Thoughts: On Balance…
The following is a brief outpouring of brain clutter. It serves no other purpose than to be an unartistic sharing of thoughts around a subject that I am certain to return to properly at a later date... Today, my thoughts have been focused on balance. Whilst I'm...
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Burn the Mince Pies!
Over-indulging over Christmas has led to the inevitable love handles and general doughy appearance of my torso. Much of the exercise from the autumn has been successfully undone, and now it is time to address this issue with much haste. Tonight was out first night...
Un-Deck the Halls
So it wasn't quite Twelfth Night, but we decided that it was time to take our Christmas tree down. We've been away for most of the festive period, visiting friends and family across the country, so we have barely had any time to look at it this year anyway. But alas,...
Loose Ends: The Lost Days of Late December
A light flurry of snow is falling outside, refusing to settle on the sodden ground. Meanwhile, our energetic border collie is wrestling with my in-laws' equally boisterous alsatian/labrador cross, both of whom are feeling trapped indoors thanks to the weather. At this...
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Too Busy Writing to Write
I've been somewhat busy the past week or so. The usual workload aside, I've been participating in NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. For those who haven't heard of it, what started off as a creative writing project in the USA back in 1999 has now become a...
Doodling All Day
“Mister Rivenberg! Will you please stop doodling and do some work! You’ll never get anywhere in life if you just sit there drawing all day!” My teachers always told me off for doodling. My workbooks would be littered with seemingly random scribbles of off-topic...
Nightbook
First, I will set the scene, as all good storytellers should. It is late on a Friday evening, but thanks to a shared case of the common cold we are laying in bed. My wife is already asleep in a cocoon of duvet nestled between two hot water bottles. She’s been snoozing...
Today, the River became an Ocean…
I don't consider myself to be a person that relies on routine. Instead, I see myself as a creature of habit. Perhaps distinguishing the two is an exercise in semantics, but the nuanced difference between the two is why I feel the need to clarify this point. Like most...
A Good Start to Autumn
Weekends are the days when we seem to make the most of our spare time, especially through the shorter days of autumn and winter. Weekdays are all too easily consumed by work, and our free time in the evenings occupied by chores or lazing in front of the television....
On refusing to be unwell…
It's a typical early autumn day, mid morning, and I'm walking Tiki in the park. This is a fairly standard day for us two. But today, we are accompanied by an univited guest, whose presence is uncomfortably felt throughout the whole journey. My usual response when I...
I nominate you.
I nominate you. I nominate you to change the world. I nominate you to pour a bucket of water over your head. I nominate you to raise awareness. I nominate you to down your drink. I nominate you to stop. I nominate you to change the world. I nominate you to pour a...
Ferns
The ferns tickled her nose. It always did this when she fell over in the forest, But she liked it. It reminded her a bit of her pet dog from when she was a child in the 80s. His nose used to touch things as well, And it was a conservative government back then too. The...
A Short Story about My Favourite Book…
I do not recognise this young goat. He's stolen my favourite book And he won't give it back. He speaks fluent German, But refuses to acknowledge my claim on the book, Arguing that he plucked it himself from the tree by the edge of the reservoir. I push him down the...
Robots
“What happen’s next?” asked 417 “Is there a robot hell, or heaven?” “I haven’t a clue” said 823 “ But I’m sure you’ll find out sooner than me” “Nobody knows what’s after it ends we all fall apart, because nobody mends. We fall to pieces down at their feet Tossed aside...
Time to Wake Up
The light streams through the curtains and wakes me As my mother does that thing That all mothers do To wake up their sleeping youngsters When it’s time to get up. She’s already laid out my clothes Ready for me to get dressed Before I head downstairs And find my...
Abney Park Cemetery
There’s a party in the gravestones, dear The beggarmen all dance Poverty is not the drug That has them in a trance Bending moving shaking frames No music in their rhythms Culture found beneath the line Beyond the social schisms The partygoers every night Are vagrant...