In the order of what endures, which is renewal, friendship is the oldest, briefest of things

November 8, 2026

Has your idea of what makes a good friend changed as you’ve gotten older? View all responses In the order of what endures, which is renewal, friendship is the oldest, briefest of things This question keeps playing on my mind and I search what others say: they often riff on the nature of ‘old friends’, … More In the order of what endures, which is renewal, friendship is the oldest, briefest of things

‘What is life without thee!’ sings Orpheus: yet it’s clear he made a shot at it that was something that others envied.

November 7, 2026

What is one thing you can’t live without? View all responses ‘What is life without thee!’ sings Orpheus: yet it’s clear he made a shot at continuing life that was something that others envied. The Bacchae, also known as Maenads, kill Orpheus, or think they are doing so. Let’s piece together a life from the … More ‘What is life without thee!’ sings Orpheus: yet it’s clear he made a shot at it that was something that others envied.

‘… Only I discern— / Infinite passion, and the pain / Of finite hearts that yearn’. Thinking after the moment goes is endless ‘yearning’.

November 6, 2026

What’s a small moment from your past that you still think about years later? View all responses Roman Campagna by Thomas Cole in 1843. Some questions have been definitively answered. so much so that they become a barrier for having anything to say of my own about them, except that I remember the ‘small moment’ … More ‘… Only I discern— / Infinite passion, and the pain / Of finite hearts that yearn’. Thinking after the moment goes is endless ‘yearning’.

There is no doubt, of course, that money count is one, amongst other quantitative measures of success, as a generalised outcome of one’s achievements in life, but does the term ‘truthful success’ spoken of in Clifford Odets play ‘Golden Boy’ point towards more qualitative outcomes equating with that outcome – things to do with the values systems we call ‘truth’ and ‘personal’ or even ‘spiritual fulfilment’? This is a reflection on the prompt question based on preparing myself to see Sam Yates’ production of Clifford Odets ‘Golden Boy’ from the Almeida Theatre as streamed to the Reel Cinema Bishop Auckland on Sunday 8 November 2026, by reading the play and two reviews of it.

November 5, 2026

How do you define success in life? View all responses There is no doubt, of course, that money count is one, amongst other quantitative measures of success, as a generalised outcome of one’s achievements in life, but does the term ‘truthful success’ spoken of in Clifford Odets play Golden Boy point towards more qualitative outcomes … More There is no doubt, of course, that money count is one, amongst other quantitative measures of success, as a generalised outcome of one’s achievements in life, but does the term ‘truthful success’ spoken of in Clifford Odets play ‘Golden Boy’ point towards more qualitative outcomes equating with that outcome – things to do with the values systems we call ‘truth’ and ‘personal’ or even ‘spiritual fulfilment’? This is a reflection on the prompt question based on preparing myself to see Sam Yates’ production of Clifford Odets ‘Golden Boy’ from the Almeida Theatre as streamed to the Reel Cinema Bishop Auckland on Sunday 8 November 2026, by reading the play and two reviews of it.

Friendship or fiendship: the complicated mix of loving and/or hating, (but usually complex configurations in between based on difference of expectations between ‘friends’) relationships.

November 2, 2026

Has your idea of what makes a good friend changed as you’ve gotten older? View all responses Friendship or fiendship: the complicated mix of loving and/or hating, (but usually complex configurations in between based on difference of expectations between ‘friends’) relationships. This tiny verse I thought I wrote in response to this prompt, or at … More Friendship or fiendship: the complicated mix of loving and/or hating, (but usually complex configurations in between based on difference of expectations between ‘friends’) relationships.

No song ever on its own changes your life, but when I heard Jonas Patrick Marvin speak about his 2026 book, ‘The Breaking of the English Working Class’, I thought afterwards the song might break me up further for we, my class, are broken.This is really a blog on Jonas Patrick Marvin (2026) ‘The Breaking of the English Working Class’ London & New York, Verso.

