Parlour games

Here’s a game I often play on a Sunday afternoon. Look through the weekend’s papers and pick out people you would never ever want to meet, under any circumstances. The “Weekenders” slot in The Guardian is usually good for this. But there are plenty of gems hidden away elsewhere, such as this, from the Sunday Times property section, about the Newman family who have bought two derelict railway cottages on the Kent coast. Richard is a “film-maker” and Sarah is an “interior designer”. Here’s the sentence I liked best:

“The couple, both 39, set about creating a second home for themselves and their children, Calypso, 6, and Emerson, 3.”

The only question is why wasn’t little Emerson called “Magnum” or “Mivvi”.