazing office. It was such a unique space, such an opportunity – over the course of months I made it incrementally more cosy. Moving out was sad, it was not so long ago that I thought that the University of Birmingham and that…
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Dr Martin James 