A contemporary Heracles?
For those of you reading Mortal Ghost, you might want to have a look at what DF of Breakfast with Pandora suggests about Jesse. In this Jesse is very Greek,...
A humble policy statement (part 1)
Despite its undoubted temptations I’m more convinced than ever that conventional publication is not for me. What could publication offer me? 1. More readersHow many is enough? 10? 100? 1000?...
Director’s Cut
I need some cheering up today so, perversely, I’m posting a scene from Mortal Ghost that didn’t make the director’s final cut. Here it is: Jesse took a deep breath...
If they thought a tritone was devilish…
I’m in the midst of reading a fascinating book called This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, written by Daniel J. Levitin. Levitin is particularly...
As soon as Halloween arrives
I start thinking of Christmas stories, perverse as I am. This year I’m not sure I’ll be able to do one, so instead I’ve had another idea. I’m going to...
Six-word story
Via Debra Hamel a link to six-word stories at Wired. And here’s one of mine: ‘Not dice,’ God said. ‘Stud poker.’
Dirty Dancing
Staying with my mum in a senior-living residence – not assisted living, thankfully not that as yet – can be terribly depressing. It’s easy to lose sight of the point...
At this time of year I seem
to end up picking more apples than words, especially if I can’t talk my children into doing it for me. It’s not precisely what I think of as a thankless...
The Naming of Parts
Does anyone else remember the game most us played with our very small children? Show me your mouth. Your elbow. Your toes. Your belly-button. Mine could play this game over...
Five Questions
I’m enjoying John Baker‘s survey of bloggers so much that I’ve decided to answer his five questions too. (John, I sincerely hope you’re not offended!) Here goes. 1. Why do...
The idea of infinity
always seemed proposterous to me as a child, almost some sort of personal affront. Even its symbol, borrowed from another and tipped on its side, used to make me laugh....
I have a packrat mindset
dating from childhood, when my family was struggling with debt in the face of smug middle-class consumption. I still remember a casual remark tossed out by a fourth-grade classmate: ‘Why...