I am a convert.
Nothing radical you understand. Well, maybe not radical in the easily misconstrued sense.
I am a convert to The National. In fact I am now a subscriber to The National (thanks for the gift of the pen btw).
When I first moved here 11+ years ago from Thailand, I eagerly signed up with Gulf News. That early morning thunk on the doormat was something I'd missed in my little corner of the Far East and the idea of lounging over the Sunday (Friday) papers with a pot of good coffee, a slice of toast and the luxury of time, had me rubbing my hands in glee.
It didn't take long for this to become more a case of me wringing my hands in despair. OK, maybe not quite so melodramatic as that, but I'd pretty much whizzed my way through the whole thing before the kettle had even boiled, and apart from the occasional interesting op ed or 'cut out and keep' recipe (which ended up consigned to the depths of a kitchen drawer), I was not exactly reaping the benefits of my investment.
I then spent far too many years of my life wasting time reading the dailies and clipping them as part of my job in PR, so the pleasures of reading a newspaper properly fell by the wayside unless I was travelling. Until this February that is.
Now I don't read all the sections of The National religiously (sorry Sports Ed) but I do read it every morning, either at my desk over a bowl of porridge or on the weekends with..yes, you got it, a pot of coffee and a bakery item. And apart from being on top of all things vaguely newsworthy, I am gaining a store cupbaord of off-the-wall facts that I am already boring work colleagues and friends with.
Today's edition was particularly insightful. In addition to a breakdown of Dubai Holdings finances, I now know that Harrison Ford has both a type of ant and spider named after him; that in Nabati poetry kandura can also mean a short annoying man; and that coriander (cilantro) contains aldehydes similar to those found in soaps and lotions - hence the love or loathe debate.
Quiz night questions. Inane talking points. Personal amusement value. Ticks all my boxes.
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It is important to note that there is no such things as useless information. All snippets should be safely stored away until their use becomes apparent, whether it is to astound family and friends, win money via a bet or a quiz or to save a life.
ReplyDeleteJust take the Knights of the Round Table (Monty Python not the myth!) where their quest for the Holy Grail would have been at an end if they could not have answered the questions set by The Keeper of the Bridge of Death (a.k.a. the man from scene 24).
btw - I love the vision where years of Gulf News recipe cutouts are festering in a kitchen drawer!