Status Updates From Verbruikt licht

'Things I live with use their stillness to goad me. The glossy white toilet is so resolutely immobile, I've developed the urge to wrench it from the floor and shove it out of place.' p.115-116

'There was a time when I was saying eggbutt snaffle several days a week. I think life was simpler back then. I should probably say eggbutt snaffle more often.

Eggbutt snaffle,

eggbutt snaffle,

eggbutt snaffle,

eggbutt snaffle.' p.105

'Two other nails I have kept include the one from your big toe. Its deep maroon reminds me of the Rothko chapel and the Victoria plums begging to be plucked from the branches draped over the Tottenham canal. I thought it was a hawk moth, the day you left it on the rug. I lowered my hand with so much care to the floor. I waited for it to flap.' p.91

'In 1864, the Alabama was sunk outside Cherbourg, a town I visited to celebrate the achievements of a gynaecologist called Lom. His best friend and lover was a man named Fig. Fig was a classical pianist. He lost a finger during World War II. Ripped off by shrapnel.' p.31

'I keep the knife in the right-hand drawer of my desk because I like to admire it when I sit here. Its weight and shape inspire me. Its purpose absolute.' p.16

'When the stairlift appeared in the front garden, I knew she was dead. Reg came rushing out of the house and pushed a toaster into my hands. I've a better one in Chingford anyway, he said.' p.2