The lasting influence of St Michael le Belfrey

On a bit of a whim this morning I trawled Spotify for some of the spiritual music that I’ve found helpful and comforting over the years. My search led me to this video, which I listened to with conflicting emotions. If I had to pick one person whose influence shaped my college years and early [...]

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The right tool for the job

Sometimes there’s just so much satisfaction in getting the right piece of kit for the job. Often it seems to be the culmination of a long process of trying out less satisfactory alternatives. When you’ve already paid out a significant sum for something, you baulk a little at the extra cost that will make it [...]

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Hello again, stranger

My son’s home from uni again. And it’s weird. I feel like I don’t know him. Don’t get me wrong – I like him. I was pleased – make that delighted – to see him again. But whereas I used to be absolutely confident I knew the things that would make him happy – large [...]

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The etiquette of blogging your job

A friend of mine, a teacher, has been having a difficult time at work and has recently returned after several months of stress-related sick leave. At an apparently routine meeting with her line manager, she was startled to be asked if she blogged about her work. She has done, via a general educational blog that [...]

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“I reject your reality and substitute my own.” Review of “The Orphan Master’s Son” – the first great North Korean novel?

      Ga thought about reminding the Dear Leader that they live in a land where people had been trained to accept any reality presented to them. He considered sharing how there was only one penalty, the ultimate one, for questioning reality, how a citizen could fall into great jeopardy for simply noticing that [...]

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The Fall of Sherlock Holmes

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“Your time on earth is limited. Don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

I spent much of yesterday at one of my favourite places – the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon. I’m hoping to help them out as a voluntary writer from time to time as they develop their digital platforms for children. Meanwhile, they’ve asked me for a few activities they can hand out in school holidays [...]

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Welcome Post

Welcome – this is where I share my thoughts on the things I find fascinating, exciting and inspiring. These are likely to be the books I’ve been reading – many of them history or biography, the movies, theatre and TV I’ve been enjoying, and my activities in the garden and the kitchen, and on the [...]

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In Belmont is a Barbie Doll

I’m back from Stratford, and my first production at the new RSC Theatre, where I managed to break a seat. It literally fell apart in my hand as I tried to push it up to let people get past me. I was whisked away into a very expensive stalls seat before I could manage to tweet about it! Not that [...]

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BAFTA awards, The Sandman, and a spoilery thought (under LJ cut)

The BAFTA awards…it’s always been the case that DW tends to get overlooked because it picks up Welsh BAFTAs, and that seemed to be happening here, though I still felt it was being eclipsed by Sherlock and wondered if critical backlash is working its way through. I never really expected Matt Smith to win the Best [...]

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