Write what you know, they say… So I’m trying, simultaneously, to craft a poem about kindness – which I don’t always understand, a short story comparing women to tuning forks, and to empty my head onto the page. Only none of it’s working. Write what you know, they say… I’m too damn distracted. Can’t concentrate. […]
Escaping the curse of the to-do list with a ta-da list
It may be another universal division – the list-makers and the, well, frankly mysterious people who don’t have to write their tasks down. (If that’s you… please explain how it works?) I have lists. Sometimes I have lists of list. I have systems of lists. I have lists with different timescales (today, tomorrow, sometime – […]
Coronavirus: Things I’ve learned from school at home
How long has this been goin’ on? asked Ace in 2975. Flippin’ ages, comes the answer in a warble. Yes. It all started so suddenly, so unthinkably, with our usual lives unceremoniously parked. Nothing was normal – work, going to the shops, school. Nothing. No more school bags, PE kit, packed lunches or 11th hour […]
Coronavirus: Questions arising…
Lockdown parenting – the real deal isn’t pretty
It’s sickening, isn’t it? From Facebook to Instagram and back again, families hand-in-hand on sunlit meadows, tiny hands baking cupcakes, wobbly colourful art, snuggling up on sofas and the results of tie-dye. Where on earth has the tie-dye fascination come from? Up and down the nation, parents are doing their best, and putting the most […]