Write-Place

Recommendations. Can you resist them ? I think I have an innate inability to NOT resist when something is recommended to me, no matter who is the recommender. Well, not everything. Films, TV programmes, music, restaurants, holiday destinations, shops – with these I can listen to someone extolling the virtues of the item or place in question then forget about what they have said, but with books … no chance. Suggest that I would like a particular book or that you like it yourself, and regardless of whether we have anything in common or not, I am likely to seek it out. If not actually buying the book then certainly searching the library for it. Needless to say this has resulted in me reading and owning a multitude of books that I may not necessarily have chosen myself, but feel obliged to read because someone suggested it. Of course, sometimes this is a great blessing as I might have otherwise missed out on a great read, but sometimes it seems like a mania that I have. Amazon (thou...

Today, in astronomical terms, is the beginning of Spring here in the Northern Hemisphere - 22 September in the Southern Hemisphere. This is when the sun crosses the equator on its journey toward the Tropic of Cancer or the Tropic of Capricorn. Spring lasts until the start of summer at the summer solstice. Apparently the moment when spring begins does not correlate exactly with changes in weather which we usually take as the change of seasons. Temperatures in the daytime lag behind the energy delivered to earth by the sun by several weeks as the earth and sea take time to warm up. (thanks and reference to Wikipedia for my apparent scientific knowledge on this) It’s a good feeling to know that the days are now lighter for longer and that we can look forward to some sunshine soon, even if not right now at the official beginning of Spring. Today in my part of the country the sun is struggling to get through cloud and the ground is soaked after a day of rain yesterday. (I was told that it...

I have just been reading a news article about a library book that has been returned after 45 years. "Quatermass and the Pit" was borrowed from Dinnington library in 1965 and posted back just this month. There's clearly some interesting story behind where the book has been all this time and I hope the "returner" gets in touch with the library to explain. This made me think of my library book borrowing habits and of how easily I could in fact have a book on loan for 45 years - with no interesting story behind it. It's not that I let them get overdue on purpose.It's more likely because I have so many books "on the go" at once. This must be something to do with having a short memory span or plain lack of concentration - it's certainly not that I am super good at multi-tasking. I am only happy if I have a pile of books on the bedside table, on the floor beside the bed and in various other piles on tables and other places around the house. Per...

I am not sure what has happened to the font on the posts on this blog. I am not even sure whether it's my computer that's showing some text to be extra large and some extra small, some black, some blue etc. I suppose that it's excusable that I don't know if it's only my computer that's showing this as one does not normally read one's own blog on someone else's computer - unless one is editing it or purely narcissistic (must spell check that) Anyway, for whatever reason, I apologise and would be grateful if anyone would let me know if this is a blog problem or computer problem. I read on a blog the other day that the reason the text had changed on that one was that some HTML had been lost. This is rather scary as I would have no idea where to look if I found that I had lost some of mine ! Been losing my memory for years and now it's seems my blog is losing it's. Ah well, close friends always share things...

“The cult of celebrity is destroying today’s children…” says Sharon Osbourne, a woman who has spent years helping to create it. Sharon’s life and career appears to have been created around attention seeking, traits which she has passed on to two of her children. Their appearances on television have shown their behaviour to be less than what the average parent would want for their children and yet they flaunt it at every opportunity. She and her husband have encouraged their children in this “cult” so it’s a bit rich to announce that today’s children are being destroyed by it. None of us are perfect parents (if there is such a thing) and I put my hand up first to admit failures. But surely Sharon Osbourne’s comments can only be classed as hypocritical. Of course she does have a new book coming out soon….. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1254209/SHARON-OSBOURNE-The-dark-fame--cult-celebrity-destroying-todays-children.html#ixzz0gqLXLAle

Running in the traditional Shrove Tuesday pancake race was banned by St Albans Council (Lib Dem – whether that’s significant or not) yesterday. This was on health and safety grounds on account of the road being wet and for fear of the “odd person” slipping and falling as has apparently happened in previous years. In my home town “odd” people go slipping and sliding about all the time – mostly due to the pot holes in the roads and paths, the dog crap on the pavements and “green spaces” and the general unkemptness around public areas that we pay to be maintained out of our council taxes. In fact you don’t really have to be odd. The odd ones are RMBC who don’t seem to feel that there is a problem or if they concede that there is, throw a bit of tarmac down which lasts till it rains again and spray the weeds at the edges of the paths about once a year. Mind you, at least St Albans had the community spirit to organise what turned out to be a walking event with pancakes in pans, tho...

A number of days (weeks, months ?) since I have had anything to say worth letting out of my mouth let alone put online. But as I have just been reading about the literally millions of people around the world who do a blog, I reckon no one's going to bother much about this, and after all this blog is supposed to be connected to www.write-place which is about...writing. I can't afford a therapist and the person who it is written for knows who he is. Draw Me Draw me a place where the sun shines all day And the night is so warm we sleep under the sky. Show me the warmth of the ground that we lie on And people around us go just passing by. Paint me a place where the air is so cold that all water is frozen and snow falls soft to the ground. Make it a dark sky with stars as our light Make it as though the moon we have found. Carve me a story that tells of us two and only us two in a world of so much. Cut into the wood as you cut into my soul Turning the wood as I turn with your touc...