November 1, 2026

What’s a song that changed your life? View all responses No song ever on its own changes your life, but when I heard Jonas Patrick Marvin speak about his 2026 book, The Breaking of the English Working Class, I thought afterwards the song might break me up further for we, my class, are broken. This … More No song ever on its own changes your life, but when I heard Jonas Patrick Marvin speak about his 2026 book, ‘The Breaking of the English Working Class’, I thought afterwards the song might break me up further for we, my class, are broken.This is really a blog on Jonas Patrick Marvin (2026) ‘The Breaking of the English Working Class’ London & New York, Verso.

Oppressively articulated though it is, there is a point in William James’ dictum about the false ethical values of his, and our, century: ‘The moral flabbiness born of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That — with the squalid interpretation put on the word success — is our national disease’. [William James to H.G. Wells, Sept. 11, 1906]

October 31, 2026

How do you define success in life? View all responses Oppressively articulated though it is, there is a point in William James’ dictum about the false ethical values of his, and our, century: ‘The moral flabbiness born of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That — with the squalid interpretation put on the word success — is our … More Oppressively articulated though it is, there is a point in William James’ dictum about the false ethical values of his, and our, century: ‘The moral flabbiness born of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That — with the squalid interpretation put on the word success — is our national disease’. [William James to H.G. Wells, Sept. 11, 1906]

Simon Armitage has published a new verse translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh. In it all personal goals entail love of another, perhaps ‘like a wife’ but definitely ‘another’ of some sort. This blog is about Simon Armitage (2026) ‘Gilgamesh’ , London, Faber & Faber.

October 30, 2026

Do you set personal goals for yourself? Simon Armitage has published a new verse translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh. In it all personal goals entail love of another, perhaps ‘like a wife’, but definitely ‘another’ of some sort.. This blog is about Simon Armitage (2026) ‘Gilgamesh‘ , London, Faber & Faber Despite immediate appearances, … More Simon Armitage has published a new verse translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh. In it all personal goals entail love of another, perhaps ‘like a wife’ but definitely ‘another’ of some sort. This blog is about Simon Armitage (2026) ‘Gilgamesh’ , London, Faber & Faber.

That which we fear we lock away, drown or bury,  if we can and, hopefully, forever (or perhaps until Time catches up with desire at least). “Close it down, Danni. Put a dust sheet over the piano. Bolt the shutters. Turn the key”.  This is a blog on Rose Tremain (2026) ‘The Housekeeper’.

October 28, 2026

What’s a book or movie that genuinely scared you? View all responses That which we fear we lock away, drown or bury, if we can and, hopefully, forever (or perhaps until Time catches up with desire at least). This is precisely what Max de Winter does with the body and memory of his first wife Rebecca … More That which we fear we lock away, drown or bury,  if we can and, hopefully, forever (or perhaps until Time catches up with desire at least). “Close it down, Danni. Put a dust sheet over the piano. Bolt the shutters. Turn the key”.  This is a blog on Rose Tremain (2026) ‘The Housekeeper’.

A trip to York for my birthday was ‘nasty, brutish, and short’, or rather the description should read at the end ‘but short’ in order to emphasise the best part – the homecoming.

October 25, 2026

What’s the worst travel experience you’ve ever had? View all responses The phrase ‘nasty, brutish, and short’ comes from Thomas Hobbes Leviathan, in which he sets out the need to maintain central governments as the head and brain of political decision making, however inadequate and self-interested such governments may be, for they keep populations from … More A trip to York for my birthday was ‘nasty, brutish, and short’, or rather the description should read at the end ‘but short’ in order to emphasise the best part – the homecoming.

The world of ‘The Perfect Gentleman; or, Etiquette and Eloquence’ of 1860 USA.

October 23, 2026

Which book’s world would be the absolute worst to live in? The world of ‘The Perfect Gentleman; or, Etiquette and Eloquence’ of 1860 USA. In 1860’s New York, the ‘manners’ of a New York ‘Gentleman’ may well have aped those of Old England, it being understood tht by then the word ‘gentle’ in ‘gentleman’ had … More The world of ‘The Perfect Gentleman; or, Etiquette and Eloquence’ of 1860 USA.