Naomi Alderman

we did a podcast about that Tom Hiddleston ad. we talked about how it relates to changes in Chinese society, feminism and modern porn culture. we were, to be honest, on firehttps://twitter.com/adrianhon/status/1114937433827749894 …

most of us in the house don't care so much abt any ideology, pro or anti Neighbourhood Association. we just want to be able to go to the store & get the cheap good-quality crackers like we always could. but none of our leaders seem willing to make compromises to make that happen.

but on the other hand, there are 27 of them and one of us. and we have always been kind of rowdy at the pool parties and always trying to get out of some of the rules. so some people in the NA are probably going to say: good riddance to them, we're better off without.

it *is* true that we are one of the three biggest houses in the neighbourhood and dues are paid based on the size of the house. so some people say: the minute we leave, they'll miss our dues so much that they'll have us back anytime we ask!

we have definitely "decided" that we don't want to "leave" without working out some way to get continued access to the pool and the grocery store. they are the most convenient ones for us! but we cannot agree on what to offer the Neighbourhood Association to make that happen.

no one has arranged a great deal with a *different* grocery store (even though they keep saying it'll be "easy", they haven't actually done it). no one has organised group passes for a different pool. no one has worked out how we're going to get our medicines.

so there's no agreement on a way forward. and at the end of next week we are going to "leave". which at the moment means: no shared grocery store, no pool, no library, no nurse. but NO ONE has organised any replacements for us for any of these things.

that's Theresa May's deal. we don't have to go to the boring board meetings! but to use the pool, we still have to obey the "no noisy parties after 9pm" rule. the people who wanted no more rules don't like it. the people who liked the NA say: but we want to vote on the board!

the neighbourhood association understandably say: well, if you want to LEAVE, I guess you don't have to have that seat on the board anymore. but you still need to pay your dues and abide by the rules if you want to use the pool, guys. that's how it works.

so now there's an idea going around our house that maybe we can LEAVE the neighbourhood association, stop paying our dues, but still be able to use the pool, and shop at the co-op grocery store, and have access to the home-visit nurse.

so we took a vote and *very narrowly* decided to leave the neighbourhood association. unfortunately some people in our house think that the association should be *grateful* to have us using their pool. after all, we were volunteer lifeguards! and we're fun!

so there's been a rumbling disagreement for a long time in our house. half of us love the shared amenities and think the rules are basically great. the other half hate the rules (no more than four dogs?! we want eight!) - even the *idea* that someone else is giving us rules.

...shared access to a home-visit nurse, a security guard to patrol the neighbourhood. There are also some annoying rules about noise abatement, dog poop etc. We've been members for ages and it works just like you'd think: we pay our dues and we get a seat on the board.

yesterday in a cab in NYC I managed to explain Brexit to my cab driver in the following way: imagine that we live in a neighbourhood with a neighbourhood association. the NA provide some great shared amenities: a pool, a grocery store with cheap prices...