What a tragic joke life is
Please see my Substack (and please give me a follow) for the pictures and links. I haven’t written for a while, because I’ve been working on my novel, some of which I will put on here in due course (like a more grown up version of a celeb serialising their memoir in The Daily Mail). […]
God, Ozempic, Chat GPT – this human needs a handrail
If God had a name what would it be?And would you call it to his face?If you were faced with Him in all His gloryWhat would you ask if you had just one question? I’d ask him why I was born in an age of too much choice, that’s for sure. Why wasn’t I born […]
Will Chat GPT feel my feelings for me?
I have been absent from here for nearly four months. It wasn’t meant to be that long. Actually it was either going to be a monthly contribution from me, or I’d disappear into oblivion. As the Christmas break became less of an excuse, I thought it may be the latter, but I was once taught […]
The truth is rarely pure and never simple
This is my quote of the month, and it made a fitting title. It is of course from The Importance of being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. I happened to study this text for English A Level, and it is genius. Another great Irishman, my accountant, says there are always ‘at least five sides to every story,’ which I love. It […]
We drown ourselves in our own puddles
“No piece of information is superior to any other. Power lies in having them all on file and then finding the connections. There are always connections; you have only to want to find them.” Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum This is the best quote I heard in September, and I am going to explore it in […]
Life dumping you like a wave in north east Ibiza
I really want to write something profound this week. I feel a strong blog might reflect the acute awakenings that only a great family holiday in Ibiza can provoke. I don’t like that first sentence, I’ve been back over it so many times, and I can’t get anywhere with it so I’m leaving it to […]
Art, exposure work, and finding another voice
I still have writer’s block but I can feel I’m becoming unstuck. I started the intro to my book again last night, writing a spin off of Romeo and Juliet. I am going to see a performance with Superman (Tom Holland) playing the man in question next month, so I am sure I will be […]
Achievement and OCD dogma
I felt low and listless yesterday after the buzziest of bank holiday Monday nights. A friend and I went to see John Vaillant and Colm Tóibín speak at the Cambridge Literary Festival, hosted at The Cambridge Union. I was really heading to the event to see Colm Tóibín, who is a great literary hero of […]
“It is a joy to be hidden and a disaster not to be found”
“It is a joy to be hidden and a disaster not to be found” Donald Winnicott I came across this quote looking at really early drafts of a novel I am working on, about a character I created with chronic self esteem issues. Making it as close to the Hero’s Journey, as I could, I […]
Reassurance – an unquenchable thirst
Ultimately, we are not reassurable – so said my brilliant therapist who, alongside the right medication, helped me recover from OCD. Well, I say recover, I still get anxious, but she helped me come to terms with it – and when I say ‘it,’ I mean this concept of not being able to be certain […]