Month: February 2022

Against the storm

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Hi, Okay, Lynn: put your metaphorical big girl pants on and let’s give this a go. I’ve heard it said that a way to break through writer’s block is to just write. Hammer at the keys and just go. I guess staring at the page doesn’t move things along. At the moment, I feel like a person in a small row boat, bobbing slowly along in a foggy sea. Occasionally, cyclopean hulks will drift by, their shadowy wake dwarfing the light and any sense of safety. The pandemic, the war, the campaign of hate, etc. I would say that feels like three out of four on the horseperson Pokémon apocalypse special. If you catch ’em all, you get a free […]

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Cloak

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I can’t quite put my finger on this, but it feels at the mo, that I’m wearing a heavy cloak. A heaviness in the arms and across the shoulders. One that seems to vanish if I sit down and ignore the world. Or, when I’m out walking, the wind and sunlight lift it away. I would add, just for clarity, please don’t imagine a bloke of middling years in *just* a cloak. Stood there like an ailing stripper or medieval flasher 🙂 Good evening, Master Wayne. I assume the Joker stole your batsuit again? He is a wag… Where was I? So, with it being half term, I’ve had the week off. Less early to rise, less busy-busy, and more […]

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Shoes, meetings, shouty people, and lived experience

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Hi, I think it’s fairly safe to say that last night visit to Chams was quite busy. I nearly wrote eventful, but I don’t want to suggest the corporate doublespeak of the sh**’s hit the fan. 🙂 No, it was the right type of busy. There was a spot of paperwork to do, new visitors to welcome (hello to new folk and Leicester Chameleons 👋), and a researcher dropped in as well. Also, I had tidied my shoe collection up and offered those up to the group. Any donations gratefully received to pep up the group’s finances. Pennies in the bank for Chams and more space in my wardrobe…. perhaps a good thing given I bought some new heels. Finally! […]

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Infernal baggage

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Hi, The other day, a pen friend and I were talking – well, in email – about getting out. At least, when the wintery wind and rain abate, and Spring starts. BTW, is someone you email a pen friend if you don’t actually write? 🤔 Swipe friend doesn’t quite sound right and tap friend even weirder 🙂 Post lockdown, a female friend had said to me that they were tired of jeans and trainers. They hoped to break out a dress for a change. Likewise a colleague said they’d missed their heels for work, even though she felt then at the end of a long day. I found myself writing ‘Yes, to be out again, to feel the sun on […]

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Being pastel in a blue and pink world

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Hi, As the cold hail subsided, the Ever Lovely Mrs J shook the ice from her hood and smiled to me. “It’s good to be out in nature,” she chuckled. We had walked around the park’s lake, pausing for either doggo to sniff, or indeed, ‘update’ Dog Social Media, conversation had drifted around family, home, work, and the news. Mrs J expressed her anger at the continued attack by some on trans identities. That and the platforming of such voices by usually reliable sources. Now, there’s a background level of hate that bubbles and spits. The usual it’s an excuse for pervs to get in or the claptrap from unqualified/inexperienced strangers, thinking that they understand a trans teen’s needs, etc. […]

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