In a bun dance

If I'm going to get something, I usually get it in spades - luck (both kinds), children, clutter, dirty laundry, bright ideas, daft ideas...

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What manners can make, coming untied and a half-empty moment. Things I learned.

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It’s been an educational few days. Here’s what I learned: As a parent, manners aren’t always what you want. This morning’s dull commute was considerably enlivened by the presence of an appealing and articulate toddler chatting to his mother about grapes, tractors and the understandable excitement of being on a railway train. And then it […]

On getting dressed in the dark, sexual confusion and hair washing – things I’ve learned lately

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It’s a huge relief, I must say, to have let myself off the hook and returned to little trivial blog posts like this – but with a structure. You should try it. I could include that as a learning, couldn’t I? Make some rules for yourself, then keep them. But, actually, that’s not really healthy, […]

Things I’ve learned from completing an MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow

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That’s it. My life is my own again. I’m an ordinary person rather than a mature student. Last week I handed in the final portfolio of my course and, rather than elation and a heady end-of-terminess, I felt a bit flat, slightly sad and, even, a little empty. It would be very tempting to dive […]

Why I love getting the sleeper

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  My favourite way to travel to London is by sleeper train. It gives me a sense of how Harry Potter felt when he pushed his trunk and owl-laden trolley into the other world of platform 9 3/4. Instead of being pursued by a vast bearded man on an enchanted motorbike though, I just need […]

The Great City Swap – monkeying around in Edinburgh

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We did this in 2016, it’s time for a return visit to the zoo. It’s a refrain nearly as common as “muuuum, where is my….?” and it’s one that’s often harder to find an answer to. It’s this old chestnut: What are we going to do today? It’s particularly challenging in the Palace of Bundance because […]