Khartoum, Berlin, and Change

I can’t say my life isn’t filled with lovely parts. I know fantastic people and I have fantastic opportunities to experience much of the strange stuff that this world offers. I’m not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but I have people who can lend me a sofa in times of need and at…More

Things I’m Going to Do Differently in 2016

At the beginning of 2015 I wrote a little bit about what I was hoping to do in the new year. It wasn’t grandiose – if anything the piece was a tad dejected. I expected a level of failure before I even tried. My plan was to go boldly into something that I loved, and…More

More Vitiligo! Dazed! Beauty!

If you personally knew me back in May then you would have probably heard my giggles about being approached for “Too Ugly For Love?” on the basis of my vitiligo essay over at Buzzfeed. More

Thoughts About Stigma

Six ago I remember going on a class trip to an orphanage. In the middle of group-play with the children a young boy was singled out by a nurse. She said that he was HIV+, and suddenly a wealth of blank space opened up around him as people rapidly moved away. He sat in the…More

The Internet Made Me Lose My Attention Span… But Not Really

I have a confession. I only read a book a week these days; six years ago I used to consume a book a day for pleasure, excluding the reading I was assigned by other people. It’s all changed because of the internet. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. * Over the past few years…More

The Strangest of All Hot Takes: #piggate 2015

So a rather explosive reveal has occurred, with Lord Ashcroft – apparently none-too-pleased about not getting a greater position in government – serialising his new biography of David Cameron in the Daily Mail (which the newspaper helpfully reported under the title ‘REVENGE’ in case we were unsure of motives). Of course the allegation that life…More

Back to the Desert

The last time I smelt rain following a storm of dust was five years ago when a whirlwind of sand passed through Khartoum. There is something sweet and comforting in the smell, a small section of yourself you never realised was there beats faster. It is the same kind of remembrance that greets me whenever…More