Adrian Chiles has declared he’s ‘started getting feelings’ for his spoon collection. Mostly, wooden spoons. Should you be interested.
It was only a couple weeks ago the columnist, who delights us with his humble musings on daily life each week, got the interest piqued with his admission he’d at home.
Now? Spoons.
Blaming restaurant critic Tim Hayward for his sudden urge to conduct a personal spoon inventory, after he wrote about his search for the perfect one, Adrian revealed he was soon looking for a ladle that was the ‘right depth, size, shape, length and other variables’ in his drawer.
Forget Frodo and the ring, this is the worthy quest we can strap ourselves into.
Be that as it may, the presenter, who has ‘no fewer than 17 wooden spoons’, insisted he was no ‘spoon lothario’ and not to judge him on a ‘quantity vs quality’ scale due to the sheer power of his spoon collection.
He wrote this week in his column of his favourite: ‘It’s more of a spatula than a spoon, but it suits me very well. I had always looked out for it without knowing I was doing so and felt a twinge of disappointment if it didn’t come to hand. If ever I lost it for good, I now understood, I would miss it for ever.’
Broaching the subject for his BBC radio show, Adrian was dismissed before, finally, receiving the spoon-themed respect he so sorely deserved, when people began to share ‘moving’ stories about their cutlery.
From spoons with sentimental meaning to those that were lost over time, or those gifted by people who were no longer alive – sorry, are we getting misty-eyed up in here talking about spoons?
We’re not alone, must like ol’ urinal chatter, Adrian’s prose on spoons has got people thinking.
‘Not only is Adrian Chiles operating on a different astral plane from the rest of us, he’s also spot on,’ someone tweeted today, sharing the article. ‘I do have a favourite wooden spoon, one of many.’
Sharing another message, one avid reader mused of their fascination with whatever Adrian might talk about: ‘I would very much like a tv show where Adrian Chiles spends time picking a favourite thing from a selection of his things – spoons, jackets, hangers, pens. I would watch anything.’
While one suggested his ode to spoons ‘hits a sweet spot on how to discuss people’s personal relationships and histories with the technology in their homes,’ another really enjoyed the introduction of the phrase ‘spoon lothario’.
And one just thought Adrian may need a hand: ‘Adrian Chiles continues to send out coded cries for help, and the world remains silent.’
On his now-iconic column ideas, Adrian recently revealed his topics come to him ‘out of sheer desperation’.
He added to : ‘That fear on a Wednesday morning when I wake up and I’ve got nothing. Then something will hopefully occur to me.
‘I don’t just write it, I speak to the editor. I say, “Look, can I do this?” So I haven’t got a totally free rein. That’s the bit of it I like least, when I’ve got some half-assed idea.
‘For instance, I went for a walk one day and I was climbing over a fence [and fell]. I smashed all my back up and I really saw stars, right? I thought, “I’m going to write about that.” And the bloke said, “So, you are going to write about falling over?” Sometimes I get away with it, sometimes I don’t, but you need an understanding sort of editor who’ll back you to write about something so random.’
