Chinese menus, books, Harvey Wall-bangers and our lost sense of adventure

Chinese menus, books, Harvey Wall-bangers and our lost sense of adventure When I was growing up, Chinese food was considered really rather exotic and adventurous but these days, most people consider it almost a mainstream part of their diet. The small market town I grew up in had a single Chinese restaurant and it was [...]

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Can you see what I see? Can you feel what I feel? ~ Empathy and Imagination

Can you see what I see? Can you feel what I feel? ~ Empathy and Imagination One of the most frustrating questions to be asked when depressed is, “What are you depressed about?” It’s frustrating on so many levels. On the first level, it’s simply baffling to the person being questioned. To be asked to [...]

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The myth of permanent growth ~ or what goes up must come down

The myth of permanent growth ~ or what goes up must come down Recent news reports on the British economy have been pretty depressing lately. I really don’t find either politics or economics even vaguely interesting but I was struck by various things recently. The concept of growth, for example. Some years ago, I was [...]

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I WANT TO BELIEVE ~ being Mulder AND Scully

I WANT TO BELIEVE ~ being Mulder AND Scully One of my favourite TV shows of all time was the X-files. I happened upon the pilot episode when it first aired in the UK and I was hooked. Mulder had a poster in his basement office at FBI headquarters which I have long coveted. It [...]

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From Palaeolithic goddess to a face in the crowd ~ how success is measured according to the times and society you live in.

From Palaeolithic goddess to a face in the crowd ~ how success is measured according to the times and society you live in. As an exercise in exploring the concept of success I thought it might be entertaining to speculate on how my life might have been viewed through different eras and millennia. The one [...]

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Why the poet’s garden may be a jungle, the artist’s house a mess and why writers often live on noodles

Why the poet’s garden may be a jungle, the artist’s house a mess and why writers often live on noodles A couple of years ago, a friend expressed puzzlement at why we had stopped making our own wine and beer. It had been so much a part of our lives that at one time I [...]

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Dog Days

Dog Days Where did my summer go? Lost in a whirl of passing days Eaten up by anxiety Consumed by confusion? Summer ends as it began, silently, Slowly, the greens fading From brilliance to buff Becoming at first tired and jaded, Ragged at the edges, The freshness of spring Dried and hardened to leather. The sun [...]

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Follow the leader or Blindman’s Buff? ~ where are we going and who do we follow?

I took this photo in France in April. The line is a column of caterpillars from the pine processionary moth. These creatures migrate en masse to pupate, and do so in a line where each creature holds the rear end of the one in front of it. You can(with gloves, as they are quite toxic, [...]

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A yearning for freedom and a burning desire for fairness ~ a dangerous combination?

A yearning for freedom and a burning desire for fairness ~ a dangerous combination? Many years ago now, a dear friend said to me, “You have a strong desire to  express your freedom,” and I didn’t know what he meant. I’m still not entirely sure now. In the West we have more personal freedoms than [...]

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Shoreline ~ a Poem of the seaside

Shoreline When the wind rages I share the shore With a few brave souls Driven from home By dogs or inner demons. We nod, curtly and pass, Silent, heads down. Today, the sun shines, The waves are mild And I share (with bad grace) My strand with strangers, Bred by heat from streets, Sunning themselves [...]

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